JP2006311169A - Non-contact active id tag device and rfid system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a non-contact active identification tag device solving all of various problems caused by battery life which is generated due to the necessity of a battery and various problems caused by waterproofness and an RFID system utilizing the non-contact active ID tag device. <P>SOLUTION: The non-contact active ID tag device loaded with an electronic circuit including at least an antenna 5 and a memory 6 and capable of storing identification information comprises: an electric double layer capacitor 11 for a power supply; a power receiving induction coil 16 for receiving power from a power transmitting induction coil 18 built in an external charger 14; and a charging control circuit 15 for charging the power source capacitor 11 by using power from the power receiving induction coil 16. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a non-contact active ID tag device having an internal power supply and capable of transmitting with an ID tag receiver body, and an RF-ID system using the non-contact active ID tag device.

  In recent years, with the development of semiconductor technology and electronic communication technology, an automatic recognition system called RF-ID capable of transmitting and receiving information without contact has been developed. This RF-ID system is composed of a non-contact ID tag device and an ID tag receiver body equipped with an ID controller. And as a non-contact ID tag device, there is a passive ID tag device that does not have a power source inside and operates with power transmission from the ID tag receiver body as a power source, and an active ID tag device with a power source inside. To do. Since this active ID tag device has a longer communication distance than a passive ID tag device, it can be applied to a wide variety of ranges, and has attracted attention in recent years.

  Such an active ID tag device uses a battery as a power source (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The configuration of a conventional RF-ID system will be described with reference to FIG. 3. The RF-ID system includes an active ID tag device 21 and an ID tag receiver 22. The ID tag receiver 22 includes an ID controller 23 and an antenna 24. On the other hand, the active ID tag device 21 includes an antenna 25, a memory 26, a CPU 27, a modulation circuit 28 that modulates transmission data, a demodulation circuit 29 that demodulates reception data, and a transmission / reception circuit 30, and a battery 31 as a power source. ing.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-73242

  However, since the active ID tag device includes the battery 31, the following problems occur.

(1) Problem of battery life Since the active ID tag device is driven by a battery, it has a problem of battery life and needs to be replaced periodically. In addition, in order to obtain a certain battery life, it is necessary to use a battery with a certain capacity, which increases the weight and cannot reduce the weight of the active ID tag device.
In addition, when considering actual use, it may be assumed that the battery has been consumed without being used due to spontaneous discharge of the battery, standby current of the active ID tag device, etc. .

(2) Problem of waterproofness Generally, an active ID tag device is assumed to be used outdoors, and therefore, a certain level of waterproof performance is required. Since the current battery use type needs to be replaced, in order to obtain waterproofness, it is necessary to make the opening / closing part such as a battery cover waterproof, and therefore packing is required, which is expensive.

  The present invention has been devised in view of the above circumstances, and the object thereof is various problems caused by the battery life caused by the need for the battery, and various problems caused by the waterproof property. It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel contactless active ID tag device that solves all of the problems and an RF-ID system using the contactless active ID tag device.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention according to claim 1 of the present invention is a non-contact active ID tag device which is equipped with an electronic circuit including at least an antenna and a memory element and holds identification information. A power receiving induction coil for receiving power from a power transmission induction coil incorporated in the battery charger by electromagnetic induction, and a charge control circuit for charging the power supply capacitor using the power from the power receiving induction coil It is characterized by that.

  As described above, a power supply capacitor is provided in place of the battery, and an electromagnetic induction charging method is adopted as a configuration for charging the power supply capacitor, thereby increasing the battery life of the conventional example using the battery as a power supply. All the problems caused by the problem and the waterproof property can be solved.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the non-contact active ID tag device according to claim 1, wherein the power supply capacitor is an electric double layer capacitor.

  As described above, when an electric double layer capacitor is used as a power supply capacitor, the energy density of the electric double layer capacitor is higher than that of other capacitors, so that the weight of the non-contact active ID tag device can be reduced. Rapid charging is possible during charging.

  The invention according to claim 3 is the non-contact active ID tag device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising power conversion means for changing the energy of the carrier wave received by the antenna at the time of communication into power, and the power conversion means The power supply capacitor is charged with electric power from the power supply.

  With the above configuration, the power supply capacitor can be stored with the energy of the carrier wave during communication, so that it is possible to suppress consumption of the power supply capacitor as much as possible.

  A fourth aspect of the present invention is the contactless active ID tag apparatus according to the third aspect, wherein the charge control circuit includes the power conversion means.

  With the above configuration, there is no need to separately provide power conversion means, so that the circuit configuration is not complicated.

