JP2641991B2 - Data processing method of bar code reader - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data processing method for a bar code reader for reading a bar code from a label or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a supermarket or the like, a barcode label is attached to a product or a barcode is directly printed, and when a product is purchased, the barcode of the product is read by a barcode reader and registered. Processing is performed. As described above, UPC (Universal Produ
cts Code), EAN (European Article Number)
) And JAN (Japanes Article Number) are generally known. And UPC is UPC-A, UP
There are three types, CE and UPC-D.
AN has exactly the same configuration and EAN / JAN-13 and EAN /
There are two types of JAN-8. UPC-A, UPC-E, EAN / JAN-
13. EAN / JAN-8 is most often used.

[0003] UPC-A and EAN / JAN-13 are shown in FIG.
In the configuration shown in the figure, the whole is 13 digits, for example, the first two digits “0”
"0" indicates a country code, the next five digits "12345" indicate a product maker code, the next five digits "67890" indicates a product item code, and the last one digit "5" indicates a modular check character. I have. In addition, there are 6 data characters on the left side and 5 data characters on the right side of the center bar. In the UPC-A, the parity of the left data character is all odd, and the parity of the right data character is all even, whereas in EAN / JAN-13, the two are distinguishable. ing. UPC-
E has the configuration shown in FIG. 6 and is composed of only six characters, that is, five data characters and one modular check character.

Further, EAN / JAN-8 has a configuration shown in FIG. 7, in which the whole is eight digits, for example, the first two digits "49" indicate a country code, and the next four digits "1234" indicate a product maker code. The next digit “9” indicates the commodity item code, and the last digit “4” indicates the modular check character. There are four data characters on the left and three data characters on the right with the center bar in between. The parity of the left data character is all odd, and the parity of the right data character is all even.

[0005] As a bar code reader for reading such various bar codes, for example, there is a stationary bar code reader shown in FIG. 8. This device transmits a laser beam from a reading window 1 in various directions a, b, c, d. , E, and reads the bar code of the bar code label 3 attached to the product 2. And this bar code reader is UPC-
A, such as A, EAN / JAN-13, and EAN / JAN-8, which have barcodes on the left and right around the center bar, decode the barcodes independently on the left and right, and then combine the left and right data to form one bar. It is also possible to output as code reading data.

[0006]

In such a bar code reader, for example, when a laser beam sweeps a bar code of UPC-A as shown by a solid line in FIG. 9, the left data character of UPC-A is considered. Are all odd and the parity of the right data character is all even. Similarly, in EAN / JAN-8, all the parities of the left data are odd, and all the parities of the right data are even.

Accordingly, when the UPC-A bar code is swept by a laser beam as shown by a solid line in FIG. , And EAN / JA
If the check character as N-8 is correct, U
There was a problem that PC-A was misread as EAN / JAN-8.

When the UPC-A bar code is swept by the laser beam as shown in FIG. 10A, the left half is decoded as EAN / JAN-8. (B), the right half is decoded as EAN / JAN-8. Then, when the left and right independently decoded data are combined, UPC-A is also converted to EAN / JAN.
There was a problem of misreading as -8.

Further, for UPC-E, just UP
It has a shape that crosses CA and EAN / JAN-13 on the way. However, since these codes have different parities, the UPC-E is distinguished and recognized.

On the other hand, when decoding a bar code, the signal input to the decoder is often deformed due to the influence of disturbance light or electric noise, and it is not always necessary to completely correspond to the original bar width. I can't say. For this reason, UP
When the beam partially traverses CA and EAN / JAN-13 and the signal is deformed, the variability arrangement sometimes establishes UPC-E, and the UPC-A or EAN / JAN-13 becomes UPC-E. There was a problem of misreading as -E.

As described above, conventionally, the UPC-A
The beam partially traverses the barcode and the partial data
Data is established as EAN-8 or UPC-
Partial A or EAN / JAN-13 barcode
The beam traversed, and the data when it traversed
Is deformed by the influence of noise, etc.
When data is established as UPC-E,
Recognized as a different type of barcode from conventional barcode
There is a problem that misreading occurs .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a data processing method of a bar code reading apparatus which can prevent erroneous reading of a read bar code and can output accurate bar code read data.

[0013]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a bar code reader which optically sweeps a bar code and outputs the data together with a bar code type. Sometimes UPC-A type or EAN / JAN-13 type barcode and EA
When a bar code of N / JAN-8 type or UPC-E type is established, UPC-A type or EAN / J type
This is to output only barcode data of AN-13 type as valid.

