JP2003036456A - Instrument for measuring time - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a time measuring instrument for measuring a passing through time and a passing through position when a plurality of traveling objects pass through an optional position. SOLUTION: This time measuring instrument comprises a transmitter 6 mounted on a traveling object and for transmitting an identification signal, a plurality of receiving antennas 3 and 3' that form a receiving range obliquely to a measurement line, a receiver 4 for processing the identification signal received by the receiving antennas 3 and 3' along a time axis to obtain time series data of the identification signal, and an analyzing and recording part 5 for analyzing and recording the passing through time of the traveling object from the time series data of the identification signal.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a time measuring device for measuring a passing time when a moving body passes a measuring line, and particularly to a lap time of a plurality of moving bodies moving at high speed in a horse race, a car race or the like. The present invention relates to a time measuring device suitable for measurement.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in measurement of competitions in which a moving body competes for travel time, for example, 100m running or marathon time measurement, or lap time measurement during race horse training, the timekeeper conventionally measures the stopwatch. Manual measurements were being made. However, in this case, there is a problem that a measurement error occurs and an error occurs in the recording. In addition, various burdens arise due to the increase in personnel, such as the need for a timekeeper for each mobile unit. Therefore, various techniques without human work have been developed in order to reduce these problems.

In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-248290, a bar code is arranged on the back of a moving body, specifically, a racehorse,
Disclosed is a measuring device that detects that a racehorse has passed a reference position with a bar code reader installed above the running path of the racehorse, and measures the lap time of the racehorse from the signal of the bar code reader and the passing time. Has been done.

Further, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 9-159687, an electromagnetic wave signal is transmitted from an antenna, the electromagnetic wave signal is received by a data transmitting / receiving section attached to the moving body, and an identifying signal of the moving body is added to the electromagnetic wave signal. , The invention of the measuring device which measures the traveling speed of a mobile body by transmitting it back is disclosed.

[0005]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention
In the measurement by the device described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 0, a bar code is used, that is, light is used, and therefore, the measurement accuracy of the moving body is deteriorated due to the outdoor environment such as fog or snow, or the bar code is moved. There was a problem that I could not recognize my body well. Further, since the bar code reader needs to be installed by disposing the column in the upper space on the running path of the moving body, the equipment becomes large. Furthermore, since the barcode reader needs to be installed above the moving body, the barcode must be placed on the moving body so that the barcode can be installed on the moving body, for example, on the back of a racehorse. Although the present invention can be applied to a moving body, it is not practically applicable to marathon competitions and the like.

On the other hand, the invention described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-159687 differs from the invention using the above-mentioned bar code in that it is less affected by the outdoor environment and the equipment does not need to be enlarged. However, in the present invention, since there is only one antenna that transmits or receives an electromagnetic wave signal, when a plurality of moving bodies pass in front of the antennas at the same time, one moving body becomes a shadow of another moving body. , The transmission signal transmitted from the antenna does not reach the moving body, or the identification signal returned from the moving body does not reach the antenna,
The moving body may be erroneously recognized as not passing on the measurement line. Further, in the present invention, it is not possible to identify which position on the measurement line has been passed, that is, the passing position on the measurement line.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, as a method that is not affected by the outdoor environment, first, an identification signal transmitted from a mobile body is received and the mobile body passes through. Attention was paid to the method of measuring the time. One of such methods is the method of the invention described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-159687, but as described above, in the present invention, when a plurality of moving bodies simultaneously pass in front of the antenna, Poor measurement occurs. This is because one moving body becomes a shadow of another moving body.

The inventors have arranged a plurality of receiving antennas for one measurement line, and by installing these receiving antennas so as to have a reception range oblique to the measurement line, a plurality of receiving antennas are provided. We thought that the measurement failure due to the shadow when the moving body passed on the measurement line could be eliminated.

When a plurality of receiving antennas are installed in this way, time series data of a plurality of identification signals can be obtained for the same moving body. Even if the same moving body is observed, the time-series data differs due to the difference in the receiving range of the receiving antenna. It is possible to specify the passing position on the measurement line by utilizing the difference in time series data caused by the difference in the receiving range of the receiving antenna.

The present invention has been completed based on the above knowledge, and the gist thereof is a time measuring device characterized by the following (1) and (2).

(1) A time measuring device for measuring a passing time on a measurement line through which a moving body passes, which is mounted on the moving body and transmits an identification signal, and a reception range oblique to the measuring line. A plurality of receiving antennas that form the, and the receiver that obtains the time-series data of the identification signal by processing the identification signal received by the reception antenna along the time axis, and the passing time of the moving object from the time-series data of the identification signal. A time measuring device comprising an analysis recording unit for analyzing and recording.

