JP2001022834A - Article take-out management system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system capable of automatically registering lending or returning of a book or the like without passing any specified entrance/exit or gate. SOLUTION: A radio frequency identification(RFID) 32 is stuck to a book 30, and a user is made to carry the card of the RFID 35 with him. A bookshelf 20 is provided with an antenna 16 and under the control of a reader control part 14, a question wave is transmitted from the antenna 16 at every small time interval. When the book 30 or user is located within the effective range of the antenna 16, a response wave from the RFID 32 or 35 is detected by the antenna 16 and on the basis of this wave, the reader control part 14 finds the identification information of the book 30 or user within that range and sends it to a lending managing computer 10. The computer 10 monitors an identification information group from the reader control part 14 and when it is detected that the book 30 has disappeared from the above effective range, the user (detectable from the disappearance of the identification information), who simultaneously disappears at the time, is judged as a person who has borrowed that book 30, and lending of the book 30 to that user is recorded in a lending managing data base 12.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a system for managing taking out books and other articles.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when borrowing a book from a library, generally, a user takes out a desired book from a shelf, takes it to a counter near an entrance, and takes his / her own ID card (usually in the form of a membership card. (In recent years, it is often a magnetic card) and present the book to librarians. The librarian reads the user's ID from the ID card using a card reader attached to the lending management system, and reads the ID (often an optical barcode) attached to the book with a barcode reader or the like. Check the loan status of the book and the user, and only if they can be borrowed together,
Perform lending processing. In this loan processing, when,
Register information such as who loaned it to the database. In some cases, a special magnetic tag is attached to a book in order to prevent unauthorized removal, and in that case, the staff erases the magnetism of the magnetic tag after the lending process. If a user tries to take a book illegally without going through the lending process, a magnetic detection gate provided at the entrance of the library detects the magnetism of the magnetic tag and issues an alarm. In addition, books were generally returned by users returning the books to a counter. In this case, the librarian reads the ID of the returned book with a barcode reader or the like, and changes the status of the book in the database, thereby performing the return processing.

[0003] In recent years, a non-contact I
It has been proposed to attach a C card to a book and also use a non-contact IC card as a user ID card. Such systems include, for example,
There is one disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 4-313146. A similar book management system is disclosed in JP-A-5-263558 and JP-A-9-21.
No. 2547, JP-A-9-212564, JP-A-9-274630, JP-A-10-273208, JP-A-10-275183, and JP-A-10-307871. In these systems, a reader that reads the information of a non-contact IC card is installed at the gate at the entrance, and when the user passes through the gate with the book, the reader identifies the user and the book from the IC card. Read the information,
Automatically perform lending registration and return registration. In this system, there is no need for librarians to lend and return.

[0004] Such a non-contact read type IC card uses a data carrier or an RFID (Radio Frequency Ide- ode).
ntification). Those with a small storage capacity are also called transponders.

[0005] Non-contact type IC cards are mainly classified into four types according to the communication system (communication frequency used). This classification is named according to the communication distance between the card and the reader that reads it for practical simplicity, and is called the contact type, the proximity type, the proximity type, and the microwave type in ascending order of the communication distance. Have been. The contact type uses short-wave electrostatic induction, and its communication distance is several millimeters.
The proximity type uses short-wave electromagnetic induction, and its communication distance is about 1 cm to 30 cm. The proximity type uses long-wave electromagnetic induction, and its communication distance is about 30 cm to 70 cm. The microwave type literally uses electromagnetic induction of microwaves, and the communication distance is about 3m to 10m. Microwave type IC cards often use batteries as a power source, while the other three types of cards use a reader / writer.
A battery-less type that obtains power by electromagnetic induction or the like from a writer is common.

In the electromagnetic induction system, a loop antenna is embedded in an IC card, and the magnitude of the electromotive force is determined by the diameter of the loop, the number of turns of a conductor, and the strength of radio waves received from the reader / writer antenna. The response wave is sent back to the reader / writer with the electromotive force.

[0007]

In both the prior art of attaching a magnetic tag to a book and the prior art using a non-contact IC card, in order for the system to function effectively, the book must be placed in a limited area. However, it is necessary to limit the entrance for entering and exiting the area to a specific one or several places. That is, it is necessary to have a building structure in which a user always passes through a gate having a magnetic detector, a wireless card reader, and the like when entering and leaving the book placement area.

[0008] In a library or the like, such a restriction on the entrance is naturally accepted from the historical background that the lending process has been performed by the counter from a long time ago, but it cannot be denied that it is a closed system. Needless to say, it is preferable that there is no such restriction in order to increase the convenience of the user and the degree of freedom in the structure of the rental facility (building).

For example, an in-house book owned by a company is not only stored in a closed library,
It is often left open on the bookshelves of general offices. In the latter case, the book is borrowed and returned by the user, and if the user forgets to return the book, the book will not be on the bookshelf. In the latter case, there are cases in which a lending counter is set up and borrowing and other procedures are performed for staff in the same way as for libraries. Is left to the conscience of each user, and some people may inadvertently forget to borrow.

Although the book lending management system has been described as an example, the same problem applies to various rental businesses such as video tapes and CDs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a lending management system that prevents unauthorized removal or loss of a lending item from a lending item without restricting the entrance to the space. The purpose is to provide.

[0012]

To achieve the above object, an article take-out management system according to the present invention includes a data carrier added to each article displayed on a display shelf and storing identification information of the article. A data carrier that is carried by each user and stores identification information of the user, and is provided on a display shelf and repeatedly emits an interrogation wave at predetermined intervals. Reading means for reading the identification information from the response wave, and each time reading is performed by the reading means, the identification information group read this time is compared with the identification information group read last time, and in this comparison, the disappearance of the identification information of the article is determined. When detected,
At the same time, the identification information of the user who has disappeared is obtained,
A take-out management means for recording that the user has taken out the article.

According to this configuration, when a user removes an article from the display shelf, the article is recorded by the removal management means, so that the user must pass through a predetermined entrance (gate). Eliminating restrictions improves user convenience. Further, according to this configuration, since there is no restriction on the architectural structure of providing such a limited entrance, it can be basically applied to facilities of any structure (in some cases, outdoors). Various data carriers such as RFID can be used for the data carrier.

[0014] Further, the system according to the present invention provides a data carrier which is added to each article displayed on the display shelf and stores identification information of the article, and is carried by each user, and the identification information of the user is stored. An article reading means provided on the stored data carrier and the display shelf, which emits an interrogation wave repeatedly at predetermined intervals, reads identification information from a response wave from the data carrier of the article to the interrogation wave, and is provided on the display shelf. In response to the instruction, an interrogation wave is issued, and the user's reading means for reading the identification information from the response wave from the data carrier of the user to the interrogation wave, and each time the article is read by the article reading means, the current reading is performed. The identification information group is compared with the identification information group read last time, and when the comparison detects a loss of the identification information, it is determined that the article has been taken out and the use is determined. The reading means is instructed to read the identification information of the user, and in response thereto, the identification information of the user read by the user reading means is obtained, and the user corresponding to the identification information takes out the article. And take-out management means for recording the effect.

