JP2000307765A - Optical information reader with telephone function - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow an optical information reader with telephone function to automatically execute proper countermeasures in the case of receiving an external data communication request. SOLUTION: In the case of receiving an external data communication request, a caller telephone number is acquired (S110), and displayed (S120). Then the acquired telephone number is searched in a number dependent processing table (S130), when any concerned number is in existence (S140: YES), the processing corresponding to the telephone number is executed (S150). For example, in the case of a telephone number, only data of classification A stored in a transmission memory are transmitted and in the case of other telephone number, only data of classification B stored are transmitted. Or data may be received externally. When the concerned number is not in existence in the number dependent processing table (S140: NO), a wrong number coping processing is executed (S160). For example, the phone call is immediately cut off (line interruption) or the line is interrupted after informing the opposite party about a fact of a wrong number.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for optically reading information such as a bar code and a two-dimensional code,
In particular, the present invention relates to an optical information reader having a telephone function capable of acquiring a telephone number of a caller.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as one of product management methods in distribution (logistics), products, price tags, cards, outer boxes are preliminarily determined at the time of loading, unloading, sorting, inventory management, in-house movement, sales occurrence, etc. of each product. The information code such as a bar code described or affixed to the host device is read using a hand-held (portable) optical information reading device, and the information is input to the host device, and the input information is analyzed and the host device is analyzed. A technology for efficiently managing products by sequentially updating a database built in the system has been put to practical use.
As described above, according to the product management method using the information code such as the barcode, the product information recorded as the information code can be instantaneously and accurately read through the optical information reading device and input to the host device. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the input operation time, the input operation, and the erroneous input.

Further, based on such a hand-held (portable) optical information reading device, an optical information reading device with a telephone function having a telephone function added has been considered.
Since both the optical information reader and the telephone are hand-held (portable), both can be carried. However, if the optical information reader having a telephone function is used, a portable telephone (or PHS) can be used. This is convenient because there is no need to carry it separately.

[0004] The read information can be transmitted to a predetermined party using a telephone function. For example, even if the host device is in a place where communication cannot be performed by infrared communication or the like, transmission can be performed by using this telephone function. It is also possible for the user to individually specify the other party and transmit.

[0005]

However, these are premised on connection from the terminal side, that is, the optical information reading apparatus side, to the communication partner using the telephone function. The user himself had to respond. That is, for example, even if a data communication request is issued from the host device to the optical information reading device, the device itself cannot determine where the call is from. For this reason, the user must first identify the other party by telephone call, and transmit data to the other party or perform an operation for receiving data from the other party.
In other words, this is the same as the case where facsimile communication is performed after confirming the other party through a call.

[0006] When making a normal call, there is no inconvenience because the user responds to the call from the other party. However, in the case of data communication only, the apparatus is automatically operated without the user's trouble. It is something that we want to respond to. The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and in an optical information reading device with a telephone function,
It is an object of the present invention to be able to automatically perform an appropriate response to a data communication request from the outside.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the optical information reader with telephone function according to the first aspect of the present invention stores a correspondence between a telephone number and a processing content to be executed. are doing. Then, when an external data communication request is detected by using the telephone function, the caller telephone number of the data communication request source is acquired, and processing corresponding to the acquired caller telephone number is executed.

The processing corresponding to the caller's telephone number includes, for example, a processing for receiving data necessary for executing the optical information reading function from a data communication request source, and a processing for receiving the data from the data communication request source. As shown in (1), a process of transmitting information read using the optical information reading function to a data communication request source can be considered.

As described above, when there is a data communication request from the outside, a caller's telephone number is obtained, and the apparatus can automatically perform an appropriate response according to the telephone number. That is, the user can perform data communication with the optical information reading device at a desired timing of the data communication request source without any operation. Therefore, as described above, the optical information reading device can receive data from a data communication request source at an appropriate timing (that is, a timing at which data should be updated),
Further, the information read by the optical information reading device can be transmitted to the data communication request source at an appropriate timing (that is, the timing at which the data communication request source wants to acquire the data).

When transmitting the read information, the information to be transmitted may be different depending on the destination. For example, when reading a bar code attached to a product, transmission of only information about a certain product or transmission of only information about a product in a certain store may be required.
In order to cope with such a situation, it is only necessary to perform the method as described in claim 4. That is, the information read using the optical information reading function is classified according to the transmission destination and stored in the information storage unit. Then, when transmitting the information stored in the information storage means to the data communication request source, only the information classified with the data communication request source as the information transmission destination is transmitted.

