JPH05303660A - Commodity code reader - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To automate the reading of the item code attached to the item, reduce the work load on the store clerk, and improve customer service. A bar code is read by a code detector 3 on an article 11 conveyed on a belt conveyor 2, and if the bar code cannot be read, the article 11 is rotated by an actuator 7 of an article moving device 6. ..

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a reader for reading an article code attached to an article in a POS system adapted to a store or the like, and more particularly to an article code reader for automatically reading the article code.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a POS system applied in a store, an article code of a product involved in transaction processing is input at the time of sale. The POS system displays merchandise data corresponding to the merchandise code on a POS terminal device such as an ECR (electronic cash register), and files sales data based on the merchandise code. Conventionally, when inputting the article code, there is a method in which a bar code representing the article code is attached or printed on the product in advance and the bar code is read by a scanner. There are two types of scanners, fixed type and portable type. When using the fixed type scanner, the clerk moves the article with the bar code surface of the article facing the scanner. Further, when a portable so-called hand scanner is used, the reading portion of the scanner is applied to the bar code surface of the article. Further, when the barcode is not normally read, the code number representing the article code is input by the operation of the keyboard.

[0003]

However, in the article code reader used in the conventional POS system,
A store clerk must operate either the item or the hand scanner. In addition, it is often difficult to accurately place the barcode of a product on the reading section of the scanner, and it may be necessary to perform multiple operations on a single product before the barcode can be read accurately. Often, it is necessary to give up reading with a scanner and input from the keyboard. For this reason, the work of the store clerk becomes complicated and the work takes a long time, and particularly in a large store, the settlement process takes a long time, which causes an increase in waiting time, which causes a problem of deteriorating customer service. ..

An object of the present invention is to make it possible to automatically read an article code from an article placed at a predetermined position, reduce the work load on a store clerk, and surely read the article code. It is an object of the present invention to provide an article code reader which can realize the improvement of customer service by shortening the reading work.

[0005]

The article code reading device of the present invention reads the article code by changing the relative positional relationship between the reading means for reading the article code attached to the article and the reading means and the article. A moving means opposed to the means, a storage means for storing product data corresponding to the article code, and a display means for searching and displaying the product data corresponding to the article code read by the reading means in the storage means. It is characterized by

Further, the moving means comprises an article moving means for moving the article with respect to the reading means, and a movement control means for controlling the article moving means so that the article code faces the reading means. is there.

Further, the reading means is composed of a plurality of reading means facing the article from different directions.

In addition, the reading means includes an image reading means for reading the appearance form of the article, and a form storage means for storing the appearance form corresponding to the article code is provided for each article, and the article read by the image reading means. And a form search means for searching the form storage means for an article code corresponding to the appearance form of the above.

Further, there is provided a carrying means for carrying the article, the article code of which is not read by the reading means, to a position different from the article of which the article code is read.

[0010]

In the invention described in claim 1, the relative positional relationship of the article with respect to the reading means is changed by the moving means, and the article code attached to the article always faces the reading means. As a result, the product data corresponding to the product code read by the reading device is retrieved in the storage device, and the corresponding product data is displayed on the display device. Therefore, the reading means or the article is automatically displaced so that the article name to which the article code is attached faces the reading means, and the clerk does not need to operate the scanner or the article.

Further, according to the second aspect of the invention, the article moving means is controlled by the movement control means, and the position of the article is displaced so that the article code faces the reading means.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the position of the movement reading means is displaced by the movement control means so as to face the article code.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the article code is searched based on the external form read by the image reading means. Therefore, even when the article code cannot be read, the article code can be searched based on the appearance form of the article.

