JP4687975B2 - Wireless tag information reader - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a wireless tag information reading apparatus capable of reading information by wireless communication from a wireless tag circuit element handled in connection with an article.

  An RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) system that reads / writes information in a non-contact manner between a small wireless tag and a reader (reading device) / writer (writing device) is known. For example, a wireless tag circuit element provided in a label-like wireless tag includes an IC circuit unit that stores predetermined information and an antenna unit that is connected to the IC circuit unit and transmits and receives information. Even if it is dirty or placed in an invisible position, it is possible to read / write information from / to the IC circuit unit from the reader / writer side in various fields such as article management and logistics. Practical use is expected.

  As a conventional technique in which such a wireless tag is applied to management of documents and the like, for example, the one described in Patent Document 1 has already been proposed.

  In this conventional technology, in a drawer-type article container (cabinet) that stores document files (search objects) in a drawer, a RFID circuit element (RFID data carrier) is attached to each file and above each drawer. By providing a reader (wireless tag information reading device, RFID antenna) that can communicate with the wireless tag circuit element, each file is managed in and out.

JP 2000-128315 A

  However, in the above prior art, when it is desired to detect the movement status (accommodation status) of an article such as taking out the article from the inside of the article container or storing it from the outside of the article container, each drawer at each stage It is necessary to provide a wireless tag information reading device. For this reason, there is a problem that the structure becomes large and the cost is increased.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a wireless tag information reading device that can detect the movement status (accommodation status) of a plurality of articles arranged in an article storage container by providing only one device.

In order to achieve the above object, a first invention is a wireless tag information reading device arranged in the vicinity of an article container capable of taking in and out a plurality of articles, an IC circuit unit for storing information, and the IC circuit with parts connected to the tag antenna, respectively, the article wireless tag circuit element to be handled in association with the article, and a person for the wireless tag circuit element associated with the person, the wireless tag circuit element and the wireless communication comprising a device side antenna for the communication area by the apparatus antenna, and a communication control means for setting so that the article out side of the article container, the apparatus antenna to the person RFID circuit via Based on the communication status value for the element, it is determined whether the person enters and leaves the predetermined surrounding area in the vicinity of the article container, and the device side antenna The article corresponding to the RFID tag circuit element for articles is returned to the article container and the article according to the history of communication state values for the RFID circuit element for articles and the RFID tag circuit element for persons via And determining means for determining the accommodation status including taking out from the article container .

In the first invention of the present application, wireless communication is performed with the wireless tag circuit element via the device-side antenna disposed in the vicinity of the article container, and the communicable area at this time is determined by the communication control means by the article of the article container. It is set to be in / out. Thus, when the article is taken out from the inside of the article container or is stored from the outside to the inside of the article container, the communicable area is surely passed. As a result, by associating the RFID circuit elements for articles with a plurality of articles arranged in the article container by attachment / enclosure etc., each article can be obtained only by providing one RFID tag information reader. It is possible to detect the movement status (accommodation status) of the product from the change (history) of the communication status with the RFID tag circuit element for goods.
In particular, it is possible to determine whether a person has entered or exited from a predetermined surrounding area in the vicinity of the article container based on a communication state value for the person RFID circuit element by providing a determination means. In addition, according to the history of communication state values for the article RFID tag circuit element and the person RFID circuit element, it is possible to determine the accommodation status of the article container including the return and take-out of the article.
Specifically, for example, the RFID circuit element for a person enters the communicable area → the RFID circuit element for the article enters the communicable area → both the RFID circuit elements go out of the communicable area. For example, it is determined that the article has been taken out and taken out from the article container, and the RFID tag circuit element for person and the RFID tag circuit element for article are within the communicable area → the RFID tag circuit element for article is outside the communicable area → If the RFID circuit element for a person moves out of the communicable area, it is determined that the article is returned and stored, and the RFID circuit element for the person enters the communicable area. If the behavior of the RFID tag circuit element for articles is outside the communicable area → the RFID tag circuit element for people is outside the communicable area, the article is once taken out from the article container. Is that If the person's RFID circuit element is in the communicable area → the person's RFID circuit element is out of the communicable area, the person is an article. It can be determined that the item in the container is only glanced without being moved.

  According to a second invention, in the first invention, the communication control means sets the communicable area so as not to substantially include the interior of the article container.

  By preventing the inside of the article container from becoming a communicable area, when the article is taken out from the inside of the article container, it becomes a behavior in the order of outside the communicable area → within the communicable area, On the other hand, when it is stored from the outside of the article container to the inside, it will behave in the order of within the communicable area → out of the communicable area as it moves, so the state of article containment reliably using these behaviors Can be detected.

  According to a third aspect, in the second aspect, the communication control unit is configured to communicate with the first communication setting RFID circuit element disposed at a predetermined location inside the article container. Is set.

  Thus, the communication control means controls so that communication with the first communication setting RFID circuit element is almost impossible, so that the communicable area is surely set so as not to substantially include the inside of the article container. Can do.

  According to a fourth invention, in any one of the first to third inventions, the communication control means is configured such that the communicable area is substantially farthest from the device-side antenna on the article loading / unloading side of the article container. It is characterized by setting so as to reach a certain position.

  Thus, the communicable area can be set so as to cover the entire article loading / unloading side of the article container. Therefore, the article RFID tag circuit element can be placed in any position of the article container. The accommodation status of the article can be reliably detected by the change (history) of the communication status.

  According to a fifth invention, in the fourth invention, the communication control means includes a second communication setting RFID circuit element disposed outside the article container at a predetermined location on the article loading / unloading side of the article container. The communicable area is set based on the communication result.

  As a result, the communication control means controls so as to enable communication with the second communication setting RFID circuit element, so that the communicable area is surely set so as to cover the entire article loading / unloading side of the article container. be able to.

The sixth invention, in any one of the first to fifth invention, the determining means, before or after Kisho constant of the person to the surrounding region admission, a determination of the accommodation states when exit from the surrounding area It is characterized by that.

  How the person took action on the article in the article container by making a judgment of the containment status when the person leaves the surrounding area of the article container (take-out, return, browsing, first glance, etc.) ) Can be determined.

In a seventh aspect based on the sixth aspect , the determination means is configured to record the communication state value history for the article RFID tag circuit element and the person RFID circuit element after the person enters the predetermined surrounding area. Accordingly, the accommodation status is judged.

  After the person arrives at the article container from a distance by making a judgment of the accommodation status according to the communication history with the RFID tag circuit element for articles after the person enters the surrounding area of the article container, the article It is possible to reliably determine what action has been taken with respect to the item in the container (take-out, return, browsing, first glance, etc.).

In an eighth aspect based on the first aspect , the communication control means sets the communicable area based on a result of communication with the person RFID tag circuit element.

  For example, communication is possible by placing a person at a predetermined position on the take-out side in the vicinity of the article container and controlling the communication control means so that communication with the RFID tag circuit element for the person associated with the person is possible The area can be set appropriately.

According to a ninth invention, in any one of the sixth to eighth inventions, the determination means is configured such that a person enters the surrounding area, and a communication state value for the article RFID circuit element is relatively small from a relatively large value. When the person leaves the surrounding area after a predetermined time has elapsed after decreasing to a value, it is determined that an article corresponding to the article RFID tag circuit element has been returned into the article container.

  When returning an article, the person who has the article (returner) reaches the surrounding area of the article container from a distance, and only the article is stored (returned) inside the article container on the loading / unloading side of the article container. Then, when only the person leaves, the person can enter the surrounding area, the communication status value of the RFID tag circuit element for the article decreases, and the article can be determined to be returned according to the order of exit. it can.

According to a tenth aspect, in the ninth aspect , the determination means further includes an entry time of the person into the surrounding area or the communicable area and the large value of the communication state value for the RFID tag circuit element for goods. It is determined that the article has been returned on the condition that the detection start time of the two coincides within a predetermined range.

