JPH0757036A - Bar code deciding method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To decide a bar code by a relatively simple means. CONSTITUTION:In the bar code deciding means which reads a bar code, consisting of white bars and black bars that are as wide as or twice, three times, or four times as wide as one module, by a scanner 1, binarizes the read data by a binarization circuit 2, and decides the data in units of one character consisting of two white bars and two black bars by the character segmentation part 4 of the decision part 3, a thick/thin bar discrimination part 5 and a thick/ thin bar order decision part 6 are provided to discriminate which of an L4 bar which is >=3.5 times as wide as one module, an L3 bar which is <3.5->=2.5 times as wide as one module, an L1 bar which is <1.5 time, and any other L2 bar each bar of one character is, thereby making a decision according to the position of the bar of discriminated width in the character.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bar code judging method for judging a bar code. The barcode is a combination of black and white bars that represents a number, such as J
An AN (Japan Article Number) code is generally used. By printing or pasting the bar code indicating the product type, price, etc. on the product or the like, and reading the bar code at the time of selling the product, a receipt issuance process, a product sales statistical process, and the like are performed. Therefore, it is necessary to accurately determine the read barcode.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The aforementioned JAN code has a standard version of 13 digits and a shortened version of 8 digits, and the shortened version is applied to small products. Further, one character is composed of a combination of two white bars and two black bars. This one character consists of 7 modules (7 bits), and is 1 times, 2 times, 3 times as large as one module.
It is composed of a combination of a white bar and a black bar having either a double width or a quadruple width. The width of one module is 0.33
Based on mm, the width of one module can be selected in the range of 0.26 mm, which is 0.8 times the value, and 0.66 mm, which is twice the value.

In the case of the standard version, from the left,
Left margin of 11 modules or more, left guard bar of 3 modules, data character of 6 characters (42 modules), center bar of 5 modules, data character of 5 characters (35 modules), check character of 1 character (7 modules), 3 modules The right guard bar has a right margin of 7 modules or more, and the length is 113 modules including the left margin and the right margin. The shortened version has a length of 81 modules including the left margin and the right margin.

In such a bar code, for example, if the numeral "0" is shown by the basic module width and its multiple, white 3 (0.99 mm), in the case of odd parity on the left side of the center bar, Black 2 (0.66 mm),
White 1 (0.33 mm) and black 1 (0.33 mm).
For even parity, white 1 (0.33 mm), black 1
(0.33 mm), white 2 (0.66 mm), black 3 (0.
99 mm). For odd parity on the right side of the center bar, black 3 (0.99 mm) and white 2 (0.66 m)
m), black 1 (0.33 mm), and white 1 (0.33 mm).

In the case of optically reading such a bar code for determination, the characters are divided based on the left guard bar, the right guard bar, or the center bar, and the width of the bar is measured for each character.
Since it has a module structure, a bit corresponding to the module represents one character with a 7-bit structure. For example, in the case of the odd parity on the left side of the above-mentioned number "0", the white bar and the black bar have a relationship of the order and width of white 3, black 2, white 1, black 1 and white is "0", black. Is "1", then "00011"
It is represented by a 7-bit structure of "01". Similarly, the number "1"
In the case of the odd parity on the left side of, it is represented by "0011001". Similarly, the numbers "0" to "9" of the odd parity and the even parity on the left side and the even parity on the right side are expressed. Therefore, in the determination unit, the number "0" is used by using this 7-bit pattern. "-" 9 "can be determined.

[0006]

As described above, in the conventional example, the bar code is optically read and divided into each character, and the width of the white bar and the black bar forming one character is determined. This is to measure and convert the data into 7-bit data, and determine the character based on the 7-bit data. It is necessary to perform a bit conversion process corresponding to the width of the white bar and the black bar. There is a drawback that the processing becomes complicated. There is also known a method of performing character determination with respect to a combination of widths of two white bars and two black bars constituting one character. Which of the four widths each bar corresponds to? Since it is necessary to determine the combination of the widths of the four bars after determining, the processing becomes complicated. It is an object of the present invention to make a bar code judgment by a relatively simple judgment.

[0007]

The barcode determination method of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
A bar code consisting of a combination of a white bar and a black bar with a width of any of double, double, triple, and quadruple is read by the scanner 1 and binarized by the binarizing circuit 2, and the character of the judging unit 3 In the method of determining a bar code, which is composed of a combination of two white bars and two black bars in the partitioning section 4, and is partitioned for each character, the determining section 3 includes a thick bar identifying section 5 And a thick-bar order determining unit 6, and the thick-bar identifying unit 5 causes each bar of one character to have a width exceeding 3.5 times that of one module, or 3.5 times. Is a bar smaller than 2.5 times wider, or 1.
It is determined whether the bar is five times or less, and the thick and thin bar order determination unit 6 determines the bar code based on the position of the bar having the identified width within one character.

