JP2008074591A - Sensor device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sensor device having a sensor for detecting a measured value by measuring an object to be measured and capable of detecting whether the sensor device is in a defective state or not without applying a working load thereon. <P>SOLUTION: This sensor device 1 has a passive communication function which starts communication according to a signal from the outside and an active communication function which independently starts communication with the outside. When the measured values obtained by measuring an object 2 to be measured at specified time intervals first comes out of the safety range, the passive communication is switched to the active communication and the self sensor ID is output to the outside. Since the sensor ID is recognized by a trouble detection sensor recognizing device 32, only the defective sensor device can be specified. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a sensor device having a sensor that measures a measurement object such as food and detects a measurement value, and particularly stores in a memory whether or not the measurement object is placed in an environment outside a predetermined safe range. The present invention relates to a sensor device that can be checked.

  Conventionally, various sensor devices capable of measuring temperature, humidity, illuminance, pressure, impact force and the like have been used for quality control of foods and products in the physical distribution and distribution fields. In addition, by providing a sensor device to a data carrier that has been used in recent years, measurement value information obtained by measurement by the sensor device is stored together with distribution history information of each article so that the measurement value of the sensor can be confirmed. A method for quality control has also been developed. One of the purposes of use of these sensor devices is, for example, to collect quality information and perform quality control on what kind of environment or state a measurement object such as food is placed.

These sensor devices include a sensor that measures a measurement object and detects measurement value information, and a time measurement unit that measures the time measured by the sensor, thereby measuring the measurement value information measured by the sensor. Is stored in the memory together with the time information measured in step (b), and quality control or the like can be performed based on the measured value information. (For example, see Patent Document 1)
JP 2000-302111 A

  In particular, when the object to be measured is frozen food, the storage temperature conditions and temperature range required for maintaining the quality are determined for each food. For example, frozen food that is required to be refrigerated In this case, it is necessary to always store in a refrigerator having a predetermined freezing capacity so as to be in an environment that satisfies the storage conditions for frozen food. In addition, when performing quality control, it is necessary to check whether the inside of the refrigerator is definitely maintained at a predetermined temperature. Therefore, a sensor device is provided in the refrigerator, or a small sensor device is attached to each food. For example, the temperature can be measured to check the storage status.

  However, even if the measurement value information is stored in the memory of the sensor device, it can be said that the measurement object is stored in a temperature state within the safe range for the measurement object, or an abnormal environment outside the safe range. There is a problem that it is not easy to determine whether it has been stored in the state, and it is troublesome for the person in charge of quality control to frequently check the measured temperature.

  For example, if the refrigerator's freezing function is insufficient, or the user frequently opens and closes the refrigerator door, the temperature in the refrigerator temporarily rises, and the safety range necessary for storing frozen foods is exceeded. The frozen food may be stored at a temperature higher than the temperature. When frozen food arrives at the transport destination, it is necessary to inspect the data recorded in the sensor device to check whether the frozen food has been placed in an abnormal state. Since the apparatus is performed close to each sensor device, there is a problem that the work load is high.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a sensor device that can detect whether an abnormal state has occurred without applying a work load in a sensor device having a sensor that measures a measurement object and detects a measurement value. To do.

  In order to solve the above problems, a sensor device of the present invention includes a transmission / reception unit having a passive communication function for starting communication in response to a signal from the outside and an active communication function for starting communication mainly to the outside, and a constant A sensor for measuring a measurement object at a time interval to detect a measurement value, a timer unit for measuring a measurement time when measured by the sensor, measurement value information measured by the sensor, and measurement measured by the timer unit A measurement value measurement time information writing unit that relates time and writes to a memory, a memory that stores safety value information that defines a safe range for the measurement value in advance, and a measurement value measured by the sensor is the safety value A measurement value determining unit that determines whether the information is within or out of the safe range, and when the determination result at the measurement value determining unit is determined to be out of the safe range, the transmitter / receiver A Wherein the by executing the revertive communication function was configured to include a control unit for outputting its sensor ID.

