JP2004192222A - Tag information management device and tag information management antenna - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a tag information management device and a tag information management antenna making it possible to read or write information on a wireless tag no matter which direction the plane of the wireless tag is pointed, except when the plane is parallel to the plane of a path of conveyance near the center of the antenna, thereby greatly reducing the rate of failure of communications with the wireless tag for high reliability. <P>SOLUTION: The tag information management device has loop antennas 1a, 1b provided to surround a conveyance line 2, and uses a magnetic field produced by the loop antennas 1a, 1b either to read information on the tag attached to each article conveyed by the conveyance line 2 or to write information on the tag. The loop antennas 1a, 1b are provided, with their loop faces being tilted with an angle of about 45 degrees to the direction of conveyance of the conveyance line 2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention, a loop antenna is provided so that an article conveyed by a conveyance line can pass through, and information of a tag attached to an article conveyed by the conveyance line is read using a magnetic field generated by the loop antenna. Or a tag information management device for writing information to a tag and a tag information management antenna.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a tag information management device in which a wireless tag is attached to an article conveyed by a conveying line, and information of the wireless tag is read or written by a loop antenna. As shown in FIG. 7, the loop antenna 1 is provided so that the loop surface is orthogonal to the transport line 2, and a wireless tag 4 ( 4a, 4b) is read, or the information is written into the wireless tag 4 (communication is performed). According to such a loop antenna 1, near the center of the transport line 2, a magnetic field directed in the transport direction is generated, and the surface of the wireless tag (ie, the loop surface of the tag loop antenna provided on the tag) When the article 3 is conveyed such that () is parallel (in the case of the wireless tag 4a), communication with the wireless tag 4 can be performed with high reliability.
[0003]
However, when the article is transported such that the surface of the wireless tag attached to the article is orthogonal to the loop surface near the center of the loop antenna of the tag information management device (in the case of the wireless tag 4b), as shown in FIG. The direction of the magnetic field H generated by the loop antenna is in the same direction as the surface of the tag, so that the tag loop antenna hardly interlinks with the magnetic field generated from the loop antenna 1 of the tag information management device. If it is located at the center, reading or writing may not be possible. Also, when the surface of the wireless tag 4 attached to the article 3 is parallel to the surface of the transport line (case 4c), reading or writing may not be possible in the same manner as described above.
[0004]
Then, in order to solve this problem, the following patent documents having a completely different structure from the present invention are known.
[0005]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-2002-279362 (page 2-3, FIG. 1)
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The present invention solves the above-described problem, except that the surface of the wireless tag is oriented in any other direction except in the case where the surface of the wireless tag is parallel to the conveyance path surface near the center of the antenna, the information of the wireless tag can be obtained. An object of the present invention is to provide a tag information management device and a tag information management antenna which can perform reading or writing and can significantly reduce the case where communication with a wireless tag becomes impossible, and thus can provide a highly reliable tag information management device and tag information management antenna. .
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a loop antenna so that an article conveyed by a conveyance line can pass through, and using a magnetic field generated by the loop antenna, an article conveyed by the conveyance line In the tag information management device for reading the information of the attached tag or writing the information to the tag, the loop antenna is provided so as to be inclined such that the loop surface has a predetermined angle with respect to the transport direction of the transport line. It is characterized by the following.
[0008]
Further, the present invention provides a loop antenna so that an article conveyed by a conveyance line can pass through, and using a magnetic field generated by the loop antenna, information of a tag attached to the article conveyed by the conveyance line In the tag information management device for reading or writing information to a tag, at least two loop antennas are provided at intervals in the transport direction of the transport line, and the interval between two loop antennas is Is characterized in that
[0009]
Further, in the tag information management device of the present invention, the smaller one of the distances between the two loop antennas has a predetermined distance.
[0010]
Further, in the tag information management device of the present invention, the loop surface of the loop antenna has an inclination of about 45 degrees or about 135 degrees with respect to the transport direction.
[0011]
Further, the present invention relates to a tag information management antenna having a loop antenna provided so that an article conveyed by a conveyance line can pass therethrough, wherein at least two loop antennas are spaced apart in the conveyance direction of the conveyance line. And the distance between the two loop antennas is different on both sides of the transport line.
[0012]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of the tag information management device according to the first embodiment, FIG. 2 is a plan view of a tag information management antenna viewed from above a transport line, and FIG.
The tag information management device according to the first embodiment includes a tag information management antenna 1 and a read / write device 5 connected to the tag information management antenna 1 for reading information from the wireless tag 4 or writing information to the wireless tag 4. And a PC 6 that is connected to the read / write device 5 and controls and manages the read / write device 5.
The tag information management antenna 1 is configured by a loop antenna (tunnel type loop antenna) 1a provided so as to surround a transport line, and the loop surface of the loop antenna has an angle of about 45 degrees with respect to the transport direction of the transport line. It is provided to be inclined so as to have. In addition, about the loop antenna provided so as to surround the transport line, the lower part is passed between the upper and lower belts of the belt conveyor constituting the transport line, or is passed through the lower side of the entire belt conveyor. Or any of them. As a result, articles (baggage, etc.) conveyed on the belt are conveyed so as to pass through the loop antenna.
[0013]
According to this configuration, even if the wireless tag is transported so that the surface of the wireless tag is perpendicular to the transport surface and parallel to the transport direction as shown in FIG. And communication with the wireless tag 4 can be performed. If the loop surface and the surface of the wireless tag are perpendicular and parallel to the transport direction near the center of the tunnel-type loop antenna, the magnetic field is difficult to interlink and communication may not be possible. There is little risk that the article will be conveyed so as to have an angle, and therefore, there is very little risk that communication will not be possible due to such causes.
[0014]
Embodiment 2 FIG.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a tag information management device according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a plan view of a tag information management antenna viewed from above a transport line, and FIG. FIG.
The tag information management device according to the second embodiment includes a tag information management antenna 1A, a distribution / synthesizer 7 connected to the tag information management antenna 1A, and supplying power to each of the antennas 1a and 1b. A read / write device 5 that reads information from or writes information to the wireless tag via a wireless tag, and a PC 6 that is connected to the read / write device 5 and controls and manages the read / write device.
The tag information management antenna 1A includes two loop antennas 1a and 1b provided so as to surround the transport line 2. The two loop antennas 1a and 1b are provided with an interval in the transport direction, and their loop surfaces are non-parallel to each other, so that the interval between the two loop antennas is an interval along one side of the transport line. The distance L1 is different from the distance L2 along the other side of the transport line. The smaller of L1 and L2 has a predetermined distance so that the loop antennas 1a and 1b do not interfere with each other.
[0015]
In an embodiment, the loop planes of the two loop antennas have an angle of about 45 degrees with respect to the carrier line, and the loop planes of each other form an angle of about 90 degrees.
[0016]
According to the above configuration, as shown in FIG. 6, when the tag surface of the wireless tag 4 attached to the article and conveyed with the article is orthogonal to the loop surface near the center of one of the loop antennas 1b. Is always parallel to the loop surface of the other loop antenna 1a, and the other loop antenna 1a can reliably perform communication. Further, according to the embodiment, the communication range can be expanded in the transport direction as compared with the case where the loop surface is orthogonal to the transport direction of the conventional transport line 2, and the transport is performed at high speed. However, it is possible to sufficiently secure the time for writing and reading, and therefore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to cope with a high speed of the transport, and it is possible to improve the efficiency of the transport and the tag information management thereof. .
[0017]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, except for the case where the surface of the wireless tag is oriented in any other direction, except for the case where the surface of the wireless tag is parallel to the conveyance path near the center of the antenna, reading information of the wireless tag, Alternatively, writing becomes possible, and the case where communication with the wireless tag becomes impossible can be greatly reduced, so that it is possible to provide a highly reliable tag information management device and a highly reliable tag information management antenna. .
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a tag information management device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the tag information management device according to the first embodiment as viewed from above a transport line.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the first embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a tag information management device according to a second embodiment;
FIG. 5 is a plan view of the tag information management device according to the second embodiment as viewed from above a transport line.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an operation of the second embodiment.
FIG. 7 is an overall configuration diagram showing an example of a conventional tag information management device.
FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a problem of a conventional tag information management device.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 tag information management antenna, 1a, 1b loop antenna (tunnel type antenna), 2 transport lines, 3 articles, 4 wireless tags.

