JP2003040455A - Article control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an article control system shortening times for display and rearrangement works and inventory confirmation of articles. SOLUTION: A radio tag control means comprises by including reading means for reading identification information identifying articles from radio tags attached to the articles via an antenna. The radio tag control means is provided with multiple changeover antennas, changeover means specifying the changeover antenna succeeding in reading the identification information of the radio tag and regarding it as reading position information, and adding means adding the reading position information to the identification information.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an article management system for managing articles such as goods and documents, and more particularly, to easily grasp the stock status and storage location of articles and carry out management by using RFID tags. The article management system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a video rental shop for renting an article such as a video tape to a customer, an article management system using a bar code is known as a method for renting a video tape and managing a member who is a customer.

When a member who is a customer visits a video rental store to rent a video tape, the member decides the video tape to be rented by referring to the title and the introductory text of the video tape displayed in the store. The customer submits the video tape and membership card to the cashier. The clerk reads the bar code printed on the membership card and confirms that the customer is a member. Next, read the bar code attached to the video tape and check the title of the work, maximum number of days to rent, rental price, etc. from the database of the store. The database of the store is also updated after the lending process is completed. In the case of a return, the same process is performed, the rental delay and the type of the returned video tape are checked, and the store database is updated.

There are the following two points as problems of the article management system using such a bar code. The first point is that the work of the clerk becomes complicated and it takes time to rent and return the items. For example, when reading a barcode, it is necessary to hold the barcode over the barcode reader one by one. For this reason, when there are many video tapes to be processed, it is necessary to hold each video tape over the bar code reader one by one, and it takes time for lending and returning. The second point is that a bar code cannot be used to prevent theft of video tapes, so an anti-theft system must be prepared in addition to an article management system that uses bar codes. As an anti-theft system, there is a system in which a sensing member that reacts to a specific frequency is attached to a video tape, and a gate is provided at the entrance and exit of a store to detect it.

As a method for solving the two problems of the article management system using such a bar code, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 20-1999
There is disclosed a product and customer management system using a wireless tag as described in No. 00-242861.

In this system, a radio tag is used instead of the bar code. For example, when a member who is a customer visits a video rental store to rent a video tape, the member decides the video tape to be rented by referring to the titles and introductory texts of the video tapes displayed in the store. The customer submits the video tape and membership card to the cashier. The clerk simultaneously reads the RFID tag embedded in the membership card and the RFID tag attached to the video tape, and confirms that the customer is a member, the title of the work, the maximum number of days to rent, and the rental price. Even when the number of video tapes to be rented is plural, the process can be easily performed because the RFID tag reader is used to read them all at once.

By providing a gate using a wireless tag reader at the entrance of the store, a theft prevention system using a wireless tag can be constructed. For example, when the video tape is taken out without permission without performing the lending process, the RFID tag reader installed at the entrance of the store reads the information of the RFID tag attached to the video tape. The read information of the wireless tag is collated with the database of the store, and in the case of the wireless tag that has not been rented out, a buzzer sounds to prevent theft.

As described above, in the conventional technique, the RFID tag is attached to the article and the information of the article is collectively recognized, whereby the processing time for lending and returning the article is shortened. Further, the RFID tag information is read by using the RFID tag reader installed at the entrance of the store and collated with the database of the store to prevent theft of the article.

[0009]

By using the conventional technique, it is possible to shorten the lending / returning processing time of the article and prevent the theft of the article, but the inventory of the article necessary for managing the article is taken. It is difficult to reduce the display time.

Further, in recent years, in order to meet diversifying customer needs in the article management system, it is required to efficiently manage a small number of various kinds of articles and find out necessary articles in a short time. In order to find an item in a short time, it is necessary to always remember the storage or display location of the item, but the item display and inventory are often performed manually, which takes time. Therefore, it is difficult to immediately reflect the position information of the article in the article management system.

Also, an article for which money is not exchanged,
For example, when managing articles such as company documents and library books, in order to reduce the management cost of the article management system, it is necessary to automatically manage articles without relying on human labor.

An object of the present invention is to provide an article management system that shortens the time required for displaying and rearranging articles.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an article management system that shortens the inventory confirmation time of articles.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an article management system which finds necessary articles in a short time from a wide variety of articles.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an article management system capable of carrying out or returning an article without human intervention.

[0016]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a reading means for reading identification information for identifying an article from an RFID tag attached to the article via an antenna. In the configured RFID tag control means, a plurality of switching antennas, a switching means that identifies the switching antennas that have successfully read the identification information of the wireless tags as reading position information, and identify the reading position information. An addition means for adding information is provided.

