JPH02143387A - Optical reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To always read a bar code with high reliability by elastically allowing a contactor projectingly provided for the holding case of a sensor driving body to contact with the bar code written surface of a medium by the elastic force of an elastic member and deviating the tip part of the contactor from a reading track. CONSTITUTION:When a business card 30 is inserted from an external part, a pair of contactors 19d projectingly provided for a holding case 19 elastically contact with the rear face of the business card 30 by the elastic force of a coil spring 22, and a sensor driving body 10 moves under a state in which the contactors 19d are brought into contact with the business card 30 as they are and reads the bar code. Thus, the distance between a reading area alpha of the business card 30 and a bar code sensor 9 and be always fixed, and the bar code can be read with the high reliability. Further, since it is considered that the tip parts of the contactors 19d never overlap with a reading track beta, the reading area alpha of the business card 30 is never scratched or stained by the contactors 19d, and therefore, even when the same name card is read repeatedly, no adverse effect is given.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention is characterized in that when a medium such as a business card on which a barcode is written is inserted, a built-in barcode sensor moves back and forth to read the barcode of this medium. This invention relates to an optical reading device that can perform

[Conventional technology]

In recent years, optical reading devices, such as those disclosed in European Patent No. 70,697, which can perform automatic dialing operations by reading barcodes written on media, have become popular in office automation. It has been attracting attention as a result. Examples of media for performing such an automatic dialing operation include cards such as business cards as disclosed in Figures 1, 5, and 10 of British Patent No. 2,063,010. In the area outside the printed text, there is a barcode display that represents a telephone number that corresponds to the printed text information, and based on the telephone number, for example, It becomes possible to perform an automatic dialing operation as disclosed in FIGS. 3 and 4. As the currently inconsistent barcode display system for business cards becomes standardized, it is highly anticipated that printing barcodes on areas other than text on business cards will become common in the future. The demand for optical reading devices for reading barcodes on business cards is expected to increase dramatically.

This type of optical reading device has a built-in barcode sensor that combines two light-receiving elements, a lens, an optical fiber, etc., and this barcode sensor is guided by a screw shaft or guide shaft when the business card is inserted. It is moved back and forth in a direction perpendicular to the direction. A detection configuration having such a reciprocating motion is used, for example, in Japan
Figure 1 of Publication No. 5-13.858 and British patent tube 1.32
4.448, etc. On the other hand, a barcode is printed on the side other than the printed characters of the business card, which is a medium, along a direction perpendicular to the insertion direction of the business card, and the business card is inserted into an optical reader in a predetermined direction. . As disclosed in FIG. 5 of British Patent No. 2.063,010, the business card inserted from the short side is driven by the driving force of a stepping motor etc. built into the optical reading device. For example, if the barcode sensor is configured to detect multiple lines of barcodes while being transported while preventing erroneous insertion in the vertical and horizontal directions and stopping at a predetermined position, it is possible to More displayed information can be read, such as paper feed configurations.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

Incidentally, the lens of the barcode sensor has a shallow depth of focus, and in order to ensure good reading accuracy, it is necessary to stabilize the distance between the reading area of the business card as a medium and the barcode sensor. However, in conventionally proposed optical reading devices, slight errors in the mounting position of the screw shaft or guide shaft cause variations in the height of the barcode sensor that is moved back and forth, and this variation causes the difference between the reading area and the barcode sensor. There was a problem in that it made the distance between the printer and the printer unstable, making reading errors more likely.

Therefore, it is conceivable to press a part of the member that is moved back and forth integrally with the barcode sensor against the business card, for example, in advance of the reading area, thereby stabilizing the distance between the reading area and the barcode sensor 7. However, if the hard member pressed against the business card is moved together with the barcode sensor, scratches and dirt are likely to occur in the reading area, so there is a risk of reading errors.

The present invention was made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to provide an optical reading device that can maintain a stable distance between the reading area and the barcode sensor without causing scratches or stains on the reading area. Our goal is to provide the following.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a sensor drive body that holds a barcode sensor and is slidably engaged with a helical groove of a screw shaft, and a sensor drive body that rotatably drives the screw shaft and rotates the screw shaft. a first driving means for reciprocating the sensor driving body in a direction; and a second driving means for transporting a medium inserted from the outside in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the sensor driving body. , an optical reading device for reading a barcode written on the medium with the barcode sensor, wherein the sensor driver is provided with a protruding contact piece whose tip end comes into elastic contact with the inserted medium; It is characterized in that the position of the tip of the contact piece is shifted in the transport direction of the medium with respect to the reading area of the medium that is irradiated with light from the barcode sensor.

