JP2006206262A - Package managing device and radio frequency tag - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To manage packages by relating each piece with an RF tag through the minimum required key operation. <P>SOLUTION: The RF tag stores the ID number for identifying it unambiguously and data to show the package attribute information and receives an RF signal from a transmitter for tags, and a light emitting means performs position notification and light communication controlled with the RF signal. The transmitter for tags is fed with the data to show the package attribute information for identifying the package etc. unambiguously, transmits the ID number, package attribute information, and the control information to the RF tag wirelessly, and receives the information transmitted from the light emitting means of the tag through light communication. The data written in a memory means in the tag is read and written. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  According to the present invention, article attribute information is written on an RF tag attached to a parcel such as a small parcel or registered mail that has returned to the post office due to the absence of a recipient, and the location can be confirmed by light emission of the RF tag as necessary. The present invention relates to a baggage management apparatus and an RF tag for managing a packaged item.

In general, a “passive RF tag” refers to a non-powered RF tag, and an “active RF tag” includes a battery so that received power and operating conditions for increasing communication distance can be output visually or with sound. At this time, each RF tag is assigned an ID number (tag ID) for uniquely identifying the tag, and is managed by creating a correspondence between the tag ID number and the item attribute information. A function for displaying an access state is provided by transmitting necessary data to each RF tag at the time of access. Note that Patent Document 1 is disclosed as an example of a wireless tag used by being attached to an article.
JP 2001-6061 A

  As one method for searching for each active RF tag attached to the returnable parcel due to the absence of the recipient, the “notification number” that is the item attribute information of the returnable parcel and the active RF tag are uniquely identified. There is a method of searching for a target tag by providing a database indicating correspondence with the ID number and transmitting the ID number. Creating a database by key operation is troublesome. This can be solved by attaching a barcode indicating the ID number to the RF tag and enabling the optical reader to automatically read the ID number. If a device is needed and this reading and writing cannot be done or disappears due to some kind of accident, the damage will be enormous.

  If the product attribute information is written on the RF tag itself and the light emitting means of the tag operates when the content of the data received by radio waves matches it, the database showing the correspondence with the ID number becomes unnecessary.

  For example, a post office delivery package is assigned a 12- to 13-digit package number, but a post office carry-back parcel or registered mail has a 6-digit number to facilitate telephone inquiries from customers. Renewal delivery and storage are managed by the “Notification Number”. In this case, an RF tag is attached to the returned parcel or registered mail, and a 6-digit “notification number” corresponding to the parcel is written as storage item attribute information in the storage means inside the RF tag. Next, when searching for the corresponding RF tag in response to an inquiry from the customer, if the "notification number" that is the item attribute information corresponding to the package is keyed in from the tag transmitter, the matching number is written. The light emitting means of the RF tag operates, and its location can be easily detected. In addition, if a “sound” such as a buzzer is added, the general direction of the tag can be understood, and the search can be made more efficient.

  In order to access the storage means in the RF tag and write the article attribute information etc. with high reliability, bidirectional communication that can take a procedure such as reading and checking the contents after writing is indispensable. is there. However, adding a communication means therefor to an RF tag that is required to be small and inexpensive leads to an increase in current consumption and size, and there are many sacrifices in terms of commercial value and cost.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of such circumstances, and as a result, it is possible to add an advanced information terminal function to the RF tag by an inexpensive and simple method, and to provide an efficient and flexible function. Special luggage management devices and RF tags are provided.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, in the present invention, the RF tag is provided with two operation modes 1 and 2, and in the former operation mode 1, the light emitting means in the RF tag mainly locates when searching for the tag. In the latter operation mode 2, it is operated as a means for transmitting data to the light receiving means of the tag transmitter by luminance modulation. Two-way communication is realized by combining the transmission unit and the reception unit using radio waves.

  The operation of the RF tag in the operation mode 1 is provided in the RF tag when the data transmitted from the tag transmitter and the data indicating the article attribute information in the tag are collated and the collation result matches a certain condition. The position of the article or the like is notified by causing the light emitting means to emit light. The light emission time is set to 10 milliseconds or more necessary for visual observation, and the light is turned on intermittently to facilitate discovery. This mode of operation is when the RF tag is attached to the package.

  The transition from the operation mode 1 to the operation mode 2 of the RF tag starts with reception of a specific command from the tag transmitter, and is performed through a procedure involving transmission / reception of an ID number unique to the target tag.