According to this configuration, when the removal of the article is detected, the identification information of the user who is near the display shelf at that time is read by the user reading means, and this user is the person who took out the article. As a record of taking out. Also in this configuration, the removal of the article from the display shelf is automatically recorded, so that it is not necessary to perform the removal processing with a specific counter or pass through a specific entrance.

In such a configuration, when the removal of the article is detected, if the identification information of the user who seems to have taken out the article cannot be read, an outsider without a data carrier, etc., removes the article without permission. Therefore, it is also preferable to automatically take measures such as recording to that effect and an alarm.

[0017]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention (hereinafter, referred to as "embodiments") will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a system configuration of the present embodiment. Here, an in-house book management system in an office is taken as an example.

An RFID 32 storing identification information such as an ID number is attached to each book 30. This RFID 32
Has a built-in data processing unit, an IC chip for storage, and an antenna for communication, and takes a form such as a tag or a label. On the other hand, each user who is permitted to use in-house books,
Carry the RFID 35 storing identification information such as its own ID number. The RFID 35 also has a built-in data processing unit, an IC chip for storage and an antenna for communication, and takes the form of a card or the like.

The bookshelf 20 on which the books 30 are placed has an RF
A reader for reading stored data from the IDs 32 and 35 is provided. The reader includes an antenna 16 for communicating with the RFID and a reader control unit 14 for recognizing identification information from an output of an interrogation wave by the antenna 16 and a response wave received by the antenna 16.
Each reader control unit 14 is connected to the lending management computer 10 via a network such as a LAN 18 and receives various information and instructions from the computer 10 or sends data read from the RFID to the computer 10. Or The lending management computer 10 is, for example, a personal computer. The lending management computer 10 has a lending management database 12 that manages information such as the state of each book 30 under management (e.g., being lent or being lent) and the lending state (number of lent books, lent book name) to each user. It is connected. In the example of FIG. 1, readers are provided for two bookshelves 20 placed at different places, and they are connected to one management computer 10 via a LAN 18.

In this embodiment, the proximity type is used as the RFIDs 32 and 35 and the reader.

The bookshelf 20 illustrated in FIG.
The bookshelf is of a type in which books are placed flat, and the reader antenna 16 is disposed on the back plate of the bookshelf 20. Antenna 16
Are provided one by one in the arrangement space of one book. A reader control unit 14 is provided for each of the antennas 16.

The antenna arrangement is appropriately determined depending on the format of the bookshelf and the format of the reader. For example, in the case of a bookshelf having a depth as shown in FIG. 2, an antenna is provided so as to surround the book near the opening of the bookshelf so as to always pass through the transmission / reception range of the specific antenna 16 when the book is taken out by hand. May be. The antenna 16 may be a circular loop antenna as shown in FIG.

Although only one antenna 16 is controlled by one reader control unit 14 in the example of FIG. 1, a plurality of antennas 16 can be controlled by one reader control unit 14 in a time division manner. .

It is of course possible to cover the arrangement range of a plurality of books with one antenna, but this will be separately described in a fourth embodiment, and the principle of the present invention will be understood here. For ease of explanation, an operation mode in which one book covers one book with one antenna will be described as an example.

In this system, rental of a book is based on RFI
This is automatically performed when the user carrying D35 takes out the book 30 from the shelf 20. That is, the reader control unit 1
4 constantly emits interrogation waves from the antenna 16 at a constant cycle,
RFID 32 of the book for the question wave, RF of the user
By detecting the presence or absence of the response wave of the ID 35, it is checked which book or user is present within the coverage area of the antenna 16, and the information is instantaneously transferred to the lending management computer 10.
Inform The lending management computer 10 monitors the information and finds that the book has disappeared from the range of the antenna 16 and, at that time, determines that the user who has disappeared from the coverage of the antenna 16 has borrowed the book. Perform lending processing. The return processing is performed when the user returns the book to a predetermined shelf. That is, when the antenna 16 detects the RFID 32 of the book 30 that has not been found before, it determines that the book has been returned and performs a return process. Of course, as before, it is also possible to perform the return process when the staff returns the book returned to the counter to the shelf by the user.

In this embodiment, one antenna 16 detects both the RFID 32 of the book 30 and the RFID 35 of the user. The book status managed by the lending management database 12 basically has two states as to whether or not the book is at a predetermined arrangement position, and the two states are alternately switched by lending and returning. Hereinafter, the transition between these two states and the operation performed by the lending management computer 10 will be described.

In FIG. 5, X and Xold are variables in the management computer 10 representing the state of the coverage of one antenna 16. The state variable X is a vector including the book detected by the reader control unit 14 and the ID number of the user's RFID. If there is one book with the ID number B1 and two users with the ID numbers U1 and U2 within the cover area of the antenna 16 (that is, the antenna 16 If the RFID is detected), the state X is (B1, U1, U2). It is preferable that the identification information can be distinguished between a book and a user. X is the current state (at the time of the latest detection), and Xold is the state in the immediately preceding query cycle.

In this routine, the reader emits an interrogation wave at a certain cycle, and detects a response wave from the book and the RFID of the user. That is, the reader control unit 14
As shown in FIG. 4, first, an interrogation wave is transmitted in the transmission slot 100. Book 30 and / or R of user who received this
The FIDs 32 and 35 modulate the interrogation wave with the stored identification information and re-emit it as a response wave. Reader control unit 14
Receives the response waves from the RFIDs 32 and 35 in the receiving slot 110 to determine the current state X, and sends the data in the state X to the lending management computer 10 in the next data transfer slot 120. When sending this state X to the lending management computer 10, the reader control unit 14 also sends identification information (code or number) of the antenna 16 used for transmission / reception. When one reader control unit 14 is connected to only one antenna 16, the identification information of the reader control unit 14 itself may be transmitted. One reader control unit 14
Is driving a plurality of antennas 16 in a time sharing manner,
According to the time-sharing drive control, the identification information of the antenna 16 that has transmitted and received at that time is transmitted. The reader control unit 14
The above transmission, reception, and data transfer are periodically repeated at predetermined intervals. The lending management computer 10 determines whether or not lending or return has been performed based on the state X data sent from each reader control unit 14.