[0014] Claim 2 compatible invention, a bar code optically swept, in the bar code reading device for outputting the data with the bar code type, the order of older data when scanning a single bar code label Compare the sequential types,
If the types do not match, the type of the data is compared with the next data, leaving the newer data.If there is no data of a different type in the data that matches and has not been compared, the data is output as valid. Also, if there is data of a different type in the data of the same type and not yet compared , the data may be of UPC-A type or EAN.
/ JAN-13 type barcode and EAN / JAN-
8 If the bar code type or UPC-E type U
PC-A type or EAN / JAN-13 type bar
The purpose is to output only code data as valid.

Therefore, for example, in FIG. 9, when the laser beam sweeps the position of the dotted line and then sweeps the position of the solid line by moving the sweep line, the data of the UPC-A is first captured by sweeping the position of the dotted line, and then the solid line is swept. Rank
Partial data of UPC-A is changed by EAN-
8 data, and the correct data
And two types of data
In this case, UPC-A
Is output as valid data.

[0016]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 11 denotes a bar code reader,
A host device 12 receives bar code read data from the bar code reader 11 and performs desired data processing such as product registration.

The bar code reader 11 sweeps a laser beam, irradiates the beam to, for example, a bar code label, receives reflected light, binarizes the reflected light, obtains a bar code signal, and decodes the bar code signal. Circuit 13. The decoding circuit 13 decodes the input bar code signal. For example, UPC-A, EA
Barcodes such as N / JAN-13 and EAN / JAN-8, which have barcodes on the left and right around the center bar, decode the barcodes independently on the left and right. At this time, the type of data is determined. The decoding circuit 13 sends the decoded data and the type of data to the microprocessor 14 together with an interrupt request signal.

When the microprocessor 14 receives an interrupt request signal from the decode circuit 13, it sequentially stores data and the type of the data in the RAM 15 as shown in FIG. That is, since the bar code surface is swept many times by the laser beam while the bar code label passes through the reading surface of the bar code reading device, a large amount of data is stored in the RAM 15 in one pass of the label. Become. When storing data in the RAM 15, the microprocessor 14 executes an editing process shown in FIG.

That is, the data and the type stored in the RAM 15 are sequentially read from the oldest one. First, the oldest data and the second oldest data are read, and the types of both data are compared. Then, if the type is the same, that is, the same type, then it is checked whether both data are left data and right data. If the data is right or left, the left data and right data are combined, and whether the checksum matches This is checked, and if they match, the editing of one barcode is completed and the barcode is output to the host device 12 via the interface 16 as barcode read data.

If the two data are not of the same type, the data of the type having a lower priority set in advance is invalidated. That is, the priority is set to a lower priority for a type having a higher probability of being established as a barcode due to erroneous reading.
In the case of EAN / JAN-8 and UPC-E, the priority order is UPC-A, EAN / JAN-13> EAN / JAN-
8> UPC-E or UPC-A> EAN / JAN-13
> EAN / JAN-8> UPC-E.
That is, the UPC-E type has the highest probability of being realized as a barcode due to misreading most.

When invalidating low priority data, RA
Reads the third oldest data from M15 and remains 1
Compare two data types. If the types are the same, check whether both data are left data and right data.If left and right data, combine left data and right data, and check whether the checksums match. If so, the editing of one barcode is completed, and the barcode is output to the host device 12 via the interface 16 as barcode read data.

If the two data are not of the same type, the data of the lower priority type of the two data is invalidated, the fourth oldest data is read from the RAM 15, and the remaining data is compared with the type.

If both data are not the left data and the right data even if the type is the same, or if the checksums do not match, one of the data is invalidated and the RAM 1
5, the next oldest data is read out and the remaining data is compared with the type.

In the present embodiment having such a configuration, for example, a bar code signal is input to the decoding circuit 13 by sweeping a bar code label of UPC-A with a laser beam, whereby the decoding circuit 13 Is decoded and its type is determined. At this time, decoding is performed independently for the left and right sides.

When an interrupt request signal is sent from the decode circuit 13 to the microprocessor 14, the microprocessor 14 sequentially stores the data and the type from the decode circuit 13 in the RAM 15.

The microprocessor 14 has the RAM 1
The data and the type are read from 5 in the oldest order and the types are compared. If the types are different, the data of the lower priority type of the two data is invalidated, and the type of the remaining data is compared with the type of the data read next from the RAM 15. That is, one data type is UPC-A
And the type of the other data is incorrectly
Or EAN / JAN-8, if UPC
-E or EAN / JAN-8 data is invalidated.

Then, both data types are UP
If they match, then it is checked whether the two data are left data and right data. If left and right data, the left and right data are combined and if the checksum is checked, One barcode editing is completed, and the barcode read data is output to the host device 12.