Further, the position and the number of articles of the same classification can be recognized by using the classification information of the articles included in the above identification information.

Further, the positions of a plurality of related articles can be recognized by using the article related information included in the identification information.

Further, the customer identification wireless tag for storing the customer identification information for identifying the customer and the wireless tag attached to the article for storing the article identification information for identifying the article are connected to the customer through the antenna. Provided is a RFID tag control means including a reading means for reading the identification information and the article identification information so that the customer and the article passing through the RFID tag reading area can be recognized from the customer identification information and the article identification information. did.

[0020]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a first embodiment according to the present invention.

1 is an article management system according to the first embodiment of the present invention, 2 is an article managed by the article management system 1, 3 is a wireless tag attached to the article 2 and storing information of the article 2, 5 Is a wireless tag control device for updating the information of the wireless tag 3 and the position where the wireless tag 3 is read in the database 12 in the store 14 via the network 4, 9 is the wireless tag 3 as the position information of the article 2 An interrogator for adding the identification information of the antenna 6 that has read the information 3 and its own identification information, 6 is an antenna for reading the information of the RFID tag 3, and 8 is a switch for controlling a plurality of switches 7 by controlling the interrogator A control circuit, 11 is a warehouse having a wireless tag control device connected to the network 4, and 10 is a search terminal connected to the network 4 for searching the database 12. Although the article management system in which the article warehouse 11 is managed by the store 14 via the network 4 is applied as the first embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. Furthermore, although the database 12 and the terminal device 10 are arranged in the store 14 in the present embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the wireless tag 3.
201 is a tag antenna used for communication with the interrogator 9, and 202 is radio wave for extracting or extracting electric power from radio waves received through the tag antenna 201 or for modulating or demodulating radio waves for communicating with the interrogator 9. Control circuit, 203
Is a control circuit that analyzes the data from the interrogator and controls the wireless tag 3, and 204 is an EEPROM that stores the necessary data under the control of the control circuit. The wireless tag 3 may have a built-in battery, and in this case, the power of the built-in battery is used to communicate with the interrogator 9.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a storage structure of the EEPROM 204. An article identification information storage area 300 for storing identification information of the article 2 exists in the EEPROM 204. The article identification information storage area 300 need not be at the beginning of the EEPROM 204 address.

FIG. 4 shows the structure of the database 12. The database 12 is configured to include an article position master 410 used for searching the location of an article and an interrogator master 411 indicating the relationship between the interrogator number and the warehouse name. Items in the article position master are an article identification code 400a, an article name 400b, an interrogator number 400c, a warehouse name 400d, and an antenna number 400e. The items of the interrogator master 411 are
An interrogator number 404 and a warehouse name 404b.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a flow in which the RFID tag control device 5 transmits the article information and the position information of the article 2 to the database 12. For example, in the article management system 1,
The article 2a (6) is connected to the antenna 6 (6) of the RFID tag control device 5a.
In the case of the display above, if the article search of the RFID tag control device 5 is started (S600), the interrogator 9 in the RFID tag control device 5a controls the switch control device 8 to switch the antenna (S601). , Because it is reading the RFID tag 3 (S6
02), when the article identification code is read by the antenna 6 (6) connected to the interrogator 9 (S603), the interrogator adds the interrogator number of the interrogator 9 to the article identification code (S60).
4), add the antenna number of antenna 6 (6) (S60
5), The generated update data is transmitted to the database 12 (S606). FIG. 5 shows the structure of update data. 501 is an article identification code, 502 is an interrogator number, and 503 is an antenna number. The update data 500 is the article identification code 50
1, an interrogator number 502, and an antenna number 503.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the flow of updating the database. The database 12, which has received the update data 500 transmitted from the wireless tag control device 5a, starts updating the database (S700). The database 12 reads the article identification code 501 from the update data 500 (S701),
The article position master 410 is searched (S702). If the article identification code 501 does not exist in the article position master 410 (S703), error processing is performed (S711). When the article identification code 501 is present in the article position master 410 (S70
3) The interrogator number 502 is read from the update data 500 (S704), and the interrogator master 411 is searched (S705).
If the interrogator number 502 does not exist in the interrogator master 411 (S706), error processing is performed (S711). If the interrogator number 502 exists in the interrogator master 411 (S706), the corresponding warehouse name is read from the interrogator master 411 (S7).
07). After that, the record 401 of the article position master 410 is updated. The item identification code 501 is “0000000
2 ”, the interrogator number 5 in record 401 (2)
02 is updated (S708), the warehouse name is updated (S709), and the antenna number 503 is updated (S710).