By the way, in order to classify the read information according to the destination and store it in the information storage means, the following may be performed. For example, as shown in claim 5,
It is conceivable to classify destinations based on the type or content of information read using the optical information reading function.
Here, “classify according to the type” means, for example, classification based on a large concept of a barcode and a two-dimensional code, or classification based on a plurality of types belonging to a barcode and two-dimensional code system. . Further, “classification according to information content” means, for example, identifying and classifying a product type code specified for each product or a store code specified for each store. For these, an application for classification may be set in consideration of what classification the data communication request source requests data transmission.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a destination input means for allowing a user to input a destination of information, and information read using an optical information reading function is input to the destination input means. It may be classified into the input destination. In this case, the user can individually specify the transmission destination, which is effective when the transmission destination is not uniformly determined according to the information type or the content.

In the above description, a case is considered where the data communication request source is a formal partner to perform data communication with the own device, but a so-called wrong call may occur. This can be determined by the fact that the acquired caller telephone number of the data communication request source is not set as the correspondence. Therefore, in that case, a predetermined error call handling process is performed as described in claim 7. As the "predetermined incorrect call handling process", for example, it is conceivable to disconnect the telephone line without performing any substantial process (line disconnection). Alternatively, the user may be notified of the wrong call before hanging up.

In the above-described optical information reading apparatus with telephone function, the acquired telephone number of the sender of the data communication request may be displayed.
The apparatus automatically executes the processing related to the actual data communication and the like, so that the user does not need to perform any operation. However, there is an advantage that if the caller's telephone number is displayed, it is possible to confirm that a data communication request has been made or the other party can be confirmed.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. It is needless to say that the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the following examples, and can take various forms as long as they belong to the technical scope of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of an optical information reading device 2 as an embodiment. The optical information reading device 2 includes:
A microprocessor 22 for controlling the functions of the entire apparatus is provided, and a configuration provided mainly for the telephone function, that is, a signal transmitted and received via the antenna 11 is modulated and demodulated, and wireless communication with the base station is performed. PHS communication control unit 13 for performing the operation, a light emitting diode 24 for illuminating the bar code B, a bar code reading unit 26, a liquid crystal display unit 14 as a display unit, a keyboard 30, and a trigger key 3.
6. Communication unit 3 for optical communication with the host computer
2. A memory 34, which comprises a ROM and a RAM, stores a number-specific processing table (see FIG. 3) described later and a processing program, and temporarily stores data when the program is executed. A buzzer 38 is provided for notifying the operator of the completion of the operation, an error or an abnormality. Note that the liquid crystal display unit 14, keyboard 30, memory 34, and trigger key 36 are also used for telephone functions.

Here, the optical information reading apparatus 2 of the present embodiment has a so-called "caller ID notification function". That is, the PHS communication control unit 13 has a function of acquiring the telephone number of a caller of an incoming call from outside. Then, the microprocessor 22 can display the caller telephone number obtained by the PHS communication control unit 13 on the liquid crystal display unit 14.

Power is supplied to the microprocessor 22 from a battery 45 via a power control unit 44. The power control unit 44 supplies power to the entire microprocessor 22 and peripheral circuits when the power key (ON) in the keyboard 30 is pressed, and when the reading operation is not performed for a long time, the power of the microprocessor 22 is controlled. The power output to a part and a part of the peripheral circuit is stopped to suppress the consumption of the battery 45.

The battery 45 is a storage battery, and when the optical information reading device 2 is set on a table (not shown), electric power is supplied through a terminal 46 that contacts a power supply terminal of a charging section of the table. Charged. Although not shown,
A sub-battery serving as a backup storage battery is also built in, and the sub-battery is charged by the battery 45.

When using the optical information reading function of the optical information reading device 2 having such a configuration, the operator operates the reading port 1
When the trigger key 36 is turned on with the 2 facing the bar code B, the reflected light from the bar code B illuminated by the illumination light-emitting diode 24 is linearly arranged in a row of light-receiving elements via the imaging lens 48. The image is formed on the optical sensor 50. The optical sensor 50, which photoelectrically converts and reads the image of the barcode B, outputs to the barcode reading unit 26 as an electric signal representing an image pattern. The barcode reading section 26 binarizes the electric signal, reads the signal with the microprocessor 22, and converts the signal into information represented by the barcode B, for example, a product code. Then, this information is stored in the transmission memory in the memory 34.

