Patent Application
20150169926
This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 201310672832.3 filed on Dec. 12, 2013, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein.
The disclosure generally relates to a barcode reader and a package processing system using the barcode reader.
Readers for barcodes are common in businesses. The reader may scan the barcodes to obtain a package serial number. Additionally, related package information (for example, destination or telephone numbers) can be edited through the reader, and then the package serial number and the related package information are sent to a terminal server located at a package company.
Implementations of the present technology will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the attached figures.
It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, where appropriate, reference numerals have been repeated among the different figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. In addition, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments described herein. However, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments described herein can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, methods, procedures and components have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the related relevant feature being described. Also, the description is not to be considered as limiting the scope of the embodiments described herein. The drawings are not necessarily to scale and the proportions of certain parts may be exaggerated to better illustrate details and features of the present disclosure.
Several definitions that apply throughout this disclosure will now be presented.
The term “substantially” is defined to be essentially conforming to the particular dimension, shape or other word that substantially modifies, such that the component need not be exact. For example, substantially cylindrical means that the object resembles a cylinder, but can have one or more deviations from a true cylinder. The term “comprising” when utilized, means “including, but not necessarily limited to”; it specifically indicates open-ended inclusion or membership in the so-described combination, group, series and the like.
The control unit 15 is received in the receiving space 115. The control unit 15 includes a circuit board 151, a barcode scanning module 152, a microcontroller 153, a near field communication (NFC) module 154, a power source 155, an elastic member 156, a power port 157, and a button 158. The barcode scanning module 152, the microcontroller 153, and the NFC module 154 are all located on and electronically connected to the circuit board 151. The barcode scanning module 152 may be an infrared photoelectric sensor and is configured to scan the barcodes on the package bill to obtain barcode information. The microcontroller 153 is electronically connected between the barcode scanning module 152 and the NFC module 154. The microcontroller 153 decodes the barcode information from the barcode scanning module 152 into a package serial number, and transmits the package serial number to the NFC module 154. In other embodiments, the NFC module 154 may be replaced by a Bluetooth (BT) module, a wireless fidelity (WIFI) module, or other near field modules.
The power source 155 may be a battery and is positioned below the circuit board 151. In this embodiment, the elastic member 156 is a spring. A first end of the elastic member 156 is fixed to the circuit board 151. A second end of the elastic member 156 is coupled to the power source 155. Then, the power source 155 is electronically connected to the circuit board 151 through the elastic member 156 and provides power to the circuit board 151, the barcode scanning module 152, the microcontroller 153, and the NFC module 154.
The power port 157 is positioned at a side of the circuit board 151 and is partially exposed from the first hole 117. Then, the power port 157 may be electronically connected to an outside charging device to charge the reader 100. The button 158 is positioned on the circuit board 151 and is partially exposed from the second hole 119. When the button 158 is actuated, the control unit 15 enters into a working state or an idle state.
In other embodiments, the reader 100 further includes a protecting member 18 and a clamping member 19. In this embodiment, the protecting member 18 is a substantially rectangular board and may be made of a transparent acrylic material. The protecting member 18 is positioned above the receiving space 115 to cover the control unit 15, thereby protecting the barcode scanning module 152. The clamping member 19 is positioned at a side of the receiving portion 112 and can be clamped at an article, for example, clothes of a user, thus the reader 100 is entirely portable.
Referring to
At least one program or other software is installed in the portable electronic device 200 in relation to the package business, to edit related package information (for example, destinations or telephone numbers). Both the package serial number received from the reader 100 and the related package information are sent to the terminal server 220 via a wireless communication network, such as 2G/3G network, for example.
In use, the button 158 is actuated to activate the control unit 15. The barcode scanning module 152 scans the barcodes on the package bill to obtain barcode information. The microcontroller 153 decodes the barcode information, obtains the package serial number, and transmits the package serial number to the NFC module 154. The NFC module 154 communicates with the portable electronic device 200 and sends the package serial number to the portable electronic device 200. The button 158 can be actuated again to deactivate the control unit 15.
The related package information including destination or telephone numbers is written by hand on the package bill via the pen head 173 of the pen 17, or the related package information is directly edited on the portable electronic device 200, so that the related package information and the package serial number received from the reader 100 can be sent to the terminal server 220.
The embodiments shown and described above are only examples. Therefore, many such details are neither shown nor described. Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present technology have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the present disclosure, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in the detail, including in matters of shape, size and arrangement of the parts within the principles of the present disclosure up to, and including the full extent established by the broad general meaning of the terms used in the claims. It will therefore be appreciated that the embodiments described above may be modified within the scope of the claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 201310672832.3 | Dec 2013 | CN | national |