[Effect]

By bringing the tip of the contact piece protruding from the holding case into elastic contact with the barcode writing surface of the medium, the barcode sensor held by the holding case can be maintained at a predetermined distance from the reading area of the medium, and Since the tip of this contact piece does not overlap the reading locus, there is no risk that the reading area of the medium will be damaged or soiled by the contact piece.

〔Example〕

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An optical reading device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8. Here, FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing the configuration of the sensor driver, and FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the entire device with the board removed. Figure 3 is the same front view, Figure 4
The figure is a sectional view showing the sensor driver during reading, FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the positional relationship between the contact piece and the reading area, FIG. 6 is the same sectional view, and FIG. 7 is the sensor driver in the initial position. The side view shown in FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the same.

First, the outline of this optical reading device will be explained using FIGS. 1 to 3.

In these figures, inside the frame 1 of the optical reading device, there is a stepping motor 4 that rotationally drives a drive roller 3 via a gear group 2, and a DC motor that rotationally drives a screw shaft 6 via a gear group 5. 7, a guide shaft 8 installed parallel to the screw shaft 6, and a sensor drive body 10 that holds the barcode sensor 9 and reciprocates in the vertical direction in FIG. 2 while being guided by the screw shaft 6 and the guide shaft 8. , the upper business card guide plate 12 exposed in the opening ll of the lower business card guide' plate 24 excluding the reciprocating range of a contact piece 19d, which will be described later, provided on the sensor driver 10, and the photointerrupter 13 for detection. 1
7th grade is stored.

A driving roller 3 driven by a stepping motor 4 is used to transport the business card in the left-right direction in FIG. 2 inside the frame 1, and is opposed to a driven roller (not shown). That is,
The business card inserted through the business card insertion slot 18 is first transferred to the right in FIG. 2 by the drive roller 3, and then intermittently transferred to the left in FIG. 2 by rotating the drive roller 3 in the opposite direction. After reading is completed, the card is ejected from the business card insertion slot. By controlling the stepping motor 4, the business card that is intermittently fed to the drive roller 3 has a multi-line barcode printed on the back side of the business card in the opening 11.
It is designed to stop every time it appears inside.

The screw shaft 6 and the guide shaft 8 are installed in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the inserted business card is transported, and one spiral groove 6a is carved in the outer peripheral surface of the screw shaft 6.

As is clear from FIG. 1, the sensor driver 10 includes a holding case 19 that holds the barcode sensor 9 in the protrusion 19a and allows the guide shaft 8 to be slidably inserted into the through hole 19b, and a screw shaft. an engagement plate 20 having teeth 20a that mesh with the spiral grooves 6a of No. 6 and allowing the protrusion 19a of the holding case 19 to protrude into the window hole 20b; and a through hole 19c.
, 20c and rotatably connects the holding case 19 and the engagement plate 20, and a coil spring 22 interposed between the holding case 19 and the engagement plate 20 to bias both.
It is composed of. A pair of contact pieces 19d are provided on the upper end surface of the protruding portion 19a of the holding case 19 for making elastic contact with a business card, and a contact portion 19e for making contact with a cam ridge (to be described later) is provided on the side surface. A light shielding plate 19f is vertically provided at the bottom of the holding case 19.

When the sensor drive body 10 moves to its initial position, that is, when it moves to the upper end in FIG. It has a function of rotating this holding case 19 around the axis of the guide shaft 8 against the force.

The photo interrupters 13 to 17 are all optical sensors that output a signal when the optical path between the light receiving and emitting elements is interrupted, and the photo interrupter 13 is a sensor that detects that a business card has been inserted from the outside. 14 is a sensor that detects when the business card reaches the innermost part of the frame 1;
The photointerrupter 15 is a sensor that detects that the sensor driver 10 is in the initial position, the photointerrupter 16 is a sensor that detects that the sensor driver 10 is exposed at one end in the longitudinal direction of the opening 11, and the photointerrupter 17 is a sensor that detects that the sensor driver 10 is in the initial position. This sensor detects that the sensor driver 10 is exposed at the other end of the opening 11 in the longitudinal direction. The stepping motor 4 and the DC motor 7 are controlled by signals output from these photointerrupters 13 to 17.

