JP2000310476A - Containing compartment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To manage articles in a containing compartment centrally without modifying the ordinary operation for placing an article in the containing compartment or taking out the article therefrom significantly. SOLUTION: Articles being stored in a containing compartment 1 are affixed with noncontact ID tags 17, 19 bearing unique identification codes. In the containing compartment, sensors 7, 8. 9, 10 for recognizing the noncontact ID tags 19 and detecting the moving direction thereof are provided at the inlet of the containing compartment. A memory provided in the containing compartment is updated by the information from the sensors.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a storage for managing articles using a non-contact ID tag.

2. Description of the Related Art For example, as a method of managing articles in a refrigerator, a user generally looks over the refrigerator and checks the expiration date. As a technology for saving the trouble, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-45041 discloses a technology for managing a product in the refrigerator by installing a camera in the refrigerator and comparing the images of the camera each time the door is opened and closed. It has been disclosed. In addition, we set microphone in refrigerator,
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-68114 discloses a technique for inputting an article to be put in and out of a refrigerator by voice.

In a technology for managing articles in a refrigerator while performing image recognition using a camera,
There are also problems such as a change in the direction of an article, which is recognized as a different article, and a situation in which a small article is hidden behind a large article and cannot be recognized. It is also very troublesome to input and output goods by voice. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and a method for managing articles in a storage without largely changing the operation of placing or removing an article in the storage.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, a non-contact type ID tag with a unique identification code is attached to an article stored in a storage. In the storage, the non-contact type
A sensor for transmitting and receiving information to and from the ID tag is provided at the entrance of the storage, and a sensor that can identify whether an article is placed or removed. The non-contact ID tag has a nonvolatile memory. Electric power is supplied from the sensor for a non-contact ID tag to the non-contact ID tag by radio waves. Contactless ID
For recording information on the tag, a sensor different from the above-mentioned sensor is installed on a door of a storage box or the like. The storage is further provided with a storage circuit for storing information such as an identification number, a name, a type, and an expiration date of the article. To update. Further, a screen for displaying the contents of the storage circuit is provided in a part of the storage, and information input of the goods and unified management of the goods in the storage are performed.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the appearance of a refrigerator according to the present invention. 1 is a refrigerator body, 2 is a door, 3 is a drawer, 4 is a handle of a drawer, 5 and 6 are shelves in the refrigerator,
Reference numerals 7, 8, 9, and 10 denote frame-shaped non-contact ID tag sensors.
1, 12, 13 and 14 are non-contact type ID tag sensors, 16
Is an article in the refrigerator, 17 is a non-contact ID tag attached to the article 16, 18 is an article placed on the door 2, 19 is an article 18
A non-contact ID tag 20 is a drawer at the bottom. The positions of the sensors 7, 8, 9, and 10 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a sectional view perpendicular to the door 2 of the refrigerator 1 shown in FIG. 1 are given the same reference numerals. Reference numerals 31 and 32 denote frame-shaped non-contact ID tag sensors installed in the lowermost drawer 20. The sensor 7 has a frame-like shape substantially along the opening of the refrigerator 1, and the sensor 8 is a frame-like sensor that is installed closer to the sensor 7 and on the back side of the refrigerator 1 than the sensor 7. The sensor 9 is a frame-shaped sensor installed along the opening of the drawer 3, and the sensor 10 is a frame-shaped sensor installed near the sensor 7 and below the sensor 9. FIG.
In order to make the figure easier to understand, there is also a drawer 20 below the drawer 3, but it is closed. Sensor 31,3
Reference numeral 2 denotes a frame-shaped sensor provided similarly to the sensors 9 and 10 in the drawer 3. The operation will be described with reference to FIG.