In this embodiment, when the information read from the bar code B is stored in the memory 34, the information is stored after being classified according to the transmission destination of the information. This classification is performed based on, for example, the type or content of the read information. "Classify according to type" means, for example, even if a bar code is a bite, there are a plurality of types included in the category, so if you focus on the characteristics of each type of bar code, It is possible. Further, "classify according to information content" means that the product type is determined based on, for example, a product code, and the product type is classified. Of course, if a code indicating a store is included instead of each product, classification may be performed based on the specified store code.

Further, a user may specify the information. For example, the user may operate the keyboard 30 to input a destination of information, and the input destination may be set as a destination of the read information. In this case, since the transmission destination can be individually specified by the user, it is effective when the transmission destination cannot be uniformly determined by the type of the read barcode or the code content.

Assuming that the read data classified according to the transmission destination is stored in the memory 34, data communication using the telephone function will be described next. First, in order to use the telephone function, a telephone key (not shown) in the keyboard 30 is operated to switch to the telephone mode. That is, the optical information reading mode is normally set, and the telephone mode is set only when a predetermined operation for switching to the telephone mode is performed.

The processing executed when an incoming call is received from the outside in the telephone mode will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First step S
At 110, the telephone number of the called party (caller telephone number) is obtained from the PHS communication control unit 13. Then, in S120, the obtained caller telephone number is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 14.

In step S130, the process refers to the number-specific processing table (see FIG. 4) stored in the memory 34, and searches the table to determine whether or not the caller telephone number acquired in step S110 exists. . As shown in FIG. 3, since the processing contents corresponding to each telephone number are defined in advance in this number-specific processing table, the telephone numbers set in this table are searched.

As a result of the search in S130, if there is a corresponding number (S140: YES), the flow shifts to S150 to execute a process corresponding to the telephone number. For example, in the case of a certain telephone number, only the data of the A classification stored in the transmission memory in the memory 34 is transmitted, and in the case of another telephone number, the B data stored in the transmission memory of the memory 34 is transmitted. Send only classification data. These classifications have been performed in advance in the barcode B reading / accumulating process, as described above. That is, it is necessary to classify the bar code B when it is read by using an appropriate classification method according to the external transmission request.

As described above, data may not only be transmitted to the outside but also received. For example, the optical information reading device 2 receives data necessary for executing the reading function. On the other hand, if there is no corresponding number in the number-specific processing table (FIG. 3) (S140: NO), the process shifts to S160 to execute a wrong call handling process. S150 described above
It is assumed that the process corresponding to the corresponding number executed by is an access from an authorized partner who should perform data communication with the own device. However, so-called wrong calls can also occur. Therefore, if there is no corresponding number in the number-specific processing table (FIG. 3), it is determined that the call is a wrong call, and a predetermined wrong call handling process is performed (S160). As the "predetermined incorrect call handling process", for example, it is conceivable to immediately cut off the telephone (line disconnection) without performing any substantial process. Alternatively, the user may be notified of the wrong call before hanging up.

In this embodiment, the memory 34 corresponds to the correspondence storage means and the information storage means, and the microprocessor 22 corresponds to the number-specific processing execution means. The execution of the processing shown in S130 to S160 in FIG. 2 corresponds to the execution of the processing as the number-based processing execution means.

As described above, when there is a data communication request from outside, the optical information reading apparatus 2 of the present embodiment acquires the caller's telephone number (S110), and performs an appropriate process according to the telephone number (S110). The device 2 automatically executes steps S150 and S160). In other words, the user can operate the optical information reading device 2 at the desired timing of the data communication request source without any operation.
Performs data communication automatically. Therefore, the optical information reading device 2 can receive the data from the data communication request source at an appropriate timing (that is, the timing at which the data should be updated), and can also transmit the information read by the optical information reading device 2 to the data communication request source. The data can be transmitted at a timing (that is, a timing at which the data communication request source wants to acquire the data). Furthermore, by setting the processing content corresponding to the caller number in the number-specific processing table (FIG. 3), it is possible to cope with a case where the information to be transmitted differs depending on the transmission destination. That is, only the information desired by the data communication request source can be selected and transmitted. In addition, it is possible to appropriately respond to an incorrect call.

