Patent Application
20070045421
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to display means and more specifically, to a barcode display device, which converts hot system data into a corresponding barcode signal for display on a display screen.
2. Description of the Related Art
Following fast development of information technology, non-store retailing has become more and more popular. Under systematic planning of marketing experts, many non-store retailing systems have been disclosed and have appeared on the market. Among these non-store retailing systems, auto vending service or the so-called non-person vending service attracts most people to discuss. An auto vending service uses an auto vending machine to complete a transaction upon insertion of a specific transaction medium such as coin or computer readable IC card. Auto vending services are commonly employed in gas stations, launderettes, video game centers, luggage terminals, parking lots, and etc. non-store vending services are also used to sell tickets, beverage, foods, and etc.
Nowadays, auto vending machines are commonly seen in public places and street sides to sell any of a variety of products. An auto vending machine comprises a coin or banknote receiver for receiving a coin or banknote to make a transaction. The coin or banknote receiver has means to check the authenticity of the inserted coin or banknote, means to prevent backward movement of the inserted coin or banknote, means to return the inserted coin or banknote, and means to count the value of the inserted coin(s) or banknote(s). In business administration, salesmen are in charge of supplying sales items to all auto vending machines installed in different places, collecting received coins or banknotes from all auto vending machines, and repairing auto vending machines that failed. When finished all works, salesmen carry the related data back to the office for further handling. This business administration method requires salesmen to collect money from the installed auto vending machines, facing the change that a salesman may steal money from the auto vending machines. Because this business administration consumes much labor and time, it is not an efficient way, and the administration cost is high. Although an auto vending machine has means to count the total amount of the money received, it cannot eliminate human error or fraudulence, or other stealthy lawbreaking activities.
Further, in the cyber era, computerization is commonly employed to control product research and development as well as product fabrication, distribution, storage and warehousing works. Barcode recognition is quite important in these control works. A barcode pattern does not require much installation space in a product. Further, a person cannot alter a barcode. Therefore, barcodes are intensively used to mark products, facilitating business administration and inventory control and improving administration efficiency. It is important to fully utilize the advantages of barcodes in shortening operation flow, accelerating operation speed, and eliminating possible human errors in business administration.
The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is one object of the present invention to provide a barcode display device, which uses a control device to receive data from a host system and to convert the data into a corresponding barcode signal for display on a display screen, so that the displayed barcode can be scanned by a barcode reader and stored in a memory of the barcode reader, eliminating the chance of altering the storage data of the host system by the user that may cause a big company loss. It is another object of the invention to provide a barcode display device, which fully utilizes the characteristic of small memory space occupation of a barcode signal by converting a big amount of host system data into barcode data for storage in a memory of a barcode reader, for enabling the storage barcode data to be further transmitted to a processing unit that is capable of returning the barcode data into the original data format.
Referring to
The connection interface 111 is connected to a host system 2. When connected, the connection interface 111 obtains from the host system 2 the necessary working voltage for the barcode display device 1.
The microprocessor 112 is electrically connected to the connection interface 111 to receive data from the host system 2 and to convert (encode) received data into a barcode signal.
The display drive control module 113 is electrically connected to the microprocessor 112, and adapted to receive the barcode signal from the microprocessor 112 and to drive the display screen 12 to display the barcode signal.
The display screen 12 is electrically connected to the display drive control module 113 of the control device 11, and controlled by the display drive control module 113 to display data.
Referring to
As indicated above, the invention uses the microprocessor 112 to convert (encode) the data of the host system 2 into a corresponding barcode signal and the display drive control module 113 to drive the display screen 12 to display the barcode signal. This design prevents the user from altering the storage data of the host system 2, and can convert the big amount of data of the host system 2 into barcode data that requires less storage space of the memory 32 of the barcode reader 3. When desired, the user can transmit storage barcode data from the memory 32 of the barcode reader 3 to the processing unit 4, enabling the processing unit 4 to return the barcode data into the original data format. This procedure is easy to perform. Because the invention eliminates the complicated transcription work as adopted in the prior art methods, the working efficiency is greatly improved, allowing the user to collect data from multiple host systems rapidly.
Further, the connection interface 111 of the barcode display device 1 can be a two-wire serial bus interface, MPU interface, or UART interface. The barcode signal encoded by the microprocessor 112 can be a one-dimensional, two-dimensional barcode signal or self-defined barcode signal. The one-dimensional barcode signal can be an EAN/UPC/JAN commercial product barcode, Code 39 barcode, Code 128 barcode, Interleave 2/5 barcode, or Code 93 barcode. The two-dimensional barcode signal can be a PDF 417 barcode or QR Code barcode.
Further, the display screen 12 of the barcode display device 1 can be a LCD (liquid crystal display) or TFT-LCD (Thin film transistor LCD).
Referring to
(501) starting;
(502) connecting the connection interface to the host system to receive data from the host system;
(503) the microprocessor judging if the data is a barcode? and then proceeding with step (505) if the data is a barcode, or step (504) if the data is not a barcode;
(504) the display screen displaying characters or graphics to finish the display procedure;
(505) the microprocessor encoding the data into a corresponding barcode signal;
(506) the display drive control module receiving the barcode signal;
(507) the display drive control module driving the display screen to display the barcode signal;
(508) the microprocessor judging if there is any new data? and then proceeding with step (509) if no new data is received, or returning to step (502) if a new data is received;
(509) ending.
As indicated above, the invention provides a barcode display device, which has the following features.
1. The microprocessor converts the data of the host system into a corresponding barcode signal for display on the display screen of the barcode display device, so that the displayed barcode can be scanned by the barcode reader and stored in the memory of the barcode reader, eliminating the chance of altering the storage data of the host system by the user that may cause a big company loss.
2. The invention fully utilizes advantage of the characteristic of small memory space occupation of a barcode signal by converting a big amount of host system data into barcode data for storage in the memory of the barcode reader, for enabling the storage barcode data to be further transmitted to the processing unit that is capable of returning the barcode data into the original data format. This method eliminates the complicated transcription work to improve the working efficiency, allowing the user to collect data from multiple host systems rapidly.
Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.