1 and 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted. 40 is a screen for displaying information, 41 is a keyboard for inputting information, 42 is a receipt reading circuit,
43 is a control circuit of the contactless ID tag, 50 is a memory circuit,
Reference numeral 51 denotes a microcomputer; 52, an input processing circuit from the keyboard 41 and the reading circuit 42 of the microcomputer 51; 53, a circuit for determining the position and moving direction of an information source based on inputs from a plurality of sensors; An arithmetic circuit, 55 is a drive circuit for the monitor 40, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60 are sensor transmitting / receiving circuits, 61 is a non-contact ID tag, 62 is a high-frequency circuit for transmitting and receiving radio waves, 63 is an antenna, and 64 is an antenna. Transmitting and receiving circuit, 65
Is a circuit for supplying power to the ID tag 61, 66 is a signal processing circuit, and 67 is a nonvolatile memory. First, a case where the article 16 to which the non-contact ID tag 17 is attached is placed in the refrigerator 1 will be described. The user of the refrigerator opens the door 2 and tries to put the article 16 into the refrigerator. At the moment when the ID tag 17 passes through the sensor 7, electric power is transmitted from the sensor 7 at a high frequency.
Is transmitted to The operation in the ID tag 17 will be described using the tag 61. The high frequency supplied from the sensor 7 is received by the antenna 63, transmitted to the power supply circuit 65, and transmitted to the power used by the ID tag 61. When power is supplied, the information stored in the memory 67 is transferred to the signal processing circuit 66.
Is transmitted to the transmission / reception circuit 64 and transmitted from the antenna 63. Information transmitted from the antenna 63 is received by the sensor 7. By the time the article 16 is placed in the refrigerator 1, it passes through the sensor 8 close to the sensor 7, and the same information as the information received by the sensor 7 is also received by the sensor 8 with a slight time difference. The position determination circuit 53 recognizes from the information from the sensors 7 and 8 that the article of the ID tag 17 has been placed on the shelf in the refrigerator 1. When another article to which the non-contact type ID tag is attached is placed on the drawer 3 or the drawer 20, it is possible to recognize which drawer has been placed by the same signal processing. Conversely, when the article is taken out of the refrigerator, for example, the sensor 8 first detects the ID tag 17.
, And then the sensor 7 detects the same information, so that the moving direction of the article can be determined. Next, a case where an article is placed in the door 2 will be described. It is assumed that the article 19 to which the non-contact type ID tag 18 is attached is taken in and out. Sensor 1
High frequencies are transmitted from 1, 12, and 14 similarly to the sensor 7 and the like. The ID tag 18 has the same structure as the ID tag 61. Assume that the article 19 is placed near the sensor 11.
When the sensor 11 supplies power by high frequency, the ID tag 18
Can be recognized. Although three sensors are shown in FIG. 1, by arranging a larger number of sensors, the position determination of the article can be detected in more detail. Since the entry / exit of the article occurs when the door 2 is opened and closed, each time the door 2 is opened / closed, the article around the sensors 11, 12, and 14 is recognized, and the article is placed on the door 2. Detect the presence or absence of the article. By comparing the information with the information stored in the memory 50, it is possible to manage the presence or absence of the article in the refrigerator. Next, the operation when the article is placed in the refrigerator for the first time will be described. The information stored in the non-contact ID tag attached to the article will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted. 4
3 is a receipt insertion slot that you receive when you go shopping,
44 is a sensor, 70 and 71 are movement keys for moving the screen,
72 is a key for screen switching, and here, the screen 40 is a touch-type screen. Generally, when you make a purchase, you will receive a receipt describing the details of the purchase. Refrigerator 1
User reads the receipt in slot 4 of the reader 42.