In the invention described in claim 5, the article, the article code of which is not read by any means, is conveyed to another position by the conveying means. Therefore,
Another process can be performed on the article for which the article code is not read.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An article code reading apparatus 1 comprises a code detector 3 facing an upper surface of a belt conveyor 2 for carrying an article 11,
The image detector 4, the article detector 5, and the article moving device 6 are provided. The code detector 3 is a scanner that reads a barcode attached to the article 11. The image detector 4 is an imaging device that reads the external form of the article 11.
The article detector 5 is a sensor that detects the presence or absence of the article 11, and is composed of an optical sensor. The article moving device 6 includes an actuator 7 that holds the article 11, and the operation of the actuator 7 inverts the article 11 to change the side surface exposed on the upper surface. As a result, the side surface facing the code detector 3 and the image detector 4 changes. Further, another passage 8 is provided so as to go straight to the belt conveyor 2. This separate passage 8 connects the belt conveyor 2 and the discharge table 9, and the actuator 11 of the article moving device 6 is brought into contact with the article 11 to separate the article 11 from which the code detection cannot be performed. And discharge it to the discharge table 9.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control section of the article code reader. ROM for CPU 21
22, RAM 23, file 24 and image memory 25
Is provided, and the code detector 3, the image detector 4, the article detector 5, the actuator motor driver 26, and the conveyor motor driver 27 are connected. CPU
Reference numeral 21 centrally controls input / output devices connected in accordance with a program previously written in the ROM 22. At this time,
The input / output data is stored in a predetermined memory area of the RAM 23. The file 24 stores the bar code read by the code detector 3 and product data such as the product name and price of the product corresponding to the bar code. The image memory 25 stores the appearance form of each product together with the product code.

The CPU 21 searches the file 24 for the article code read by the code detector 3 and displays the corresponding article data on the display 31 via the display driver 30. In addition, a corresponding article code is searched in the image file 25 according to the imaged data of the image detector 4, the article data corresponding to the found article code is read from the file 24, and the display 31 is similarly displayed.
To display. From the article detector 5, the detection result of the article at a position facing the code detector 3 and the image detector 4 is input. The CPU 21 causes the code detector 3 and the image detector 4 to read the article code and the image when the article detection signal is input from the article detector 5.

The CPU 21 outputs to the conveyor motor driver 27 the drive data of the motor 29 that supplies the rotational force to the rollers that stretch the belt conveyor 2, and drives the motor 29 when the article detector 5 detects the article. Pause. Further, the actuator motor driver 26 includes motors 28a to 28c for moving the actuator 7.
Are connected, and the CPU 21 appropriately drives the motors 28a to 28c based on the imaged data of the image detector 4, and rotates the article using the actuator 7.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the processing procedure of the control unit. CP in the process of reading the article code
U21 drives the motor 29 to operate the belt conveyor 2 and conveys the article placed on the belt conveyor 2 to the detection position (n1). When the article detector 5 detects that the article 11 has been conveyed, the driving of the motor 29 is stopped (n
2, n3), the shape of the article 11 is imaged by the image detector 4 (n4). At the same time, the bar code attached to the article 11 is read by the code detector 3 (n
5). At this time, if the side surface of the article 11 to which the barcode is attached does not face the code detector 3, the barcode cannot be read. In such a case, when the bar code cannot be read, the motors 28a to 28a
By driving c, the actuator 7 rotates the article (n6, n7). Imaging of the shape and reading of the bar code are executed for this rotated article (n8 → n4).

The processes of n4 to n7 are executed a predetermined number of times,
If the bar code cannot be read, the file 24 is searched for the shape stored in the image memory 25 to match the external appearance of the article (n9). When there is a suitable shape in this search processing, the product data corresponding to the shape is displayed on the display 31.

When the barcode can be read in the barcode reading process in n5,
The file 24 is searched for corresponding product data, and the content is displayed on the display 31 (n11, n1).
2). The article 11 from which the product data can be read from the file 24 in this way is conveyed to the read position by the belt conveyor 2 (n13). On the other hand, the barcode cannot be read by the code detector 3, and the file 24 has a shape suitable for the shape captured by the image detector 4.
If not stored in the manual tray, the actuator 7 guides the article 11 from the separate passage 8 to the manual tray (n1
4).

