JP2739766B2 - Automatic barcode reader - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Summary] The present invention relates to a bar code automatic reading device that automatically reads a bar code attached to an article (commodity) with a scanner while placing the article (article) having the bar code on a belt conveyor and transporting the article. Regardless of how the product is placed on the belt, the probability that bar code can be read by the irradiation light for reading from the scanner is improved, and the bar code information is conveyed to prevent bar code information from being missed. An automatic barcode reader characterized by having an uneven surface is provided.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention relates to an automatic barcode reading apparatus, and more particularly to a barcode of an article (article) provided with a barcode, which can be automatically read by a scanner while the article is placed on a belt and transported. And a bar code reader.

A bar code representing the required information such as the price of the product in a pattern is printed on the product itself or its packaging, or a label printed with the bar code is attached to the product or its packaging, and this bar code is scanned by an optical scanning auto scanner. 2. Description of the Related Art A bar code reader that automatically totals the prices of commodities or the like by reading the information is widely used in supermarkets and department stores. In particular, recently, attention has been paid to the introduction of a POS system (point-of-sale information system) using such a barcode reader. An automatic barcode reader used for such a purpose is required to read barcode information quickly and accurately without omission.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, barcode reading devices used in supermarkets and department stores are designed so that an operator manually moves a product with a barcode to a reading area of the device and scans the barcode with a reading laser beam from the device side. It is. In this type of conventional apparatus, at least one operator is in charge of performing product scanning and financial transactions. FIG. 7 shows a conventional example of a bar code automatic reading apparatus in which a scanning operation, which is one of the operations of an operator, is automated.

An article (article) 2 provided with the barcode 1 is placed on an article stand 3 and is conveyed by being placed on a rotating belt 5 of a conveying device 4. An optical scanning device 6 is installed on the upper portion of the belt 5, and automatically reads the barcode 1 of the product 2 while the product 2 placed on the belt 5 passes under the optical scanning device 6.

As is well known, the barcode 1 is a pattern representation of required information such as the price of a product, and is printed directly on the product or its packaging, or a barcode-printed label is attached to the product or its packaging. Used as When placing the product 2 on the belt 5, the barcode 1 is placed so as to face upward. Therefore, when the barcode enters the reading area when the product 2 passes through the lower part of the optical scanning device 6, the optical scanning device The reading laser beam emitted from 6 scans the bar code 1, crosses the bar code pattern, and detects reflected light from the pattern to read the information represented by the bar code. The belt 5 is normally driven at a speed of about 20 cm / sec, and the optical scanning device 6 irradiates, for example, 80 × 2 laser beams 5 per second.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, in the above-described conventional automatic barcode reading apparatus, care must be taken so that the barcode enters a predetermined reading area of the optical reading apparatus when placing a product on a belt. Further, in order to read bar codes of products that are continuously sent, it is necessary to keep a certain interval between the products. However, some products have various shapes, and it is difficult to place the barcode in a predetermined range with the barcode facing upward, or there is a possibility that the product may roll on a belt such as a can or a bottle. In some cases, when a product passes below the optical scanning device, the bar code deviates from a readable area, and the bar code is not scanned by the laser beam. In such a case, it is necessary to pass the product once passing through the optical scanning device again, or to read the product using a barcode reader held by the operator.

In view of such circumstances, the present invention increases the probability that a beam from an optical reader can read a barcode regardless of how to place an article (article) on a belt, and prevents or reduces reading omission of barcode information. It is an object of the present invention to provide a barcode automatic reading device capable of performing the above.

[Means for solving the problem]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a bar code automatic reading device for reading an bar-code with an optical scanning scanner while transporting an article provided with the bar code on a belt conveyor. As shown in FIG. 1, there is provided an automatic bar code reader characterized in that an article conveying surface (10) of a belt conveyor has an uneven shape.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in the automatic bar code reading apparatus, as shown in FIG. 3, the article conveying surface (10) of the belt conveyor is inclined at a plane perpendicular to the traveling direction. A guide member (1) for receiving an article on a belt conveyor along a lower edge of the article transport surface (10).
There is provided an automatic barcode reader characterized by the above (1).

(Operation)

In the first invention, the article conveying surface of the belt conveyor (10)
Is uneven, so that even a cylindrical product (article), such as a can or a bottle, does not roll or move on the article transport surface, and therefore a bar code attached to the product Is prevented from deviating from the predetermined reading area.

In the second invention, since the article transport surface (10) is inclined to the left or right with respect to the traveling direction, the article (article) is guided by the guide member (11) from below to move on the belt. Moving. Therefore, the position of the barcode attached to the product is regulated, and the probability that the barcode will be out of the reading area when the product passes below the optical scanning device is greatly reduced.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. 1, an article (commodity) provided with a barcode 1
2 is placed on a product stand 3 and is conveyed by being placed on a belt conveyor of a conveying device 4. The optical scanning device 6 is installed on the upper part of the belt conveyor, and the bar code 1 of the product 2 is automatically changed while the product 2 placed on the article conveying surface 10 passes under the optical scanning device 6. read. Here, if a flat belt conveyor, such as that generally used in factory automation systems (FA), is used as the belt conveyor, it is inferior in stability to transport cylindrical and spherical products as described above. Therefore, in FIG. 1, the article conveying surface 10 of the belt conveyor has an uneven shape. In the illustrated embodiment, the shape is a waveform in the traveling direction P of the article.

