Barcode symbol reading system capable of shortening time for reading and

Abstract

In a barcode symbol reading apparatus which can execute high-speed processing even when a one-dimensional image pickup device is used, a pulse width count circuit counts the number of widths of bars and spaces of a barcode symbol from an image pickup signal from a 1DCCD array, and stores the count result in a FIFO memory. A data processing circuit fetches a width data string for each scan from the FIFO memory, and when the data processing circuit detects the sizes in the row and column directions and security level from the fetched width data string using a row indicator, the data processing circuit counts the number of times of appearance of an identical row indicator to obtain the number of scan times per row, which indicates the relative moving speed between the 1DCCD array and the barcode symbol. Thereafter, the data processing circuit processes the width data string read out from the FIFO memory while skipping scans corresponding to the number of scan times per row.