  In the sensor device of the present invention, when the determination result in the measurement value determination unit is determined to be out of the safe range, the determination result is again obtained from the previous measurement determined to be out of the safe range. It is characterized by further comprising an out-of-safety-range information writing unit that stores in the memory all measured values and measurement times until it is determined as within the safe range as out-of-safety range information.

  In the sensor device of the present invention, the determination result is again determined to be within the safe range from the previous measurement when the determination result was determined to be out of the safe range based on the measurement time information stored in the memory. A time interval calculating unit that calculates a time interval until the time interval is calculated, and a time interval information writing unit that writes the interval time information calculated by the time interval calculating unit to the memory, To do.

  In the sensor device of the present invention, when the time interval information writing unit writes new time interval information in the memory, the new time interval is already stored in the memory. It has a function of adding interval information and writing it as accumulated time information.

  According to the present invention, the sensor device includes a transmission / reception unit having a passive communication function and an active communication function, and when the measured value measured by the sensor is determined to be out of the safe range, the active communication function for the transmission / reception unit. Since the sensor ID is output, the external device receives only the sensor ID of the sensor that has detected that it is outside the safe range, and performs inspection work for each of the many installed sensor devices. Thus, there is an effect that it becomes possible to know the sensor device having a problem.

Hereinafter, a sensor device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view for explaining an example of a usage state using the sensor device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a system block diagram of the sensor device and an external device according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a temperature change graph measured by the sensor device, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a sensor measurement value graph measured by the sensor device of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a diagram of the sensor device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining information stored in the memory, FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the memory of the sensor device of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining a processing procedure using the sensor device according to the embodiment of the present invention. . FIG. 8 is a perspective view for explaining an example of a state when a sensor ID is detected using the sensor device of the present invention.

  First, FIG. 1 shows a measurement object to which a sensor device 1 is attached and a refrigerator 4 provided with an external device 3. As the measurement object, for example, there are various objects to be measured such as food products. In the description of this embodiment, the frozen food 2 will be described as the measurement object. The sensor device 1 has a configuration in which a sensor unit and an IC tag are integrated, and is attached to a predetermined portion of the frozen food 2 to measure the temperature environment in which the food is stored and quality control. Can be done.

  Although the internal temperature of the refrigerator 4 can be changed by changing the temperature setting, the individual frozen foods 2 stored in the refrigerator are not necessarily all at the same environmental temperature, and are stored in the refrigerator. There is a temperature difference depending on Therefore, in order to check the temperature of each food, the sensor device 1 is attached to each food so that the accurate temperature related to each food can be checked.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the sensor device 1 includes a transmission / reception unit 5, a timing unit 6, a battery unit 7, a remaining battery level measurement unit 8, a sensor measurement interruption unit 9, a control unit 11, a memory 12, a sensor 13, and a measurement value. A determination unit 14, a measurement value measurement time information writing unit 15, a time interval calculation unit 16, a time interval information writing unit 17, a non-safety range information writing unit 18, and the like are provided.

  The transmission / reception unit 5 is for transmitting / receiving information to / from the transmission / reception unit 19 of the external device 3, and has a passive communication function for starting communication by receiving a signal from the outside, and mainly to the outside. Active communication function for starting communication. The passive communication function uses a frequency of 13.56 MHz, and the active communication function uses a frequency of 315 MHz. In the case of the active communication function, the communication can be set to be performed once every 2 seconds to 10 seconds. The time measuring unit 6 has a function of measuring the time when measured by the sensor 13, and in particular, the time measuring unit 6 measures what time the measured value information of the temperature measured by the sensor 13 is measured. The measured time can be confirmed by writing it in the memory 12.

  The battery remaining amount measuring unit 8 has a function of measuring the remaining amount of the battery unit 7. The sensor measurement interruption unit 9 has a function of interrupting the measurement by the sensor 13 when the battery remaining amount in the battery unit 7 reaches a predetermined remaining amount. This is because if there is no remaining battery level during measurement by the sensor 13, there is a risk that accurate measurement cannot be performed or trouble may occur, so the sensor 13 is in a stage before the remaining battery level is completely exhausted. Measurement is stopped, and only the accurate measurement value is stored in the memory 12.

