WO2015042786A1

WO2015042786A1 - Image recognition device

Info

Publication number: WO2015042786A1
Application number: PCT/CN2013/084132
Authority: WO
Inventors: 许文焕; 易仰卿
Original assignee: 深圳市民德电子科技有限公司
Priority date: 2013-09-24
Filing date: 2013-09-24
Publication date: 2015-04-02

Abstract

The present invention relates to an image recognition device that comprises a lens component with a variable focal length, an image sensor and an image decoding unit connected to the image sensor. Through the lens component with the variable focal length, the present invention implements recognition and reading of collectable images or barcodes within different imaging ranges, and enlarges an image recognition range of the device, thus strengthening a recognition capability of the image recognition device.

Description

Image recognition device

Technical field

The present invention relates to the field of image processing technologies, and in particular, to an image recognition device.

Background technique

Image or barcode recognition devices are used in a wide range of applications. At present, the image source part of the image or barcode recognition device is mainly composed of a lens capable of acquiring an image or a bar code, an image obtained by receiving a lens or a bar code, and an image sensor converted into an electric signal, and decoding an electric signal provided by the image sensor. Complete the read decoding board.

In the related art, an image or a bar code is received by an image sensor to receive an image or a bar code collected by a lens and processed into an electrical signal, and then the obtained information is transmitted to the decoding circuit board. However, the effective imaging range of a lens that can capture images or barcodes has certain limitations. If the image or barcode size that needs to be read exceeds the effective imaging range of the image that can capture images or barcodes, or the image or barcode that needs to be read. When placed at a position far from the focus of the lens, it is difficult to achieve effective recognition or decoding because the obtained image is not complete or clear enough.

Summary of the invention

The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an improved image recognition apparatus.

The technical solution adopted by the present invention to solve the technical problem thereof is to construct an image recognition device, including a lens assembly, an image sensor, and An image decoding unit coupled to the image sensor, the lens assembly being a lens assembly having a variable focal length.

Preferably, the lens assembly includes at least two image capturing lenses of different focal lengths; the respective image capturing lenses share the same image sensor Or each of the image capturing lenses is provided with one of the image sensors; the image recognition device further includes: an image selection module disposed between the image sensor and the image decoding unit, for The sharpest image is selected from the images acquired by the image pickup lens and output to the image decoding unit for decoding processing.

Preferably, the lens assembly includes at least two image capturing lenses of different focal lengths; the respective image capturing lenses share the same image sensor Or each of the image capturing lenses is provided with one of the image sensors; the image recognition device further includes: a distance detecting module, configured to detect a distance between the lens component and the object to be photographed And a lens selection module, configured to select, according to the distance information input by the distance detecting module, the image capturing lens corresponding to the focal length from the lens components.

Preferably, the at least two image taking lenses are arranged in parallel, and each of the image capturing lenses shares the same image sensor The lens selection module includes an interconnected control driving unit and a switching unit, and the control driving unit controls the switching unit according to the distance information input by the distance detecting module, and the switching unit The one of the image taking lenses corresponding to the focal length is selected from the at least two image taking lenses and moved to a position to cooperate with the image sensor.

Preferably, the switching unit includes a guide rail disposed at an angle to an image capturing direction of the image taking lens, And a switch seat slidably disposed on the rail, the at least two image taking lenses being mounted on the switch seat; The guide direction of the guide rail is perpendicular to the image capturing direction of the image taking lens, and the guide rail includes two upper and lower parallel rows, and the opposite surfaces of the two guide rails are respectively provided with guide grooves, and the upper and lower sides of the switch seat The side is respectively provided with a boss that is slidably engaged with the guide groove.

Preferably, the lens assembly is a single image capturing lens with adjustable focal length; the image recognition device further includes:

a distance detecting module, configured to detect a distance between the lens component and a target;

And a focus adjustment device, configured to adjust the image capturing lens to an optimal focal length according to the distance information input by the distance detecting module.

Preferably, the image capturing lens includes a first lens and a second lens disposed in parallel, the first lens is adjacent to a side of the object to be photographed, and the second lens is adjacent to a side of the image sensor; The focus adjustment device includes a power drive that drives the first lens to move away from or near the second lens.

Preferably, the image capturing lens includes a first lens and a second lens disposed in parallel, the first lens is adjacent to a side of the object to be photographed, and the second lens is adjacent to a side of the image sensor; The focal length adjusting device includes a pressure driving device that adjusts a curvature of the first lens based on the distance identification information.