  When an article is returned, since the person (returner) who has the article reaches the area around the article container from a distance, the abbreviation of the person entry time and the communication state value increase time of the article RFID tag circuit element By using coincidence as a condition, it is possible to determine the return of goods more accurately.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in any one of the sixth to eighth aspects of the present invention, the determination means has a communication state value relative to the article RFID circuit element relative to a predetermined time after a person enters the surrounding area. When the person exits from the surrounding area, the article corresponding to the article RFID tag circuit element is judged to have been taken out from the article container.

  When taking out an article, a person (take-out person) reaches the surrounding area of the article container from a distance, takes out the article from the inside of the article container on the loading / unloading side of the article container, and then carries the article and leaves. As a result, it is possible to determine that an article has been taken out in accordance with the order of a person entering the surrounding area → an increase in the communication state value of the article RFID circuit element → the person leaving.

In a twelfth aspect based on the eleventh aspect , the determination means further includes a timing at which the person leaves the surrounding area or the communicable area and a communication state value for the article RFID circuit element is the large value. It is determined that the article has been taken out on condition that the time when the item has decreased to a small value coincides within a predetermined range.

  When taking out an article, the person (returner) who carried the article leaves the surrounding area of the article container, so that the person leaving time substantially coincides with the communication status value decrease time of the article RFID tag circuit element. By making the condition, it is possible to more accurately determine whether to take out the article.

Thirteenth aspect, in any one of the seventh to twelfth invention, said determining means, as a pre-Symbol communications state value, the communication radio wave strength between the article wireless tag circuit element, or a communication radio field intensity time Based on any one of the change amount or the response rate from the article RFID circuit element , judging whether the person enters and leaves the surrounding area and judging the accommodation status of the article. Features.

  Thus, for example, when the communication radio wave intensity with the RFID tag circuit element for articles increases, the time change amount increases with a positive value, or the response rate increases, the article is moved from outside the communicable area. It can be determined that it has moved into the communicable area, and conversely, the communication radio wave intensity with the RFID tag circuit element for goods decreases, the time variation increases with a negative value, and the response rate decreases. Or the like, it can be determined that the article has moved from the communicable area to the outside of the communicable area.

  According to the present invention, only by providing one RFID tag information reader, the movement status (accommodation status) of a plurality of articles arranged in the article container can be changed in the communication status with the RFID tag circuit element for articles ( History).

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

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an overall schematic structure of an article container including the RFID tag information reading device of the present embodiment.

  In FIG. 1, an article container 1 is installed in a container body 2 having a plurality of stages (four stages in this example) of storage parts and in the vicinity of the container body 2 (in this example, installed on the top surface of the top plate 2a). And a reader 5 as a wireless tag reading device.

  The container body 2 is provided with a back plate 2d (see FIG. 2) so as to cover the back surface of a frame in which both ends of a rectangular top plate 2a and a bottom plate 2b that are long in the left-right direction are connected and fixed by side plates 2c that are vertically long. In addition, three mounting plates 2e are provided at equal intervals in the vertical direction inside the frame to form a four-stage accommodating portion 3. Then, an internal reference wireless tag (at the center position in the left-right direction) on the bottom surface (upper surface of the mounting plate 2e) of the first-stage housing unit 3 and the bottom surface of the fourth-stage housing unit 3 (upper surface of the bottom plate 2b) A RFID circuit element To as a first communication setting RFID circuit element is provided (details will be described later). Tn is installed (in this example, non-metallic so that it is slightly lifted from the mounting plate 2e and the bottom plate 2b). Arranged on a partition member U made of metal). In addition, a tag installation unit 4 protrudes in a forward direction at the center position in the left-right direction of the bottom plate 2b, and an external reference wireless tag (as a second communication setting wireless tag circuit element) is provided on the upper surface of the tag installation unit 4. Tg of the RFID tag circuit element To) is installed (for example, embedded). The entire container body 2 is configured using a material (for example, a shielding material such as aluminum) that reduces the signal strength of the radio communication signal.

  A plurality of articles 6 (in this example, tools having various shapes; hereinafter simply referred to as tools 6) are accommodated in the accommodating units 3 at each stage, and each tool 6 has a radio tag for articles (a radio tag for articles). Tb (with a RFID circuit element To as a circuit element) is affixed. In addition, a person to be managed such as an employee or a worker who is permitted to handle the tool 6 has a person's wireless tag (equipped with a wireless tag circuit element To as a person's wireless tag circuit element) Tj attached. I have a name tag 7 and ID card.

  FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a functional configuration of the reader 5 installed on the upper surface of the container main body 2 along with a side sectional view taken along the II-II ′ section in FIG. 1. In addition, in order to avoid the complexity of illustration, the accommodating part 3 shows only the 1st stage and the 4th stage in which the internal reference | standard radio | wireless tag Tn is installed, and the drawer | drawing-out part 4 of the other 2nd-3rd stage is 1, 4 The illustration is omitted because it has the same configuration as that of the stage.

  In FIG. 2, each accommodating portion 3 is a hollow container having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and the front thereof is opened so that almost the entire inside can be visually recognized. The open side of each storage section 3 is an article loading / unloading side (left side in FIG. 2) for taking out and storing the article (tool).

  The internal reference wireless tag Tn, the external reference wireless tag Tg, the article wireless tag Tb, and the person wireless tag Tj (hereinafter appropriately referred to collectively as the wireless tag T) are wireless tags T having the same configuration. The internal reference wireless tag Tn, the external reference wireless tag Tg, the article wireless tag Tb, and the person wireless tag Tj can be distinguished according to the type of identification information (tag ID) stored in advance in an IC circuit section provided later. It has become.

  These RFID tags T have, for example, a base film Tf that is attached to the mounting plate 2e, the bottom plate 2b, the tool 6, and the name tag 7 with an appropriate adhesive, and an RFID circuit element To that is provided on the surface thereof. ing. On the surface of the base film Tf, two elongated dipole antennas (tag side antennas) 72 that transmit and receive information are integrally provided, and an IC circuit unit 74 that stores information is formed so as to be connected thereto, These constitute the RFID circuit element To (the detailed structure of the RFID circuit element To will be described later).

  On the other hand, the reader 5 transmits and receives signals by wireless communication between the casing 5a that accommodates the entire reader 5 and the RFID circuit element To provided in each RFID tag T using radio waves of a predetermined band. (Device-side antenna), a high-frequency circuit 10 for accessing the RFID circuit element To via the antenna 30, and a signal processing circuit 11 for processing signals transmitted and received between the RFID circuit element To A history of communication results between the human sensor 13 (not shown in FIG. 1) 13 for detecting the presence of a person in the vicinity of the article loading / unloading side of the container body 2 and the article wireless tag Tb and the person wireless tag Tj. A database 15 to be stored and held, and a control circuit 12 for controlling the reader 5 as a whole via the signal processing circuit 11, the human sensor 13, and the database 15.

  The control circuit 12, which is a so-called microcomputer, is not shown in detail, but includes a central processing unit such as a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM. The control circuit 12 is stored in advance in the ROM while using a temporary storage function of the RAM. Signal processing is performed according to the program.

  Further, a part of the casing 5a is provided so as to protrude from the front surface of the container body 2 toward the article insertion / removal side, and the antenna 30 is provided on the lower surface of the protruding portion of the casing 5a on the article of the container body 2. It is arranged in such a way as to face the external area on the entry / exit side. As a result, the installation position of the antenna 30 substantially coincides with the position of the two internal reference wireless tags Tn and the external reference wireless tag Tg in the left-right direction. The wireless communication area (communication possible area) via the antenna 30 communicates with both of the two internal reference wireless tags Tn as shadows of the top plate 2a and the mounting plate 2e, which are wireless communication signal reducing materials. It is set to an area where communication with the external reference wireless tag Tg is disabled (the setting of this wireless communication area will be described in detail later).

  The antenna 30 is composed of a dipole antenna, transmits the interrogation wave toward the radio tag T, and receives a response wave returned from the radio tag T according to the interrogation wave.