  The memory 12 stores safety value information in which a safety range for the measurement value is determined in advance. The safety value information sets whether or not the measured value by the sensor 13 is within a predetermined safe range by setting a safe range for each measurement target to be measured by the sensor device 1 and storing it in the memory 12. It is possible to make such a determination. Further, the memory 12 stores a sensor ID for specifying each sensor device.

  Further, the measurement value measurement time information writing unit 15 has a function of correlating the measurement value information measured by the sensor 13 with the measurement time information measured by the time measurement unit when the measurement is performed, and writing it in the memory 12. Have. The measurement value determination unit 14 compares the measurement value obtained by the sensor 13 with the safety value information stored in the memory 12 in advance, and the measurement value obtained by the sensor 13 is within the safe range or It has a function of determining whether it is out of range.

  Further, the out-of-safety-range information writing unit 18 determines that the determination result is from the previous measurement that is determined to be out of the safe range when the determination result in the measurement value determination unit 14 is determined to be out of the safe range. The memory 12 has a function of storing all measurement values and measurement times as abnormal value information until it is determined to be within the safe range again.

  In addition, the time interval calculation unit 16 determines that the determination result is again within the safe range from the previous measurement when the determination result is determined to be out of the safe range based on the measurement time information stored in the memory 12. It has a function to calculate the time interval between. Further, the time interval information writing unit 17 has a function of writing and storing the interval time information calculated by the time interval calculation unit 16 in the memory 12. Thus, it is possible to confirm how long the frozen food to be measured has been kept in a state other than the temperature defined as the storage condition for the frozen food.

  Next, the external device 3 includes a transmission / reception unit 19, a display unit 20, an input unit 21, a control unit 22, a memory 23, a time measuring unit 24, and the like. The external device 3 transmits a measurement start signal for instructing the sensor device 1 to start measurement for causing the sensor to perform measurement at regular time intervals. The sensor device 1 receives this signal, thereby The temperature is measured at 13 at a constant time interval. Further, the external device 3 can store the information stored in the memory 12 of the sensor device 1 by the transmission / reception unit 19 to store the information in the memory 23 of the external device 3.

  Next, based on the example shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the case where temperature is measured with the sensor apparatus of this invention is demonstrated. FIG. 3 shows an example of a temperature change graph 25 related to the internal temperature in a certain refrigerator 4. In this example, in order to check the storage temperature state of the frozen food stored in the refrigerator by the sensor device 1, the temperature is measured every 10 minutes by the sensor device having the temperature sensor.

  When the safe range of the storage temperature of this frozen food is set to 0 ° C. to −10 ° C., in the example shown in FIG. 3, among the measured values measured multiple times by the sensor device, The case where an abnormal value outside the safe range at a temperature exceeding 0 ° C. is measured several times. When an abnormal value outside the safe range is first measured by the sensor device, in the sensor device, the control unit 11 performs a process of switching the communication function of the transmission / reception unit 5 from the passive communication function to the active communication function. Thereafter, active communication is continued until an active communication function stop signal is received from the external device. That is, as shown in the sensor measurement value graph 26 of FIG. 4, passive communication is performed until 9:10, which is the first measurement time when the measurement value of the sensor is determined to be out of the safe range, and active from 9:10. Communicate.

  In addition, when abnormal values outside the safe range are continuously measured in time series, the quality of frozen food may be hindered. Therefore, it is necessary to be able to easily check the accumulated time such as how long the abnormal value outside the safe range has continued.

  Therefore, in the sensor device 1 of the present invention, as shown in the sensor measurement value graph 26 of FIG. 4, when the sensor measurement value is determined to be out of the safe range, the previous one determined to be out of the safe range. All measurement values and measurement times from 9:00 at the time of measurement to 9:50 at the time of measurement at which the determination result is determined to be within the safe range are stored in the memory 12 as abnormal value information. Thus, it is possible to determine whether or not the storage temperature state of the frozen food is in an appropriate state only by examining the abnormal value information stored in the memory when quality control is performed.

