JPH02246079A - Information reader by laser beam - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce power consumption and to miniaturize an information reader by laser beam by turning off a power source for a motor driving circuit which drives to rotate a scanning mirror, which is on, at the time of turning on a power source for a sound signal generation circuit which emits a sound for informing that reading information is completed. CONSTITUTION:When reading the information of an information recording part which is provided on an article, for example, is completed by the laser beam which is obtained by projecting the laser beam emitted from a laser beam generator 1 to the scanning mirror 2 rotated by a motor 3 so that it is reflected, the power source for the motor driving circuit 4 is turned off by a power source switching circuit 10 and the power source for the sound signal generation circuit 8, which is off, is allowed to be turned on. Namely, the power sources for the motor driving circuit 4 and the sound signal generation circuit 8 are prevented from being simultaneously turned on. Since the power consumption of the motor driving circuit 4 is larger than that of the sound signal generation circuit 8, in this case, the power source capacity for actuating the motor driving circuit 4 is sufficient for the power source capacity for a power source circuit 9 by switching the power source. Thus, not only the power source circuit 9 but also the information reader by the laser beam are miniaturized.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary] The present invention relates to an information reading device using a laser beam that shines a laser beam on an information recording section recorded with a bar code or the like and reads the information. When the power is turned on to the audio signal generation circuit that emits a sound to notify completion, the motor drive circuit for the motor that rotates the scanning mirror that uses the laser light that was previously in the information recording section to read and scan the information. By turning off the power to the laser beam generator, we aim to reduce power consumption, reduce the power supply capacity of the power supply circuit, and thereby downsize the information reading device using laser light. a motor and a motor drive circuit that rotationally drive a scanning mirror that scans the information recording section with laser light emitted from the information recording section; a detector that detects the laser reflected light from the information recording section and decodes it into an information signal; , an information reading device using a laser beam, which includes a decoding circuit and a main control circuit that issue a control signal to notify completion of information reading, an audio signal generation circuit that sends an audio signal to a speaker, and a power supply circuit. When the process is completed, the power supply switching circuit turns off the power to the motor drive circuit and turns on the power to the sound generation circuit, which had been turned off until then.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to an information reading device that uses a laser beam to read information by shining a laser beam onto an information recording section recorded with, for example, a bar code.

[Conventional technology]

By shining a laser beam on the information recording section recorded with barcodes, etc., and detecting changes in the laser reflected light,
A conventional example of an information reading device using a laser beam for reading information from an information recording section is shown in FIG.

In FIG. 5, a is a housing of the information reading device, b is a laser beam (for example, He-Ne gas laser) generator, and C is a housing of the information reading device.
is a filter installed to suppress the amount of laser light emitted from this laser light generator, and the filter should be selected so that the amount of laser light that hits the information recording section recorded in barcodes, etc. is the maximum that satisfies safety standards. It is set in.

d is a scanning mirror, such as a polygon mirror, for scanning information by applying the laser light that has passed through the filter C and reflecting it in a predetermined direction, and is provided to be rotated by a pulse motor e; The motor drive circuit 0g of the pulse motor e is a reading window provided so that the laser beam reflected by the scanning mirror d exits the housing a of the information reading device, and the laser beam emitted from the reading window g is of,
A detector k detects changes in the laser reflected light when it is applied to a barcode j provided on an item i. 1 is a decoding circuit and a main control circuit that decodes the signal corresponding to the laser reflected light detected by this detector into an information signal, and when the information reading is completed, a control signal is emitted to notify it by a speaker described later. It is. m is an interface that supplies the information signal obtained by the decoding circuit and the main control circuit 2 to a connection terminal n to a POS system that can automatically record the product name, price, etc. at the time of product sale. , 0 is an audio signal generation circuit that generates an audio signal in response to input of a control signal that is generated when the decoding circuit and main control circuit 1 determine that the information reading is completed, and p is an audio signal generation circuit that generates an audio signal from this audio signal generation circuit 0. a speaker to which a given audio signal is applied and emits sound, q
is a power supply circuit that supplies power to the motor drive circuit f and the audio signal generation circuit 0.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In the conventional example, after reading of the information recorded in the barcode j is completed, the information is sent to the audio signal generating circuit 0.
Also, while the speaker p is operating and the notification is being made, the pulse motor e and the motor drive circuit f that rotate the scanning mirror d are operating, that is, as shown in FIG. 4(A). , the power consumption X for rotating the pulse motor e, and the power consumption Y for making the speaker p sound, as shown in FIG. 4 (B).
(see (C) in FIG. 4), the power supply capacity must be increased, which is a cause of hindering miniaturization of power supply circuits and, in turn, miniaturization of information reading devices using laser light.

