Sensor arrangement

Abstract

The invention relates to a sensor arrangement having an optical sensor (1) in the form of a code reader, and having codes which are captured by means of the code reader. The code reader has an image sensor (4), an evaluation unit and an output structure (10). Codes are captured by means of the image sensor (4), and an output signal that is output via the output structure (10) is generated according to sensor signals of the image sensor (4). The code reader is used to read a code in the form of a hybrid code (11), the hybrid code (11) being a 2D barcode (11a) which contains data content of an ID barcode (11b). In the evaluation unit, the data content of the ID barcode (11b) is determined and output via the output structure (10).

Description

[0001] Sensor arrangement

[0002] The invention relates to a sensor arrangement.

[0003] Such a sensor arrangement comprises an optical sensor in the form of a code reader as well as codes that can be detected by means of the code reader.

[0004] Such code readers can have an image sensor, i.e., a camera, as a receiver, which captures images of the codes to be read. The sensor signals from the image sensor, i.e., the images of the codes, are evaluated in an evaluation unit, where the respective code is decoded based on the sensor signals. The decoding result is then output via an output structure of the code reader.

[0005] Such a code reader can be used to read ID barcodes. It can also read 2D barcodes, such as QR codes or Data Matrix codes. Compared to ID codes, 2D barcodes can encode significantly larger amounts of data while requiring less space, reducing the risk of confusion between different codes. Furthermore, 2D barcodes can be equipped as secure codes with redundant data content or error correction features.

[0006] To implement an application for such a sensor arrangement, four process steps must generally be performed sequentially. First, the content of a code must be generated using a data processing system. Next, the code must be created, for example, using a printing process, and then applied to an object that will be marked with the code. The code can then be read in an application environment using a code reader. The final process step involves evaluating the code content.

[0007] In closed-loop applications, all four process steps are performed and monitored by an operator. Typical use cases include applying and reading codes on crates or similar items in an automated warehouse.

[0008] In open-loop applications, the four process steps are carried out by different companies.

[0009] Standardization is necessary to implement such open-loop applications. Standards define all aspects of an application, such as the data content and symbology of codes, the size and arrangement of codes, and code structures, for example, defined by the number of digits in ID barcodes. Furthermore, standards define the print quality and contrast of codes. Finally, standards can define the reading requirements for a code reader.

[0010] An example of such open-loop applications is applications in the field of medical technology. There, for example, codes are used to identify blood samples. In these applications, ID barcodes have been the standard for identifying blood samples for years, and such ID barcodes can be read with barcode scanners.

[0011] For such an application to identify blood samples with codes, the following procedural steps are required:

[0012] 1) Data processing system for generating the code content.

[0013] 2) Creating (printing) the code and applying it to a sample container.

[0014] 3) Reading the code in a laboratory and / or with an analysis instrument.

[0015] 4) Data processing system for evaluating the code content. The ID barcodes used according to the current standard have the disadvantage that they can only encode small amounts of data, making it difficult to clearly identify blood samples. Furthermore, information encoded in ID barcodes is only inadequately protected by simple checksums.

[0016] Therefore, it is desirable to use 2D barcodes instead of ID barcodes for identifying blood samples. A 2D barcode can encode large amounts of data in a small space, and this data can also be encoded error-proof in the 2D barcodes.

[0017] Changing the standard from ID barcodes to 2D barcodes in such an open-loop application for blood sample identification requires complex changes in the various companies or entities to carry out the four procedural steps mentioned above. This would require changes to facilities, particularly data processing systems in doctor's offices, hospitals, emergency services, thousands of blood analysis instruments in thousands of laboratories, and so on.

[0018] The invention is based on the object of providing a sensor arrangement of the type mentioned above, by means of which standard changes in open-loop applications are facilitated.

[0019] To achieve this object, the features of claim 1 are provided. Advantageous embodiments and expedient developments of the invention are described in the dependent claims.

[0020] The invention relates to a sensor arrangement with an optical sensor in the form of a code reader and with codes that are detected by the code reader. The code reader has an image sensor, an evaluation unit, and an output structure, wherein codes are detected with the image sensor. Depending on sensor signals from the image sensor, an output signal is generated, which is output via the output structure. The code reader reads a code in the form of a hybrid code, wherein the hybrid code is a 2D barcode that contains the data content of an ID barcode. The data content of the ID barcode is determined in the evaluation unit and output via the output structure.

[0021] The basic idea of ​​the invention is to provide hybrid codes in the form of 2D barcodes that also contain the data content of an ID barcode.

