JP2001160115A - Code reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a code reader which reads a code (e.g. two-dimensional code) marked (dotted) on metal, etc. SOLUTION: This code reader where a light source body 2, a lens 3 and a sensor 4 are arranged in the upper part of a reading opening 5 and which reads a dot formed on the metal, etc., arranges the light source body in accordance with the open angle of inclination of the dot and can read the dot.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a code reader for reading a code (for example, a two-dimensional code) marked (dotted) on metal or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a device (point marker) for setting a punch through an NC control device and marking it as a dot on metal or the like. The dots marked by the point markers have a small amount of information and are visually recognizable.

[0003]

However, at present, a large amount of information is simply and simply attached to parts such as engines of automobiles and airplanes in a small area in terms of quality control and aesthetics. Has been desired. Therefore, there are a method of attaching a label, a method of printing via an inkjet printer, and the like, but there is a concern that data will be lost.
Therefore, as the information, by the point marker,
It is desirable to create information (dots). In view of the above, the present invention provides a code displayed on a metal or the like by dots (carved marks) via a point marker or the like, and a code reader that reads the code.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a code reader in which a light source, a lens, and a sensor are arranged above a reading port to read dots formed on metal or the like. Is arranged corresponding to the inclined opening angle of the dot, it is possible to read even a dot that is substantially semi-specularly reflected. The code reader according to claim 2 can easily cope with the inclined opening angles of various types of dots by disposing the light sources in a plurality of stages from the reading port to the slit.

In the code reader according to the third aspect, by arranging a plurality of light sources on the inner periphery of the reading opening, it is possible to uniformly irradiate the code and to perform accurate reading. In the code reader according to the fourth aspect, a diffusion plate is provided on the inner surface of the light source body, and even if the dot is made of a metal which has been subjected to hairline processing, the hairline can be erased and read. In the code reader according to the fifth aspect, when the dots are formed in a quadrangular pyramid, white and black can be more reliably distinguished by reflected light from the dots. The code reader according to claim 6, wherein in the two-dimensional code formed by dots, even if the dots are formed on a soft metal by forming the dot intervals widely, the dots (codes) are not affected at other places.
Can be created. Then, when the dot image on the sensor is corrected to the widened interval ratio, a code having the same condition as that of the related art is obtained.

In the code reader according to the present invention, a visible portion is provided above the reading port.
The position of the code is known, and the position can be easily corrected. In the code reader according to the present invention, the light source is installed in the cylinder of the reading port, and the cylinder is slidably attached to the main body, so that the position of the light source can be easily changed. . In the code reader according to the ninth aspect, the light source is provided in the cylinder of the reading port, and the light source is provided inclined with respect to the edge of the reading port. ) Can be read at a position (h) separated from the edge 5 b of the reading port 5.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1A is a sectional view of a main part of a code reader showing a well-known concept. As the lighting equipment, a plurality of light sources 2 are arranged along the inner circumference at positions having an irradiation angle (α) described in detail below. In the main body 29 above the reading port 5, a lens (which may be composed of a plurality of lens groups) 3, a slit (light entrance mechanism) 6, and a sensor (CCD) 4 are each provided as a reading device. They are arranged. Then, when a code created by dots is applied to the reading port 5 through a point marker or the like, which will be described in detail later, on a flat surface of metal or the like, an image is obtained on the sensor (CCD) 4 by the reflected light of the light source 2.

A code on the surface of a metal or the like is created as a set of a plurality of dots via a point marker (a device for setting a punch through an NC control device and marking the metal or the like as a dot). The punches include cones and pyramids with a spire. Therefore, a dot created using a conical punch, a light source 2 and a sensor (CC
D) Explanation will be given with reference to FIG.
2A is an overall conceptual diagram, and FIG. 2B is an enlarged view of a dot portion.

