JPH03257692A - Optical scanner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily read bar code regardless of a position to attach the bar code to an object to be read by providing a beam reflection surface and a beam non-reflection surface on one beam scanning part, always generating one scanning beam from beams radiated from plural beam sources and emitting the generated beam to the object to be read. CONSTITUTION:One beam scanning part 1 equipped with the beam reflection surface and the beam non-reflection surface generates one scanning beam by reflecting only one beam out of the respective beams radiated from beam sources 3 provided at plural spots so at to scan the reflected beam. One of the generated beam is reflected on a mirror 2 and emitted to an object 5 to be read. Thus, since one scanning beam is always generated out of the plural beams and emitted to the object 5 to be read, the bar code or the like can be easily read regardless of the position attaching the label onto the object 5 to be read.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary] Regarding an optical scanning device that emits scanning beams of different patterns onto an object to be read and reads the object, one beam scanning section is provided with a beam reflecting surface and a beam non-reflecting surface, and a plurality of beams are scanned. Always generates one scanning beam and emits it to the object to be read, making it easy to read barcodes etc. regardless of the position attached to the object to be read, and easily reducing the influence of ambient light caused by other scanning beams during reading. The aim is to eliminate this by using a beam source that emits a beam, and only one of the beams emitted from the beam sources installed at multiple locations is reflected by a scanning S* to form one scanning beam. one beam scanning section having a beam reflecting surface and a beam non-reflecting surface that generates a beam; and one beam scanning section that reflects one scanning beam generated by the one beam scanning section and emits it toward an object to be read.
and mirrors provided in association with the beam sources, respectively, and one scanning beam is configured to be emitted toward the object to be read by one of these mirrors.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to an optical scanning device that emits scanning beams of different patterns onto an object to be read. For the purpose of streamlining product management and checkout operations, department stores, supermarkets, etc. are using POS systems.
lJit point-of-sale information management system) has been introduced.

At this time, it is desired to create a device that can efficiently read products or products with barcodes attached thereto, no matter where they are placed, and that has a simple configuration.

[All conventional techniques and inventions try to solve
As shown in FIG. 3, in stationary scanners used in supermarkets and the like, the direction in which the scanning beam of light is emitted is limited to either directly above or diagonally upward from one surface. Therefore, there has been a problem in that the operator has to perform the troublesome operation of confirming the position (side) of the barcode attached to the product, orienting it in the reading direction, and performing the reading operation. In addition, even when automatically reading barcodes attached to products on the production line, it is necessary to align the orientation of the product with the position (side) where the barcode is pasted, which may increase the size of the equipment. There has been a problem in that it has become difficult to arrange products of different sizes on the same line. In addition, in order to solve these problems, it is possible to emit a scanning beam onto the product from multiple directions to enlarge the reading range and read barcodes, etc. However, this would require a large-scale device configuration. There was a problem that it became.

The present invention provides a beam scanning section with a beam reflecting surface and a beam non-reflecting surface, always generates one scanning beam from a plurality of beams, emits it to an object to be read, and attaches it to the object to be read. The object of this invention is to easily read bar codes and the like regardless of I, and to eliminate the influence of disturbance light caused by other scanning beams during reading with a simple configuration.

[Means to solve problems]

Means for solving the problem will be explained with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 1, a beam scanning unit 1 scans one of the beams emitted from a plurality of beam sources 3.
It has a beam reflecting surface and a beam non-reflecting surface that generate one scanning beam by reflecting the beam in a scanning manner.

The beam scanner 2 generates 1
These mirrors are respectively provided in correspondence with the beam sources 3 that reflect the two scanning beams and emit them toward the object 5 to be read.

The beam source 3 emits a beam.

[Effect]

As shown in FIG. 1, in the present invention, one beam scanning section 1 having a beam reflecting surface and a beam non-reflecting surface scans only one of each beam emitted from a beam source 3 provided at a plurality of locations. is reflected in a scanning manner to generate one scanning beam, and this generated one scanning beam is passed to mirror 2.
is reflected and emitted toward the object 5 to be read.

Therefore, one beam scanning section 1 is provided with a beam reflecting surface and a beam non-reflecting surface, and by always generating one scanning beam from a plurality of beams and emitting it to the object to be read 5, it is attached to the object to be read 5. It becomes possible to easily read a bar code or the like regardless of the position where the bar code is scanned, and it becomes possible to eliminate the influence of ambient light caused by other scanning beams during reading with a simple configuration.

〔Example〕

Next, the configuration and operation of an embodiment of the present invention will be sequentially explained in detail using FIG.

In FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b), the beam scanning unit 1 scans the emitted beam to generate a scanning beam, and here it is a polygon mirror (a polygon mirror that is rotatable). ), this beam scanning section l is
It has a beam reflecting surface and a beam non-reflecting surface, and always reflects only one of the beams emitted from the plurality of beam sources 3 in a scanning manner to generate one scanning beam.

The mirror 2 is a mirror arranged around one beam scanning section 1, and here is a plurality of patterned mirrors.

The scanning beam reflected by the mirror 2 is directed toward the object 5 to be read and is emitted from the window. At this time, a number of xi groups corresponding to the number of beam sources 3 are provided so that one scanning beam is always emitted from each window toward the object 5 to be read.

The beam source 3 generates a beam, and is a laser light source or the like.

The light receiving element 4 receives the light reflected and returned from the object to be read 5 and converts it into an electrical signal.