The question transmission / response reception by the reader depends on the frequency of the radio wave used, but can be generally repeated in a cycle of several milliseconds to several tens of milliseconds. on the other hand,
Judgment processing in a computer can be performed very fast in the order of nanoseconds. Accordingly, if the number of antennas 16 is up to about tens of thousands, the lending management computer 10 can manage the state X of the coverage of each antenna 16 in real time in principle.

Referring now to FIG. 5, a description will be given of the determination procedure of the lending management computer 10 in each phase such as lending and returning.

<Lending> Since the procedure shown in FIG. 5 is a form in which the same processing loop is repeated, the processing may be started from any step. However, for simplicity, the coverage of the antenna 16 of interest is described here. In which a book 30 to be placed is placed (step 50)
The description starts from 0). Here, attention is paid to one antenna 16 and the processing for the state detected by the antenna 16 (that is, the presence or absence of the book 30 in the area covered by the antenna 16) will be described. This process is repeatedly executed for all the antennas 16 by time division or the like.

The lending management computer 10 sends the state “record s” of the coverage area of the antenna 16 from the reader control unit 14.
tatus "(that is, a vector of the identification information group read from the RFIDs 32 and 35 of the book or the user within the communication distance of the antenna 16) and set this to a variable X representing the current state (step 501). This is, so to speak, initialization of the state variable X. That is, in this example, the process is started from a state in which a book that should be placed is arranged. Therefore, the identification information of the book is set in the state variable X here. Next, exception processing is performed (step 5).
02). This exception processing is performed, for example, to determine whether or not the identification information of the book included in the state X is valid (that is, whether or not the book should be placed in the place of the coverage area of the target antenna 16), or the signal is There are tests such as whether it is ambiguous and measures to be taken when it is ambiguous.

After the exception process (step 502), the operation starts to detect whether a book or a user is within the communication distance of the reader. During this time, the reader control unit 14 transmits an interrogation wave at regular intervals, detects a response wave from the book and the user's RFID 32, 35 to the interrogation wave, analyzes the response wave, and covers the antenna 16 The identification information of the book and the user existing in the range is obtained, and they are collected into one piece of status data (tentatively named record status) and notified to the management computer 10. When the management computer 10 receives the new status data record status of the antenna 16 from the reader control unit 14, the management computer 10 copies the current status X stored so far to the past status Xold (step 503) and newly receives the status Xold. State data reco
rd status is set to the current status X (step 50)
4). Next, the management computer 10 checks the current state X and determines whether or not the valid book is within the range of the antenna 16 (step 505). If the book identification information disappears from the state X, it can be determined that the book has disappeared from the range of the antenna 16. If the possibility that a book that should not be placed there is erroneously placed within the range of the antenna 16 is considered, the determination in this step 505 is that the identification information of the legitimate book that should be placed at that position is This is a process of determining whether or not X is included.
The management computer 10 may store the identification number of a valid book to be placed at the position of the antenna 16 in association with the identification number of the antenna 16.

Here, for example, while there is a valid book to be placed in the coverage area of the antenna 16 (that is, the determination result in step 505 is Y (Yes)), steps 503, 504, and 505 are repeated. . This situation can occur when the user thinks he or she might borrow or not borrow the book in his or her hand, and then puts the book in and out of the shelf, or simply when the user is standing in front of the book. is there. Of course, this state continues even when the user finally leaves the place without having the book.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 505 that the book has run out, the result of the determination in step 505 is N (No), and the process exits the loop. In this case, since someone (user) has carried the book, the management computer 10 determines that it is a loan at that time. At this time, by calculating the difference (X-Xold) between the current state X and the immediately preceding state Xold, it is possible to determine not only which book has been borrowed but also which user has borrowed it (step). 506).
That is, the difference (X-Xold) is obtained in a short time (about several milliseconds to several tens of milliseconds) from one cycle before to the present.
A set of book and user identification information that has disappeared from the coverage of the antenna 16 is shown. Therefore, it can be determined that the lost book has been borrowed by the lost user. Since the detection of the RFIDs 32 and 35 by the antenna 16 is performed at a short time interval such as several milliseconds to several tens of milliseconds, two or more users collectively leave the detection range of the antenna during such a short time. Such a judgment holds because there is almost no possibility.

In this example, since the number of books covered by one antenna 16 is limited to one, in principle,
It suffices to manage a set of identification information of users who are within the range of the antenna 16 as the states X and Xold. That is,
When the book is exhausted, the borrowed user can be specified by the difference (X-Xold). However, if the identification information of the book is included as the state X as described above, it is possible to detect an erroneous book that should not be located at that location.

When the user who has borrowed the book is specified in step 506, the loan management computer 10
The book is lent (step 507). That is, the management computer 10 uses the lending management database 1
2 to create lending information as shown in FIG. The lending information includes a book ID (that is, identification information) 200 of the book and an ID (identification information) 2 of the lent user.
02, lending date 204, and lending status 206 are included. Among them, book ID 200 and lending user ID 2
02, the book and the user identification information obtained by the difference processing in step 506 are registered. The lending status 206 is a flag indicating whether the lending of the book is normal or violates the rules. In the case where a book other than a regular user registered in the database 12 has taken out a book, or a book borrowed exceeding a predetermined lending upper limit number, the lending status 206 indicates a value 0 indicating abnormal lending. This value is an example) is set. Of course, a value different from unauthorized removal by a non-authorized user and excess borrowing by an authorized user may be used. On the other hand, for a book normally lent without such a violation, a value 1 (also an example) indicating normal lending is set in the lending status 206. Such a determination as to whether the lending is normal or abnormal is made by the management computer 10 based on individual user information registered in the database 12. FIG. 7 shows an example of the data content of the user information. As shown in FIG. 7, the user information includes a user ID (that is, identification information) 210, a user name 212, Up to the total number of books 214 to be lent, and other personal information 216. When the book is taken out, the management computer 10 checks the user information in the database 12 and determines whether the user who took out the book is a legitimate user registered in the database, and this determination is not satisfied. In this case, it is determined that the loan is abnormal. If the person who took out the book is a legitimate user, the current total number of lent books is further checked to determine whether the total number of borrowed books does not exceed a predetermined upper limit by this lending. As a result, if the value exceeds the upper limit value, it is determined that the loan is abnormal, and if not, it is determined that the loan is normal.
When the loan is made, 1 is added to the total number 214 of books to be lent.

In the database 12, similarly, book information as shown in FIG. 8 is registered for each book. The book information includes a book ID (identification information) 22
0, a keyword 222 used for search or other purposes, an arrangement position 224 where the book should be placed (using the identification number of the antenna 16), bibliographic information 226, lost information (whether or not lost, date and time of loss, etc.) 228, etc. Is included.

Note that one user may bring out two or more books at the same time. In such a case, the lending information shown in FIG. 6 is created for each book.

