JPH10255015A - Character vehicle having bar code - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide character vehicles which have bar code display that is read by a bar code reader. SOLUTION: The display of a bar code B that corresponds to a corresponding character L is provided near each character L in character vehicles 10 that have the display of a character L on a peripheral surface. The character L is a numeric character that is sequentially displayed one letter at a time in a constant pitch on a peripheral surface of the vehicle 10. This indicator of plural digits comprises plural character vehicles 10 which are individually rotatable on the same shaft 11 and are parallelly arranged, the vehicle 10 of each digit is driven by the driving means of each digit, and a display value consisting of plural digits is visually read through the character L and also serves to be accurately read by a bar code reader of the code B.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a character wheel with a bar code, and more particularly to a character wheel with numbers 0 to 9 sequentially displayed at a constant pitch and a corresponding bar code displayed near each number. It relates to an instrument using a character wheel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a measured value of a conventional meter, for example, an integrating wattmeter is output as an electric signal for real-time data processing, a pulse output such as 1,000 kwh / pulse is given by weighting the measured value. I was As a method of generating this pulse output, the electromagnetic coupling to the transmitting coil is intermittently cut off by a signal disk, and the rotation of the signal disk is fixed to the display value of the display rotating wheel of the integrating wattmeter, that is, the rotation angle. They were linked in a relationship. For data processing, the pulse output is connected to a separate instrument receiver via a transmission line, and a count value obtained by counting by a counter circuit of the receiver is given to a display, displayed, and integrated. The display value of the character wheel on the wattmeter itself was matched with the display value on the display after data processing.

[0003] In the above example, in order to avoid omission of counts or errors due to missing measurements on the receiver side, it is necessary to appropriately compare the display value of the meter itself such as an integrating wattmeter with the display value of the display after data processing. There was a problem that had to be done. In addition, when a power failure occurs in the counter circuit of the receiver, the stepping is stopped, so that there is also a problem that the numerical value of the output of the counter circuit and the value displayed on the meter itself must be matched when the power is restored.

In order to avoid these problems, it has been proposed to use a barcode. Referring to FIG.
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-304497, a character code CCS to be shown as a digital display 23 on an instrument 15 is generated. An image signal for displaying the bar code B corresponding to the CCS is generated by a bar code generation circuit 24, and the bar code B is transmitted from the image signal for displaying the bar code B to the electronic display 22 by the display driving circuit 25. indicate. Instrument 15
A digital display 23 of the measured value is displayed, and a bar code B corresponding to the numeral of the digital display 23 is displayed on the electronic display 22. External real-time data processing
The bar code B on the electronic display 22 is read by a bar code reader (see FIG. 7) and the output is sent to a data processing device (not shown). In this way, it is possible to avoid the problem of errors due to missing or missing counts and the problem of verification after a power failure.

[0005]

However, the apparatus shown in FIG. 9 has a means for generating a character code CCS representing the indicated value of the digital display 23, and a character code CCS as a bar code, as compared with a normal indicating instrument. A conversion means for converting the image signal into a display image signal and a display for displaying the image signal as an image are required. This complicates the structure,
The cost is high.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a data display character wheel having a bar code display which can be read by a bar code reader.

[0007]

With reference to the embodiment of FIG. 1, a character wheel 10 with a bar code according to the present invention has a character L on its peripheral surface.
Is provided with a bar code B display corresponding to the character L in the vicinity of each character L. Preferably, the character L is a number sequentially displayed one by one at a constant pitch on the peripheral surface of the character wheel 10.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A character wheel 10 with a bar code according to the present invention.
For example, when used in the instrument 15 of FIG. 9, five character wheels 10 are arranged in parallel on the same axis 11 to display a five-digit measurement value, and the character wheel 10 of each digit is driven for each digit. It is driven by means (not shown). Each character wheel 10 has a constant pitch on its peripheral surface, for example, 0 to 0 arranged sequentially one by one at every central angle of 36 °.
The number 9 is displayed as the letter L. For example, the display position is the horizontal front position of the axis (see FIG. 8), and the letter L, which is a number on the character wheel 10 corresponding to the value of each digit of the measurement value of the instrument 15,
It is turned horizontally forward by the driving means. In the case of FIG. 1B, the most significant digit, the next most significant digit, and the least significant digit 3
Only the character wheels 10 are shown, and the character wheel of the middle digit is omitted. In the illustrated state, the value of the most significant digit of the measured value to be displayed is 2, the value of the next most significant digit is 3, and the value of the least significant digit is 3. The vicinity of the letter L, which is a digit of each digit,
In the case of FIG. 1, a bar code B corresponding to the character L is displayed on the right side of the character. In FIG. 1, the numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4
Is a combination of (blank and thick solid line), (thin solid and thick solid line), (thin solid and thin solid line), and (bar thick and thick solid line) respectively. However, the correspondence between the character L and the barcode B and the display position of the barcode B are not limited to the above example.