Preferably, the first lens comprises an elastic cavity, the cavity is filled with liquid, the pressure driving device is a hydraulic driving device, and the first lens cavity is in communication with the hydraulic driving device, The hydraulic drive device injects or withdraws liquid into the cavity based on the distance identification information.

Preferably, the distance detecting module is a laser ranging device or an infrared ranging device.

The image recognition apparatus embodying the present invention has the following advantageous effects: the present invention can be realized by a lens unit having a variable focal length The recognition and reading of the collectible images or barcodes in different imaging ranges, so that the image recognition range of the device is increased, thereby enhancing the recognition ability of the device for images or barcodes.

DRAWINGS

The present invention will be further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments, in which:

1 is a schematic structural view of an image recognition apparatus in a first embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a schematic structural diagram of an image recognition apparatus in a second embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 3 is a block diagram showing the structure of an image recognition apparatus in a third embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a schematic view showing the image capturing range of the first lens at the position C in the third embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 5 is a schematic view showing the image capturing range of the first lens at the position D in the third embodiment of the present invention;

6 is a schematic view showing the image capturing range of the first lens in the state E in the third embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 7 is a view showing the image capturing range of the first lens in the state F in the third embodiment of the present invention.

detailed description

For a better understanding of the technical features, objects and effects of the present invention, the embodiments of the present invention are described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the image recognition apparatus in the first embodiment of the present invention includes a base 10, a lens assembly 20 disposed on the base 10, an image sensor 30, and an image decoding unit 40 connected to the image sensor 30. Said An image selection module (not shown) between the image sensor 30 and the image decoding unit 40.

The lens assembly is a lens assembly having a variable focal length, and includes a first image capturing lens 21 and a second image capturing lens 22 having different focal lengths. The image capturing range of the first image taking lens 21 is A, and the image capturing range of the second image capturing lens 22 is B. . That is, the focal length of the first image taking lens 21 enables the subject 50 in the image capturing range A to be clearly imaged on the image sensor 30, and the focal length of the second image capturing lens 22 is such that the subject 50 in the image capturing range B It is possible to clearly image on the image sensor 30. In this embodiment, the boundary between the image capturing range A and the image capturing range B is adjacent or partially overlapped, and a blind spot for taking an image between the image capturing range A and the image capturing range B is prevented.

The lens assembly 20 is disposed in front of the image sensor 30 for capturing an image of a subject 50 such as an image or a barcode placed in front of the lens assembly 20. . Preferably, the first image capturing lens 21 and the second image capturing lens 22 share the same image sensor 30, and the image sensor 30 receives the first image capturing lens 21, The image taken by the second image capturing lens 22 or the light signal of the object 50 such as a bar code is converted into an electric signal, and the image sensor 30 transmits the processed signal to the image selecting module. It is to be understood that, in other embodiments, an image sensor 30 may be disposed in each of the first image capturing lens 21 and the second image capturing lens 22 to receive the first image capturing lens 21 and the second image capturing lens 22 respectively. The optical signals of the target 50 such as images or barcodes are processed and transmitted to the image selection module.

The image selection module may be a processing module with an image analysis function for using the first image capturing lens 21 and the second image capturing lens 22 The sharpest image is selected from the acquired images and output to the image decoding unit 40 for decoding processing to complete the recognition of the subject 50. It can be understood that in other embodiments, the lens assembly 20 can also It includes two or more imaging lenses with different imaging ranges to expand the imaging range of this image recognition device.

As shown in Fig. 2, the image recognition apparatus in the second embodiment of the present invention has reduced the image selection module as compared with the first embodiment, and has been added. For identifying the range of distance between the lens assembly 20 and the object 50 such as an image or a bar code A distance detecting module (not shown in the drawing) and a lens selecting module 23 that selects different image taking lenses according to the distance range are selected, and other components are substantially the same as those in the first embodiment.

In some embodiments, The distance detecting module includes a laser ranging device or an infrared ranging device. Preferably, the distance detecting module is generally disposed at a front end side of the lens assembly 20, and the recognition direction thereof is consistent with the image capturing direction of the lens assembly 20 to be directly accurate. The distance between the lens assembly 20 and the object 50 such as an image or a bar code is recognized.

Further, in other embodiments, the distance detecting module may also be an image analyzing unit connected to the image decoding unit 40, and the image analyzing unit calculates the shooting target 50 to the lens component according to the image quality information analysis obtained by the image decoding unit 40. 20 distance range.

