IMMOVABLE PRICE CHECKER WITH AN ANGLE-ADJUSTABLE SCANNER
An immovable price checker with an angle-adjustable scanner is installed on a wall for scanning barcodes of an article and includes a base, a scanner, a processor, a display and a pivoting means. The base is fixed to the wall. The scanner is connected to the base for scanning the barcodes of the article. The processor is electrically connected to the scanner. The display is fixed to the base and electrically connected to the processor. The display is configured to display data processed by the processor. The pivoting means is connected between the base and the scanner. The scanner is rotatable with respect to the base by using the pivoting means as a center of rotation to thereby adjust the angle of the scanner. Thus, the convenience and practicability of the present invention are improved greatly.
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This application is a continuous application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/046,820, filed on Mar. 14, 2011, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a price checker, in particular to an immovable price checker with an angle-adjustable scanner.
2. Description of Prior Art
With the advancement of science and technology, barcodes are widely used in various articles. The barcodes provided on the article have important information (such as: price) of the article. Thus, in order to scan the barcodes on the article to check its price, various scanners are proposed. The scanner is combined with an external or built-in display to form a so-called price checker, whereby the price of the article can be displayed conveniently for customers.
The price checkers are classified into two categories including a movable price checker and an immovable price checker. The movable price checker is one which an operator can hold it by a hand and carry it to approach the article to scan the barcodes on the article. Such a movable price checker is often used on a cash counter in a convenience store. With an external display (such as a screen of a cash register) being electrically connected to the movable price checker, the information in the barcodes scanned by the scanner can be displayed on the display immediately.
Unlike the movable price checker, the immovable price checker is often fixed to a predetermined position (for example, fixed on a wall with approximately one meter from the ground). The immovable price checker is often used in a large-size supermarket. A customer has to move the desired article to the underside of the immovable price checker and then to rotate the article until the barcodes on the article are accurately scanned by a scanner provided in the immovable price checker. In this way, the information in the barcodes can be displayed on a screen built in the immovable price checker.
However, the customer may sometimes require strenuous effect to move a bulk and heavy article (such as a bag of rice) to the underside of the immovable price checker, and then rotate the article to make the barcodes on the article to be scanned by the scanner. Thus, the customer has to perform the above-mentioned steps in order to check the price of the article, which is so inconvenient and laborious for the customer.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,062,477 discloses a retail terminal 10 connected to a pivoting base assembly 18 with a tilt mechanism 56 and a stationary base 58 so that the retail terminal 10 is rotatable with respect to the stationary base 58 through the tilt mechanism 56. A scanner unit 80 can be connected to the retail terminal 10 through one connector 32 of the retail terminal 10 through a cable 102. The retail terminal 10 can be connected to a fixed-angle base assembly 246 in lieu of the pivoting base assembly 18 and the scanner unit 80 is installed to a housing 272 of the fixed-angle base assembly 246. However, the scanner unit 80 still cannot be rotated for scanning the barcodes on the article.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,478,998 discloses a tilting wall-mounted optical scanner 10 including a molded-plastic base member 12 installed on a vertical wall 13, and an optical scanning unit 14 connected to the base member 12 by means of pivot structure 16. However, the optical scanning unit 14 is not installed to any device.
Therefore, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present Inventor proposes a novel and reasonable structure based on his research and experiments.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention is to provide an immovable price checker with an angle-adjustable scanner. A user can adjust the angle of the scanner to accurately scan the barcodes on an article, thereby increasing the convenience and practicability of the present invention.
The present invention provides an immovable price checker with an angle-adjustable scanner, installed on a wall for scanning barcodes of an article and including:
-
- a base fixed to the wall;
- a scanner connected to the base for scanning the barcodes of the article;
- a processor electrically connected to the scanner;
- a display fixed to the base and electrically connected to the processor, the display being configured to display data processed by the processor; and
- a pivoting means connected between the base and the scanner;
- wherein the scanner is rotatable with respect to the base by using the pivoting means as a center of rotation to thereby adjust the angle of the scanner.
In comparison with prior art, the present invention has advantageous effects as follows.
Since the scanner is pivotally connected to the base and rotatable with respect to the base by using the pivoting means as a center of rotation, the user can adjust the angle of the scanner with respect to the base, so that the scanner can scan the barcodes on the article easily. Thus, it is unnecessary for the user to laboriously rotate the article to make the barcodes to be scanned by the scanner of a conventional immovable price checker. Therefore, the convenience and practicability of the present invention are improved greatly.
The detailed description and technical contents of the present invention will become apparent with the following detailed description accompanied with related drawings. It is noteworthy to point out that the drawings is provided for the illustration purpose only, but not intended for limiting the scope of the present invention.
Please refer to
The base 10 is substantially formed into a rectangular shape and fixed on the wall. As shown in
In the embodiment shown in
The processor 30 is provided in the base 10 and electrically connected to the scanner 20. The scanner 30 comprises a circuit board 31 and an input/output end 32 (
The display 40 is fixed to an upper portion of the base 10 and electrically connected to the processor 30 for displaying the data (such as the price of the article) processed by the processor 30. The display 40 comprises a screen 41 and a circuit board 42 electrically connected to the screen 41 and the processor 30. The user only needs to look at the data displayed on the screen 41 so as to know the price of the article.