(2) In the time measuring device of (1), part of the receiving ranges formed by the plurality of receiving antennas overlap each other, and the analysis recording unit receives the same moving body by different receiving antennas. A time measuring device having a function of comparing time series data of the identified signals and analyzing a passing position on a measurement line from a time shift of peaks of a plurality of time series data.

In the above devices (1) and (2), it is preferable that the oscillator has a function of being activated by the activation signal transmitted from the transmitting antenna and stopping after passing through the reception range. Moreover, it is preferable that the analysis recording unit has a function of calculating a time difference between a plurality of passage times. Further, it is preferable that the receiver has a function of adjusting a reference time of a clock incorporated in the receiver based on one absolute time.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The time measuring device according to the present invention is a device for measuring the time (passing time) at which a moving body equipped with an oscillator passes an arbitrary position (measurement line). As the moving body, any moving body such as a track-and-field athlete or a racehorse can be measured. Then, the time when such a moving body passes the measurement line is captured and measured. The time referred to here is the time that has elapsed with respect to standard time or when a runner or a racehorse has started. If a plurality of times are measured, it is possible to calculate the difference and calculate the lap time.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing an outline of a time measuring device according to the present invention. The time measuring device according to the present invention includes a transmitter 6, receiving antennas 3 and 3 ′, a receiver 4 and an analysis recording unit 5. Further, in addition to these, it is preferable that the time measuring device has a transmitter 1 and a transmitting antenna 2. Just before the measurement line, by transmitting the activation signal from the transmitting antenna 2 and activating the oscillator 6, the identification signal can be emitted only when the passing time is measured, so the transmitter battery consumption is reduced. This is because you can hold it down. In the following, the moving body is shown in FIG.
From the left to the right, that is, assuming that the oscillator 6 moves from the left to the right, the time measuring device of the present invention will be described.

First, when the oscillator 6 moves to the right, the oscillator 6
Passes through the transmission range 11. Here, the transmission range 11 refers to a region where the activation signal supplied from the transmitter 1 is transmitted by the transmission antenna 2 to the track of the mobile body and reaches the area. At this time, the transmitter moving on the track must be in the transmission range.
The transmission range 11 is set so as to cover the entire end of the runway so as to pass through 11.

The activation signal plays a role of activating (also called wakeup) the oscillator 6, and the oscillator 6 starts transmitting the identification signal having the natural frequency by passing through the transmission range 11. The identification signal is transmitted at regular intervals, and the passing time is measured by capturing it by the receiving antennas 3 and 3'described later.

Since the transmission interval of the identification signal has a great influence on the measurement accuracy, the identification signal is transmitted at the speed of the moving body and the reception range 10,
Taking into account 10 'and the like, it is preferable to transmit at sufficiently short intervals. There is no particular limitation on the frequency of the electromagnetic wave used for the activation signal and the identification signal. Electromagnetic waves in a frequency band that can be used by law may be used.

Then, the transmitter 6 in the state of transmitting the identification signal passes through the receiving ranges 10 and 10 '. Here, the receiving ranges 10 and 10 'refer to areas where the identification signals can be captured by the receiving antennas 3 and 3'. As shown in FIG.
By forming 0 and 10 'and forming the area diagonally to the running path, in other words, diagonally to the measurement line, the measurement failure due to the shadow of the moving body caused by the plurality of moving bodies is eliminated. In FIG. 1, the receiving ranges 10 and 10 ′ are illustrated to extend from the front to the rear with respect to the moving direction of the moving body, but the mounting position of the transmitter 6 in the moving body is taken into consideration and The receiving antennas 3 and 3 ′ may be arranged so that the receiving ranges 10 and 10 ′ extend from the rear to the front.

The identification signal received by the receiving antennas 3, 3 ′ is sent to the receiver 4. The receiver 4 performs processing such as frequency discrimination / amplification of electromagnetic waves. In actual measurement, the identification signal transmitted from the transmitter 8 does not necessarily have high directivity, and therefore it is very difficult to identify the position of the moving body.

Therefore, with respect to these receiving ranges 10 and 10 ', receiving antennas are arranged so as to partially overlap each other, and in the respective receiving ranges obtained when the mobile body passes through the receiving ranges 10 and 10'. Time series data, that is,
The passing position on the measurement line is identified by comparing the time series data of the identification signals received by different receiving antennas and analyzing the time shift of the peaks of these time series data.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing the moving paths of the moving body. FIG. 2 (a) shows the relationship between the receiving range and the paths, and FIG. 2 (b) shows the relationship with respect to those paths. FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing a difference in arbitrary time when each reception antenna receives an identification signal.

