JP2005206378A - Stored goods management method, and goods detecting device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To conduct management to stored goods without depending on conventional location-based management. <P>SOLUTION: An IC tag is installed on stored goods, with goods management data written on the IC tag, and goods storage data recorded, and the goods are disposed in a predetermined position in a goods storage space (step a). The goods management data are read with non-contact, and the goods to be taken out are detected among the goods disposed in the goods storage space (step b). As the detected goods are taken out of the goods storage space, storage cancellation data of the goods taken out are recorded (step c). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for managing a product stored in a product storage space and a product detection device used for the method.

  In order to manage the products to be stored, normally, a storage position (location) corresponding to each product or each type of product is allocated in advance in the product storage space, and each product is stored in the corresponding location. In addition, inspection and sorting of products are performed for each location, and so-called location management is performed to manage the loading and unloading of products (see Patent Documents 1 to 3).

  In this location management, it is assumed that the product and the location corresponding to the product always match. Therefore, if the product is stored in the wrong location, the correction is not easy and accurate management is required. It becomes impossible to do. Therefore, the goods must be stored accurately at the appropriate location. Also, with this management method, it is necessary to allocate an appropriate number of locations in advance in the product storage space, and as the number of types of products to be stored increases, the number of required locations increases accordingly, and large products Storage space is required.

On the other hand, if the product can be managed with the stored product placed at an arbitrary position in the product storage space without using location management, the product should be stored in a smaller product storage space. Therefore, space can be saved, and the goods can be stored more easily, thereby reducing labor and working time.
However, conventionally, it has been very difficult to efficiently find a corresponding product from a group of products cluttered in the product storage space when the product is delivered.

JP-A-8-268511 JP 2003-2415 A JP 2003-30750 A

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to enable management of stored merchandise without using conventional location management.

In order to solve the above problems, a first invention is a method for managing a product stored in a product storage space,
(A) attaching an IC tag to a product to be stored, writing product management data to the IC tag, recording storage data of the product, and placing the product at an arbitrary position in the product storage space;
(B) detecting merchandise to be taken out of the merchandise arranged in the merchandise storage space by reading the merchandise management data written in the IC tag in a contactless manner;
And (c) taking out the detected merchandise from the merchandise storage space and recording storage cancellation data of the taken out merchandise.

In the configuration of the first invention, before executing the step (a), the stored product is detected by metal, and for the product for which metal is not detected, the steps after the step (a) are executed. However, it is preferable to execute a step of separately storing and managing the product without executing the steps after the step (a) for the product in which the metal is detected.
Preferably, in the step (c), the IC tag is removed from the taken-out product, the data written in the removed IC tag is erased, and reused for the next stored product. It has become.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the second invention is a method for managing products stored in a product storage space,
(A) preparing an IC tag capable of independently reading and writing data at a short distance and reading and writing data at a long distance, using at least radio waves of the first and second frequencies;
(B) Attaching the IC tag to the product to be stored, writing the product management data to the IC tag using the radio wave of the first frequency and recording the storage data of the product. A step of arranging at a position of
(C) A product to be taken out from the products arranged in the product storage space by reading the product management data written on the IC tag from a long distance using the radio wave of the second frequency. Detecting an existing area;
(D) detecting the product to be taken out by reading the product management data written in the IC tag from a short distance in the area using the radio wave of the first frequency;
And (e) taking out the detected merchandise from the merchandise storage space and recording storage cancellation data of the taken out merchandise.

