CN104063036A - Control method and system for scanning guns - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for controlling multiple scanning guns managed by a host, the method comprising: using Extensible Markup Language or string encoding to generate a scanning data packet, the scanning data packet including any one of the multiple scanning guns The scanned data and the number enabling the host to identify the scanning gun, and the scanning data packet is transmitted to a host that manages the plurality of scanning guns through a universal serial bus USB. The control method obtains the serial number of the scanning gun while acquiring the scanning data, so that one computer host can manage multiple scanning guns. Can reduce the cost of using the scanner gun. At the same time, the scanner is no longer a simple analog keyboard input device. Two-way communication can be performed between the scanner and the host, and some advanced functions or applications that cannot be realized in the one-way communication of the prior art can be realized. In addition, wired scanners and upgraded wireless scanners can be networked, and the scanners can communicate with each other.

Description

Scanning gun control method and system

technical field

The invention relates to the field of scanning guns, in particular to the data collection and communication technology of multiple scanning guns.

Background technique

As a high-tech product closely integrated with optics, mechanics, electronics, software applications and other technologies, the scanner is the third-generation computer input device after the keyboard and mouse. Since the birth of the scanning gun in the 1980s, it has developed rapidly and been widely used. Barcodes, pictures, photos, etc. can be input into the host computer with the scanning gun, and then the collection, processing, management, use and storage of these information can be realized. or output. Existing scanning guns can be divided into three types. The first type is a wired scanner, which is connected to a host through a USB bus to transmit scanning data to the host. The second is an upgraded wireless scanner, which can transmit data to a host connected to it through wireless communication technologies such as Bluetooth, infrared, and 2.4G. The third type is a handheld (PDA, Personal digital asistant)) scanner, which communicates with one or more hosts and transmits data through WLAN. The price of the third type of handheld scanner is quite high, so in the manufacturing field that needs to use multiple or a large number of scanners, the cheap first type of scanner is often used, and sometimes the second type is also used. However, under normal circumstances, the computer host will only regard these two scanners as simple input devices. When multiple scanners are connected to a host at the same time, the host cannot know the data source of the scan results (that is, the scan data from which scanner). The commonly used solution now is to purchase a large number of hosts and connect a scanner to each host to distinguish data sources, which is expensive.

It can be seen from the above that there are many defects in the existing technology for applying scanning guns. First, the implementation and maintenance costs are high. In the actual application scenario of the scanner, the scanner is used as a terminal, and the information obtained by scanning needs to be transmitted to the data server through the network to realize the corresponding information management requirements (including data collection and processing functions). However, except for the third type of PDA barcode scanner that can directly access the network containing the data server through the wireless network card, the other two types of scanners need to be connected to the computer host that has been connected to the network before the information can be transmitted to the data server. In the prior art, each of the first type and the second type of scanning gun needs to be connected to a host computer. On the other hand, PDA scanners that can be connected to the network through WLAN are more expensive. This causes the user to pay a lot of cost to purchase and maintain the host computer when using a non-PDA scanner. Secondly, in the prior art, the communication between the scanning gun and the host is one-way, and the feedback is simple. The host will only regard the first and second types of scanning guns as a simple input device. When the scanning gun acquires data and transmits it to the computer host, the host cannot know the data source of the scanning results, and there is no feedback or only a simple "success /failed" feedback.

Contents of the invention

In order to solve the above problems, the embodiment of the present invention proposes a control method for multiple scanning guns communicating with one host, a control method for the above host and a control device for multiple scanning guns managed by one host. The method and device can reduce the cost of implementing scanning gun technology. In addition, it can also meet the needs of modern production and life (such as material tracking, logistics management of warehousing, etc.) for two-way communication between the scanner and the host.

An embodiment of the present invention discloses a method for controlling multiple scanning guns managed by a host, the method includes: using Extensible Markup Language (XML) or string encoding to generate a scanning data packet, the scanning data packet includes The data scanned by any one of the multiple scanning guns and the serial number that enables the host to identify the scanning gun, and transmit the scanning data packet to the management of the multiple scanning guns through the Universal Serial Bus USB a host.