  The RF tag that can be shifted to the operation mode 2 needs to be in the vicinity of the tag transmitter and be in a state where it can perform optical communication with the tag transmitter. The light receiving means of the tag transmitter has directivity, and receives data transmitted by luminance modulation only from the light emitting means of the RF tag placed in the vicinity. That is, an ID number specific to the tag is received from an RF tag placed in the vicinity, and is used as an ID number necessary for the procedure for shifting to the operation mode 2, and as a result, the ID number is used only for the RF tag. Can shift to the operation of the operation mode 2.

  Two-way communication is performed between the RF tag that has shifted to the operation mode 2 and the tag transmitter, and article attribute information and the like are read from and written to the storage means in the RF tag. At this time, the contents of the optical communication are responses to various commands transmitted by radio waves, and are general binary data.

  In the operation mode 2, after the necessary data exchange is completed, the RF tag returns to the operation mode 1 by a command from the tag transmitter.

  As one method for searching for each active RF tag attached to the returnable parcel due to the absence of the recipient, the “notification number” that is the item attribute information of the returnable parcel and the active RF tag are uniquely identified. There is a method of searching for a target tag by providing a database indicating correspondence with the ID number and transmitting the ID number. Creating a database by key operation is troublesome. This can be solved by attaching a barcode indicating the ID number to the RF tag and enabling the optical reader to automatically read the ID number. If a device is needed and this reading and writing cannot be done or disappears due to some kind of accident, the damage will be enormous.

  In the present invention, the article attribute information is written in the RF tag itself, and the tag light-emitting means operates when the content of the data received by radio waves coincides with it, so the correspondence between the article attribute information and the tag ID number is shown. The database is no longer necessary, and the correspondence between the goods such as goods and the RF tag can be made naturally by the minimum key operation, and the position of the goods such as goods can be quickly known by the operation of the light emitting means of the tag. Benefits are gained.

  Further, the ability to freely set the object for collating the data received by the RF tag in the tag storage means brings a lot of flexibility to the RF tag search function. For example, the shipping date / time, location, customer name, etc. can be used for searching as data having a code system according to the user's needs. That is, it has a function as one information terminal.

  In the present invention, the RF tag is provided with two operation modes 1 and 2, and the light emitting means in the RF tag is operated in the former operation mode 1 mainly to visually notify the location at the time of tag search, and the latter. In the operation mode 2, the operation is performed as means for transmitting data to the light receiving means of the tag transmitter by luminance modulation. Two-way communication is realized by combining the transmission unit and the reception unit using radio waves.

  In addition, according to the present invention, since optical communication is performed by modulating the luminance of visible light LEDs for display, a bidirectional communication function can be achieved without increasing the number of RF tag components that are desired to be reduced in size and cost. The advantage that it can be obtained is obtained.

Hereinafter, a package management system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a package management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Multiple packages 1, 1, 1,. . . Includes RF tags 5, 5, 5,. . . Is attached. The RF tags 5, 5, 5,. . . The luggage 1, 1, 1,. . . Attached to. RF tags 5, 5, 5,. . . Respectively, visible light LEDs 3, 3, 3,. . . Is provided.

  Next, the RF tag transmitter 10 includes the RF tags 5, 5, 5,. . . It is used to search for a specific item from among the items and is carried by the delivery person. When each RF tag receives the “notification number” which is the article attribute information from the transmitter 10, it collates with the “notification number” written in the storage means incorporated therein, and if it matches, the LED 3 emits the LED 3 and emits itself. It is designed to inform the location of the. The RF tag transmitter 10 transmits the “notification number” of each package 1 with all RF tags 5, 5, 5,. . . To find a package with an RF tag that has a special LED.

  The light receiving means of the RF tag transmitter 10 has directivity, and receives data transmitted by luminance modulation only from the light emitting means of the RF tag placed in the vicinity. In other words, an ID number unique to the tag is received from an RF tag placed in the vicinity, and is used as an ID number necessary for the procedure for shifting to mode 2. As a result, only the RF tag has a special ID number. Enable transition to mode 2 operation. The RF tag transmitter 10 transmits the “notification number” of each package 1 according to the user operation of the keypad 15 and writes it in the storage means in the RF tag. The written contents are used for collation with the received data at the time of the search as necessary.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the RF tag 5. In the figure, the RF tag 5 includes an RF receiver 1, a microcontroller 2, an LED 3, and a battery 4. The microcontroller 2 turns on the LED 3 in an operation mode mainly based on visual position notification or an optical communication operation mode based on luminance modulation in accordance with a command received from the RF tag transmitter 10 by the RF receiver 1.