The lending management database 12 can be constructed, for example, as a relational database. In this case, for example, the lending information in FIG. 6 and the book information in FIG. 8 are created as related information corresponding to the same book ID. Of course, the database 12 may be a database of another type or architecture.

<Detection of Unauthorized Take-out> Next, the processing when unauthorized take-out occurs will be described. Legitimate RFID3
This is a process in the case where a person who does not have 5 has taken out the book 30 from the bookshelf 20 without permission.

In this case, the person who took out the book is RFID
Since the book 35 is not carried, only the book disappears from the cover area of the antenna 16 and it can be determined that the book is taken out without permission. That is, when it is detected in step 505 that the book is gone, if the decrease in the number of users is not detected based on the difference between the states (X-Xold), the book is taken out without permission.

In the case where unauthorized removal has occurred, the state difference (X-Xold) is the identification information of the book that has been removed without permission. The management computer 10 sends the identification information (book I
D) is used as a key to access the database 12, and based on this book ID and useful information such as the date and time at that time (this can be obtained from the OS of the computer 10),
The rental information shown in FIG. 6 is created. In this case, the lending status 206 is set to 0 (or a predetermined value indicating unauthorized removal), and the lending user ID 202 remains undefined. Along with such treatment on the database 12, the management computer 10 emits a warning sound or the like informing that the unauthorized removal has occurred, and when the person in charge is in a remote location, the computer (of that location, etc.) ) Also sends a warning notice indicating that unauthorized removal has taken place and its location (shelf). An alarm device is provided on the bookshelf 20, and if unauthorized removal occurs on the bookshelf,
An alarm may be issued from the alarm device.

Here, the case of unauthorized removal has been described, but when it is detected that the total number of books lent by authorized users has exceeded the upper limit, as in the case of unauthorized removal, some warning is given to the bookshelf or the like. You may let librarians know.

Processing for such unauthorized removal is also performed in step 507.

<Return> When there is no book at a predetermined position on the bookshelf 20 and the processing in step 507 is performed, the procedure of this embodiment proceeds to step 508 (state without books). This step 508 is a dummy step for clarifying the explanation, and immediately thereafter, the step 5
It proceeds to return processing after 09.

Even when there is no book on the bookshelf 20 (waiting for return), the antenna 16 continues to transmit the interrogation wave periodically. The state can be detected from the response wave to the interrogation wave. At the beginning of the return waiting state (that is, immediately after lending has occurred), the state variable X is reset (step 50).
9). That is, if no user is within the coverage of the antenna 16 at that time, the state X is 0 (empty vector).
If a user other than the borrowed user is within the range, the identification information of the user is set to the state X. Thereafter, the algorithm comprises steps 510, 51
The loop consisting of steps 1 and 512 is repeated (standby state). That is, in this loop, every time a new status record status is sent from the reader control unit 14, the management computer 10 copies the previous status X to the past status Xold (step 510), and returns to the new status record. status
Is set to the current state X (step 511), and the state X is checked to determine whether or not the book has returned to the bookcase (coverage of the antenna 16) (step 512). This loop is repeated until the book returns to the shelf.

If it is determined in step 512 that the book has returned to the shelf, the result of the determination is Y (Yes) and the process exits the loop. Then, the management computer 10 next obtains the state difference (X-Xold), thereby confirming the returner (step 513). In other words, the person who returned the RFI
If the user carries the D35, the reader control unit 14 should have detected the identification information of the person, so the difference (X-Xol
In d), the identification information of the returned book appears together with the identification information of the returned book. This allows the returner to be specified. The returner is not necessarily the person who borrowed the book.

When the return of the book is confirmed (the determination result in step 512 is Y), the management computer 10 performs a return process (step 514). In this return process,
First, it is checked whether the returned book is the correct book that should be at the location of the antenna 16. That is, the management computer 10 accesses the database 12,
By performing a search using the identification information (book ID) of the book as a key, the book information (see FIG. 8) of the book is obtained, and the information of the arrangement position 224 of the book information and the current antenna 16 Is compared with the identification information. If the two match, as a result of the comparison, it can be determined that they have been correctly returned. In this case, the management computer 10 refers to the lending information (see FIG. 6) for the book created at the time of lending, determines, for example, whether or not the book was returned within a predetermined period from the lending date, In the case of (2), the effect of the return delay is described in the personal information 216 (see FIG. 7) of the user indicated in the lending user ID 202 of the lending information. In addition, the value of the total number of books lent 214 is reduced by one. Then, the lending information (lending user ID, lending date, lending status) for the book is deleted.

If it is determined that the book returned to the bookshelf should not be there, the management computer 10
, The user information (FIG. 7) and the lending information (FIG. 6) in the database 12 are not changed or deleted, and are left as they are. Further, information indicating that the book was returned to the wrong place (a set of the identification information (ID) of the book that was returned incorrectly and the place (the identification information of the antenna) that was returned incorrectly) was recorded in the database 12. It is also possible to send a warning to the attendant. However, this erroneous return notification processing may be performed when returning to the exception processing of step 502 described above.

When the return processing in step 514 is completed, the book has returned to the area covered by the antenna 16, and the state returns to step 500.

The above-described return processing is performed if the book is returned to within the communication range of the reader without returning the book to the tabletop.

The process for determining whether or not the returned book is correct may be performed by the antenna 16 or the reader control unit 14. In this way, the processing load on the management computer 10 is reduced. However, in this case,
It is necessary to provide a local memory in the antenna 16 and the reader control unit 14 and store identification information of a book to be placed in the coverage area of the antenna 16 (when the reader control unit 14 manages a plurality of antennas). Stores the book identification information for each of these antennas). For this reason, the cost of the antenna 16 or the reader control unit 14 increases, and labor for storing the book identification information for each antenna or reader control unit is required. Therefore, when such cost or labor becomes a problem, it is preferable that the processing be performed on the management computer 10 side as in the above example.

As described above, the lending and returning processing procedures in the present embodiment have been described. Next, taking a specific case as an example,
This will be further described with reference to the state transition diagrams of FIG. 9 and FIG.
The “state” to be discussed here is a vector X including the book and user identification information of the RFID detected by the antenna 16 described above. Each node in each of these state transition diagrams represents a different state. Here, for convenience of explanation, the case of lending (FIG. 9) and the case of returning (FIG. 10) will be described with separate state transition diagrams. In the case used here,
For simplicity, an example in which there is only one book and only two users is shown, and the identification information of the book is B1, and the identification information of the two users is U1 and U2, respectively.