When the input is 3, the reader 42 reads the content, and the input processing circuit 52 recognizes the product name. The reading of the product name or the like on the receipt performs so-called OCR or optical character recognition. Generally, the name of the item on the receipt is mainly katakana and numbers, so it is easy to recognize. Although reading errors occur in character recognition, recent character recognition software achieves a literacy rate of 95% or more, so there is no practical problem. Even if it is wrong, it can be corrected with the keyboard 41. In addition, since the items purchased at stores that are frequently used are limited to a certain extent, even if there is a display of the product name specific to that store, it is possible to improve the recognition rate of the product name by registering it. It is. In the microcomputer 51, as shown in FIG. 5, for each article, the product name, type, storage date, time limit,
The location information in the refrigerator is made into a database and managed with a unique identification code. By setting the type in advance for each product name, for example, when milk is described on the receipt, the milk is automatically classified as a dairy product. The expiration date may be set in advance, or may be corrected using the keyboard 41. These preset classification information and expiration date may be set by the user as reference information in the memory 50, or may be set by the manufacturer of the refrigerator 1 at the time of product shipment. An article without a receipt is input from the keyboard 41. The storage date is the date of the day. When the data is organized, the microcomputer 51 sets a unique identification code for each article, and stores the identification code in the memory 50.
To memorize. The user attaches a non-contact type ID tag to an article to be put in the refrigerator and holds the ID tag over the sensor 44, whereby the identification code is recorded on the ID tag. The user of the refrigerator performs the above-described operations on each of the articles to be put into the refrigerator, and then simply places the articles in an appropriate place in the refrigerator to determine which article is placed where.
Can be managed. Here, in the case of a household refrigerator, the number of articles placed in the refrigerator is at most several hundred. In view of the consumption cycle of the articles in the refrigerator, it is not realistic that the same articles remain in the refrigerator for several years, so that the identification code can be managed with a memory capacity of at most about 10 bytes. Non-contact ID currently on the market
The memory capacity of the Philips MF1 ICS50, which is an example of a tag, is 1 kbyte, which is sufficient. The data transfer rate of this product is about 100 kbit / s, and if 10 bytes are transferred, the required time is 0.8 millisecond. According to the specifications of the product, all signal processing is completed in 100 milliseconds. It usually takes a little less than one second to put and take items in and out of the refrigerator, so there is no problem in data transfer. In the present embodiment, the sensor in the refrigerator has a frame shape, but any shape can be used as long as it can be installed near the entrance of the shelf. In particular, in the sensors 7 and 8, one shelf includes all the shelves. However, by installing a sensor for each shelf, position management for each shelf can be performed. In this embodiment, the expiration date of the article in the refrigerator is only displayed on the monitor screen. However, it is also possible to display a warning for an article whose expiration date is approaching or has passed. .
Further, in the present embodiment, the non-contact ID tag is simply described as being attached to the article, but in consideration of repeated use, rather than pasting, adhesive rubber is stuck to the back of the ID tag,
It is practical to be able to attach to any article. Further, in order to more surely recognize the loading / unloading of the articles with respect to the refrigerator, when the recognition is normally completed, a notification may be given by a buzzer or the like. FIG. This is an application example. 90 is a bookshelf main body, 91, 92, 93 and 94 are shelves, 95 and 96 are sensors, 97 is a contactless ID tag authentication device having a communication function, 98 is a connection line, 99 is a local area network, 100 is a personal computer, 101 is a sensor. The difference from the embodiment of FIG. 1 is that the number of sensors is reduced, the display device is also deleted, the cost of the device is reduced, and the database management function is transferred to a personal computer. FIG.