The dots formed on the metal surface with a punch are formed in inclined concave portions, are almost semi-specular, and have a light source body 2.
Under the condition that the reflection angle of the incident light from the lens enters the lens 3 perpendicularly, the incident angle α of the light source body, the opening angle γ of the punch, the inclination angle β of the dot (= γ / 2 + 90), the inclination of the dot A vertical line (A) with respect to the angle β, an incident angle (δ) and a reflection angle (δ) are defined. Then, in the range of β ≧ 90 ≧ α, the relationship between the angles is α = 2β−270. As a result, as shown in FIG. 3, the relationship between the angles is obtained, and the star mark (β ≦ 160) is within the practical range.

That is, in this practically usable range,
Since the reflected light from the dot enters the lens 4 vertically,
The dots become bright images (white) on the sensor. However, the other portions that have not been processed have an incident angle different from the perpendicular to the sensor 4, and are not sensed by the sensor 4, resulting in a dark image (black). Therefore, the presence or absence of the dots on the metal surface can be identified as white and black codes.

As described above, the presence / absence of a dot is identified by white (no dot creation location) and black (dot creation location), so that the area ratio is preferably 1: 1. Therefore, when a dot is formed by using a spherical punch at the tip different from the above, the concave portion is almost semi-specular, so that the reflected light becomes spherical reflection, and the conical dot (black) and the non-formed portion are formed. The area ratio with (white) is not 1: 1 and the discrimination is inferior. On the other hand, when the tip of the cone or pyramid punch is a spire, as shown in FIG. 2, since the sensor 4 images the reflected light, the discrimination between black and white is good. Is desirable.

Next, when producing a cord on a metal, the dot diameter d is set to 0.3 mm and the interval between the dots s by using a point marker on a soft metal such as aluminum.
Is created with 0.3 mm. FIG.
The reference code (X-axis, Y-axis) shown in (A) needs to be formed by continuous dots.
It is necessary to make it less than 3mm. If created under these conditions, the adjacent portion of the dot may be distorted and processed as punched (black), despite the fact that it is not punched (white).

Therefore, when creating a two-dimensional code, the intervals between dots are created wider than in the conventional standard. For example, as shown in FIG.
Is made 0.3 mm, and the dot interval s is made 0.5 mm. With such a configuration, there is no influence on the adjacent portion by the dot as described above. However, this code is the same as the reference code (X
(Dots on the Y axis and the Y axis) is not satisfied, and therefore cannot be decoded by a conventional two-dimensional code reader.

Therefore, as an example of the solution, it is conceivable to open the aperture of the lens or shift the focal length to form an image on the sensor as a blurred image, but this is not preferable because it affects the resolution of other codes. . However, as another method, the diameter d (0.3 mm) of the dot at the place to be continuous (X axis, Y axis) is known, the dot interval s is detected, and the detected interval s (0.5 mm ), Each dot is enlarged and corrected by the ratio of the interval (5/3). Since the corrected sensor image (see FIG. 4C) has continuous (X-axis, Y-axis) and satisfies the conventional standard, it can be decoded by the conventional two-dimensional code reader.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5A, a code is created with a point marker on the metal which has been subjected to the hairline processing, and this code is imaged on the sensor 4, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5A, a hairline corresponding to the position of the light source 2 shown in FIG. As a result,
Code processing becomes difficult, resulting in misreading.

Accordingly, a code reader shown in FIG. 6 is presented in consideration of the erasure of the hairline. FIG.
6A is a cross-sectional view illustrating the concept, and FIG. 6B is a view as viewed from arrows A to A. This code reader is different from the illumination equipment in the configuration shown in FIG. 1 in that a plurality of light source bodies 2a are provided from the reading port 5 to the lens 3 along the inner periphery of the reading port shape (circular, square, etc.). , 2b and 2c are installed.
The number of the light sources 2 per stage is appropriately selected in consideration of the irradiation light amount and the like. In addition, a diffusion plate 20 is provided on the inner surface of the light source body 2 to erase the hairline. The diffusion plate 20 is made of a light diffusion resin plate or the like, and diffuses the hairline to such an extent that the sensor 4 does not image the hairline. As a result, even if a code is created on a metal having a hairline, the hairline image is not displayed on the sensor 4, so that the code can be easily read.