  The human sensor 13 enters a wider area including the wireless communication area Ar on the article loading / unloading side of the container main body 2 (in this case, regardless of whether the person's wireless tag Tj is owned or not). ON / OFF signal indicating whether or not the signal is present is output to the control circuit 12, and is constituted by a known detector such as an infrared sensor.

  The database 15 is composed of a large-capacity storage device such as a hard disk drive, and when the control circuit 12 communicates with the article wireless tag Tb and the person wireless tag Tj via the antenna 30 or the like, the history of the results is recorded in time series. Information such as a series history table is stored and held (the time series history table will be described in detail later).

  FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing a detailed configuration of the reader 5. As shown in FIG. 3, the signal processing circuit 11 includes a command bit string generation unit 20 that generates a command bit string corresponding to a transmission signal to the wireless tag T, and a digital signal output from the command bit string generation unit 20. And an encoder 22 for encoding by pulse width modulation or the like.

  The high-frequency circuit 10 includes an AM modulation unit 24 that modulates the signal encoded by the encoding unit 22 by an AM method, a local oscillator 32 that outputs a predetermined local oscillation signal, and a station that is output from the local oscillator 32. The transmission signal output from the AM modulation unit 24 is up-converted in accordance with the emitted signal, is amplified with a predetermined amplification factor, is transmitted as an interrogation wave from the antenna 30, and the reception signal received by the antenna 30 is A high frequency transmission / reception unit 34 that amplifies at an amplification factor and down-converts and outputs the signal according to a local oscillation signal output from the local oscillator 32, and a received signal output from the high frequency transmission / reception unit 34 is demodulated by the AM method. The AM demodulator 40 for detecting the demodulated wave, and the AM demodulator 40 outputs from the antenna 30 by the control signal output according to the detection state of the AM demodulated wave. Set the gain of the signal signal, and outputs the high-frequency transceiver 34 (transmission power can be set variably) and an output control section 35.

  On the other hand, the signal processing circuit 11 interprets the AM demodulated wave demodulated by the AM demodulating unit 40 by pulse width modulation or the like, and interprets the decoded signal decoded by the decoding unit. A response bit string interpretation unit 44 that reads out an information signal related to the modulation of the wireless tag T is also provided.

  FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing detailed functions of the high frequency transmitter / receiver 34. As shown in FIG. 4, the high frequency transmitter / receiver 34 includes a transmission signal D / A converter 50 that converts a transmission signal supplied from the AM modulation unit into an analog signal, and an analog signal by the transmission signal D / A converter 50. The up-converter 52 that increases the frequency of the converted transmission signal by the frequency of the local oscillation signal output from the local oscillator 32, and the transmission signal up-converted by the up-converter 52 are set by the output control unit described above. A transmission signal amplifier 54 that amplifies at an amplification factor, and a directionality of supplying a transmission signal output from the transmission signal amplifier 54 to the antenna 30 and supplying a reception signal supplied from the antenna 30 to the reception signal amplification unit 58 A coupler 56 and a reception signal amplifier 58 for amplifying the reception signal supplied from the directional coupler 56 with a predetermined amplification rate; Down-converter 60 that lowers the frequency of the received signal output from the received signal amplifier 58 by the frequency of the local oscillator signal output from the local oscillator 32, and converts the received signal down-converted by the down-converter 60 into a digital signal. And a reception signal A / D converter 62 supplied to the AM demodulator 40.

  FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram showing detailed functions of the RFID circuit element To provided in the RFID tag T. As described above, the RFID circuit element To shown in FIG. 5 is received by the antenna unit 72 including the dipole antenna for transmitting and receiving signals to and from the reader 5, and the antenna unit 72. And an IC circuit unit 74 for processing signals. The IC circuit unit 74 includes a rectification unit 76 that rectifies the interrogation wave received from the reader 5 received by the antenna unit 72, and a power supply unit 78 that accumulates the energy of the interrogation wave rectified by the rectification unit 76. A clock extraction unit 80 that extracts a clock signal from the carrier wave received by the antenna unit 72 and supplies the clock signal to the control unit 86, and a memory unit 82 that functions as an information storage unit that can store a predetermined information signal such as a tag ID. And controlling the operation of the RFID circuit element To through the modulation / demodulation unit 84 connected to the antenna unit 72 for modulating and demodulating the signal, the rectification unit 76, the clock extraction unit 80, the modulation / demodulation unit 84, and the like. And a control unit 86 for functionally.

  The control unit 86 communicates with the reader 5 to store the predetermined information in the memory unit 82, and transmits the interrogation wave received by the antenna unit 72 to the memory unit 82 in the modulation / demodulation unit 84. After performing modulation based on the stored information signal, basic control such as control of reflecting back from the antenna unit 72 as a response wave is executed.

  The clock extraction unit 80 extracts a clock component from the received signal and extracts the clock to the control unit 86, and supplies a clock corresponding to the speed of the clock component of the received signal to the control unit 86.

  For example, among the information signals stored in the memory unit 155, tag IDs for individually identifying the internal reference wireless tag Tn, the external reference wireless tag Tg, the article wireless tag Tb, and the person wireless tag Tj. The information in the bit string constituting the tag ID is information that can distinguish the types of the various tags and can uniquely identify each single tag.

  As described above, the most significant feature of the present embodiment is that the wireless communication area by the antenna 30 of the reader 5 is set to an appropriate area on the article insertion / removal side of the container body 2, thereby moving the articles (accommodating situation). Is detected by the change (history) of the communication status with the wireless tag Tb for goods. Hereinafter, the details will be sequentially described.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a control procedure executed by the control circuit 12 of the reader 5.

In FIG. 6, this flow starts when the reader 5 is powered on.
First, in step S100, wireless communication area setting processing is performed for setting the wireless communication area from the antenna 30 to be an appropriate area on the article loading / unloading side located in front of the container body 2 (see the flow of FIG. 7 described later). ). Thus, every time the reader 5 is activated, an appropriate wireless communication area corresponding to the radio wave state at that time is set, and the behavior of the wireless tag can be detected more accurately in the subsequent tag management processing.

  Next, in step S200, tag management processing is performed to determine the accommodation status of the article (tool) based on the history of the communication result while performing wireless communication with the article wireless tag Tb and the person wireless tag Tj (FIG. 11 described later). See the flow). This tag management process is a target process of the wireless tag reader according to this embodiment, and this flow is terminated when the power is turned off.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a detailed procedure of the wireless communication area setting process in step S100 in FIG. In FIG. 7, first, in step S105, the output value of the transmission signal output from the antenna 30 is set to the maximum. As a result, the wireless communication area Ar (see FIG. 8 and the like to be described later) is set to the widest area. In this state, the wireless communication area Ar reaches from the antenna 30 located above the container body 2 to the floor on which the container body 2 is placed, that is, farthest from the antenna 30 (the lowermost stage). ) Although it has reached the container loading / unloading side area of the container, on the other hand, if the output of the transmission signal is too large, there is a possibility that it will reach the inside of the container of each stage deeply.

  Next, the process proceeds to step S110, and it is determined whether or not the two internal reference wireless tags Tn can be read. Specifically, a “Scroll ID” command that reads information stored in the RFID circuit element To based on the unique tag ID of each internal reference RFID tag Tn is output to the signal processing circuit 11, and the high-frequency circuit Is transmitted as a question wave from the antenna 30 to the RFID circuit element To of each internal reference RFID tag Tn to prompt a reply. Then, it is determined whether or not a reply signal (including at least a tag ID) has been received from the RFID circuit element To of any of the internal reference RFID tags Tn in response to this interrogation wave.