  FIG. 5 shows an example of abnormal value information stored in the memory 12 of the sensor device 1. As shown in FIG. 5, the determination result is again stored in the memory 12 of the sensor device 1 from the measurement value at 9:00, which is the previous measurement time when the measurement value of the sensor is determined to be out of the safe range. A total of six pieces of measurement value information up to a measurement value of 9:50, which is a measurement time determined to be within, and measurement time information thereof are stored.

  Furthermore, in the memory 12 of the sensor device 1, time information from the time of the previous measurement when the determination result is determined to be out of the safe range until the determination result is determined to be within the safe range again. The accumulated abnormal time of 50 minutes is stored. As a result, it is possible to confirm that the frozen food to be measured has been placed in an environment having a temperature other than the preset storage temperature for a total of 50 minutes.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the memory 12 stores a temperature history management area 27 in which the measured temperature measurement value and measurement time are stored, and information when the measurement value falls outside the safe range. A temperature management area 28 and a storage area in which safe value information in which a safe range for the measured value is defined in advance are stored are provided. The safety value information sets whether or not the measured value by the sensor 13 is within a predetermined safe range by setting a safe range for each measurement target to be measured by the sensor device 1 and storing it in the memory 12. It is possible to make such a determination.

  The measurement value determination unit 14 compares the measurement value obtained by the sensor 13 with the safe value information stored in advance in the memory 12 and determines whether the measurement value obtained by the sensor 13 is within the safe range. The determination result by the measurement value determination unit 14 is also written and stored in the memory 12. The determination process by the measurement value determination unit 14 is performed for each measurement value information stored in the memory 12 in one measurement, and it is determined whether or not the measurement value is within the safe range, and the determination result is written in the memory 12. It is.

  Next, a description will be given according to the flowchart of FIG. 7 based on the processing procedure of the sensor device according to the embodiment of the invention. First, a signal instructing to temporarily delete the information in the storage area for writing in the memory 12 of the sensor device 1 is transmitted from the external device 3 to the sensor device 1 (S1).

  Next, a measurement start signal is transmitted from the external device 3 to the sensor device 1 instructing to start measurement by the sensor 13 at a constant time interval that is a sampling cycle (S2). The signal transmitted from the external device 3 to the sensor device 1 may be various signals depending on the purpose. For example, the signal from the measurement start time at the sensor is transmitted to the end time, or the measurement from the sensor is started. It is possible to select freely by transmitting only the time or the elapsed time measured by the sensor.

  Next, the sensor device 1 performs measurement at regular time intervals by the sensor 13 based on the measurement start signal from the external device 3 (S3). Then, the measurement value information of the sensor 13 and the measurement time information measured by the time measuring unit 6 in the sensor device 1 are related to each other and sequentially written in the memory 12 in the sensor device 1 (S4). Next, the measurement value determination unit 14 performs a determination process as to whether or not the measurement value of the measurement value information stored in the memory 12 is within the safe range in the safety value information registered in the memory 12 in advance. (S5).

  If the determination result is an abnormal value outside the safe range, two processes are performed in parallel. One is the start of active communication processing by the transmission / reception unit 5 (S6). Specifically, the control unit 11 causes the sensor ID stored in the memory 12 to be transmitted from the transmission / reception unit 5 to the outside. The active communication process by the transmission / reception unit 5 is stopped by an active communication stop signal from the external device 3.

  In the other process, the measurement value information and the measurement time information at the time of the previous measurement determined to be out of the safe range are related and stored in the abnormal value information storage area of the memory 12 (S7). Subsequently, the measurement result information at the time of measurement determined as an abnormal value outside the safe range and the measurement time information are related and stored in the abnormal value information storage area of the memory 12 (S8).

  Further, the measurement value determination unit 14 determines whether or not the measurement value of the next measurement value information is within the safety range in the safety value information registered in advance in the memory 12 (S9). When it is determined that the determination result is an abnormal value outside the safe range, the measurement value information and the measurement time information are related and stored in the abnormal value information storage area of the memory 12 (S8). As described above, when the determination process in the measurement value determination unit 14 is repeated and it is continuously determined that the abnormal value is out of the safe range, the measurement value information and the measurement time information are related to each other, and the abnormality of the memory 12 is detected. The process of storing in the value information storage area is repeated.