As described above, according to this embodiment, the article 11 placed on the belt conveyor 2 is automatically conveyed and the bar code is read by the code detector 3 and the external appearance is picked up by the image detector 4. I do. When the barcode cannot be read by the code detector 3, the actuator 7 included in the article moving device 6 rotates the article 11 a predetermined number of times, and each time the barcode is read by the code detector 3. As a result, the reading surface of the code detector 3 of the article 11 can be changed over a predetermined number of times, and the bar code reading probability can be improved. If the barcode cannot be read even after the code detector 3 has read the image a predetermined number of times, the article is identified based on the imaged data of the image detector 4. This can further improve the reading probability of the article.
Alternatively, the product data specified by the barcode read by the code detector 3 or the shape imaged by the image detector 4 may be directly input to the ECR or the like and used as transaction processing data.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a structural example of an article code reading device according to another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the article 11 is nipped by the actuator 7 of the article moving device 6 and conveyed to the barcode detection position. That is, the article 1 for which the code reading has not been completed and is placed on the placing table 41.
1 is clamped by the actuator 7, and the code detector 44
Carry on. When the reading process cannot be performed, the reading process is transferred to the mounting table 41 again, the article is rotated here, and then the article is conveyed again to the code detector 44. By repeating this rotation and conveyance a predetermined number of times, the article 11 for which the barcode can be read is transported to the storage table 42, and the article 11 for which the barcode cannot be read is transported to the tray 43. With this configuration, the belt conveyor 2
Can be eliminated. It should be noted that an image detector may be added to the code detector 44 and the same processing as that of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 may be performed.

FIG. 5 is a view showing the arrangement of an article code reading apparatus according to yet another embodiment of the present invention. In the embodiment shown in the figure, code detectors D1 to Dm facing a plurality of surfaces of the article 11 are provided. The mounting table 51 for the article 11 is formed of a transparent flat plate. Controller 5
A plurality of code detectors D1 to Dm are connected to 3, and an article detector 52 is connected to the code detector 3.
The processing procedure of the controller 53 is shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the article detector 52 detects the article 11 (n21), the controller 53 determines whether any of the code detectors D1 to Dm has detected a code (n22). ~ N24). Code check is performed based on the detected barcode (n25, n2
6), this code is output (n27). The control unit of the article code reading apparatus searches the file for the article code output from the control apparatus 53, and reads the corresponding article data. If none of the code detectors D1 to Dm detects a bar code, it outputs an unreadable signal (n28). The control unit of the article code reading device to which the unreadable signal is input operates the article moving device to rotate the article, or conveys the article to the unreadable position.

As described above, according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, since a plurality of code detectors can detect a plurality of surfaces of an article at the same time, the time required for the reading operation can be shortened. ..

[0027]

According to the present invention, since the work of reading the article code attached to the article can be automated, the work load on the clerk at the time of the settlement processing in the store can be reduced and the settlement processing time can be shortened. , There is an advantage that the customer service can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an article code reading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control unit of the article code reading device.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the control unit.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of an article code reading device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of an article code reading device according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a control unit of the another article code reading device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1-article code reading device 2-belt conveyor 3-code detector (reading means) 4-image detector (image reading means) 6-article moving device (article moving means) 24-file (storage means)

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A reading means for reading an article code affixed to an article, a moving means for changing the relative positional relationship between the reading means and the article so that the article code faces the reading means, and corresponding to the article code. An article code reading device comprising: a storage unit that stores product data; and a display unit that searches the storage unit for product data corresponding to an article code read by the reading unit and displays the product data. 2. An article moving means for moving the article with respect to the reading means, and a movement control means for controlling the article moving means so that the article code faces the reading means.
The article code reader according to claim 1, which is configured by: 3. The article code reading device according to claim 1, wherein the reading means is a plurality of reading means facing the article from different directions. 4. The reading means includes an image reading means for reading the appearance form of an article, and a form storing means for storing the appearance form corresponding to an article code is provided for each article, and the article read by the image reading means is provided. The article code reading device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising: a form retrieval unit that retrieves an article code corresponding to an appearance form in the form storage unit. 5. The article code reading device according to claim 1, further comprising a carrying means for carrying an article whose article code has not been read by said reading means to a position different from the article whose article code has been read.