That is, when a business card is inserted from the business card insertion slot 18, the photointerrupter 13 detects this and the stripping motor 4 is driven, and the business card is transported by the drive roller 3 toward the innermost part of the frame 1. When the business card reaches the innermost part, the photointerrupter 14 detects this, and the stepping motor 4 stops when the first line of the barcode of the business card appears in the opening 11. During this time, the sensor driver 10
Although it is kept waiting at the initial position at the upper end of the figure, whether or not it is at the initial position depends on whether or not the light shielding plate 19f of the holding case 19 blocks the optical path of the photointerrupter 15.
recognized. Then, when the business card stops with the first line barcode exposed in the opening 11, the sensor driver 10 leaves the initial position and then moves along the longitudinal direction of the opening 11 to read the barcode. At this time, the fact that the sensor driver 10 has moved from one end of the opening 11 to the other means that the light shielding plate 19f
can be detected by blocking the optical path of the photointerrupters 16 and 17, so when one line of reading is completed, a stop signal is output to the DC motor 7, and the stepping motor 4 is driven again to read the second line of the business card. The barcode is made to appear in the opening 11. Thereafter, by repeating the same operation, the barcode sensor 9 held in the sensor driver 10 can sequentially sell eight lines of barcodes printed on the back of the business card using the barcode sensor 9 held in the sensor driver 10.

Next, the configuration and operation of the sensor driver 10 will be described in detail using FIGS. 4 to 8.

When the business card 30 is inserted and stopped after the barcode printed on the back surface is exposed in the opening II, the screw shaft 6 is rotationally driven and the sensor driver 10 is screwed from one end of the opening 11 to the other. It moves linearly while being guided by the shaft 6 and guide shaft 8. At this time, in the sensor driver 10, as shown in FIG. 4, since the coil spring 22 biases the holding case I9 around the axis of the guide shaft 8, the contact piece 19d
The contact piece 19d is in elastic contact with the back surface of the business card 30, and the contact piece 19d slides on the back surface of the business card 30 as the sensor driver 10 moves. In other words,
Even if there is some error in the mounting positions of the screw shaft 6 and guide shaft 8, the holding case 19 is always biased clockwise in FIG. 4 with the guide shaft 8 as the center of rotation. There is no risk that the contact piece 19d will separate from the business card 30. Therefore, barcode sensor 9
The reading area α (fifth
, 6) and the lens 9b of the barcode sensor 9 is always kept constant by the contact piece 19d, allowing highly reliable reading.

For the same reason, even if the business card 30 is thicker than normal, the holding case 19 is only set in a slightly tilted position counterclockwise in FIG. The distance between the reading area α and the barcode sensor 9 is kept constant.

Furthermore, as is clear from FIGS. 5 and 6, the position of the tip of the contact piece 19d of the holding case 9 is relative to the reading area α.
The business card 30 is slightly shifted in the insertion direction (rightward in the drawing). In other words, care is taken so that the locus of the contact piece 19d as the sensor driver 10 moves does not overlap the reading locus β. Therefore, even if the same business card is read repeatedly with this optical reader, the contact piece 19d will not damage or stain the reading area α.

Note that if the position of the tip of the contact piece 19d is excessively shifted from the reading area α, there is a risk of interfering with the original function of stabilizing the distance between the reading area α and the barcode sensor 9. It is preferable that the amount of displacement of the tip of the contact piece 19d with respect to the area α is kept to the necessary minimum.

Furthermore, as is clear from FIG. 4, the coil spring 22 of the sensor drive body 10 biases the engagement plate 20 around the axis of the support shaft 21, so that the tooth portion 20a is attached to the screw shaft 6.
It is kept in elastic contact with a part of the circumferential surface of. Therefore, even if there is some error in the distance between the axes of the screw shaft 6 and the guide shaft 8, the teeth 20a of the engagement plate 20 will surely mesh with the helical groove 6a of the screw shaft 6. The sensor driver IO can be smoothly reciprocated along the screw shaft 6 and the guide shaft 8.

When all the readings are completed, the sensor driver lO
moves to the initial position at the upper end in FIG. The holding case 19 is rotated around the axis of the guide shaft 8 against the elastic force of the contact piece 19d, thereby lowering the contact piece 19d in a direction away from the back surface of the business card 30. When the contact piece 19'd separates from the business card 30, the driving roller 3 is driven and the business card 30 is ejected from the business card insertion slot 18.

When the business card 30 is inserted from the outside and reading is started, the business card 30 is first moved to a predetermined position by the driving roller 3 and stopped, and then the sensor driver 10 is moved from the initial position shown in FIG. As the holding case 19 moves to the right in the figure, the contact portion 19e of the holding case 19 separates from the cam ridge 23, and the contact piece 19d comes into elastic contact with the back surface of the business card 30 due to the elastic force of the coil spring 22. Therefore, the inconvenience that the transfer of the business card 30 is prevented by the contact piece 19d or that the contact piece 19d gets caught on the business card 30 and is damaged does not occur.

