KR20150075562A - Apparatus for reading a bar code - Google Patents

Abstract

A system for reading a bar code is disclosed. The system for reading a bar code according to the present invention comprises: a conveyor unit for conveying a cargo; an inclined plate unit connected to the conveyor unit erected and arranged to be inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the ground; a vision camera unit for obtaining the image of the cargo conveyed by the conveyor unit and falling along the inclined plate unit; and a vision control unit for reading a bar code attached to the cargo from the image obtained from a plurality of vision camera units.

Description

[0001] APPARATUS FOR READING A BAR CODE [0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bar code inspection system, and more particularly, to a bar code inspection system capable of automatically checking a bar code of a medicine, for example, a cargo.

RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology or barcode recognition technology is used as a method for confirming the information of the cargo. The barcode recognition technology is a technology for reading barcodes arranged in a black band shape with an optical scanner or the like to recognize information corresponding to a barcode.

RFID technology is a technology that enables a reader to check tag information by transmitting an electromagnetic wave to a tag provided with an IC on which tag information is recorded, by transmitting the tag information to the reader in the form of an RF signal.

The RFID tag has a disadvantage in that it is expensive compared to a barcode because it is required to have an IC and a memory, but it has an advantage that it can provide more various kinds of information than a barcode.

The barcode inspection system of the present invention can be used for examining a barcode of various cargoes, but for convenience of explanation, a barcode of a pharmaceutical product will be described below.

To systematically manage drug information, it is mandatory to attach RFID or bar codes to designated / specialty drugs by 2015. In the distribution system, serial number should be assigned to the minimum distribution unit to manage the drug. In this case, the history management of the serial number is important so that the drug can be tracked and managed at the distribution stage.

Because manufacturers have a large number of production systems, a real-time barcode inspection system has been introduced to manage the serial number history. These systems are designed to test the same product repeatedly to inspect large quantities of medicines. In addition, these medicines are wrapped in boxes or packs of each maker's unit, and they reach the pharmacy through the distribution phase. In wholesale and retail, they deal with medicines from various manufacturers, and they need to inspect bar codes and manage the history of various medicines .

Since wholesaling or retailing does not deal with only one medicinal product, it is necessary to deal with the barcode of various drug manufacturers in order to manage the history of medicines. Also, since a system capable of automatically recognizing various barcodes is not currently introduced, Is manually registered using this hand scanner.

1 is a schematic diagram of a bar code inspection system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in this figure, when a bar code is inspected in a conventional general logistics, a bar code scanner or a bar code reader 30 capable of recognizing a camera or a bar code is used for the cargo 13 transported along the transport unit 10 The barcode is automatically inspected, and the read barcode is used to manage the history in the vision unit or the information unit 60.

Such a bar code inspection system according to one embodiment of the present invention can be applied to a manufacturer having a production system continuously or a large distribution center, but it is necessary to perform bar code inspection of various medicines or to store medicines whose bar codes are not always in the same position The barcode test can not proceed normally if it is inspected. In such a case, a person usually conducts a history management by inspecting a bar code using a hand scanner directly. In such a case, there is an inefficient problem in terms of time and cost.

Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2001-0014553

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a barcode inspection system which can be applied to a case where barcode inspection is required in a distribution process for handling various items of cargo as well as the same cargo produced uniformly.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a conveyor unit for conveying a cargo; A swash plate unit connected to the conveyor unit and standing up and inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the ground; A vision camera unit which is conveyed through the conveyor unit and acquires an image of the cargo falling along the swash plate unit; And a vision control unit for reading a barcode attached to the cargo from the image acquired from the plurality of vision camera units.

The swash plate unit includes a swash plate main body having a central region cut off; And a transparent plate coupled to the swash plate body in the central region of the swash plate body and integrally provided with the swash plate body.

The transparent plate may be a transparent tempered glass plate made of transparent tempered glass.

The vision camera unit includes: at least one upper surface camera for photographing an upper surface of the cargo; At least one bottom camera for photographing a bottom surface of the cargo; And at least one side camera that captures the side of the cargo.

The vision camera unit includes at least one front camera for photographing a front surface of the cargo; And at least one rear camera for photographing the rear surface of the cargo.

