Bar Code Input Electronic Timepiece

This invention relates to input means for applying data into an electronic timepiece.

An electronic timepiece having the capability of receiving input data such as a telephone number, for example, from outside and storing the data has been known in the past. As the kinds of input data increases to include figures, alphabet, kana (Japanese Letter), and the like, however, the method of applying such data to the timepiece becomes a problem.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of the conventional electronic timepiece having input means for inputting data. Characters such as figures and alphabet are shown disposed at the lower part of the timepiece and a corsor C represents that one of the characters is selected by denoting the selected character. By manipulating two switches A and B or by moving the corsor by the switch B, for example, the desired character is selected and when the A switch is pushed, the character thus selected is applied to a memory inside the timepiece.

However, this method has the disadvantage that the operation performance at the time of inputting the character is low and an extended period of time is necessary to input the data.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to apply character data into an electronic timepiece with high operation performance by reading printed data on paper, such as bar code data, using an optical sensor incorporated in the electronic timepiece.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a prior art electronic timepiece,

FIG. 2 shows an example of a bar code,

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) is a side view and (b) is a front view,

FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b) show the relation between the bar code and the reflected light when the bar code is scanned by the optical sensor, and

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to an example in which bar code data is applied to the timepiece.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of bar codes and the character "A" represented by the bar codes. A wide variety of bar codes are known and such codes vary in accordance with the features, applications, constructions, and the like. The example shown in FIG. 2 is a bar code called "CODE 39". CODE 39 is a bar code for figures and alphabets and consists of 9 bits per character. The data are represented using the wide bars and wide spaces as the binary logic "1" and the narrow bars and narrow spaces as the binary logic "0". The pattern of FIG. 2 represent the character "A" and the data represented by the bars is "10001" and the data represented by the spaces is "0010". This can be clearly understood by comparing the pattern width of the bars and spaces with the data.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIG. 3(a) is a side view and FIG. 3(b) is a front view.

In this embodiment, a hole is bored on the side surface of the exterior part of the timepiece and a sensor D is embedded into the hole. In applying the data, the bar code shown in FIG. 2 is scanned by the sensor from the left to the right to select the character "A", and when a switch A is pushed, the selected character is applied to the memory inside the timepiece. A code table having the figures from 0 to 9, the alphabet of from A to Z or other symbols printed thereon is prepared, and the characters to be input are sequentially scanned by the sensor D. The characters can be stored in the memory inside the timepiece by then pushing the switch A.

FIG. 4(a) shows an example of the code 39 bar code and FIG. 4(b) shows the reflected light when the bar code is scanned by the sensor D shown in FIG. 3. The dashed line represents the scanning path of the optical sensor. Hereinafter, the principle of decoding the bar code will be described with reference to FIG. 4. In the diagram, t.sub.0 represents the total scanning time when the bar code of FIG. 4(a) is scanned. Symbols t.sub.1 -t.sub.9 represents the scanning time for the bars and for the spaces. The code 39 bar code consists of 9 bits at least three bits of which are always "1". The data is contained in the width of the five bars and four spaces and the width of each bar and space representing the data "1" is twice that of each bar and space representing the data "0".

From the rule described above, if the bar code is scanned at a predetermined speed, the time t.sub.0 /12 is the time necessary for scanning the width of "0" and the time t.sub.0 /6 is the time necessary for scanning the width of the "1". Accordingly, the time reference for discriminating between "0" and "1" is set to T=1.5.times.(t.sub.0 /12) and judgement is made that the data is "1" when each time t.sub.1 through t.sub.9 is greater than the reference time T and is "0" when it is smaller than T. Accordingly, the 9 bits data can be decoded by measuring each of the times t.sub.0, t.sub.1 through t.sub.9 by a counter and comparing the counted values of t.sub.1 through t.sub.9 with the T value obtained by counting t.sub.9.

The above explains the principle of decoding the bar code decoder.

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram having one embodiment of the present invention. Reference numeral 1 represents a sheet of paper on which are printed a pattern bar codes representing selected information in the form of figures, alphabets and the like and characters corresponding to the bar codes.