In the second invention, before the step (b) is performed, the commodity to be stored is detected by metal, and for the commodity in which metal is not detected, the steps after the step (c) are performed. It is preferable to execute a step of separately managing the storage of the product without performing the steps after the step (c) for the product in which the metal is detected.
Preferably, in the step (e), the IC tag is removed from the taken-out product, the data written in the removed IC tag is erased, and reused for the next stored product. It has become.
In the second invention, preferably, the IC tag includes a sheet base material, an antenna provided on the sheet base material, and an IC chip provided on the sheet base material and connected to the antenna. A first antenna for performing short-distance data transmission using radio waves of a first frequency and a long-distance data transmission using radio waves of a second frequency, which are arranged independently of each other. The IC chip module comprises a first IC chip module connected to the first antenna and a second IC chip module connected to the second antenna. Yes.
Preferably, the first antenna of the IC tag is a loop coil antenna disposed in an outer peripheral region of the sheet base material, and the second antenna is the first antenna of the sheet base material. Arranged inside.
The first frequency is preferably 13.56 MHz, and the second frequency is preferably one frequency in the UHF band.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the third invention reads a barcode preliminarily attached to the product when the product is placed in the product storage space, and the read barcode data is necessary for other purposes. For non-contact writing to the IC tag together with various product management data, and simultaneously recording the storage data of the product, while erasing the data written to the IC tag when the product is taken out of the product storage space A sub-reader / writer and the sub-reader / writer are detachably accommodated, and the merchandise management data written on the IC tag is read in a non-contact manner to detect a merchandise to be taken out from the merchandise storage space. At the same time, a main reader / writer for recording the storage release data regarding the retrieved product. The sub-reader / writer is communicable with the main reader / writer when accommodated in the main reader / writer, and the stored data recorded in the sub-reader / writer. Is transmitted to and recorded on the main reader / writer, and the sub-reader / writer further comprises a metal detecting means. It is.

  According to the present invention, as in the case of conventional location management, a storage position (location) is assigned to each product or each product type in advance in the product storage space, and the product must be stored accurately in the corresponding location. The product can be managed in a state where the product is placed at an arbitrary position in the product storage space or classified for each storage area provided in advance. In the latter case, even if the product is placed in a storage area different from the corresponding storage area, there will be no inconvenience as in the case of location management, and the product storage space will be The corresponding product can be quickly and accurately found out of the product group placed in the. Therefore, according to the present invention, the product can be stored in a smaller product storage space, so that the space can be saved, and the goods can be stored more easily, thereby reducing labor and working time. it can.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing the configuration of a stored merchandise management method according to one embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, when a product is stored, an IC tag is attached to the product stored in the product storage space, product management data is written to the IC tag, and the storage data of the product is recorded. (Step (a)). In this case, when a barcode is attached to the product to be stored, the barcode may be written to the IC tag together with other product storage data at the same time as the barcode is read by the barcode reader.
In addition, when placing a product in the product storage space, the product may be placed at random in any position in the product storage space and may be stacked on each other. Dividing into multiple storage areas, using these storage areas as a guide, sorting and arranging the products to be stored, and stacking them in the storage area will enable more efficient product management. Can do. In this case, the plurality of storage areas provided in the product storage space are merely used as a rough classification guide for products, and are completely different from the storage positions (locations) assigned in the conventional location management. In addition, the storage data of the product written in the IC tag includes, for example, product name, product code, manufacturer name, size, color, material, shape, price, storage period, expiration date, delivery date, returnable period, storage period In addition to the data used in the conventional product management method based on location management, such as handling precautions, customer name, contact name, and contact person code, data that is not used in the conventional location management method is also included .

  That is, when the type of stored data (number of data items) of a product increases, it becomes impossible to perform product management by assigning a location to each data item in the stored product management method based on the conventional location management. According to the method, the product storage data is written in the IC tag, and the IC tag data is read and the product is searched by narrowing down to a specific data item (for example, search by return date or search by price range). be able to. For this reason, in the method according to the present invention, the more types of data to be written into the IC data, the better.

  Next, when the stored product is taken out from the product storage space, the product management data written in the IC tag is read in a non-contact manner, thereby detecting the product to be taken out from the products arranged in the product storage space. (Step (b)). Then, the detected product is taken out from the product storage space, and the storage cancellation data of the taken out product is recorded (step (c)). Further, the IC tag attached to the taken out product is removed, and the data written in the removed IC tag is erased and reused for the next stored product.

  In the method according to the present invention, if a product contains a large amount of metal, or if there is a metal in the position where the IC tag is attached to the product, the accuracy of data on the IC tag is affected by the influence of the metal. Cannot read / write. In this case, before the step (a) is performed, the commodity to be stored is detected by metal, and the commodity in which the metal is not detected is subjected to the above steps (a) to (c). For the product for which the product is detected, the above steps (a) to (c) are not executed, and the storage management of the product is separately performed without using the IC tag.

