JP2003316871A - Quality guarantee system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a management system capable of preventing the forgery or falsification of the certification of an object and easily managing it. <P>SOLUTION: An ID, an authentication code, a guarantee content, the name of the object and the owner thereof are stored as data in a server 5 every formed IC tag 2. When the transaction of the object 1 is established, the ID and authentication code in the IC tag 2 are read by a reader/writer 3, and transmitted to the server 5 through a terminal device 4. In the server 5, the stored authentication code is read based on the received ID, and compared with the received authentication code to authenticate the IC tag 2. Thereafter, data for the guarantee content and the like are transmitted to the terminal device 4. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a quality assurance system for carrying out an appraisal certificate for an object requiring appraisal such as jewelry, arts and arts.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various kinds of certification such as a certificate or pedigree for certifying the object itself, such as jewelry, arts, arts, antiques, plants and animals Documents are attached. In the distribution of such an object, the credibility of the object can be obtained in each distribution channel by using these various certificates and performing quality assurance. Therefore, the broker has the advantage that the quality of the object can be clearly shown to the wholesaler and the end user, and the end user etc. can confirm the quality of the object by confirming these various certificates. Since it is clearly indicated, it has a function that you can purchase with confidence.

[0003]

However, since the various types of certificates that have been conventionally used are created by recording the quality of an object on paper, there is a risk of forgery or falsification. is there. In addition, since various certificates are often managed separately from the object, it is necessary to search separately from the object in order to show the certificate to the purchaser when buying or selling the object. In addition, the management of the certificate may be managed in a place different from the object, and it may not be possible to present it at the place where the transaction is made.

In view of such problems, it is an object of the present invention to propose a quality assurance system which can prevent forgery or tampering with the certification of an object and can be easily managed.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the quality assurance system according to claim 1 is a quality assurance system for confirming the quality assurance of an object in a secondary market of the object. , An IC tag attached to each of the plurality of objects and storing an individually assigned authentication code, an interrogator that communicates with the IC tag, and the interrogator by controlling the interrogator Through I
A terminal device that receives the authentication code of the C tag, and a server that receives the authentication code of the IC tag transmitted from the terminal device and that records the authentication code given to each of the plurality of IC tags. , The authentication code of the IC tag read by the interrogator controlled by the terminal device is transmitted from the terminal device to the server, and the server uses the authentication code to read the IC code. It is characterized in that the object is proved by performing tag authentication.

According to such a quality assurance system, I
As described in claim 2, in the C tag, an ID that is non-rewritable data generated when the IC tag is created may be used as the authentication code. Further, an ID added to the ID tag itself and an authentication code for authenticating the ID tag may be stored in the IC tag.
At this time, the server records the guarantee content and the authentication code of the object for each ID. At this time, when the ID and the authentication code stored in the IC tag are read by the reader / writer serving as the interrogator, they are transmitted to the server. Then, the server authenticates the IC tag by checking whether the received authentication code matches the authentication code recorded in the server based on the received ID, and authenticates the IC tag. Therefore, the object to which the IC tag is attached is certified.

Further, only the authentication code is stored in the IC tag, and the ID may be input through the terminal device. At this time, the authentication code recorded on the server is recognized from the ID input to the terminal device, and the authentication operation is performed by checking whether the authentication code matches the authentication code read from the ID tag.

At this time, as described in claim 3, the server records the guarantee content of each of the objects to which the IC tags are attached, in the IC tag, and the server reads from the terminal device. When the IC tag is authenticated by the transmitted authentication code of the IC tag, the guarantee content for the object attached with the IC tag confirmed by the authentication code is read and transmitted to the terminal device. , The terminal device receives and displays the warranty content transmitted from the server, so that the purchaser of the object can confirm the warranty content of the object from the display of the terminal device. can do.

Further, as described in claim 4, the server records the holder of the object together with the authentication code and the guarantee content of the object, and the server stores each of the objects. The location management of the object may be performed. Further, at this time, as described in claim 5, when a new owner of the object is input by the terminal device, information on the new owner is transmitted to the server, and in the server. The owner of the object is updated and recorded.

Further, as described in claim 6, when the server authenticates the IC tag, the server confirms the object attached with the IC tag confirmed by the authentication code. Recognizes a holder of the same target object as the target object, generates and transmits inventory information for the target object, and the terminal device receives and displays the inventory information transmitted from the server. By doing so, inventory confirmation of the same object can be performed.

