Product net content inspection device and system

Abstract

This application relates to a product net content inspection device and system. The product net content inspection device includes an electronic weighing unit, a support frame, and an image acquisition unit. The image acquisition unit is flexibly fixed by the support frame, enabling it to acquire a target image containing the product to be inspected and the reading of the electronic weighing unit. This solves the problems of low efficiency, error-proneness, and difficulty in traceability and reproducibility in existing product net content inspection technologies, significantly improving the standardization, efficiency, and credibility of metrological inspection work.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of metrological testing equipment technology, and in particular to a device and system for testing the net content of commodities. Background Technology

[0002] The measurement and verification of the net content of pre-packaged goods is an important task for legal metrology institutions to conduct compliance checks on pre-packaged products. Currently, this verification process mainly relies on manual operation, which presents the following significant problems:

[0003] (1) Inefficient: Inspectors need to manually record product information and read and copy the readings of the electronic weighing system one by one. The whole process is time-consuming and laborious, making it difficult to cope with large-scale inspection tasks.

[0004] (2) Prone to errors: When reading and transcribing numbers manually, visual misjudgment or transcription errors are very likely to occur, which makes it impossible to guarantee the accuracy of the test results.

[0005] (3) The process is not traceable: manual inspection can usually only form the final data record table, and cannot completely and objectively record and reproduce the key scenes in the weighing process (such as the placement of goods and the real-time changes in the scale readings). Once there is a dispute over the inspection results, there is a lack of original process video evidence that can be reviewed and verified, which affects the credibility and legal validity of the inspection conclusion.

[0006] Therefore, overcoming the shortcomings of low efficiency, error-proneness, and lack of traceability in purely manual inspection methods has become a pressing technical problem in this field. Utility Model Content

[0007] This application provides a product net content inspection device and system to at least solve the problems of low efficiency, error-proneness and lack of process traceability of purely manual inspection methods in related technologies.

[0008] In a first aspect, embodiments of this application provide a product net content inspection device, including: an electronic weighing unit for weighing the product to be inspected and displaying the weight information of the product to be inspected;

[0009] Support frame;

[0010] An image acquisition unit is fixed on the support frame; the fixed height of the image acquisition unit is determined based on the horizontal distance between the support frame and the electronic weighing unit, and the height of the product to be inspected.

[0011] The image acquisition unit is used to acquire a target image containing the product to be inspected placed on the electronic weighing unit and the weight information displayed by the electronic weighing unit.

[0012] In some embodiments, the support frame is a height-adjustable telescopic structure.

[0013] In some embodiments, the telescopic structure includes at least two sleeved rods and a locking element for locking the relative positions of the rods.

[0014] In some embodiments, the height adjustment range of the support frame is 15cm to 100cm.

[0015] In some embodiments, the horizontal distance between the support frame and the electronic weighing unit does not exceed 50cm.

[0016] In some embodiments, the field of view of the image acquisition unit is not less than 60°; and / or, the effective recognition distance of the image acquisition unit is 15cm to 100cm.

[0017] In some embodiments, the device further includes a smart terminal and a barcode scanner;

[0018] The barcode scanner is used to scan the barcode of the product to be inspected and obtain product information;

[0019] The smart terminal is communicatively connected to the barcode scanner and the image acquisition unit, and is used to receive and store the product information and the target image.

[0020] In some embodiments, the device further includes a printer that is communicatively connected to the smart terminal for printing information transmitted by the smart terminal.

[0021] In some embodiments, the device further includes a supplementary lighting unit, which is integrated with or independently configured with the image acquisition unit, and is used to provide supplementary lighting when the image acquisition unit acquires the target image.

[0022] Secondly, embodiments of this application provide a commodity net content inspection system, which includes at least one commodity net content inspection device as described in the first aspect.

