JPH0636063A - Bar code - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To surely read bar codes through the unidirectional scanning of a laser scanner without being inferior to an all-directional laser scanner and to lighten the burden on an operator and speed up the operation by forming respective bar codes which are semicircular and adjoin concentrically with one another across blank parts. CONSTITUTION:The bar code 1 consists of plural bars 2 which are formed into a semicircular shape having different radii and have different thickness, and makes the bars 2 adjoin concentrically across the blank parts 3... in the radius direction. Consequently, even if the conveyance attitude of an article or the sticking attitude of the bar code 1 slants, scanning lines Z1 and Z2 of a laser beam can surely discriminate the bar code 1 at the position where they passes the center C unless the scanning direction Y of the laser light beam radiated from the laser scanner for reading the bar code 1 is put in the same direction as a radius line L extending from the center C of the semicircle of each bar 2 to the end of the bar 2, thereby greatly increasing the degree of freedom of the conveyance attitude of the article and the sticking attitude of the bar code.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bar code capable of surely reading information such as contents of articles and destinations during transportation and reducing sorting errors.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, automatic sorting apparatuses for distributing various kinds of articles according to their contents, destinations, etc. have rapidly become popular in the distribution industry.

In such an automatic sorting apparatus, as schematically shown in FIG. 2, one line b composed of a conveyor for transferring an article a and a line b branched from the line b to predetermined the article a. A plurality of sorting lines c distributed to the positions
And is attached to the article a and
The bar code d including information such as the contents and destinations of the items is read by a laser scanner arranged upstream of the line b, and the diverter e at a predetermined position is operated by the read information to sort the articles a into the sorting line. Distribute to one of c ...

The laser beam emitted from the laser scanner scans the bar code d in one direction as shown in FIG. 3, but the inclination α of the bar code arrangement direction a with respect to the laser beam scanning direction X is , The number of scans (3 in this example)
The rotation speed, the transfer speed (in the direction of the arrow), the width of the bar code, and the like can be suppressed within the allowable range of about 15 degrees from the performance of the laser scanner.

Therefore, it is necessary to pay sufficient attention to the inclination of the bar code d and the transfer posture of the article a on the line b so that it is within this allowable range.

[0006]

However, it takes a lot of time and effort to keep a large amount of the articles a ... And the bar codes d ... Within the allowable range, which increases the burden on the worker, and somewhat. In this case, there are problems to be solved, such as reading mistakes and unreadable cases are likely to occur, and there is a risk of inducing sorting errors.

In order to solve such a problem, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 53-40109 proposes a code marking card in which bar codes d1 and d2 having the same content are arranged orthogonally as shown in FIG. This is because by making the selection of the transfer posture of the article or the sticking posture of the code mark relatively free,
Although the burden on the worker can be somewhat reduced, the above-mentioned problems have not been completely solved.

As shown in FIG. 5, some laser scanners read a bar code by running scanning lines in all directions, but this omnidirectional laser scanner is expensive and increases the cost. There is a problem that it invites.

The present invention is based on the fact that the bar is formed in a semi-circular shape, and the degree of freedom in the posture of transferring articles and the posture of sticking cords can be increased to reduce the burden on the worker, and only in one direction. It is an object of the present invention to provide a bar code that can reliably read information such as the contents of articles and destinations even with a scanning laser scanner and reduce sorting errors.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, a bar code according to the present invention has a plurality of bars formed in a semicircular shape having different radii and having different thicknesses, which are concentric with each other and are blank in the radial direction. They are adjacent to each other via a section.

[0011]

Since each bar of the bar code has a semi-circular shape, unless the scanning direction X of the laser beam is the same as the radial line extending from the center of the semi-circle of each bar toward the edge of the bar, scanning is performed. The bar code can be correctly read at any position where the line is on the semicircle, and the reading is comparable to the omnidirectional laser scanner using the laser scanner which scans only in one direction. Therefore, the degree of freedom in the posture of transferring articles and the posture of sticking barcodes can be greatly increased, and the work involved in placing articles on the line and sticking barcodes can be significantly reduced. It not only reduces the burden on the staff, but also helps speed up the work. In addition, it is possible to reduce the cases of erroneous reading and unreadable, and prevent erroneous sorting.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, a bar code 1 according to the present invention includes a plurality of bars 2 ...
Are concentrically and adjacent to each other in the radial direction via the blank portions 3. Note that the bars 2 ... May include the same thickness.

The bar code 1 is attached to an article and is placed on a conveying line and transferred. However, even if the article transfer attitude and the bar code 1 application attitude are inclined, The scanning direction Y of the laser beam emitted from the reading laser scanner is in the same direction as the radial line L extending from the center C of the semicircle of each bar 2 toward the edge of the bar 2 as shown by the dashed line in FIG. Unless otherwise, as shown in FIG. 1 by, for example, a solid line and a two-dot chain line, the scanning line Z of the laser beam
The barcodes 1 and Z2 can surely identify the barcode 1 at the position passing through the center C, and can greatly increase the degree of freedom of the article transfer posture and the barcode sticking posture.

Therefore, the work of placing the article on the conveying line and the work of applying the bar code 1 can be performed freely and easily, which can reduce the burden on the worker and fatigue, and can make a reading error or an unreadable case. Can be significantly reduced, and sorting mistakes can be prevented.

[0015]

As described above, since the bar code of the present invention is formed by forming each bar into a semicircular shape and adjoining the bar concentrically with each other with a blank portion therebetween, the article transfer posture or the bar. Even if the posture of sticking the code is tilted, the barcode can be reliably read by the unidirectional scanning line from the laser scanner as well as the omnidirectional laser scanner, which reduces the burden on the operator. In addition to reducing the number of cases, the work can be speeded up, the number of unreadable cases can be reduced, and sorting mistakes can be prevented.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view schematically showing an automatic sorting device.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a conventional barcode.

FIG. 4 is a plan view illustrating a conventional technique.

FIG. 5 is a plan view illustrating a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 bar 3 blank area

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A bar code in which a plurality of bars having different semi-circular shapes with different radii and different in thickness are contiguous to each other concentrically and in the radial direction with a blank portion therebetween.