Preferably, the above method further includes: obtaining the hardware (MAC) address, IP address or device number of the scanning gun as the number included in the scanning data packet for the host to identify the scanning gun.

Preferably, the above method further includes: receiving and analyzing the feedback information generated by using Extensible Markup Language (XML) or character string encoding sent to the scanning gun by the one host computer after analyzing the scanning data packet.

Preferably, the above method further includes: using Extensible Markup Language (XML) or string encoding to generate a first communication data packet, the first communication data packet includes a scanning gun accessing another target among the plurality of scanning guns The access request of the scanning gun and the number enabling the host to identify the target scanning gun, and the first communication data packet is transmitted to the host through a universal serial bus (USB).

Preferably, after the host parses the first communication data packet, it uses Extensible Markup Language (XML) or string encoding to generate the second The communication data packet, and analyzing the second communication data packet, and judging whether the machine is a target scanning gun according to the number of the pre-visited target scanning gun in the second communication data packet, and if so, displaying corresponding feedback information to the user .

Wherein the plurality of scanning guns are connected to the hub HUB through the universal serial bus USB interface, and the data packets are transmitted to the hub USB HUB connected to the host through the universal serial bus USB. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , the USB HUB is connected to the host through a universal serial bus USB540.

Another embodiment of the present invention also discloses a control method for a host used to manage multiple scanning guns, the method includes: receiving the multiple scanning guns through a universal serial bus USB connected to the multiple scanning guns A data packet that transmits any one of the scanning guns to the one host, the data packet is generated using Extensible Markup Language (XML) or string encoding, and includes any of the multiple scanning guns A piece of scanned data and a serial number enabling the host to identify the scanning gun, and the host parses the data packet, so as to obtain the data scanned by the scanning gun and the serial number of the scanning gun.

Preferably, the above method further includes: after parsing the data packet, use Extensible Markup Language (XML) or string encoding to generate feedback information and send the feedback signal to the scanner through the Universal Serial Bus (USB) connected to the plurality of scanning guns gun.

Wherein, the data packet transmitted by any one of the plurality of scanning guns to the host also includes a first communication data packet, which includes the access of any scanning gun to the plurality of scanning guns. An access request from another target scanning gun in the gun. After receiving the data packet transmitted by the scanning gun, the host first judges whether the data packet is the first communication data packet containing the communication request or the scanning data packet containing the scanning data. If determined For the first communication data packet containing the communication request, the host uses Extensible Markup Language (XML) or string encoding to generate a second communication data packet according to the number of the pre-visited target scanning gun contained in the communication data packet, and Send the second communication data packet to the scanning gun through the USB.

Another embodiment of the present invention also discloses a control device for multiple scanning guns managed by a host, the device includes: a data packet generation module, which is used to use Extensible Markup Language (XML) or string encoding Generate a scanning data packet, which includes the data scanned by any one of the multiple scanning guns and the serial number that enables the host to identify the scanning gun, and a sending module that transmits the scanned data through the Universal Serial Bus (USB) The scanning data packet is sent to a host that manages the multiple scanning guns.

Preferably, the above device further includes a scanning gun serial number obtaining module, which obtains a MAC address, IP address or device serial number of a scanning gun as the serial number included in the data packet for the host to identify the scanning gun.

Preferably, the above-mentioned device further includes a feedback module, which is configured to: receive and analyze the feedback information generated by using Extensible Markup Language (XML) or string encoding sent by the host to the scanning gun after parsing the received data packet, and send the feedback information to the user Display the corresponding feedback information.

Preferably, the data packet generation module is also used to generate a first communication data packet using Extensible Markup Language (XML) or string encoding, and the first communication data packet includes a scanning gun accessing the multiple scanning guns Another access request of the target scanning gun and the number enabling the host to identify the target scanning gun, and the sending module is also used to transmit the first communication data packet to the host through a universal serial bus USB .