The pivoting means 50 is connected between the base 10 and the scanner 20. In the embodiment shown in
According to the present invention, the angle of the scanner 20 can be adjusted in a stageless or multiple-stage manner.
Please refer to
Although the present invention has been described with reference to the above embodiments, the present invention is not limited thereto. The scanner 20 and the display 40 may not be necessarily provided in a vertical direction of the base 10. Alternatively, the scanner 20 and the display 40 may be provided in a horizontal direction of the base 10 as long as the scanner 20 can rotate with respect to the base 10. The shapes and dimensions of the base 10, the scanner 20 and the display 40 can be modified according to practical demands. In the previous embodiments of the present invention, although one side of the scanner 20 is connected to the pivot shaft 52, both sides of the scanner 20 may be provided with a pivot shaft 52 respectively to be connected to the base 10. The above modifications and equivalent changes are still embraced in the scope of the present invention.
In comparison with prior art, the present invention has advantageous effects as follows.
Since the scanner 20 is pivotally connected to the base 10 and rotatable with respect to the base 10 by using the pivoting means 50 as a center of rotation, the user can adjust the angle of the scanner 20 with respect to the base 10, so that the scanner 20 can scan the barcodes on the article easily. Thus, it is unnecessary for the user to laboriously rotate the article to make the barcodes to be scanned by the scanner of a conventional immovable price checker. Therefore, the convenience and practicability of the present invention are improved greatly.
Claims
1. An immovable price checker with an angle-adjustable scanner, installed on a wall for scanning barcodes of an article and comprising:
- a base (10) fixed to the wall;
- a scanner (20) connected to the base (10) for scanning the barcodes of the article;
- a processor (30) mounted in the base (10) and electrically connected to the scanner (20);
- a display (40) fixed to the base (10) and electrically connected to the processor (30), the display (40) having a screen (41) above the scanner (20), the screen (41) forming an included angle with respect to the wall, the screen (41) being immovable and kept in a visible angle to display data processed by the processor (30); and
- a pivoting means (50) connected between the base (10) and the scanner (20), the pivoting means (50) comprises a first engagement unit (51) provided in the base (10) and a second engagement unit (52) connected to one side surface of the scanner (20) to engage with the first engagement unit (51),
- wherein an engagement between the first engagement unit and the second engagement unit is in an interference fit so that the scanner (20) is rotatable with respect to the base (30) through the pivoting means (50) to thereby adjust an angle of the scanner (20) by means of a friction force between the first engagement unit and the second engagement unit in a stageless manner.
2. The immovable price checker with an angle-adjustable scanner according to claim 1, wherein a bottom surface of the base (10) is provided with a plurality of fixing holes (11) for fixation to the wall, and a portion of a surface of the base (10) adjacent to the scanner (20) is provided with a plurality of heat-dissipating holes (12).
3. The immovable price checker with an angle-adjustable scanner according to claim 2, wherein the processor (30) comprises a circuit board (31) and an I/O end (32) provided on the circuit board (31).
4. The immovable price checker with an angle-adjustable scanner according to claim 3, wherein the I/O end (32) comprises at least one connecting port (321) and a power input port (322), and the connecting port (322) is selected from any one of the group constituted of USB, RJ-45 and VGA.
5. The immovable price checker with an angle-adjustable scanner according to claim 4, wherein the display (40) further comprises a circuit board (42) electrically connected to the screen (41).
6. The immovable price checker with an angle-adjustable scanner according to claim 5, wherein a bottom surface of the base (10) has an accommodating trough (13), and the I/O end (32) is mounted in the base (10) with the connecting port (321) being observable in the accommodating trough (13).
7. An immovable price checker installed on a wall for scanning barcodes of an article and comprising:
- a base (10) fixed to the wall;
- a scanner (20) connected to the base (10) for scanning the barcodes of the article;
- a processor (30) mounted in the base (10) and electrically connected to the scanner (20);
- a display (40) fixed to the base (10) and electrically connected to the processor (30), the display (40) having a screen (41) above the scanner (20), the screen (41) forming an included angle with respect to the wall, the screen (41) being immovable and kept in a visible angle to display data processed by the processor (30); and
- a pivoting means (50) connected between the base (10) and the scanner (20), the pivoting means (50) comprises a first engagement unit (51) provided in the base (10) and a second engagement unit (52) connected to one side surface of the scanner (20) to engage with the first engagement unit (51), wherein a periphery of second engagement unit (52) is formed with a positioning flange (521), the positioning flange (521) is provided with a plurality of positioning holes (522), one surface of the scanner (20) adjacent to the positioning flange (521) is provided with a notch (21), the notch is provided therein with a positioning post (22) and a spring (23) for abutting the positioning post (22), and the positioning post (22) is selectively engaged in each of the positioning holes (522),
- thereby the scanner (20) is rotatable with respect to the base (30) through the pivoting means (50) to adjust the angle of the scanner (20) in a multiple-stage manner.
Type: Application
Filed: May 21, 2012
Publication Date: Sep 13, 2012
Applicant:
Inventors: Shu-Ying HUANG (New Taipei City), Nico Van Dalen (New Taipei City)
Application Number: 13/477,043
International Classification: G06K 7/10 (20060101);