  Further, when the determination result of the determination process of S9 determines that the value is within the safe range, the measurement value information and the measurement time information at the time of the measurement in which the determination process is performed are related to each other, and the abnormal value in the memory 12 is determined. The information is stored in the information storage area (S10).

  By the above processing, the measurement value information and the measurement time information from when the determination result is determined to be within the safe range again to outside the safe range are related and stored in the abnormal value information storage area of the memory 12. Become. In this manner, the abnormal value information stored in the abnormal value information storage area of the memory 12 is subjected to the same process every time it is determined to be out of the safe range in the determination process.

  Further, the determination result from the previous measurement time when the determination result is determined to be out of the safe range based on the measurement time information stored in the abnormal value information storage area of the memory 12 by the time interval calculation unit 16. The time interval until it is determined again to be within the safe range is calculated. The time interval information calculated by the time interval calculation unit 16 is stored in the abnormal value information storage area of the memory 12. The time interval information is written to the memory 12 when the time interval information is already stored in the memory 12 and is added and stored as accumulated time information by adding new time interval information.

  Through the above processing, when the measured value measured by the sensor 13 becomes an abnormal value outside the safe range even once, active communication is performed and the sensor ID is transmitted. As shown in FIG. 8, when the truck loaded with the refrigerator 4 arrives at the transport destination and passes through the gate 31, it approaches the abnormality detection sensor recognition device 32 installed at the gate 31. The abnormality detection sensor recognition device 32 includes a reception unit corresponding to a frequency of 315 MHz, receives the sensor ID output from the sensor device 1 through active communication, and stores it in a built-in memory. In this way, the abnormality detection sensor recognition device 32 can recognize only the sensor device that has detected the abnormality. As a result, it is not necessary to confirm the recorded contents for all of the sensor devices in the refrigerator, and it is only necessary to confirm the recorded contents for the sensor device corresponding to the received sensor ID, thereby greatly reducing the inspection work load. The

  Moreover, since the accumulated time information when the measured value measured by the sensor 13 becomes an abnormal value outside the safe range is written in the memory 12 of the sensor device 1 in parallel by the above processing, the sensor device Just by looking at the record of the accumulated time stored in the memory 12 of 1, it is easy to see how much time the frozen foods to be measured were stored in a temperature environment outside the safe range. It can be checked and can be used for quality control concerning the measurement object.

  Further, when examining the record of the accumulated time stored in the memory 12 of the sensor device 1, an instruction signal is transmitted from the external device 3 to the sensor device 1, and the accumulated time information is transmitted from the sensor device 1 to the external device 3. By being transmitted, it can be confirmed by displaying the accumulated time information on the display unit 20 of the external device 3. As a result, when a measurement object such as frozen food is stored in an environment with a temperature higher than a predetermined temperature, appropriate quality control can be performed, such as taking measures such as selling or stopping shipment. It is.

  In the above example, the case where the active communication is performed when the measured value measured by the sensor 13 once becomes an abnormal value outside the safe range has been described. However, the timing for performing the active communication is different. Is also possible. Specifically, active communication is performed when the accumulated time stored in the memory 12 exceeds a predetermined value. In this case, it is necessary to record a predetermined value in the memory 12 in advance.

  In this case, the processing procedure of the sensor device 1 follows the flowchart of FIG. In FIG. 9, parts that perform the same processing as in FIG. 9 is greatly different from FIG. 7 in the case where it is determined that the measured value information stored in the memory 12 is not within the safe range in the safe value information registered in the memory 12 in advance. Instead of immediately starting active communication, the measured value information at the time of measurement determined as an abnormal value outside the safe range and the measurement time information are related and stored in the abnormal value information storage area of the memory 12 After (S8), the control unit 11 determines whether or not the accumulated time stored in the memory 12 exceeds a predetermined value also stored in the memory 12 (S11). Then, as a result of the determination, if the cumulative time exceeds a predetermined value, active communication is performed (S12). As a result of the determination, if the cumulative time does not exceed the predetermined value, the processes of S9 and S10 are executed as in the case of FIG.