Compared with the prior art, the embodiment of the present invention obtains the device number of the scanning gun while obtaining the scanning data or access request data, so that one computer host can be connected to multiple scanning guns. Thus, the cost of using the scanning gun can be reduced. Moreover, two-way communication can be carried out between the scanning gun and the host computer, and then some advanced functions or applications that cannot be realized in the prior art one-way communication can be realized. In addition, the embodiment of the present invention can also realize the networking of wired scanning guns and upgraded wireless scanning guns, and communicate with each other among these scanning guns.

Description of drawings

The following drawings are only intended to illustrate and explain the present invention schematically, and do not limit the scope of the present invention. in,

Figure 1 shows a schematic structural diagram of a system including multiple scanning guns and a host that manages these scanning guns;

FIG. 2 shows a structural schematic diagram of another system including multiple scanning guns and a host computer that manages these scanning guns;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a control method for the above-mentioned system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 4 shows a control device for the system described above.

Detailed ways

In order to have a clearer understanding of the technical features, purposes and effects of the present invention, specific embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In order to facilitate understanding of the control method in the embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 show a schematic diagram of a system suitable for the control method disclosed in the embodiment of the present invention. The embodiment of the present invention is applicable to the above-mentioned first type of wired scanning gun and the second type of upgraded wireless scanning gun. The system in FIG. 1 mainly includes two wired scanning guns 100 and a host computer 1000 connected to the two scanning guns through a USB port. The two wired scanners 1000 here are only illustrative, and one host 1000 can manage multiple wired scanners 100 or multiple upgraded wireless scanners 200 . Data can be transmitted between each scanning gun and the host through USB lines. For example, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, the host 1000 can use one USB line 510A to receive data from the scanning gun, and another USB line 510B can be used to send data from the host. 1000 The data sent to the scanner (including the management instructions of the host to the scanner, the data processed by the host, etc.). The USB line can transmit data packets between a hub (HUB) 500 and the host 1000 . At the same time, a host 1000 can also manage both the wired scanner 100 and the upgraded wireless scanner 200 as shown in FIG. 2 . The host 1000 transmits data packets with the wireless scanner 200 through a wireless communication module, such as Bluetooth, infrared, and 2.4G wireless communication technologies. The wireless scanner 200 shown in FIG. 1 communicates with the host in Bluetooth mode, which may include a base 250 of the wireless scanner 200 for providing Bluetooth connection and power supply functions.

The scanning gun 100 , 200 includes a data sending/receiving module 120 , 220 (that is, a so-called data processing module), which includes a data encapsulation unit 121 , 221 and a data analysis unit 122 , 222 . The data encapsulation unit 121, 221 encapsulates the data packet according to the encapsulation protocol of the data packet (ie, XML or string encoding). After the data encapsulation is completed, the data packet is sent to the host computer 1000 through the universal serial bus USB connected to the host computer 1000 . In this way, one host 1000 can receive and manage (including identification, collection, and processing) data from multiple scanning guns.

The control method of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. 3 . When starting to work, the scanning gun 100 , 200 scans the information on the target 10 (such as bar code, two-dimensional code, RFID chip, etc.) through its scanning engine 140 , 240 . This information can be the data scanned by the scanner, such as product information posted on the goods or order information in the factory. At the same time, the above information may also be an access request for one scanning gun (ie, the source scanning gun) to access another scanning gun (ie, the target scanning gun). For example, in some cases, a scanning gun needs to notify another scanning gun of work tasks, or a scanning gun needs another scanning gun to provide work support. In these cases one scanner (ie source scanner) needs to access another scanner (ie target scanner).