  If a reply signal from any of the internal reference wireless tags Tn is received, the determination is satisfied, that is, the output of the transmission signal is considered to be too large and the wireless communication area Ar has reached too deep in the container, After the transmission signal output is decreased by a predetermined width in step S115, the process returns to step S110 and the same procedure is repeated. Through the loop of step S110 and step S115, the transmission signal output can be set so that the wireless communication area Ar can be secured to the extent that the wireless communication area Ar does not reach each internal reference wireless tag Tn. In addition, the wireless communication area | region Ar can be set with higher adjustment precision, so that the reduction | decrease width in step S115 is a small value.

  On the other hand, if no reply signal is received from any of the internal reference wireless tags Tn in step S110, the determination is not satisfied, that is, the transmission signal is output so that the arrival depth of the wireless communication area Ar in the container is appropriate. And the process proceeds to the next step S120.

  In step S120, it is determined whether or not the two external reference wireless tags Tg can be read. Specifically, the interrogation wave is output in the same manner as step S110 using the external reference wireless tag Tg as a reading target wireless tag, and it is determined whether or not the reply signal corresponding to the interrogation wave has been received. When a reply signal is received from the external reference wireless tag Tg, the determination is satisfied, the wireless communication area Ar is secured up to the article loading / unloading area of the lowermost container, and the wireless communication area Ar is properly set. This flow is finished. In this case, the flow may return immediately to the flow of FIG. 6, but may wait in the sleep state until there is an operation input from the operation unit of the reader 5 (not shown) from the operator.

  On the other hand, if the reply signal is not received from the external reference wireless tag Tg in step S120, the determination is not satisfied, that is, the output of the transmission signal is excessively reduced by the loop of step S110 and step S115, so The wireless communication area Ar cannot be secured up to the article loading / unloading area of the container, and it is considered that the setting of the wireless communication area Ar has failed, and error processing is performed in step S125 (for example, an error is notified to the operator by a lamp or buzzer not shown) ) To finish the control of the reader 5 itself.

  8, 9, and 10 are diagrams conceptually showing aspects of the wireless communication area Ar in which appropriate settings are realized by the above-described wireless communication area setting processing in the present embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 9 is a plan view of the container body 2 viewed from above, and FIG. 10 is a front view of the container body 2 viewed from the front.

  8, 9, and 10, the wireless communication area Ar indicated by a broken line entirely covers the area on the article loading / unloading side in all the accommodating sections 3, and the interior of each accommodating section 3 is The top plate 2a or each mounting plate 2e is in a state of being hardly penetrated by being blocked. Further, in the appropriate setting state of the wireless communication area Ar, the two internal reference wireless tags Tn are both installed so as not to be detected.

  In each figure, a region indicated by a two-dot chain line is a detectable region (predetermined surrounding region) B of the human sensor 13, and thus includes the entire wireless communication region Ar and a region slightly wider than that. Is set to form. Accordingly, it is detected in advance that a person is approaching the container main body 2 immediately before entering the wireless communication area Ar, and preparation for recording a time series history table to be described later is performed, so that the article wireless tag Tb and the person use tag are prepared. An accurate detection history of the wireless tag Tj can be recorded.

  Next, the tag management process will be described in detail. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the detailed procedure of the tag management process in step S200 in FIG. In the control procedure described below, it is assumed that only one person enters and leaves the wireless communication area Ar, and that the person can handle only one tool. The same applies to each modification described later.

  In FIG. 11, first, in step S205, whether or not the human sensor 13 is turned on (confirms the presence of a person in the detection area of the human sensor 13), that is, someone is putting in and out the article in the container body 2. It is determined whether or not the wireless communication area Ar located on the side is approaching. If no one approaches the wireless communication area Ar and the human sensor 13 remains off, the determination is not satisfied and the determination in step S205 is repeated. If the human sensor 13 is turned on in step S205, the determination is satisfied, that is, it is considered that someone is approaching the wireless communication area Ar, and the wireless tag detection loop in and after step S210 is started.

  In step S210, the person wireless tag Tj is detected. Specifically, based on tag ID type information common to all the person RFID tags Tj, for example, a “Ping ID” command for hierarchically reading information stored in these RFID circuit elements To is used as a signal processing circuit. 11 is transmitted as a query wave from the antenna 30 through the high-frequency circuit into the wireless communication area Ar to prompt a reply. Then, in response to this interrogation wave, whether or not a reply signal (including at least a tag ID) is detected from the RFID circuit element To of the person RFID tag Tj, and the reply when it is detected A unique tag ID is extracted from the signal.

  In the next step S215, the article wireless tag Tb is detected. Specifically, based on the tag ID type information common to all the article RFID tags Tb, the reply signal is sent from the RFID circuit element To of the article RFID tag Tb using the “Ping ID” command as in step S205. The presence / absence of detection or not, and the extraction of the unique tag ID from the reply signal when detected. At this time, as described with reference to FIG. 8, the wireless communication area Ar is set so as to hardly reach the interior of each accommodating portion 3, so that each article ( In this example, the article wireless tag Tb attached to the tool 6 is not detected.

  Next, the process proceeds to step S220, and the respective communication results in step S210 and step S215 are recorded in the time series history table in the database 15.

  Then, the process proceeds to step S225, and it is determined whether or not the human sensor 13 is outputting ON. If the human sensor 13 remains on, the determination is satisfied, that is, the process returns to step S210 to repeat the wireless tag detection loop of steps S210 to S225. On the other hand, when the human sensor 13 is switched to OFF output, the determination is not satisfied, that is, it is assumed that the person has already left the wireless communication area Ar, and the wireless tag detection loop is exited, and the process proceeds to step S300.

  In step S300, the time-series history table recorded by the RFID tag detection loop in steps S210 to S225 is referred to determine the storage status of articles (tools) stored in the containers. The accommodation status determination process is performed (see the flow of FIG. 14 described later). Thereafter, the process returns to step S205 to repeat the same tag management processing procedure. Note that this flow can be stopped by the operator stopping the power supply of the reader 5 or the like.

  According to this flow, before the accommodation status determination process is performed, a change in the communication status of the article wireless tag Tb between immediately before entering the wireless communication area Ar and immediately after leaving the person is recorded in the time-series history table. can do. FIG. 12 is a diagram conceptually illustrating an example of a time-series history table created by the above flow and stored and held in the database 15, and FIG. 12A is a diagram of an example when a person performs a return operation. FIG. 12B is a diagram of an example when a person performs a take-out operation.

  In the figure, “T1”, “T2”, “T3”, “T4”, “T5”, “T6”,... Represent, for example, time-series progress at a predetermined interval (cycle), and the person wireless tag Tj or the article wireless tag. When Tb can be detected, “Yes” is indicated, and when it cannot be detected, “No” is indicated. Further, “ID” represents the detected tag ID. In this table, for convenience of explanation, the ID is simply described with a single character number or alphabet (the actual tag ID has a 64-bit length, for example). Data). When the tag ID is not detected, “-” is written.

  In FIG. 12 (a), the person RFID tag Tj is not detected at time T1 after the human sensor 13 is turned on, but is detected at time T2, and then is detected at time T3, T4, T5, T6. Until the detection state continues (tag ID is “C”), it is no longer detected at time T7. The article wireless tag Tb is not detected at the time T1 after the human sensor 13 is turned on, and after being detected at the time T2, the detection state continues until the times T3 and T4 (the tag ID is “ 7 "), and is no longer detected at time T5, and is in a non-detection state thereafter.

  That is, these detection results indicate that the person and the tool 6 enter the wireless communication area Ar almost simultaneously at the time T2, and the detection is started. At the time T5, only the tool 6 is detected, and then a time difference of 2 cycles elapses. This represents a communication history that the person has left the wireless communication area Ar at time T7 and the detection has ended, and corresponds to the case where the person performs the return operation of the tool 6.

  In FIG. 12B, the person wireless tag Tj is not detected at the time T1 after the human sensor 13 is turned on, but is detected at the time T2, and then is detected at the time T3, T4, T5. After the detection state continues until T6 (tag ID is “E”), it is not detected at time T7. For the article wireless tag Tb, after the human sensor 13 is turned on, it is not detected until the time T1, T2, T3, and after being detected at the time T4, the detection state continues until the time T5, T6. (Tag ID is “2”) and is no longer detected at time T7.