[0023] Compared to related technologies, the automatic net content inspection device for pre-packaged goods provided in this application includes: a barcode scanner, an electronic weighing unit, an image acquisition unit, a support frame, and a smart terminal. Based on this, the image acquisition unit is adaptively fixed by the support frame, enabling it to stably acquire complete visual information including the electronic weighing unit, the goods to be inspected, and the electronic weighing reading under non-contact conditions. This achieves plug-and-play data acquisition for various existing electronic weighing systems without requiring hardware modifications. At the same time, the smart terminal enables real-time storage, association, and automatic report generation of inspection data, thereby solving the problems of high modification costs, poor adaptability, and difficulty in real-time storage and complete traceability of inspection process data in related technologies.

[0024] Details of one or more embodiments of this application are set forth in the following drawings and description to make other features, objects and advantages of this application more readily apparent. Attached Figure Description

[0025] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of this application and form part of this application, illustrate exemplary embodiments and are used to explain this application, but do not constitute an undue limitation of this application. In the drawings:

[0026] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the deployment of a commodity net content inspection device according to an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0027] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of this application clearer, the following detailed description is provided in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative and not intended to limit the scope of this application.

[0028] It should be noted that the terms "first," "second," and "third" used in the embodiments of this utility model are merely to distinguish similar objects and do not represent a specific ordering of objects. Where permissible, "first," "second," and "third" can be interchanged in a specific order or sequence. It is understood that the objects distinguished by "first," "second," and "third" can be interchanged where appropriate so that the embodiments of this utility model described herein can be implemented in an order other than those illustrated or described herein. The terms "first," "second," and "third" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0029] In the description of this application, it should be noted that the terms "center", "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "inner", "outer", etc., indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. They are only for the convenience of describing this application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, they should not be construed as limitations on this application.

[0030] In the description of this application, it should be noted that, unless otherwise expressly specified and limited, the terms "installation," "connection," and "linking" should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; they can refer to a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; they can refer to a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; and they can refer to the internal connection between two components. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this application based on the specific circumstances.

[0031] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention pertains. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. The term "and / or" as used herein includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. The term "plural" as used herein refers to two or more.

[0032] As discussed in the background section, existing technologies for measuring and verifying the net content of prepackaged goods suffer from low efficiency, error-proneness, and lack of process traceability, which hinders the standardized and efficient conduct of inspection work and the verification and dispute resolution of inspection results.

[0033] To address the aforementioned issues, this embodiment provides a device for inspecting the net content of goods. Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the deployment of a commodity net content inspection device according to an embodiment of this application, such as... Figure 1 As shown, the net content inspection device includes: an electronic weighing unit 10 for weighing the product to be inspected and displaying the weight information of the product; a support frame 20; and an image acquisition unit 30 fixed on the support frame 20. The fixed height of the image acquisition unit 30 is determined based on the horizontal distance between the support frame 20 and the electronic weighing unit 10, as well as the height of the product to be inspected. The image acquisition unit 30 is used to acquire a target image containing the product to be inspected placed on the electronic weighing unit 10 and the weight information displayed by the electronic weighing unit 10.

[0034] Specifically, in this embodiment, the electronic weighing unit 10 can be a general-purpose weighing device, such as a conventional electronic platform scale or electronic balance. The support frame 20 can be a physical structure independent of the electronic weighing unit 10, used to provide a stable mounting point for the image acquisition unit 30 at the weighing site. During deployment, the operator places the support frame 20 near the electronic weighing unit 10, and based on the pre-set optimal horizontal distance (e.g., not exceeding 50cm) and the actual height of the goods to be inspected (affecting the imaging field of view), adjusts the height of the support frame 20 itself or the mounting position of the image acquisition unit 30 on it to finally determine the fixed height of the image acquisition unit 30, ensuring that its captured image can simultaneously and clearly present both the goods to be inspected on the electronic weighing unit 10 and the reading of the electronic weighing unit 10. For example, for taller items such as boxed goods or large gift boxes, the items may obstruct the reading of the electronic weighing unit 10 when the image acquisition unit 30 is capturing the target image. In this case, the height of the support frame 20 can be increased to raise the shooting angle, allowing a view over the top of the item to capture the reading area, or the horizontal distance between the support frame 20 and the electronic weighing unit 10 can be appropriately increased to expand the horizontal field of view, thus simultaneously including the side of the item and the reading screen in the image. For shorter items such as bagged snacks or small bottles and jars, the height of the support frame 20 can be appropriately lowered and the horizontal distance between it and the electronic weighing unit 10 can be reduced to obtain a closer and clearer close-up of the reading, ensuring that all items under inspection are within the effective range of the image. At the same time, the image acquisition unit 30 can be triggered or automatically capture images each time weighing is performed, obtaining a target image that completely records the current item under inspection and its corresponding weight information in a single frame, forming raw data that can be directly traced.