As can be seen from FIG. 2 (a), when the moving body passes through the route A, the moving body on the measurement line is moved by the receiving antenna 3 before the measuring line by the receiving antenna 3 '. Each body will be recognized. That is, the moving body is recognized at the time indicated by the black circle on the route A in FIG.

When the moving body passes the route B,
When the moving body on the measurement line is recognized by both the receiving antennas 3 and 3'and the moving body passes through the route C, the receiving antenna
The moving object passing through the front of the measurement line is recognized by 3 and the moving object on the measurement line is recognized by the receiving antenna 3 '. That is, the moving bodies at the times indicated by black circles on the routes B and C in FIG. 2B are respectively recognized. Next, actual time series data on each route will be shown.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing time-series data of the identification signal. FIG. 3 (a) shows the route A and FIG. 3 (b).
3A and 3B show time series data when the moving body passes through the route B and the route C, respectively. In FIG. 3, the horizontal axis represents the time axis.

As can be seen from FIG. 3, when the signal passes through the route A, the identification signal received by the receiving antenna 3'has a peak in a time zone earlier than the identification signal received by the receiving antenna 3. Further, when the signal passes through the route B, a peak appears in the same time zone, and when the signal further passes through the route C, the identification signal received by the receiving antenna 3 is opposite to that of the route A, and the receiving antenna 3 ' A peak appears in a time zone earlier than the identification signal received at. By analyzing the time shift of the peak of such time series data with the analysis recording unit, the passing position on the measurement line can be identified.

When the passing time and the passing position are obtained in this way, the lap time between the measurement lines can be measured by adding the function of calculating the time difference between a plurality of passing times to the analysis recording unit. You can Especially when the moving body is an animal in which it is difficult to artificially operate the moving body,
Such a function is effective. For example, if the time measuring device as shown in FIG. 1 is installed for each halon, the lap time for each halon of the racehorse can be measured in real time, and the obliqueness of the racehorse can be determined based on the passing position. be able to.

Although FIG. 1 shows the case where there are two receiving antennas, in order to improve the measurement accuracy, further receiving antennas may be installed. Further, the receiving antenna preferably has high directivity. If the directivity is high, it is possible to measure the passing time and the passing position with higher accuracy.

In the above description, it is assumed that there is one moving body, but the same applies when there are a plurality of moving bodies. When there are multiple mobile units,
If the identification signal is transmitted using different natural frequencies or uniquely modulated electromagnetic waves, problems such as erroneous recognition of the mobile body and interference of the identification signal do not occur.

The moving body preferably has a function of stopping the transmission of the activation signal after passing through the reception range 10. Any means may be used for stopping the transmission of the activation signal. For example, it may be stopped by transmitting a signal for stopping the transmission of the activation signal to the oscillator 6, or after the activation signal is received from the transmitting antenna 2, it is automatically identified when a certain time has passed. It may be performed by a timer function that stops the transmission of signals.

Further, when there are a plurality of time measuring devices as shown in FIG. 1 and the passing time is measured for each time measuring device and the lap time is measured, the time of a clock incorporated in the receiver 4 of each time measuring device is measured. When there is a deviation, an error occurs in the lap time obtained by calculating the time difference between the times. In order to eliminate this error, it is preferable that the clock incorporated in the receiver 4 has a function of adjusting the clock to the reference time based on one absolute time. Specifically, it is preferable to use radio waves and adjust the time to a reference time at regular time intervals, that is, to add the radio wave receiver to a timepiece incorporated in the receiver. Here, radio waves are GPS (Global Posit
Radio waves that provide accurate time to the public, such as radio waves from the ioning system) and standard waves (long-wave standard time signal).

[0032]

EXAMPLES When implementing the time measuring device according to the present invention, the time of a racehorse as a moving body was measured.

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing a traveling path on which a racehorse used in carrying out the present invention travels. In the actual time measurement, one receiving antenna 3 and 3'is installed for each 200m (1 halon) on both sides of the measuring line to receive the identification signal from the transmitter 6 arranged on the back of the racehorse. The time was measured. In this case, since the race horse's neck may be shaded by the identification signal, the receiving antennas 3 and 3'are oblique to the reception range 10 from the rear to the front with respect to the running direction (moving direction) of the race horse. , 10 'were arranged to be formed.