Claims (5)

A loop antenna is provided so that the article conveyed by the conveyance line can pass through, and information on a tag attached to the article conveyed by the conveyance line is read using a magnetic field generated by the loop antenna, or In a tag information management device for writing information,
The tag information management device, wherein the loop antenna is provided to be inclined so that a loop surface thereof has a predetermined angle with respect to a transport direction of a transport line. A loop antenna is provided so that the article conveyed by the conveyance line can pass through, and information on a tag attached to the article conveyed by the conveyance line is read using a magnetic field generated by the loop antenna, or In a tag information management device for writing information,
A tag information management device, wherein at least two loop antennas are provided at intervals in the transport direction of the transport line, and the interval between the two loop antennas is different on both sides of the transport line. The tag information management device according to claim 2,
The tag information management device, wherein a smaller distance between the two loop antennas has a predetermined distance. The tag information management device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The tag information management device according to claim 1, wherein the loop surface of the loop antenna has an inclination of about 45 degrees or about 135 degrees with respect to the transport direction. A tag information management antenna having a loop antenna provided so that articles conveyed by a conveyance line can pass therethrough,
An antenna for tag information management, comprising: at least two loop antennas spaced apart in the transport direction of the transport line, wherein the interval between the two loop antennas is different on both sides of the transport line.

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