JPH10177615A - Device for reading optical information - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inexpensive optical information reading device in which positioning can be easily and exactly executed by anybody and reading precision is high without especially increasing the area of a transmission window or an image pickup element. SOLUTION: In an optical information reading device, a transparent plate 12 indicating a data fetching position is placed extendedly and a shutter 15 covering the upper part of the transparent plate 12 and forming a data fetching port is provided so as to be retractable. Thus, in the case of positioning an information recording symbol at the data fetching port, the positioning is easily attained by visualization in a state that the transparent plate 12 is not covered by the shutter 15. Thus, the information of an information recording symbol 4 can be exactly read.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of reading information recording symbols optically and inputting and reading the information recording symbols into an image pickup device built in an optical information reading apparatus. The present invention relates to an optical information reader which can be used.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Barcodes have been mainly used as information recording symbols on which product information such as product names and prices are recorded. Recently, two-dimensional data symbols capable of recording more information have been adopted. And various information recording symbols have appeared.

For example, in this two-dimensional data symbol, a large number of bar-shaped symbols are arrayed vertically and horizontally in an area of a fixed area, so that the entire two-dimensional data symbol needs to be captured as image data by a reader. For reading the two-dimensional data symbols, a handy terminal or the like having an image pickup device such as a CCD inside is usually used, and the entire two-dimensional data symbol is optically transmitted through a transmission window for capturing image data formed in the handy terminal. By taking in (for example, via a lens) and converting it into an image signal by a CCD, product information or the like recorded in a two-dimensional data symbol is stored or transferred to the outside.

[0004]

In order to instantly capture information recording symbols as image data using such a handy terminal, the transmission window of the handy terminal and the information recording symbol must be quickly and accurately aligned. There is a need to.

However, an inexperienced operator or a low-vision person or the like relies on the sense only for the alignment between the transmission window of the handy terminal and the information recording symbol, so that it takes time to perform the alignment. For this reason, usually, the transmission window of the handy terminal is made larger than the size of the information recording symbol, and the imaging area of the CCD or the like is enlarged to search and read a wide area near the information recording symbol. ing.

As described above, when a large area is searched with a large transmission window, not only the reading accuracy is reduced, but also the CC is reduced.
Increasing the area of D etc. not only increases the cost, but also
The power consumption increases, and the size of the handy terminal increases.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and can be easily and accurately adjusted by anyone without particularly increasing the area of a transmission window and an image pickup device, and has high reading accuracy. It is intended to provide an inexpensive optical information reader.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an optical information reading apparatus according to the present invention is a data reading device for capturing an information recording symbol of a fixed area displayed on a printed material or the like. An optical information reader having an input port and an information input means including an image sensor set at a predetermined distance from the data input port, wherein the optical information reader has a data input position. And a shutter that exposes the transparent plate or covers the transparent plate to form a data intake port is provided so as to be able to protrude and retract. According to this feature, when the information recording symbol is aligned with the data inlet, the alignment can be easily performed visually when the transparent plate is not closed by the shutter. It can be read accurately.

In the optical information reader of the present invention, the retractable shutter comprises a front inclined plate, an upper horizontal plate, and a side vertical plate, wherein the vertical plate is an OFF of the optical information reader. It is preferred that they are arranged to sometimes block the optical path. By doing so, there is no need to read erroneous information due to erroneous operation or failure.

[0010] In the optical information reading apparatus of the present invention, it is preferable that an aiming mark is attached to an appropriate position of the transparent plate.
With this configuration, the information recording symbol can be accurately positioned by the data input port, and the inclination error between the two can be reduced.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a product ordering sheet 1 used for catalog sales and the like applied to the first embodiment of the present invention.
The inside of a plurality of squares divided into certain dimensions,
The area is divided into an area 2 for displaying a product, an area 3 for displaying a product name, a price, and the like, and an area 5 for displaying a two-dimensional data symbol 4 which is an information recording symbol.

A two-dimensional data symbol (hereinafter abbreviated as a data symbol) 4 has a square shape, and a large number of bar-like symbols are arrayed vertically and horizontally in the square, so that a product code,
All kinds of product information such as product name, content, quantity, price, etc. are converted and recorded in advance.