  In addition to the above contents, a designated deadline may be set, and when the designated deadline comes, a process for switching to active communication may be performed. In this case, the designated time limit is registered in the memory 12, and when the date counted by the time measuring unit 6 becomes the designated time limit, the control unit 11 causes the transmission / reception unit 5 to perform active communication. As the designated deadline, for frozen foods, for example, it may be possible to set one year before the expiration date.

  In the above embodiment, the case of the sensor device 1 provided with the temperature sensor has been described. However, the sensor device of the present invention can measure, for example, humidity, illuminance, pressure, impact force, etc. other than the temperature sensor. Even if a sensor device is equipped with various types of sensors that can be used, it is safe for the measured value of the sensor by storing in advance the safe value information that can specify the safe range for the measured value in the memory of the sensor device. Whether or not, and the determination result information is written and stored in a memory, so that information necessary for quality control can be efficiently examined in a short time.

It is a perspective view explaining an example of the utilization state using the sensor apparatus of this invention. 1 is a system block diagram of a sensor device and an external device according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the temperature change graph measured with the sensor apparatus of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the sensor measurement value graph measured with the sensor apparatus of this invention. It is a figure explaining the information memorized by the memory of the sensor device concerning the embodiment of the present invention. It is explanatory drawing regarding the memory of the sensor apparatus of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the process sequence using the sensor apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view explaining an example of the state at the time of detection of sensor ID using the sensor apparatus of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the process sequence using the sensor apparatus which concerns on other embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 Sensor device
2 Frozen food
3 External devices
4 Refrigerator
5,19 Transceiver
6,24 Timekeeping section
7 Battery part
8 Battery level measuring part
9 Sensor measurement interruption part
11,22 Control unit
12,23 memory
13 Sensor
14 Measurement value judgment part
15 Measurement value measurement time information writing unit
16 time interval calculator
17 Time interval information writing part
18 Information writing part outside safety range
20 display
21 Input section
25 Temperature change graph
26 Sensor measurement graph
31 gate
32 Anomaly detection sensor recognition device

Claims (7)

A transmission / reception unit having a passive communication function for starting communication according to a signal from the outside and an active communication function for starting communication to the outside mainly,
A sensor for measuring a measurement object at fixed time intervals and detecting a measurement value;
A time measuring unit for measuring a measurement time when measured by the sensor;
A measurement value measurement time information writing unit that writes the measurement value information measured by the sensor and the measurement time measured by the time measurement unit in association with each other;
A memory in which safe value information that predetermines a safe range for the measured value is stored;
A measurement value determination unit that determines whether the measurement value measured by the sensor is within or out of the safe range in the safe value information;
When the determination result in the measurement value determination unit is determined to be out of the safe range, according to a predetermined condition, a control unit that outputs its own sensor ID by causing the transmission / reception unit to execute an active communication function;
A sensor device comprising:   The sensor device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is based on a condition that a determination result is initially out of a safe range as a predetermined condition.   Furthermore, when the determination result in the measurement value determination unit is determined to be outside the safe range, the determination result is determined to be within the safe range again from the previous measurement determined to be out of the safe range. The sensor device according to claim 1, further comprising an out-of-safety-range information writing unit that stores in the memory all the measured values and the measurement times during the period as out-of-safety range information. Based on the measurement time information stored in the memory, a time interval between the previous measurement when the determination result is determined to be out of the safe range and the determination result is determined as being within the safe range again. A time interval calculator for calculating,
The sensor device according to claim 3, further comprising a time interval information writing unit that writes the interval time information calculated by the time interval calculation unit into the memory.   When the time interval information writing unit writes new time interval information in the memory, if the time interval information is already stored in the memory, the new time interval information is added and accumulated time information is added. The sensor device according to claim 4, wherein the sensor device has a writing function.   The sensor device according to claim 5, wherein the control unit is a condition that the accumulated time information exceeds a predetermined time as a predetermined condition.   The control unit further causes the transmitting / receiving unit to execute its active communication function to output its own sensor ID even when the date and time measured by the time measuring unit has passed the specified time limit recorded in the memory. The sensor device according to claim 1, wherein:

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