  These detection results indicate that only the person enters the wireless communication area Ar at time T2 after the human sensor 13 is turned on, and detection is started. Then, after a time difference of 2 cycles elapses, the tool is detected at time T4. Is detected, and after that, at time T7, the person and the tool leave the wireless communication area Ar substantially simultaneously, and the communication history that both the detections are completed is shown. ing.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram conceptually showing time-series changes in the presence / absence of detection of the person wireless tag Tj and the article wireless tag Tb, and FIG. 13A corresponds to the case where the person performs a return operation. FIG. 13A is a diagram corresponding to the communication history of FIG. 12A, and FIG. 13B is a diagram corresponding to the case where a person performs a take-out operation, and the communication of FIG. It is a figure corresponding to a history. FIG. 13C is a diagram corresponding to a case where a person performs a browsing operation, and FIG. 13D is a diagram corresponding to a case where a person performs a glance operation. In each figure, the horizontal axis represents time.

  In FIG. 13A, in this case, as described above with reference to FIG. 12A, the detection of the person and the tool 6 is started substantially simultaneously, the detection of only the tool 6 is ended first, and then the detection of the person is performed. Is the behavior that ends. That is, when a person carries the tool 6 and enters the wireless communication area Ar in front of the container body 2 and stores the tool 6 in the storage unit 3 at any stage, only the tool 6 wirelessly communicates at that time. This means that the detection ends after leaving the area Ar, and only the person who does not carry the tool 6 has left the wireless communication area Ar after the elapse of the time difference t1. That is, in this case, it means an operation in which a person returns the tool 6 to the container body 2.

  Further, in FIG. 13B, in this case, as described above with reference to FIG. 12B, only the person is detected first, and then detection of the tool 6 is also started. The behavior is that the detection ends almost simultaneously. That is, the person enters the wireless communication area Ar in front of the container body 2 without carrying the tool 6 and then removes the tool from the container 3 at any stage after the elapse of the time difference t2. At this point, the tool enters the wireless communication area Ar and detection is started, and then the person leaves the wireless communication area Ar while carrying the tool 6. That is, in this case, it means an operation in which a person takes out the tool 6 from the container body 2.

  On the other hand, in FIG. 13C, only the person is detected first, then the detection of the tool 6 is also started, and then the detection of the tool 6 is ended, and finally the detection of the person is ended. That is, the person enters the wireless communication area Ar in front of the container body 2 without carrying the tool 6, and then removes the tool 6 from the container 3 at any stage after the elapse of the time difference t 3. At that time, detection of the tool 6 is started, and then the same tool 6 is stored in the storage unit 3 in any one of the stages. Then, the detection ends at that time, and then the tool 6 is carried after the elapse of the time difference t4. Only the person who has not left has left the wireless communication area Ar. That is, in this case, it means an operation in which a person browses a tool from the container body 2.

  Further, in FIG. 13D, the behavior is such that the detection of only the person is started, and then the detection of the person is terminated without detecting the tool 6. That is, the person enters the wireless communication area Ar in front of the container body 2 without carrying the tool 6, and does not pick up the tool 6 accommodated in the container body 2 and does not take any tool as it is. Only the person who does not carry 6 has left the wireless communication area Ar. That is, in this case, the person means an operation of just glanceping at the container body 2.

  The “storage” and “removal” are operations performed on the tool 6 on the spot by the person in front of the container body 2, and “return”, “take-out”, “browsing”, and “glance” It means a series of actions (or a change in accommodation status) made by a result of a series of behaviors performed after entering the wireless communication area Ar and leaving.

  FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the detailed procedure of the accommodation status determination process in step S300 in FIG. 11, and the person enters the wireless communication area Ar based on the contents of the time series history table shown as an example in FIG. This is a process for determining what kind of accommodation conditions have occurred during the exit.

  In FIG. 14, first, in step S305, whether or not there is a detection history of the article wireless tag Tb in the time-series history table while the human sensor 13 is turned on (through the entire time sequence of the time-series history table). Determine whether or not. If there is no detection history of the article wireless tag Tb, the determination is not satisfied, and in step S310, it is determined that the person who does not carry the tool 6 has just glanced at the container body 2, and this flow is ended. .

  On the other hand, if there is a detection history of the article RFID tag Tb even once in the determination in step S305, the determination is satisfied, and the process proceeds to step S315, where the time series history table is passed through the entire time sequence of the time series history table. It is determined whether or not there is a detection history of the person wireless tag Tj. If there is no detection history of the person wireless tag Tj, the determination is not satisfied, that is, it is considered that a tag detection error has occurred in which the person who should move the tool is detected while the movement of the tool is detected. In step S320, error processing is performed and this flow is terminated. In this case, there is a possibility that the suspicious person other than the management target person who does not have the person wireless tag Tj may have carried and moved the tool 6 that is the management target article with the article wireless tag Tb attached. It is also useful that the control circuit 12 of the reader 5 notifies the article manager via a communication network (not shown).

  On the other hand, if there is a detection history of the person wireless tag Tj even once in the determination in step S315, the determination is satisfied, that is, detection histories of both the article wireless tag Tb and the person wireless tag Tj. And the process proceeds to the next step S325.

  In step S325, the detection start time and end time of each of the article wireless tag Tb and the person wireless tag Tj are read from the time-series history table. Then, the process proceeds to step S330, and whether or not there is a time difference greater than or equal to a predetermined time between the detection start time of the person wireless tag Tj and the detection start time of the article wireless tag Tb, that is, clearly enters the wireless communication area Ar almost simultaneously. It is determined whether or not there is a time difference that cannot be considered.

  If there is no time difference greater than or equal to a predetermined time between the detection start times of the person wireless tag Tj and the article wireless tag Tb, the determination is not satisfied, that is, the person and the tool are considered to have entered the wireless communication area Ar almost at the same time. Then, the process proceeds to step S335. In step S335, it is determined whether or not there is a time difference greater than or equal to a predetermined value between the two detection end times, that is, whether or not there is a time difference that cannot be regarded as leaving the wireless communication area Ar at substantially the same time.

  If there is a time difference greater than or equal to a predetermined time between the detection end times of the person wireless tag Tj and the article wireless tag Tb, the determination is satisfied, that is, only the person has passed after the time has elapsed since the tool was stored in the storage unit 3. It is considered that the user has left the wireless communication area Ar, and the process proceeds to step S340. In this case, the situation is the same as the pattern shown in FIG. 13A, and it is determined in step S340 that the person has returned the tool 6, and this flow ends.

  In the determination in step S335, if there is no time difference greater than or equal to a predetermined time between the detection end times of the person wireless tag Tj and the article wireless tag Tb, the determination is not satisfied, that is, the person and the tool are substantially simultaneously. It is considered that the user has left the wireless communication area Ar, and the process proceeds to step S345. In this case, since the person is carrying the tool 6 and entering the wireless communication area Ar, it can be considered that the person has left the wireless communication area Ar without storing the tool 6 in the storage unit 3. Thus, it is determined that the container body 2 has been glanced while carrying the tool 6 (for example, the tool 6 has been returned but has been reconsidered and the return has been stopped), and this flow is terminated.

  On the other hand, in the determination in step S330, if there is a predetermined time difference between the detection start times of the person wireless tag Tj and the article wireless tag Tb, the determination is satisfied, that is, the person is in the wireless communication area. After a lapse of time since entering Ar, it is considered that the tool has been removed from the storage unit 3, and the process proceeds to step S350. In step S350, it is determined whether or not there is a time difference of a predetermined time or more between the two detection end times, that is, whether or not there is a time difference that cannot be regarded as having exited from the wireless communication area Ar at substantially the same time.