The object to be read 5 is an object to be read, such as a commodity or a product to which a bar code or the like is attached.

The control section 6 rotates the beam scanning section 1 to generate a scanning beam.

The beam scanning section 1 will be explained in detail using FIGS. 1(c) and 1(d). As shown in the perspective view of FIG. 1 (2), the beam scanning unit l includes a beam reflecting surface that reflects the beam emitted from the beam source 3 in a scanning manner, and a beam reflecting surface on which the beam emitted from the beam source 3 is incident. It consists of a beam non-reflecting surface that does not reflect even when the beam is reflected (or reflects the beam in a direction other than the direction of the mirror 2 so as not to become a noise source as a result).What are these beam reflecting surfaces and beam non-reflecting surfaces? , for example, as shown in FIG.
It is designed to generate two scanning beams.

Next, the operation of the configuration shown in FIG. 1 will be explained in detail. In the configuration shown in FIG. 1, one beam scanning section l has six surfaces, three beam reflecting surfaces and three beam non-reflecting surfaces, and two sets of beam sources 3, mirrors 2, and light receiving elements. There is.

(1) Beams generated by two beam sources 3 are irradiated onto one beam scanning section l from opposite directions, respectively.

(2) One beam scanning unit 1 rotates to scan the beams irradiated from two beam sources 3 and alternately reflects one scanning beam, and the mirror 2 reflects one of the reflected scanning beams. The light is emitted alternately from window A or window B to the object to be read 5 in different directions. As a result, the multiple mirrors 2 alternately emit light in different directions through the window A or window B, and scan the object 5 from directly below and on both sides, scanning the attached barcode over a wide range. It becomes possible to scan.

(3) The light reflected from the object to be read 5 passes through the mirror 2, the beam scanning section 1, the condensing lenses A and B, and the reflecting mirrors A and B, and then passes through the light receiving element (^') or (B). Detected by. Then, the bar code attached to the object 5 to be read is read.

Through the above operations, one beam scanning section 1 having a beam reflecting surface and a beam non-reflecting surface, and two sets of beam sources 3, mirrors 2, and light receiving elements 4 are provided, and the object to be read 5 is constantly exposed to the object 5 from different directions. By emitting one scanning beam, it is possible to scan over a wide range and easily read barcodes regardless of the position of the object 5 to be read, and the simple configuration makes it possible to easily read barcodes by emitting other scanning beams. It becomes possible to eliminate the influence of external light.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of another embodiment of the present invention.

This is a configuration of another embodiment in which one scanning beam is always emitted toward the product (object to be read 5) from a direction substantially perpendicular to the surface.

FIG. 2 (a) shows a perspective view. Window A and window B are almost at right angles, and one scanning beam is always emitted from these windows A and B toward the product 5-1. The barcode attached to the product 5-1 is read.

FIG. 2(b) shows a sectional view of the multidirectional reading device shown in the perspective view of FIG. 2(a).

In FIG. 2 (b), two sets of laser light sources (A> 3-1, laser light sources (
B) 3-1, pattern mirror 2-1, window A, window B, and light receiving element 4 are provided. Based on this authority, one scanning beam is emitted from a position approximately perpendicular to window A1 and window B to product 5-1, and the light that is reflected and returned is detected by light receiving element 4 to read a bar code, etc. By this, product 5
It becomes possible to scan a wide range below and horizontally of -1 to easily read barcodes, and it also becomes possible to eliminate the influence of disturbances caused by other scanning beams with simple authority.

Note that even when there are two or more sets of beam sources 3, the beam scanning section l always reflects only one scanning beam and emits it toward the object to be read 5, so as to eliminate the influence of ambient light. In this case, among the beam reflecting surface and the beam non-reflecting surface of the beam scanning unit 1, the beam non-reflecting surface not only does not reflect the beam but also has a direction other than the mirror 2. It is also possible to prevent the light from being emitted in the direction of the object to be read 5 by being reflected in the direction of the object to be read, so that it does not mix into the optical system and interfere with reading.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, one beam scanning unit 1 is provided with a beam reflecting surface and a beam non-reflecting surface, and one scanning beam is always generated from beams emitted from a plurality of beam sources 3. Since it uses an authority that emits light to the object 5 to be read, it is possible to easily read barcodes etc. regardless of the position attached to the object 5 to be read.
The influence of disturbance light caused by other scanning beams during reading can be eliminated by simple authority.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows an authority diagram of one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 shows an authority diagram of another embodiment of the invention, and FIG. 3 shows an explanatory diagram of the prior art. In the figure, 1 is a beam scanning unit, 1-1 is a polygon mirror, 2
is a mirror, 2-1 is a pattern mirror, 3 is a beam source, 3
-1 is a laser light source, 4 is a light receiving element, 5 is an object to be read, 5
-1 represents the product, and 6 represents the 1ilIW section.

Claims (1)

[Claims] An optical scanning device that emits scanning beams with different patterns onto an object to be read and reads the object, comprising: a beam source (3) that emits a beam; one beam scanning section (1) having a beam reflecting surface and a beam non-reflecting surface that reflect only one of the respective beams in a scanning manner to generate one scanning beam; and this one beam scanning section. mirrors (2) provided in correspondence with the beam sources (3), which reflect one scanning beam generated by (1) and emit it toward the object to be read (5); 2) A multidirectional reading device characterized in that it is configured to emit one scanning beam toward an object to be read (5).