First, the case of lending will be described with reference to FIG. The initial state 40 is a state in which the book B1 is on the bookshelf (within the antenna cover range). At this time, if a certain user U1 appears in front of this book, his RFID 35
Is recognized by the reader control unit 14 that recognizes B1. Therefore, the state X transits to the state 41 (B1, U1). The state transition process described above corresponds to the loop of steps 503, 504, and 505 in the processing procedure of FIG. This is a state where the book is continuously recognized by the antenna 16. Suppose that after a while, the user U1 browses the book B1 and then removes the book B1. Then, a transition from the state 41 to the state 46 occurs. The state 46 is a state in which the book B1 is not placed within the cover range of the antenna 16, and the user is not within the range. This corresponds to the case where the determination in step 505 is that there is no book (N) in the above processing procedure. At this point, the management computer 1
The current state X managed by 0 is φ (empty vector), and the immediately preceding state Xold is (B1, U1). Therefore, the state difference (Xold-X) obtained in step 506 is (B1,
U1), indicating that the user U1 has borrowed the book B1.

In the initial state 40, if another user U2 different from the above-described example appears within the coverage of the antenna 16, the state transits to the state 42. Further, in the initial state 40, if another user U2 appears after the user U1 appears (or if two users appear in the reverse order), the state is changed from the state 40. After the transition to the state 41 or the state 42, the state 43 is reached. Of course, in rare cases, when two persons appear completely at the same time (during the same question / response cycle), the state directly transitions from the state 40 to the state 43. There is no effect on the execution of the form processing procedure.

Here, the state 43 (the state in which the book B1 is on the shelf and two users U1, U2 are in front of it) directly transits to the state 46 (that is, the book and the two users are the same). Think about what happens during the question-response cycle. In this embodiment, the reader is:
The question and answer cycle is repeated at intervals of several milliseconds to several tens of milliseconds. This time interval is sufficiently short in view of the human operation speed, and it is considered that it is almost impossible for two persons to come out of the coverage area of the antenna 16 during such a short time interval. Can be Therefore, even if it is assumed that there is no direct transition from the state 43 to the state 46, there is no problem in practical use. That is, in the system of the present embodiment, it is possible to detect the departure of users from within the antenna coverage area one by one,
When the book runs out, the user who brought the book can be identified by one person. That is, when the book B1 disappears from the state 43, the state transitions from the state 43 to either the state 44 or the state 45, and the person who has borrowed the book B1 can be specified. When there is no user from the state 44 or 45, the state transits to the state 46. This is because, in the processing procedure described above, steps 510, 511, and
This is a situation where the loop of 512 is repeated.

The lending process occurs when the vehicle crosses the dotted line A shown in the state transition diagram of FIG. 9 from left to right. The borrowed user and the borrowed book can be identified from the difference (Xold-X) between the states immediately before and after this state transition. For example, when transitioning from the state 43 to the state 45, (Xold
−X) = (B1, U1, U2) − (U2) = (B1, U
1), and it can be determined that the user U1 has borrowed the book B1.

Next, a state transition in the case of return will be described with reference to FIG. In this description, the book that should be on the bookshelf (ie, within the antenna coverage) is book B1. In this state, when the user U1 enters the book B1 into the range of the antenna, the state transits to the state 51.
In the procedure of FIG. 5, a valid book is recognized in step 512, and the process proceeds to step 513 to confirm the return person. At this time, since the current state X = (B1, U1) and the immediately preceding state Xold = φ, the difference (X−Xold) (B1,
U1), the identification information B1 of the returner is recognized, and the return processing of step 514 is performed. At the time when the return processing is completed, the state remains at the state 51 and is in the lending standby state. Only when the user U1 stands from this state, the state 55, that is, only the book B1 is recognized. FIG.
When the state transition passes through the dotted line B of 0, a return process is performed. For example, the transition from the state 54 (X = (B1, U1, U2)) to the state 56 (X = (B1, U2)) is a state transition after the book is returned, and in the procedure of FIG.
03, 504, 505 in a loop consisting of book B1
Is waiting to be taken out. The transition from the state 56 to the state 55 simply indicates that the user U2 has left empty-handed.

On the other hand, when the user appears empty-handed in front of the bookshelf, or when the user appears with a book but is not a legitimate book B1 to be placed there, it is not a normal return, The state is such as the state 52 or the state 53 (in this example, it is assumed that the book B2 is not a legitimate book that should be in this bookshelf).

The state transition of the system has been described above by taking a simple case as an example. In general, a more complicated case can be considered, but the state transition in such a case can be easily analogized from the above description.

<Effects of First Embodiment> In the lending management system described above, if a user having a valid RFID 35 removes a book, that point (the time when the user and the book disappear from the antenna coverage area) The lending process is immediately performed in ()). Then, if the book is returned to the position where the bookshelf should be located (strictly speaking, the antenna 1 provided at that position)
6), the return processing is performed on the spot. Therefore, there is no concept that the user has forgotten the lending process at the counter or the book was taken out without notice from the staff.

In this system, unauthorized removal takes place only when a person who does not have the valid RFID 35 removes the book. Even in this case, the system records data indicating that unauthorized removal has occurred,
Loss of books can be easily managed, and in addition to issuing an alarm, etc., it can also be used to prevent unauthorized removal.

According to this system, it is possible to perform lending management without limiting the entrance of a library or the like, and it is not necessary to impose a user on a lending procedure at a specific place. The convenience of the person is improved.

[Second Embodiment] In the first embodiment, the same type as the proximity type is used as the RFID 32 of the book and the RFID 35 of the user. On the other hand, in this embodiment, the RFID of the book is a proximity type (standard communication distance of about 1 to 30 cm), and the RFID of the user is used.
Is a proximity type (standard communication distance of about 30 cm to 70 cm). For this reason, as shown in FIG. 11, the bookcase 20 includes an antenna 16a for the proximity RFID and a proximity R
An FID antenna 16b is provided (the shape shown in FIG. 11 is merely an example). A reader control unit 14 is individually provided for each of these antennas 16a and 16b.

In this example, the proximity RFI is used for the book.
Since D is used, the mounting position of the RFID is appropriately determined in consideration of the coverage of the antenna installed on the bookshelf / bookshelf. For example, when the antenna 14 is arranged on the bottom of the bookshelf as in the example of FIG. 2 described above, the RFID is attached to the book as low as possible.

In this embodiment, when a book which has been detected by the proximity antenna 16b cannot be detected, a query wave is emitted from the proximity antenna 16a to detect a user who is near the bookshelf at that time. Then, the user detected at this time is recognized as a borrower, and a lending process is performed. Returning is the reverse process of lending. That is, when the RFID of the book (which has not been detected before) is detected by the interrogation wave of the proximity antenna 16b, the proximity antenna 16a is immediately detected.
, An interrogation wave is emitted, the returner's RFID is detected, and a return process is performed. With a return management scheme that does not matter who returned it, there is no need to emit an interrogation wave from the proximity antenna 16a at the time of return.