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a flow of searching the article 2 using the search terminal 10. When the article name is input to the search terminal 10 (S801), the database 12 stores the article position master 4
The search of 10 is started (S802). If there is no article name (S803), the database 12 displays “no article” on the search terminal 10. If there is an item name (S803), the database 12 displays "warehouse name" (S804), and "interrogator".
Is displayed (S805), and the "antenna number" is displayed (S80
6).

As described above, in the article management system according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the RFID tag control device 5 is used.
A plurality of antennas 6 are provided inside the switch control circuit 8
The feature is that the position of the wireless tag 3 is detected by reading the wireless tag 3 while switching the antenna 6 via the switch 7 and the database 12 is updated.

A second embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The configuration of the article management system 1 is the first aspect of the present invention.
Since it is the same as FIG. 1 used in the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the storage structure of the EEPROM 204. The EEPROM 204 has an article identification information storage area 300 for storing the identification information of the article 2, an article name information storage area 301 for storing the article name, and an article classification information storage area 302 for storing the article classification code.

FIG. 10 shows the structure of the database 12.
The database 12 is configured to include an article position master 410 used for searching the location of an article and an interrogator master 411 indicating the relationship between the interrogator number and the warehouse name. Items in the item position master are an item identification code 400a, an item name 400b, an interrogator number 400c, a warehouse name 400d, an antenna number 400e, and a classification code 400f. The items of the interrogator master 411 are an interrogator number 404 and a warehouse name 404.
b.

FIG. 12 is a diagram explaining a flow in which the RFID tag control device 5 transmits the article information and the position information of the article 2 to the database 12. For example, in the article management system 1, the article 2a (6) is connected to the antenna 6 of the wireless tag control device 5a.
(6) If the RFID tag control device 5 has started the article search when displayed on the top (S600), the RFID tag control device 5a
Since the interrogator 9 in the inside controls the switch control device 8 to switch the antenna (S601) and leads the wireless tag 3 (S602), the antenna 6 (where the article identification code is connected to the interrogator 9 ( When it is read in 6) (S603), the interrogator adds the interrogator number of the interrogator 9 to the article identification code (S604), and the antenna number of the antenna 6 (6) (S605). Is added (S607), the classification code is added (S608), and the generated update data is transmitted to the database 12 (S606).

FIG. 11 shows the structure of update data. 501
Is an article identification code, 502 is an interrogator number, and 503 is an antenna number. The update data 500 is the article identification code 5
01, interrogator number 502, antenna number 503, article name 504, and classification code 505.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the flow of updating the database. The database 12, which has received the update data 500 transmitted from the wireless tag control device 5a, starts updating the database (S700). The database 12 reads the interrogator number 502 from the update data 500 (S704) and searches the interrogator master 411 (S705). Interrogator master 4
If there is no interrogator number 502 in 11 (S706), error processing is performed (S711). If the interrogator number 502 exists in the interrogator master 411 (S706), the interrogator master 41
Lead the warehouse name from 1 (S707). Next update data 5
The article identification code 501 is read from 00 (S701), and the article position master 410 is searched (S702). If the article identification code 501 does not exist in the article position master 410 (S7
03), the new record 401 is added to the article position master 410 and the article identification code 501 is registered (S714). Next, the article name 504 is read from the update data 500, and the article name 504 is registered in the article position master 410 (S715). If the article identification code 501 is present in the article position master 410 (S703), (S714) and (S715) are not performed. Next, register or update the interrogator number in record 401 (S708),
The warehouse name is registered or updated (S709), the antenna number is registered or updated (S710), and the classification code is registered or updated (S713).

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a flow of confirming the inventory of the article 2 by the classification code using the search terminal 10. When the inventory check is started (S1400), the database sets the inventory counter to zero (S1401), and when the classification code is input to the search terminal 10 (S1402), the database 12 searches the article position master 410 in descending order (S1403). If there is a classification code (S1404), the database 12 counts up the inventory counter (S1405). If there is no classification code (S803), (S1405) is not performed. Next, it is confirmed that the article position master is searched up to the final record (S1406), and if it is not the final record, the article position master 410 is searched in descending order (S1403). If it is the final record, the value of the stock counter is displayed on the search terminal 10 as the stock quantity of the article 2 having the matching classification code (S1407).

