JP2727503B2 - Automatic calculation method of bar code reading position correction value - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mechanism for sucking, transporting, and discharging a medium having a barcode provided on a surface thereof, and an optical system for scanning a barcode reader by scanning a barcode reader from above the barcode on the medium surface. The present invention relates to a method for automatically calculating a correction value for setting the bar code reading position to an optimum position in an apparatus having a reading mechanism.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an optimum bar code reading position in an apparatus having a self-propelled bar code reading mechanism. In FIG. 5A, a barcode is printed or a printed medium (hereinafter referred to as a barcode medium) 13
Is set on the conveyor belt 11. The transport belt 11 is wound around a pair of rollers 12,
Are connected to a driving motor (not shown) (for example, a pulse motor or the like). Therefore, by controlling the rotation direction and the rotation angle of the drive motor, the transport belt 11 can be moved by a desired distance in the medium transport direction shown in FIG. The movement of the conveyor belt 11 can convey the barcode medium 13 on the belt to a predetermined reading position.

FIG. 5B is a view of the bar code medium 13 at the predetermined reading position as viewed from directly above, and a bar code reader (not shown) that optically reads a bar code and converts the bar code into a code. The device reads the barcode from above the barcode medium 13 by scanning in the barcode arrangement direction (the direction from A to B in the figure) at right angles to the medium transport direction. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5B, if the scanning line of the barcode reader is on the line connecting the midpoints that divide the length of each barcode into two equal parts, it is the optimum reading position. It can be said that. In other words, it can be said that this is the position where the occurrence of the reading error is minimized.

However, the reading position as a result of the control by the drive motor in an actual apparatus varies from one apparatus to another, and is usually a position slightly before or after the optimal reading position. Therefore, a method is employed in which a bar code reading position is adjusted to an optimum position by obtaining a correction value for correcting an error from the optimum reading position for each device and inputting the correction value to the device.

[0005] In a conventional method of obtaining a correction value of a bar code reading position in a device having a self-propelled bar code reading mechanism, a bar code reading operation is performed by changing the reading device of the bar code medium 13 in any number of ways. In this case, the operator determines and determines a correction value that is considered to be optimal based on the normal or abnormal information of some of the reading results. However, when a correction value that seems to be optimal is input to the device and barcode reading operation is actually performed, this correction value may not always be the optimal value, and in such a case, trial and error is performed many times. Was to be repeated.

[0006]

However, in the above-described method of determining a bar code reading position correction value, an operator sends a bar code medium to the apparatus in order to determine the bar code reading position correction value. It is necessary to repeat the process of reading a bar code, determining a correction value based on the read result, and inputting the determined correction value to the device to confirm that the correction value is appropriate. Not only takes a lot of adjustment time, but the correction value obtained in this way is within the range where the barcode can be read normally,
There is a problem that the optimum value is not always obtained.

[0007]

According to the present invention, there is provided a method for automatically calculating a bar code reading position correction value, comprising a mechanism for feeding, transporting, and discharging a medium provided with a bar code on the surface, and a bar code on the surface of the medium. And a mechanism for optically reading a bar code by scanning a bar code reader from above. In the automatic calculation method of the correction value for setting the bar code reading position to the optimum position, the bar is set to the correct position on the medium. The standard medium provided with the code is sent to a normal reading position, and then a predetermined test range is provided before and after the normal reading position, and the standard medium is sequentially moved within the test range at every minimum movable distance. The bar code reader is scanned at each successive movement to read the bar code, and stores the normal or abnormal information of the read result, and then stores the information of the stored read result. Chide first determined the resulting reading position of normal information obtained reading position and last normal information,
The position of the middle point which bisects the reading position where the first normal information is obtained and the reading position where the last normal information is obtained is set as the optimum position of the barcode reading position. The correction value is calculated.