FIG. 1A shows a bar code reader 12 which collectively reads a plurality of measured values displayed in a row of a character wheel 10 in FIG. 1B and sends the output to a signal line 13. Indicates that
However, instead of batch reading, a bar code reader that reads bar code B of each wheel 10 sequentially for each wheel 10
It is also possible to use 12.

The bar code reader 12 and the signal line 13 are connected by RS-232.
In the case of the C standard, a data processing device of the same standard, for example, a display for the digital display 23 (FIG. 9) can be connected to the signal line 13. BCD (Binary Coded Decimal)
In order to send a signal on the signal line 13 to the monitoring system M using a signal or a signal of another standard, the signal conversion needs to be performed by the converter 14. In addition, the character L displayed on the character wheel 10 of the present invention is not limited to a number, but may be an alphabet or a kana character. Thus, it is possible to achieve the object of the present invention to provide a “character wheel for data display with a barcode display readable by a barcode reader”.

A comparison is made between the conventional meter 15 shown in FIG. 9 and the row of the character wheel 10 with a bar code of the present invention shown in FIG. In the conventional instrument 15, a bar code generation circuit 24 for generating a character code by the instrument 15, a bar code display image signal, a display drive circuit 25, and an electronic display 22 for displaying a bar code B are provided. Need. On the other hand, according to the present invention, the row of the character wheel 10 at the measurement value display position also displays the barcode B corresponding to the measurement value, so that the measurer mechanically sends the barcode transmitted to the display position. The display in column B can be observed with the naked eye. Therefore, according to the present invention, the conventional instrument 15
, The bar code generation circuit 24, the display drive circuit 25, and the electronic display 22 can all be omitted.

[0012]

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a case where a display means using a character wheel 10 with a bar code according to the present invention is attached to a gauge 15. In the following drawings, parts that are the same as the parts in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same symbols. The converter 14 may be of the relay or open collector type, and may be of the type used in individual data processing devices,
For example, a BCD type signal can be output bit by bit.

FIG. 3 shows a measured value display by a barcode B using a handy type handy barcode reader 26 held by a hand 20a for an instrument 15 whose measured value is automatically read for data processing or the like. The method for reading is shown below. In the display by the character wheel 10 with a bar code of the present invention, the display of the bar code B changes mechanically and always shows a value that matches the display value of the character L. Easy.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment in which display means for using the character wheel 10 with a bar code according to the present invention is attached to the integrated wattmeter 16. FIG. 5 shows an embodiment in which a bar code B on the character wheel 10 with a bar code is provided in the middle of the adjacent character L in a similar integrated wattmeter 16. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a connection in the case where the integrated wattmeter 16 is remotely monitored via the meter reading terminal device 18 or the modem 19. FIG. 7 shows that the integrated wattmeter 16 of the consumer 17 is remotely monitored via the public telephone line 21 and the meter reading terminal device 18 or the modem 19, and the meter reader 20 reads the indicated value from the handy barcode reader 26 as needed. Fig. 3 shows an embodiment which is readable. Compared to the reading or reading of a character or a pointer by visual inspection, not only reading errors are eliminated, but also reading can be sped up.

The display direction of the character wheel 10 with a bar code by the character L and the display direction by the bar code reader 12 do not necessarily have to match. For example, bar code reader 12
Character interferes with the reading of the character L, the character L
, The bar code reader 12 may face the row of the hour wheel 10 at a deviation angle position shifted or deviated by a fixed angle equal to an integral multiple of the numeral display pitch on the hour wheel 10. FIG. 8 shows the display of the measurement value by the character L toward the front position F, and the display of the same measurement value by the barcode reader B from the front position F corresponds to five times the character pitch which is 36 ° in this case. Rear position R deviated by 180 °,
Alternatively, an example is shown in which the operation is performed toward the rear upper position RU 36 ° above the rear surface. The barcode reader 12 is arranged in the display direction of the barcode B.

