JP2001014355A - Data communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a data communication system which can exchange much information regarding articles and securely perform the distribution management and stock management of a specific article group while saving the labor. SOLUTION: This system 1 is provided with a label 4 which has a radio communication circuit 6 equipped with a label-side radio communication part communicating data with external equipment and a lavel-side storage part which stores data to be sent and received, and a bar code 5 where data regarding an article 3 are encoded and arrayed, and which is stuck individually on an article 3, and a data collecting device 2 which has a scanner part which reads data regarding a specific article 3 out of the bar code 5 formed on the label 4, a device-side radio communication part which selects the label 4 attached to the specific article 3 with the bar code 5 read by the scanner part and sends and receives data, and an input part which inputs commands for starting a read, transmitting and receiving data, etc.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data communication system for exchanging data by wireless communication between a label individually attached to a product and a data collection device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, products sold at department stores and supermarkets are provided with bar codes, and customers purchase bar codes attached to products purchased at cash registers or the like by reading the bar codes with a bar code scanner. The amount is calculated. The bar code records data on the product such as a country code, a product maker code, a product item code, and a check digit. The bar code is read by reflected light obtained by exposing an array of black and white bars of the bar code with a bar code scanner.

[0003] Alternatively, a non-contact type IC is used for product distribution management.
The use of cards and IC tags has also been proposed. By attaching an IC card or IC tag that can send data stored in the memory or write necessary data such as the destination or sender to the product, the product can be stored in bags, boxes, or wrapping paper. This is convenient because data can be exchanged by wireless communication with an external device such as a data collection device even in a state of being packed in a package.

[0004]

When the merchandise management is performed only by the barcode, the data amount that can be collected by the barcode and the barcode scanner is about several bytes, and the data handled when performing the inventory management or the distribution management is performed. The amount was limited. In addition, an IC storing data that can be transmitted and received in the product
When performing physical distribution management by attaching a card or the like, a larger amount of data can be handled than a barcode. However, when the data collection device sends data such as a delivery destination to a desired product from a product group and waits for a response from an IC card or the like, there is a simultaneous response from IC cards attached to a plurality of products, There is a possibility that data may be erroneously written to an IC card attached to a product other than a required product, and the product may not be identified reliably.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a data communication system which solves the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, can exchange a lot of information on products, and can perform distribution management and inventory management of a specific product group reliably and with labor saving. To provide.

[0006]

To solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention has the following arrangement. That is, a wireless communication circuit including a storage unit that stores data to be transmitted and received and a wireless communication unit that performs data communication with an external device, and a barcode in which data relating to the product is encoded and arranged. A reading unit that reads data related to a specific product using the attached label and the barcode on the label,
A wireless communication unit that selects and transmits and receives data by selecting a label attached to a specific product based on the barcode read by the reading unit, and a data collection device that has an input unit that inputs a command to start reading and transmit and receive data. It is characterized by the following. Further, the barcode preferably has ID information for selecting a specific product.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of a data communication system, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a data collection device and a label, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a data transmission / reception process between the data collection device and a label.

First, a schematic configuration of a data communication system will be described. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a data communication system, which comprises a data collection device 2 and a label 4 individually attached to a product 3.

The label 4 includes data (country code, product maker code, product item code, check digit) relating to the specific product 3 and an ID for specifying the label 4
A bar code 5 in which information and the like are encoded and arranged is formed. The barcode 5 includes not only one-dimensional but also two-dimensional barcodes. Further, the label 4 includes a wireless communication circuit 6 capable of storing data and transmitting and receiving data. Specifically, in FIG. 2, the wireless communication circuit 6
A label-side storage unit 7 for storing information and data to be transmitted and received, such as a destination and a sender of a product, and a label-side wireless communication unit 8 capable of transmitting and receiving data to and from external devices such as the data collection device 2 are provided. The label-side CPU 9 that controls the operation of the wireless communication circuit 6 sends an ID from the label-side wireless communication unit 8.
When the information is read, the I
It is determined whether or not the information matches the D information. If the information matches, the data is transmitted and received between the label side wireless communication unit 8 and the data collection device 2.

The data collection device 2 includes a scanner unit (reading unit) 10 that reads data and ID information relating to a specific product 3 from a bar code 5 formed on a label 4. The apparatus further includes a device-side wireless communication unit 11 capable of selecting a label 4 attached to the specific product 3 based on the barcode 5 read by the scanner unit 10 and transmitting and receiving data to and from the label-side wireless communication unit 8. . Specifically, in FIG. 2, the device-side CPU 1 that controls the operation of the data collection device 2
2 selects the label 4 attached to the specific product 3 based on the barcode 5 read by the scanner unit 10 and transmits and receives data between the label side wireless communication unit 8 and the device side wireless communication unit 11. The data collection device 2 includes an input unit 13 for inputting commands such as a start of reading a barcode 5 and transmission / reception of data, a device-side storage unit 14 for storing data such as information to be transmitted and received information, and a label 4. A display unit 15 such as an LCD for displaying the read barcode 5 and displaying read / write data is provided.