The product 2 is placed on the article conveying surface 10 of the belt conveyor so that the barcode 1 faces upward. However, the article conveying surface 10 has an uneven shape, so that even if the product is cylindrical or spherical, it rolls. The posture is stable without moving,
When passing through the lower portion of the optical scanning device 6, the barcode enters the reading area, and the barcode 1 is reliably scanned by the reading laser beam emitted from the optical scanning device 6. In FIG. 1, the waveform is in the traveling direction P of the article, but may be in the width direction or in both the traveling direction and the width direction.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the article conveying surface 10 of the belt conveyor is used.
The partition plate is provided at predetermined intervals along the traveling direction P of the article.
12 will be provided. The goods 2 are placed one by one in the area of the article conveying surface 10 between the partition plates 12 so that the barcode 1 faces upward.
Therefore, the interval of the product 2 in the traveling direction is restricted, and the movement of the product is also restricted, so that reading errors by the optical scanning device 6 are reduced.

In FIG. 3, partitioning plates 12 are provided at predetermined intervals on the article conveying surface 10 of the belt conveyor, and the article conveying surface 10 is inclined to the left or right with respect to the traveling direction, and the goods are moved along the lower edge thereof. The guide member 11 for guiding the product is fixed, so that the product 2 placed on the article conveying surface 10 slides downward on the conveying surface 10 until it comes into contact with the guide member 11 and contacts the guide member 11 while the optical scanning device is in contact. 6 to the bottom. Since all the products are regulated by the guide member 11 as described above, the probability that the barcodes 1 with the products will fit in the reading area when passing through the lower part of the optical scanning device is greatly increased. In addition, reading errors by the optical scanning device 6 are reduced. in this way,
Since the barcode of the product is restricted to a narrow area, as shown in FIG.
If 10 is flat, the scanner 13 will be
4 (b), the scanner 13
However, there may be two, for example, an upper part and one side (FIG. 4 (b)). It is desirable that the inclined conveying surface 10 is made of a material having a low coefficient of friction, such as polytetrafluoroethylene, in order to improve the slip of the product. The guide member 11 may be fixedly provided independently of the belt conveyor 4 as described above, or may be integrally formed as a part of the article conveying surface 10 of the belt conveyor.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the article conveying surface 10 of the belt conveyor is used.
Is inclined to the right or left side with respect to the traveling direction, a guide member 11 is provided on the lower edge thereof, and an unevenness 14 or a partition plate is provided in the traveling direction of the article conveying surface 10, and the product 2 slides in the arrow Q direction. Position is regulated. As a result, the position of the product in the traveling direction of the belt conveyor is further restricted, and reading errors by the optical scanning device are further reduced.

FIG. 6 shows an uneven form of the article conveying surface 10 of the belt conveyor, which can be formed in a jagged shape 15 (FIG. 6 (a)) or a waveform 16 (FIG. 6 (b)). .

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, articles (articles) are stabilized on the article conveying surface of the belt conveyor, and the positions of the articles in the traveling direction and the width direction of the belt conveyor are regulated. As a result, the bar code of the article (commodity) can be easily adjusted to a predetermined reading area, as in the case where the operator operates by hand, the information reading rate of the bar code is improved, and the burden on the operator is reduced. Also,
The number of scanners of the optical scanning device 6 can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a bar code reader according to the present invention, in which an article conveying surface of a belt conveyor is corrugated, FIG. 2 shows an embodiment in which a partition plate is provided on the article conveying surface, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a view showing the arrangement of the scanner, FIG. 5 is an embodiment in which the article conveying surface is inclined and provided with irregularities or a partition plate, and FIG. 6 is an uneven cross section of the article conveying surface. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a shape, and FIG. 7 is a diagram of a bar code automatic reading device using a conventional belt conveyor. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Barcode, 2 ... Article (product), 3 ... Art table, 4 ... Conveyer, 6 ... Optical scanning device, 10 ... Conveyor surface of belt conveyor, 11 ... Guide member, 12: Partition plate, 13: Scanner, 14: Irregularity or partition, 15: Jagged surface, 16: Corrugated surface.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Ichiro Sebata 1015 Kamikodanaka, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside Fujitsu Limited (56) References Open-ended 1-68559 (JP, U) Open-ended 62-53934 (JP, U) Jikken 50-31406 (JP, Y1)

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An automatic bar code reader for reading an article (2) provided with a bar code (1) with an optical scanning scanner (6) while transporting the article (2) on the belt conveyor. An automatic barcode reader characterized in that the article transport surface (10) has an uneven shape. 2. An automatic bar code reader for reading an article (2) provided with a bar code (1) with an optical scanning type scanner while transporting the article (2) on a belt conveyor. A bar code automatic reading device, characterized in that (10) is inclined at a plane perpendicular to the traveling direction thereof and a guide member (11) for receiving an article on the belt conveyor is provided along a lower edge of the belt conveyor. apparatus. 3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the article conveying surface of the belt conveyor has an uneven shape in the traveling direction.