  The invention according to claim 5 is the non-contact ID active tag device according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the carrier wave is a microwave.

  Since microwaves have high carrier energy efficiency, it is possible to increase the power storage of the power supply capacitor.

The invention according to claim 6 is a non-contact ID active tag device according to any one of claims 1 to 5;
The antenna for communicating with the antenna provided in the non-contact ID active tag device, and the reading and writing of the identification information stored in the storage element by communicating with the non-contact ID active tag device A receiver having an ID controller for performing identification information management;
An RF-ID system characterized by comprising:

  With the above configuration, it is possible to construct an RF-ID system that uses a non-contact ID active tag device that does not require a battery and uses an electromagnetic induction charging method. Such an RF-ID system according to the present invention can be suitably implemented in a wide range of RF-ID systems.

  According to the present invention, instead of a battery, a battery for power supply is provided, and the above-described battery of the conventional example using a battery as a power supply by adopting an electromagnetic induction charging system as a configuration for charging the power supply capacitor All the problems caused by the lifetime and the problems caused by waterproofness can be solved.

[First embodiment]
Hereinafter, a non-contact active ID tag device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, the non-contact ID tag apparatus in this invention is not limited to what was shown in the following Examples, It can implement by changing suitably in the range which does not change the summary.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an RF-ID system including a non-contact active ID tag device (hereinafter simply referred to as an active ID tag device) according to the present invention. The RF-ID system includes an active ID tag device 1 and an ID tag receiver 2. The ID tag receiver 2 communicates with the active ID tag device 1 between the ID controller 3 and the active ID tag device 1 for managing data by reading and writing data stored therein. And an antenna 4 for performing data communication. Note that the frequency of the carrier used for communication between the active ID tag device 1 and the ID tag receiver 2 is, for example, 315 MHz, but the present invention is not limited to this, and microwaves are used as the carrier. Also good.

  On the other hand, the active ID tag device 1 includes an antenna 5 for communicating with the ID tag receiver 2, a memory 6 for storing specific data such as solid authentication identification data, and a command from the ID tag receiver 2. CPU 7 for performing data access to memory 6 and modulating circuit 8 for modulating transmission data, demodulating circuit 9 for demodulating reception data, and amplifying modulated transmission data at the time of transmission and reception at the time of reception A transmission / reception circuit 10 having a function of detecting data is incorporated. Further, the active ID tag device 1 controls charging of the electric double layer capacitor 11 in order to receive power supply for power supply by electromagnetic induction from the electric double layer capacitor 11 and the charger 14 as a power supply capacitor instead of the battery. A charging control circuit 15 and a power receiving induction coil 16 are provided. Here, since the electric double layer capacitor has a higher energy density than other capacitors, the use of such an electric double layer capacitor as a power supply capacitor enables rapid charging, and the active ID tag device 1. Can be reduced in weight.

  The charger 14 includes a power transmission circuit 17 and a power transmission induction coil 18. The power transmission circuit 17 converts the voltage supplied from the commercial power source into a power supply voltage used inside the charger and drives the power transmission induction coil 18. Is configured to do.

  When the active ID tag device 1 is charged by the charger 14, the power from the power transmission induction coil 18 of the charger 14 is received by the power reception induction coil 16 of the active ID tag device 1 by electromagnetic induction, and the charge control circuit. 15 rectifies and controls the voltage, and the electric double layer capacitor 11 is charged.

  As described above, in the active ID tag device having the above configuration, by using the electric double layer capacitor 11 instead of the battery, it is possible to solve the problem relating to the battery life and the waterproof property of the active ID tag device using the battery. . In addition, by using a method for supplying power to the electric double layer capacitor 11 and using a non-contact method in which power is supplied by electromagnetic induction, charging terminals and connectors are unnecessary as compared with a contact method having charging terminals or connectors. Therefore, there is no contact failure due to aging of charging terminals and connectors, generation of rust, mixing of foreign matters such as dust, etc., and power can be supplied reliably. Furthermore, since there is no contact, there is no fear of electric shock even when the active ID tag device is wet with water.

[Second form]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an RF-ID system provided with an active ID tag device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The second embodiment is similar to the first embodiment, and corresponding portions are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  In the said 1st form, when using for a long period of time, it is necessary to charge with the charger 14 using electromagnetic induction regularly. Therefore, in order to solve such a problem, in the second embodiment, in addition to using the electric double layer capacitor 11 and adopting a charging method based on electromagnetic induction as the charging method of the electric double layer capacitor 11, communication It is characterized in that the energy of the carrier wave (preferably microwave is preferred in the second embodiment) is used for charging.

