JPH03271988A - Reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To decrease the read error or impossibility rate of a bar code by rotating the reflection polygon of a projecting means so that the scanning directions of scanning beams can be mutually opposite. CONSTITUTION:This reader is equipped with a reading means 5, bar code 10, projecting means 60, light source 61, reflection polygon 65 and photodetecting means 69. The reflection polygons 65 in the projecting means 60 of the plural reading means 5 are rotated mutually reversely and the scanning beam is projected onto the bar code 10 of merchandise 1 while reflecting light radiating from the light source 61. Thus, the scanning beams are prevented from being overlapped on the surface of the bar code 10, and the frequency of irregularity of the reflected light is extremely decreased. Therefore, the rate of occurrence of read error or impossibility of the bar code can be extremely decreased.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary] The present invention relates to a reading device that can prevent scanning beams from multiple scanners from overlapping on the barcode surface, and can reduce the rate of barcode reading errors and unreadable barcodes. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a reading device that can scan the light emitted from the light source by reflecting the light emitted from the light source onto the surface of a rotating reflective polyhedron to project a scanning beam; , comprising a plurality of light receiving means for receiving the reflected light from scanning the barcode written on the moving article and converting it into an electrical signal, and a plurality of reading means for scanning the barcode written on the moving article simultaneously with the plurality of scanning beams of the plurality of reading means. The reading device for reading barcodes has a configuration in which the rotation direction of the reflective polyhedron of the light projecting means is rotated so that the scanning directions of the scanning beams are opposite to each other, or a configuration in which the reflective polyhedrons are rotated at different periods. do.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a barcode reading device that reads the barcode of a product using a plurality of scanners, and particularly to a reading device that can prevent scanning beams from a plurality of scanners from overlapping on the barcode surface.

In recent years, point of sale information management (hereinafter referred to as PO) has been introduced in department stores, supermarkets, etc.
s) system has become widespread, and sales management and sales product registration input work is becoming more efficient.

A POS system uses a scanner to read barcodes printed on product packaging, labels, etc. using laser beam scanning and convert them into information suitable for calculation processing, and a computer to process the information obtained. , and the bottom of the tank is an electronic register that relays between these and outputs information to customers.

Recently, in order to save the operator's labor, a device has been developed and put into practical use in which when a customer places a product on a conveyor, the conveyor transports the product and the product is read by a scanner inside a tunnel.

In order to be able to read the barcode on any side of the product, such a reading device has multiple scanners placed inside the tunnel, for example, on both sides, so that when the product passes through the tunnel, Although it is designed to read by scanning the barcode simultaneously, simultaneous scanning from multiple scanners causes the reflected light to overlap and cause disturbance, resulting in a high rate of barcode reading errors or unreadable barcodes. A method to prevent reading errors and unreadability is desired.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 6 shows a conveyor-type barcode reading device. As shown in the figure, a belt conveyor (hereinafter referred to as a conveyor) 20 is laid on a conveyance path 2 of a predetermined length, and the conveyor 20 is placed across the conveyance path 2 from the side. A tunnel 3 is provided above.

A product receiving section 4 is disposed at the right end of the terminal end of the conveyance path 2 in FIG. The conveyor 20 is moved by a drive source (not shown).

Scanners 5a and 5b are arranged inside the tunnel 3 on both sides. This is so that the barcode 10a can be read regardless of whether it is printed on the top or side of the product 1a.

As shown in FIG. 7, the barcode 10a is formed by a combination of thick lines, thin lines, and their spacing, and letters, numbers, symbols, etc. are displayed by a predetermined number of permutations of these lines, and are used on the packaging of the product 1a. It is printed directly or printed on a label or the like and attached to the product 1a.

FIGS. 8(a) and 8(b) show the scanner 5a (scanner 5
5a and 5b have the same structure, so the explanation will be based on the scanner 5a). As shown in the figure, the scanner 5a has an optical unit 6 and scanner 5a
The optical unit 6 receives the light emitted from the output unit 63, which includes a light source 61a, which is configured with a laser diode, for example, and a lens 62 for beam shaping. are plane mirrors 64a, 64
b, the scanning beam is emitted by the rotating polygon mirror 65a, and the reflected light that has scanned the scanning pattern and the barcode 10a of the product 1a is sent to the polygon mirror 65.
It has a light receiving and converting function of condensing light through a condenser lens 68, reading it with a light receiving sensor 69a, and converting it into an electrical signal.

For example, the polygon mirror 65a has a reflective surface as an entrance surface, and scans six times in one rotation, and each surface is provided with a different angle with respect to the vertical direction, and a scanning beam is emitted.

The polygon roller 65a is rotated by a motor M1, and the motor M1 and the light source 61 are connected to an electronic register whose reading control section 8 is not shown. Also, optical unit 6
, the data processing section 7 and the reading control section 8 are housed in a housing 50.