[0022] The code reader of the sensor arrangement according to the invention has an image sensor as a receiver unit, which can read 2D barcodes. If a hybrid code is read with the code reader, the data content of the ID barcode contained in the hybrid code is captured and decoded in the evaluation unit of the code reader and output as an output signal via the output structure.

[0023] This makes standard changes in open-loop applications much easier, since the process steps required in an open-loop application are not converted to the new standard all at once, but in a selectable time sequence.

[0024] The old standard is geared towards reading ID barcodes, while the new standard is extended to reading 2D barcodes.

[0025] By using the hybrid codes according to the invention, the process steps of generating the data content of codes and creating them, such as printing codes and attaching them to objects, can be converted to 2D barcodes at an early stage.

[0026] Since the invention uses hybrid codes that are read with the code reader according to the invention, these special 2D barcodes can be used during a transition phase from the old to the new standard. It is crucial that the code reader outputs the data content of the ID barcode contained in the hybrid code as an output signal, so that the data processing for evaluating code information does not yet have to be converted to the new standard with 2D barcodes, but can still be used with the old ID barcode standard.

[0027] A preferred embodiment of an open-loop application that can be realized with the sensor arrangement according to the invention is the identification of blood samples using codes that are applied to the samples or to sample holders for storing the samples.

[0028] With the sensor arrangement according to the invention, a changeover of the standard from ID barcodes to 2D barcodes can be considerably simplified in this application as well, since the standard changeover does not have to be carried out at once for all four process steps to implement this application, but the standard changeover for the individual process steps can be carried out in a time-decoupled manner.

[0029] This is particularly advantageous because a large number of entities and companies, i.e., several thousand, are involved in implementing the individual process steps in this application, and therefore a standard changeover takes several years. With the sensor arrangement according to the invention, the standard changeover can be carried out in individual process steps sequentially.

[0030] According to an advantageous embodiment, the code reader detects a 2D barcode in a first field of view of the hybrid code and an ID barcode in a second field of view of the hybrid code.

[0031] In particular, the data content of the ID barcode is contained in a defined position of the 2D barcode. The field of view, i.e., the field of vision within which the ID barcode is recognized, can in particular be part of the field of view within which the 2D barcode is recognized.

[0032] According to a first variant, the detection of a hybrid code with the code reader of the sensor arrangement according to the invention can be carried out in such a way that only the 2D barcode of the hybrid code is detected and decoded with the code reader. In the evaluation unit, the data content of the ID barcode is extracted from the decoded 2D barcode and output via the output structure.

[0033] This variant is only feasible if the data content of the ID barcode is contained in the hybrid code at a fixed position of the 2D barcode.

[0034] According to a second variant, the ID barcode and 2D barcode of the hybrid code are captured and decoded using the code reader. The data content of the ID barcode is extracted from the decoded 2D barcode and compared with the decoded ID barcode. Only if matching information from the ID barcode is found during the comparison is this information output via the output structure.

[0035] By comparing the two pieces of information via the ID barcode, redundant capture of the ID barcode information is achieved and increased error security is obtained when capturing the ID barcode information.

[0036] According to a third variant, the ID barcode and 2D barcode of the hybrid code are captured and decoded using the code reader. The data content of the ID barcode is extracted from the decoded 2D barcode. Only if this matches the decoded ID barcode with at least a specified degree of match is the data content of the ID barcode output via the output structure. Here, too, the ID barcode information is captured redundantly in hybrid codes, allowing for increased error tolerance in this case, thus achieving increased availability.

[0037] To identify the ID barcode information, it is sufficient if it is completely captured using only one method, whereby a limited degree of error in code capture is permitted when identifying with the second method, which only requires that the ID barcode information determined using the two methods must match a predetermined degree of match.

[0038] In the second and third variants, it is not necessary to arrange the ID barcode data content at a fixed position on the hybrid code.

[0039] Advantageously, additional output signals can also be output via the output structure of the code reader.

[0040] In particular, it is possible for the code reader to output a status message via the output structure.

[0041] The status message can signal the success of decoding an ID barcode and / or 2D barcode.

[0042] Alternatively, the status message signals the quality of decoding an ID barcode and / or 2D barcode.

[0043] Finally, it is also possible for the output signal to output the data content of a decoded 2D barcode.

[0044] According to a structurally advantageous embodiment, the output structure of the code reader is a serial interface or a fieldbus. Further advantageously, the image sensor of the code reader is a matrix-shaped CCD or CMOS array.

[0045] Optionally, the code reader can have a lighting unit that illuminates a field of view of the image sensor.

[0046] Advantageously, the lighting unit comprises an arrangement of light-emitting diodes emitting light rays.