In the present invention, a mechanism for sucking, transporting, and discharging a medium provided with a barcode on the surface and a mechanism for optically reading the barcode by scanning a barcode reader from above the barcode on the medium surface. In the automatic calculation method of the correction value for setting the barcode reading position to the optimum position in the device having the above, in the first step, the standard medium provided with the barcode at the correct position on the medium is moved to the normal reading position. In the next step, a predetermined test range is provided before and after the normal reading position, and the standard medium is sequentially moved by the minimum movable distance within the test range. The bar code is scanned by scanning the code reader, and the normal or abnormal information of the read result is stored. In the last step, the normal information is first among the stored read result information. Of the obtained reading position and the reading position at which the last normal information was obtained, and the distance between the first reading position at which the normal information was obtained and the reading position at which the last normal information was obtained. Since the correction value for setting the position of the midpoint to be bisected as the optimum position of the barcode reading position is calculated, the correction value of the barcode reading position is automatically calculated, and the operation as in the conventional operation is performed. Since the operator does not need much adjustment time and the calculated correction value is an optimum value, the occurrence of a barcode reading error is minimized.

[0009]

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a bar code reader device to which the present invention is applied.
Is a printer, 2 is a printer control unit, 3 is a non-volatile memory, 4 is a barcode reader, 5 is a transport unit, 6 is a main control unit, 7 is a main memory, 8 is a display, 9 is a keyboard, and 10 is a connection cable. is there. In FIG. 2, a printer 1 has a mechanism for inhaling a barcode medium (for example, one barcode is printed at a predetermined position in this form on various forms, etc.), printing characters and barcodes, transporting and discharging. And a bar code reader 4 which is a mechanism for optically reading a bar code and converting the bar code into a code signal.
including. The printer 1 and the main controller 6 are connected by a connection cable 10. The main control unit 6 includes a main memory 7 therein, and is connected to a keyboard 9 for inputting instructions from an operator and a display 8 for displaying information to the operator via a connection cable 10. An operation instruction and information acquisition from the printer 1 can be performed.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the bar code reader 4 and the transport section 5 of FIG. 2. In FIG. 3, 4 is a bar code reader, 11 is a transport belt, 12 is a pair of rollers, and 13 is a bar. It is a code medium. In the side view of FIG. 3A, the roller 12 has its rotation axis connected to a motor (not shown), which is a pulse motor, and rotates the motor by an angle designated by the printer control unit 2. Thereby, the roller 12 rotates by that angle, and the transport belt 11 wound around the roller 12 moves in the traveling direction (for example, the X-axis direction). By the movement of the transport belt 11, the barcode medium 13 on the belt is fed, transported, and discharged. Since the pulse motor connected to the rotation shaft of the roller 12 rotates by the minimum rotation unit every time one pulse is supplied, the printer control unit 2 determines how many times the angle to be rotated is the minimum rotation unit. If it is N times, N pulses are supplied to the pulse motor. As described above, the printer control unit 2 controls the number of pulses supplied to the pulse motor, thereby moving the conveyor belt 11 and sending the barcode medium 13 to a predetermined barcode reading position (a position immediately below the barcode reader 4). You can enter.

When the bar code medium 13 is fed to a predetermined bar code reading position, the bar code reader 4 receives a command from the printer control unit 2 and starts from the left end A in the front view of FIG. It runs on the right end B (in this example, the Y-axis direction perpendicular to the X-axis direction) and attempts to read a barcode. At this time, if the bar code reading position is at the optimum position shown in FIG. 5B (the position where the scanning line of the bar code reader coincides with the line connecting the midpoints that divides the length of each bar code into two equal parts). , The bar code can be read correctly. However, the transport distance by the minimum rotation unit of the pulse motor is
The barcode reading position in an actual device is shifted from the optimum position because the value varies for each device. Therefore, a correction value for correcting this deviation is obtained for each device, and this correction value is input to the device, as described in the related art.

For example, if a correction value of the bar code reading position is obtained by a conventional method of repeating trial and error, the correction value is written in the nonvolatile memory 3 in the printer control unit 2. When the barcode medium 13 is conveyed and sucked up to the barcode reading position, the number of pulses obtained by increasing or decreasing the number of pulses of the correction value with respect to a fixed number of pulses given to the standard pulse motor in accordance with the distance of conveyance is calculated. It is supplied to the pulse motor of the device so that the bar code reading position is at the optimum position.