The vision camera unit includes: a first reflection plate installed in front of the cargo; And a second reflection plate installed at the rear of the cargo, wherein the front camera photographs the front face of the cargo through a first reflection plate, and the rear camera photographs the rear face of the cargo through the second reflection plate have.

The vision control unit may include a camera controller for generating a camera trigger signal so that the top camera, the bottom camera, the side camera, the front camera, and the rear camera simultaneously acquire images of the cargo have.

And a cargo detection sensor provided on the side of the swash plate unit of the conveyor for detecting whether the cargo has reached the slope of the swash plate unit.

The camera controller may generate the camera trigger after a predetermined time after the cargo is sensed from the cargo sensing sensor.

에 의하여 양수 값으로 구해지는 검사시간(T)일 수 있는데, 여기서, V₀는 낙하시 화물의 속도, G는 중력가속도, S는 화물감지센서로부터 카메라의 촬영위치까지의 경사면 거리, θ는 경사면의 경사 각도이다.The predetermined time may be expressed by equation

There to be by testing time (T) which is obtained as a positive value, wherein, V ₀ is the speed of fall during storage, G is the gravitational acceleration, S is the slope distance to the photographing position of the camera from the cargo sensors, θ is a slope .

₁

에 의하여 양수 값으로 구해질 수 있는데, 여기서, V₀는 낙하시 화물의 속도, G는 중력가속도, S는 화물감지센서로부터 카메라의 촬영위치까지의 경사면 거리, θ는 경사면의 경사 각도이다.Wherein the predetermined time is a test correction time (T ₁ ) obtained by adding a correction time (?) For correction in the inspection time (T)

_One

There to be be obtained by a positive value, wherein, V ₀ is the speed of fall during storage, G is the gravitational acceleration, the inclined surface S is the distance to the photographing position of the camera from the cargo sensors, θ is the inclination angle of the inclined surface.

Wherein the correction time is set as an upper region, a central region and a lower region along the traveling direction of the cargo, and when the barcode is located in any one of the upper region and the lower region, From the center of the central region to the center of the upper region and the center of the lower region.

The vision control unit may further include an information unit for reading a barcode attached to the cargo to extract a serial number, and an information unit connected to the vision control unit to convert the extracted serial number into a database.

According to the present invention, it is possible to apply the present invention to a case where bar code inspection is required in the distribution process of handling various items of cargo as well as the same cargo produced uniformly.

1 is a schematic diagram of a bar code inspection system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a schematic diagram of a barcode inspection system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the camera unit of the bar code inspection system of FIG. 2 viewed from the front; FIG.
FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a camera unit of the bar code inspection system of FIG. 2 viewed from the side.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the inspection time calculation on the inclined surface of the swash plate unit of the bar code inspection system of FIG. 2;
6 is a view showing an area of a cargo along an advancing direction of a cargo as an upper area, a central area and a lower area.
FIG. 7 is a flow chart for performing a bar code check with the bar code checking system of FIG. 2. FIG.

In order to fully understand the present invention, operational advantages of the present invention, and objects achieved by the practice of the present invention, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and the accompanying drawings which illustrate preferred embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Like reference symbols in the drawings denote like elements.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a barcode inspection system according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a camera unit of the barcode inspection system of FIG. 2 viewed from the front, Figure 2 is a schematic view of the unit viewed from the side.

As shown in these drawings, a barcode inspection system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a conveyor unit 100 for conveying a cargo (cargo) 3, a conveyor unit 100 connected to the conveyor unit 100, A vision camera unit 300 for acquiring images of the cargo 3 that is transferred through the conveyor unit 100 and falls along the swash plate unit 200, A vision control unit 400 for reading the barcode 5 (see Fig. 6) attached to the cargo 3 from the image acquired from the vision camera unit 300, and a vision control unit 400 provided on the side of the swash plate unit 200 of the conveyor, The cargo detection sensor 500 for detecting whether the cargo 3 reaches the slope 230 of the swash plate unit 200 and the barcode 5 attached to the cargo 3 so that the vision control unit 400 And an information unit 600 for converting the extracted serial number into a database The.