Reference numeral 2 represents a light source such as a light emitting diode, for example, and reference numeral 3 represents a light receiving element such as a photo transistor. The elements 2 and 3 from an optical sensor in cooperation with an optical lens system 4 for improving the optical resolution. When the sensor scans the bar codes printed on the paper 1 at a predetermined speed, the light emitted from the light source 2 passes through the optical lens system 4 and is reflected, by the paper 1, passes through the optical lens system 4 again and is detected by the light receiving portion 3 as time sequenced light signals representing the light quantity and as time signals, as shown in FIG. 4(b). The detected signals are amplified by an amplifier 5 and applied to a digitizer 6, where the signals are compared at an appropriate threshold level and converted into corresponding digital signals which form a coded data signal in the form of a serial digital signal. In this manner, the optical sensor 2,3, the amplifier 5 and the digitizer 6 constitute read-in means for reading in bar code data representative of selected information from the pattern of bar codes.

The serial digital signal thus digitalized is applied as a coded data signal to a bar code decoder 7 and its time interval is counted by a clock signal of approximately 8 KHz supplied from a time counting circuit 8. The serial digital signal is then decoded or converted to a decoded data signal in the form of a parallel 9-bit data signal. The decoding circuit for code 39 is known in the art. The decoded 9-bit signal is applied to a buffer memory 9 and is temporarily stored in the memory.

A signal selector circuit 12 produces the data of the buffer memory when the bar code is read and produces the output data of the memory 10 when the stored data is read out. A second signal selector circuit 14 produces the time of the time counting circuit 8 in the time display mode and produces the output data of a display decoder 13 at other times.

When the bar code is read, the content of the buffer memory is converted to a data system suitable for display by the display decoder 13 through the signal selector circuit 12, then passes through the signal selector circuit 14 and is displayed at a display portion 16 through a display driver 15.

When scanning of the bar code is completed, the data that is temporarily stored in the buffer memory 9 is displayed at the display portion 16. When the content is displayed such as the display of FIG. 3(b), for example, the display content can be stored as a memorandum in the timepiece by pushing the A switch shown in FIG. 3 after the display content is confirmed.

A memory control circuit 11 produces a timing signal for storing the data of the buffer memory 9 in the memory 10 at the time of reading of the bar code by pushing the switch A and produces a reset signal to the buffer memory 9 for clearing the content of the buffer memory 9. The memory control circuit 11 also produces a signal for changing over the read/write state of the memory by the other switch operation shown in FIG. 3(b), and an address change-over switch for storing the content of the buffer memory 9 in several channels, to the memory 10. In other words, when the switch A is pushed, the line of characters that are applied by bar code scanning are stored in the memory inside the timepiece, so that the address selection signal designates the next address and the buffer memory can receive the next line of characters.

The foregoing illustrates the data input system into the electronic timepiece by reading the bar code, but reading of the stored data can additionally be made through the switch operation of the timepiece in the same way as in the prior art. When the timepiece is brought into the read mode by the switch operation, the memory control circuit 11 brings the memory 10 into the read state and designates the leading address of the memory. The output of the memory 10 passes through the signal selector circuit 12, is decoded into display signals in a system suitable for display by the display decoder 13, then passes through the signal selector 14 and is displayed at the display portion 16 by the driver 15. The time counting circuit 8 has the ordinary time counting function and when the timepiece is in the time display mode, it displays the time at the display portion 16 through the signal selector circuit 14 and through the driver 15. By such a construction, the signal selector circuit 12, the display decoder 13, the signal selector circuit 14 and the display driver 15 comprises read-out means for reading out the decoded data signals from the memory means 9, 10 and 11.

As described in the foregoing, the data input technique into the electronic timepiece in accordance with the present invention reads the printed bar codes and can simply apply all the data into the timepiece irrespective of the kinds of input characters and irrespective of the forms or shapes of the characters, character lines, sentences, and the like. Hence, the method of the present invention provides an extremely beneficial advantage that it has high maneuverability and freedom of operation.

If the light source is disposed outside the timepiece and the light passing through the bar code is received by the light receiving portion 3, the power consumption can be advantageously reduced.