In the present embodiment, while the interrogation wave is repeatedly output from the proximity antenna 16b in a cycle of several milliseconds to several tens of milliseconds, the interrogation wave is not always emitted from the proximity antenna 16a. An interrogation wave is emitted only at a limited timing immediately after a book can no longer be detected by the proximity antenna 16b and immediately after a new book is detected.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the flow of the lending / returning process of this embodiment. State variable X in this procedure
Is identification information of only books within the coverage area of the proximity antenna 16b.

For example, when the description starts from a case where a legitimate book to be managed is within the cover range of the proximity antenna 16b (dummy step 600), the state X is initialized in step 601 (corresponding to step 501). Step 6
In step 02, exception processing corresponding to step 502 of the first embodiment is performed. Thereafter, a question wave is periodically emitted from the proximity antenna 16b to confirm the existence of the book (step 60).
3) The existence of the book has been confirmed (step 60).
This loop is repeated while the judgment result of No. 4 is Y). If no valid book is detected in step 604 (judgment result N), the nearby reader immediately asks the question via the nearby antenna 16a (that is, within a time delay of several milliseconds to several tens of milliseconds). The wave is output, and the borrower is confirmed (step 605). Immediately after the book comes out of the coverage area of the proximity antenna 16b (within about 30 cm), it is considered that the borrower has not come out of the coverage area of the proximity antenna 16a (within about 70 cm).
The identification information can be obtained by receiving the response wave from the borrower's RFID. Thereafter, a lending process similar to that of the first embodiment is performed from the identification information of the borrower and the identification information of the book (step 606).

Then, the state shifts to a state where there is no book in the cover range of the proximity antenna 16b (dummy step 607), and the state variable X in this state is initialized (step 60).
After performing step 8), the processing loop waiting for return (step 60)
9 and 610). In this loop, the variable X is updated in a state where the proximity antenna 16b has detected (step 6).
09) If the variable X does not include the book identification information, the loop is repeated, and if it is included, the process exits the loop (step 610, determination result Y). Immediately thereafter, a question wave is emitted from the proximity antenna 16a to acquire the returner's identification information (step 611), and the same return processing as in the first embodiment is performed (step 612).

According to this embodiment, the number of times that the interrogation wave for the neighborhood is emitted is greatly reduced, so that power can be saved. In the present embodiment, the interrogation wave for proximity is generated in the same cycle as that of the first embodiment. However, since the interrogation wave has a short reach, the required power is small.

In the above example, two types of antennas, one for proximity and one for proximity, are used. However, one antenna may be used for both proximity and proximity. In this case, the interrogation wave for the proximity (to the book) is periodically output, and the interrogation wave for the proximity (to the user) is output in the time slot immediately after detecting the rental or return of the book.

In addition, instead of a nearby reader for detecting a user, a nearby reader / writer is used, and the borrower after detecting the removal of the book is simultaneously (or immediately) detected with the RFID of the borrower. It is also preferable to write information about the lending (for example, a title or a return deadline).

[Third Embodiment] In the present embodiment, proximity RFIDs are used for both the book and the user's RFID.
The antenna provided on the bookshelf is for proximity RFID only, and periodically emits interrogation waves at intervals of several milliseconds to several tens of milliseconds. The RFID of the user is, for example, a hand-held type such as a wristwatch so that the RFID naturally approaches the antenna of the bookshelf when the user takes out or returns the book. When using a general card type RFID,
The user is requested to perform an operation of holding the RFID close to the bookshelf when borrowing or returning the RFID. In either method, when the book and the user's RFID disappear from the coverage area of the proximity antenna at the same time, it is considered that a normal loan has been made. If only the RFID of the book disappears without detecting the RFID of the user, it is determined that the book is taken out without permission. When the antenna starts detecting the RFID of the book which has not been detected until then, it is determined that the book has been returned. If the user's RFID is detected at the same time, it is determined that the user is the returner.

This embodiment is the same as the first embodiment except that a proximity RFID is used.

According to this embodiment, since the proximity RFID and the antenna are used, power consumption can be reduced as compared with the first embodiment using the proximity RFID. This embodiment is suitable for a bookshelf of a type in which magazines and the like are placed flat and displayed.

[Fourth Embodiment] In the first embodiment, a case where one book manages one book with one antenna has been described as an example. Here, a case where a plurality of books are covered with one antenna will be described. As shown in FIG.
Is covered by one antenna, or one or more common bookshelves are covered by one antenna. As the RFID, a near type is used for both a book and a user. In the following, a description will be given assuming that the antenna and the reader control unit are connected one-to-one, but it is of course possible to manage a plurality of antennas in a time-division manner with one reader control unit.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of this embodiment. The prerequisite reader processing is almost the same as in the first embodiment. That is, the reader emits an interrogation wave in a cycle of several milliseconds to several tens of milliseconds, and acquires a response wave from the book and the RFID of the user. In this example, a larger number of books and users exist in the antenna coverage area than in the first embodiment, and response waves from them are received almost simultaneously by the antenna. By using such a technique, identification information of each RFID can be extracted from the received signal. The reader transmits the set (vector) of the extracted identification information to the management computer as status data record status. In this embodiment, the book,
Since the state of the user is detected every very short cycle on the order of milliseconds, it is almost impossible for a plurality of persons to come out of the coverage area of the antenna in the short period. Therefore, when the book is taken out, the user who took it out practically can be specified almost certainly.

FIG. 14 shows a processing procedure of the management computer in this embodiment. This procedure is a procedure of a lending / returning process for a coverage area of one antenna. In the case where there are a plurality of antennas, this procedure is sequentially performed for each antenna in a time division manner. In this figure, X is a set of book and user identification information within the antenna coverage.

First, the management computer acquires status data record status from the reader (step 701).
Then, the current state X is copied to the immediately preceding state Xold (step 702), and the current state X is updated with the new state data record status (step 703). And the current state X
Is compared with the immediately preceding state Xold, and the increase / decrease of book and user identification information is checked (step 704). As a result, if the number of books has decreased (Y in step 705), it is determined that the books have been taken out of the antenna cover range, and the borrower is identified (step 708). The borrower can be known from the result of the comparison between the current state X and the immediately preceding state Xold in step 704. That is, the user identification information which has disappeared in the current state X may be obtained from the user identification information in the previous state Xold. If there is such a person, the lending process is performed as in the first embodiment (step 70).
Execute 9). If there is no reduced user identification information in step 708, it is determined that a person who does not have a valid RFID has been taken out without notice. Do.