  Thus, according to the stored merchandise management method of the present invention, it is possible to manage stored merchandise without relying on conventional location management. That is, there is no need to assign a storage position (location) for each product or each type of product in the product storage space and store the product accurately in the corresponding location, and the product is stored in the product storage space. The product can be managed in a state where it is placed at an arbitrary position, or classified into an appropriate number of storage areas. In the latter case, even if the product is placed in a storage area different from the corresponding storage area, there is no inconvenience as in the case of conventional location management, and the product is stored when the product is taken out. From the group of products placed in the space, the corresponding product can be found quickly and accurately. Therefore, according to the method according to the present invention, the product can be stored in a smaller product storage space, so that the space can be saved, and the goods can be loaded and unloaded more easily, thereby reducing labor and working time. Can be planned.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a stored product management method according to another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, when an IC tag capable of independently reading and writing data at a short distance and reading and writing data at a long distance is attached to a product, and the product stored in the product storage space is taken out, it corresponds from a long distance. After detecting the area where the product is present, the corresponding product is detected from a short distance within the detected area, so that the detection efficiency of the product is further improved.

  Referring to FIG. 2, according to this embodiment, first of all, at least using the radio waves of the first and second frequencies, the reading and writing of data at a short distance and the data at a long distance are independently performed. An IC tag capable of reading and writing is prepared (step (a)). As this IC tag, for example, radio waves having a frequency of 13.56 MHz (first frequency) and radio waves having one frequency (second frequency) in the UHF band are used, and data at a short distance and a long distance, respectively. It is possible to use a 1-chip 2-band IC tag or a 2-chip 2-band IC tag that can read and write.

  FIG. 5 is a plan view of an IC tag according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 5, first and second antennas 21 and 24 that are independent of each other are provided on a sheet base 20. The first IC chip module 22 is connected to the first antenna 21, and the second IC chip module 25 is connected to the second antenna 24.

The first antenna 21 includes a loop coil antenna disposed in the outer peripheral region of the sheet base material 20, and in the outer peripheral region of the sheet base material 20, the first antenna 21 spirals outward from the inner start end 23 a and then spirals. The coil 23 extends from the outer end 23b to the inner end 23c across each spiral loop at a right angle. In this embodiment, the first antenna 21 is formed by etching or printing, but the first antenna 21 can also be formed from a copper wire (copper winding coil).
The shape of the coil 23 is not limited to that of this embodiment, and instead of the rectangular coil, the coil 23 can be an elliptical coil or a circular coil, or a complex polygonal coil.
The first IC chip module 22 is electrically connected to the inner starting end 23a and the inner terminal end 23c of the coil 23 with a conductive adhesive.

  In this embodiment, the second antenna 24 is formed of a copper wire, and is disposed inside the first antenna 21 in the sheet base material 20. The second antenna 24 is spaced from the straight portion 26 a by a distance d with respect to the straight portion 26 a. The wing portions 26e and 26f each have a plurality of first rectangular wave-like portions 26b, and one wing portion 26f has a plurality of second rectangular wave-like portions. A portion 26c is provided. The second IC chip module 25 (with a built-in package) is electrically connected to the base end portion 26d of the wing portions 26e and 26f.

  The first antenna 21 performs short-distance data transmission using radio waves of the first frequency (in this embodiment, 13.56 MHz), and the second antenna 24 transmits the second frequency (in this embodiment). In this case, long-distance data transmission is performed using radio waves in the UHF band frequency, and data is read from and written to the first and second IC chip modules 22 and 25, respectively.

  Thus, according to the IC tag of the present invention, the reading and writing of data within the short-distance area (within about 90 cm) by the radio wave of the first frequency (13.56 MHz) and the second frequency (frequency of the UHF band) Data can be read and written independently in a long-distance area (within several meters) by radio waves.

  At the time of product storage, an IC tag is attached to the product to be stored, product management data is written to the IC tag using radio waves of the first frequency, and storage data of the product is recorded, so that the product storage space (Step (b)). The product arrangement method in this case is the same as that in the embodiment of FIG.

When the product is taken out from the product storage space, the product management data written in the IC tag is read from a long distance by using the radio wave of the second frequency. The area where the product to be taken out is present is detected (step (c)).
Thereafter, using the radio wave of the first frequency, the product management data written in the IC tag is read from a short distance in the area to detect the product to be taken out (step (d)). The product is taken out from the product storage space, and the storage cancellation data of the taken product is recorded (step (e)). Further, the IC tag attached to the taken out product is removed, and the data written in the removed IC tag is erased and reused for the next stored product.