Further, as described in claim 7, the IC
Information of the object attached with the IC tag is printed on the surface of the tag, and the object attached with the IC tag is confirmed by confirming the print content on the surface of the IC tag. It may be confirmed. Further, as described in claim 8, a brittle seal that is easily broken when peeled off is attached to the surface of the IC tag, thereby making it difficult to forge and falsify the IC tag. .

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the quality assurance system of this embodiment.

The quality assurance system shown in FIG. 1 includes an object 1 to be distributed, an IC tag 2 attached to ensure the quality of the object, a reader / writer 3 for communicating with the IC tag 2. A terminal device 4 for controlling the operation of the reader / writer 3.
And a server 5 that communicates with the terminal device 4 through the network 6.

In the quality assurance system of FIG. 1, the IC tag 2 includes an antenna 21 for transmitting / receiving signals to / from the reader / writer 3, and a modulation / demodulation circuit 22 for modulating / demodulating signals, as shown in FIG. A rectifier circuit 23 that rectifies a signal synchronized with the antenna 21 to generate a power supply voltage, a control circuit 24 that processes the signal, and a memory 25 that stores a code for authentication. The reader / writer 3 is an IC
An antenna 31 for transmitting / receiving signals to / from the tag 2, a modulation / demodulation circuit 32 for modulating / demodulating signals, a control circuit 33 for processing signals, and a communication interface (communication I / F) 34 for communicating with the terminal device 4. With.

In the quality assurance system having such a configuration, the server 5 is managed by the IC tag management company. In this IC tag management company, the IC for the object 1
When the registration of the tag 2 is requested, the guarantee content for the object 1 is stored in a database (not shown) in the server 5, and the object 1 is certified against the IC tag 2 manufactured by the IC tag manufacturing company. Register various data for
At this time, as shown in the flowchart of FIG.
The tag manufacturing company confirms the ID added to the IC tag 2 (STEPa). The ID given by this IC tag manufacturing company is non-rewritable data and is not likely to be forged or tampered with, so it is effective for use in the authentication described later.

Then, the guarantee content for the object 1 stored in a database (not shown) in the server 5 is input (STEPb), and the guarantee content and the guarantee content are stored in the storage area of the address position in the database corresponding to the ID confirmed in STEPa. The ID is stored (STEPc). in this way,
When the ID confirmed in STEPa and the guarantee content input in STEPb are stored in the database, the IC tag 2
An authentication code is created to authenticate (STEP
d), the ID and the guarantee content are stored in the storage area of the address position (STEP e).

In this way, the guarantee content, ID, authentication code, and object name are stored in the database of the server 5,
It is stored as shown in FIG. The IDs are created in the order of input at the IC tag manufacturing company. The authentication code is created by a random number or the like at the IC tag management company.
In addition, the guarantee content is certificate data for certifying the author of art, art, antiques, etc., or appraisal result data for certifying its origin, and images for certifying the quality of jewels, etc. The data is the result of appraisal including, and the flora and fauna are certificate data for proving the lineage.

Thereafter, when the authentication code created in STEPd is read (STEPf), this authentication code is stored in the memory 25 in the IC tag 2 (STEP).
g). Then, after printing the image of the object 1 and information about the object 1 on the surface of the IC tag 2 in which the ID and the authentication code are stored in the memory 25, a brittle seal that is easily broken when peeled off is attached (STEPh). The IC tag 2 is attached to the object 1 (STEPi), and the registration of the IC tag 2 is completed.

The information printed on the surface of the IC tag 2 is, for example, the author, creation date and time of art, art and antiques, and the size and quality of jewelry and the like. The flora and fauna are their pedigrees.

The operation in each block when the object 1 to which the IC tag 2 registered by the IC tag management company is attached is traded in the secondary market will be described below with reference to the drawings. . FIG. 5 shows a time chart when an end user makes a purchase at a retail store. Further, in the database (not shown) of the server 5, the owner of the object 1 is also recorded in addition to the guarantee content, the ID, and the authentication code of the object 1, as shown in FIG.

First, when the terminal device 4 is operated and a browser is activated to authenticate the terminal device 4, (ST
EP1), connection to the server 5 is requested via the communication network 6 (STEP2). When the server 5 recognizes the connection request from the terminal device 3 (STE
P3), a page for inputting the user ID and password of the user of the terminal device 4 is transmitted (STEP
4). The user ID and password are codes for authenticating the user of the terminal device 4 in order to give permission to connect to the server 5.