If it is determined that the number of books has increased as a result of the state comparison in step 704 (Y in step 706), it is determined that the books have been returned, and the same return processing as in the first embodiment is performed. (Step 707). RFI
When a person having D returns the information, the information of the return person may be registered in the database. If the book does not increase or decrease in the comparison in step 704, it can be determined that neither the book is taken out nor returned, and the system waits for the next state data from the reader.

According to the processing described above, even when a single antenna covers a plurality of books, the book lending and return processing can be automatically executed.

[Embodiment 5] Although each of the above embodiments is directed to lending a book, in this embodiment,
An application example of taking out valuables (such as jewelry) and dangerous materials (such as chemicals) will be described.

In this system, dangerous goods and valuables to be managed (hereinafter abbreviated as dangerous goods, etc.) are RF
An ID is attached, and an administrator who is allowed to handle such dangerous goods, etc., carries a card-type RFID or the like. These dangerous substances and the RFID of the administrator are of the proximity type. The RFID attached to the dangerous substance stores identification information of the dangerous substance. In addition, other information regarding the dangerous goods and the like may be stored. The display shelves containing the dangerous goods, etc., have the dangerous goods,
In addition to providing a reader for detecting the FID, a door with a lock mechanism is provided to prevent anyone other than the administrator from touching the contents of the case. This lock mechanism is configured to be released only when the reader provided on the display shelf detects the RFID of the administrator. Then, when the administrator takes out the dangerous goods and the like from the display shelf and leaves, the removal of the dangerous goods and the like is automatically recorded in the database in the same procedure as in the first embodiment. The process for returning dangerous goods and the like is performed in the same manner as in the first embodiment.

The processing of this embodiment can be broadly divided into display shelf lock control processing and registration processing of taking out and returning dangerous goods and the like on the display shelf. These two processes are executed independently and in parallel. Any of the lending and return processing described in the first to fourth embodiments may be used for the latter take-out / return registration processing. Therefore, here,
Description of the return registration process is omitted. Hereinafter, the lock control process will be described with reference to FIG.

The management computer sends a detection status record status (a vector composed of identification information of a manager such as a dangerous substance detected by an interrogation wave) from a reader provided on the display shelf.
Is received (step 801), the current status X is copied to the immediately preceding status Xold (step 802), and the received latest status record status is copied to the current status X (step 803). Then, the current state X and the immediately preceding state Xold
Is checked to determine whether the user identification information has increased or decreased (step 804). Next, it is checked whether or not the display shelf is locked (step 805). In the case of the locked state, it is determined whether or not there is a visitor near the display shelf from the increase / decrease of the users obtained in step 804 (step 806). If there is a visitor, it is determined from the identification information whether or not the visitor is a user who is allowed to handle dangerous goods and the like in the display shelf (called an authorized user) (step 807). It is assumed that the management computer has data serving as a basis for this determination (data indicating which user is an authorized user). As a result, if it is determined that the visitor is an authorized user, the lock is released (step 808). As a result, the user can take out the article from the display shelf. The recording of the takeout information is performed by the same processing as the lending processing of the first embodiment. The case where the article is returned is the same as in the first embodiment. If it is determined in step 807 that the visitor is not an authorized user, the lock is not released, and actions such as warning and notification to a staff are performed (step 8).
09). Note that even if a person without RFID approaches the display shelf while in the locked state (N in step 806),
Since the lock is not released, the person cannot remove the items in the display shelf.

If it is determined in step 805 that the user is not in the locked state, it is determined from the state comparison in step 804 whether the authorized user has left the vicinity of the display shelf (step 810). If not, the process returns to step 801 without doing anything. If the person has left, the door of the display shelf is locked so that an outsider cannot take out the article (step 811).

According to this embodiment, it is possible to prevent a person other than the authorized person from taking out dangerous goods, etc.
Even when an authorized person takes out, the recording of the taking out and the recording of the return are automatically performed, so that dangerous goods and the like can be reliably managed.

[Sixth Embodiment] In the first embodiment, since the interrogation wave is constantly emitted from the antenna provided on the bookshelf, the power consumption tends to increase. In particular, when a system is used in a large library or the like, the number of bookshelves and bookshelves is extremely large, so that the problem of power consumption becomes significant. In addition, the lending management computer is required to sequentially monitor changes in the state of a large number of bookshelves and bookshelves, so that the load tends to increase. In the second embodiment, usually, only the proximity type radio wave for book confirmation is emitted, and a system is adopted in which the user is confirmed by the proximity type radio wave only when the book is taken out and returned.
Although the power consumption is improved to some extent, the load on the lending management computer remains unchanged. In other embodiments as well, the lending management computer tends to be heavily loaded because it sequentially monitors the state of all bookshelves under management. In the present embodiment, the power consumption of the system is further improved and the load on the lending management computer is reduced.

The basic idea of this embodiment is that a query wave is output from the antenna of the bookshelf only when a user appears near the bookshelf. In a sense, this can be said to be similar to the method of the second embodiment (a method of sending a question wave for user confirmation only when a book is taken out and returned), but in this embodiment, the user is not near the bookshelf. In some cases, even a question wave for book confirmation is not output.
And different. In the present embodiment, a sensor for detecting the presence or absence of a user near the bookshelf is separately installed. For example, FIG.
As shown in FIG.
4 to detect the presence of a person based on temperature changes,
A light sensor 26 of a passage detection type is provided in front of the bookcase 20 to detect whether or not a person approaches the bookcase 20. The plurality of antennas 16 of the RFID reader are provided for one shelf 20 (one for one book or one for a plurality of books), and these sensors 24 or 26 for user detection are provided in one or more bookshelves. What is necessary is just to provide one ratio with respect to 20 arrangement areas. The detection signals of these sensors 24 or 26 are sent to the lending management computer 10. The lending management computer 10 examines the detection signal, and if it determines that the user has appeared in the coverage area of the sensor, the lending management computer 10 sends the information to the reader control unit 14 of the bookshelf 20 in the coverage area (if there is more than one, all of them) To start the book and user detection processing. Then, if it is determined from the sensor detection signal that the user has disappeared, it instructs the reader control unit 14 to stop the book and user detection processing. The instruction to stop the detection process to the reader control unit 14 is not issued immediately after the absence of a person, but is issued after a certain time has elapsed. Thereby, it is possible to ensure the RFID recognition process by the reader control unit 14 at the time of lending / returning.

In the case of the infrared sensor 24, the presence or absence of a user is detected based on whether or not the user's body temperature is felt. When the user is detected, the reader is activated, and when the user is gone, the reader is stopped. .