[0008]

The width of each bar constituting the bar code is one, two, three, or four times that of one module. Therefore, a bar having a width exceeding 3.5 times is four times that of one module. It is the thickest bar with double width. 2.5 times smaller than 3.5 times
A bar with a width more than double is a bar with a width three times that of one module, a bar with a width of 1.5 times or less is a bar with a width of one module, and a bar with a width other than that is twice the width of one module. The width of the bar. The position of the thickest bar in one character is, for example, the second position for the odd parity number “3” on the left side of the center bar and the fourth position for the number “6”. If the number is "3" for even parity, it is the third number, and if the number is "6", the number is first. Further, if the number "3" of even parity on the right side of the center bar, it is the second, and if the number "6", it is the fourth. Therefore, when a bar having a width exceeding 3.5 times the width of one module is identified, the numbers "3" and "6" can be determined by the position within one character. In the case of a bar three times wider than one module,
If the bar is at the first position in one character and the bar having a width twice that of one module is at the second position, it can be determined that the odd parity number "0" on the left side.
That is, the bar code can be determined by the position within one character for the identified one or two types of width bars.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As shown in FIG. 1, a bar code is optically read by a scanner 1 and binarized by a binarizing circuit 2 and is judged by a judging section 3. An embodiment of the present invention of the determination process in FIG. 2 is shown in FIGS. In this determination unit 3, in the character division unit 4,
First, as shown in FIG.
The thickness (width) of the white bar and the black bar of the binarized bar code is measured (A1), then the guard bar and the center bar are detected (A2), and each character is separated based on the guard bar or the center bar ( A3).

Next, in the thick and thin bar discriminating section 5, 1/7 of the measured value of the length of one character is obtained (A4), which is set to 1
As a module, each bar is compared with its 1.5 times, 2.5 times, and 3.5 times values (A5).

Next, it is judged whether or not it is on the left side of the center bar (A6), and if it is on the left side, the process proceeds to step (A7) and thereafter, and if it is on the right side, it proceeds to step (G1) and thereafter shown in FIG. . Then, in the case of the left side, it is determined whether or not the bar is larger than 3.5 times one module (A7).

If it is larger (affirmative), the thickest L4 bar having a width four times as large as one module is proceeded to after step (B1) shown in FIG. 3, and if it is not large (negative), the bar is 2.5 times as large as one module. It is judged whether it is greater than double (A
8) If it is larger (affirmative), the L3 bar having a width three times as wide as one module is set, and the process proceeds to step (C1) and subsequent steps in FIG.
If it is not larger (negative), it is judged whether it is smaller than 1.5 times (A9), and if it is smaller (affirmative), the L1 bar is taken, and the process proceeds to the step (D1) onward in FIG. ), L2 bar (A10). Then, in the thick and thin bar order determination unit 6 (see FIG. 1), L4, L3, L
2, The bar code is determined by the order in the character of the L1 bar.

As for the character, as shown in FIG. 8, the character is divided into a character on the left side and a character on the right side with respect to the center bar, the left character has odd parity and even parity, and the right character has only even parity. . For the numbers “0” to “9”, one module can be associated with one bit, and the white bar can be indicated as “0” and the black bar can be indicated as “1”. See also L
4, L3, L2 and L1 are steps (A7), (A8),
A bar having a width of 3.5 times or more of one module determined by (A9), that is, a bar having a width of 4 modules, a bar having a width of 3.5 times smaller than 2.5 times, that is, having a width of 3 modules, A bar, a bar smaller than 2.5 times and larger than 1.5 times, that is, a bar having a width of 2 modules, and a bar smaller than 1.5 times, that is, a bar having a width of 1 module are shown. Also, (1) to (4) indicate positions within one character.

When an L4 bar having a width exceeding 3.5 times the width of one module is identified in step (A7), the position of the L4 bar within one character is determined as shown in FIG. 3 (B1). , (B2), (B3). As shown in the lower part of FIG. 3, the positions within one character are set in the order of white bar, black bar, white bar, and black bar for the left character.
It is shown by (1) to (4). For the right character, the order is black bar, white bar, black bar, white bar.

When the L4 bar is at the first position (1), it is determined that the parity is even parity 6 (B4), as shown by L4 (1) in FIG. 8, and the L4 bar is at the second position (1). 2)
, The odd parity is 3 as shown as L4 (2).
If the L4 bar is at the third position (3), it is determined to be an even parity 3 (B6), as shown by L4 (3), and the L4 bar is at the first to third positions. If not, that is, in the case of the fourth position (4), it is judged as odd parity 6 as indicated by L4 (4) (B7). Therefore, for a character including an L4 bar having a width exceeding 3.5 times the width of one module, the barcode can be identified by determining the position of the L4 bar.

When an L3 bar smaller than 3.5 times and 2.5 times larger than that of one module is identified in step (A8), as shown in FIG. 4, the L3 bar is located at the first to third positions ( 1) to (3) are judged (C1),
(C2), (C3), the fourth position if neither
Determined as (4). In step (C1), when it is determined that the L3 bar is at the first position (1), it is determined whether the L2 bar is at the second or third position (2), (3) (C
8), (C9), and the L2 bar at the second position (2), as shown in FIG. 8 as L3 (1) L2 (2),
Odd parity 0 is determined (C9).

If it is determined in step (C10) that the L2 bar is in the third position (3), L in FIG.
As indicated by 3 (1) L2 (3), it is determined that the even parity is 8 (C11). If the L2 bar is neither the second nor the third, it is the fourth, so L3 (1) L in FIG.
As indicated by 2 (4), the odd parity 9 is determined (C12).

In steps (C2) and (C3),
When it is determined that the L3 bar is not at the second and third positions (2) and (3) respectively, it indicates that the L3 bar is at the fourth position (4). In that case, the position of the L2 bar is It is determined whether it is the first or second (C4), (C5). If it is determined in this step (C4) that the L2 bar is at the first position (1), it is determined to be an even parity 9 as shown by L3 (4) L2 (1) in FIG. 8 (C13). ). If it is determined in step (C5) that the L2 bar is at the second position (2), odd parity 8 is determined as indicated by L3 (4) L2 (2) in FIG. 8 (C14). ). If the L2 bar is neither the 1st nor the 2nd, it means that it is the 3rd, and in that case L3 (4) L2 (3) in FIG.
As shown by, the even parity 0 is determined (C6).

If it is determined in step (C2) that the L3 bar is at the second position (2), the L2 bar is at the first or third position (1), (as shown in FIG. 5). 3) It is determined whether or not (E1) and (E2). When it is determined in this step (E1) that the L2 bar is at the first position (1), it is determined to be an even parity 4 as shown by L3 (2) L2 (1) in FIG. (E4). When it is determined in step (E2) that the L2 bar is at the third position, it is determined to be even parity 5 as indicated by L3 (2) L2 (3) in FIG. 8 (E5). . If the L2 bar is neither first nor third, it is the fourth position (4).
Therefore, as indicated by L3 (2) and L2 (4) in FIG. 8, it is determined that the odd parity is 7 (E3).

When it is determined in step (C3) that the L3 bar is at the third position (3), the L2 bar is at the first or second position (1), (as shown in FIG. 5). 2) It is determined whether or not (F1), (F2). Step (F1)
When it is determined that the L2 bar is at the first position (1) in (1), it is determined that the parity is even number 7 (F4), as indicated by L3 (3) L2 (1) in FIG. If it is determined in step (F2) that the L2 bar is at the second position (2), odd parity 5 is determined as shown by L3 (3) L2 (2) in FIG. 8 (F5 ). If the L2 bar is neither first nor second, it indicates the fourth position (4). Therefore, as shown by L3 (3) L2 (4) in FIG. 8, it is judged as odd parity 4. Yes (F3).

When it is determined in step (A9) that the L1 bar is smaller than 1.5 times the size of one module, as shown in FIG. 6, which L1 bar is located at the 1st to 4th position. Judgment (D1) to (D3). Also in this case,
If none of the first, second, and third, it is determined to be the fourth.

In step (D1), L1 bar is 1
If it is determined that the position is the first position (1), L1 in FIG.
As shown in (1), the even parity 1 is determined (D
5). If it is determined in step (D2) that the L1 bar is in the second position (2), L1 (2) in FIG.
As shown by, the odd parity 2 is determined (D6). In step (D3), the L1 bar is in the third position.
If it is determined to be (3), it is determined to be even parity 2 as indicated by L1 (3) in FIG. 8 (D7). If it is not 1st to 3rd, it means that it is the 4th, and therefore it is judged as odd parity 1 as shown by L1 (4) in FIG. 8 (D4).