When the input page is displayed by the browser on the terminal device 4 (STEP 5),
The user ID and password are entered and sent to the server 5 (STEP 6). The server 5 having received the user ID and the password authenticates the terminal device 4 (STEP 7). Then, when the server 5 authenticates the terminal device 4, a page for reading the IC tag 2 is transmitted from the server 5 to the terminal device 4 (STEP
8).

When a page for reading is displayed by the browser on the terminal device 4 (STEP
9), the communication permission with the reader / writer 3 is confirmed, and in order to communicate with the reader / writer 3, the terminal device 4 and the reader / writer 3 are connected for communication (STEP 1).
0). In the reader / writer 3, when the communication connection with the terminal device 4 is confirmed by the communication I / F 34, the IC tag detection signal, which is a radio wave of power weaker than the power for communication with the IC tag 2, is modulated / demodulated. Generated by 32, antenna 3
The standby state for transmitting from 1 is entered (STEP 11).

When the IC tag detection signal is received by the antenna 21 of the IC tag 2, the rectifier circuit 23 obtains a power supply voltage and each circuit in the IC tag 2 operates (STEP 12). After that, the modulation / demodulation circuit 22 demodulates the IC tag detection signal, the control circuit 24 recognizes that it is in the communicable area of the reader / writer 3, and notifies that the IC tag 2 has become communicable. Signal reader
The data is transmitted to the writer 3 via the modulation / demodulation circuit 22 and the antenna 21 (STEP 13).

When the reader / writer 3 receives the notification signal from the IC tag 2 through the antenna 31, the modem circuit 32 demodulates it and the control circuit 33 recognizes that the IC tag 2 can communicate (STEP 14). In this way, IC
When the tag 2 and the reader / writer 3 are in a state where they can communicate with each other, contactless wireless communication is performed and the ID and the authentication code stored in the memory 25 of the IC tag 2 are read (STEP 15). The read ID and authentication code are transmitted to the terminal device 4 through the communication I / F 34 (STEP 16).

When the reception of the read ID and authentication code is confirmed by the terminal device 4 (STEP 17),
The received ID and authentication code are transmitted to the server 5 using the browser (STEP 18). After that, when the server 5 receives the ID and the authentication code stored in the IC tag 2 through the communication network 6 (STEP 1
9) Then, the authentication code stored in the database in the server 5 is retrieved from the received ID (STEP 20).

When the authentication code is retrieved from the storage area of the address position where the ID is confirmed, first, the received authentication code is compared with the retrieved authentication code to perform the authentication (STEP 21). Then, when the authentication codes match and the user is authenticated, the guarantee content and the object name similarly stored in the same storage area are read (STEP 2).
2). Then, the owner of the same object is confirmed from the read object name, and the inventory information at each store is confirmed (STEP 23). This inventory information is STEP22
It is transmitted to the terminal device 4 together with the guarantee content and the object name read in (STEP 24). It should be noted that such inventory information confirms each holder of the same object, so it is possible to confirm, for example, at which retail store the same object can be obtained. it can.

When the terminal device 4 receives the guarantee content and the object name and the inventory information read from the database of the server 5, the warranty content and the object name received by the browser are displayed (STEP 25). ). In this way, when the guarantee content and the object name are displayed, the end user can confirm the guarantee content of the object 1 by confirming the display content of the terminal device 4. or,
Since the stock information of each store is displayed, the stock status of the same object in each store can be confirmed. Furthermore,
In STEP 21, if the authentication is not successful, an error signal is transmitted from the server 5 to the terminal device 4, and an error display is displayed on the terminal device 4.

After that, when the object 1 is purchased, information such as the name and address of the end user who is the purchaser is input to the terminal device 4 (STEP 26). When the end user information is input, the terminal device 4 transmits the end user information to the server 5 through the communication network 6 (STEP 27) and disconnects the connection with the server 5 (STEP 28). Further, when the server 5 receives the end user information (STEP 29), the end user information is stored in the storage area of the address position where the above ID is confirmed in the database in the server 5 as shown in FIG.
And update the information of the owner (STEP
30).

In this way, the server 5 updates the information on the object 1 recorded in the database (not shown). In STEP 17, after the terminal device 4 confirms the ID and the authentication code of the IC tag 2, the reader / writer 3 is controlled to be in the standby state (S
TEP31), the reader / writer 3 set to be in the standby state disconnects the communication with the IC tag 2 (STEP
32), the standby state is entered (STEP 33). Furthermore, IC
When the communication between the tag 2 and the reader / writer 3 is cut off,
The operation of each block is stopped (STEP 34).