Unlike the embodiment shown in the above, books are not taken in and out of the bookshelf very often, and there are also ways to return them to their original state at a glance, so take out books for a long time rather than automatically detect book in / out. It is more practical to perform detection only in such a case. Therefore, in this embodiment, the sensor 95 used when placing a book on the bookshelf and the sensor 96 used when taking out the book from the bookshelf for a long time are provided. For convenience of use, the distinction between the sensors 95 and 96 is clearly displayed. The transmission of information between the sensor and the non-contact ID tag has already been described, and will not be described here. The user prepares necessary information with the personal computer 100, and writes information such as an identification code to an ID tag attached to a book or the like with the sensor 101 installed near the personal computer. Only the unique identification code may be recorded as in the above embodiment,
Alternatively, information such as the author, publisher, year of publication, and owner may be recorded. In the bookshelf, the user simply holds the book over the “enter” sensor 95, and the personal computer 100
It detects that a book has been placed in the bookshelf 90 above. When a book is taken out of the bookshelf for a long period of time, when the book is held over a sensor 96 for detecting "take out", the taken out action is transmitted to the personal computer 100. In the personal computer 100, it is possible to describe in a database how long, where, and who took it out, and manage it. In the present embodiment, the non-contact type ID tag recognition device 97 is installed at the top of the bookshelf. However, it may be located anywhere near the bookshelf, and may be incorporated in the framework of the bookshelf. Although the positions of the sensors 95 and 96 are arranged vertically in the figure, the arrangement is arbitrary. Furthermore, it is not necessary to limit the number of bookshelves connected to a PC to one,
A plurality of bookshelves may be connected to the personal computer 100. In that case, it is possible to move the books between the bookshelves. By adding position information for distinguishing which bookshelf to a database in a personal computer, it is also possible to manage the movement of books between bookshelves.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to centrally manage the articles in the storage box without taking any trouble when putting the articles in and out. In addition, since a sensor is provided near the entrance of the storage to detect the entry and exit of articles, there is no detection omission. In particular, for foods, the user can be notified of the expiration date of which is approaching, so that the foods can be effectively used. Further, since the position in the refrigerator can be indicated, it is not necessary to keep the door open for a long time and the interior of the refrigerator need not be searched for, so that there is also an effect of reducing the power consumption of the refrigerator.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the inside of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a front view of the present invention shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a detailed view of the screen shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a system configuration diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, ... sensors, 17,
19: Non-contact ID tag, 40: Data display screen, 42: Receipt reader, 43: Non-contact ID control circuit, 52
… Memory, 61… Contactless ID tag.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 3L045 AA02 AA07 BA01 CA02 LA01 LA18 MA00 NA00 PA02 PA04 PA06

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A storage having at least one shelf, provided at an opening of the shelf, a first sensor for reading information from a non-contact ID tag, and a proximity to the first sensor. A second sensor that is provided at the back of the shelf and reads information from the non-contact ID tag; and detects the movement of the object to which the non-contact ID tag is attached from the first and second sensor outputs. A storage, comprising: a determination circuit for determining a direction; and a storage circuit for storing information of an object placed in the storage. 2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the storage is a refrigerator, a plurality of sensors installed inside a door of the refrigerator for reading information from a non-contact ID tag, and a monitor screen for displaying information of the storage circuit. 2. An information input means for inputting information on an article in the refrigerator, and a sensor for transmitting / receiving information on an article to which the tag is attached to a non-contact ID tag. The described storage. 3. The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein the storage is a refrigerator having a drawer, wherein the third sensor is provided on an upper portion of the drawer and reads information from a non-contact ID tag; A non-contact type ID that is provided below and close to the sensor
A fourth sensor for reading information from the tag, and a discriminating circuit for discriminating, based on the outputs of the third and fourth sensors, the direction of movement of the object to which the non-contact ID tag is attached. The storage according to claim 2. 4. A plurality of shelves, two sensors installed in close proximity for reading information from a non-contact ID tag, and a non-contact ID tag attached from a sensor output installed for each shelf. 4. The storage according to claim 3, further comprising: means for determining position information of the object. 5. The storage according to claim 4, wherein the storage having reference data for storing a predetermined classification and an expiration date for each product name in relation to the product placed in the refrigerator. 6. A storage having at least one shelf, a fifth sensor for transmitting / receiving information to / from a non-contact ID tag, a signal processing circuit of the fifth sensor, and a signal processing circuit. 6. A storage device according to claim 5, further comprising means for communicating the output of the storage device to the outside.