[0035] In this solution, the image acquisition unit 30 can be a camera, industrial camera, or intelligent terminal with image capture function, or other device capable of acquiring visual images. Preferably, the image acquisition unit 30 can also have data storage and data processing capabilities (such as an intelligent network camera or industrial camera with a built-in storage chip and image processing module), enabling it to store the target image locally on the device for convenient subsequent verification and traceability.

[0036] The product net content inspection device provided in this embodiment of the utility model deploys an image acquisition unit by introducing an independently adjustable support frame. The image acquisition unit captures target images containing the product to be inspected and its corresponding weight information, establishing an objective and complete visual record for each weighing. This achieves automated recording and traceability of the inspection process, effectively overcoming the shortcomings of manual inspection, such as low efficiency, high error rate, and lack of traceability. It significantly improves the standardization, efficiency, and credibility of metrological inspection work. Furthermore, some existing inspection systems involve hardware modifications to the electronic scale itself, such as integrating sensors inside the scale or installing fixed camera modules at specific locations on the scale to automatically collect weighing data. However, this method of physically modifying the electronic scale heavily relies on specially modified scales in practical applications, lacking compatibility with the large number of existing, universal electronic scales on the market. This results in high system deployment costs, poor flexibility, and difficulty in rapid widespread adoption in on-site inspections. In contrast, the net content inspection device provided in this solution has a support frame and an image acquisition unit that form an independent acquisition module. It can be adapted to any brand and model of general electronic weighing unit without any modification, making it more flexible, economical, and widely applicable.

[0037] In some embodiments, the support frame 20 is a height-adjustable telescopic structure.

[0038] In some embodiments, the telescopic structure includes at least two sleeved rods and a locking element for locking the relative positions of the rods.

[0039] In some embodiments, the height adjustment range of the support frame 20 is 15cm to 100cm.

[0040] Specifically, in this solution, the support frame 20 can be a height-adjustable telescopic structure. The height can be continuously or segmentally adjusted by interlocking multiple rod sections, such as using a sleeve-type telescopic rod, a guide rail slider structure, or a folding linkage mechanism similar to those used in photographic tripods. After adjustment to the desired height, the relative positions of the rod sections are fixed by locking devices such as knobs, levers, or magnetic closures, thereby maintaining the stable shooting posture of the image acquisition unit 30. Alternatively, the telescopic structure can also be implemented using a screw-nut pair adjustment mechanism. For example, rotating a handwheel drives the screw to rotate, thereby driving the nut component connected to the image acquisition unit 30 to achieve smooth linear lifting and lowering. Preferably, considering the actual application scenarios of on-site inspection in supermarkets, warehouses, etc., and the fact that the packaging of goods to be inspected is typically a few centimeters to tens of centimeters in height, the height adjustment range of the support frame 20 is designed to be 15cm to 100cm. This range can cover most weighing scenarios, from low-profile goods to taller packaging, ensuring that the image acquisition unit 30 can flexibly adapt to goods and weighing equipment of different sizes.

[0041] In some embodiments, the horizontal distance between the support frame 20 and the electronic weighing unit 10 does not exceed 50cm.

