JPS60162354A - Telephone number informing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To dial assuredly by informing in voices the bar codes recorded on a card like a visiting card, etc. CONSTITUTION:A changeover switch 18 is set to a record mode to record the bar codes corresponding to a telephone number on a card 7. Then the switch 18 is set at the report side, and the card 7 is put into a main body 1 through a slit 4 of an inserting part 1D. Then the bar codes are read by an optical reader 17, and the telephone number corresponding to those codes is displayed at a display part 1B. At the same time, the telephone number is announced through a speaker 6. Thus a telephone dialing operation is possible while listening to the telephone number delivered through the speaker 6. This eliminates a dialing error with telephone numbers.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Technical Field of the Invention The present invention is directed to reading a barcode recorded on a card.
The present invention relates to a telephone number notification device configured to notify a telephone number by voice.

BACKGROUND ART AND PROBLEMS Generally, when looking at a telephone number written on a business card or the like and trying to call the other party, the following inconveniences may occur. In other words, the telephone number written on a business card is generally small and difficult to read, and when the recipient is an organization, corporation, etc., multiple telephone numbers such as a representative number and a direct number are written side by side. It's an inconvenience to have to do it.

In such a case, first, the telephone number may be read and dialed incorrectly, resulting in an incorrect call. Second, even if you read the phone number correctly, you may forget which part of the phone number you dialed when you look back at the phone number written on your business card in the middle of dialing the machine, or you may forget how many parts of the phone number you dialed. When the numbers of a telephone number are written side by side on a business card, the user's eyes tend to shift to a telephone number on a line other than the line containing the desired telephone number, and the user loses track of the next number to dial. As a result, the call may have to be repeated or the call may be the wrong one.

In order to solve this problem, the following methods have been proposed in the past.

The first method is to encode a telephone number, record the code on a card such as a business card by an appropriate means, read the code recorded on the card with an appropriate reader to generate an electrical signal, and generate an electrical signal. This method sends a signal to the telephone line to call the other party. However, this method has the disadvantage that the telephone itself must be modified and construction work is required. Moreover, the equipment for carrying out this method is expensive.

The second method is to drive the rotary or push-button dial of the telephone from outside the telephone based on the electrical signal generated in the first method described above, without sending it to the telephone line. It is. however,
This method does not require modification of the telephone itself, or requires a dial drive mechanism to be attached to the telephone from the outside, and has the drawback that the mechanism is complicated.

A third method is to connect a device in which a telephone number is stored in a storage device such as a semiconductor memory to a telephone, and when calling the other party stored in the storage device, press a button on the device corresponding to the telephone number. This method is to press . However, method (-) requires replacing or modifying the telephone, requires construction work, and has the disadvantage that the equipment becomes expensive. Furthermore, in this method, if the number of phone numbers that can be stored increases, it will not only become difficult to find the button on the device, but also the cost of the entire device will increase, and it will be difficult to install the device. The disadvantage is that it requires a lot of space.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide a telephone number notification device configured to allow telephone numbers to be dialed easily and reliably.

Structure of the Invention The telephone number notification device according to the present invention includes a reading means for reading barcode information recorded on a card, a storage means connected to the reading means, and a control for sending a shift control signal to the storage means. and a sounding means connected to the storage means and the control means and for notifying numerical information in a predetermined arrangement.

Embodiment of the Invention FIG. 1 shows an example of a telephone number notification device to which the present invention is applied.

Here, 1 is a main body, and this main body 1 includes a stand IA on which a telephone (indicated by a broken line) is placed, a display part IB connected to the front end of this stand IA, and a display part IB. It has a key manpower part IC provided under the key manpower part IC, a card insertion part 10 provided between the display part 1B and the key manpower part IC, and a notification means IE for dial number announcement.

Display section IB can be used with barcode reader BcR or insertion section I.
It is for displaying a telephone number read from a card inserted into D, and is constructed by arranging a plurality of number electrodes horizontally that can display numbers 0 to 9. LG
The size of the number displayed on the mouth is, for example, 15mm x 15
It can be made as large as mm.

Key human power department lG is 1 corresponding to the numbers from 0 to 9.
0 number keys 2, clear key 3, and display control key S
It has a PC and a GC. Each number key 2 is connected to a barcode generator (not shown) which generates a barcode signal corresponding to each number when pressed.

This display control key SPC is a key to control the number to be displayed so that it is easy to dial the number.
Assuming that the number "2" key is subsequently pressed, the numbers displayed on the display section IBf are arranged every second. For example, r 03-48.80-70-8
It's like J. Here, - means blank display. Similarly, if you press the SPC key followed by the number "3" key, for example, "042.88B, = 223, =
78J appears on the display section 1B.