In this way, in the above embodiment, the business card 30 can be accessed from the outside.
is inserted, a pair of contact pieces 19d protruding from the holding case 19 come into elastic contact with the back surface of the business card 30 due to the elastic force of the coil spring 22, and the sensor driver 10 is moved while the contact pieces 19d are in contact with the business card 30. Since the barcode is read by moving, the distance between the reading area α of the business card 30 and the barcode sensor 9 is always kept constant, and highly reliable reading can be performed. Therefore, strict precision is no longer required for the mounting positions of the screw shaft 6 and guide shaft 8, improving assembly efficiency, and even if the thickness of the business card 30 is different, the distance between the reading area α and the barcode sensor 9 does not change, so a wide variety of business cards can be read with high accuracy.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, care is taken so that the tip of the contact piece 19d does not overlap the reading trajectory β, so that the reading area α of the business card 30 is not damaged or soiled by the contact piece 19d. Therefore, even if the same business card is read repeatedly, there will be no adverse effect.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the tooth portion 20 of the engagement plate 20
Since a structure is adopted in which a is brought into elastic contact with the circumferential surface of the screw shaft 6 by the elastic force of the coil spring 22, even if there is some error in the distance between the axes of the screw shaft 6 and the guide shaft 8 during assembly, Also, the tooth portion 20a is securely meshed with the spiral groove 6a of the screw shaft 6,
The sensor driver 10 can be smoothly reciprocated.

Therefore, it is no longer necessary to define the distance between the axes of the screw shaft 6 and the guide shaft 8 with high precision, and assembling efficiency is greatly improved. Since the pressing force of the portion 20a is obtained by one coil spring 22, the number of parts can also be reduced. Moreover, since the tooth portion 20a is in contact with only a part of the circumferential surface of the screw shaft 6, the load on the DC motor 7 that rotationally drives the screw shaft 6 is relatively small, and the sensor driver 10 may be moved due to some reason. Even if the
The screw shaft 6 is allowed to rotate idly to prevent overload on the DC motor 7.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, when the sensor driver 10 is moved to the initial position after reading, the cam ridge 2
3 comes into contact with the contact portion 19e of the holding case 19, and the contact piece 19d accordingly descends in a direction away from the back surface of the business card 30. With the sensor driver IO waiting at this initial position, the business card 30 By inserting and ejecting the
There is no fear that the contact piece 19d will interfere with the transfer of the business card 30, and there is no fear that the contact piece 1.9d will be caught on the business card 30 and damaged.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, in the present invention, the contact piece protruding from the holding case of the sensor drive body is brought into elastic contact with the barcode written surface of the medium by the elastic force of the elastic member, so that the reciprocating movement of the sensor drive body is guided. Even if there is some error in the mounting position of the screw shaft or guide shaft, the barcode sensor held in the holding case can be maintained at a predetermined distance from the reading area of the medium, and the contact piece Since the tip is shifted from the reading trajectory, there is no risk of scratches or stains on the reading area, and as a result, it is possible to provide an optical reading device that can always perform highly reliable reading.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings are all for explaining an optical reading device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing the configuration of a sensor driver, and FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the entire device with the substrate removed. , FIG. 3 is a front view of the same, FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the sensor driver during reading, FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the positional relationship between the contact piece and the reading area, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the same. FIG. 7 is a side view showing the sensor driver in the initial position, and FIG. 8 is a sectional view thereof. 3... Drive roller, 4... Stepping motor, 6... Screw shaft, 6a.
...Spiral groove, 7...DC motor, 8.
...Guide shaft, 9...Barcode sensor, 10...Sensor driver, 19...
...Holding case, 19d...Contact piece, 20...
... Engagement plate, 21 ... Support shaft, 22 ...
・・Coil spring, 30 ・・・Business card (medium), α・
...reading area, β...reading trajectory. Figure 1 Figure 2 Funono 111. Figure 3 Figure 9f Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 4 Figure 7

Claims (1)

[Claims] a sensor drive body that holds a barcode sensor and is slidably engaged in a spiral groove of a screw shaft; and a first sensor drive body that rotationally drives the screw shaft to reciprocate the sensor drive body in the axial direction thereof. and a second drive means for transporting a medium inserted from the outside in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the sensor drive body, the barcode written on the medium is In an optical reading device that uses a barcode sensor, a contact piece is provided on the sensor driver, the tip of which comes into elastic contact with the inserted medium, and the position of the tip of this contact piece is as follows:
An optical reading device characterized in that the reading area of the medium to which light from the barcode sensor is irradiated is shifted in the transport direction of the medium.