[0042] Specifically, in this solution, considering the spatial layout and operational convenience of the actual testing site, as well as the optical constraints to ensure image acquisition clarity, the horizontal distance between the support frame 20 and the electronic weighing unit 10 is limited to within 50cm. By controlling this distance, it can be ensured that the image acquisition unit 30 works within the effective recognition distance, while avoiding problems such as loss of image details or field of view deviation caused by excessive distance, thereby achieving a stable and reliable visual acquisition layout in a compact space.

[0043] In some embodiments, the field of view of the image acquisition unit 30 is not less than 60°; and / or, the effective recognition distance of the image acquisition unit 30 is 15cm to 100cm.

[0044] Specifically, in practical applications of this solution, the environments are often limited by space, such as next to supermarket shelves, warehouse aisles, or enterprise production lines. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that a single shot can completely capture the display screen of the scale and all the goods to be inspected on the weighing pan, while maintaining a compact equipment layout. To meet the requirements of complete visual recording and limited on-site space, the image acquisition unit 30 preferably has a field of view of not less than 60° to ensure complete coverage of the reading of the electronic weighing unit 10 and the goods placed on it within a limited distance. At the same time, considering the shooting requirements of goods of different sizes, such as small bagged food, which requires clear identification of its packaging details and the decimal places of the weight displayed by the electronic weighing unit 10, close-range shooting (e.g., 15cm to 30cm) can be used to obtain high-resolution images; while large boxed goods require complete shooting of their overall placement and the reading of the electronic weighing unit 10, requiring sufficient field of view coverage at a certain distance, which can be achieved by shooting at medium to long distances (e.g., 50cm to 100cm) to capture the overall scene. Therefore, the effective recognition distance of the image acquisition unit 30 is preferably between 15cm and 100cm, enabling it to both obtain high-resolution readings at close range and capture the overall scene from a certain height. Through the aforementioned optical performance configuration, the image acquisition unit 30 can continuously acquire clear and usable target images even when adjusting the height of the support frame 20 and the horizontal distance between the support frame 20 and the electronic weighing unit 10, thus adapting to diverse on-site inspection conditions.

[0045] In some embodiments, the device further includes a smart terminal and a barcode scanner; wherein the barcode scanner is used to scan the barcode of the product to be inspected to obtain product information;

[0046] The aforementioned smart terminal is communicatively connected to the barcode scanner and image acquisition unit 30, and is used to receive and store product information and target images.

[0047] In some embodiments, the device further includes a printer that is communicatively connected to the aforementioned smart terminal for printing information transmitted by the smart terminal.

[0048] Specifically, in this solution, the system also includes a smart terminal (such as a tablet, industrial handheld device, or laptop) for information input and processing, and a barcode scanner (which can be a 1D / 2D barcode scanner) for quickly acquiring product identification information. By scanning the barcode on the product packaging, the barcode scanner automatically obtains structured information such as product name, manufacturer, specifications, and production date. This information is received by the smart terminal and associated with and stored along with the target image sent by the image acquisition unit. Furthermore, the device may also include a printer that communicates with the smart terminal to print information transmitted by the smart terminal (such as generated inspection reports). This combination achieves a closed-loop process from product information input and visual weighing to integrated data management, thereby significantly improving the automation level and data accuracy of the inspection process.

[0049] In some embodiments, the device further includes a supplementary lighting unit, which is integrated with or independently configured with the image acquisition unit 30, and is used to provide supplementary lighting when the image acquisition unit 30 acquires a target image.

[0050] Specifically, the supplementary lighting unit can take the form of a ring light, a strip LED light, or an adjustable brightness point light source, etc. It can be integrated with the image acquisition unit 30 or installed as an independent accessory on the support frame 20 or in a suitable location around it. In low-light, backlit, or highly reflective environments, the supplementary lighting unit can provide uniform and adjustable illumination, significantly improving image acquisition quality and ensuring that the readings of the electronic weighing unit 10 and the shape of the goods are clearly distinguishable in the target image, thereby enhancing the adaptability and reliability of the device under complex lighting conditions.