Afterwards, the scan engines 140 and 240 parse the acquired scan data. If the scan engines cannot parse the scan data, the host 1000 directly generates a feedback message and sends it to the scan gun. Here, the host 1000 can directly send the feedback message to the scanning gun according to the ID of the source scanning gun that acquires the scanned data, but preferably the host 1000 sends the feedback message to all the scanning guns managed by it, and the data analysis unit of each scanning gun 122, 222 After receiving the feedback message, analyze the feedback message and judge whether the machine is a scanning gun that should accept the feedback message, if so, send feedback to the user by activating the LED light or buzzer 101, 201 of the scanning gun . If it is judged that the machine is not a scanning gun that should receive the feedback message, the scanning gun will not take action. Compared with the method of directly sending the feedback message to the source scanner, this method does not depend on any communication protocol and can be sent directly.

In the control method of the present invention, the embedded software of the scanning gun is used to obtain the serial number enabling the host to identify each scanning gun. The number (namely ID) of the scanner, for example, can be the hardware MAC address, IP address or device number of each scanner. Motorola, for example, ships with a development kit (SDK) for all of its scanners, and the SDK sends a file generated using Extensible Markup Language (XML) after an employee scans information with either of these scanners. The XML file is as follows:

The ID of the scanning gun of the scanning data can be easily obtained from the XML file by using the embedded software. When there is no similar development kit in the scanner, you can pre-generate or store its MAC address, IP address device number or other numbers that can uniquely identify the device in each scanner, and enable the embedded software to read these Number to achieve the ID of each scanner. The embedded software can be embedded in the data receiving unit 121 , 221 . Certainly, the above-mentioned embedded software can be used to determine whether the ID of the scanning gun has been successfully obtained, and if not, a feedback message similar to the above can be sent to the user of the scanning gun.

Figure 3 shows the flow of two working modes of the scanning gun. Embedded software can encapsulate the scan data of a scanner and the ID of the scanner into a scan data package in the form of Extensible Markup Language (XML) or string encoding, or a scanner (source scanner) Access to the access request data of another scanner (target scanner) (actually, the access request data is also the scan data obtained by scanning the graphic code of the scanner, but because the processing method of the scan data containing the access request is different from the collected scan data, so the use of "access request data" here specifically refers to the scan data containing the access request) and the ID of the target scanning gun are encapsulated into the first communication data packet. The above functions of encapsulating and analyzing data can be realized by programming the data processing module (equivalent to the data sending/receiving module 120 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 ) in the existing scanning gun.

After receiving the data packet sent by the scanning gun 100, 200, the host computer 1000 parses the data packet first. If the parsing is successful, the host 1000 first judges whether the data packet is a first communication data packet containing a communication request or a scanning data packet containing scanning data according to the data format of the extensible markup language or string encoding. If it is determined to be a scanned data packet, the host 1000 will process the data in the data packet or upload it to the server 2000, and the server 2000 will store or process the data. Afterwards, the host 1000 generates a feedback message in the form of XML or string encoding. Afterwards, the host 1000 sends the feedback message to the data analyzing units 122 and 222 of the scanning gun through the USB interface of the universal serial bus. Here, the host 1000 may directly send a feedback message to the source scanning gun according to the ID of the source scanning gun that obtains the scanning data contained in the scanning data packet. After analyzing the feedback message, the data analysis unit 122, 222 of the source scanning gun sends a feedback message to the user by activating the LED light or the buzzer 101 on it. The host 1000 can also send a feedback message containing the ID of the source scanning gun that obtained the above-mentioned scanning data to all the scanning guns it manages. After analyzing the feedback message, the data analysis units 122 and 222 of each scanning gun first analyze the feedback message according to the scanning information in the feedback message. The gun ID judges whether the machine is a scanning gun that should receive the feedback message, and if so, activates the LED lights or buzzers 101, 201 on the scanning gun to send feedback to the user.