According to the present invention, the correction value is calculated automatically and so as to be an optimum value, and the calculated correction value is written in the nonvolatile memory 13. FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing an automatic calculation order of the barcode reading position correction value according to the present invention. An automatic calculation method of the correction value will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The numerical value following S in the figure indicates a step number. In S0 of FIG. 1, first, a standard barcode medium (a barcode medium having a barcode printed at an accurate position in the medium) is set at a predetermined take-in position of the transport unit 5. Here, the correction value of the current barcode reading position obtained by the conventional method or the like is an integer α (for example, the initial value of the correction value is 02 or the like). Also, let β be the standard number of pulses for feeding the barcode medium from the capture position to the read position.

In step S1 of FIG. 1, the printer control unit 2 instructs the transport unit 5 to supply the pulse number (β + α) to which the correction value has been added in order to suck the standard barcode medium into the reading position. Next, in step S2, the standard barcode medium is conveyed backward by 15 pulses (conveyed in the discharge direction) from the reading position of S1. Therefore, the standard bar code medium is-from the reading position of S1.
That is, it is at a position corresponding to 15 pulses.

Next, in step S3, the number of readings i is set to an initial value of 0. In step S4, it is determined whether the number of readings i is 31 or less. If not, the flow proceeds to S5. If not, the flow proceeds to S9. FIG.
In step S5, the barcode reader runs by itself at the current reading position according to a command from the printer control unit 2, and performs a barcode reading operation from a standard barcode medium.

In S6, as a result of the reading operation in S5, information indicating whether or not the bar code has been read normally is set in the i-th area of the reading result table. FIG. 4 shows an example of a reading result table according to the present invention.
It has a memory capacity of 31 bytes in byte units, and is provided with index values (0 to 30) corresponding to each memory address. If the main control unit 6 recognizes only the memory address of the leading index value “0”, it is possible to associate each index value with the memory address using a counter or the like. Also, as information of the reading result, for example,
"1" if read successfully, "0" otherwise
And

In step S7, the standard barcode medium is sequentially conveyed by one pulse (conveyed in the feeding direction). In S8, the number of readings i is increased by one, and the process returns to S4. Then, steps S4 to S8 are repeated 31 times. As a result, the reading position of the standard barcode medium finally becomes a position for +15 pulses from the reading position of S1. That is, the reading position of the standard barcode medium is sequentially moved at intervals of one pulse from the position of −15 pulses to the position of +15 pulses with the reading position of the first S1 interposed therebetween. Then, a barcode reading operation and an operation of setting the reading result information in the reading result table are performed.

Therefore, after the end of the 31 repetitive operations, the first read position is inserted in the read result table,
This means that the read result information for 31 times is set at the read position for 15 pulses before and after that. If the number of readings i exceeds 31 in the discrimination process in S4, the process proceeds to S9. In S9, the position where the bar code reading result becomes normal is searched in the reading result table in the order of the index in the index, and the index value of this position is set to START.
Value. In S10, the position where the bar code reading result was finally normal is searched in the reading result table, and the index value of this position is set as the END value. Here, the S
The TART value and the END value are any values from 0 to 30.

When the reading result table is examined and the reading position where the normal information is obtained first and the reading position where the normal information is obtained last are found out of the reading results, the two reading positions are obtained. The position of the midpoint that bisects the interval is the optimum position of the barcode reading position. Therefore, the correction value of the first reading position of S1 with respect to this optimum position (this is the CORRE
CT value) can be obtained by the following calculation. In step S11, a CORRECT value is obtained by the following equation based on the START and END values. CORRECT value = ｛(END value + 1) -START
Value｝ / 2 + START value -15