[0051] This application also provides a commodity net content inspection system, which includes at least one commodity net content inspection device described in any of the above embodiments.

[0052] Specifically, the product net content inspection system may include at least one of the aforementioned product net content inspection devices, and may further integrate a network communication module, a central server, or a cloud platform to achieve multi-terminal data synchronization, task distribution, centralized management, and remote auditing. During system operation, each inspection device works independently or collaboratively, and through automated connections between scanning, weighing, image acquisition, and data processing, it completes the entire process from sampling to report generation. It also supports encrypted uploading, archiving, retrieval, and statistical analysis of inspection data.

[0053] Through the above technical solution, the commodity net content inspection device and system provided by this utility model, through the cooperation of the independently adjustable support frame 20 and the image acquisition unit 30, realizes the "plug-and-play" visual acquisition of the electronic weighing unit 10. By acquiring and associating the complete visual information of commodity and weight information, the traceability of the inspection process is realized, thereby effectively overcoming the defects of low efficiency, easy error and non-traceability of manual inspection, and significantly improving the standardization, efficiency and credibility of metrological inspection work.

[0054] Those skilled in the art should understand that the technical features of the above embodiments can be combined in any way. For the sake of brevity, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above embodiments have been described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, they should be considered to be within the scope of this specification.

[0055] The embodiments described above are merely illustrative of several implementation methods of this application, and while the descriptions are relatively specific and detailed, they should not be construed as limiting the scope of the utility model patent. It should be noted that those skilled in the art can make various modifications and improvements without departing from the concept of this application, and these all fall within the protection scope of this application. Therefore, the protection scope of this patent application should be determined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A device for inspecting the net content of a commodity, characterized in that, include: An electronic weighing unit (10) is used to weigh the goods to be inspected and display the weight information of the goods to be inspected. Support frame (20); An image acquisition unit (30) is fixed on the support frame (20); the fixed height of the image acquisition unit (30) is determined according to the horizontal distance between the support frame (20) and the electronic weighing unit (10), and the height of the product to be inspected. The image acquisition unit (30) is used to acquire a target image containing the product to be inspected placed on the electronic weighing unit (10) and the weight information displayed by the electronic weighing unit (10).

2. The commodity net content inspection device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The support frame (20) is a height-adjustable telescopic structure.

3. The commodity net content inspection device according to claim 2, characterized in that, The telescopic structure includes at least two sleeved rods and a locking element for locking the relative positions of the rods.

4. The commodity net content inspection device according to claim 3, characterized in that, The height adjustment range of the support frame (20) is 15cm to 100cm.

5. The net content inspection device for commodities according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, The horizontal distance between the support frame (20) and the electronic weighing unit (10) shall not exceed 50cm.

6. The commodity net content inspection device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The field of view of the image acquisition unit (30) is not less than 60°; and / or the effective recognition distance of the image acquisition unit (30) is 15cm to 100cm.

7. The commodity net content inspection device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The device also includes a smart terminal and a barcode scanner; The barcode scanner is used to scan the barcode of the product to be inspected and obtain product information; The smart terminal is communicatively connected to the barcode scanner and the image acquisition unit (30) and is used to receive and store the product information and the target image.

8. The commodity net content inspection device according to claim 7, characterized in that, The device also includes a printer, which is communicatively connected to the smart terminal and is used to print information transmitted by the smart terminal.

9. The commodity net content inspection device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The device also includes a supplementary lighting unit, which is integrated with or independently configured with the image acquisition unit (30) and is used to provide supplementary lighting when the image acquisition unit (30) acquires the target image.

10. A product net content inspection system, characterized in that, The product net content inspection system includes at least one product net content inspection device as described in any one of claims 1 to 9.

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