The code reader shown in FIG. 6 is provided with a plurality of light sources 2a to 2c, and by selecting one of the light sources, the irradiation angle toward the reading port 5 (see FIG. 2). Α) can be easily changed, so that it is possible to cope with various inclined opening angles γ of the punch for forming dots. In the code readers shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, the reading device composed of a light source (illumination equipment) and a lens or the like is integrally formed. However, each of the reading devices may be configured separately. Has been described above with reference to a two-dimensional code, but it is needless to say that it can be applied to a one-dimensional code.

Next, FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of various code readers. FIG. 7A has the same configuration as the code reader shown in FIG. A long body 29 is provided above the reading opening 5 and a visible portion (formed of a transparent body or a viewing window) 30 is provided on the whole or a part of the main body 29. When the edge 5b of the reading port 5 is applied to the one-dimensional code (or the two-dimensional code) by the visible portion 30, the position of the code can be determined, and the correction of the applied position is easy. Therefore, as long as this effect is exhibited, the visible part
0 may be formed.

FIG. 7B shows the main body 29 connected to the reading port 5.
Of the light source 2, the diffusion plate 20 of the light source 2 is provided below the cylinder 5a. Therefore, the code reader can easily change the vertical position of the light source 2 with respect to the edge 5b of the reading port 5. Further, the diffusion plate 20 is
When set at a position higher than the edge 5b of the reading port 5, only the edge 5b of the reading port 5 is a one-dimensional code (or
(2D code), but does not affect the diffusion plate 20. As described above, when the cylinder 5a of the reading port 5 can be moved up and down, the position of the light source 2 can be changed, and the contamination of the diffusion plate 20 can be prevented. The diffusion plate 20 in the code reader shown in FIG.
Does not have the effect of preventing the diffusion plate 20 from being stained, but may have the same structure as that of FIG.

FIG. 7 (C) is different from FIG. 7 (A) in that the light source 2 installed in the reading opening 5 is attached to the edge 5b of the reading opening 5 in an inclined manner. In this manner, when the light source 2 is attached in an inclined manner, as shown in FIG. 2B, the incident angle α from the light source 2 is different from the dot formed in the inclined recess. Therefore, the one-dimensional code (or two-dimensional code) can be read at a position separated (h) from the edge 5b of the reading port 5, and can be easily applied to such an application.

Next, FIG. 8 shows a two-dimensional code in the case where dots are formed by a cone punch and a pyramid punch. In the above description, it is mentioned that the discrimination between black and white is preferably a quadrangular pyramid rather than a cone. Here, it is described that it is preferable to use a pyramidal punch for the reference code (X axis, Y axis). FIG. 8A shows a conical punch having a dot diameter d.
(0.3 mm), a dot interval s was created at 0.5 mm, and FIG. 8B shows a pyramid punch with a square dot t (0.3 m
m), with a dot interval s of 0.5 mm. And the reference code (X axis) created with a conical punch
For the search lines L1 and L2 in, the spaces between the dots are different from δ1 and δ2. On the other hand, with respect to the search lines L1 and L2 in the reference code (X-axis) created by the pyramidal punch, the space between dots is theoretically the same as δ.

This means that, in the reference code (X axis) (reference code (Y axis)), the reference code (X axis, Y axis)
The “pyramidal punch” that creates blanks at the same interval when investigating (axis) is more convenient. That is, the investigation line L
1. In L2, the punches of a certain pyramid in which the blank δ of the dots is the same within the allowable error are the reference codes (X axis,
Y axis) can be easily found.