In this embodiment, the reader / writer has an I
It is assumed that the ID and the authentication code in the C tag are transmitted to the terminal device without being temporarily held. However, the reader / writer has a memory, and the ID and the authentication code read from the IC tag are the reader / writer. It may be provided to the terminal device after being temporarily stored in the memory.
In addition, although the inventory information of each store is assumed to be transmitted, when the terminal device is authenticated, the I
The store may be recognized from D, and the inventory information of only the store may be confirmed by the server and transmitted to the terminal device.

Further, the ID and the authentication code are both stored in the IC tag and read by the reader / writer to be transmitted to the server. For example, the ID is printed on the surface of the IC tag. The authentication code may be stored in the memory in the IC tag. At this time, the ID printed on the IC tag is input to the terminal device, the authentication code in the IC tag is read by the reader / writer, and this ID and the authentication code are transmitted to the server, so that the IC tag Authentication is done.

[0033]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The IC tag can be used as a substitute for various certificates such as a certificate
Authenticate the C tag with the server and guarantee the quality of the object. Therefore, it is not the quality assurance by documents as in the past,
It is possible to easily prevent counterfeiting or falsification.
In addition, for the authenticated IC tag, the warranty content of the object to which the IC tag is attached is displayed on the terminal device.
When the object is bought or sold, it is possible to confirm the guarantee content that is managed uniformly by the server.

Further, since the location management of the target object is performed, the inventory management for each holder of the target object can be carried out uniformly by the server. Further, since the information of the attached object is printed on the surface of the IC tag, the content of the object can be confirmed by checking the display of the IC tag. Furthermore, IC
It is possible to make it difficult to forge and falsify the IC tag by applying a brittle seal that is easily broken when peeled off to the surface of the tag.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a quality assurance system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing internal configurations of an IC tag and a reader / writer.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation when creating an IC tag.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing each data for an IC tag stored in a server.

5 is a timing chart showing the operation of each block in the quality assurance system of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing each data for an IC tag stored in the server.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 object 2 IC tag 3 Reader / Writer 4 terminal devices 5 servers 6 Communication network

Front page continuation (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) G06K 17/00 G06K 17/00 L

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A quality assurance system for confirming the quality assurance of an object in a secondary market of the object, wherein an authentication code assigned to each of the plurality of objects and individually assigned is stored. An IC tag, an interrogator that communicates with the IC tag, a terminal device that controls the interrogator and receives an authentication code of the IC tag through the interrogator, and the IC that is transmitted from the terminal device A server for receiving the authentication code of the tag and recording the authentication code given to each of the plurality of IC tags; and the IC read by the interrogator controlled by the terminal device. The tag authentication code is transmitted from the terminal device to the server, and the server authenticates the IC tag using the authentication code. Quality assurance system, characterized in that to prove the object between. 2. The quality assurance system according to claim 1, wherein the authentication code is non-rewritable data generated when the IC tag is manufactured. 3. The server records the guarantee content of each of the objects to which the IC tags are attached, and the server transmits the IC transmitted from the terminal device.
When the IC tag is authenticated by the authentication code of the tag, the guarantee content regarding the object attached with the IC tag confirmed by the authentication code is read and transmitted to the terminal device, and the terminal device The quality assurance system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the guarantee content transmitted from the server is received and displayed. 4. The server according to claim 1, wherein the server records the holder of the object together with the authentication code and the guarantee content of the object. Quality assurance system. 5. When a new owner of the object is input by the terminal device, information about the new owner is transmitted to the server, and the server updates the owner of the object. The quality assurance system according to claim 4, wherein the quality assurance system is recorded and recorded. 6. When the server authenticates the IC tag, the server confirms the object attached with the IC tag confirmed by the authentication code, thereby confirming the same object as the confirmed object. 5. The owner of the object is recognized, inventory information for the object is generated and transmitted, and the terminal device receives and displays the inventory information transmitted from the server. Alternatively, the quality assurance system according to claim 5. 7. The quality assurance system according to claim 1, wherein the information of the object attached with the IC tag is printed on the surface of the IC tag. 8. The quality assurance system according to claim 7, wherein a brittle seal is attached to the surface of the IC tag.