By performing such data processing, UPC-A data is erroneously converted to UPC-E or EAN / JA.
UPC-E or EAN / JAN-8 even if determined to be N-8
Is invalidated in the type comparison, so that erroneous reading is finally prevented, and accurate bar code read data can be output by combining the left and right data of the UPC-A. Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. This is different from the data editing processing by the microprocessor 14, and the editing processing shown in FIG. 4 is performed.

That is, the data and the type stored in the RAM 15 are sequentially read from the oldest one. Then, first, the oldest data and the second oldest data are read, and it is determined whether the combination of the two data is possible. That is, it is checked whether the type is the same and both data are left data and right data. If the combination of both data is not possible, the new data, that is, the second oldest data is validated and the RAM 1
The fifth oldest data is read from the fifth, and it is determined whether or not the combination with the second oldest data is possible. The above processing is repeated until the combination of the two data becomes possible.

If it is determined that the combination of the two data is possible, the left data and the right data are combined, and it is checked whether the checksums match. If the checksums match, the bar code is edited at that time. Is temporarily terminated.

In this state, it is checked whether or not another kind, that is, another type of data is stored in the RAM 15. If there is another type of data, it is checked whether the type of the data or the type of edited data has a higher priority. This priority is set to a lower priority for a type having a higher probability of being established as a barcode due to erroneous reading, as in the above-described embodiment.
A, EAN / JAN-13, EAN / JAN-8, UP
In the case of CE, priority is UPC-A, EAN / JA
N-13> EAN / JAN-8> UPC-E or UPC
-A> EAN / JAN-13> EAN / JAN-8> U
It is set to PC-E.

If the priority of another type of data is high, the edited data is invalidated and the data is edited again. If the priority of another type of data is low, the edited data is output to the host device 12 via the interface 16 as bar code read data.

In this embodiment having such a configuration, for example, when a bar code label of UPC-A is read by sweeping a laser beam, data and type are sequentially stored in the RAM 15.

The microprocessor 14 has the RAM 1
Data and types are read out from 5 in the oldest order to determine the combination of left and right data. If the combination cannot be made, the new data is made valid and the combination with the next data is determined.

When it is determined that the combination is possible, the checksum is confirmed by combining the left and right data, and the editing is temporarily terminated. Thereafter, it is checked whether or not there is another type of data having a higher priority in the RAM 15, and if so, the edited data is invalidated and the data is edited again.

If there is no data of another type having a higher priority in the RAM 15 after the end of editing, the edited data is output to the host device 12 via the interface 16 as bar code read data.

Therefore, even though the UPC-A label is read, both the right and left data are temporarily set to EAN / JA.
Decoded as N-8 data, and as a result, EAN /
Even if edited as JAN-8 data, UPC-A data is also stored in the RAM 15 so that EAN / JA
Since the data of N-8 is invalidated and edited again, the data of UPC-A is finally edited and output. Therefore, also in this embodiment, similarly to the above-described embodiment, erroneous reading is finally prevented and accurate bar code read data can be output.

In the above embodiment, the left and right data are independently decoded, and thereafter the left and right data are combined to obtain bar code read data. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention can also be applied to a device that decodes data at the same time to obtain bar code read data.

[0040]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a data processing method of a bar code reading apparatus which can prevent erroneous reading of a read bar code and can output accurate bar code reading data. is there.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a main block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a main memory configuration of a RAM in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing editing processing in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing editing processing in another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a barcode configuration of UPC-A and EAN / JAN-13.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a barcode configuration of UPC-E.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a bar code configuration of EAN / JAN-8.

FIG. 8 is an external view of a stationary bar code reader.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of sweeping a laser beam on a barcode label.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of sweeping a laser beam on a barcode label.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 bar code reader, 14 microprocessor, 15 RAM.

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A sweep a bar code optically, the bar code reading device for outputting the data with the bar code type, UPC during scanning of a single bar code label
-A type or EAN / JAN-13 type bar code
And EAN / JAN-8 type or UPC-E type
When barcode is established, UPC-A type or E
A data processing method for a bar code reader, wherein only bar code data of AN / JAN-13 type is output as valid. 2. A sweep a bar code optically and compared in a bar code reader which outputs the data together with the bar code type, the sequential type order of older data during scanning of one bar code label, If the types do not match, the type of the data is compared with the next data, leaving the newer data.If there is no data of a different type in the data that matches and has not been compared, the data is output as valid. Also, if there is a different type of data that has the same type and has not yet been compared ,
Is UPC-A type or EAN / JAN-13 type
Bar code and EAN / JAN-8 type or UPC-
If it is E type barcode , UPC-A type or E
A data processing method for a bar code reader, wherein only data of an AN / JAN-13 type bar code is output as valid.