On the other hand, when the display control key CC is pressed, commas are also displayed on the display section IB for every third number from the left side. For example, r042,698,223,761.

Therefore, if neither of these display control keys SPC or CC is pressed, the barcode information recorded on the card will be displayed as is. That is, if an area code, a city code, etc. are recorded in advance on the card as a group, they will be displayed accordingly. However, if the telephone number is recorded in advance as a series of numbers, the series of numbers will be displayed as is on the display section IB.

The insertion section 10 has a horizontally long slit-shaped hole 4 having a width slightly larger than the width of a card on which a barcode is to be printed, and guides 5 provided on both sides of the hole 4. Therefore, the card can be inserted along the guide 5 only when the card is inserted in a vertically long state.

The dial number announcement indicating means IE includes an audio RO that sends out an audio signal based on the data read from the /token code (see FIG. 5), an adjuster ADJ that adjusts the reading interval of the audio signal, It has an amplifier (see FIG. 5) connected to the audio ROM and a speaker 6 for announcing a telephone number.

A thermal transfer mechanism is provided in the main body 1 for recording a barcode corresponding to a telephone number on a card inserted into the main body 1 from the insertion section ID.

This thermal transfer mechanism records the /H code corresponding to the 71i story number on the card in the following manner. That is, by sequentially pressing the number keys 2 on the keypad IC, a barcode signal corresponding to the telephone number is read from a ROM (not shown) via a controller (not shown). Based on the read barcode signal, the controller displays the digits of the corresponding telephone number on the LCD of the display section IB, and drives the thermal transfer mechanism to record the read eight-code on the card.

FIG. 2 shows an outline of the thermal transfer mechanism. As shown in this figure, two sets of nip rollers 8 are arranged so as to grip the card 7 inserted into the main body 1 through the hole 4 of the insertion section III.

Each set of nip rollers 8 is provided parallel to each other and horizontally. Each nip roller 8 also has a drive roller 8A coupled to a suitable motor (not shown) and a driven roller 8B pressed into contact with the drive roller 8A by suitable elastic means (not shown). Furthermore, the height of each set of nip rollers 8 is determined in advance so that the contact portion of the two rollers in each set of nip rollers 8 is at the same height as the hole 4 of the insertion portion ID.

The insertion portion IO is located close to both sides of the two sets of nip rollers 8.
Two micro switches 9 and 10 are provided to detect the front end of the card 7 inserted into the main body 1 through the hole 4. The motor that drives the drive roller 8A and the two microswitches 9 and 1O are controlled by the controller described above.

When the card 7 is inserted into the main body 1 through the hole 4 of the insertion portion 1D, one of the microswitches 9 is closed, and the two drive rollers 8A of the two nip rollers 8 rotate in the directions shown by the arrows in FIG. do. Therefore, the card 7 inserted into the main body 1 through the hole 4 is pinched by one of the nip rollers 8 closer to the insertion portion IO, and further fed into the main body 1 by the rotation of this one nip roller 8. The front end of the card 7 thus fed into the main body 1 is pinched by the other nip roller 8, and further fed into the main body 1 to close the other microswitch IO. Thus, the two drive rollers 8 in the two nip rollers 8
The drive of A is stopped, and the feeding of the card 7 is stopped. Incidentally, guides (not shown) are provided between the two sets of nip rollers 8 to guide both sides of the card 7 so that the card 7 fed therebetween travels straight.

As shown in FIG. 2, a thermal head 11 for thermally transferring the barcode onto the card 7 is provided between two sets of nip rollers 8, close to the top surface of the card (ζ7) sandwiched between these rollers 8. .

Similarly, a platen 12 is provided so as to be in contact with the lower surface of the card 7 and located directly below the thermal head 11.

Further, 13 is an ink film, which is rewound from a rewinding drum 14 provided in the main body 1, and is transferred to a thermal rad 11.
and the top surface of the card 7, and the winding drum 15
It is wound up. Guide rollers 16 are provided on both sides of the thermal head 11 and allow the ink film 13 rewound from the unwinding drum 14 to run stably between the thermal head 11 and the upper surface of the card 7.
Wind it up.

The thermal head 11 is lowered by a driving means (not shown) and presses the ink film 13 onto the top surface of the card 7 when recording a bar code on the top surface of the card 7 .