Here, the cargo 3 refers to various products to which the bar code 5 is attached, and may be, for example, a medicine. It is common that medicines are packaged in box form or each maker's unit form, and the bar code (5) may be attached to a box or a unit package.

The cargo 3 is conveyed to the conveyor unit 100. The cargo 3 transported by the conveyor unit 100 is detected by the cargo detection sensor 500 provided at the end of the conveyor unit 100 adjacent to the swash plate unit 200 to enter the swash plate unit 200. The cargo detection sensor 500 is installed in the conveyor unit 100 in the present embodiment, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. The conveyor unit 100 and the swash plate unit 200 may be installed in other structures .

The cargo detection sensor 500 detects whether or not the cargo 3 has reached the inclined plane 230 of the swash plate unit 200. [ The cargo detection sensor 500 may be an infrared sensor that detects the presence of the cargo 3 in front of the cargo detection sensor 500 by measuring the amount of returning the cargo 3 after the infrared ray is shot. The range is not limited to this, and various sensors may be applied if it is a sensor capable of detecting whether or not the cargo 3 exists.

In this embodiment, the cargo 3 is moved through the inclined surface 230 of the swash plate unit 200 after the cargo 3 is detected by the cargo detection sensor 500. That is, along the inclined surface 230 of the swash plate unit 200.

The swash plate unit 200 includes a swash plate body 210 having a central region cut off in the present embodiment and a swash plate body 210 integrally formed with the swash plate body 210 in a central region of the swash plate body 210, And a transparent plate 220 provided thereon. In this embodiment, the transparent plate 220 is a transparent tempered glass plate 220 made of transparent tempered glass.

When the image is acquired using the swash plate unit 200 as described above, the cargo 3 can be carried from the top to the bottom without the need of a separate driving unit for moving the medicines, for example, You can minimize obstacles that interfere with your vision when you install the camera.

On the other hand, the barcode 5 attached to the cargo 3 may be on the side surface or on the top surface. That is, when the position of the bar code 5 is not constant and is located in various directions, it is necessary to be able to shoot images in various directions.

The swash plate unit 200 is constituted by the swash plate body 210 and the transparent tempered glass plate 220 so that the lower surface of the cargo 3 can be taken by the camera so that if the camera is properly installed, The barcode 5 attached to all the surfaces can be photographed.

Although the transparent plate 220 is provided in the central region of the swash plate body 210 in the present embodiment, the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and the entire swash plate unit 200 may be made of a transparent material, In this embodiment, the transparent plate 220 is a transparent tempered glass plate 220, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. If the transparent plate 220 is made of a transparent material, various types of transparent plates 220 may be used. There will be.

2 to 4, the vision camera unit 300 includes three upper cameras 310 for photographing the upper surface of the cargo 3, and three lower cameras 310 for photographing the lower surface of the cargo 3, A camera 320, two side cameras 330 for respectively photographing the right and left sides of the cargo 3, a front camera 340 for photographing the front side of the cargo 3, And a rear camera 350 which photographs the rear surface of the rear camera 350.

The vision camera unit 300 further includes a first reflection plate 360 installed at the front of the cargo 3 and a second reflection plate 370 installed at the rear of the cargo 3, Captures the front face of the cargo 3 through the first reflecting plate 360 and the rear camera 350 photographs the rear face of the cargo 3 through the second reflecting plate 370. [

As described above, the swash plate unit 200 has the transparent tempered glass plate 220 coupled to the swash plate body 210 in the central region of the swash plate body 210 and integrally provided with the swash plate body 210, The three bottom cameras 320 disposed under the transparent tempered glass plate 220 by the tempered glass plate 220 can take a photograph of the lower surface of the cargo 3.

The first reflector 360 and the second reflector 370 are provided in order to photograph the front and rear surfaces of the cargo 3. The first reflector 360 and the second reflector 370 are used to capture the front and back surfaces of the cargo 3, The image of the front and the back of the image is acquired.

The barcode inspection system 1 according to the present embodiment includes all 10 cameras so that the barcode 5 can be inspected regardless of the direction of the barcode 5 attached to the cargo 3. However, The scope of the right is not limited thereto, and the number of cameras may be appropriately changed.

