JPH08153272A - Device and method for recognizing commodity - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To make it possible to recognize plural commodities simultaneously existing in a scanner reading range because a customer simultaneously or continuously charges the commodities, and to quickly and accurately recognize respective commodities. CONSTITUTION: At the time of inputting a trigger signal from a trigger signal generating means controlling part 40, a reading means controlling part 50 reads out the shapes of commodities 2a, 2b by controlling a reading means 5. An arithmetic means 6 computes the existence area of the commodities 2a, 2b within the reading range of a scanner 3 by the use of the patterns and height of the commodities 2a, 2b. A reading range restricting means 7 generates a mask pattern for restricting the reading range of the scanner 3 in accordance with the computed existence area of the commodities 2a, 2b. A registering means 9 registers only commodities having succeeded in the reading of their commodity code symbols.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a product recognition apparatus for carrying a product introduced by a customer through a carrying path and performing a product recognition process by reading a product code symbol of the product with a scanner at the time of carrying the product. The present invention relates to a product recognition device and a product recognition method capable of recognizing a plurality of products existing simultaneously within a reading range of a scanner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional product recognition device used for recognizing a purchased product that a customer himself put in is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-244.
Like the device described in Japanese Patent No. 586, the products are introduced one by one by the customer, and are transported on the transportation route, and the transportation route is controlled so that only one product exists in the identification area for identifying the products on the transportation route. In addition, the product code symbol of the product is read by the scanner to recognize the product introduced by the customer.

[0003]

When the customer himself / herself recognizes the purchased product, it is necessary to prevent the customer's erroneous operation and illicit operation, and to simplify the customer operation and speed up the product recognition. For that purpose, it is necessary to recognize the products at the same time even if there are a plurality of products put in by the customer within the reading range of the scanner. But,
In the related art, when there are a plurality of products in the identification area and the scanner reads a plurality of product code symbols, it is not possible to recognize which product code symbol the read product code symbol is. Can't recognize. As described above, since only one product can exist in the identification area, the customer needs to insert the product one by one according to the instruction from the product recognition device. Therefore, it is necessary to throw in products and small items of the same type one by one, which complicates the product loading operation by the customer and takes a long time for the product recognition process.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a product recognition device capable of recognizing and processing a plurality of products existing simultaneously within the reading range of a scanner when a customer inputs the products simultaneously or continuously. .

[0005]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is a one-dimensional or two-dimensional system for reading a pattern of a product being conveyed installed on the upstream side of a scanner for reading a product code symbol on a conveying path. Reading means, trigger signal generating means for generating a trigger signal for starting reading by the reading means, and height measuring means for measuring the height of the product,
There is a calculating means for calculating an area where the product exists within the reading range of the scanner based on the pattern of the product read by the reading means and the height of the product measured by the height measuring means, and the product calculated by the calculating means. Reading range limiting means for limiting the reading range of the scanner according to the area, storing means for storing the success or failure of reading the product code symbol by the scanner for each area limited by the reading range limiting means, and the product stored by the storing means The reading means has a registration means for registering only the products for which the code symbol has been successfully read, and the products introduced by the customer are carried on the carrying path, and the trigger signal generating means detects the products and outputs the trigger signal. Based on the read product pattern and the measured product height, the product pattern on the transport path is read and the height measuring means measures the product height. The calculation means calculates the area where the product is present within the reading range of the scanner, and the reading range limiting means limits the reading range of the scanner sequentially according to the area where the product exists, and the storage means causes the scanner to display the product code symbol. The registration result is stored for each area, and the registration means registers only the products existing in the area where the product code symbol stored in the storage means has been successfully read, so that the registration code exists simultaneously within the reading range of the scanner. The recognition processing is performed for a plurality of commodities.

[0006]

In the commodity recognition apparatus of the present invention, when the trigger signal generation means outputs the trigger signal for detecting the commodity and starting the reading by the reading means, the reading means installed on the upstream side of the scanner on the conveying path conveys the commodity. Within the reading range of the scanner, the pattern of the product inside is read, the height measuring means measures the height of the product, and the computing means reads the pattern read by the reading means and the height of the product measured by the height measuring means. The area in which the product is present is calculated, and the reading range limiting means sequentially limits the reading range of the scanner according to the area in which the product calculated by the calculating means is calculated, and the storage means is for each area limited by the reading range limiting means. The success or failure of reading the product code symbol by the scanner is stored in the scanner, and the registration unit registers only the products that have successfully read the product code symbol stored in the storage unit. Since the recognition processing of a plurality of products to be simultaneously present within the reading range of the customer can be and accurately recognize fast processing products which supplied.

[0007]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described below with reference to examples.