If the host determines that the data packet is the first communication data packet containing a communication request, the host generates second communication data using Extensible Markup Language (XML) or string encoding based on the ID of the target scanner obtained by parsing the first communication data packet Bag. Here, the second communication data packet and the first communication data packet may contain the same communication message. In practice, it is often necessary for the host computer 1000 to add some information (such as management and control information to the target scanner) on the basis of the data packets sent by the source scanner. Based on the scanning gun, a new second communication data packet is generated, and then the host 1000 sends the second communication data packet to the scanning gun through the USB. The host 1000 can directly send the second communication data packet to the target scanning gun according to the ID of the target scanning gun, but preferably the host 1000 sends the second communication data packet to all the scanning guns managed by it through the universal serial bus USB, each The data analysis unit 122, 222 of the scanning gun receives and analyzes the second communication data packet and then judges whether the data packet is sent to the machine, and if so, makes the LED light or the buzzer 101, 201 of the target scanning gun Actions that send prompts or feedback to their users. At the same time, the host uses Extensible Markup Language (XML) or string encoding to generate feedback information to the source scanner. Similar to the above method, the host 1000 can directly send the feedback message to the target scanning gun according to the ID of the source scanning gun, but preferably the host 1000 sends the feedback message to all the scanning guns managed by it, and the data analysis unit of each scanning gun After receiving and analyzing the feedback message, 122 and 222 judge whether the machine is the source scanner that should accept the feedback message, and if so, activate the LED light or buzzer 101, 201 of the source scanner to send feedback to the user. If it is judged that the machine is not a scanning gun that should receive the feedback message, the scanning gun will not take action.

It should be noted that the ID of the scanning gun that can be identified by the host 1000 used here is any number that a host 1000 can identify any scanning gun 100 managed by it, and is not limited to the MAC address, IP address or ID of the scanning gun. The device number of the scanner manufacturer. In addition, although the present invention is applicable to the above-mentioned first wired scanner and the second upgraded wireless scanner, if it is actually necessary to use the first wired scanner and the third handheld scanner at the same time, or the third Two upgraded wireless scanners and a third scanner, or all three are also acceptable. The handheld scanner can directly communicate with the host computer and transfer data through WLAN.

Fig. 4 shows a control device using the above control method, the device includes: a data packet generating module, which is used to generate a scan data packet using Extensible Markup Language or character string encoding, and the scan data packet includes the multiple The data scanned by any one of the scanning guns and the serial number that enables the host to identify the scanning gun, and the sending module, which transmits the scanning data packet to the management of the multiple scanning guns through the Universal Serial Bus USB a host.

Preferably, the above device further includes a scanning gun serial number obtaining module, which obtains a MAC address, IP address or device serial number of a scanning gun as the serial number included in the data packet for the host to identify the scanning gun.

Preferably, the above-mentioned device further includes a feedback module, which is configured to: receive and analyze the feedback information generated by the host using Extensible Markup Language or string encoding and send to the scanning gun after analyzing the received data packets, and display the corresponding feedback information to the user. Feedback.

Preferably, the data packet generating module is also used to generate a first communication data packet by using Extensible Markup Language or string encoding, and the first communication data packet includes a scanning gun accessing another one of the plurality of scanning guns The access request of the target scanning gun and the number enabling the host to identify the target scanning gun, and the sending module is further configured to transmit the first communication data packet to the host through a universal serial bus (USB).

It can be seen from the above that the above-mentioned control method and system of the embodiment of the present invention obtains the serial number of the scanning gun while obtaining the scanning data or the access request data, so that a host computer can be connected to multiple scanning guns. It can reduce the cost of using the scanning gun. At the same time, the scanner is no longer a simple analog keyboard input device. Two-way communication can be performed between the scanner and the host, and some advanced functions or applications that cannot be realized in the one-way communication of the prior art can be realized. In addition, wired scanners and upgraded wireless scanners can be networked, and the scanners can communicate with each other.

It should be understood that although this description is described according to various embodiments, not each embodiment only includes an independent technical solution, and this description of the description is only for clarity, and those skilled in the art should take the description as a whole , the technical solutions in the various embodiments can also be properly combined to form other implementations that can be understood by those skilled in the art.