The vision control unit 400 may be configured to allow the images of the cargo 3 to be simultaneously acquired by the top face camera 310, the bottom face camera 320, the side face camera 330, the front face camera 340 and the rear face camera 350 And a camera controller 410 for generating a camera trigger signal.

When the cargo 3 is detected from the cargo detection sensor 500, the camera controller 410 controls the cameras 310, 320, 330, and 340 to detect images of the cargo 3, To generate a camera trigger signal.

A method of calculating the inspection time T will be described below in detail with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 5 and the following equations (1) to (4), V ₀ represents the velocity of the cargo 3 when falling, G is gravitational acceleration, S is the slope distance from the cargo sensor to the photographing position of the camera, And the inspection time T represents the time taken for the camera 3 to fall to the photographing position after the cargo 3 is sensed.

(뉴턴의 제2법칙)

(Newton's second law)

------------------------------- (식 1)

------------------------------- (Equation 1)

(Equation 1) is an equation for obtaining the instantaneous acceleration on the slope 230 using Newton's second law.

------------------------ (식 2)

------------------------ (Formula 2)

(Expression 2) is an expression for calculating the moving distance of the cargo 3 on the inclined plane 230 until the inspection time T by substituting the instantaneous acceleration of (Expression 1). Since the slope distance S from the cargo sensor 500 to the photographing position of the camera is known in advance, equation (3) can be obtained by substituting the expression (2) for the inspection time T. A positive value is selected because the inspection time (T) can not have a negative time.

-----------------------(식 3)

----------------------- (Equation 3)

If the image is acquired using the inspection time T required for dropping to the photographing position after the cargo 3 is sensed, the image can be acquired at a precise time with respect to the cargo 3 falling along the slope 230, The recognition time of the bar code 5 can be shorter than the method of recognizing the bar code 5 by acquiring an image several times consecutively by recognizing the bar code 5 with one image acquisition.

Also, when a continuous image is acquired, a large amount of images must be stored, thereby wasting resources. This problem can also be solved.

On the other hand, (Equation 3) represents the ideal inspection time (T) in the absence of external environmental factors. However, due to the surrounding environment and other factors of the slope 230, accurate time can not be calculated.

Therefore, if necessary, the calculated correction time (T ₁ ) can be used by adding the corrected correction time (α) as shown in the following equation (4). The inspection correction time (T ₁ ) is a value obtained as a positive value by the following equation (4).

₁

-----------------------------(식 4)

_One

----------------------------- (Equation 4)

Scan compensation time (T ₁₎ is different test correction time (T ₁₎ may be, hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 6, goods (3) along a traveling direction of the cargo (3) is corrected based on various factors (T ₁ ) through the distance (S ₂ ) from the center of the central area to the center of the upper area when the bar code 5 is located in the upper area, Will be described.

When the camera acquires an image, the image area is set as an upper area, a center area, and a lower area from a part close to the cargo sensing sensor 500 along the traveling direction of the cargo 3, The center of the upper area is referred to as an upper center and the center of the lower area is referred to as a lower center. When the bar code 5 is positioned near the upper center as shown in FIG. 6, Is required.

In this case, the correction time can be obtained by the formula (5) based on the distance (S ₂ ) from the center of the central area to the center of the upper area.

--------------------- (식 5)

--------------------- (Equation 5)

If the bar code 5 is located in the lower center, the distance from the center of the central area to the center of the lower area is used, and if the bar code 5 is located closer to the center than the upper center and lower center, .

As described above, the vision control unit 400 reads the barcode 5 attached to the cargo 3 and extracts the serial number. The information unit 600 is connected to the vision control unit 400, Make the number database.

Hereinafter, a bar code checking method performed by the bar code checking system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the cargo 3 to be inspected is conveyed through the conveyor unit 100 (S10). When the cargo 3 that has been conveyed through the conveyor unit 100 reaches the swash plate unit 200, the cargo detection sensor 500 senses the cargo 3 (S20).

