JPH0896097A - Color bar code and color bar code reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a color bar code having a large quantity of information amount and a color bar code reader which is capable of reading the color bar code and is inexpensive in cost. CONSTITUTION: The color bar code 10 is recorded with the colors selected from among cyan 1, magenta 2 and yellow 3 or the colors selected from among red 4, green 5, blue 6 and black 7 to be the synthetic colors of the colors on white to be a background. The color bar code reader is a color bar code reader reading the color bar code 10, and has a source of white light with which the color bar code 10 is irradiated, a photoelectric element detecting each of a red wavelength, a green wavelength and a blue wavelength from the light reflected from the color bar code 10 and outputting the wavelengths as signals and a decoder decoding the signal outputted from the photoelectric element and outputting the signal as a color bar code signal.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a color bar code and a color bar code reader for reading the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is known a method in which various kinds of information data such as product classifications are bar-coded and attached to products, which are read and input into a computer at the time of inventory management. Usually, a barcode has a black background printed on a white background. This utilizes the difference between the reflected light amounts of the white and black bars.

Recently, a system using a bar code is required to handle a larger amount of information than a conventional bar code with the informationization of society, and the information that the bar code has such as multi-stages of the bar code is provided. Attempts have been made to increase the quantity. A two-dimensional bar code is expected to meet this demand.

[0004]

However, since the two-dimensional bar code reader has a completely different bar code configuration and system from the conventional one, the bar code scanning and decoding system of the conventional bar code reader is used. However, the cost of the device is high because a new scanning device and a decoding device have to be used, so that it is not widely used. Further, although the information amount as large as that of the two-dimensional bar code is not necessary, there is a demand that the conventional bar code information amount is insufficient. In such cases, multiple barcodes are used, and typically the barcodes are multi-tiered, but the space for printing the barcode becomes large,
It has to be read multiple times and the work is complicated.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems. Based on the three primary colors of light and the four primary colors of light, the conventional black bar code is replaced by three colors of cyan, magenta and yellow. By combining the three barcodes that have been created in the same range, the color barcode and the color barcode that have 7 colors and appear as one visually and have a larger amount of information than conventional barcodes. It is possible to read three barcodes based on the three primary colors of light with a single reading operation, and to provide a low cost color barcode reader that is a slight improvement over the conventional barcode reader. To aim.

[0006]

As shown in FIG. 1, a color barcode 10 of the present invention, which has been made to achieve the above object, has a white background and a red wavelength instead of the conventional black. A color that is selected from cyan 1, which is a color that absorbs, a magenta 2 that is a color that absorbs a green wavelength, and a yellow 3 that is a color that absorbs a blue wavelength, or a composite color thereof, red 4, green 5, blue 6, It is recorded in a color selected from black 7.

As shown in FIG. 2, the color barcode reader 20 of the present invention made to achieve the above object has a background of white and a color selected from cyan 1, magenta 2 and yellow 3, or Red 4, which is a composite color of them,
A color barcode reader 20 for reading a color barcode 10 recorded in a color selected from green 5, blue 6 and black 7.
And a white light source 1 for illuminating the color barcode 10.
1, a photoelectric element 12 that detects the red wavelength, the green wavelength, and the blue wavelength separately from the light reflected from the color barcode 10 and outputs them as a signal, and decodes the signal output from the photoelectric element 12 to obtain a color barcode signal. It has decoders 17, 18 and 19 for outputting.

[0008]

As shown in FIG. 1, the color barcode 10 of the present invention is a combination of three color barcodes of cyan 1, magenta 2 and yellow 3 in the same range. It has three times the information density of the code. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the color barcode reader 20 of the present invention scans the color barcode 10 with the irradiation light 9 by using the color linear image sensor 12 capable of separately detecting the red, green and blue wavelengths. By detecting the reflected light at each of the red, green, and blue wavelengths and decoding the reflected light, three barcodes can be read.

[0009]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described in detail below.

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of a color barcode 10 to which the present invention is applied.

The color barcode 10 is a cyan barcode, which is printed in a computer before being printed on white paper or the like.
The magenta barcode and the yellow barcode are combined. At this time, any combination of barcode types to be combined may be used. Of course, they may be of the same type. Bar code types are, for example, JAN, CODE3
9, CORDABAR, etc. When synthesizing, cyan and magenta overlapping bars are blue, cyan and yellow overlapping bars are green, magenta and yellow overlapping bars are red, cyan, magenta and yellow overlapping bars are black,
A bar that does not overlap with another color becomes its own color. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1, each bar of the color barcode 10 printed on white paper or the like has cyan 1, magenta 2,
It is composed of 7 colors of yellow 3, red 4, green 5, blue 6, and black 7.

