JP2006260036A - Device for reading article having radio ic tag - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a simple and small radio IC tag reading device without requiring much power. <P>SOLUTION: The reading device comprises: an antenna for performing communication with the radio IC tag held in an article; a moving mechanism for moving the antenna in a prescribed direction; and a storage means for storing information as needed, which is obtained from a reception signal acquired in the case of moving the antenna by the moving mechanism and performing communication with the radio IC tag. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an article reading apparatus having a wireless tag.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an article reading apparatus in an article management system using an RFID tag, it is often difficult to transmit and receive radio waves depending on the position and direction of the RFID tag at the time of reading. Therefore, it is necessary to read and write the RFID tag information satisfactorily by using a plurality of reading antennas that receive weak radio waves. However, when a plurality of antennas are used, a loss occurs at a branch point, which requires a large amount of power in the RFID tag reader, leading to an increase in size and complexity of the reader.

  The present invention has been made in view of the problems of increasing the size and complexity of the reading apparatus accompanying the increase in sensitivity and the number of conventional RFID tag reading antennas as described above, and does not require much power and is simple. An object of the present invention is to provide a small wireless tag reader.

  According to claim 1 of the present invention, an antenna that communicates with a wireless tag included in an article, a moving mechanism that moves the antenna in a predetermined direction, and the antenna that is moved by the moving mechanism to communicate with the wireless tag. And a storage means for storing information obtained from the received signal at that time as needed, and a reading device for an article having a wireless tag.

  According to claim 5 of the present invention, an antenna that communicates with a wireless tag included in an article, a motor that moves the antenna in a predetermined direction within a predetermined range, and the wireless mechanism that moves the antenna by the moving mechanism. Storage means for communicating with the tag and storing information obtained from the received signal at any time, and after the movement of the antenna within the predetermined range, specific information is stored from the plurality of information stored by the storage means. There is provided an apparatus for reading an article having a wireless tag, characterized by comprising information selecting means for selecting.

  According to the present invention, a simple and small wireless tag reader can be obtained without requiring much power.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

<Embodiment 1>
FIG. 1 shows an example of the overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. That is, it comprises an article 11, a wireless tag 12 attached thereto, a wireless tag reader 13, and a movable reading antenna 14 built in the wireless tag reader.

  FIG. 2A shows a perspective view of a detailed configuration example of the movable reading antenna 14. The movable reading antenna 14 includes a reading antenna 21, an antenna conveying member 22 having a driving motor M for moving the reading antenna 21, and a rail 23 for guiding the antenna conveying member 22. For example, a patch antenna is used as the reading antenna 21.

  FIG. 2B shows an electrical configuration example of the movable reading antenna 14. That is, the reading antenna 21 that receives the signal of the wireless tag 12, the signal processing unit 25 that processes the received signal, and the signal selection that selects the information having the best received and processed signal, that is, the information having the best reception state Unit 26, storage unit 27 that temporarily stores received signal information and reception position information in an optimal reception state, and control unit 28 that controls signal reception and movement of reading antenna 21 using conveyance member 22. Composed.

  Next, the flow of control of the movable reading antenna 14 until the reading of the wireless tag 12 attached to the article 11 is started is shown in the flowchart of FIG. 3, and will be described in detail below.

  First, in step S31, it is determined whether or not there is an instruction to read the wireless tag 12 attached to the article 11. If there is an instruction, the process proceeds to step S32, and if not, step S31 is executed again. Thus, a reading instruction is awaited. The reading instruction is given by pressing a reading start button of the wireless tag reader 13 or a weight detection function provided in the wireless tag reader 13. In the next step S32, the control unit 28 prepares for signal reception by moving the reading antenna 21 to a predetermined initial position on the rail 23 using the driving motor of the antenna conveying member 22.

  In step S33, it is determined whether the position of the reading antenna 21 is within a predetermined movable range. If the position of the reading antenna 21 is within the movable range, the process proceeds to step S34, and if not within the movable range, the process proceeds to step S39.

  In step S <b> 34, the signal processing unit 25 attempts to receive a signal from the wireless tag 12 using the reading antenna 21.

  In step S35, it is determined whether or not there is reception from the wireless tag 12 in the signal reception attempted in step S34. If the signal from the wireless tag 12 can be received, the process proceeds to step S36. If not received, the process proceeds to step S38.

  In step S36, it is confirmed using the signal selection unit 26 whether the signal reception sensitivity from the wireless tag 12 is equal to or higher than a normal level. If the signal reception is higher than the normal level, the process proceeds to step S37, and if the signal reception is lower than the normal level, the process proceeds to step S38.

  In step S37, the received signal information held by the signal selection unit 26 of the wireless tag 12 and the current position information of the reading antenna 21 held by the control unit 28 are combined and stored in the storage unit 27.

  In step S38, under the control of the control unit 28, the reading antenna 21 is moved using a driving motor of the antenna conveying member 22 by a predetermined distance. After the movement, the process returns to step S33.