When the position of the barcode reader 12 is shifted from the display position of the character L, it is necessary to adjust the output of the barcode reader. In FIG. 8, each character L displayed on the peripheral surface of the character wheel 10 is represented by 0 in a sector having a central angle of 36 °.
-9 When the specific character L faces the front position F, the output to be transmitted after the barcode reader 12 arranged at the rear position R reads the barcode B is represented by characters (0) to (9) in parentheses. Show. Further, when a specific character L is directed to the front position F, the output to be transmitted after the barcode reader 12 arranged at the upper offset position RU reads the barcode B is indicated by a boxed character. Table 1 shows the relationship between the shift position and the barcode reader operation.

[0017]

[Table 1]

For the adjustment operation of the bar code reader output shown in Table 1, a character L corresponding to a character L at a position near the character L of the character wheel 10 and deviated from the character by the shift angle on the peripheral surface of the character wheel. The display of the bar code B to be performed can be provided. Alternatively, an adjustment circuit (not shown) may be provided that corrects the read value of the barcode reader 12 by the difference between the numbers corresponding to the shift angles and obtains a measured value. In FIG. 8, a symbol K indicates a case of an instrument, and a symbol W indicates a window for reading a display value.

The character wheel with bar code according to the present invention described above.
10 can be used not only for meters related to the measurement of electricity but also for meters of various fluids in water and gas facilities.

[0020]

As described above, the character wheel with a bar code of the present invention displays the bar code corresponding to the character in the vicinity of each character display, and thus has the following remarkable effects.

(A) Since the display value of the character L of the character wheel is directly used as the bar code display value, various converters between the character display and the bar code display required conventionally are omitted, and the configuration is simplified. can do. (B) The value of the character display and the value of the bar code display can always be made to match practically. (C) Since the reading error rate of the bar code reader is very low, the reading error by visual inspection can be prevented by using the bar code reader. (D) Only mechanical display with a simple configuration does not require electronic components, and low-cost production is possible. (E) It can be used not only for electricity meter but also for fluid meter.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an instrument using the character wheel of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows a mode of reading from the instrument of FIG. 2 by a bar code reader.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an integrated wattmeter using the character wheel according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment in which a barcode is displayed between adjacent characters.

FIG. 6 is a connection block diagram of an integrated wattmeter and a data processing terminal device.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a usage mode of a customer's integrated wattmeter.

FIG. 8 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing a shift state of a barcode reader position.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view of a conventional instrument with a digital display.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 ... Character wheel 11 ... Axis 12 ... Bar code reader 13 ... Signal line 14 ... Converter 15 ... Meter 16 ... Integrated wattmeter 17 ... Consumer 18 ... Meter meter terminal 19 ... Modem 20 ... Meter meter 21 ... Public telephone line 22 ... Electronic display 23 ... Digital display 24 ... Bar code generation circuit 25 ... Display drive circuit 26 ... Handy barcode reader B ... Bar code CCS ... Character code F ... Front position L ... Character R ... Back position RU ... Back Upper offset position

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A character wheel having a character display on a peripheral surface thereof.
A character wheel with a bar code provided with a bar code display corresponding to the character in the vicinity of each character display. 2. The character wheel according to claim 1, wherein the character is
A character wheel with a bar code consisting of numbers displayed one by one at a constant pitch on the circumference of the wheel. 3. A predetermined angular position around said rotary shaft by means of a character wheel train in which a plurality of character wheels sequentially displaying numbers one by one at a constant pitch on a peripheral surface are individually rotatably mounted on the same rotation shaft. A bar code display corresponding to the numeral is provided in the vicinity of each numeral of each character wheel, and a bar code reader faces the predetermined angular position. 4. The instrument according to claim 3, wherein the bar code reader faces the character train at a deviation angle position deviated by a predetermined angle equal to an integral multiple of the pitch from a predetermined angle position for displaying the measured value. An instrument provided with a bar code display corresponding to a numeral at a position deviated by a certain angle on the peripheral surface of the wheel from the numeral in the vicinity of each numeral of each wheel. 5. The instrument according to claim 3, wherein the bar code reader faces the character train at a deviation angle position deviated by a fixed angle equal to an integral multiple of the pitch from a predetermined angle position for displaying the measured value. An instrument provided with a correction circuit on the output side of the bar code reader, which corrects the read value of the bar code reader to a measured value after correcting the difference of the decimal number corresponding to the deviated constant angle.