At S12, the CORREC calculated at S11 is obtained.
The T value is added to the previous correction value α, and this (CORRE)
(CT value + α) is written as a new bar code reading position correction value in the nonvolatile memory 3 in the printer control unit 2 in accordance with an instruction from the printer control unit 2. In S13, the standard barcode medium is discharged by the transport unit 5. As described above, the correction value of the barcode reading position is automatically calculated so as to be an optimum value.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, since the correction value of the bar code reading position is automatically calculated, the operator reads the bar code by changing the reading position of the bar code medium in a number of ways as in the prior art. This eliminates the need for determining the correction value based on the read result, inputting the correction value to the apparatus using a keyboard, and checking whether the correction result is satisfactory. In the related art, even though the correction value obtained by the above-mentioned method is troublesome, the correction value may not always be the optimum value. However, according to the present embodiment, the optimum correction value is correctly calculated.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, a mechanism for sucking, transporting, and discharging a medium provided with a barcode on the surface and a barcode reader scanning the barcode reader from above the barcode on the medium surface. In a method for automatically calculating a correction value for setting the barcode reading position to an optimum position in a device having a mechanism for optically reading a code, a standard in which a barcode is provided at a correct position on a medium in a first step. The medium is sucked into a normal reading position, and in the next step, a predetermined test range is provided before and after the normal reading position, and the standard medium is sequentially moved within the test range by a minimum movable distance, and Each time the bar code reader is sequentially moved, the bar code reader is scanned to read a bar code, and the normal or abnormal information of the read result is stored. In the last step, the first among the stored read result information is stored. The reading position where the normal information is obtained and the reading position where the normal information is finally obtained are obtained, and the reading position where the first normal information is obtained and the reading position where the normal information is finally obtained are The correction value for making the position of the midpoint that divides the interval into two equal to the optimum position of the barcode reading position is calculated, so that the correction value of the barcode reading position is automatically calculated, As described above, since the operator does not need much adjustment time and the calculated correction value is the optimum value, the effect of minimizing the occurrence of a barcode reading error can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing an automatic calculation order of a barcode reading position correction value according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a barcode reader device to which the present invention has been applied.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the operation of a bar code reader 4 and a transport unit 5 in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a reading result table according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an optimal barcode reading position.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printer 2 Printer control part 3 Non-volatile memory 4 Barcode reader 5 Transport part 6 Main control part 7 Main memory 8 Display 9 Keyboard 10 Connection cable 11 Transport belt 12 Roller 13 Barcode medium

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Tomoko Takahashi 1-7-12 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Shinsuke Ito 4-chome Tsunashima Higashi, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture No. 1 Matsushita Communication Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Daisuke Kawate 4-3 Jonai, Hanamaki City, Iwate Prefecture Inside Shinko Seisakusho Co., Ltd. Inside the factory (56) References JP-A-4-77864 (JP, A) JP-A-9-34973 (JP, A)

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A mechanism for inhaling, transporting, and discharging a medium having a barcode provided on a surface thereof, and a mechanism for optically reading a barcode by scanning a barcode reader from above the barcode on the medium surface. In the method of automatically calculating a correction value for setting the barcode reading position in the apparatus to an optimum position, a standard medium provided with a barcode is sucked into a normal reading position at a correct position on the medium, and then the normal medium is read. A predetermined test range is provided before and after the reading position, the standard medium is sequentially moved by the minimum movable distance within the test range, and the barcode reader is scanned at each successive movement to read a barcode. The normal or abnormal information of the read result is stored, and then, among the stored read result information, the read position at which the normal information was obtained first and the normal position at the last were obtained. The reading position is obtained, and the reading at which the first normal information is obtained is obtained.
Between the position and the last reading position where normal information was obtained.
A method for automatically calculating a correction value of a bar code reading position, comprising calculating a correction value for setting a position of a middle point at which the bar code is read into two as an optimum position of the bar code reading position. 2. The barcode reading device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined test range is a range in which a distance N times the minimum movable distance of the standard medium is provided before and after the normal reading position. Automatic calculation method of position correction value. 3. The minimum movable distance of the standard medium is a movable distance obtained by supplying one pulse to a pulse motor that drives the suction, transport and discharge mechanism. 2. A method for automatically calculating the bar code reading position correction value described in 2.