Claims (13)

1. A method for controlling multiple scanning guns managed by a host, the method comprising: Using Extensible Markup Language XML or string encoding to generate a scanning data packet, the scanning data packet includes data scanned by any one of the plurality of scanning guns and a serial number enabling the host to identify the scanning gun, and The scanning data packet is transmitted to a host computer that manages the plurality of scanning guns through the universal serial bus USB. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: obtaining the hardware MAC address, IP address or device number of the scanning gun, so as to identify the scanning gun as the host computer included in the scanning data packet serial number. 3. The method according to claim 3, wherein the method further comprises: Receiving and parsing the feedback information generated by using Extensible Markup Language (XML) or string encoding sent to the scanning gun after the one host parses the scanning data packet. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: using Extensible Markup Language XML or string encoding to generate a first communication data packet, the first communication data packet includes a scanning gun to access the multiple The access request of another target scanning gun in the scanning gun and the number enabling the host to identify the target scanning gun, and transmitting the first communication data packet to the host through a universal serial bus (USB). 5. The method according to claim 4, after receiving the host and analyzing the first communication data packet, use Extensible Markup Language XML or character string encoding to scan according to the pre-visited target contained in the first communication data packet the number of the gun generated in the second communication packet, and Analyzing the second communication data packet, and judging whether the machine is the target scanning gun according to the number of the pre-visited target scanning gun in the second communication data packet, and if so, displaying corresponding feedback information to the user. 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of scanning guns are connected with the hub HUB through the Universal Serial Bus USB interface, and the data packets are transmitted to the host computer through the Universal Serial Bus USB. of the hub USB HUB. 7. A control method for a host used to manage multiple scanning guns, the method comprising: The data packets sent by any one of the multiple scanning guns to the host are received through the Universal Serial Bus USB connected to the multiple scanning guns, and the data packets use Extensible Markup Language XML or Generated by character string encoding, which includes data scanned by any one of the plurality of scanning guns and a serial number enabling the host to identify the scanning gun, and The host parses the data packet, so as to obtain the data scanned by the scanning gun and the serial number of the scanning gun. 8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the method further comprises: after parsing the data packet, use Extensible Markup Language XML or string encoding to generate feedback information and pass through the universal serial port connected with the plurality of scanning guns The bus USB sends the feedback signal to the scanner. 9. The method according to claim 7, wherein the data packet transmitted by any one of the plurality of scanning guns to the host further includes a first communication data packet, and the first communication data packet includes any When a scanning gun accesses an access request from another target scanning gun among the plurality of scanning guns, after receiving the data packet transmitted by the scanning gun, the host first judges whether the data packet is the first communication data packet containing a communication request or scan packets containing scan data, If it is determined to be the first communication data packet containing the communication request, the host uses Extensible Markup Language XML or string encoding to generate a second communication data packet according to the number of the pre-visited target scanning gun contained in the communication data packet, and Send the second communication data packet to the scanning gun through the USB. 10. A control device for multiple scanning guns managed by a host, the device comprising: A data packet generation module, which is used to generate a scan data packet using Extensible Markup Language XML or string encoding, the scan data packet includes the data scanned by any one of the multiple scanning guns and enables the host to identify the The serial number of the scanner, The sending module transmits the scanning data packet to a host that manages the plurality of scanning guns through a universal serial bus (USB). 11. The device according to claim 10, wherein the device further comprises a scanning gun number obtaining module, which obtains a MAC address, an IP address or a device number of a scanning gun as the host number included in the data packet Identify the serial number of the scanner. 12. The device according to claim 10, wherein the device further comprises a feedback module, which is used for: receiving and analyzing the data packet sent by the host to the scanning gun after parsing the received data packet using Extensible Markup Language XML or string encoding Generated feedback information, and display the corresponding feedback information to the user. 13. The device according to claim 10, wherein the data packet generation module is also used to generate a first communication data packet using Extensible Markup Language XML or string encoding, the first communication data packet includes a scanning gun an access request for accessing another target scanning gun among the plurality of scanning guns and a serial number enabling the host to identify the target scanning gun, and The sending module is further configured to transmit the first communication data packet to the host through a universal serial bus (USB).