In this embodiment, the caller telephone number of the data communication request source obtained in S120 of FIG. 2 is displayed. The apparatus automatically executes the processing related to the actual data communication and the like, so that the user does not need to perform any operation. At that point, the display itself may be omitted, and it is only necessary to have the "caller phone number acquisition function", but if the caller phone number is displayed, it can be confirmed that there is a data communication request or the other party can be confirmed There are benefits. Therefore, in this embodiment, even the "caller telephone number notification function" is provided.

[Others] (1) In the above embodiment, it is assumed that only data communication can be performed using the telephone function. However, for example, a voice input unit and a voice output unit are further provided so that a normal telephone call can be performed. Is also good. However, in that case, a distinction is made between an external call request and a data communication request, and a ring tone is generated only for a call request, or generated for a call request and a data communication request. It is necessary to change the sound to be made. These countermeasures are realized by so-called facsimile machines with telephone functions,
A similar technique may be employed.

(2) In the above embodiment, the PHS communication control unit 13 is employed in the part of the telephone function which controls communication, but of course, instead of the PHS, a communication control unit for a portable telephone is employed. You may. Further, the present invention is not premised on wireless communication unlike the PHS and the mobile phone system, but can be realized on the premise of wired communication. However,
In reality, it is not preferable that the use range of the optical information reading device 2 is narrowed due to the wired connection, so that it is more appropriate to use wireless communication.

(4) In the above embodiment, the bar code B is considered as the object to be read when the optical information reading function is used. However, it goes without saying that the present invention can be similarly applied to the case of reading a two-dimensional code. . In addition, bar code, 2
When implemented as a device that can read a two-dimensional code together, it is possible to classify as a bar code or a two-dimensional code as a classification according to the code type. Naturally, a plurality of types of code systems included in the category of the two-dimensional code can be used. Classification based on the information may be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of an optical information reading device as an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a process for a data communication request from outside.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a number-specific processing table.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 2 ... Optical information reading device 11 ... Antenna 12 ... Reading port 13 ... PHS communication control part 14 ... Liquid crystal display part 22 ... Microprocessor 24 ... Lighting diode 26 for illumination 26 ... Bar code reading part 30 ... Keyboard 32 ... Communication part 34 ... Memory 36 Trigger Key 38 Buzzer 44 Power Supply 45 Battery 46 Terminal 48 Imaging Lens 50 Optical Sensor B Barcode

Claims (8)

[Claims] An optical information reading apparatus having a telephone function capable of acquiring a telephone number of a caller in addition to an optical information reading function of optically reading information recorded on an object to be read. Correspondence storage means for storing the correspondence with the processing to be performed, and when a data communication request from the outside is detected using the telephone function, a caller telephone number of a data communication request source is obtained, An optical information reader with a telephone function, comprising: a number-specific processing execution unit that executes processing corresponding to the obtained caller telephone number. 2. The optical information reading apparatus with a telephone function according to claim 1, wherein the one processing to be executed by the number-specific processing executing means includes data necessary for executing the optical information reading function. An optical information reader with a telephone function, characterized by receiving from a communication request source. 3. The optical information reading apparatus with a telephone function according to claim 1, further comprising an information storage unit for storing information read by using the optical information reading function, and executing the number-based processing. An optical information reading apparatus with a telephone function, characterized in that one process to be executed by the means is a process of transmitting information stored in the information storage means to the data communication request source. 4. An information reading apparatus with a telephone function according to claim 3, wherein information read using said optical information reading function is classified according to a destination of the information and stored in said information storage means. Control means, and when the number-specific processing executing means transmits the information stored in the information storage means to the data communication request source,
An optical information reader with a telephone function, which transmits only information classified as the data transmission request source as the information transmission destination. 5. The optical information reading apparatus with a telephone function according to claim 4, wherein said information storage control means classifies a transmission destination based on a type or a content of information read by using said optical information reading function. An optical information reader with a telephone function. 6. An optical information reading apparatus with a telephone function according to claim 4, further comprising: destination input means for inputting a destination of information by a user, wherein said information storage control means comprises: An optical information reader with a telephone function, wherein information read by using a reading function is classified into a destination input by the destination input means. 7. The optical information reading apparatus with a telephone function according to claim 1, wherein the one processing to be executed by the number-specific processing executing means is the acquired caller telephone number of the data communication request source. Is a predetermined error call handling process performed when the correspondence is not set as the correspondence relationship, wherein the optical information reader with a phone function is provided. 8. The optical information reading device with a telephone function according to claim 1, further comprising a display unit capable of displaying the acquired caller telephone number of the data communication request source. Optical information reader with telephone function.