  If there is no time difference greater than or equal to a predetermined time between the detection end times of the person wireless tag Tj and the article wireless tag Tb, the determination is not satisfied, that is, the person and the tool 6 have left the wireless communication area Ar almost at the same time. It is regarded and it moves to step S355. In this case, the situation is the same as the pattern shown in FIG. 13B, and it is determined in step S355 that the person has taken out the tool 6, and this flow is ended.

  In the determination in step S350, if there is a predetermined time difference or more between the detection end times of the person wireless tag Tj and the article wireless tag Tb, the determination is satisfied, that is, only the person is in the wireless communication area Ar. The tool 6 is taken out of the storage unit 3 after a lapse of time since entering the station, and only a person is considered to have left the wireless communication area Ar after the lapse of time after being stored again, and the process proceeds to step S360. In this case, the situation is the same as the pattern shown in FIG. 13C, and it is determined in step S360 that the person has browsed the tool, and this flow ends.

  With the above flow, based on the contents of the time-series history table, it is possible to determine what accommodation state (operation) the person has entered during entry / exit of the wireless communication area Ar. Each of the above determinations is recorded in the database 15 as an accommodation status history, and an operator of the reader 5 can check which tool 6 has been taken out by viewing the accommodation status history.

  In the above, the flow of the wireless communication area setting process in FIG. 7 functions as communication control means for setting the wireless communication area Ar by the antenna 30 so as to be on the article loading / unloading side of the container body 2.

  Further, the flow of the accommodation status determination process of FIG. 14 functions as a determination unit that determines the accommodation status of the corresponding article according to the history of the communication result for the article wireless tag Tb handled in association with the article via the antenna 30. To do.

  As described above, in the reader 5 of the present embodiment, wireless communication is performed with the wireless tags Tb and Tj via the antenna 30 disposed in the article container 1, and the wireless communication area Ar at this time is shown in FIG. In accordance with the flow of the wireless communication area setting process, it is set so as to be on the article loading / unloading side of the article container (housing unit 3). Thereby, when the tool 6 is taken out from the inside of the article container 1 to the outside, or conversely housed from the outside to the inside of the article container 1, it always passes through the wireless communication area Ar. Based on this, if the person wireless tag Tj is in the wireless communication area Ar → the article wireless tag Tb is in the wireless communication area Ar → the both wireless tags are out of the wireless communication area Ar, the article container It is determined that the tool 6 is taken out from 1 and taken out, and the person wireless tag Tj and the article wireless tag Tb are in the wireless communication area Ar → the article wireless tag Tb is out of the wireless communication area Ar → the person wireless tag If the behavior of Tj is out of the wireless communication area Ar, it is determined that the tool 6 has been returned and stored, the person wireless tag Tj is in the wireless communication area Ar, and the article wireless tag Tb is in the wireless communication area Ar. → If the article wireless tag Tb moves out of the wireless communication area Ar → If the person wireless tag Tj moves out of the wireless communication area Ar, the tool 6 is once taken out from the article container 1 but stored as it is. ( If the person's wireless tag Tj moves into the wireless communication area Ar and the person's wireless tag Tj moves out of the wireless communication area Ar, then the person is in the tool in the article container 1. It is determined that the user has only glanced without moving 6. In this manner, the movement status (accommodation status) of each tool 6 can be detected from the change (history) of the communication status of the person tag Tj and the article tag Tb only by providing one reader 5.

  In this embodiment, in particular, in step S330 of the accommodation status determination process flow of FIG. 14, the entry time of a person into the wireless communication area Ar and the detection start time of a large communication state value for the article wireless tag Tb The return of the tool 6 is determined on the condition that (the time when the detection is changed) matches within a predetermined range. In this way, it is possible to more accurately determine the return by taking into account the coincidence of the operation times as a determination condition and determining whether or not the return is made. In step S330, the detection start time by the human sensor 13 may be used instead of the detection start time of the person wireless tag Tj. However, in this case, it is necessary to make a determination in consideration of the difference in size between the human sensor 13 detectable region B and the wireless communication region Ar.

  In this embodiment, in particular, in step S350 of the accommodation status determination processing flow of FIG. 14, the exit time of the person from the wireless communication area Ar and the communication state value for the article wireless tag Tb are changed from a large value to a small value. The removal of the tool 6 is determined on the condition that the time of decrease (time of change from detection to non-detection) matches within a predetermined range. In this manner, taking out the coincidence of the operation timings as a determination condition and determining whether or not to carry out can be further accurately determined. In step S350, the detection end time of the human sensor 13 may be used instead of the detection end time of the person wireless tag Tj. However, in this case, it is necessary to make a determination in consideration of the difference in size between the human sensor 13 detectable region B and the wireless communication region Ar.

  In this embodiment, in particular, in steps S110 and S115 of the flow shown in FIG. 7, communication with the internal reference wireless tag Tn is substantially disabled based on the communication result (including communication failure) with the internal reference wireless tag Tn. The wireless communication area Ar is set so as to be possible. Thereby, it is possible to reliably set the wireless communication area Ar so as not to substantially include the inside of the article container.

  In this embodiment, in particular, in step S120 and step S125 of the flow shown in FIG. 7, communication with the external reference wireless tag Tg is possible based on the communication result (including communication failure) with the external reference wireless tag Tg. The wireless communication area Ar is set so that Thereby, it can set so that wireless communication area | region Ar may cover the articles | goods loading / unloading side whole region of an article container reliably.

  In addition, since the container main body 2 of the article container in the present embodiment is such that all the storage units 3 take out and store the tool 6 only in one direction from the front, the outer region on the front side is provided. Although the wireless communication area Ar is set by one antenna 30 positioned above as the article loading / unloading side, the present invention is not limited to this, and the accommodation unit 3 can accommodate the tool 6 by taking out the tool 6 in a plurality of directions. It can also be applied to the main body 2. For example, when the whole of the article container has a cylindrical shape standing vertically and the container 3 is formed so that the article can be taken out and stored in the entire circumferential direction, the container The entire outer side surrounding the main body 2 can be used as an article loading / unloading side, and a plurality of (for example, four) antennas 30 can be arranged on the top plate 2a and surrounded by a plurality of wireless communication areas Ar.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and technical idea of the present invention. Hereinafter, such modifications will be described in order.

(1) When the amount of change in received signal strength over time is a communication state value In the above embodiment, the presence or absence of a reply signal from the person wireless tag Tj or the article wireless tag Tb (whether or not a wireless tag is detected) is a communication state. The accommodation status is determined based on the communication result history as a value, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the accommodation status is defined as a communication status value based on a temporal change amount of the reception strength (signal strength) of the reply signal. May be judged.

  For example, in FIG. 3, the AM demodulator 40 is provided with an RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) circuit to detect the reception intensity of the reply signal, and the radio tag Tj or the radio tag Tb for goods is detected by the change in the amount of time change. The movement behavior with respect to the wireless communication area Ar can be determined.

  FIG. 15 is a diagram conceptually showing a time-series change in the reception intensity of the reply signal from the person wireless tag Tj and the article wireless tag Tb. FIG. 15A shows a case where the person performs a return operation. 15 (b) is a diagram corresponding to a case where a person performs a take-out operation, and FIG. 15 (c) is a diagram corresponding to a case where a person performs a browsing operation. FIG. 15D is a diagram corresponding to a case where a person performs a glance operation (corresponding to each diagram is the same in a modified example described later). These are diagrams respectively corresponding to FIGS. 13A to 13D in the above embodiment.

  As can be seen from FIGS. 15A to 15D, both the person wireless tag Tj and the article wireless tag Tb change in the received signal intensity relatively slowly when entering and leaving the wireless communication area Ar. That is, the absolute value of the time change amount is small. On the other hand, when the article wireless tag Tb is stored in the storage unit 3 and when it is taken out from the storage unit 3, the received signal intensity changes relatively abruptly, that is, the absolute value of the time change amount is large. It will be. This is because the boundary of the wireless communication area Ar between the inside of the housing portion 3 and the article loading / unloading side is clarified by the shielding of the top plate 2a or the mounting plate 2e made of a radio signal reducing material. In this modification, the accommodation status is determined using the difference in absolute value of the temporal change amount of the received signal strength.

  FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the detailed procedure of the accommodation status determination process in the present modification, and corresponds to FIG. 14 in the above embodiment. The flow in FIG. 16 is roughly the same as the flow in FIG. 14, and the steps S325, S330, S335, and S350 in the flow in FIG. 14 are different. The same steps as those in FIG. 14 are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted. Only the different steps will be described below.

  In FIG. 16, first, in step S325A performed in place of step S325 in FIG. 14, the detection start time and end time of each of the article wireless tag Tb and the person wireless tag Tj are read from the time series history table, and each wireless A time change amount of the received signal strength at each of the tag detection start time and the detection end time is calculated. Note that the determination of the start and end of detection is performed by comparing the received signal with a predetermined threshold value (or determination may be made based on the detection result of the human sensor 13). This is done by calculating the difference from the received signal.

  In step S330A performed instead of step S330 in FIG. 14, it is determined whether or not there is a difference greater than or equal to a predetermined amount in the amount of time change of the received signal at the detection start time of each wireless tag. If there is no difference greater than or equal to the predetermined value, the determination is not satisfied and the process proceeds to step S335A. If there is a difference greater than or equal to the predetermined value, the determination is satisfied and the process proceeds to step S350A. This is based on the meaning that the article wireless tag Tb is taken out from the storage unit 3 (the amount of time change increases rapidly) when there is a difference greater than or equal to a predetermined value.

  In step S335A performed instead of step S335 in FIG. 14, it is determined whether or not there is a difference greater than or equal to a predetermined amount in the time change amount of the received signal at the detection end time of each wireless tag. If there is no difference greater than or equal to the predetermined value, the determination is not satisfied and the process proceeds to step S345. If there is a difference greater than or equal to the predetermined value, the determination is satisfied and the process proceeds to step S340. This is based on the meaning that the article wireless tag Tb is accommodated in the accommodating portion 3 (the amount of time change decreases rapidly) when there is a difference greater than or equal to a predetermined value.

  On the other hand, in step S350A performed in place of step S350 in FIG. 14, the same determination as in step S335A is performed. If there is no difference greater than or equal to the predetermined value, the determination is not satisfied and the process proceeds to step S355, and there is a difference greater than or equal to the predetermined value The determination is satisfied, and the routine goes to Step S360.

  Also in this modified example configured as described above, the same effect as in the above embodiment can be obtained.

(2) When the reception response rate is the communication state value In this modification, the accommodation state is determined using the reception response rate of the reply signal as the communication state value. For example, in steps S210 and S215 in FIG. 11, when a wireless tag is detected, transmission of a query wave and reception of a reply signal are repeated a predetermined plural number of times (for example, 10 times), and the reply signal is received. When the number of times is counted, the probability (hereinafter referred to as response rate) that a reply signal can be clearly received is significantly different between inside and outside the wireless communication area Ar.

  FIG. 17 is a diagram conceptually showing a time-series change in the response rate of reply signals from the person wireless tag Tj and the article wireless tag Tb, and corresponds to FIG. 13 in the above embodiment. As can be seen by comparing FIG. 17 and FIG. 13, the time-series change of the response rate of each wireless tag (FIG. 17) changes almost the same as the time-series change of the presence / absence of detection of the reply signal (FIG. 13). I understand that That is, when the reply signal is changed from the non-detected state in FIG. 13 to the detected state, the response rate is increased, and when the reply signal is changed from the detected state to the non-detected state in FIG. FIG. 13 corresponds to the case where the reply signal detection continuation state is substantially constant. Therefore, instead of the presence or absence of the detection of the reply signal in the above embodiment, a history of whether the response rate of the reply signal exceeds a predetermined threshold (or whether it is almost 100%, for example) is sometimes recorded. What is necessary is just to read the start time and end time of the detection of each wireless tag in the accommodation status judgment processing of FIG.

  Also in this modified example configured as described above, the same effect as in the above embodiment can be obtained.

(3) When the container body is formed of a non-metallic material In the above embodiment, the entire container body 2 is formed of a material such as a metal that reduces radio wave signals, and the wireless communication area Ar reliably secures the interior of the container 3. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the container body 2 may be formed of a material that does not have the property of reducing radio wave signals, for example, a non-metallic material.

  FIG. 18 is a diagram conceptually showing the aspect of the wireless communication area Ar appropriately set in this modification, and is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 8 in the above embodiment. In FIG. 8, the antenna 30 of the reader 5 is arranged at a position where the antenna 30 of the reader body 2 protrudes further toward the front side (left side in FIG. 18), thereby ensuring wireless communication area Ar while reaching the lower reach. It is possible to avoid entering the communication area Ar into the container body 2. As a result, the wireless communication area Ar can be included up to the area on the article loading / unloading side of the storage unit 3 at the lowest level (fourth level from the top), and the wireless communication area Ar can be included up to the inside of the storage unit 3 at each level. Can be detected, and the behavior of the storage and removal of the tool 6 with respect to each storage portion 3 can be clearly detected.

  Also by this modification, the same effect as the above embodiment can be obtained.

(4) In the case where the wireless communication area Ar is set by the person wireless tag Tj In the above embodiment, the internal reference tag provided in the housing portion 3 cannot be detected and is positioned on the article loading / unloading side from the bottom plate 2b. Although the wireless communication area Ar is set so that the external reference tag can be detected, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the wireless communication area Ar may be set using the person wireless tag Tj. Good.

  FIG. 19 is a diagram conceptually showing an aspect of the wireless communication area Ar appropriately set in this modification, and is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 8 in the above embodiment. In FIG. 8, the person who has the person wireless tag Tj is a predetermined position separated from the container body 2 on the article loading / unloading side (for example, the farthest limit position where the reader 5 is to detect the person wireless tag Tj). The wireless communication area Ar is set so that at least the range in which the wireless tag Tj for persons in this arrangement state can be detected is maximized. In this modification, the person wireless tag Tj is arranged in the vicinity of the boundary of the maximum limit range for detecting the person wireless tag Tj in advance before performing the wireless communication area setting process, and this position is taught. The wireless communication area Ar is set. In this example, it is assumed that the external reference wireless tag Tg is additionally provided and the lower reaching length of the wireless communication area Ar is also set, and the two internal reference wireless tags Tn are not provided and setting by them is not performed.

  FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing a detailed procedure of the wireless communication area setting process in the present modification, and corresponds to FIG. 7 in the above embodiment. The flowchart of FIG. 20 is roughly the same as the flow of FIG. 7, and the steps S105, S110, and S115 in the flow of FIG. 7 are different. The same steps as those in FIG. 7 are denoted by the same reference numerals, description thereof is omitted, and only the different steps will be described below.

  In FIG. 20, first, in step S105A performed instead of step S105 of FIG. 7, the output value of the transmission signal output from the antenna 30 is set to the minimum. Next, step S110A moves to and determines whether or not the person RFID tag Tj placed at the set position can be read. If the reply signal from the person wireless tag Tj cannot be received, the determination is not satisfied, that is, it is considered that the wireless communication area Ar has not reached the range to be set because the output of the transmission signal is still too small, and in step S115A After increasing the transmission signal output by a predetermined width, the process returns to step S110A and the same procedure is repeated. By the loop of step S110A and step S115A, it is possible to set the transmission signal output so that the wireless communication area Ar reaches the person wireless tag Tj and becomes the smallest wireless communication area Ar.

  On the other hand, if a reply signal is received from the person wireless tag Tj in step S110A, it is determined that the determination is satisfied, that is, the wireless communication area Ar is set to an appropriate size, and the next step S120 is performed. Move. The procedure is the same as in FIG.

  In the above, the flow of the wireless communication area setting process of FIG. 20 functions as communication control means for setting the wireless communication area Ar by the antenna 30 to be on the article loading / unloading side of the article container.