[0023]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the code reader is provided by arranging the light source body in accordance with the inclined opening angle of the dot.
It is possible to read even a dot that is substantially semi-specularly reflected. The code reader according to claim 2 can easily cope with the inclined opening angles of various types of dots by disposing the light sources in a plurality of stages from the reading port to the slit. In the code reader according to the third aspect, by arranging a plurality of light sources on the inner periphery of the reading port, it is possible to uniformly irradiate the code and to perform accurate reading. In the code reader according to the fourth aspect, a diffusion plate is provided on the inner surface of the light source body, and even if the dot is made of a metal which has been subjected to hairline processing, the hairline can be erased and read. In the code reader according to the fifth aspect, since the dots are formed in a quadrangular pyramid, it is possible to more reliably identify white and black by the reflected light. According to the code reader of the sixth aspect, it is possible to form dots (codes) on a soft metal, and it can be performed by code processing in a conventional code reader. Claim 7
The code reader has a visible part at the top of the reading port, so when reading the code, the position of the code is known,
Position can be easily corrected. Further, in the code reader of the present invention, the light source is installed in the cylinder of the reading port, and the cylinder is slidably attached to the main body, so that the position of the light source can be easily changed. . In the code reader according to the ninth aspect, the light source is provided in the cylinder of the reading port, and the light source is provided at an angle to the edge of the reading port.
The one-dimensional code (or two-dimensional code) can be read at a position separated (h) from the edge 5 b of the reading port 5.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the concept of a code reader.

FIG. 2A is a conceptual diagram of dots formed on a metal surface and a code reader, and FIG. 2B is an enlarged view of a dot portion.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a relationship among an incident angle α of a light source body, an inclined opening angle γ of a punch, and an inclined angle β of a dot (= γ / 2 + 90).

FIG. 4A is a two-dimensional code according to a conventional standard,
(B) is a two-dimensional code created with a wider dot interval than in the past, and (C) is a two-dimensional code enlarged and corrected.

FIG. 5A is a schematic view of a metal hairline,
(B) is an image diagram of the sensor.

6A and 6B are code readers having other configurations, in which FIG. 6A is a cross-sectional view illustrating the concept, and FIG.

FIGS. 7A, 7B, and 7C are cross-sectional views of various code readers.

8A is a dot created by a conical punch, and FIG. 8B is a dot created by a pyramid punch.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2, 2a to 2c Light source 3 Lens 4 Sensor 5 Reading port 5a Cylindrical body 5b Edge 29 Main body

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A light source, a lens,
What is claimed is: 1. A code reader for arranging sensors and reading a code formed by dots on a surface of metal or the like, wherein the light source is arranged in accordance with an inclined opening angle of the dots. 2. The code reader according to claim 1, wherein the light sources are provided in a plurality of stages from the reading port to the lens. 3. The code reader according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of light sources are arranged on an inner periphery of the reading port. 4. The code reader according to claim 1, wherein a diffusion plate is provided on an inner surface of the light source body. 5. The code reader according to claim 1, wherein the dots are formed in a quadrangular pyramid. 6. A two-dimensional code formed by dots,
The code reader according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a wide dot interval is formed, and the dots in the image from the sensor are corrected to the widened interval ratio for processing. . 7. A light source, a lens,
What is claimed is: 1. A code reader for reading a code formed by dots on a surface of metal or the like, in which sensors are arranged, wherein a visible portion is provided above a reading port. 8. A light source, a lens,
A code reader for arranging sensors and reading a code formed by dots on a surface of metal or the like, characterized in that a light source is installed in a cylinder of a reading port, and the cylinder is slidably attached to the main body. Code reader to do. 9. A code reader for arranging a light source, a lens, and a sensor above a reading port and reading a code formed by dots on a surface of metal or the like, wherein the light source is installed in a cylinder of the reading port. A code reader characterized in that the light source is provided to be inclined with respect to the edge of the reading opening.