  Also in this embodiment, as in the case of the embodiment of FIG. 1, if the product contains a large amount of metal or if there is a metal in the position where the IC tag is attached to the product, Due to the influence, accurate reading / writing of data with respect to the IC tag cannot be performed. In this case, before the step (b) is performed, the commodity to be stored is detected by metal, and the commodity in which the metal is not detected is subjected to the above steps (b) to (e). For the product for which the item is detected, the above steps (b) to (e) are not executed, and the storage management of the product is separately performed without using the IC tag.

  FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of a product detection apparatus suitable for carrying out the method shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 shows a sub-reader / writer in the product detection apparatus of FIG. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a state where is removed from the main reader / writer. Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the commodity detection apparatus according to the present invention includes a main reader including a casing 14, an IC tag dedicated reader / writer unit 3, a loop antenna 4, and a battery 5 incorporated in the casing 14. / Has a writer 2

  A concave portion 10 is formed in the central portion of the casing 14 of the main reader / writer 2, and the sub reader / writer 1 having a function of a reader / writer dedicated for IC tags and a function of a barcode reader is formed in the concave portion 10. It is designed to be removably accommodated. The sub reader / writer 1 is inserted into the recess 10 by a known appropriate snap-type engagement mechanism (not shown) provided in the recess 10 of the main reader / writer 2 and outside the casing of the sub reader / writer 1. It can be detachably attached.

A liquid crystal display 9 and a key 13 for data input are provided on the surface of the sub reader / writer 1, and an infrared data transmitting / receiving element 6 and a power supply terminal are disposed on one side. On the other hand, on the side surface of the concave portion 10 of the casing 14 of the main reader / writer 2, the sub reader / writer 1 is attached to the concave portion at a position facing the data transmitting / receiving element 6 of the sub reader / writer 1. The infrared data transmitting / receiving element 7 is disposed, and the power supply terminal 11 is disposed at a position in contact with the power supply terminal of the sub reader / writer 1. The infrared transmitting / receiving element 7 is connected to the IC tag reader / writer unit 3 by a cable 8, and the power supply terminal 11 is connected to the battery 5 by a power supply cable 12.
When the sub reader / writer 1 is accommodated in the main reader / writer 2, data communication with the main reader / writer 2 is possible, and at the same time, the sub reader / writer 1 is charged from the main reader / writer 2. To get.
The sub-reader / writer 1 includes a metal detector (not shown).

  Thus, at the time of product storage, the sub reader / writer 1 is removed from the main reader / writer 2, and the product stored by the sub reader / writer 1 is detected by metal. For a product for which no metal has been detected, the series of steps (a) to (c) shown in FIG. 1 is executed. For a product for which metal has been detected, steps (a) to (c) are performed. Is not executed, and storage management of the product is separately performed without using an IC tag.

Next, for a product for which no metal was detected, the barcode attached to the product in advance was read by the sub reader / writer 1, and the read barcode data was input via the input key 13. At the same time as other necessary product management data is written in a non-contact manner on the IC tag, the storage data of the product is recorded in the sub reader / writer 1. Then, the IC tag in which the data is written is attached to the product, and the product is placed in the product storage space.
After the storage of the product is completed, the sub reader / writer 1 is accommodated in the main reader / writer 2. At this time, the storage data of the commodity recorded in the sub reader / writer 1 is transmitted to the main reader / writer 2 and recorded therein.
With regard to the storage data of the product recorded in the sub reader / writer 1, for example, the sub reader / writer 1 can be wirelessly communicated with a separately installed product management host computer. Data may be transmitted from the reader / writer 1 to the product management host computer for centralized management.

  Management of products written on an IC tag by the reader / writer function of the main reader / writer 2 while the sub reader / writer 1 is accommodated in the main reader / writer 2 when taking out the product from the storage space The data is read in a non-contact manner, and a product to be taken out from the product storage space is detected. At the same time, storage release data relating to the taken out product is recorded.

Further, the data written in the IC tag is erased by the sub reader / writer 1 for the taken out product. The IC tag from which the data has been erased is reused for the next stored product.
Thus, according to this product detection apparatus, the stored product management method shown in FIG. 1 can be efficiently implemented.