  In this modified example configured as described above, the wireless communication area Ar can be appropriately set by performing control so that communication with the person wireless tag Tj is possible in step S110A and step S115A.

(5) Others The above description has been made by taking the tool 6 as an example of an article, but the present invention is not limited to this example, and documents, books, stationery, other instruments, etc. that can be carried by a human hand. As long as the present invention is applicable, the present invention can be applied, and the same effect can be obtained in this case.

  Further, it is assumed that the “Ping ID” signal and the like used above comply with the specifications established by EPC global. EPC global is a non-profit corporation established jointly by the International EAN Association, which is an international organization of distribution codes, and the United Code Code Council (UCC), which is an American distribution code organization. Note that signals conforming to other standards may be used as long as they perform the same function.

  In addition to those already described above, the methods according to the above-described embodiments and modifications may be used in appropriate combination.

  In addition, although not illustrated one by one, the present invention is implemented with various modifications within a range not departing from the gist thereof.

It is a perspective view showing the whole schematic structure of the article container provided with the wireless tag information reading device of one embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the functional block diagram showing the functional structure of the reader | leader installed in the upper surface with the sectional side view by the II-II 'cross section of the container main body in FIG. It is a functional block diagram showing the detailed structure of a reader. It is a functional block diagram showing the detailed function of a high frequency transmission / reception part. It is a functional block diagram showing the detailed function of the wireless tag circuit element with which the wireless tag was equipped. It is a flowchart showing the control procedure performed by the control circuit of a reader. It is a flowchart showing the detailed procedure of the radio | wireless communication area | region setting process of step S100 in FIG. It is a side view which represents notionally the aspect of the radio | wireless communication area | region Ar appropriately set by the above radio | wireless area | region setting process in embodiment. It is a top view which represents notionally the aspect of the radio | wireless communication area | region Ar appropriately set by the above radio | wireless area | region setting process in embodiment. It is a front view which represents notionally the aspect of the radio | wireless communication area | region Ar appropriately set by the above radio | wireless area | region setting process in embodiment. It is a flowchart showing the detailed procedure of the tag management process of step S200 in FIG. It is a figure which represents notionally the example of the time-sequential history table stored and hold | maintained in a database, respectively in the case of a return operation | movement and the case of a take-out operation | movement. It is the figure which represented notionally the time series change of the presence or absence of the detection of the RFID tag Tj for goods, and the RFID tag Tb for articles | goods. It is a flowchart showing the detailed procedure of the accommodation condition judgment process of this step S300 in FIG. It is the figure which represented notionally the time-sequential change of the reception intensity | strength of the reply signal from the person's wireless tag Tj and the goods wireless tag Tb. It is a flowchart showing the detailed procedure of the accommodation condition judgment process in the modification which makes the time variation | change_quantity of received signal strength a communication state value. It is the figure which represented notionally the time-sequential change of the response rate of the reply signal from the RFID tag Tj for persons, and the RFID tag Tb for articles | goods. It is a figure which represents notionally the aspect of the radio | wireless communication area | region Ar set appropriately in the modification which formed the container main body with the nonmetallic material. It is a figure which represents notionally the aspect of the radio | wireless communication area | region Ar set appropriately in the modification which formed the container main body with the nonmetallic material. It is a flowchart showing the detailed procedure of the radio | wireless communication area | region setting process in the modification which sets radio | wireless communication area | region Ar with the person's radio | wireless tag Tj.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Article container 2 Container body 3 Container part 4 Tag installation part 5 Reader 6 Tool 7 Name tag 10 High frequency circuit 11 Signal processing circuit 12 Control circuit 13 Human sensor 15 Database 30 Antenna Ar Wireless communication area T Wireless tag Tn Internal reference wireless Tag Tg External reference wireless tag Tb Article wireless tag Tj Person wireless tag To wireless tag circuit element

Claims (13)

A wireless tag information reader arranged in the vicinity of an article container capable of taking in and out a plurality of articles,
Includes the IC circuit part storing information and a connected tag antenna to the IC circuit part, respectively, the article wireless tag circuit element to be handled in association with the article, and a person for the wireless tag circuit element associated with the person , A device side antenna for performing wireless communication with a wireless tag circuit element including :
The communicable area by the apparatus antenna, and a communication control means for setting so that the article out side of the article container,
Based on the communication state value for the RFID tag circuit element for the person via the device-side antenna, the entrance and exit of the person to and from the predetermined surrounding area in the vicinity of the article container are determined, and via the device-side antenna. The article corresponding to the article RFID tag circuit element is returned to the article container according to the history of the communication state values for the article RFID tag circuit element and the person RFID circuit element, and the article A judging means for judging the housing situation including taking out from the article container;
An apparatus for reading RFID tag information, comprising: The wireless tag information reading device according to claim 1,
The communication control means includes
The wireless tag information reading device, wherein the communicable area is set so as not to substantially include the interior of the article container. The wireless tag information reader according to claim 2,
The communication control means includes
The wireless tag information reading apparatus, wherein the communicable area is set based on a communication result with a first communication setting RFID circuit element arranged at a predetermined location inside the article container. The wireless tag information reading device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The communication control means includes
The wireless tag information reading device, wherein the communicable area is set so as to reach a position that is substantially farthest from the device-side antenna on the article loading / unloading side of the article container. The wireless tag information reading device according to claim 4,
The communication control means includes
The communicable area is set based on a result of communication with a second communication setting RFID circuit element arranged at a predetermined location on the article loading / unloading side of the article container outside the article container. RFID tag information reader. The wireless tag information reading device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 ,
The determination means includes
Before Kisho After constant person admission to the surrounding area, the radio tag information reading device which is characterized in that a determination that the receiving situation admission and exit of the person when leaving from the surrounding region. The wireless tag information reading device according to claim 6 ,
The determination means includes
The wireless tag characterized in that the accommodation status is determined according to a history of communication state values for the article RFID circuit element and the person RFID circuit element after a person enters the predetermined surrounding area. Information reader. The wireless tag information reading device according to claim 1 ,
The communication control means includes
The wireless tag information reading device, wherein the communicable area is set based on a result of communication with the person RFID circuit element. The wireless tag information reading device according to any one of claims 6 to 8 ,
The determination means includes
When a person enters the surrounding area and the communication state value for the article RFID circuit element decreases from a relatively large value to a small value, and the person leaves the surrounding area after a predetermined time, An apparatus for reading RFID tag information, wherein an article corresponding to an RFID circuit element for articles is judged to have been returned into the article container. The wireless tag information reading device according to claim 9 , wherein
The determination means further includes:
On the condition that the entry time of the person into the surrounding area or the communicable area and the detection start time of the large value of the communication state value for the RFID tag circuit element for goods coincide within a predetermined range, An apparatus for reading RFID tag information, characterized in that an article is returned. The wireless tag information reading device according to any one of claims 6 to 8 ,
The determination means includes
After a person enters the surrounding area, a communication state value for the RFID circuit element for goods increases from a relatively small value to a large value after a predetermined time has elapsed, and when the person leaves the surrounding area, An apparatus for reading RFID tag information, wherein it is determined that an article corresponding to the RFID circuit element for an article is taken out from the article container. The wireless tag information reader according to claim 11 , wherein
The determination means further includes:
The exit time of the person from the surrounding area or the communicable area and the time when the communication state value for the article RFID circuit element decreases from the large value to the small value are matched within a predetermined range. A wireless tag information reading device, characterized in that it is determined that the article has been taken out as a condition. The wireless tag information reading device according to any one of claims 7 to 12 ,
The determination means includes
As before Symbol communications state value, the communication radio wave strength between the article wireless tag circuit element, or the time variation of the communication radio field intensity, or of the response rate from the article wireless tag circuit element, one The RFID tag information reader according to claim 1, wherein the entry and exit of the person to and from the surrounding area are determined and the accommodation status of the article is determined .

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