In some embodiments, the lens selection module 23 includes a control driving unit 231 and a switching unit 232 which are connected to each other. The switching unit 232 includes upper and lower rails 233 whose guiding directions are perpendicular to the image capturing direction of the lens unit 20 and a switching seat 234 disposed between the two rails 233. The opposite sides of the two guide rails 233 are respectively provided with guide grooves. The upper and lower sides of the switch seat 234 are respectively provided with bosses which are slidably engaged with the guide grooves, and the switch seat 234 can slide back and forth along the guide grooves through the bosses.

First image taking lens 21 and second image capturing lens 22 They are respectively fixed in parallel to the switching seat 234 in parallel toward the image capturing direction. In other embodiments, the guide rail 233 can also be disposed at any angle between 0° and 180° with respect to the image capturing direction to meet different application environments.

The control driving unit 231 includes a controller and a driver. The controller is connected to the distance detecting module, and the distance detecting module transmits the acquired distance information of the target 50 to the controller, and the controller sends an instruction to the driver according to the acquired distance information. The driver drives the switch housing 234 to slide along the guide rail 233 to focus and distance information The first image taking lens 21 or the second image capturing lens 22 whose matching range is matched is moved to the front of the image sensor 30 for taking an image of the subject 50.

It can be understood that, in other embodiments, the guide rail 233 can also be a circular arc shape, and the image capturing lenses of different image capturing ranges are arranged in a divergent manner along an arc, and the image capturing direction of each image capturing lens and its mounting position are The normal direction of the curved guide rails 233 is uniform to ensure that the image capturing direction is constant when switching to any of the image taking lenses.

As shown in Figure 3, the third invention The image recognition apparatus in the embodiment includes a susceptor 10 and a lens assembly 20 disposed on the susceptor 10, an image sensor 30, and an image decoding unit 40 connected to the image sensor 30, and further includes means for recognizing the lens assembly 20 and the object to be photographed Distance detection module with a distance range of 50 (not shown in the drawing) and the focus adjusting means 25 for adjusting the image taking lens 24 to the optimum focal length based on the distance information input from the distance detecting module. Image sensor 30, image decoding unit 40, and distance detecting module and The same in the second embodiment, and details are not described herein again.

With regard to the structure of the image recognition apparatus of the third embodiment, the lens assembly 20 and the focus adjustment device 25 This includes, but is not limited to, the following specific embodiments.

As shown in FIG. 4, the lens assembly 20 is a single image capturing lens 24 with adjustable focal length, and the image capturing lens 24 includes a lens barrel 241 and mutual The first lens 242 and the second lens 243 are disposed in the lens barrel 241 in parallel. The first lens 242 is a convex lens on the side close to the object 50, and the second lens 243 is on the side close to the image sensor 30. Convex lens.

The focus adjustment device 25 includes a power drive device that can include a mechanism for pulling the first lens 242 to move Motor, etc. The distance detecting module transmits the distance information acquired therefrom to the power driving device, and the power driving device drives the first lens 242 to move away from or near the second lens 243 according to the distance information.

As shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, in some embodiments, when the first lens 242 is close to the first position C of the second lens 243, the image capturing range of the image taking lens 24 is A, and the first lens 242 is away from the first lens 242. When the second position D of the second lens 243 is D, the image capturing range of the taking lens 24 is B. During the movement of the first lens 242, the image capturing range of the taking lens 24 is also adjusted until it is adjusted to the image capturing range that matches the distance range of the acquired subject 50.

As shown in Fig. 6, in another embodiment, the lens assembly 20 is a single image taking lens with adjustable focal length. The image taking lens 24 includes a lens barrel 241 and a first lens 242 and a second lens 243 which are disposed in parallel with each other in the lens barrel 241. The first lens 242 is a convex lens on the side close to the object 50, and the second lens 243 is a convex lens on the side close to the image sensor 30. In this embodiment, the first lens 242 includes a resilient cavity containing water or other light transmissive liquid.

In this embodiment, the focal length adjusting device 25 includes a pressure driving device, and the pressure driving device may be a hydraulic driving device. The cavity of the first lens 242 is in communication with the hydraulic driving device, and the hydraulic driving device identifies the information according to the distance acquired by the distance detecting module. A liquid is injected or withdrawn into the cavity to change the curvature and focal length of the first lens 242.

As shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 , in some embodiments, when the inner cavity of the first lens 242 is filled with the first state E of the liquid, the image capturing range of the image taking lens 24 is A, at the first lens 242. When the inner cavity is drawn out of the second state F of the liquid, the outer shape of the cavity is contracted, and the curvature of the lens of the first lens 242 is changed, thereby adjusting the image capturing range of the image taking lens 24 to B. That is, when the hydraulic drive device injects or extracts the liquid into the cavity, the image capturing range of the image taking lens 24 is also adjusted, and the image capturing range matching the acquired distance range of the object 50 is adjusted.

It can be understood that the above technical features can be used in any combination without limitation.

The above is only the embodiment of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, and the equivalent structure or equivalent process transformation of the present invention and the contents of the drawings may be directly or indirectly applied to other related technologies. The fields are all included in the scope of patent protection of the present invention.

Claims

An image recognition device including a lens assembly (20), an image sensor (30), and An image decoding unit (40) coupled to the image sensor (30), wherein the lens assembly (20) is a lens assembly having a variable focal length.
The image recognition device according to claim 1, wherein said lens assembly (20) includes at least two imaging lenses of different focal lengths Each of the image capturing lenses shares the same image sensor (30), or each of the image capturing lenses is provided with one of the image sensors (30); the image identifying device Also includes:

An image selection module disposed between the image sensor (30) and the image decoding unit (40) for using the respective image capturing lenses The sharpest image is selected from the acquired images and output to the image decoding unit (40) for decoding processing.
The image recognition device according to claim 1, wherein said lens assembly (20) includes at least two imaging lenses of different focal lengths Each of the image capturing lenses shares the same image sensor (30), or each of the image capturing lenses is provided with one of the image sensors (30); the image identifying device Also includes:

a distance detecting module, configured to detect a distance between the lens assembly (20) and a target (50);

a lens selection module (23) for using distance information input from the distance detecting module from the lens assembly (20) Select the one that corresponds to the focal length.
The image recognition device according to claim 3, wherein the at least two image capturing lenses are arranged in parallel, and each of the image capturing lenses shares the same image sensor (30), and the lens selection module (23) The control driving unit (231) and the switching unit (232) are connected to each other, and the control driving unit (231) controls the switching unit (232) according to the distance information input by the distance detecting module, the switching The unit (232) selects the one of the image taking lenses corresponding to the focal length from the at least two image taking lenses and moves it to a position to cooperate with the image sensor (30).
The image recognition apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said switching unit (232) includes a guide rail (233) disposed at an angle with respect to an image capturing direction of said image taking lens, and slidably disposed at said a switching seat (234) on the guide rail (233), the at least two image taking lenses are mounted on the switching seat (234); a guiding direction of the guiding rail (233) is perpendicular to the image capturing lens In the image direction, the guide rails (233) include two upper and lower parallels, and the opposite surfaces of the two guide rails (233) are respectively provided with guide grooves, and the upper and lower sides of the switch seat (234) are respectively provided with The guide groove is slidingly engaged with the boss.
The cassette optical component according to claim 5, wherein a front side and/or a rear side of said left and right lenses are provided with a light-transmitting sheet; said light-transmissive sheet is provided with said left lens and right Opposite light-transmitting holes of the lens.

The image recognition device according to claim 1, wherein said lens assembly (20) is a single image capturing lens with adjustable focal length; The image recognition device also includes:

a distance detecting module, configured to detect a distance between the lens assembly (20) and a target (50);

a focus adjustment device (25) for using the image capturing lens according to the distance information input by the distance detecting module Adjust to the best focus.
The image recognition device according to claim 6, wherein the image taking lens comprises a first lens (242) and a second lens (243) disposed in parallel, the first lens (242) being close to the On the side of the object (50), the second lens (243) is adjacent to the side of the image sensor (30); the focus adjustment device (25) includes a power driving device that drives the first A lens (242) moves in a direction away from or near the second lens (243).
The image recognition device according to claim 6, wherein the image taking lens comprises a first lens (242) and a second lens (243) disposed in parallel, the first lens (242) being close to the On the side of the object (50), the second lens (243) is adjacent to the side of the image sensor (30); the focus adjustment device (25) includes a pressure driving device, and the pressure driving device is based on the distance The identification information adjusts the curvature of the first lens (242).
The image recognition apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said first lens (242) comprises an elastic cavity, said cavity is filled with a liquid, said pressure driving means is a hydraulic driving means, said A first lens (242) cavity is in communication with the hydraulic drive, the hydraulic drive injecting or withdrawing liquid into the cavity based on the distance identification information.
The image recognition device according to any one of claims 3-9, wherein the distance detecting module is a laser ranging device or an infrared ranging device.