In this invention, when power is turned on to an audio signal generation circuit for emitting a sound indicating that reading of information from an information recording section by a laser beam is completed, the information is read by shining the laser beam that has been on until then on the information recording section. By turning off the power to the motor drive circuit of the motor that rotationally drives the scanning mirror that performs scanning, power consumption can be reduced, and the power supply capacity of the power supply circuit can be reduced, making it more compact. The purpose of this is to reduce the size of the device.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention scans the information recording section 18 with a laser beam emitted from a laser beam generator l, as shown in FIG. A motor 3 for rotationally driving the scanning mirror 2 and a motor drive circuit 4, and a detector 5 for detecting laser reflected light from the information recording section and decoding it into an information signal, as well as for notifying completion of information reading. a decoding circuit and a main control circuit 7 that emit a control signal;
In an information reading device using a laser beam, which includes an audio signal generation circuit 8 that sends an audio signal to a speaker 6, and a power supply circuit 9, when the information reading is completed, the motor drive circuit 4
This is an information reading device using a laser beam, characterized in that a power switching circuit 10 is provided for turning off the power to the audio signal generating circuit 8 and turning on the power to the audio signal generating circuit 8, which had been turned off.

When the reading of information from an information recording section provided on the article, for example, is completed by the laser beam reflected by the scanning mirror 2 which is being rotated, the power supply switching circuit 10 turns off the power to the motor drive circuit 4. , the power is turned on to the audio signal generating circuit 8, which had been turned off until then. That is, it is possible to avoid turning on power to the motor drive circuit 4 and the audio signal generation circuit 8 at the same time. Generally, the power consumption for operating the motor drive circuit 4 is larger than the power consumption for operating the audio signal/generation circuit 8, so by switching the power supply as described above, the power supply circuit 9 can be operated. The power supply capacity is sufficient to operate the motor drive circuit 4, and it is possible to downsize the power supply circuit 9 and, in turn, downsize the information reading device using laser light.

[Faction] With the above-described configuration, the present invention transmits the laser light emitted from the laser light generator 1 to the motor 3 [Embodiment] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the information reading device using the laser light of the present invention will be described in accordance with the drawings. To explain in detail, FIG. 1 shows an example of the embodiment, and 2 indicates a laser beam generator such as a He-Ne gas laser, and 2 indicates information on the laser beam emitted from the laser beam generator 1, which will be described later. A scanning mirror, such as a polygon mirror, that performs information reading scanning so as to hit the recording section; 3 is a motor (for example, a pulse motor) that rotationally drives this scanning mirror 2; 4 is a motor drive circuit for this motor 3; 5 is an information recorder to be described later. 6 is a speaker; 7 decodes a signal corresponding to the laser reflected light detected by the detector 5 into an information signal, and when information reading is completed, transmits it to the speaker 6. a decoding circuit and a main control circuit that emit control signals for notification;
Reference numeral 8 represents an audio signal generation circuit for sending an audio signal to the speaker 6, and 9 represents a power supply circuit.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a power switching circuit that turns off the power to the motor drive circuit 4 and turns on the power to the audio signal generation circuit 8, which had been turned off until then, when reading of the information from the information recording section is completed.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 11 is a filter provided to suppress the amount of laser light emitted from the laser beam generator 1, and is designed to ensure that the amount of laser light hitting the information recording section recorded with barcodes, etc., satisfies safety standards. They have chosen the ones that will give you the maximum benefit.

12 supplies the information signal obtained by the decoding circuit and the main control circuit 7 to a connection terminal 13 to a POS system that is capable of automatically recording data such as product name 9 price at the time of product sale. It is an interface.

Each of the above-mentioned members is assembled in a housing (cabinet) 14, and 15 is a reading window provided in the housing 14 so that the laser beam reflected by the scanning mirror 2 exits outside the housing. be.

When the scanning mirror 2 is rotationally driven by the motor 3, the laser beam 16 reflected by the scanning mirror 2 is sequentially scanned for information reading at the positions shown in, for example, A, B, and C, and is placed on the article 17. Information recording unit 18 such as barcodes
The detector 5 detects the change in the laser reflected light, and sends the detection signal to the decoding circuit and the main control circuit 7.
The code is decoded into an information signal to read information such as product name and price.

FIG. 2 shows a specific embodiment of the power supply switching circuit 1o,
One control signal terminal 7a of the composite circuit and the main control circuit 7
is connected to one input terminal of the AND circuit 10a, and the other control signal terminal 7b is connected to the input terminal of the NOT circuit 10b and to the base of the first transistor 10c. The emitter is connected to the audio signal generation circuit 8, and the collector is connected to the power supply circuit 9. Further, the output terminal of the NOT circuit 10b is connected to the other input terminal of the AND circuit 10a, and the output terminal of the AND circuit 10a is connected to the second transistor 10.
d, this second transistor 10d
The emitter is connected to the motor drive circuit 4, and the collector is connected to the power supply circuit 9.