As described above, in the character that does not include the L4 bar and the L3 bar, the bar code can be determined depending on whether the position of the L1 bar is the first to the fourth.

When it is determined in step (A6) in FIG. 2 that the character is not the left character, step (A7),
L4, L3, L2 and L1 bars are identified by steps (G1), (G2), (G3) and (G7) shown in FIG. 7 similar to (A8), (A9) and (A10). And
In the case of the L4 bar having a thickness exceeding 3.5 times that of one module, it is determined whether or not it is at the second position (2) (G8). In the right character, the L4 bar is the second or fourth position, so in the case of the second position (2), L4 in FIG.
As shown in (2), it is determined that the even parity is 3 (G1
0) 4th position (4) if not the 2nd position (2)
Therefore, as shown by L4 (4) in FIG. 8, it is determined that the even parity is 6 (G9).

When it is determined in step (G3) that the L1 bar is smaller than 1.5 times the size of one module, the second position of the L1 bar is the fourth position, so the second position (2 ) Is determined (G4), and in the case of the second position, it is determined to be an even parity 2 as shown by L1 (2) in FIG. 8 (G6), and it is not the second position. In the case, since it is the fourth position (4), L1 in FIG.
As shown in (4), the even parity 1 is determined (G
5).

When it is determined in step (G2) that the width of the L3 bar is greater than 2.5 times and less than 3.5 times that of one module, the position of the L3 bar is one of the first to fourth positions. (G11), (G1)
2), (G13). When it is determined in step (G11) that the L3 bar is at the first position (1), it is determined whether the L2 bar is at the second position (2) (G1
5). When the L2 bar is at the second position (2), it is judged as the even parity 0 (G17) as shown by L3 (1) L2 (2) in FIG. 8 and it is 4 if it is not the second position. Since it is at the th position, it is determined to be an even parity 9 as indicated by L3 (1) L2 (4) in FIG. 8 (G16).

When it is determined in step (G12) that the L3 bar is in the second position (2), L is set in FIG.
As indicated by 3 (2), it is determined that the even parity is 7 (G1
8). If it is determined in step (G13) that the L3 bar is at the third position (3), it is determined whether the L2 bar is at the second position (2) (G19). In this case, the L2 bar is located at the second or fourth position, and if it is determined to be the second position (2), L3 (3) L2 (2) in FIG.
, It is determined to be an even parity 5 (G21), 2
If it is determined that it is not the fourth position, since it is the fourth position, it is determined to be an even parity 4 as indicated by L3 (3) L2 (4) in FIG. 8 (G20).

In step (G13), when it is determined that the L3 bar is not at the third position, the L3 bar is at the fourth position (4). Therefore, at L3 (4) in FIG. As shown, it is determined that the even parity is 8 (G14).

As described above, also for the right side character, the character including the L4 bar can be judged only by its position, and the character not including the L4 bar and the L3 bar can be judged only by the position of the L1 bar. The character including the L3 bar can be determined using its position or the position of the L2 bar.

In the embodiment of the present invention described above, JAN
Although shown as a code, it is also applicable to similar bar codes.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention, each bar of one character is set to 1 by the thick and thin bar identifying section 5 of the judging section 3.
Is the L4 bar wider than 3.5 times the module,
Whether the width is less than 3.5 times and more than 2.5 times the width of L3 bar, or less than 1.5 times the width of L1 bar,
Alternatively, the width L is less than 2.5 times and more than 1.5 times.
It is determined whether or not there are two bars, and the positions (1) to (4) within the one character are used to make a determination. By identifying the position of, there is an advantage that the bar code can be easily determined as compared with the conventional example in which it is determined after the bit pattern is converted.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the principle of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a character.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Scanner 2 Binarization Circuit 3 Judgment Section 4 Character Separation Section 5 Thick Bar Identification Section 6 Thick Bar Order Determination Section

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A bar code consisting of a combination of a white bar and a black bar having a width of 1, 2, 3, or 4 times that of one module is read by a scanner (1) and a binarization circuit ( 2) Binarization by the character division section (4) of the judgment section (3), and the bar code judgment is made for each character consisting of a combination of two white bars and two black bars. In the method, the judging section (3) includes a thick and thin bar identifying section (5) and a thick and thin bar order judging section (6), and the thick and thin bar identifying section (5).
As a result, each bar of 1 character is 3.5 in 1 module.
It is discriminated whether the bar has a width of more than double, a bar of less than 3.5 times and more than 2.5 times, or a bar of 1.5 times or less. A bar code determining method, wherein a bar order determining unit (6) determines a bar code based on a position of a bar having the identified width within one character.