Further, the transmission antenna 2 is arranged in front of the reception antenna, and the transmitter 6 is activated and the identification signal is transmitted before the racehorse passes through the reception range 10, 10 '.
The starting signal is transmitted from the transmitting antenna 2. On the other hand, the transmitter 6 transmits the identification signal for 3 seconds after receiving the activation signal and stops the transmission of the identification signal. This is because the racehorse passes through the receiving ranges 10 and 10 'during the three seconds and measures the passing time and the passing position.

FIG. 5 shows a case where the time measuring device of the present invention is used.
It is the figure which showed typically the time-series data of the identification signal when a head racehorse is run in parallel. In FIG. 5, (a-1)
Is the time series data of racehorse A, and (a-2) is (a-
It is time series data of racehorse A received by the receiving antenna 200 m (1 halon) ahead of 1). In addition, (b-1) is time series data of racehorse B, and (b-2) is that of (b-1).
Racehorse B received by the receiving antenna 200m (1 halon) ahead
Is the time series data of.

In each of FIG. 5, the upper time series data is the data received by the receiving antenna on the right side with respect to the traveling direction (reception antenna 3 in FIG. 4), and the lower time series data is The receiving antenna on the left side of the traveling direction (Fig. 4
It is the data received by the receiving antenna 3 ').

As can be seen from FIGS. 5 (a-1) and 5 (a-2), the time when the racehorse A passed the measurement line was t.
_a-1 and ta _-2 , and FIGS. 5 (a-1) and (a-2).
In both cases, the peak of the time series data received by the receiving antenna on the right side is ahead of the peak of the time series data received by the receiving antenna on the left side in time, so Race Horse A is passing on the right side of the track. I was able to judge.

On the other hand, from FIGS. 5 (b-1) and 5 (b-2), the time when the racehorse B passed the measurement line was tb _-1 ,
t _b-2 . In FIG. 5 (b-1), the peak of the time series data received by the receiving antenna on the right side and the peak of the time series data received by the receiving antenna on the left side are almost the same, so the vehicle is traveling in the center of the track. However, in FIG.
In 2), the peak of the time-series data received by the right-hand side receiving antenna appears later than the peak of the time-series data received by the left-hand side receiving antenna. I could judge that I was running.

The time-series data of FIG. 5 shown above is obtained by forming a reception range obliquely from the rear to the front of the traveling direction of the moving body, and therefore, the route described in FIG. Note that the relationship between and time series data is reversed.

[0040]

According to the time measuring device of the present invention, a plurality of receiving antennas forming a reception range obliquely to the measurement line capture the passage of the moving body through the measuring line. It can be performed. further,
By analyzing the time series data received by the plurality of receiving antennas, the passing position on the measurement line can be identified. If the passing position can be identified, the slanting property of the moving body can also be judged, and it can be used especially for the correction training of the slanting habit of racehorses.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing an outline of a time measuring device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a moving route of a moving body, and FIG. 2A shows a relationship between a reception range and a route.
(B) is the figure which showed typically the difference of arbitrary time when each receiving antenna received an identification signal with respect to those paths.

3A and 3B are diagrams schematically showing time-series data of an identification signal, in which FIG. 3A is a route A, FIG. 3B is a route B, and FIG.
FIG. 3C shows time-series data when the moving body passes through the route C.

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing a traveling path on which a racehorse used in carrying out the invention is traveling.

FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing time-series data of identification signals when two racehorses are run in parallel using the time measuring device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 transmitter 2 transmitting antenna 3, 3'reception antenna 4 receiver 5 Analysis recording section 6 receiver 10, 10 'reception range 11 Transmission range

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Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A time measuring device for measuring a passing time on a measurement line through which a mobile body passes, the transmitter being mounted on the mobile body, for transmitting an identification signal, and a reception range being oblique to the measurement line. A plurality of receiving antennas to form, a receiver that processes the identification signals received by the receiving antennas along the time axis to obtain time-series data of the identification signals, and the transit time of the moving object from the time-series data of the identification signals And an analysis recording unit for recording the time. 2. An analysis recording unit compares time-series data of identification signals received by different receiving antennas with respect to the same moving body, because part of receiving ranges formed by a plurality of receiving antennas overlap each other. The time measuring device according to claim 1, wherein the time measuring device has a function of analyzing a passing position on a measurement line from a time shift of peaks of a plurality of time series data. 3. The time measuring device according to claim 1, wherein the oscillator has a function of being activated by an activation signal transmitted from a transmitting antenna and stopping after passing through a reception range. 4. The time measuring device according to claim 1, wherein the analysis recording unit has a function of calculating a time difference between a plurality of passing times. 5. The time measurement according to claim 1, wherein the receiver has a function of adjusting a reference time of a clock incorporated in the receiver on the basis of one absolute time. apparatus.