  When the LED 3 is lit in a mode mainly based on visual position notification, the delivery person can find a desired package. The lighting condition is when the data received by the RF receiver 1 matches the article attribute information of the package with the tag under certain conditions. This makes it possible to quickly find only the intended package.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the RF tag transmitter 10. In the figure, the RF tag transmitter 10 includes a keypad 15, a battery 14, an optical sensor 13, a microcontroller 12, and an RF transmitter 11. From the keypad 15, article attribute information is keyed. The microcontroller 12 transmits a command with an RF signal from the RF transmitter 11 in accordance with a user operation of the keypad 15.

  The microcontroller 12 receives data transmitted by optical communication only from the RF tag 5 placed closest to the optical sensor 13 having strong directivity. Hereinafter, a process of establishing bidirectional communication using radio waves and light by exchanging data between the RF tag 5 and the tag transmitter 10 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The transmitter 10 transmits a command for transmitting an ID number unique to the tag. The RF tags that respond to this command are all received tags. At this time, it is assumed that all the RF tags are in an operation mode (operation mode 1) in which LEDs are blinked for location display.

  The RF tag that has received the command by the RF receiver 1 transmits the ID number of the LED tag by modulating the brightness of the LED 3.

  In the RF tag transmitter 10, since the optical sensor 13 has a strong directivity, LED light emission (brightness-modulated ID number) is received only from the RF tag 5 placed closest. Next, the RF tag transmitter 10 adds the ID number received by the optical sensor 13 to the command for shifting to the RF tag operation mode 2 and transmits the command.

  On the other hand, the RF tag that has received the command determines whether or not the ID number added to the command is its own, and if it matches with its own, the RF tag is set to a mode that permits rewriting from the transmitter (operation mode 2). Transition. Along with the transition, a code indicating acceptance of the command is transmitted to the transmitter 10 by luminance modulation of the LED. An RF tag that does not find a matching ID number does not shift to the operation mode and does not respond to this command and the subsequent commands.

  In operation mode 2, the contents of an arbitrary address in the storage means in the RF tag can be rewritten and read. In addition to writing / confirming the item attribute information at the work site, the ID number unique to the tag, the date of manufacture, version information, etc. are also written by the above procedure when the RF tag is manufactured.

  When the necessary data exchange is completed, the transmitter 10 transmits a command for returning the operation mode of the RF tag. In response to this, the RF tag shifts the operation mode to the original operation mode 1. Along with the transition, a code indicating acceptance of the command is transmitted to the transmitter 10 by LED luminance modulation.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a package management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of RF tag 5 by this embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the transmitter 10 for RF tags by this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the procedure of the operation mode transfer of RF tag by this embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

  1 RF receiver (receiving means), 2 microcontroller (storage means, optical communication means), 3 LED (light emitting means), 4 battery, 5 RF tag

Claims (4)

A radio wave is transmitted from a tag transmitter to an RF tag attached to an article, and data included in the radio wave is collated with data indicating article attribute information written in storage means in the RF tag. A luggage management device that notifies a position of an article or the like by operating a light emitting means provided in the RF tag when a predetermined condition is met,
The RF tag is
Storage means for storing data indicating an ID number for uniquely identifying a tag and article attribute information;
Receiving means for receiving an RF signal from the tag transmitter;
A light emitting means that combines optical communication with position notification controlled by an RF signal by the receiving means,
The tag transmitter is
Human power means for inputting data indicating article attribute information for uniquely identifying articles etc .;
Transmitting means for wirelessly transmitting the ID number, the article attribute information and the control information to the RF tag;
A light receiving means for receiving information transmitted by light communication from the light emitting means of the RF tag;
A package management apparatus comprising a function of reading and writing data written in the storage means in a tag.   2. The light emitting means according to claim 1, wherein the light emitting means has a first light emitting mode mainly for visual position notification and a second light emitting mode for optical communication by luminance modulation, and can be operated by switching between them. Baggage management device.   2. The luggage management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the light receiving means has directivity and receives only optical information transmitted from the light emitting means of a target RF tag. An RF tag that notifies the position of an article or the like by causing a light emitting means to emit light based on reception of data from a tag transmitter,
Storage means for storing data indicating an ID number for uniquely identifying a tag and article attribute information;
Receiving means for receiving an RF signal from the tag transmitter;
A light emitting means that combines the position notification and optical communication;
Control means for controlling reading of data from the storage means and writing of data to the storage means using bidirectional communication between the RF signal and the tag transmitter by the optical communication. RF tag to do.

Images