The data processing unit 7 converts the electrical signals received and converted by the light receiving sensors 69a of the scanners 5a and 5b into a sensor amplifier (not shown), an analog/digital (A/D)
Product 1 that is suitable for Parco after going through a conversion circuit and a binarization circuit
A barcode 10a is scanned, the barcode 10a is read by the reflected light, and the data is recognized.

With such a configuration and function, barcode 10
When the product 1a with a printed on it is placed on the left end of the conveyor 20a at the starting end in FIG. The barcode 10a located at the position is read, the product 1a is sent to the product receiving section 4, and the read data is sent to the data processing section 7 for recognition. The recognized data is sent from the reading control unit 8 to the electronic register and registered as sales product data.

Note that when the barcode 10a is read by the scanners 5a and 5b, the operator is notified by a reading completion sound.

As shown in FIG. 8(b), the reading window 6
[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] According to the above-mentioned conventional method, a plurality of scanners are provided in a tunnel on a conveyor, and a scanning beam is emitted from the scanner 7 in the direction of the reading window 67. When reading a code, as shown in Figure 9, multiple scanners emit scanning beams at the same time, and since the scanning speed of the scanning beams is the same, the scanning beams overlap on the barcode surface and are reflected. There is a problem in that light is disturbed and reading errors or unreadable images occur.

An object of the present invention is to provide a reading device that can reduce the rate of barcode reading errors and unreadable barcodes.

[Means to solve the problem]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the principle of the present invention, in which (a) is a block diagram corresponding to claim 1, and (b) is a constituent country corresponding to claim 2.

1) In the means diagram corresponding to claim 1, 61 is a light source, 5 is a reading means consisting of a light projecting means 60 and a light receiving means 69, and 60 is provided in each of the plurality of reading means 5, and 60 is a light emitted from the light source 61. The light projecting means 65 is provided in each of the light projecting means 60 of the plurality of reading means 5, and each light projecting means 60
A reflective polyhedron 69 rotates between the plurality of reading means 5 so that the scanning direction of the scanning beam is opposite to each other, and the light projecting means 60
The barcode IO written on the moving article 1 is scanned by the scanning beam projected by the object 1, and the reflected light is received and converted into an electrical signal.

Therefore, the bar code 10 is read by rotating the plurality of reflective polygons 65 so that the scanning directions of the scanning beams are opposite to each other.

2) In the means diagram corresponding to claim 2, 1 is an article, 5 is a reading means, 10 is a bar code, 60 is a light projecting means, 61 is a light source, 65 is a reflective polyhedron,
69 is a light receiving means.

Therefore, the bar code 10 is read by rotating the plurality of reflective polyhedrons 65 at mutually different periods.

[Effect]

1) Effect corresponding to claim 1 The reflective polyhedrons 65 of the light projecting means 60 of the plurality of reading means 5 are rotated in opposite directions to reflect the light emitted from the light source 61 to direct the scanning beam to the bar of the article 1. By illuminating the code 10, the frequency of scanning beam superimposition in the plane of the bar code 10 is significantly reduced, and thus the incidence of misreading or unreading of the bar code 10 can be significantly reduced.

2) Effect corresponding to claim 2 The reflective polyhedrons 65 of the light projecting means 60 of the plurality of reading means 5 are rotated at mutually different rotation periods, and the light irradiated from the light source 61 is reflected, thereby scanning at mutually different speeds. By projecting the beam onto the barcode 10 of the article 1, the superimposition of the scanning beam in the plane of the barcode 10 is significantly reduced, thus reducing the incidence of misreading or unreading of the barcode 10 and improving the reading performance. can be improved.

〔Example〕

1) Example corresponding to claim 1 An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

The same reference numerals refer to the same objects throughout the design.

The product 1a, the scanners 5a, 5c, and the polygon mirrors 65a, 65b in FIG. 2 correspond to the product 1, the reading means 5, and the reflective polyhedron 65 in FIG. 1(a), respectively, and the light B 61 a in FIG.

Polygon mirror 65a and illustration omitted (FIG. 8(a)
(explained in ) output section 63 and plane mirrors 64a, 64b
corresponds to the light projecting means 60 in FIG. 1(a).

FIG. 2 shows a side view of scanners 5a and 5c provided oppositely in a tunnel 3a of an apparatus in which the present invention is applied to the tunnel-type barcode reading apparatus described in the conventional example. By rotating M2, the polygon 65b is rotated to reflect the laser beam emitted from the light source 61a and project a scanning beam.

The rotation direction of the motor old of the scanner 5a and the motor M2 of the scanner 5c is that the motors Ml and M2 are similar to the polygon 65a.
.

The scanning beams are set to irradiate in mutually opposite directions when rotating 65b.

With such a configuration, as shown in FIG. 3, the barcode 10 of the product 1a conveyed on the conveyor 2Oa
When a is read by the scanners 5a and 5c, the scanning beams scan in opposite directions, so overlapping of the scanning beams is avoided, and the frequency of reflected light disturbances is significantly reduced, resulting in reading errors and inability to read. can be prevented and reading performance can be improved.