  In step S39, since all the signal reception states within the movable range of the reading antenna 21 have been examined, the control unit 28 uses the signal selection unit 26 to receive the received signal information and the received position information stored in the storage unit 27 in step S37. From the list, select one with the best signal reception state.

  In step S40, it is determined whether or not there is an optimum received signal selected in step S39. If there is an optimum one, the process proceeds to step S41, and if not, the process proceeds to step S43.

  In step S41, the control unit 28 moves the reading antenna 21 to the position indicated by the position information of the optimum reception signal selected in step S39 using the drive motor M of the antenna transport member 22.

  In step S42, communication with the wireless tag 12 is started using the reading antenna 21, and the information is read. After reading is completed, the process is terminated.

  In step S43, “reading failure” of the article 11 is notified and the process ends. The notification of “reading failure” notifies the holder of the article 11 by a warning sound such as a buzzer, for example, and prompts a response such as reading again.

  As described above, the wireless tag reader 13 scans the position of the optimum signal reception state by repeating the attempt and movement of signal reception from the wireless tag 12 using the movable reading antenna 14, and at that position. Thus, the information of the wireless tag 12 can be read accurately.

  According to the present embodiment, since the RFID tag reader 13 itself can ensure an optimal communication state, it is not necessary to prepare a plurality of high-sensitivity antennas, and the accompanying power loss can be prevented. There is an advantage that it is not necessary to increase the size, and that it is possible to provide a wireless tag reader that is more compact and capable of reading with high accuracy.

  In this embodiment, the reading antenna 21 is moved only in one direction along the rail 23. There is an advantage that information from the wireless tag can be read relatively quickly when it is known in advance that the position of the article to which the wireless tag is attached is within a certain range.

<Embodiment 2>
By the way, in the example of the above embodiment, the reading antenna 21 is moved only in one direction. However, a method of moving two-dimensionally, that is, using two antenna conveyance members 22 and two rails 23 may be used. FIG. 4 shows a configuration example of such an embodiment of the present invention.

  That is, the rail 23 is arranged in the X direction and the Y direction, and the Y direction antenna transport member 22 is placed on the Y direction rail 23 that moves the reading antenna 21 directly, and the Y direction rail 22 and the Y direction antenna transport member 22 and The reading antenna 21 includes an X-direction antenna transport member 22 that moves the motor M on the X-direction rail 22.

  In this embodiment, the reading antenna 21 may be moved in a rectangular shape from one corner of the plane, or may be moved diagonally between two adjacent corners starting from one corner of the plane, or movable. You may start from the center position of the plane and move outward in a spiral.

  According to this embodiment, the reading antenna 21 can scan the article 11 placed on the wireless tag reader 13, so that more reliable wireless communication can be performed regardless of the placement and position. The tag 12 can be detected and read, that is, there is an advantage of reading flexibility.

  In the present invention, as a mechanism for moving the antenna, for example, a motor such as a stepping motor can be used, but other moving mechanisms may be used.

  In addition, the smaller the step of the moving distance, the more accurate reading can be performed, and the most appropriate signal can be received and selected. The capacity for storing is also increased. How much distance is received is determined in consideration of these factors.

The figure which shows the example of the whole structure of one Embodiment in this invention. The figure for demonstrating the wireless tag reading part of one Embodiment in this invention. The figure for demonstrating the flow of control of one Embodiment in this invention. The figure for demonstrating the RFID tag reading part of other embodiment in this invention.

Explanation of symbols

11 ... Goods
12 ... wireless tag,
13 ... RFID tag reader,
14 ... movable reading antenna,
21: Reading antenna,
22 ... Antenna conveying member,
23 ... Rail,
25... Signal processing unit,
26... Signal selection unit,
27: Storage unit,
28 ... control unit,
M: Motor.

Claims (5)

An antenna for communicating with the wireless tag of the article;
A moving mechanism for moving the antenna in a predetermined direction;
Storage means for storing information obtained from a received signal at that time by performing communication with the wireless tag by moving the antenna by the moving mechanism;
An apparatus for reading an article having a wireless tag, characterized by comprising:   The apparatus for reading an article having a wireless tag according to claim 1, further comprising information selection means for selecting specific information from the plurality of information stored by the storage means.   The apparatus for reading an article having a wireless tag according to claim 1, wherein the moving mechanism has a configuration for moving the antenna in one direction.   The apparatus for reading an article having a wireless tag according to claim 1, wherein the moving mechanism has a configuration for moving the antenna two-dimensionally or three-dimensionally. An antenna for communicating with the wireless tag of the article;
A motor for moving the antenna in a predetermined direction within a predetermined range;
Storage means for storing information obtained from a received signal at that time by performing communication with the wireless tag by moving the antenna by the moving mechanism;
Reading an article having a wireless tag, comprising: an information selection unit that selects specific information from a plurality of pieces of information stored in the storage unit after the movement of the antenna within the predetermined range is completed. apparatus.

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