The thermal transfer mechanism is constructed as described above, but roughly speaking, as shown in FIG.
An optical reader 17 is placed close to the top surface of the card 7. Here, it is necessary to arrange the optical reader 17 so that it is located on the same line as the thermal head 11 in the direction in which the card 7 is fed. The optical reader 17 has a light emitter such as a laser beam and a light receiver, and irradiates the barcode recorded on the card 7 with light from the light emitter and receives reflected light from the top of the card 7. The barcode on the card 7 is detected by a device. This allows a reconfirmation of already recorded barcodes or a new reading of barcodes recorded on a separate card.

As shown in FIG. 1, reference numeral 18 denotes a changeover switch provided in the key human power section IC, which switches the previously described controller (not shown) to the "record" mode or the "notification" mode. This controller introduces ON signals from the two microswitches 9 and 1O and a barcode detection signal from the optical reader 17, and connects a motor (not shown) that drives the winding drum 15 and a thermal head. 11, a motor (not shown) that drives the driving roller 8A of the nip roller 8, an LCD of the display section IB, and a dial number announcement notification means IE.

With the above configuration, a barcode corresponding to a telephone number is recorded on the card 7 in the following manner. Furthermore, if necessary, the barcode recorded on the card 7 can be read again and the corresponding telephone number can be displayed on the display section 1B. That is, first, the changeover switch 18 is set to the "record" side, and the telephone number (number) to be recorded on the card 7 is entered using the numeric keys 2 of the key operator IC. As a result, a barcode signal corresponding to the telephone number is input to a controller (not shown), and at the same time, the entered telephone number is displayed on the LCD of the display section IB. If the number is entered incorrectly, the clear key 2 is pressed to erase the number displayed on the LCD by the controller 5, and the telephone number is entered again. Next, the card 7 is inserted into the main body 1 through the hole 4 of the insertion section ID. As a result, the front end of the card 7 closes one of the microswitches 9, and the two knee 2 rollers 8 rotate to feed the card 7 into the main body 1.

When the front end of the card 7 closes the other microswitch 10, the winding drum 15 starts winding up the ink film 13, and at the same time, the thermal head 11 presses the ink film 13 onto the card 7 which is being fed and is moving. A bar code corresponding to the entered telephone number is recorded on the card 7 as shown in FIG. When this recording is finished, the take-up driver 11
The winding of the ink film 13 by the roller 15 is completed, and the rotation of the two rollers 8 is temporarily stopped and the thermal head is raised. Next, the two nip rollers 8 are reversely rotated to return the card 7 fed into the main body 1 to the outside of the main body 1. In this way, a barcode corresponding to the telephone number can be easily recorded on the card 7.

Set the +) J change switch 18 to the “notification” side,
The card 7 on which the barcode is recorded as described above is inserted into the main body 1 through the hole 4 of the insertion portion ID of the main body 1. As a result, the card 7 can be inserted into the main body in the same manner as described above.
send it inside. During this feeding, the portion where the barcode is recorded passes directly under the optical reader 17, and the barcode is detected by the optical reader 17. The telephone number corresponding to the barcode detected in this way is displayed on the bottom of the display section IB, and the telephone number is announced by the sound 6. Then, at the end of barcode detection, the card 7 is returned to the outside of the main body 1 by reversing the nip roller 8. In this way, from the car 17 on which the bar code is written, the digits of the telephone number corresponding to the bar code can be displayed on the CD next to the display section IB having display numerals of an appropriate size. Moreover, since dialing operations can be performed sequentially while listening to the telephone number emitted from the speaker 6, error-free dialing operations can be performed.

In the above description, a recording means for recording a barcode on a card having an appropriate size, a reading means for rereading the barcode recorded on the card,
Although a notification system has been shown in which a notification means for notifying a telephone number corresponding to the read barcode is integrated into the main body, the following modifications may be made, for example.

(1) The recording means, the reading means, and the notification means are each configured independently.

(2) The recording means has a numeric keyboard, and by inputting numbers using the numeric keys, the corresponding barcode can be displayed [, C
The present invention may be constructed by combining a sheet-like 8-code display having D and a copying machine that can appropriately reduce the bar code on the LCD of the bar code display and record it on a card.

(3) In the case of (2) above, a magnetic toner can be used as the material for recording the barcode on the cart, and in this case, as a reading means,
In addition to optical barcode leagues as described above, magnetic heads can also be used.