Immediately above each data symbol 4 and below the displayed product, for example, horizontal ruled lines 6 are color-printed discontinuously as positioning means for a handy terminal 7 described later. However, there is also a product ordering sheet without such a ruled line.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show the data symbol 4
Is shown as a handy terminal 7. The handle 9 has a numeric keypad 8 for inputting the number and the like on the upper surface thereof, and a reading head 10 comprising a shutter 15 sandwiched between side plates 14 projecting obliquely at its tip. Consists of The operation button 13 of the shutter 15 is provided at a predetermined position on the distal end side of the handle 9.

On the upper surface of the reading head 10, a horizontally long rectangular liquid crystal display section 11 is formed. Read head 10
A transparent plate 12 made of, for example, glass or the like (a plastic plate is also possible) extends from the front end of the casing, and a user usually transmits the data symbol 4 through the transparent plate 12 in front of the read head 10. Can be seen. Reference numeral 16 denotes an aiming mark, which is used for positioning with respect to the data symbol 4 or the like.

The structure of the handy terminal 7 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 3 and 5A. The motor 20 is operated by mainly pressing the operation button 13 in the handy terminal 7. A mechanism for moving the rack 22 back and forth via the pinion 21 and for moving the shutter 15 connected by the connecting piece 23 in a predetermined direction, and a standing plate for irradiating the data symbol 4 with a predetermined amount of light. 17, LEDs 42, 42. . And a reflection plate 19b for reflecting the read information at a predetermined angle and guiding the reflected information into the information capturing device 18 as information capturing means.

The shutter 15 includes a horizontal plate 15a, an inclined plate 15b inclined downward by about 45 ° from the front edge of the horizontal plate 15a, and an inclined plate 15b and the horizontal plate 15a. And vertical plates 15c, 15c which hang down from both side ends of the sloping plate 15b. A reflecting plate 19a is fixed to the back surface of the inclined plate 15b.

When the shutter 15 is at the position shown in FIG. 4, the inclined plate 15b as shown in FIG.
Are located on the upper surface of the transparent plate 12 and both vertical plates 15
c is located on a side portion thereof, so that external light that enters the data symbol 4 after passing through the transparent plate 12 can be shielded. At this time, the horizontal plate 15a, the inclined plate 15b, and the vertical plate 15c form a transmission window as a data intake on the lower surface of the handy terminal 7, and light to the data symbols 4 located below the transmission window is erected. The light is supplied by a light emitting diode 42 incorporated in the plate 17.

As shown in FIG. 3, an appropriate number of convex lenses 43 and a CCD 44 provided at the focal position of the convex lens 43 are provided inside the information capturing device 18, in particular. The CCD 44 is connected to storage means (not shown) such as a memory card provided in the handle portion 9 or a connector or the like which can be connected to an external computer or the like, and converts image data formed on the CCD 44 into a signal. It can be held.

Further, in this embodiment, a sign or the like for confirming reading of information can be displayed on the liquid crystal display section 11 via a control device (not shown) as appropriate. Also,
It is also possible to confirm the reading of information by using a sound such as a buzzer.

Here, the reading method and operation of the data symbol 4 using the handy terminal 7 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, as shown in FIG.
The aiming mark 16 is visually aligned with the desired data symbol 4, for example, so as to coincide with the center.

At this time, as shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 5 (a), the transparent plate 12 is always in an exposed state, and the upper part is not shielded by the inclined plate 15b of the shutter 15, so that the transparent plate The data symbol 4 can be viewed from above by using external light. In this case, since the inclined plate 15b of the shutter 15 is inclined so as to open toward the grip 9, the operator can easily view the data symbol 4.

When reading the data symbol 4, the motor 20 is rotated from the state shown in FIG. 3 by the electric circuit (not shown) by pressing the operation button 13 in the state shown in FIG. 4 and 5, the shutter 15 is moved upward in the drawing.
As shown in (b), the horizontal plate 15a, the inclined plate 15b, and the vertical plate 15c of the shutter 15 shield the area above the data symbol 4 and the reflector 19a is located above the data symbol 4.

External light is completely blocked by the shutter 15, and at the same time, the light emitting diode 4 on the front face of the standing plate 17 is controlled by an appropriate control device provided in the handy terminal 7.
2 is turned on, and uniform light is supplied to the data symbol 4.

As shown in FIG. 5B, the image data of the data symbol 4 reflected upward by the light is reflected in the horizontal direction by the reflector 19a, and is directed to the reflector 19b. As a result, the light is reflected to the left as shown by the arrow in FIG. Then, it is narrowed down through the lens 43 and the CCD 4
4 is illuminated.