As described above, in the article management system according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the classification information storage area for storing the classification information of the article 2 is added to the RFID tag 3 and the classification code is stored in the database. By registering items 2 that have the same classification code without actually counting items 2 manually
The feature is that it is possible to check the inventory of.

A third embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The configuration of the article management system 1 is the first aspect of the present invention.
Since it is the same as FIG. 1 used in the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing the storage structure of the EEPROM 204. In the EEPROM 204, an article identification information storage area 300 for storing the identification information of the article 2, an article name information storage area 301 for storing the article name, an article classification information storage area 302 for storing the article classification code, and There is an article related information storage area 303 that stores related information.

FIG. 16 shows the structure of the database 12.
The database 12 is configured to include an article position master 410 used for searching the location of an article and an interrogator master 411 indicating the relationship between the interrogator number and the warehouse name. Items in the article position master are the article identification code 400a, the article name 400b, the interrogator number 400c, the warehouse name 400d, the antenna number 400e, the classification code 400f, and the keyword 40.
It is 0 g. The items of the interrogator master 411 are the interrogator number 404 and the warehouse name 404b.

FIG. 18 is a diagram explaining a flow in which the RFID tag control device 5 transmits the article information and the position information of the article 2 to the database 12. For example, in the article management system 1, the article 2a (6) is connected to the antenna 6 of the wireless tag control device 5a.
(6) If the RFID tag control device 5 has started the article search when displayed on the top (S600), the RFID tag control device 5a
Since the interrogator 9 in the inside controls the switch control device 8 to switch the antenna (S601) and leads the wireless tag 3 (S602), the antenna 6 (where the article identification code is connected to the interrogator 9 ( When it is read in 6) (S603), the interrogator adds the interrogator number of the interrogator 9 to the article identification code (S604), and the antenna number of the antenna 6 (6) (S605). Is added (S607), the classification code is added (S608), the keyword is added (S609), and the generated update data is transmitted to the database 12 (S606).

FIG. 17 shows the structure of update data. 501
Is an article identification code, 502 is an interrogator number, and 503 is an antenna number. The update data 500 is the article identification code 5
01, interrogator number 502, antenna number 503, article name 504, classification code 505, and keyword 506.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing the flow of database updating. The database 12, which has received the update data 500 transmitted from the wireless tag control device 5a, starts updating the database (S700). The database 12 reads the interrogator number 502 from the update data 500 (S704) and searches the interrogator master 411 (S705). Interrogator master 4
If there is no interrogator number 502 in 11 (S706), error processing is performed (S711). If the interrogator number 502 exists in the interrogator master 411 (S706), the interrogator master 41
Lead the warehouse name from 1 (S707). Next update data 5
The article identification code 501 is read from 00 (S701), and the article position master 410 is searched (S702). If the article identification code 501 does not exist in the article position master 410 (S7
03), the new record 401 is added to the article position master 410 and the article identification code 501 is registered (S714). Next, the article name 504 is read from the update data 500, and the article name 504 is registered in the article position master 410 (S715). If the article identification code 501 is present in the article position master 410 (S703), (S714) and (S715) are not performed. Next, register or update the interrogator number in record 401 (S708),
The warehouse name is registered or updated (S709), the antenna number is registered or updated (S710), the classification code is registered or updated, and the keyword is registered or updated (S716).

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a flow of displaying the related article 2 from the keyword using the search terminal 10. When a keyword is input to the search terminal 10 (S2001), the database 12 searches the article position master 410 in descending order (S2002). When the keywords match (S2003), the database 12 displays the article name on the search terminal 10 (S200).
Four). If the keywords do not match (S2003), select (S2
004) is not performed. Next, it is confirmed that the article position master is searched up to the final record (S2005), and if it is not the final record, the article position master 410 is searched in descending order (S2).
002). If it is the last record, the keyword search ends (S2006).

As described above, in the article management system according to the third embodiment of the present invention, the related information storage area for storing the related information of the article 2 is added in the wireless tag 3 and the keyword is registered in the database. By doing so, the feature is that the related article 2 can be confirmed from the keyword.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a fourth embodiment according to the present invention.