[0047] The invention is explained below with reference to the drawings. They show:

[0048] Figure 1: Schematic representation of an embodiment of the optical sensor of the sensor arrangement according to the invention.

[0049] Figure 2: Embodiment of a hybrid code of the inventive

[0050] S ensor arrangement .

[0051] Figure 1 shows, highly schematically and not to scale, an embodiment of the optical sensor 1 of the sensor arrangement according to the invention. The optical sensor 1 is designed as a code reader, by means of which ID barcodes and 2D codes can be detected.

[0052] The electronic components and sensor components of the optical sensor 1 are integrated in a housing 2 made of non-transparent material.

[0053] A printed circuit board 3, as the central electronic component, is mounted in the housing 2. On one mounting side of the printed circuit board 3, an image sensor 4 and several light-emitting diodes 5 surrounding the image sensor 4 are mounted as sensor components. The image sensor 4 is formed, for example, by a matrix-shaped CCD or CMOS array. The light-emitting diodes 5, which emit light rays, form an illumination unit with which the field of view of the image sensor 4 is illuminated. The image sensor 4 is located in a substantially hollow-cylindrical tube 6 made of non-transparent material. Mounted in the tube 6 is a lens 7, which is arranged in front of the image sensor 4 and serves to focus light rays onto the image sensor 4.

[0054] In a front wall of the housing 2 there is mounted a disc 8 which is made of transparent material, i.e. material which is permeable to the light rays.

[0055] A microcontroller 9, which forms an evaluation unit, is mounted on a component side opposite the mounting side. Instead of a microcontroller 9, another computer unit can also be arranged.

[0056] The light beams emitted by the LEDs 5 are guided through the disc 8 into a detection zone. From a code applied to an object, light beams are guided across the disc 8 and the object to the image sensor 4. The sensor signals generated by the image sensor 4 are evaluated in the evaluation unit. The code is decoded in the evaluation unit based on the code information contained in the sensor signals, which is output as an output signal from the optical sensors 1.

[0057] The output signal is output via an output structure 10, which is advantageously formed by a serial interface or a fieldbus.

[0058] The sensor arrangement according to the invention is used in particular for open-loop applications.

[0059] An example of such open-loop applications are applications in the field of medical technology. There, for example, codes are used to identify blood samples.

[0060] For such an application for identifying blood samples with codes, the following process steps are required: 1) Data processing system for generating the code content.

[0061] 2) Creating (printing) the code and applying it to a sample container.

[0062] 3) Reading the code in a laboratory and / or with an analysis instrument.

[0063] 4) Data processing system for evaluating the code content.

[0064] In these applications, ID barcodes have been used for years as the standard for identifying blood samples, and such ID barcodes can be read with barcode scanners.

[0065] The sensor arrangement according to the invention can be used for a transition to a new standard that uses 2D barcodes to identify blood samples. By using the sensor arrangement according to the invention, the four process steps mentioned above do not need to be converted to the new standard all at once.

[0066] For this purpose, the sensor arrangement according to the invention has hybrid codes 11 for marking blood samples (Figure 2), which can be read with the code reader according to Figure 1.

[0067] The hybrid code 11 according to Figure 2 consists of a 2D barcode 11a, which also contains an ID barcode 11b.

[0068] According to the invention, the entire hybrid code 11 is read with the code reader, but only the data content of the ID barcode 11b in the hybrid code 11 is captured and read out as an output signal to an external unit.

[0069] The four aforementioned process steps for the open-loop application are thus divided in such a way that the generation of codes and their creation have already been converted to the standard with 2D barcodes 11a. These 2D barcodes 11a can also be read with the code reader (3rd process step). However, the downstream processing of the codes in data processing systems is carried out using the ID barcodes 11b, so that the data processing systems can still work with the old version of the ID barcodes 11b.

[0070] In general, the code reader can also output status messages as an additional output signal.

[0071] For example, the status message signals the success of decoding an ID barcode 11b and / or 2D barcode 11a.

[0072] Furthermore, the status message signals the quality of decoding an ID barcode 11b and / or 2D barcode 11a.

[0073] The reading process of a hybrid code 11 with the code reader takes place in such a way that the 2D barcode 11a is read in a first field of view and the ID barcode 11b is read in a second field of view.

[0074] The 2D barcode 11a of a hybrid code 11 generally contains the data content of the ID barcode 11b, which is advantageously located at a fixed position of the 2D barcode 11a.

[0075] As an example, a sequence ABCDEF contained in the 2D barcode 11a is mentioned, where A, B, C, D, E, and F are the data contents of the 2D barcode 11a. A, B, and C represent the data contents of the ID barcode 11b in the 2D barcode 11a.