As soon as the cargo 3 is detected by the cargo detection sensor 500, the cargo 3 starts to move or fall through the inclined surface 230 of the swash plate unit 200. After that, (S30). At the inspection time T, the camera controller 410 of the vision control unit 400 generates a camera trigger signal to each of the cameras to acquire images from the cameras (S40).

 The vision camera unit 300 reads the barcode 5 based on all the obtained images and extracts the serial number related to the barcode 5 (S50).

The serial number of the extracted cargo 3 is transmitted to the information unit 600 in step S60 and it is checked whether the serial number of the transferred cargo 3 matches the serial number of the cargo 3 stored in the information unit 600 (S70).

If the extracted serial number is identical to the serial number of the cargo 3 stored in the information unit 600 in step S80, 3) do not coincide with each other, an error is generated (S90) and the process is terminated (S100).

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Accordingly, such modifications or variations are intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims.

100: Conveyor unit 200: Swash plate unit
210: swash plate body 220: transparent plate (transparent tempered glass plate)
300: Vision camera unit 310: Upper side camera
320: When Camera 330: Side Camera
340: front camera 350: rear camera
360: first reflector 370: second reflector
400: Vision control unit 410: Camera controller
500: cargo detection sensor 600: information unit

Claims (13)

A conveyor unit for conveying the cargo;
A swash plate unit connected to the conveyor unit and standing up and inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the ground;
A vision camera unit which is conveyed through the conveyor unit and acquires an image of the cargo falling along the swash plate unit; And
And a vision control unit that reads a barcode attached to the cargo from the image acquired from the plurality of vision camera units. The method according to claim 1,
The swash plate unit includes:
A swash plate main body having a central region cut off; And
And a transparent plate coupled to the swash plate body in the central region of the swash plate body and integrally provided with the swash plate body. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the transparent plate is a transparent tempered glass plate made of transparent tempered glass. 3. The method of claim 2,
The vision camera unit includes:
At least one upper surface camera for photographing an upper surface of the cargo;
At least one bottom camera for photographing a bottom surface of the cargo; And
And at least one side camera that captures the side of the cargo. 5. The method of claim 4,
The vision camera unit includes:
At least one front camera for photographing the front of the cargo; And
Further comprising at least one rear camera for photographing the back side of the cargo. 6. The method of claim 5,
The vision camera unit includes:
A first reflector installed in front of the cargo; And
And a second reflector installed behind the cargo,
Wherein the front camera photographs the front face of the cargo through the first reflecting plate and the rear camera photographs the rear face of the cargo through the second reflecting plate. 6. The method of claim 5,
The vision control unit includes:
And a camera controller for generating a camera trigger signal so that the upper surface camera, the lower surface camera, the side surface camera, the front surface camera, and the rear surface camera simultaneously acquire images of the cargo. 8. The method of claim 7,
And a cargo detection sensor provided on the side of the swash plate unit of the conveyor for detecting whether the cargo has reached an inclined surface of the swash plate unit. 9. The method of claim 8,
The camera controller includes:
Wherein the camera trigger is generated after a predetermined time after the cargo is detected from the cargo sensing sensor. 10. The method of claim 9,
Wherein the predetermined time is an inspection time (T) obtained as a positive value by the following equation.

Here, V ₀ is the velocity of the cargo when falling, G is the acceleration of gravity, S is the slope distance from the cargo sensor to the camera's shooting position, and θ is the slope angle of the slope. 11. The method of claim 10,
Wherein the predetermined time is obtained as a positive value by the following equation as an inspection correction time (T ₁ ) plus a correction time (?) For correction in the inspection time (T).

_One

Here, V ₀ is the velocity of the cargo when falling, G is the acceleration of gravity, S is the slope distance from the cargo sensor to the camera's shooting position, and θ is the slope angle of the slope. 12. The method of claim 11,
Wherein the correction time is set as an upper region, a central region and a lower region along the traveling direction of the cargo, and when the barcode is located in any one of the upper region and the lower region, Wherein the center of the upper region is calculated based on the distance from the center of the central region to the center of the lower region. The method according to claim 1,
The vision control unit reads the barcode attached to the cargo to extract the serial number,
And an information unit connected to the vision control unit to convert the extracted serial number into a database.

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