1 is an article management system according to the first embodiment of the present invention, 2 is an article managed by the article management system 1, 3 is a wireless tag attached to the article 2 and storing information of the article 2, 5 Is a wireless tag control device for updating the information of the wireless tag 3 and the position where the wireless tag 3 is read in the database 12 in the store 14 via the network 4, 9 is the wireless tag 3 as the position information of the article 2 An interrogator for adding the identification information of the antenna 6 that has read the information 3 and its own identification information, 6 is an antenna for reading the information of the RFID tag 3, and 8 is a switch for controlling a plurality of switches 7 by controlling the interrogator A control circuit, 11 is a warehouse having a wireless tag control device connected to the network 4, and 10 is a search terminal connected to the network 4 for searching the database 12. Reference numeral 2102 denotes a customer card for the customer to prove his / her identity. Reference numeral 2103 denotes a wireless customer tag that is attached to the customer card 2102 and stores customer information. Reference numeral 2101 controls the gate antenna 2100 to control the information of the wireless tag 3 and wireless communication. The information of the customer tag is read at the same time, the database 12 in the store 14 is updated via the network 4, and the buzzer 2104 is sounded when only the information of the RFID tag 3 is read. It is a gate interrogator that adds information on a wireless customer tag.
As a fourth embodiment, the article warehouse 11 is connected to the network 4
Although the article management system for managing in the store 14 via the is applied, it is not limited to the present embodiment. Furthermore, although the database 12 and the terminal device 10 are arranged in the store 14 in the present embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this. The wireless customer tag 2103 has the same configuration as the wireless tag 3 and is as shown in FIG.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing the storage structure of the wireless customer tag. The EEPROM 204 has a customer identification information storage area 2200 for storing customer identification information. The article identification information storage area 2200 need not be at the beginning of the EEPROM 204 address.

FIG. 24 shows the structure of the database 12.
The database 12 is configured to include an article position master 410 used for searching the location of an article and an interrogator master 411 indicating the relationship between the interrogator number and the warehouse name. Items in the article position master are an article identification code 400a, an article name 400b, an interrogator number 400c, a warehouse name 400d, an antenna number 400e, and a customer code 400h. The items of the interrogator master 411 are an interrogator number 404 and a warehouse name 404.
b.

FIG. 26 shows a wireless tag automatic registration gate 2101.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a flow in which the item information of the item 2 and the customer code of the customer card 2102 are transmitted to the database 12. For example, in the article management system 1, the customer card 2
When the customer who holds 102 passes the RFID tag automatic registration gate 2101 with the article 2 and the article search of the RFID tag automatic registration gate 2101 is started (S600),
The wireless tag automatic registration gate 2101 is the gate antenna 21.
00 is switched (S601) and the wireless tag 3 and the wireless customer tag 2102 are read (S602). Therefore, when the article identification code is read (S603), the gate interrogator 2105
Adds the interrogator number of the gate interrogator 2105 to the article identification code (S604), the antenna number (S605), the article name (S607), the classification code (S608),
Add keywords (S609). Next, the wireless customer tag 21
It is confirmed that the customer code of 03 is read simultaneously (S611), and if the customer code is read, the generated update data is transmitted to the database 12 (S606). If the customer code is not read, the buzzer 2104 is sounded (S612).

FIG. 23 shows the structure of update data. 501
Is an article identification code, 502 is an interrogator number, and 503 is an antenna number. The update data 500 is the article identification code 5
01, interrogator number 502, antenna number 503, article name 504, classification code 505, keyword 506, and customer code 2300.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing the flow of updating the database. The database 12 having received the update data 500 transmitted from the wireless tag automatic registration gate 2101 starts updating the database (S700). Database 12
Reads the interrogator number 502 from the update data 500 (S704) and retrieves the interrogator master 411 (S705). If the interrogator number 502 does not exist in the interrogator master 411 (S706), error processing is performed (S711). Interrogator master 4
If the interrogator number 502 exists in 11 (S706), the warehouse name is read from the interrogator master 411 (S707). Next, the article identification code 501 is read from the update data 500 (S701), and the article position master 410 is searched (S702).
When there is no article identification code 501 in the article position master 410 (S703), a new record 401 is added to the article position master 410 and the article identification code 501 is registered (S7).
14). Next, the article name 504 is read from the update data 500, and the article name 504 is registered in the article position master 410 (S715). Item identification code 5 in the item position master 410
When 01 is present (S703), (S714) and (S715) are not performed. Next, the interrogator number of the record 401 is registered or updated (S708), the warehouse name is registered or updated (S709), the antenna number is registered or updated (S710), the classification code is registered or updated, and the keyword is registered. Or updated (S7
16) Register or update the customer code (S717).

As described above, in the article management system according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention, the customer wireless tag 2103 and the wireless tag 3 which have passed through the wireless tag automatic registration gate 2101 are automatically registered in the database 12. , Wireless tag 3
The feature is that the buzzer 2104 sounds when only the wireless tag automatic registration gate 2101 is passed.

