JPS59189477A - Article discriminating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make the positioning of detection side and reading side unnecessary and eliminate mistake in reading due to the mistake in the positioning by performing the reading action of a bar code at all times and eliminating the positioning of a product. CONSTITUTION:An optical system 4 for reading the bar code 3 is operated at all times by an optical system operating device 5. On receiving a signal from the optical system, a reading start judging device 5 judges the starting of reading of the bar code 3. When the start of reading of the bar code is judged by the reading start judging device 5, a timer is started and the lapse of time thereafter is measured. A time zone dividing device 6 divides the passing time zone of a bar code and that of next bar code by judging whether the time measured by the timer arrives at a predetermined specified time or not.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an article identification device that identifies the type of article by optically reading a bar code attached to the article being carried on a conveyor.

For example, in a multi-product mixed production line, it is necessary to identify the types of products flowing on the line and decide what parts to assemble on the product. Therefore, barcodes are attached to the products. It has been considered that products can be identified by optically reading this barcode.

An example of such an article identification device will be explained in the second part.

A dog 9 is provided on the side of the product 2 flowing above the conveyor in the direction of the arrow, and when the product 2 reaches a predetermined position, the dog 9 touches a limit switch 10. The limit switch 10 is operated. At this time, the in-zone signal generated by the limit switch 10 is supplied to the logic circuit 12 via the signal line 11. The logic circuit 12 is constituted by a microcomputer, and operates the optical system 4 to optically read the barcode 3 attached to the product 2. The optical system 4 reflects the laser light generated by the laser tube 41 with a mirror 44, 45, operates the scan motor 42, converts the data of the barcode 3 into an electric signal with a photoelectric conversion circuit 43, and converts it into a logic circuit. 12. The logic circuit 13 is configured by a microcomputer, receives the data of the barcode 3 from the logic circuit 12, identifies the output signal corresponding to the part to be assembled into the product 2, and sends this output signal to the display circuit 7. Output. The display circuit 7 converts the output signal of the logic circuit 13 into a signal for driving the display 8, and displays the component name on the display 8.

The program contents of the microcomputer of the logic circuits 12 and 13 are shown in flownayat in FIGS. 3(A) and 3(B). When the program of the logic circuit 12 is started, as in step 21 of FIG. 3(A), it is determined whether the in-zone signal from the signal line 11 is ON or not, and the process waits until it becomes ON. When the in-zone signal turns ON, step 22
The scan motor 42 is driven to scan the barcode 3 with a laser beam, and the signal from the photoelectric conversion circuit 43 is inputted as in step 23. Then, as in step 24, it is determined whether the signal input from the photoelectric conversion circuit 43 corresponds to the data of the barcode 3. This is done by checking items such as the total number of bars in the barcode or the number of thick bars in order to prevent erroneous output due to input of signals other than barcode 3 data. be. Here, we wait for a signal corresponding to the data from barcode 3 to be input, and when this is input, step 25
Data is output to the logic circuit 13 as shown in FIG. Then, as in step 26, the scan motor 42 is stopped, and as in step 21, the process waits for the in-zone signal to turn ON again.

Also, when the program of the logic circuit 13 is started, the third
As shown in step 31 of FIG. 3(B), the data of the logic circuit 12 is inputted, and as shown in step 33, output signals corresponding to the parts to be assembled into the product 2 are identified from the inputted data. Then, as in step 34, the identified output signal is output to the display circuit 7.

According to such an article identification device, it is possible to identify the type of product and inform the operator of the parts to be assembled without any manual effort.

However, such product identification devices detect when a product has reached a predetermined position and read the barcode in accordance with this detection, so the positioning of the detection side and the reading side must be performed accurately. If the positioning is not accurate, the barcode may not be able to be read.

In view of this problem, an object of the present invention is to eliminate the need for product position detection by constantly performing barcode reading operations, thereby eliminating the need for alignment between the detection side and the reading side. The goal is to eliminate reading errors caused by errors.

The structure of the present invention for achieving this object will be explained with reference to FIG.

An optical system for reading barcodes is constantly operated by an optical system operating means.

Upon receiving a signal from the optical system, the reading start determining means determines whether to start reading the barcode.

When the reading start determining means determines to start reading the barcode, the timer means is activated and measures the elapsed time.

The time zone classification means determines whether the time measured by the timer means has reached a predetermined time, and determines whether the time period for passing one barcode or the time for passing the next barcode is determined. Separate the bands. The predetermined time is determined by the speed of the conveyor and is set to the time measured by a timer between the completion of reading one barcode and the start of reading the next barcode. be done.

The identification means identifies the type of article from the data entered manually by the input means.

According to the present invention, the optical system for reading barcodes is constantly operated, and whether the read data is from one barcode or the next barcode is determined depending on the elapse of a predetermined time. Unlike conventional devices, which detect when a product reaches a predetermined position and then read the barcode, there is no need to detect the position of the product, and it is possible to align the position between the detection side and the reading side. is no longer necessary at all.