When the color barcode 10 is irradiated with light including red wavelength, green wavelength, and blue wavelength, cyan, and a composite color of cyan and other colors, blue, green, and black absorb the red wavelength, Blue, red, and black, which are mixed colors of magenta and magenta and other colors, absorb green wavelengths, and green, red, and black, which are combined colors of yellow and yellow and other colors, absorb blue wavelengths.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a color bar code reader 20 to which the present invention is applied.

As shown in FIG. 1, the color bar code reader 20 emits irradiation light 9 including red, green and blue wavelengths toward a color bar code 10 as a white light source 1.
1, a color linear image sensor 12 that detects the reflected light of the irradiation light 9 into red, green, and blue wavelengths separately and outputs it as a signal; and a signal of each color output from the color linear image sensor 12 is converted from analog to digital. Comparing comparators 14, 15 and 16 and decoders 17 and 18 for decoding the signals of each color and outputting them as color bar code signals
And 19 are built in. Color linear image sensor 1
2 is a 3-row CC that detects red, green and blue wavelengths respectively
It is composed of D and is commercially available and easily available.

The color linear image sensor 12 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (4), it is connected to the comparators 14, 15 and 16. The comparators 14, 15 and 16 are connected to the red wavelength decoder 17, the green wavelength decoder 18 and the blue wavelength decoder 19, respectively.
Is connected to an external CPU (not shown).

Next, the operation of the color bar code reader 20 for reading the color bar code 10 will be described.

First, as shown in FIG. 2, the color barcode reader 20 is pressed so as to cover the entire color barcode 10 to be read. Then, the irradiation light 9 from the white light source 11 scans the color barcode 10. Then, the portion represented by cyan and the composite color of cyan absorbs at least a red wavelength, and the portion represented by the composite color of magenta and magenta absorbs at least a green wavelength,
The portion represented by yellow and the composite color of yellow absorbs at least a blue wavelength. The reflected light that has not been absorbed is detected by the color linear image sensor 12, divided into red wavelength signals, green wavelength signals, and blue wavelength signals and input to the comparators 14, 15 and 16 (see FIG. 3), respectively.

The signals input to the comparators 14, 15 and 16 are converted from analog to digital and become signals such as A, B and C shown in FIG. A represents a red wavelength signal, that is, a cyan 1 bar, B represents a green wavelength signal, that is, a magenta 2 bar, and C represents a blue wavelength signal, that is, a yellow 3 bar. These signals A,
B and C are input to the red wavelength decoder 17, the green wavelength decoder 18, and the blue wavelength decoder 19, respectively, to be decoded,
It is output to an external CPU (not shown) as bar code signals of cyan 1, magenta 2 and yellow 3, respectively.

[0019]

As described above in detail, the color barcode of the present invention has a greater information density than the conventional barcode by combining the three color barcodes of cyan, magenta and yellow. ing. The color bar code reader of the present invention can read color bar codes with a small modification to the conventional bar code reader, and the cost is low. Therefore, the use of the color barcode and the color barcode reader of the present invention is useful when inventory control of many products is performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of a color barcode to which the present invention is applied and a signal state of the color barcode.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a color barcode reader to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a circuit connection state inside a color barcode reader to which the present invention is applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 is cyan, 2 is magenta, 3 is yellow, 4 is red, 5
Is green, 6 is blue, 7 is black, 9 is irradiation light, 10 is a color bar code, 11 is a white light source, 12 is a color linear image sensor, 14/15/16 is a comparator, 17 is a red wavelength decoder, 18 Is a green wavelength decoder, 19 is a blue wavelength decoder, and 20 is a color barcode reader.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A cyan background, a magenta background, and a white background.
A color barcode characterized by being recorded in a color selected from yellow or a color selected from red, green, blue, and black which are their composite color. 2. Cyan, magenta, on a white background,
A color bar code reader for reading a color bar code recorded in a color selected from yellow or a color selected from red, green, blue and black, which are their composite color,
A white light source that illuminates the color barcode, a photoelectric element that detects the red wavelength, the green wavelength, and the blue wavelength separately from the light reflected from the color barcode, and outputs the signal as a signal, and a signal that is output from the photoelectric element. A color bar code reader having a decoder for decoding and outputting as a color bar code signal.