At this time, the image data is shown in FIG. 4 and FIG.
, The distance L1 from the data symbol 4 to the reflector 19a, the distance L2 from the reflector 19a to the reflector 19b, and the distance L from the reflector 19b to the lens 43.
3, that is, the light enters the lens 43 through a distance of L1 + L2 + L3. That is, the distance from the reflection plate 19a to the reflection plate 19b shown in FIG. 5A becomes longer as the distance L2 when reading as shown in FIG. 5B, and the distance from the data symbol 4 to the lens 43 becomes longer. It is possible to take longer. For this reason, the depth of field is increased, and the focus of the data symbol 4 is easily adjusted, so that the entire image data of the data symbol 4 can be more reliably captured without partial blurring.

When it is confirmed that the image data is correctly irradiated on the CCD 44, the image data is inputted and stored in the image data storage means and the like, and the confirmation data of the completion of the reading is displayed on the liquid crystal display device 11. Will be. If the data cannot be correctly captured, nothing is displayed on the liquid crystal display device 11, or a message indicating that the capturing operation is required again is displayed.

The motor 20 starts reversing at the same time as the completion of the image data acquisition, and the shutter 15 is automatically returned to the normal position. Incidentally, since a series of operations such as capturing of image data and movement and return of the shutter 15 are normally performed within one second, it is particularly necessary for the user to keep pressing the operation button 13 for a predetermined time. There is no such thing. In the state of FIG. 5A, the vertical plate 15c of the shutter 15 blocks the optical path between the information capturing device 18 and the reflecting plate 19b, and the possibility of capturing incorrect information is reduced. I have.

As described above, in the information reading apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, not only is the alignment of the data symbol 4 with the information fetching apparatus 18 extremely easy, but also the data symbol 4 is used only when used. Since it is possible to increase the distance to the lens 43, the depth of field is increased, and the focus of the data symbol 4 is easily adjusted.
Image data can be captured more reliably.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the drawings, the specific structure is not limited to these embodiments, and even if there are changes and additions without departing from the gist of the present invention. Included in the invention.

For example, the information capturing device 18 and the reflection plate 1
The arrangement positions of 9a and 19b and the number of reflection plates 19a and 19b can be arbitrarily changed. Further, the aiming mark is not limited to a cross, and may be any mark as long as it indicates a data symbol inlet. Furthermore, the movement of the shutter 15 can be moved by the force of the operator's finger without using a motor.

[0032]

According to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

(A) According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the information recording symbol is aligned with the data input port, the alignment can be easily performed visually when the transparent plate is not closed by the shutter. It is possible to read the information of the information recording symbol accurately.

(B) According to the second aspect of the present invention, there is no fear of reading erroneous information due to erroneous operation or failure.

(C) According to the third aspect of the present invention, the information recording symbol can be accurately positioned by the data input port, and the inclination error between them can be reduced.

[0036]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a procedure for positioning a product ordering sheet and a handy terminal applied to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall perspective view of a handy terminal.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway plan view showing the operation of the handy terminal of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway plan view showing the operation of the handy terminal of FIG. 2;

5A is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 3, and FIG. 5B is a sectional view taken along line A'-A 'of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Product order sheet (printed matter) 2, 3, 5 Area 4 2D data symbol (information recording symbol) 6 Ruled line 7 Handy terminal (optical information reader) 8 Numeric keypad 9 Handle 10 Reading head 11 Liquid crystal display 12 Transparent Plate 13 Operation button 14 Side plate 15 Shutter 15a Horizontal plate 15b Inclined plate 15c Vertical plate 16 Aiming mark 17 Standing plate 18 Information capture device 19a, 19b Reflector 20 Motor 21 Pinion 22 Rack 23 Connection piece 42 Light emitting diode 43 Convex lens 44 CCD

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A data input port for inputting an information recording symbol of a fixed area displayed on a printed material or the like, and an information input means comprising an image sensor set at a predetermined distance from the data input port. An optical information reading device, wherein the optical information reading device has a transparent plate extending to indicate a data capturing position, and the transparent plate is exposed or covered over the transparent plate. An optical information reader, wherein a shutter forming an entrance is provided so as to be able to protrude and retract. 2. The retractable shutter includes a front inclined plate,
The optical information reader according to claim 1, comprising an upper horizontal plate and a side vertical plate, wherein the vertical plate is arranged so as to block an optical path when the optical information reader is turned off. 3. The optical information reader according to claim 1, wherein an aiming mark is provided at an appropriate position on the transparent plate.