In addition, since there is no need to detect the size of the product, as in the past,
There is no need to attach a dog to the product or install a limit switch on the side of the conveyor, and there is no longer a signal line from the limit switch. Therefore, these position detecting means do not interfere with the work, improving work efficiency, and preventing the equipment from malfunctioning due to noise on the signal line.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention,
Here, the difference from the conventional example shown in Fig. 2 is that the dog, limit switch, and signal line that are the position detection means of product 2 have been eliminated, and the program of the logic circuit has been changed. Since it is the same as the figure, the same parts are given the same reference numerals and the explanation will be omitted.

FIGS. 5(A) and 5(B) show the program contents of the Acrocomputer of the logic circuit 5.6, and here also the same parts as the program of the conventional device shown in FIGS. 3(A) and CB). , the same reference numerals are given to each step and the explanation thereof will be omitted.

The program of the logic circuit 5 is executed in step 20 of FIG. 5(A).
The scan motor 42 is immediately driven as shown in FIG. 2, and continues to be driven continuously thereafter. In addition, inputting a signal from the photoelectric conversion circuit 43 and outputting the data to the logic circuit 6 when the signal is data from a barcode is the same as the program of the logic circuit 12 of the conventional device. In addition,
The process in step 20 corresponds to the optical system operating means of the present invention.

When the program of the logic circuit 6 is started, FIG. 5CB>
As in step 36, it is determined whether data has been received from the logic circuit 5, and when the data is input, as in step 30, a timer is activated. This timer can adopt a known method, for example, a method using a timer configured in hardware or a method using a soft timer using interrupt processing. Next, as in the conventional device, data from the logic circuit 5 is input as in step 31, and data input continues as in step 32 until the time measured by the timer reaches a predetermined time t. It will be done.

The speed at which the laser beam scans the barcode 3 is very fast, for example, the time required for one scan is 40ms.
e c, the time t from the end of scanning one barcode to the start of scanning the next barcode
If the speed of the conveyor is adjusted so that 1 is 30 seconds, the time t2 for scanning one barcode will be 150m5ec, and therefore one barcode will be scanned repeatedly about 4 times. become. Here, if the predetermined time t5 is set as ts = ('','' t2) / 2, t5 is 15.075 seconds, which is exactly the period from when one barcode scan starts until the next scan starts. At the intermediate position, the timer runs for a predetermined time t
5, the data obtained by scanning one barcode repeatedly is manually input as that of one barcode, but the data obtained when the next barcode is scanned is also mixed in. Never.

As in step 32, if the timer's 61 o'clock exceeds the predetermined time t, it is assumed that one barcode has been completely scanned, and data input is completed, and step 33.3
4, the output signal corresponding to the part to be assembled into the product 2 is identified from the input data, and the output signal is sent to the display circuit 7.
Output to. Therefore, the display 8 displays the parts to be assembled to the operator. After the signal is output,
As in step 35, the timer is reset and waits for the next barcode data to be input. Note that the process in step 36 corresponds to the reading start determination means of the present invention, and the process in step 30. The process of step 35 is performed by the timer means of the present invention, the process of step 32 is performed by the time zone segmentation means of the present invention, the process of step 31 is performed by the input means of the present invention, and the process of step 33 is performed by the identification device of the present invention. Each corresponds to a means.

According to the embodiment described above with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, when the optical system 4 scans the barcode 3 attached to the product 2 flowing on the conveyor 1, the logic circuit 5
．． 6 can be read as data to distinguish it from barcode data attached to other adjacent products, and the display 8 can display the name of the part to be assembled.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and includes various embodiments within the scope of the claims. For example, after identifying the type of product, the parts to be assembled may be automatically selected and assembled in addition to being displayed. In addition, the goods flowing on the conveyor are not only semi-finished products in the process of being manufactured, but also the quantity of each type is counted and sorted by type.
It may also be an item that is used for

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a complaint correspondence diagram, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a conventional example of an article identification device, and FIGS. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
, (B) are both flowcharts showing the contents of a computer program used in the logic circuit 5.6 of FIG. i-1---Conveyor 2---1 Article (product) 3-1111 Bar code 4---・Optical system 41----Laser tube 42----Scan motor 43---- -One photoelectric conversion circuit 44.45---Mirror 5.6.12.13---One wheel circuit 7---Display circuit 8---Display 9---Dog 10--- --Limit Switch 11 ---One Signal Line Applicant: Toyota Motor Corporation. Figure 1 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An article identification device that identifies the type of article by optically reading a barcode attached to the article being flown on a conveyor. An optical system operating means that constantly operates an optical system for reading barcodes. a reading start determining means for determining the start of reading the barcode based on a signal obtained from the optical system; activated at the start of reading the barcode determined by the reading start determining means;
A timer means for measuring the elapse of time after activation; By determining whether the time measured by the timer means has reached a predetermined time, it is determined whether one bar code passes or the next bar code passes. The predetermined time period is determined by the speed of the conveyor, and is the period between the completion of reading one barcode and the start of reading the next barcode. a time zone dividing means that is set to the time measured by the timer means; an input means that inputs read barcode data before a predetermined time by the time zone dividing means has elapsed; and stops inputting after the elapse of the predetermined time; An article identification device comprising: identification means for identifying the type of article from data input by an input means.