Next, the operation of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. The laser beam emitted from the laser beam generator 1 is applied to the scanning mirror 2 which is rotationally driven by the motor 3, and the laser beam is reflected. 16 is applied to an information recording section 18 such as a bar code provided on the item 17 through the reading window 15, and the information is read and scanned.

During the information reading scan, a high level control signal (hereinafter referred to as "1") is output from one control signal terminal 7a of the decoding circuit and main control circuit 7, and a low level control signal is output from the other control signal terminal 7b. control signal (hereinafter referred to as “0
” is output, so one input terminal of the AND circuit 10a becomes "1", and the input terminal of the NOT circuit 10b becomes "0" and the output terminal becomes "1", so the other terminal of the AND circuit 10a becomes "1". The input terminal of also becomes “1”, and its output “1”
is applied to the base of the second transistor 10d, making it conductive! ! (on), and this second
Power is supplied to the motor drive circuit 4 through the transistor 10d.

When the information reading is completed, a control signal of "1" is output from the other control signal terminal 7b of the decoding circuit and main control circuit 7, so that the input terminal of the NOT circuit 10b becomes "°l".
, the output terminal becomes “0”, and this “OII” becomes AND circuit 1.
Since the voltage is applied to the other input terminal of the AND circuit 10a, the output of the AND circuit 10a becomes "0", and the second transistor 10
d becomes non-conductive (off), and the supply of power to the motor drive circuit 4 is stopped.

On the other hand, a control signal "1" is applied to the base of the first transistor 10c, turning it on, and the power supply circuit 9
Therefore, power is supplied to the audio signal generation circuit 8 via this first transistor 10c. That is, when the information reading is completed, the power supply switching circuit 10 operates to turn off the power to the motor drive circuit 4 and turn on the power to the audio signal generation circuit 8, which had been turned off until then.

Figure 3 shows the change in power consumption due to such switching of power supplies, and X is the power consumption when the motor 3 and motor drive circuit 4 are operating and information reading scanning is performed. Yes, and Y is the power consumption when the audio signal generation circuit 8 and the speaker 6 are operating to generate audio.

Generally, power consumption X during operation of the motor drive circuit 4 and motor 3 is larger than power consumption Y during operation of the audio signal generation circuit 8 and speaker 6, so by switching the power supply as described above, Since the motor drive circuit 4 and the audio signal generation circuit 8 are not powered on at the same time, the power supply capacity of the power supply circuit 9 is sufficient to operate the motor drive circuit 4 and the motor 3. .

When a predetermined period of time has elapsed from the audio notification of the completion of information reading, it is necessary to switch the power supply circuit to the motor side again in order to read the information recording portion of the next item.

While the motor drive circuit is powered off, the motor continues to rotate due to inertia, but the change in rotational speed is negligible.
Therefore, when power is supplied to the motor drive circuit again, the motor can immediately return to its original constant speed rotation, and there is no problem in reading the information recording portion of the next item.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, when the power is turned on to the audio signal generation circuit for emitting the sound indicating that information reading from the information recording section is completed by the laser beam, the scanning mirror that has been installed is rotated. By turning off the power to the motor drive circuit of the motor being driven,
The power consumption can be reduced, the power supply capacity of the power supply circuit can be reduced, and the size of the information reading device using laser light can be made smaller.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of an information reading device using a laser beam of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a specific embodiment of the invention, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of power consumption of the invention, The figure is an explanatory diagram of power consumption in a conventional example, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a conventional example of an information reading device using a laser beam. ■...Laser beam generator, ...Scanning mirror...Motor, ...Motor drive circuit, ...Detector, ...Speaker, ...Decoding circuit and main control circuit, ... Audio signal generation circuit, ... power supply circuit, O... power supply switching circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A motor (3) and a motor drive circuit (4) that rotationally drive a scanning mirror (2) that scans an information recording section (18) with a laser beam emitted from a laser beam generator (1). , a decoding circuit and a main control circuit (7) that detect the laser reflected light from the information recording section with a detector (5) and decode it into an information signal, and also emit a control signal to notify the completion of information reading. ), an audio signal generation circuit (8) that sends an audio signal to a speaker (6), and a power supply circuit (9). When the information reading is completed, the motor drive circuit (4) )
An information reading device using a laser beam, characterized in that a power switching circuit (10) is provided for turning off power to the audio signal generating circuit (8) and turning on the power to the audio signal generating circuit (8), which had been turned off.