FIG. 1 shows the structure of a commodity recognition apparatus of an embodiment to which the present invention is applied. Reference numeral 1 is a transport path for transporting products introduced by the customer. Products 2a and 2b are conveyed on the conveying path 1 in the arrow direction. Reference numeral 3 is a scanner, and 30 is a scanner control unit. The scanner control unit 30 controls the scanner 3 to read the product code symbols of the products 2a and 2b and output the read results. Reference numeral 4 is a trigger signal generating means, 40 is a trigger signal generating means control section, and the trigger signal generating means 4 is composed of a plurality of light emitting elements and light receiving elements, and detects the commodity by blocking the optical path. The trigger signal generation means control unit 40 outputs a trigger signal when the trigger signal generation means 4 detects the arrival of the product, and further measures and outputs the height of the product conveyed using the trigger signal generation means 4. Reference numeral 5 is a reading unit, and 50 is a reading unit control unit. The reading unit 5 is installed upstream of the scanner 3 in the carrying direction on the carrying path 1 and has a reading range equal to or larger than the reading range of the scanner 3. It consists of a two-dimensional CCD camera. When the trigger signal from the trigger signal generation unit control unit 40 is input, the reading unit control unit 50 controls the reading unit 5 and the products 2a, 2 transported on the transport path 1
Read the shape of b. At this time, the reading means control unit 50 A / D-converts the analog signal from the reading means 5 and outputs a digital signal. Reference numeral 6 denotes an arithmetic means, which uses the product pattern obtained by binarizing or filtering the digital signal input from the reading means control unit 50 and the height of the product from the trigger signal generation means control unit 40. Then, the area where the products 2a and 2b exist within the reading range of the scanner 3 is calculated. Reference numeral 7 is a reading range limiting means, 70 is a reading range limiting means controller, and the reading range limiting means 7 is composed of a liquid crystal shutter. The reading range limiting means control unit 70 controls the reading range limiting means 7, and the product 2 calculated by the calculating means 6
A mask pattern for limiting the reading range of the scanner 3 is generated according to the area where a and 2b exist. By changing the mask pattern in accordance with the transportation of each product, the reading range of the scanner 3 is limited to the region where the product exists. Reference numeral 8 denotes a storage unit that stores the success or failure of reading the product code symbol of the products 2a and 2b by the scanner 3 for each area limited by the reading range limiting unit 7. Reference numeral 9 is a registration means for registering only the products for which the product code symbol stored in the storage means 8 has been successfully read. These are all controlled by a controller (not shown).

Next, the operation of the embodiment of FIG. 1 will be described using the processing flow shown in FIG. The product 2a that the customer purchases,
When 2b is put into the transport path 1 (step 100), the products 2a and 2b are transported on the transport path 1 in the arrow direction, and the product 2
When a reaches the trigger signal generating means 4 and the trigger signal generating means 4 detects the product 2a, the trigger signal generating means control unit 40 outputs the trigger signal to the reading means control unit 50.
Further, the trigger signal generation means control unit 40 measures and outputs the height of the products 2a and 2b using the trigger signal generation means 4 (step 101). When the trigger signal is input, the reading means control unit 50 controls the reading means 5 to read the images of the products 2a and 2b on the conveyance path 1 and output a digital signal (step 102). Trigger signal generation means control unit 40
The heights of the merchandise 2a and 2b measured by and the images of the merchandise 2a and 2b read by the reading means 5 are input to the calculating means 6, and the calculating means 6 determines the area where the goods 2a and 2b exist within the reading range of the scanner 3. Calculate (step 103). When the calculation means 6 calculates the area in which the products 2a and 2b exist, the reading range limiting means control unit 70 controls the reading range restriction means 7 and according to the area in which the products 2a and 2b calculated by the calculation means 6 exist. A mask pattern is generated to limit the reading range of the scanner 3, and control is performed so that the mask pattern changes in accordance with the transportation of the products 2a and 2b (step 10).
4). A mask pattern for the product 2a is shown in FIG.
The reading range limiting means 7 generates the window 7a only in the area where the product 2a exists, and the scanner 3 reads only the product code symbol of the product 2a and does not read the product code symbol of the product 2b. Moves in the direction of the arrow, similar to the transportation of the product 2a. A mask pattern for the product 2b is shown in FIG. The reading range limiting means 7 generates the window 7b only in the area where the product 2b exists, and the scanner 3 reads only the product code symbol of the product 2b and does not read the product code symbol of the product 2a. Moves in the direction of the arrow in the same manner as the product 2b is transported. Reading range limiting means control unit 70
By this, the mask pattern is controlled so that when only one product exists within the reading range of the scanner 3, only a window corresponding to the product can be opened, and when a plurality of products exist within the reading range of the scanner 3. Is controlled so that the windows corresponding to the respective products are sequentially switched and opened at regular time intervals according to the number of times of scanning by the scanner 3, and the scanner 3 reads the product code symbol existing in the opened window ( Step 105). The storage means 8 stores the products 2a, 2 limited by the reading range limiting means 7.
The success or failure of reading the product code symbol by the scanner 3 is stored for each area for b (step 106). The registration unit 9 registers only the products for which the product code symbol stored in the storage unit 8 has been successfully read (step 10).
7). If the product code symbol cannot be read, the product will be returned to the customer without registration.

According to this embodiment, the product code symbol can be read by the scanner and the product recognition processing can be performed only in the area where the product put in by the customer exists within the reading range of the scanner. This has the effect of enabling accurate recognition.