[0076] According to a first variant of code detection, the data contents ABCDEF are detected by the code reader by reading the hybrid code 11, but only the data contents ABC are output as an output signal.

[0077] According to a second variant, the ID barcode 11b and the 2D barcode 11a of the hybrid code 11 are read with the code reader, so that the data content ABC is determined by reading the ID barcode 11b, and the data content ABCDEF is determined by reading the 2D barcode 11a. According to a first subvariant, it is required that the data content ABC of the ID barcode 11b completely match the subsequence ABC of the data content ABCDEF of the 2D barcode 11a. Only then is the information ABC of the ID barcode 11b output as an output signal. According to a second sub-variant, an error-tolerant evaluation is carried out in such a way that the data content of the ID barcode 11b and the subsequence corresponding to the ID barcode 11b in the data content of the 2D barcode 11a only have to match to a predetermined degree in order to output information of an ID barcode 11b in the hybrid code 11 as an output signal.For example, if data contents AXC are determined when reading the ID barcode 11b of the hybrid code 11, where X is incorrect information, but the data contents ABCDEF are correctly determined when reading the 2D barcode 11a of the hybrid code 11, the degree of agreement of the data contents is sufficient for ABC to be output as ID barcode information as an output signal from the code reader.

[0078] List of reference symbols

[0079] (1) optical sensor

[0080] (2) Housing

[0081] (3) Circuit board

[0082] (4) Image sensor (5) Light-emitting diode

[0083] (6) Tube

[0084] (7) Lens

[0085] (8) Disc

[0086] (9) Microcontroller (10) Output structure

[0087] (11) Hybrid code

[0088] (l la) 2D barcode

[0089] (l lb) ID barcode

Claims

1. Sensor arrangement with an optical sensor (1) in the form of a code reader and with codes which are detected by means of the code reader, wherein the code reader has an image sensor (4), an evaluation unit and an output structure (10), wherein codes are detected with the image sensor (4) and wherein an output signal is generated as a function of sensor signals from the image sensor (4), which output signal is output via the output structure (10), characterized in that a code in the form of a hybrid code (11) is read with the code reader, wherein the hybrid code (11) is a 2D barcode (11a) which contains a data content of an ID barcode (11b), and that the data content of the ID barcode (11b) is determined in the evaluation unit and output via the output structure (10).

2. Sensor arrangement according to claim 1, characterized in that with the code reader a 2D barcode (11a) is detected in a first field of view of the hybrid code (11) and an ID barcode (11b) is detected in a second field of view of the hybrid code (11).

3. Sensor arrangement according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the data content of the ID barcode (11b) is contained in a defined position of the 2D barcode (11a).

4. Sensor arrangement according to claim 3, characterized in that only the 2D barcode (11a) of the hybrid code (11) is detected and decoded by the code reader, and in that in the evaluation unit from the decoded 2D barcode (I la) the data content of the ID barcode (11b) is extracted and output via the output structure (10).

5. Sensor arrangement according to one of claims 2 or 3, characterized in that the ID barcode (11b) and 2D barcode (11a) of the hybrid code (11) are detected and decoded with the code reader, that the data content of the ID barcode is extracted from the decoded 2D barcode (11a) and compared with the decoded ID barcode (11b), and that only if matching information of the ID barcode (11b) is found during the comparison, this information is output via the output structure (10).

6. Sensor arrangement according to one of claims 2 or 3, characterized in that the ID barcode (11b) and 2D barcode (11a) of the hybrid code (11) are detected and decoded with the code reader, that the data content of the ID barcode is extracted from the decoded 2D barcode (11a), and that the data content of the ID barcode (11b) is output via the output structure (10) only if this matches the decoded ID barcode (11b) with at least a predetermined degree of match.

7. Sensor arrangement according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the code reader outputs a status message via the output structure (10).

8. Sensor arrangement according to claim 7, characterized in that the status message signals the success of a decoding of an ID barcode (11b) and / or 2D barcode (11a).

9. Sensor arrangement according to one of claims 7 or 8, characterized in that the status message signals the quality of a decoding of an ID barcode (11b) and / or 2D barcode (11a).

10. Sensor arrangement according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the data content of a decoded 2D barcode (11a) is output with the output signal.

11. Sensor arrangement according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the output structure of the code reader is a serial interface or a field bus.

12. Sensor arrangement according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the image sensor (4) of the code reader is a matrix-shaped CCD or CMOS array.

13. Sensor arrangement according to one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that the code reader has an illumination unit by means of which a field of view of the image sensor (4) is illuminated.

14. Sensor arrangement according to claim 13, characterized in that the lighting unit has an arrangement of light-emitting diodes (5) emitting light rays.

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