FIG. 3 shows the LC included in the telephone number notification device shown in FIG. 1.
A D drive circuit is shown. Here, I7 is an optical reader shown in the second figure, 30 is a register that stores read numerical data and performs a shift operation in response to a shift command signal 32, and 34 is a liquid crystal display capable of displaying a comma ",". Yes, it is included in the display section IB shown in the first diagram. A control circuit 36 sends a barcode reading start instruction signal 39 to the optical reader 17, a shift instruction signal to the register 30, and a comma display instruction signal to the LCD 34. 38 is sent.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the control procedure of the control circuit shown in FIG. 3.

In block 40, it is determined whether a card has been inserted into the insertion section IO. When the card is inserted into the device,
The processor 42 determines whether either the SPC key or the CC key shown in FIG. 1 has been pressed.

If either the SPC key or the CC key has been pressed, it is determined in block 44 whether or not the SPC key has been pressed. If the SPC key has not been pressed, it is determined that the CC key has been pressed, and a comma display command signal 38 is sent to the LC[134.
j (block 46). Thus, as described above, commas are displayed every three numbers from the left on the display section IB shown in the first figure.

If it is determined in block 44 that the SPC key is pressed, a check is made in block 48 to see if a numeric key is subsequently pressed. If a number key is pressed, the number is read (block 50) and a shift command signal 32 is sent to the register 30. In this way, the numbers divided into desired numbers are displayed on the table section IB shown in the first figure.

Note that if neither the SPC key nor the CC key is pressed, numerical data is sent directly from the optical reader 17 to the LCD 34 and displayed as recorded in the form of a barcode. Ru.

FIG. 5 shows the dial number announcement notification means IE shown in FIG. 1 in detail. Here, 17 is an optical reader shown in the second diagram, 50 is a register for temporarily storing the telephone number information sent from the optical reader 17, and 52 is a register for temporarily storing the telephone number information signal sent from the register 50. An audio ROM is introduced and converted into an audio signal, 54 is an eight-pass amplifier that amplifies the audio signal read out from the audio ROM, and 6 is a speaker shown in the first diagram. Further, 5B is a control circuit which sends a read command signal 58 to the audio ROM 52 and also sends a data transmission/reception command signal 60 to the register 50.
Send out.

The sending interval of the read command signal 58 changes depending on the setting value of the controller DJ (see FIG. 1). That is, if it is desired to lengthen the interval between telephone numbers to be emitted from the speaker 8, it is sufficient to lengthen the transmission interval of the read command signal 58.

However, if the display control key CC shown in the first diagram is pressed down, three numbers are issued in succession, and then the controller A is pressed.
After a pause at an interval adjusted by the DJ, a read command signal 58 is sent out so that three numbers are successively emitted. As a result, for example, a utterance such as "Ichi San Roku, (pause), Yon Nana Ichi" can be obtained.

Further, when the display control key SPC and the number keys shown in the first figure are pressed, a read command signal 58 is sent out to successively generate the number of telephone numbers specified by the number keys. At this time, speaker 6
The interval between consecutive telephone numbers is set by the adjuster AD.
It can be adjusted by J.

As described in detail, according to the present invention, the barcode recorded on a card such as a business card can be announced by voice, so the guide operation can be performed easily and reliably.

[Brief Description of the Drawings] Figures 1 and 2 are configuration diagrams showing one embodiment of the present invention, Figure 3 is a drive circuit diagram of the liquid crystal display shown in Figure 1, and Figure 4 is a diagram of the drive circuit of the liquid crystal display shown in Figure 1. A flowchart showing the control procedure of the control circuit shown in the figure. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the dial number announcement notification means. 1...Main body, 1^...Base part, 1B...Display part, IC...Key power part, LD...Insertion part, IE...Dial number announcement notification means, ?・・・
・Numeric key, 3... Clear key, 4... Hole, 5... Guide, 6... Speaker, 7... Card, 8... Nip roller, 8A... Drive roller, 8B. ...Followed roller, 8, lO... Micro switch, 11... Thermal head, 12... Platen, 13... Ink film, 14... Rewinding drum, 1B... Guide roller, 17. ... Optical reader, 18... Selector switch, 30... Register, 34... Liquid crystal display, 50... Register, 52... Audio ROM, 54... Buffer amplifier, 58... -Control circuit, spc, cc...Display control key, ADJ...Reading interval adjuster. Patent applicant: Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 1 Figure 3

Claims (1)

[Claims] a reading means for reading barcode information recorded on a card; a storage means connected to the reading means; a control means for sending a shift control signal to the storage means; and a control means connected to the storage means and the control means. and voice means for notifying numerical information in a predetermined arrangement.