In this embodiment, the case where two products are conveyed has been described. However, even when there are three or more products, it is sufficient that the area in which the products are present within the reading range of the scanner can be calculated, and one of the reading means can be used. When the area where the product exists cannot be calculated by reading once, the images may be read continuously from the reading means, the read images may be combined, and the area where the product exists may be calculated using the combined image.

Further, in the present embodiment, the windows on the mask pattern are switched at regular intervals. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the windows may be switched at random, or the product code symbols in one window may be changed. The window may be switched after reading. Although the scanner is fixed when the window in the mask pattern is moved to read the product code symbol, the invention is not limited to this, and the scanner may be rotated about an axis vertical or parallel to the scanning surface of the scanner, or a raster. By controlling the scanning so that the plurality of scanning lines of the scanner scan within the window in a short time, it is possible to shorten the reading time of the commodity code symbol. Further, the reading range limiting means having the fixed mask pattern and the scanner may be moved integrally following the conveyance of the product.

Further, in this embodiment, the trigger signal generating means and the height measuring means are the same, but they are different as long as they can detect the product for generating the trigger signal and measure the height. A single two-dimensional CCD camera is used as the reading means, but the reading means is not limited to this, and a plurality of cameras may be used, or a one-dimensional C camera may be used.
It may be a CD camera or a CCD camera as long as it can read an image of a product. The liquid crystal shutter is used as the reading range limiting means to change the mask pattern in accordance with the conveyance of the product, but the invention is not limited to this, and an optical system such as a lens or a mirror can be used as long as the reading range of the scanner can be limited. May be used.

[0014]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the customer inserts the product code symbols simultaneously or continuously, the product code symbols of a plurality of products existing at the same time within the reading range of the scanner can be recognized and then recognized. The product can be recognized quickly and accurately.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a product recognition device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the processing of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a mask pattern of a reading range limiting unit.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing another mask pattern of the reading range limiting means.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Conveyance path, 2a, 2b ... Merchandise, 3 ... Scanner, 4 ... Trigger signal generating means, 5 ... Reading means, 6 ... Computing means, 7 ...
Reading range limiting means, 8 ... storage means, 9 ... recognition means, 30
... Scanner control unit, 40 ... Trigger signal generation means control unit,
50 ... Reading means control unit, 70 ... Reading range limiting means control unit.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Kosuke Noda 502 Jinritsu-cho, Tsuchiura-shi, Ibaraki Prefecture Hiritsu Manufacturing Co., Ltd.Mechanical Research Institute (72) Yutaka Nagasawa 502 Jinre-cho, Tsuchiura-shi, Ibaraki Hiritsu Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Inside the Mechanical Research Laboratory (72) Inventor Ryoko Sato 502 Kandamachi, Tsuchiura City, Ibaraki Prefecture

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A product recognition device that carries a product introduced by a customer through a carrying path, and performs a recognition process of the product by reading a product code symbol of the product with a scanner at the time of carrying, in the carrying path. One-dimensional or two-dimensional reading means for reading the pattern of the product being conveyed installed on the upstream side, trigger signal generating means for generating a trigger signal for starting the reading of the reading means, and the height of the product A height measuring means for measuring the product, a product pattern read by the reading means, and a region in which the product exists within the reading range of the scanner based on the height of the product measured by the height measuring means. Calculating means, reading range limiting means for limiting the reading range of the scanner according to the area where the product calculated by the calculating means exists, and the reading range For each area defined by the defining means, there is a storage means for storing the success or failure of reading the product code symbol by the scanner, and a registration means for registering only the products for which the product code symbol stored by the storage means has been successfully read. A product recognition device characterized by the above. 2. A transport path for transporting the products put in by the customer,
A scanner for reading the product code symbol of the product at the time of transportation, a one-dimensional or two-dimensional reading unit for reading the pattern of the product being transported, which is installed on the upstream side of the scanner on the transportation path, and the reading unit. Trigger signal generating means for generating a trigger signal for starting, height measuring means for measuring the height of the product, pattern of the product read by the reading means and product height measured by the height measuring means. Calculation means for calculating an area in which the product exists within the reading range of the scanner based on the above, and a reading range limitation for limiting the reading range of the scanner in accordance with the area in which the product exists calculated by the calculation means Means for storing the success or failure of reading the product code symbol by the scanner for each area limited by the reading range limiting means; In a commodity recognition device having a registration means for registering only the commodity which has successfully read the commodity code symbol stored by the means, the commodity introduced by the customer is conveyed on the conveyance path, and the trigger signal generation means detects the commodity. When the trigger signal is output, the reading unit reads the pattern of the product on the conveyance path, the height measuring unit measures the height of the product, and the read pattern of the product and the measured height of the product. Based on this, the calculation means calculates the area where the product is present within the reading range of the scanner, and the reading range limiting means sequentially limits the reading range of the scanner according to the area where the product is present. In addition, the storage means stores the result of the scanner reading the product code symbol for each area, and the registration means stores the result in the storage means. By registering the goods only present in the region of successful reading of the commodity code symbols are then,
A recognition method for a product recognition device, characterized in that recognition processing is performed for a plurality of products that are simultaneously present within the reading range of the scanner.