It is a flowchart of the storage goods management method by one Example of this invention. It is a flowchart of the storage goods management method by another Example of this invention. It is the top view which showed schematic structure of the goods detection apparatus suitable for enforcing the method shown by FIG. FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a state where a sub reader / writer is detached from a main reader / writer in the commodity detection apparatus of FIG. 3. It is a top view of the IC tag by one Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 Sub Reader / Writer 2 Main Reader / Writer 3 IC Tag Dedicated Reader / Writer Unit 4 Loop Antenna 5 Battery 6 Infrared Data Transmitting / Receiving Element 7 Infrared Data Transmitting / Receiving Element 8 Cable 9 Liquid Crystal Display 10 Recess 11 Power Supply Terminal 12 Cable 13 Input Key 14 Casing 20 Sheet base material 21 First antenna 22 First IC chip module 23 Coil 24 Second antenna 25 Second IC chip module

Claims (10)

A method for managing products stored in a product storage space,
(A) attaching an IC tag to a product to be stored, writing product management data to the IC tag, recording storage data of the product, and placing the product at an arbitrary position in the product storage space;
(B) detecting merchandise to be taken out of the merchandise arranged in the merchandise storage space by reading the merchandise management data written in the IC tag in a contactless manner;
And (c) taking out the detected product from the product storage space and recording storage cancellation data of the taken-out product. Before performing the step (a), the commodity to be stored is detected by metal, and for the commodity in which the metal is not detected, the steps after the step (a) are performed, but the commodity in which the metal is detected is detected. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein a step of separately managing storage of merchandise is performed without performing the steps after step (a). In the step (c), the IC tag is removed from the taken-out product, the data written in the removed IC tag is erased, and reused for the next stored product. The method according to claim 1 or claim 2. A method for managing products stored in a product storage space,
(A) preparing an IC tag capable of independently reading and writing data at a short distance and reading and writing data at a long distance, using at least radio waves of the first and second frequencies;
(B) Attaching the IC tag to the product to be stored, writing the product management data to the IC tag using the radio wave of the first frequency and recording the storage data of the product. A step of arranging at a position of
(C) A product to be taken out from the products arranged in the product storage space by reading the product management data written on the IC tag from a long distance using the radio wave of the second frequency. Detecting an existing area;
(D) detecting the product to be taken out by reading the product management data written in the IC tag from a short distance in the area using the radio wave of the first frequency;
And (e) taking out the detected product from the product storage space and recording storage release data of the taken product. Before the step (b) is performed, the commodity to be stored is detected by metal, and for the commodity in which the metal is not detected, the steps after the step (c) are performed. 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the step of separately storing and managing the product is executed without executing the steps after step (c). In the step (e), the IC tag is removed from the taken-out product, the data written in the removed IC tag is erased, and reused for the next stored product. Item 6. The method according to item 4 or item 5. The IC tag includes a sheet base material, an antenna provided on the sheet base material, and an IC chip module provided on the sheet base material and connected to the antenna,
The antenna is arranged independently of each other, and a first antenna for performing short-distance data transmission using radio waves of a first frequency and a second for performing long-distance data transmission using radio waves of a second frequency. Wherein the IC chip module is composed of a first IC chip module connected to the first antenna and a second IC chip module connected to the second antenna. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 6. The first antenna of the IC tag includes a loop coil antenna disposed in an outer peripheral region of the sheet base material, and the second antenna is disposed inside the first antenna of the sheet base material. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein: The method according to claim 4, wherein the first frequency is 13.56 MHz, and the second frequency is one frequency in the UHF band. A commodity detection apparatus suitable for carrying out the method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
When a product is placed in the product storage space, the barcode attached to the product is read in advance, and the read barcode data is written to the IC tag together with other necessary product management data without contact. A sub-reader / writer for erasing data written in the IC tag when the merchandise storage data is recorded while the merchandise is removed from the merchandise storage space;
The sub-reader / writer is detachably accommodated, and the merchandise management data written in the IC tag is read in a non-contact manner to detect the merchandise to be taken out from the merchandise storage space, and at the same time, A main reader / writer for recording storage release data,
When the sub-reader / writer is accommodated in the main reader / writer, the sub-reader / writer can communicate with the main reader / writer, and the stored data recorded in the sub-reader / writer is A commodity detection apparatus, wherein the main reader / writer is transmitted and recorded, and the sub-reader / writer further includes metal detection means.

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