2) Example corresponding to claim 2 An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. FIG.

The same reference numerals indicate the same objects throughout the figures.

Product 1a+scanners 5a, 5d and polygon mirror 65a in FIG. 4 are the product 1 in FIG. 1(b). Corresponding to the reading means 5 and the reflective polyhedron 65, the light source 61a, plane mirrors 64a and 64b in FIG.
) described in )). Plane mirrors 64a, 64b
corresponds to the light projecting means 60 in FIG. 1(b).

FIG. 4 shows a side view of scanners 5a and 5d provided oppositely in a tunnel 3a of an apparatus in which the present invention is applied to the tunnel-type barcode reading apparatus described in the conventional example, and the scanner 5d has a motor. The polygon mirror 65b is rotated by the previous rotation to reflect the laser light emitted from the light source 61b and project a scanning beam.

The rotational speeds of the old motor of scanner 5a and the old motor of scanner 5d are motor Ml, ? 13 is a polygon mirror 65a
.

When rotating 65b, the scanning beam is set to be irradiated at mutually different rotation periods. For example, the rotation speed of the polygon mirror 65a is 6.00 Orpm,
The rotation speed of the polygon mirror 65b is 5.90 Orpa+
is set to .

With this configuration, as shown in FIG. 5, the barcode 10 of the product 1a conveyed on the conveyor 2Oa
When a is read by the scanners 5a and 5d, the scanning time by the scanning beam is different, so the frequency of overlapping at the same point is reduced, reading errors and unreadability can be prevented, and reading performance can be improved.

Further, as a different embodiment to the above claims 1 and 2,
Although not shown, a plurality of polygon mirrors 65a and 65b
When the polygon mirror 65a is rotated by one motor M, a power transmission mechanism such as a gear or a belt between the motor M and the polygon mirrors 65a and 65b is used.
, 65b may be rotated in opposite directions or at different rotation speeds.

Furthermore, by applying both the invention of claim 1 and the invention of claim 2, it is possible to reduce the overlap of the -layer scanning beams and obtain even higher effects.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, the rotation direction of the reflective polyhedron of the light projection means of a plurality of reading means is rotated so that the scanning directions of the scanning beams are opposite to each other, or By rotating the polyhedrons at different cycles, the rate at which multiple scanning beams overlap on the barcode marked on an item is significantly reduced, preventing reading errors and unreadable items, and improving reading performance. The effect is that it can be improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a diagram of the principle of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a constituent country showing an embodiment corresponding to claim 1 of the present invention, Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram of Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 is a claim of the present invention. Figure 5 is an explanatory diagram of Figure 4; Figure 6 is a perspective view of a tunnel type barcode reader; Figure 7 is an explanatory diagram of a barcode; Figure 8 is the constituent country of the scanner, and FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional example. In the figure, 1 is an article, 1a is a product, 5 is a reading means, 58 to 5d are scanners, 10.
10a is a bar code, 60 is a light projecting means, 65 is a reflective polyhedron, 65a, 65b is a polygon mirror 69 is a light receiving means, 69a is a light receiving sensor, old to M
3 indicates a motor. (Corresponding to claim 1 of ↑To the 5th structure Figure Cbl Him 2 +JfSt 5MK'fEJ book f
fBIII/1 schistometric diagram Figure 1 Claim 11'' of the present invention - Corresponding 7 filter perforation orange example S Figure 2 Skeletal diagram
Figure 4: Explanatory diagram of Figure 2 Figure 5: Explanatory diagram of Figure 4 Figure 5: Tunnel type bar The device is shown in Figure 6. Conventional product examples. Figure 9. It! l! J″】

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) Light projecting means (60) for projecting a scanning beam by reflecting light emitted from a light source (61) onto the surface of a rotating reflective polyhedron (65); ) by means of a scanning beam projected from
A light receiving means (for receiving reflected light from scanning a barcode (10) marked on a moving article (1) and converting it into an electrical signal)
69), and reads the barcode (10) by simultaneously scanning with each scanning beam of the plurality of reading means (5), the reading device comprising: A reading device characterized in that the rotating direction of the reflective polyhedron (65) of the means (60) is rotated so that the scanning directions of the scanning beams are opposite to each other. 2) a light projection means (60) for projecting a scanning beam by reflecting the light irradiated from the light source (61) on the surface of a rotating reflective polyhedron (65); by scanning beam,
A light receiving means (for receiving reflected light from scanning a barcode (10) marked on a moving article (1) and converting it into an electrical signal)
69), and reads the barcode (10) by simultaneously scanning with each scanning beam of the plurality of reading means (5), the reading device comprising: A reading device characterized in that the reflective polyhedron (65) of the means (60) is rotated at mutually different periods.