When the scanner unit 10 reads the bar code 5 on the label 4, the data collection device 2 specifies the label 4 based on the ID information in the read data. Then, the device-side CPU 12 starts wireless communication between the device-side wireless communication unit 11 and the label-side wireless communication unit 8 of the identified label 4, reads data stored in the label-side storage unit 7, Or write data. Of the labels 4 attached to the products 3, the labels 4 that do not correspond to the specific ID information do not respond to the communication of the data collection device 2.

Next, an example of a data transmission / reception process between the data collection device 2 and the label 4 will be described with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. First, in step S1, when the user operates the input unit 13 of the data collection device 2 and presses the TRG key, the process proceeds to step S2, in which the device-side CPU 12 causes the scanner unit 10 to emit light, and the label 4 attached to the product 3 The bar code 5 is read from. The read barcode 5 is displayed on the display unit 15.

Next, in step S3, the calling code (ID information) is wirelessly transmitted to the label side wireless communication unit 8 from the device side wireless communication unit 11 to the corresponding specific label 4 from the bar code 5 read. Send. The data indicating the correlation between the barcode 5 and the label 4 is stored in the device-side storage unit 14 or stored in the host machine (not shown) and obtained from the data collection device 2 by wireless communication or the like. Either may be used.

Next, proceeding to step S4, on the label 4 side, only the specific label 4 corresponding to the call code transmitted from the data collection device 2 responds to the call code transmitted from the data collection device 2. As a specific response method, data AC
Transmission of K (recognition signal), reading of data in the label side storage unit 7 by a request attached to the call code, writing of data in the label side storage unit 7 by a request attached to the call code, If the end response has not been transmitted or the processing has not been completed, a data transmission or data write request code is transmitted.

Next, proceeding to step S5, the data collection device 2 performs the following processing after receiving the data ACK or the like on the label 4 side. Processing is completed by data ACK,
Processing is terminated by an end response, and if there is data, data transmission or a data request code is continuously transmitted.

According to the above configuration, the data collection device 2 can read and write data not only to the data amount of the barcode 5 formed on the label 4 but also to the label side storage unit 7. A lot of information can be exchanged with the data collection device 2. In addition, the bar code 5 needs to exchange data from the product group.
Since the specific label 4 having the D information can be selected and wirelessly communicated, product management can be performed reliably. Therefore, by attaching the label 4 having the specific ID information to the same kind of product 3, the data collection device 2 wirelessly communicates with the product group having the specific ID information read from the barcode 5 to transfer the data. Since they can be exchanged, the logistics management and inventory management of the product 3 can be performed with reduced labor.

Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. For example, as the label 4, an IC chip and an electrically Bar code 5 with coil to connect
It goes without saying that many modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, such as the use of a non-contact type IC card or IC tag printed with.

[0018]

When the data communication system according to the present invention is used, the data collection device can read and write data not only to the data amount of the barcode formed on the label but also to the label side storage unit. Much information can be exchanged between the product and the data collection device. In addition, since a specific label having ID information requiring data exchange can be selected from a group of products using a barcode and wireless communication can be performed, product management can be performed reliably. Therefore, by attaching a label having specific ID information to the same kind of product, data can be exchanged by wireless communication with a group of products having the specific ID information read from the barcode by the data collection device, Product distribution management and inventory management can be performed with reduced labor.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of a data communication system.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a circuit configuration of a data collection device and a label.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a process of transmitting and receiving data between a data collection device and a label.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Data communication system 2 Data collection device 3 Merchandise 4 Label 5 Barcode 6 Wireless communication circuit 7 Label side storage part 8 Label side wireless communication part 9 Label side CPU 10 Scanner part 11 Device side wireless communication part 12 Device side CPU 13 Input part 14 Device side storage unit 15 Display unit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 3E042 BA17 CA02 CD02 EA01 5B058 CA15 KA01 YA01 5B072 BB04 CC06 CC24 GG07 JJ14 LL16 MM04 9A001 BB01 BB03 BB04 BB05 CC05 CC07 EE04 JJ51 JJ52 KK15 KK31

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A product comprising a wireless communication circuit including a storage unit for storing data to be transmitted and received and a wireless communication unit for performing data communication with an external device, and a barcode in which data relating to the product is encoded and arranged. A reading unit for reading data relating to a specific product by a bar code of the label individually, and a label attached to the specific product by the bar code read by the reading unit, and transmitting and receiving data. A data communication system comprising: a wireless communication unit; and a data collection device having an input unit for inputting commands for starting reading and transmitting / receiving data. 2. The data communication system according to claim 1, wherein the barcode has ID information for selecting the specific product.