Since the pass-type optical sensor 26 only detects the passage of the user, a device is needed to determine whether the user stays or leaves. In the present embodiment, the management computer 10 determines whether the user has stayed or left in the procedure shown in FIG. In this step,
A flag h-flag indicating whether or not the user enters the vicinity of the front of the book shelf 20 is used. When there is no user, the value of h-flag is 0, and when there is, the value of h-flag is 1. In the initial state at the start of the procedure, h-flag = 0 (step 90).
1). A processing loop is started from this state. When the optical sensor 26 detects the passage of the user when there is no user (h-flag = 0) (the determination result in step 902 is Y), the management computer 10 sets h-flag to 1 (step 90).
3) A start command is sent to the reader control unit 14 (step 904). Thereafter, if the user does not leave the front of the bookshelf 20, the optical sensor 26 does not detect the passage of a person, so the determinations in Steps 902 and 905 are both negative (N), and the value of h-flag does not change. , Reader control unit 1
4 keeps running. When user passing is detected in the state where the user is present (h-flag = 1) (Step 905: Y)
Determines that the user has left the book shelf 20 and sends a stop command to the reader control unit 14 (step 906).
ag is set to 0 (step 907). Thereafter, if the person does not pass through the optical sensor 26, steps 902, 90
The determinations of 5 are all negative (N), h-flag remains 0, and the reader control unit 14 remains stopped.

The example shown in FIG. 17 is an example in which the width of the bookshelf 20 is small and only one person can enter in front of it. In consideration of the case where a plurality of persons stay at the same time in front of the bookshelf 20, for example, two pairs (two pairs) of the pass-through optical sensors 26 are installed at a slight interval, and which of the two pairs of sensor pairs comes first. Depending on whether the passage is detected, it is possible to determine whether a person has approached or left the bookshelf, and thereby to grasp the number of people in front of the bookshelf.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the reader control unit 14 is stopped unless there is a person near the bookshelf 20, and does not emit an interrogation wave during that time. The sensor for detecting the presence / absence of a person may be provided in units of bookshelves or in units of arrangement areas of a plurality of bookshelves. Also, power consumption can be saved.
Further, when the reader control unit 14 is in the stopped state, the management computer 10 does not need to monitor the state of each book covered by the reader control unit 14, so that the load is greatly reduced.

The system of this embodiment is applicable to any of the lending / return management systems of the first to fourth embodiments.

[Application] The preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above. In the above, management of lending books and taking out dangerous goods in libraries and library rooms has been described as an example. However, application of the present invention is not limited to such fields.

For example, application to lending management at rental stores for videos and CDs, purchase management at retail stores, department stores, and the like can be considered. That is, by using the system of the present embodiment, it is possible to record who has taken out or returned goods from which merchandise shelves, so that this information can be used to automate the collection of charges, Calculation work can be simplified and speeded up.

[Brief description of figures]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a system according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of an antenna arrangement.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of an antenna.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a cycle of transmission of a query wave and reception of a response wave by a reader.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of lending information created in a lending management database.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure of user information registered in a lending management database.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure of book information registered in a lending management database.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a state transition that can occur in the case of lending in the first embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a state transition that can occur in the case of return in the first embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of an antenna configuration according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of an antenna arrangement that covers a plurality of books.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure according to the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure according to the fifth embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration (combination with an infrared or optical sensor) of a system according to a sixth embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a user presence / absence detection procedure according to the sixth embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 lending management computer, 12 lending management database, 14 reader control unit, 16 antenna, 18 L
AN, 30 books, 32, 35 RFID.

Claims (10)

[Claims] Claims: 1. An article is added to each article displayed on a display shelf,
A data carrier that stores the identification information of the article; a data carrier that is carried by each user and stores the identification information of the user; and a data carrier that is provided on a display shelf and repeatedly emits a question wave at predetermined intervals. Reading means for reading identification information from the response wave from the article and the data carrier of the user to the wave, and comparing the identification information group read this time with the identification information group read last time each time reading is performed by the reading means. And
When the loss of the identification information of the article is detected in this comparison, the identification information of the user who has substantially disappeared is obtained, and the removal management means for recording that the user has removed the article is provided. Goods removal management system. 2. The taking-out management means detects a loss of the identification information of the article in the comparison of the current and previous identification information groups, and when there is no identification information of the user who has disappeared substantially at the same time, The article removal management system according to claim 1, wherein the article removal management system determines that the article has been taken out without permission, and performs a predetermined process regarding unauthorized removal. 3. An item added to each article displayed on the display shelf,
A data carrier that stores the identification information of the article; a data carrier that is carried by each user and stores the identification information of the user; and a data carrier that is provided on a display shelf and repeatedly emits a question wave at predetermined intervals. An article reading means for reading identification information from a response wave from the data carrier of the article to the wave; and a response wave from the data carrier of the user provided to the display shelf for issuing an interrogation wave in response to an instruction. The user reading means for reading the identification information from the apparatus, and each time the reading is performed by the article reading means, the currently read identification information group is compared with the previously read identification information group. If detected, it is determined that the article has been taken out, and the user reading means is instructed to read the identification information of the user, and the user reading means responds accordingly. An article takeout management system comprising: a readout management unit that acquires the read user identification information and records that the user corresponding to the identification information has taken out the article. 4. A readable distance of the user reading means,
4. The article takeout management system according to claim 3, wherein the article reading means is longer than a readable distance. 5. The user reading means has a function of writing data to a data carrier of the user, and the taking-out management means takes a data carrier of a user who has determined that the article has been taken out. 4. The article takeout management system according to claim 3, wherein predetermined information relating to the takeout is written via the user reading means. 6. The take-out management means, when the user identification information is not read by the user reading means, determines that the article has been taken out without permission, and performs predetermined processing relating to unauthorized take-out. The article takeout management system according to claim 3, wherein: 7. The take-out management means, when detecting an increase in the identification information of the article in the comparison of the current and previous identification information groups, records that the article corresponding to the identification information has been returned to the display shelf. The article takeout management system according to claim 1 or 3, wherein: 8. The taking-out management means stores reading means for keeping the display location of the article within a detection range for each article, and detects an increase in the identification information of the article in comparison of the current and previous identification information groups. When it is determined whether the article should be within the detection range of the reading unit that has detected the identification information of the article, and when it is determined that the article should not be within the detection range of the reading unit, The article takeout management system according to claim 7, wherein the return location error is determined, and a predetermined process regarding the return location error is executed. 9. A lock mechanism for restricting removal of an article from the display shelf, and the identification information is read from a data carrier of the user who has come near the display shelf, and the read identification information indicates that the article is taken out. 4. The article according to claim 1, further comprising: means for releasing the lock mechanism only when it is determined that the user belongs to a user registered in advance as an authorized person. Take-out management system. 10. A means for detecting the presence or absence of a user in a predetermined range near the display shelf, and only when the presence of a user is detected by this means,
4. The article takeout management system according to claim 1, further comprising: a control unit that causes the reading unit to perform a reading operation. 5.