[0053]

According to the present invention, the RFID tag control device 5 is an article.
Since the position of the wireless tag 3 attached to 2 is detected and the database 12 is updated, the position of the article can be detected without displaying or rearranging the article.

Further, by providing the article classification information storage area 302 for storing the classification code in the EEPROM 204 in the RFID tag 3, the RFID tag control device 5 displays the classification code of the RFID tag 3 attached to the article 2. Since the item code is read and the item classification code is added to the database 12, there is an effect that the stock of the item matching the classification code can be easily confirmed.

Further, by providing the article-related information storage area 303 for storing the keyword in the EEPROM 204 in the wireless tag 3, the wireless tag control device 5 reads the keyword of the wireless tag 3 attached to the article 2, Since the keyword of the article is added to the database 12, there is an effect that the article can be searched and the position can be confirmed using the keyword.

Further, since the RFID tag automatic registration gate 2101 transmits the article information of the article 2 and the customer code of the customer card 2102 to the database 12, it is possible to carry out the article and identify the customer who brought it out without human intervention. Has the effect

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an article management system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a structure of a wireless tag.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration in an EEPROM of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of a database according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of update data according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart diagram for searching for an article in the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for updating the database in the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart diagram for searching the position of an article in the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a configuration in the EEPROM of the first embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a configuration of a database according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a configuration of update data according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart diagram for searching for an article in the first embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart diagram for updating a database in the first embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart diagram for confirming the inventory of articles in the first embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a configuration inside an EEPROM according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a configuration of a database according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing the structure of update data according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart diagram for searching for an article in the third embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a flow chart diagram for updating a database in the third embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart diagram for searching an article using a keyword in the third embodiment.

FIG. 21 is a configuration diagram of an article management system according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing the internal structure of the EEPROM of the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing the configuration of a database according to the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing the structure of update data according to the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 25 is a flowchart diagram for searching for an article in the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 26 is a flow chart diagram for updating a database in the fourth embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Merchandise management system, 2 ... Merchandise, 3 ... Wireless tag, 4 ...
Network, 5 ... Wireless tag control device wireless, 6 ... Antenna, 8 ... Switch control circuit, 9 ... Interrogator, 10 ... Search terminal, 11 ... Warehouse, 12 ... Database, 14 ... Store 1
4, 201 ... Tag antenna, 202 ... Radio control circuit, 2
03 ... Control circuit, 204 ... EEPROM, 410 ... Article position master, 411 ... Interrogator master, 500 ... Update data, 5
01 ... article identification code, 502 ... interrogator number, 503 ...
Antenna number, 504 ... article name, 505 ... classification code,
506 ... keyword, 2102 ... customer card, 2103
... Wireless customer tag, 2101 ... Wireless tag automatic registration gate,
2105 ... Gate interrogator, 2300 ... Customer code.

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Tomoaki Ishifuji             1-280, Higashi Koikekubo, Kokubunji, Tokyo             Central Research Laboratory, Hitachi, Ltd. F term (reference) 3F022 BB01 MM22 MM26 MM32                 5B035 BB09 BC00 CA23                 5B058 CA15 YA01 YA20

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A wireless tag control means comprising reading means for reading identification information for identifying the article from an RFID tag attached to the article via an antenna, and identification from the RFID tag control means. It has a storage means for storing information, and a management means for managing the article based on the identification information stored in the storage means, and the plurality of switching antennas and the wireless tag of the wireless tag in the wireless tag control means. The identification information stored in the storage means is provided with switching means for specifying the switching antenna that has succeeded in reading the identification information as reading position information, and addition means for adding the reading position information to the identification information. An article management system characterized in that the position of an article can be recognized from the. 2. The article management system according to claim 1, wherein the identification information includes article classification information, and by storing the classification information in the storage means, the position and the number of articles of the same classification can be determined. An article management system characterized by being recognizable. 3. The article management system according to claim 1, wherein the identification information includes article related information, and the related information is stored in the storage means to recognize positions of a plurality of related articles. An article management system characterized by making it possible. 4. A customer identification wireless tag for storing customer identification information for identifying a customer and a wireless tag attached to an article and storing article identification information for identifying the article, the customer being provided with the customer through the antenna. The wireless tag control means includes a reading means for reading the identification information and the article identification information, and a storage means for storing the customer identification information and the article identification information from the RFID tag control means. An article management system capable of recognizing a customer and an article that have passed through a wireless tag reading area from the customer identification information and the article identification information stored in the storage means.