JPS6151938B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Technical Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for displaying barcodes on sample test tubes used in blood tests and the like.

BACKGROUND ART AND PROBLEMS Blood tests are one of the most effective means of diagnosing patients, and institutions have also been established to perform such tests. The organization that performs blood tests on behalf of the organization dispatches staff to each hospital, etc. to receive test tubes containing blood collected from patients, tests the blood in the test tubes, and notifies the hospital, etc. of the test results. do.

Since blood test agencies must receive a large number of sample test tubes from each hospital, test them, and report the results to the hospital, it is necessary to manage the sample test tubes individually. As an individual management means, it is simply a matter of pasting a label with the patient's name and hospital name written on the test tube, but this method is difficult to perform automatic processing. That is, automatic recognition of the label is necessary for automatic processing, but automatic recognition of handwritten Chinese characters is troublesome.

Therefore, it is being considered to use barcodes attached to product packaging. In this case, the hospital name should be expressed as a code, the patient should be given a number, and these codes and numbers should be displayed in a barcode.Specifically, a label with such a barcode printed on it should be attached to the sample test tube. become. FIG. 1 shows an example of such a barcode-displayed sample test tube, where 10 is the test tube and 12 is a barcode or a label on which the barcode is printed.

In this method, each bar of the barcode faces the tube axis direction, and the bar arrangement direction faces the circumferential direction. As is well known, each bar of a barcode consists of a thin black line, a thick black line, a thin white line and a thick white line between these lines, and the combination of these lines can be used to represent numbers 0, 1, 2,... 9 is expressed. Therefore, what is important is the arrangement of the bars, not the length of the bars. In the method shown in FIG. 1, the horizontal length of the barcode label is determined by the number to be displayed, but the vertical length may be short, and a small label can be used. However, when reading the barcode, the barcode must be correctly facing the barcode reader; if it is only partially facing the barcode reader or facing away from it, a reading error will occur. However, on the reading line, a large number of sample test tubes are sent in succession at appropriate intervals, and the barcodes of the passing sample test tubes are sequentially read by the reader, so it is guaranteed that the barcodes will face the reader correctly. It's hard to do. Therefore, it is considered that the sample test tube is rotated when it comes in front of the reader, and if the sample test tube is rotated more than once and reading is performed multiple times during this period, the barcode will be placed on the circumference of the sample test tube. The barcode can be read correctly no matter where it is located. However, this method requires a test tube rotation mechanism, which complicates the structure of the reading device. Furthermore, since the image is rotated, the time required for reading becomes longer and high-speed processing cannot be achieved.

Rotate the reader around the sample tube. Alternatively, correct barcode reading can be achieved by distributing a plurality of readers around the sample test tube, but these mechanisms are complicated.

Purpose of the invention The present invention aims to improve the above points.
The present invention aims to provide a barcode display method that allows accurate and reliable reading without complicating the structure of a reading device.

Structure of the Invention The present invention provides a method for displaying a barcode on a test tube for individual management of sample test tubes, in which each bar of the barcode is oriented in the circumferential direction. This is characterized in that it is displayed almost entirely, and this will be explained next with reference to embodiments.

Embodiment of the Invention FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the invention. 10 is a sample test tube, and 12 is a bar code. As is clear from the comparison with Fig. 1, in Fig. 2, each bar of the barcode is oriented in the circumferential direction of the sample test tube, and each bar is oriented approximately one week around the sample test tube, and the bar arrangement direction is Display the barcode so that it faces the axis of the sample test tube. Barcodes may be recorded or printed directly on the sample tube, but it is easier to apply a pre-printed label. The length of the label in the horizontal direction (in the direction in which the bar extends) (assumed to be L1)
is approximately the circumference length of the sample test tube (referred to as L2). Of course, if L1<L2, there will be a gap at both ends of the pasted label, and if L1>L2, there will be an overlap, but a slight gap or overlap will not particularly hinder reading.

Barcodes often also include the numbers they represent, and if such numbers are written together, humans can read them visually, which is advantageous when a reader is not at hand or is malfunctioning. be. Figures 3 and 4 show barcodes with such numbers, 14 being the number. In FIG. 3, the numeral 14 is displayed inside the barcode, aligned in the tube axis direction, and in FIG. 4, the number 14 is displayed outside the barcode, along with the bar, in the circumferential direction.

FIG. 5 shows an outline of an example of an automatic barcode reading line. 16 is an automatic barcode reader,
In front of this, a large number of specimen specimens 10 are continuously transported at intervals in the direction of the arrow. reader 16
In this example, the scanner is equipped with a hologram scanner, and scans the barcode by swinging a laser beam 18 in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface. The reflected light is received by a light receiver such as a photodiode or phototransistor, and the barcode is read. A hologram scanner is equipped with a rotating disk with multiple Fresnel zone plates (FZP) arranged around its circumference, and uses laser light (reproduction light) to target the area.
Project to FZP and scan beam 18.

In the present invention, each bar code marked on a sample test tube extends in the circumferential direction and approximately once around, so no matter how the sample test tube is placed (however, it is vertical and the height position (as specified), the reader 16 can correctly scan and read the barcode. It is not necessary to place the test tube so that the bar code faces the reader as in the sample test tube of FIG. Of course, it is not necessary to spin the test tube in front of the reader 16, and the structure of the reader can be simplified.

If numbers are written on the barcode, or if there are gaps or overlaps at both ends of the pasted barcode label, test so that they are on the opposite side (back side) of the test tube from the reader 16 side. It is better to put a tube. Since the back side is not scanned, it can be placed anywhere as long as it is on the back side, so the above conditions are extremely lenient, and there will be no problem with the test tube being displaced during transport. Furthermore, if the barcode is scanned and read multiple times while the sample test tube is being transferred, it becomes possible to read the barcode even if the numbers mentioned above are in the foreground.

As the reader 16, an appropriate reader can be used instead of a hologram scanner or the like. for example
A CCD line scanner, a photo diode array, etc. may be used, and in this case, the image of the bar code is formed on the bar code using an optical system, and the bar code is read by electrical scanning.

Effects of the Invention As explained above, according to the present invention, a bar code can be read reliably by a simple method of displaying a bar code on a sample test tube so that the bar faces in the circumferential direction and makes approximately one revolution. The reading mechanism can be simplified.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the conventional system, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the inventive system, in which a is a side view and b is an end view. 3 and 4 are side views showing other embodiments of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the outline of an automatic bar code reading line. In the drawing, 10 is a sample test tube, 12 is a bar code, and 16 is a reader.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method of displaying a barcode on a test tube for individual management of sample test tubes, wherein each bar of the barcode is oriented in the circumferential direction, and the barcode is displayed on the circumference of the test tube. A barcode display method characterized by displaying the barcode over almost the entire length of the barcode. 2. The method for displaying a barcode on a sample test tube according to claim 1, wherein the barcode is recorded on a label, and the label is affixed to substantially the entire circumference of the test tube.