  In order to achieve such a function, the charging control circuit 15A in the second embodiment includes power conversion means for changing the energy of the carrier wave received by the antenna 5 during communication into electric power. That is, the charging control circuit 15A in the second embodiment is configured to have a function of charging the electric double layer capacitor 11 by rectifying and smoothing the AC magnetic field excited in the antenna 5 by the carrier wave used for communication. Yes. Accordingly, during communication, the received data of the carrier wave is detected by the transmission / reception circuit 10 via the antenna 5, and the alternating magnetic field excited in the antenna 5 by the electromagnetic wave energy of the carrier wave is given to the charging control circuit 15A, and the electric power of the electromagnetic wave The electric double layer capacitor 11 is charged.

  In this way, since the electric double layer capacitor 11 can be charged during communication, consumption of the charge amount of the electric double layer capacitor 11 can be suppressed. Since the energy of the carrier wave is small, in the second embodiment, charging by the electric double layer capacitor 11 is mainly used, and charging by the electromagnetic wave energy of the carrier wave is used as a sub-time during communication.

  Although the carrier wave is not limited to the microwave, it is desirable to use the microwave because the microwave has high energy transfer efficiency.

  In the above example, the charging control circuit 15A includes the power conversion unit that changes the energy of the carrier wave to the power. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a circuit that functions as the power conversion unit is provided separately. May be.

(Application example)
The RF-ID system using the active ID tag device 1 according to the present invention can be specifically used for the following applications.

  The active ID tag device 1 is used as a lost child tag used in a theme park or the like. That is, the active ID tag device 1 according to the present invention is worn in advance as a lost child tag by a child in the venue, and a large number of receiving antennas are provided in the theme park venue. The system can be applied to a system in which radio waves are automatically transmitted several times and received by the receiving antenna so that the location of the child is always confirmed.

In particular, in such an application example, since the active ID tag device 1 is used very frequently, the active ID tag device using a conventional battery frequently requires battery replacement. Since the electric double layer capacitor 11 is used in the device 1 instead of the battery, it is not necessary to replace the battery and rapid charging is possible. Therefore, the device 1 can be used immediately if it is charged with a charger when the stray tag is used. Further, since the electromagnetic induction method is adopted as the charging method, it is preferable from the viewpoint of safety that there is no contact failure and charging can be performed reliably and there is no fear of electric shock even if the lost tag is wet. It can also be applied to confirming wrinkles of elderly people with dementia. It can also be applied to remote keyless entry systems.
Note that the above application example is only an example, and can be applied to other wide-ranging RF-ID systems.

  The present invention can be suitably implemented in an active ID tag device used in an RF-ID system such as a remote keyless entry system or a lost child tag used in a theme park or the like.

The block diagram which shows the structure of the RF-ID system provided with the active ID tag apparatus which concerns on the 1st form of this invention. The block diagram which shows the structure of the RF-ID system provided with the active ID tag apparatus which concerns on the 2nd form of this invention. The block diagram which shows the structure of the RF-ID system provided with the active ID tag apparatus of the prior art example.

Explanation of symbols

1: Active ID tag device 2: ID tag receiver 3: ID controller 4, 5: Antenna 6: Memory 7: CPU
11: Electric double layer capacitor 14: Charger 15, 15A: Charge control circuit 16: Induction coil for power reception 18: Induction coil for power transmission

Claims (6)

In a non-contact active ID tag device that is equipped with an electronic circuit including at least an antenna and a storage element and holds identification information,
A power supply capacitor;
A power receiving induction coil that receives power from a power transmission induction coil incorporated in an external charger by electromagnetic induction; and
A charge control circuit for charging the power supply capacitor using power from the power receiving induction coil;
A non-contact active ID tag device comprising:   The contactless active ID tag device according to claim 1, wherein the power supply capacitor is an electric double layer capacitor.   The non-contact active ID tag device according to claim 1, further comprising power conversion means for changing energy of a carrier wave received by an antenna during communication into electric power, and charging the power supply capacitor with electric power from the power conversion means.   The contactless active ID tag device according to claim 3, wherein the charging control circuit includes the power conversion unit.   The contactless ID active tag device according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the carrier wave is a microwave. A non-contact ID active tag device according to any one of claims 1 to 5;
The antenna for communicating with the antenna provided in the non-contact ID active tag device, and the reading and writing of the identification information stored in the storage element by communicating with the non-contact ID active tag device A receiver having an ID controller for performing identification information management;
An RF-ID system comprising: