JP2009051582A - System, device and method for article location management - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technology for article location management capable of reducing the additional cost on an article and suppressing an increase of the system construction cost. <P>SOLUTION: An article storage space 70 is divided into sections 71, and a section tag 10 is provided around a center of each section 71. An article 30 has a shielding part 301, and an article tag 20 is affixed to an upper part thereof. A tag reader 50 collectively reads identification information from the section tag 10 and the article tag 20 located in the article storage space 70 via an antenna 40 at each predetermined time. When the article 30 is stored in the section 71, the section tag 10 of the section 71 is shielded by the shielding part 301, and its identification information cannot be read by the tag reader 50. An article location management device 60 compares the identification information of the section tag 10 and the article tag 20 acquired by the tag reader 50 with the previously acquired information, detects the stored or removed article 30 based on the differential information, and determines the location space 71. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an article location management system, an article location management apparatus, and an article location management method for detecting and managing the location of articles placed on an article storage such as a shelf or a warehouse, or on a conveyor belt of a transfer device. .

  In recent years, there is an increasing demand for detecting the location of an article in various situations, not only in an industrial field such as article management in a manufacturing process but also in a service industry such as merchandise management and document / book management.

  When an article is scattered over a wide range, GPS (Global Positioning System) is often used as a method for detecting the position of the article. GPS is widely applied to the detection of the position of a vehicle in car navigation, the position detection of the owner of a mobile phone, etc. However, in the case of GPS, the position is measured using radio waves transmitted from an artificial satellite. There are demerits such as that it cannot be used in the network, the resolution of the position is limited, and the receiver is expensive.

  Thus, for example, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, a technique for measuring the position of an article based on radio waves from a plurality of base stations such as a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) has been developed. The basic principle of the position measurement is similar to GPS, but since the base station can be provided indoors, it is possible to measure the position of an article indoors. In addition, the resolution of the position measurement is improved. However, since it is necessary to add a wireless LAN terminal to the article side, the cost of the terminal added to the article side becomes a burden for the user.

  An RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag is often used to reduce the additional cost on the article side when measuring the position of the article. When an RFID tag is used, the additional cost on the article side is said to be about 1 to several tens of yen.

  Incidentally, in Patent Document 2, the position detection target area is divided into sections of a predetermined size, RFID tag readers (hereinafter simply referred to as tag readers) are provided in the divided sections, and the RFID attached to the article An example is shown in which the position of the article is detected depending on which section of the tag the tag is read out by. However, in this example, although the additional cost on the article side can be reduced, since it is necessary to provide a large number of tag readers in the position detection target area, the system construction cost cannot be reduced.

In addition, in Patent Document 3 and Patent Document 4 and the like, a RFID tag transmission / reception antenna is provided for each shelf, and the RFID tags attached to the articles placed on the shelf are collectively read and placed on the shelf. The example of the system which manages the goods currently used is shown. In the case of this example, one tag reader or a small number of tag readers can be used, and the system construction cost can be reduced. However, the resolution of the location of the article is up to the shelf, and it cannot be detected at which position on the shelf.
JP 2004-101254 A JP 7-56990 A JP 2006-124123 A JP 2007-72830 A

  As described above, conventionally, when the location of an article is detected and managed, if an attempt is made to suppress the additional cost on the article side, the system construction cost increases. Further, if the system construction cost is to be suppressed, there is a problem that the additional cost on the article side increases or sufficient position resolution cannot be obtained.

  Therefore, in the present invention, an article location management system capable of suppressing the additional cost on the article side, suppressing an increase in system construction cost, and obtaining a position resolution suitable for the purpose, An object is to provide an article location management apparatus and an article location management method.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, an area for detecting the position of an article (hereinafter referred to as an article storage area or an article passage) is divided into sections of a predetermined size, and each of the divided sections is used for section identification. RFID tags are provided. Further, an RFID tag for identifying an article is attached to the article whose position is to be detected, and when the article is placed in a section of the article storage area or article passage, the section identifying RFID tag provided in the section is provided. Provide a shielding part that shields. Then, the management device collectively acquires the identification information from the RFID tag for identifying the section and the RFID tag for identifying the article located in the article storage area or the article passage through the tag reader at predetermined time intervals. Based on the acquired identification information and the previously acquired identification information, a new appearance or disappearance of the RFID tag identification information in the article storage area or the article passage is detected, and the newly appearing or disappearing identification information Based on the previous location information of the article, the current location of the article is determined.

  According to the present invention, when an article is placed in an article storage area or a section with an article passage, the identification information of the RFID tag for section identification placed in the section is shielded by the shielding portion of the article, Cannot be read. Instead, identification information of an RFID tag for identifying an article attached to an article placed in the section is read out. Conversely, when an article placed in a certain section is removed, the identification information of the RFID tag for identifying the article attached to the article is not read, and instead placed in that section. The identification information of the RFID tag for partition identification is read out.

  Therefore, the management device can detect the appearance or disappearance of the new identification information by monitoring the identification information of the RFID tags that are collectively read from the article storage place or the article passage at predetermined time intervals. That is, when new identification information appears or disappears, it means that the article has been placed in or removed from the compartment. Therefore, the management device can determine the position of the article that has appeared or disappeared based on the identification information of the RFID tag for identifying the section that has appeared or disappeared at that time and the RFID tag for identifying the article.

  As described above, in the present invention, many inexpensive RFID tags are used, but many expensive tag readers are not used, and it is not necessary to add a wireless LAN terminal to an article. Accordingly, the increase in the additional cost of the article is small, and the increase in the system construction cost can be suppressed. Furthermore, since the resolution of position detection is determined by the size of the article storage area or the article passage section, the size can be appropriately determined according to the purpose of position detection.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the article location management system which can suppress the additional cost by the side of goods, can suppress the increase in system construction cost, and can obtain the position resolution suitable for the objective, articles | goods A location management device and an article location management method can be provided.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

<First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an article location management system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram of a cross section of an article storage area, and an article location management apparatus. The example of a block structure is shown and (b) has shown the example of the schematic diagram of the upper surface of an article storage place.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the article location management system 1 includes an article storage place 70 divided into a plurality of sections 71, an article 30 placed in each section 71 of the article storage place 70, a tag reader 50, and an article. And a location management device 60.

  Here, each section 71 of the article storage place 70 is provided with a section tag 10 which is a section identification RFID tag. That is, the division tag 10 is embedded or affixed, for example, on the surface portion of the floor at the substantially central portion of the division 71. Further, an article tag 20 that is an RFID tag for article identification is attached to the article 30 to be managed. That is, the article tag 20 is attached to or attached to the upper part of the article 30 or the like.

  The article 30 has a shielding portion 301 that can shield the section tag 10 provided in the section 71 when placed on the section 71. Note that when the article 30 is made of a conductive metal or the like, it can be regarded as the shielding portion 301. Further, when the article 30 is made of a dielectric or the like, a conductive metal foil or the like may be attached to the bottom of the article 30 and used as the shielding part 301. Further, the article 30 made of a dielectric or the like may be placed on a tray made of a conductive metal or the like, and the tray may be used as the shielding unit 301.

  An antenna 40 connected to the tag reader 50 is installed above the article storage place 70. In the present embodiment, radio waves in the UHF band (860 to 960 MHz) are used for communication between the tag reader 50, the partition tag 10, and the article tag 20. In this case, since the communicable distance is 5 to 6 m, the article storage area 70 can be assumed to have a size of about 5 to 6 m square, for example.

  In general, when the radio wave becomes a short wavelength such as a UHF band, the straight traveling property becomes strong, so even the section tag 10 of the section 71 where the article 30 does not exist is placed on the position of the antenna 40 or the adjacent section 71. Depending on the size or height of the article 30, it may be behind the article 30 and the identification information may not be read. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1A, if a plurality of antennas 40 are connected to one tag reader 50, the possibility of being behind the article 30 in the adjacent section 71 can be reduced. it can.

  When a plurality of antennas 40 are connected to one tag reader 50 in this way, the tag reader 50 is used while switching the antennas 40 in a time division manner as appropriate. Needless to say, by providing a plurality of antennas 40, the article storage area 70, that is, the target area for article location management can be expanded.

  Subsequently, as shown in the right half of FIG. 1A, the article location management device 60 includes a tag information acquisition unit 61, a tag information change detection unit 62, a location determination unit 63, a location output unit 64, and a location. A history storage unit 65, a display device 66, and the like are included.

  The tag information acquisition unit 61 acquires the identification information collectively from the section tag 10 and the article tag 20 located in the article storage place 70 with respect to the tag reader 50 at a predetermined time, for example, every 0.1 second. And the tag reader 50 acquires the identification information read from the section tag 10 and the article tag 20 located in the article storage place 70 in response to the instruction.

  That is, when the tag information acquisition unit 61 instructs the tag reader 50 to acquire identification information, the tag reader 50 sends a signal radio wave of a predetermined format from the antenna 40 to the section tag 10 and the article tag 20 located in the article storage place 70. Send (broadcast). The section tag 10 and the article tag 20 that have received the signal radio wave return information including their own identification information to the tag reader 50. At this time, the identification information is not returned from the section tag 10 of the section 71 shielded by the article 30. The tag reader 50 receives the returned identification information and sends the received identification information to the tag information acquisition unit 61.

  The tag information change detection unit 62 compares the identification information of the division tag 10 and the article tag 20 acquired by the tag information acquisition unit 61 as described above with the identification information of the division tag 10 and the article tag 20 acquired last time. Thus, the change is detected, and the division tag 10 and the article tag 20 newly appearing or disappearing at that time are determined.

  The location determination unit 63 determines the previous information stored in the location history storage unit 65 and the identification information of the newly appearing or disappearing section tag 10 and the article tag 20 detected by the tag information change detection unit 62. Based on the location information of the article 30, the current location information of the article 30 is determined, and the determined location information is stored in the location history storage unit 65.

  The location output unit 64 stores the current location information of the article 30 determined by the location determination unit 63 and the history information of the location of the article 30 stored in the location history storage unit 65. According to the request of one user, the data is output to the display device 66 or the like as appropriate.

  The article location management device 60 as described above is configured by a personal computer or the like provided with a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a storage device such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) and a hard disk device. In that case, the functions of the tag information acquisition unit 61, the tag information change detection unit 62, the location position determination unit 63, and the location position output unit 64, which are functional blocks in the article location management device 60, are predetermined functions stored in a RAM or the like by the CPU. This is realized by executing the program.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of location location history information according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the location history information includes a time field and the same number of section fields as the number of sections of the article storage place 70.

  The time field stores the time when the tag information change detection unit 62 detects the change of the tag information. Further, in the division field, the identification information of the division tag 10 attached to the division 71 corresponding to the division field, or the identification information of the article tag 20 attached to the article 30 placed in the division 71. Is stored. In FIG. 2, the numbers described in the section fields represent the identification information of the section tags 10 provided in the corresponding sections 71, and the English characters are attached to the articles 30 placed in the corresponding sections 71. The identification information of the article tag 20 is represented.

  Next, the basic concept of detecting the location of the article 30 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 1 as appropriate.

First, in FIG. 2, the article storage place 70 is in an initial state at the initial time t ₀ , and at this time, the article 30 is not placed in any section 71. At this time, the tag information acquisition unit 61 acquires identification information {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,. This identification information consists of identification information only for the section tag 10.

Therefore, for example, when the worker or the like places the article 30 with the identification information “A” in the section 71 with the identification information “2” at the time t ₁ , the tag information acquisition unit 61 displays the identification information. {A, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6,. Next, the tag information change detection unit 62 compares the acquired identification information with the previously acquired identification information, and detects the appearance of the identification information “A” and the disappearance of the identification information “2”. Based on the result, the location determination unit 63 recognizes that the article 30 with the identification information “A” is placed in the section 71 with the identification information “2”, and determines the location of the article 30. be able to.

  That is, the article location management device 60 reads the section tag 10 and the article tag 20 in the article storage place 70 collectively through the tag reader 50, thereby receiving no report from an operator or the like (that is, the worker Without performing any input operation, etc.), it is possible to acquire the information on the section position where the article 30 with the identification information “A” is placed, that is, the information on the location.

Subsequently, when the worker or the like places the article 30 with the identification information “B” in the section 71 with the identification information “4” at the time t ₂ , the tag information acquisition unit 61 displays the identification information { A, B, 1, 3, 5, 6,. In this case, since the tag information change detection unit 62 detects the appearance of the identification information “B” and the disappearance of the identification information “4”, the location determination unit 63 identifies the article 30 whose identification information is “B”. Recognizing that the information is placed in the section 71 of “4”, the location of the article 30 can be determined.

At time t _n , since the appearance of the identification information “4” and the disappearance of the identification information “B” are detected, the location determining unit 63 determines that the identification information is “B” from the section 71 whose identification information is “4”. It is recognized that the article 30 is removed. At time t _{n + 1} , since the appearance of the identification information “F” and the disappearance of the identification information “6” are detected, the location determining unit 63 determines that the article 30 with the identification information “F” is the identification information “ Recognizing that it is placed in the 6 ”section 71, its location is determined in the section 71 whose identification information is“ 6 ”.

  In the present embodiment, when the tag information change detection unit 62 detects the appearance of the identification information of the plurality of articles 30 and the disappearance of the identification information of the same number of sections 71 at the same time, the location determination unit No. 63 cannot determine the location of the article 30 having the appearing identification information. For example, when the appearance of the identification information “C” and “D” and the disappearance of the identification information “3” and “5” are detected at a certain time t, the identification information is “C” (or “D”). The location of the article 30 cannot be determined from which of the section 71 having the identification information “3” and the section 71 having the identification information “5”.

  However, in this embodiment, the time interval during which the tag information acquisition unit 61 reads the section tag 10 and the article tag 20 in the article storage place 70 via the tag reader 50 places the article 30 on the article storage place 70 by an operator or the like. Or the time interval of the frequency of taking out from the article storage place 70 is sufficiently smaller. Accordingly, it is assumed that the plurality of articles 30 are not placed on the plurality of sections 71 at the same time.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a processing flow of an article location determination process in the article location management device 60 according to the first embodiment. The CPU (not shown in FIG. 1) of the article location management device 60 repeatedly executes the article location determination process at predetermined time intervals (for example, every 0.1 second).

  The CPU of the article location management device 60 first acquires the identification information from the section tag 10 and the article tag 20 located in the article storage place 70 via the tag reader 50 as a process of the tag information acquisition unit 61 (step S01). . At this time, since the section tag 10 of the section 71 on which the article 30 is placed is shielded by the shielding unit 301 of the article 30, the identification information is not acquired in the process of step S01.

  Next, as a process of the tag information change detection unit 62, the CPU compares the identification information acquired in step S01 with the previously acquired identification information (step S02), and determines whether or not the identification information has changed (step S02). Step S03). If there is no change in the identification information as a result of the determination (No in step S03), it means that the article 30 has not been taken in or out of the article storage place 70, so the CPU ends the article location determination process.

  On the other hand, when the identification information has changed (Yes in step S03), it means that the article 30 has been put in and out of the article storage place 70, so the CPU has identified whether the identification information of the new article 30 has appeared. It is determined whether the identification information of the article 30 that has existed until then has disappeared (step S04).

  That is, when the identification information of the new article 30 appears with respect to the tag information acquired last time and one of the identification information of the section 71 has disappeared (Yes in step S04), the CPU determines the location position. As the process of the unit 63, it is determined that the article 30 having the newly appearing identification information is placed in the section 71 having the disappeared identification information (step S05).

  In addition, when the identification information of the new section 71 appears and one of the identification information of the article 30 has disappeared, the CPU determines that the article 30 having the disappeared identification information is the processing of the location determination unit 63. Then, it is determined that it has been removed from the section 71 having the newly appearing identification information (step S06).

  Next, the CPU stores the section 71 in which the article 30 has been placed in step S05 or the section 71 in which the article 30 has been removed in step S06, in the location location history storage unit 65. The section field information of the existing location history information is updated (step S07).

  As described above, the article location management device 60 can detect and manage the location of the article 30 located in the article storage place 70 by detecting a change in tag information acquired by the tag reader 50. .

(Modification 1 of the first embodiment)
The article storage place 70 shown in FIG. 1 assumes that a section 71 is provided on the floor of a warehouse and the article 30 is placed on the floor, but here, as a modification of the embodiment, 1B is regarded as a side view of the article shelf, and FIG. 1A is regarded as a horizontal sectional view of the article shelf.

  In that case, for example, the division tag 10 is provided on the wall surface in the back of the article shelf, and the antenna 40 is provided in front of the front surface of the article shelf. At this time, the shielding portion 301 of the article 30 is provided on the side surface of the article 30 and shields the partition tag 10 when the article 30 is placed on the article shelf. The article tag 20 is attached to the front side of the article 30.

  As described above, even if the first embodiment is modified, the location detection method in the first embodiment can be applied as it is, and the configuration and function of the article location management device 60 need to be particularly changed. Absent.

(Modification 2 of the first embodiment)
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an article warehouse according to a modification of the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, an article placement section 81 is provided in the article warehouse 80, and a passage 82 is provided in the article warehouse 80. At this time, each article placement section 81 is provided with a section tag 10 (not shown), but the passage 82 is not provided with the section tag 10. In FIG. 4, the number written in the article placement section 81 is an example of identification information of the section tag 10 attached to the article placement section 81. Further, when necessary for information processing, virtual identification information such as “5-X” may be attached to the passage 82.

  In addition, an antenna 40 (not shown) is provided on the upper part of the article warehouse 80, and the tag reader 50 receives the division tag 10 provided in the article arrangement section 81 in the article warehouse 80 and the article via the antenna 40. The identification information of the article tag 20 attached to the article 30 brought into the warehouse 80 is collectively read.

  In such an article warehouse 80, in order to prevent radio waves transmitted from the antenna 40 from leaking out of the article warehouse 80, the outer wall of the article warehouse 80 usually has a radio wave shielding function. However, when the article 30 is brought into the article warehouse 80, the tag reader 50 reads the identification information of the article tag 20 attached to the article 30 even when the article 30 is in the passage 82. In this case, the article location management device 60 cannot use the article location determination process shown in FIG. 3 as it is, but can be used by only partially correcting the following.

  First, a section field (hereinafter referred to as a passage field) corresponding to the passage 82 is prepared in the location history information of FIG. In this passage field, only when the article 30 is in the passage 82, the identification information of the article tag 20 attached to the article 30 is stored. Then, the branch determination in step S04 is changed to four branches as follows.

  That is, when the identification information changes (1) the identification information of the section 71 does not increase or decrease and the identification information of the new article 30 appears, (2) the identification information of the section 71 does not increase or decrease. When one of the identification information of the article 30 disappears, (3) When one of the identification information of the section 71 disappears without increasing or decreasing the identification information of the new article 30, (4) Identification of the new article 30 When the identification information of the section 71 appears without any increase or decrease of the information, it is determined which one corresponds.

  As a result of the determination, in the case of (1) in which the identification information of the new article 30 appears without the identification information of the section 71 increasing or decreasing, the article 30 was brought into the passage 82 of the article warehouse 80 from the outside. Therefore, the CPU stores the identification information of the article 30 in the passage field of the location position history information.

  Further, in the case of (2) in which one piece of the identification information of the article 30 has disappeared without increasing or decreasing the identification information of the section 71, it means that the article 30 has been taken out of the article warehouse 80 from the passage 82. Therefore, the CPU erases the identification information of the article 30 stored in the passage field of the location position history information.

  Further, in the case of (3) in which one piece of the identification information of the section 71 disappears without the identification information of the new article 30 increasing or decreasing, the article 30 in the passage 82 is placed on the article placement section 81. Therefore, the CPU erases the identification information of the article 30 stored in the passage field in the location location history information, and stores the erased identification information in the section field corresponding to the section 71 that has disappeared. .

  Further, in the case of (4) in which the identification information of the section 71 appears without increasing or decreasing the identification information of the new article 30, it means that the article 30 has been moved from the article placement section 81 to the passage 82. Therefore, the CPU deletes the identification information of the article 30 stored in the section field corresponding to the section 71 that has appeared in the location position history information, and stores the deleted identification information in the passage field.

  In the above description, it is assumed that a plurality of articles 30 do not exist in the passage 82 at the same time. In order to allow a plurality of articles 30 to be present in the passage 82 at the same time, it is necessary to individually identify the positions of the articles 30 on the passage 82 using a plurality of antennas 40, for example.

<Second Embodiment>
Next, 2nd Embodiment demonstrates the case where the article storage place 70 is comprised on conveying apparatuses, such as a conveyor. In the following description, the same terms and the same reference numerals are used for the same components as those of the first embodiment unless otherwise specified, and the description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an article processing process to which the second embodiment of the present invention is applied. In this article processing step, the article 30 to be processed is placed on the conveyor belt 75 and conveyed, and the operator 77 takes out one of the conveyed articles 30 as appropriate, and his work table 76. Then, the article 30 is subjected to predetermined processing, and the processed article 30 is returned onto the conveyor belt 75.

  In general, the conveyor belt 75 serves as a conveyance path through which the articles 30 are conveyed, that is, as an article path. However, in the article processing step as shown in FIG. Also serves as a storage area for goods. Therefore, in this specification, even on the article path such as the conveyor belt 75, the areas divided into predetermined size sections and provided with the section tags 10 in the respective sections are hereinafter referred to as the article storage area 70. Call.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the article location management system according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and (a) is a schematic diagram of a transverse section of the article storage area configured on the transport device. An example is shown, and (b) shows an example of a schematic diagram of the upper surface of the article storage place.

  As shown in FIG. 6, in the article location management system 1a according to the second embodiment, the article 30 is placed on a conveyor belt 75 that constitutes a transported portion of the transport device. The conveyor belt 75 moves from left to right at a predetermined speed. At this time, an article carry-in section 751 is provided at the start point of the conveyor belt 75, an article take-out section 752 is provided at the end point of the conveyor belt 75, and the unprocessed article 30 is carried in from the article carry-in section 751. The subsequent article 30 is taken out from the article take-out section 752.

  In addition, a section tag installation base 72 is provided below the conveyor belt 75, and the section tag installation base 72 is divided into a plurality of sections 71 having a predetermined size. A tag 10 is affixed. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the section 71 does not move, but the article 30 moves.

  Moreover, the article | item 30 is comprised including the shielding part 301 similarly to the case of 1st Embodiment, and the article | item tag 20 is affixed or attached to the upper part.

  Above the conveyor belt 75, one or more antennas 40a connected to the center tag reader 50a are provided. Then, the center tag reader 50a performs predetermined communication between the article tag 20 of the article 30 on the conveyor belt 75 and the division tag 10 on the division tag installation base 72 via the antenna 40a. That is, the center tag reader 50a communicates with each tag information (tag information is information including identification information) of the article tag 20 of the article 30 on the conveyor belt 75 and the section tag 10 on the section tag mounting base 72. Can be read at once.

  When the article 30 is above the section 71, the section tag 10 of the section 71 is shielded by the shielding portion 301 of the article 30. The conveyor belt 75 is made of a dielectric material and does not shield the partition tag 10.

  An antenna 40b connected to the entrance tag reader 50b is provided immediately above the article carry-in section 751. The inlet tag reader 50b performs individual communication with the article tag 20 attached to the article 30 carried into the article carry-in section 751 via the antenna 40b. That is, the entrance tag reader 50b can individually read the identification information of the article tag 20 attached to the article 30 carried into the article carry-in section 751 one by one through the communication.

  Similarly, an antenna 40c connected to the outlet tag reader 50c is provided immediately above the article take-out portion 752. The exit tag reader 50c performs individual communication with the article tag 20 attached to the article 30 carried out to the article take-out section 752 via the antenna 40c. That is, the outlet tag reader 50c can individually read the identification information of the article tag 20 attached to the article 30 carried out to the article take-out unit 752 one by one by the communication.

  Further, the article 30 placed on the conveyor belt 75 and being conveyed is removed from the conveyor belt 75 or returned to the conveyor belt 75 by the operator 77 as appropriate for processing or the like. The article tag 20 attached to the article 30 is shielded from the center tag reader 50a when removed from the conveyor belt 75.

  In order to perform the shielding, for example, the work table 76 is arranged as far as possible from the conveyor belt 75, and a shielding plate or the like is provided above the work table 76 and below the antenna 40a. . Alternatively, a directional antenna may be used as the antenna 40 a so that radio waves transmitted from the antenna 40 a do not reach the work bench 76.

  The configuration of the article location management device 60 may be almost the same as that of the first embodiment. Therefore, the CPU (not shown) of the article location management device 60 is connected via the center tag reader 50a, the entrance tag reader 50b, and the exit tag reader 50c. Based on the read identification information of the article tag 20 and the division tag 10, the location of the article 30 is detected and managed. Note that differences from the case of the first embodiment will be described later.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of location location history information according to the second embodiment. As shown in FIG. 7, the location history information is composed of a time field, an entrance tag reader field, the same number of compartment fields as the number of compartments on the conveyor belt 75, and an exit tag reader field. .

  Here, the identification information of the article tag 20 read by the inlet tag reader 50b is stored in the inlet tag reader field, and the identification information of the article tag 20 read by the outlet tag reader 50c is stored in the outlet tag reader field. Further, in the section field, identification information of the section tag 10 attached to the section 71 corresponding to the section field or identification information of the article tag 20 attached to the article 30 located in the section 71 is stored. Is done.

  In the location history information shown in FIG. 7, the location of the article 30 at each time is represented by which section field the identification information of the article 30 is stored. In the present embodiment, the location of the article 30 is determined by detecting changes in the identification information of the article tag 20 and the section tag 10 read by the center tag reader 50a, the inlet tag reader 50b, and the outlet tag reader 50c.

Incidentally, in FIG. 7, the article 30 is not placed on the conveyor belt 75 at the time t ₀ in the initial state. Next, when the article 30 with the identification information “A” is carried into the article carry-in section 751 at time t ₁ , the identification information “A” is read by the entrance tag reader 50 b. Next, at time t _2, the in the identification information read by the center tag reader 50a, appeared identification information "A" of the article 30, it has disappeared identification information "1" of the partition tag 10. This means that the article 30 with the identification information “A” has moved to the section 71 with the identification information “1”.

Subsequently, when the article 30 with the identification information “B” is carried into the article carry-in section 751 at time t ₂ ′, the identification information “B” is read by the inlet tag reader 50b. Next, at time t _3, the identification information read by the center tag reader 50a, the identification information "B" of the article 30 is newly appeared, has disappeared identification information "2" compartments tag 10. This means that the article 30 with the identification information “A” has moved to the section 71 with the identification information “2”, and the article 30 with the identification information “B” has moved to the section 71 with the identification information “1”. ing.

Furthermore, even if the article 30 is not carried into the article carrying portion 751, elapsed from the time t ₃ is a predetermined time, at time t _4, the article 30 of the identification information "A", the identification information is "3" The article 30 having the identification information “B” moves to the section and moves to the section having the identification information “2”. Hereinafter, until the time t _6, the location of the article 30 moves in a similar manner.

On the other hand, at time t ₆ ′, the identification information “4” of the section tag 10 newly appears and the identification information “B” of the article 30 disappears in the identification information read by the center tag reader 50a. Thus, it can be seen that the article 30 with the identification information “B” is extracted from the section 71 with the identification information “4”.

At time t ₈ ′, the identification information “B” of the article 30 newly appears in the identification information read by the center tag reader 50a, and the identification information “3” of the section tag 10 has disappeared. It can be seen that the article 30 whose information is “B” has been returned to the section 71 whose identification information is “3”.

  As can be seen from the example described above, the CPU of the article location management device 60 reads the article tag 20 and the section tag read by the center tag reader 50a, the inlet tag reader 50b, and the outlet tag reader 50c, as in the case of the first embodiment. The location of the article 30 can be determined based on the information in which the ten pieces of identification information have changed.

  However, in the present embodiment, since the article 30 moves with the movement of the conveyor belt 75, a part of the article location determination process of FIG. 3 needs to be corrected. That is, in FIG. 3, before the CPU determines that the change in the identification information is either the extraction or return of the article 30 by the operator (corresponding to step S04), the CPU changes the movement of the conveyor belt 75. It is necessary to determine whether or not there is.

  Here, the CPU determines that the change is due to the movement of the conveyor belt 75 when any of the following conditions is satisfied. (1) In the identification information read by the center tag reader 50a, the identification information of the article 30 did not change, but the identification information of two or more sections 71 changed. (2) The identification information of the article 30 read by the entrance tag reader 50b last time was included in the identification information read by the center tag reader 50a. (3) The identification number of the article 30 disappeared from the identification information read by the center tag reader 50a is the same as the identification information of the article 30 read by the exit tag reader 50c.

  When these conditions are satisfied, the CPU sets the location of the article 30 to a position moved by one section from the previous location. Then, the CPU stores the location information in the location history storage unit 65 as location location history information.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, when the article location management system 1a moves while being placed on a transported portion of a transport device such as the conveyor belt 75, the location management target object 30a determines the location position. Can be detected and managed.

<Third Embodiment>
Next, 3rd Embodiment demonstrates the case where the article storage place 70 is comprised on conveying apparatuses, such as a conveyor. Unless otherwise specified, the same terms and the same reference numerals are used for the same components as those of the first embodiment or the second embodiment, and the description thereof is omitted.

  In the second embodiment, the section 71 of the article storage place 70 is not moved. In the third embodiment, the section 71 of the article storage place 70 moves together with the article 30 placed thereon.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an article location management system according to the third embodiment of the present invention, and (a) is a schematic diagram of a transverse section of an article storage area configured on a transport device. An example is shown, and (b) shows an example of a schematic diagram of the upper surface of the article storage place.

  As shown in FIG. 8, in the article location management system 1b according to the third embodiment, a section 71 of the article storage place 70 is configured on a conveyor belt 75 that constitutes a transported portion of the transport apparatus. That is, the conveyor belt 75 is divided into a predetermined size, and a division tag 10 is stuck or embedded on each surface of each division 71 on the divided conveyor belt 75.

  Moreover, the article | item 30 is comprised including the shielding part 301 similarly to the case of 1st Embodiment, and the article | item tag 20 is affixed or attached to the upper part. When the article 30 is placed on the section 71, the shielding unit 301 shields the section tag 10 of the section 71.

  The conveyor belt 75 moves from left to right at a predetermined speed. At this time, an article carry-in section 751 is provided at the start point of the conveyor belt 75, an article take-out section 752 is provided at the end point of the conveyor belt 75, and the unprocessed article 30 is carried in from the article carry-in section 751. The subsequent article 30 is taken out from the article take-out section 752.

  An antenna 40b connected to the entrance tag reader 50b is provided immediately above the article carry-in section 751. The entrance tag reader 50b is individually connected to the article tag 20 attached to the article 30 carried into the article carry-in section 751 or the section tag 10 provided in the section 71 via the antenna 40b. Communicate. That is, the entrance tag reader 50b receives one piece of identification information of the article tag 20 attached to the article 30 carried into the article carry-in unit 751 or identification information of the division tag 10 provided in the division 71 by the communication. Can be read individually.

  Similarly, an antenna 40c connected to the outlet tag reader 50c is provided immediately above the article take-out portion 752. The exit tag reader 50c communicates individually with the article tag 20 attached to the article 30 carried to the article take-out section 752 or the section tag 10 provided in the section 71 via the antenna 40c. I do. That is, the exit tag reader 50c receives one piece of identification information of the article tag 20 attached to the article 30 carried out to the article take-out unit 752 or identification information of the section tag 10 provided in the section 71 by the communication. Can be read individually.

  In the present embodiment, a shielding plate 90 for limiting the range of the article storage place 70 is provided, and the article tag 20 or the division tag outside the range of the article storage place 70 where the center tag reader 50a is partitioned by the shielding plate 90 is provided. 10 identification information is not read.

  The configuration of the article location management device 60 may be almost the same as that of the first embodiment. Therefore, the CPU (not shown) of the article location management device 60 is connected via the center tag reader 50a, the entrance tag reader 50b, and the exit tag reader 50c. Based on the read identification information of the article tag 20 and the division tag 10, the location of the article 30 is detected and managed. The difference from the case of the first embodiment will be described later.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of location location history information according to the third embodiment. As shown in FIG. 9, the location history information is composed of a time field, an entrance tag reader field, the same number of compartment fields as the number of compartments on the conveyor belt 75, and an exit tag reader field. .

  Here, the identification information of the article tag 20 read by the inlet tag reader 50b is stored in the inlet tag reader field, and the identification information of the article tag 20 read by the outlet tag reader 50c is stored in the outlet tag reader field. Also, in the division field, the identification information of the division tag 10 attached to the division 71 corresponding to the division field or the identification of the article tag 20 attached to the article 30 placed in the division 71 Information is stored.

  The configuration of the location location history information as described above is the same as that in the second embodiment, but the stored information is different. That is, in the second embodiment, the identification information of the partition tag 10 stored in the partition field has not moved, but in this embodiment, the identification information of the partition tag 10 stored in the partition field moves. In other words, in the present embodiment, the partition field corresponds to a partition (hereinafter, referred to as a non-moving section) that represents a position fixed to the stationary part of the transport device, whereas it is configured on the transported part such as the conveyor belt 75. The section 71 thus moved moves along with the movement of the part to be transported (such as the conveyor belt 75).

  However, it is not necessary for the operator 77 or the system administrator to know the identification information of the section 71 formed on the conveyor belt 75, and the position of the article 30 in the immovable section, that is, the article 30 is located location history information. It is only necessary to know which partition field is stored in.

In FIG. 9, the article 30 is not placed in any section 71 on the conveyor belt 75 at time t ₀ in the initial state. At this time, the identification information of the division tag 10 within the range of the article storage place 70 is read by the center tag reader 50a, and the identification information “20” of the division tag 10 in the article carry-in section 751 is read by the entrance tag reader 50b. It is done.

Next, when the article 30 with the identification information “A” is carried into the article carry-in section 751 at time t ₁ , the identification information “A” is read by the entrance tag reader 50 b. Thereby, it can be seen that the article 30 having the identification information “A” is placed in the section 71 to which the section tag 10 having the identification information “20” is attached.

Next, at time t _2, the in the identification information read by the center tag reader 50a, appeared identification information "A" of the article 30, the identification information of the compartments tag 10 "6" has disappeared. On the other hand, the exit tag reader 50c detects the section tag 10 with the identification information “6”. This indicates that the section 71 and the article 30 on the conveyor belt 75 have moved by one section.

Hereinafter, until the time _{t 5,} section 71 and the article 30 on the conveyor belt 75 is moving by one compartment minute.

On the other hand, at the time t ₅ ′, the identification information “18” of the section tag 10 newly appears and the identification information “B” of the article 30 disappears in the identification information read by the center tag reader 50a. It can be seen that the article 30 having the identification information “B” is extracted from the section 71 of “18”.

At time t ₈ ′, the identification information “B” of the article 30 newly appears and the identification information “14” of the section tag 10 disappears in the identification information read by the center tag reader 50a. It can be seen that the article 30 of “B” has been returned to the section 71 of the identification information “14”.

  As can be seen from the example described above, the CPU of the article location management device 60 reads the article tag 20 and the section tag read by the center tag reader 50a, the inlet tag reader 50b, and the outlet tag reader 50c, as in the case of the first embodiment. The location of the article 30 can be determined based on the information in which the ten pieces of identification information have changed.

  However, in the case of this embodiment, since the article 30 and the section 71 move together with the conveyor belt 75, it is necessary to correct a part of the article location determination process in FIG. That is, in FIG. 3, the CPU determines that the change in the identification information is due to the movement of the conveyor belt 75 before determining that the change in the identification information is either the extraction or return of the article 30 by the operator (corresponding to step S <b> 04). It needs to be determined.

  At this time, the CPU determines that the change is due to the movement of the conveyor belt 75 when the following condition is satisfied. (1) In the identification information read by the center tag reader 50a this time, the identification information of the article 30 or the identification information of the section 71 previously read by the entrance tag reader 50b is included in the identification information read by the center tag reader 50a. The identification number of the disappeared article 30 or the identification information of the section 71 was the same as the identification information of the article 30 or the identification information of the section 71 read by the exit tag reader 50c.

  When this condition is satisfied, the CPU sets the location of the article 30 to a position moved one section from the previous location. Then, the information on the determined position is stored in the location location history storage unit 65 as location location history information.

  As described above, according to the third embodiment, the article location management system 1b determines the location of the article 30 whose location is to be managed by placing the article 30 on the transported portion of the transport device such as the conveyor belt 75 and the like. Can be detected and managed.

(Modification of the third embodiment)
FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a modification of the third embodiment. In the third embodiment, the region of the work table 76 where the worker 77 processes the article 30 extracted from the conveyor belt 75 is shielded from radio waves from the antenna 40a connected to the center tag reader 50a. did. However, in the following cases, the area of the workbench 76 need not be shielded.

  First, as illustrated in FIG. 10A, when the number of articles 30 to be taken out to the workbench 76 is limited to one, the region of the workbench 76 may not be shielded. This can be applied to the location management of an article in a process where there is only one worker 77. Note that the example in this case corresponds to the second modification of the first embodiment described with reference to FIG. 4, and the work table 76 in this embodiment corresponds to the passage 82 in FIG. 4.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 10B, one or more division tags 10 are provided on the work table 76, and an article 30 extracted by the operator 77 from the conveyor belt 75 is included in the division tags 10. It is placed on one division tag 10 and a processing operation is performed. In this case, since the area of the work bench 76 is not shielded, the location of the movement destination of the article 30 extracted from the conveyor belt 75 can be managed. Therefore, this case can also be applied to a process in which there are a plurality of workers 77.

  Note that the article location management in the situation shown in FIG. 10B includes the article location management when the section 71 and the article 30 are stationary in the article storage place 70 as in the first embodiment, and the third implementation. It can be said that the article location management in the case where the section 71 and the article 30 move on the transported portion of the transport apparatus as in the form is mixed.

<Fourth Embodiment>
Subsequently, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 11 is a schematic top view illustrating an example of the configuration of the article storage place 70 on the conveyor belt 75 according to the fourth embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the conveyor belt 75 is, for example, a type that circulates in a planar manner on a circle edge, and configures an article storage place 70 on the conveyor belt 75. That is, the conveyor belt 75 is divided into a predetermined size, a section 71 is defined, and the first section tag 10 and the second section tag 11 are provided in each section 71. Therefore, this embodiment is substantially a modification of the third embodiment shown in FIG. 8, and hereinafter, the same components and the same reference numerals are used for the same components as the components of the third embodiment. Use.

  In FIG. 11, the first division tag 10 (hereinafter simply referred to as the division tag 10) is embedded in the surface portion of the conveyor belt 75 at substantially the center of the division 71 as in the case of the third embodiment. Or affixed. When the article 30 is placed on the section 71, the radio wave from the antenna 40a is shielded by the shielding portion 301.

  On the other hand, even if the second section tag 11 is affixed to the end of the section 71 and the article 30 is placed on the section 71, the radio wave from the antenna 40a is not shielded by the shielding portion 301 of the article 30. Shall. In addition, a shielding plate 12 that shields at least one second division tag 11 is fixed to an immovable portion of a conveying device such as a conveyor device above at least one division of the conveyor belt 75. . In the example of FIG. 11, the shielding plate 12 is provided at the position of the article carry-in section 751.

  In this case, the center tag reader 50a can acquire the identification information of the division tag 10 and the second division tag 11 and the article 30 placed in the division 71 for all the divisions 71. However, the second partition tag 11 of the partition 71 that is approaching the portion where the shielding plate 12 is provided is shielded by the shielding plate 12.

  That is, the article location management device 60 detects the identification information of the second division tag 11 that has not been read by the center tag reader 50a, so that the second division tag 11 of the identification information that has not been read is provided. It is recognized that the divided section 71 is in a position where the shielding plate 12 is provided. Thereby, each section 71 formed on the conveyor belt 75 can be associated with a fixed section fixed to a fixed portion of the transport device.

  At this time, the article location management device 60 can set information on the relative positional relationship between the position where the shielding plate 12 is provided and the article carry-in section 751 and the article take-out section 752. The location management device 60 can recognize which section 71 corresponds to the article carry-in section 751 or the article take-out section 752. Therefore, when the article 30 is put in and out of the section, the identification information of the article 30 can be acquired. Therefore, in the fourth embodiment, the entrance tag reader 50b and the exit tag reader 50c in the third embodiment are not necessary.

  In the fourth embodiment, an operator or the like appropriately pulls out or returns the article 30 from the section 71 other than the article carry-in section 751 and the article take-out section 752, but the removed article 30 is It is assumed that the center tag reader 50a is shielded from radio waves transmitted from the antenna 40.

  Further, the present embodiment can be applied even in the case of the conveyor belt 75 as shown in FIG. In that case, in order to clarify the range of the section 71 used as the article storage place 70, as shown in FIG. 8, it is necessary to shield the section 71 outside the range by a shielding plate 90 or the like. In FIG. 8, the article carry-in section 751 and the article take-out section 752 are included outside the shielding plate 90. In this case, the article carry-in section 751 and the article take-out section 752 are inside the shielding plate 90. It is assumed that a shielding plate 90 is provided so as to be included.

  By doing so, the center tag reader 50 a can read the identification information of the section tag 10 provided in the section 71 used as the article storage place 70, the second section tag 11, and the article 30 placed on the section 71. become able to.

  In this case, it is not necessary to provide the shielding plate 12 of FIG. The shielding plate 90 plays a role corresponding to the shielding plate 12.

  As described above, according to the fourth embodiment, since the entrance tag reader 50b and the exit tag reader 50c are not necessary, the construction cost of the system can be reduced.

<Supplement>
FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example in which a section 71 of the article storage place 70 is configured on a conveyor of a plurality of processes. The second embodiment, the third embodiment, and the fourth embodiment described above can be applied not only to a single process conveyor but also to a plurality of continuous process conveyors. can do.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 12, a plurality of processes, for example, a process α, a process β, and a process γ are arranged in one conveyor work place, and the process α conveyor 75a, the process β conveyor 75b, and the process γ are included in the processes. It is assumed that a conveyor 75c is provided. And each conveyor 75a, 75b, 75c moves at the same speed, and the article 30 that has reached the section α-6 of the process α conveyor 75a is always transferred to the section β-1 of the process β conveyor 75b. When the article 30 that has reached the section β-6 of 75b is always transferred to the section γ-1 of the process γ conveyor 75c, each conveyor 75a, 75b, 75c can be regarded as a continuous conveyor. This is substantially the same as the second embodiment, the third embodiment, or the fourth embodiment.

  At this time, only one center tag reader 50a can be used depending on the situation. A plurality of antennas 40a connected to the center tag reader 50a may be provided as necessary.

The figure which showed the example of the structure of the article location management system which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. The figure which showed the example of the structure of the location location log | history information which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. The figure which showed the example of the processing flow of the article location determination process in the article location management apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. The figure which showed the example of the goods warehouse which concerns on the modification of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. The figure which showed the example of the article processing process to which the 2nd Embodiment of this invention is applied.

The figure which showed the example of the structure of the article location management system which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The figure which showed the example of the structure of the location location log | history information which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The figure which showed the example of the structure of the article location management system which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. The figure which showed the example of the structure of the location location log | history information which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. The figure explaining the modification of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention.

The figure which showed the example of the structure of the article storage place on the conveyor belt which concerns on the 4th Embodiment of this invention as an upper surface schematic diagram. The figure which showed the example which comprised the division of the article storage place on the conveyor of a some process.

Explanation of symbols

1, 1b, 1c Article location management system 10 division tag 11 second division tag 12 shielding plate 20 article tag 30 article 40, 40a, 40b, 40c antenna 50 tag reader 50a center tag reader 50b inlet tag reader 50c outlet tag reader 60 article location management device 61 Tag information acquisition unit 62 Tag information change detection unit 63 Location position determination unit 64 Location position output unit 65 Location position history storage unit 66 Display device 70 Article storage area 71 Section 72 Section tag installation table 75 Conveyor belt 76 Work table 77 Worker 80 Article warehouse 81 Article placement section 82 Aisle 90 Shield plate 301 Shield portion 751 Article carry-in portion 752 Article take-out portion

Claims (13)

An article storage place or article passage configured by attaching an RFID tag for identifying each section to each section,
When an article provided with a shielding part for shielding the section identification RFID tag and an article identification RFID tag is appropriately disposed in the section of the article storage area or the article passage, the section identification A tag reader that collectively reads the identification information from the RFID tag and the RFID tag for identifying the article,
A management device that manages location information of the article in the article storage area or the article passage based on the identification information of the RFID tag read by the tag reader;
An article location management system comprising:
The management device
A tag information acquisition unit for acquiring, from the tag reader, identification information of the RFID tag located in the article storage area or the article passage read by the tag reader every predetermined time;
A tag information change detection unit that detects a new appearance or disappearance of the identification information of the RFID tag based on the identification information of the acquired RFID tag and the identification information of the RFID tag acquired last time;
When the new appearance or disappearance of the identification information of the RFID tag is detected, the current location information of the article is based on the identification information of the RFID tag that has newly appeared or disappeared and the previous location information of the article. A location determination unit for determining
A location history storage unit that stores location information of the determined article as location history information;
An article location management system comprising: The article location management system according to claim 1,
The article storage area or the article passage is configured to include a conveyance unit that conveys the article,
An entrance tag reader that individually reads identification information of an RFID tag for identifying an article attached to an article carried into the transport unit is provided at the starting point of the transport unit,
At the end point of the transport unit, an exit tag reader that individually reads identification information of an RFID tag for identifying an article attached to an article unloaded from the transport unit is provided.
The location determination unit of the management device,
When determining the current location information of the article, it is based on the identification information of the newly appearing or disappearing RFID tag and the previous location information of the article, and is obtained via the entrance tag reader and the exit tag reader. An article location management system that determines current location information of the article based on the identification information of the RFID tag. The article location management system according to claim 2,
The section identification RFID tag is provided in a part other than the transported part of the transport unit, and the section of the article storage area or the article passage is set not to depend on the operation of the transported part. The article location management system. The article location management system according to claim 2,
The article location management system, wherein the section identification RFID tag is provided on a transported part of the transport unit, and a section of the article storage area or the article passage is set on the transported part. The article location management system according to claim 1,
The article storage area or the article passage is configured to include a conveyance unit that conveys the article,
The section is set on a transported part of the transport unit, and each section is provided with the section identification RFID tag, and the section that is not shielded by an article placed in the section is provided. An RFID tag for identifying a second section for identification is provided,
An article location management system, wherein a shielding part that shields at least one of the second RFID tags for identifying a section provided in the section is provided in a part other than the part to be transported of the transport part. The article location management system according to claim 1,
The article location management system, wherein the article is configured to include an article placement tray, and the article placement tray constitutes the shielding unit. An article storage place or article passage configured by attaching an RFID tag for identifying each section to each section,
When an article provided with a shielding part for shielding the section identification RFID tag and an article identification RFID tag is appropriately disposed in the section of the article storage area or the article passage, the section identification A tag reader that collectively reads the identification information from the RFID tag and the RFID tag for identifying the article,
A management device that manages location information of the article in the article storage area or the article passage based on the identification information of the RFID tag read by the tag reader;
An article location management device used for an article location management system configured to include:
A tag information acquisition unit for acquiring, from the tag reader, identification information of the RFID tag located in the article storage area or the article passage read by the tag reader every predetermined time;
A tag information change detection unit that detects a new appearance or disappearance of the identification information of the RFID tag based on the identification information of the acquired RFID tag and the identification information of the RFID tag acquired last time;
When the new appearance or disappearance of the identification information of the RFID tag is detected, the current location information of the article is based on the identification information of the RFID tag that has newly appeared or disappeared and the previous location information of the article. A location determination unit for determining
A location history storage unit that stores location information of the determined article as location history information;
An article location management device comprising: The article location management device according to claim 7,
The article storage area or the article passage is configured to include a conveyance unit that conveys the article,
An entrance tag reader that individually reads identification information of an RFID tag for identifying an article attached to an article carried into the transport unit is provided at the starting point of the transport unit,
At the end point of the transport unit, an exit tag reader that individually reads identification information of an RFID tag for identifying an article attached to an article unloaded from the transport unit is provided.
The location determination unit of the management device,
When determining the current location information of the article, it is based on the identification information of the newly appearing or disappearing RFID tag and the previous location information of the article, and is obtained via the entrance tag reader and the exit tag reader. An article location management device that determines current location information of the article based on the identification information of the RFID tag. An article storage area or the article passage configured by attaching an RFID tag for identification to each divided section;
When an article provided with a shielding part for shielding the section identification RFID tag and an article identification RFID tag is appropriately disposed in the section of the article storage area or the article passage, the section identification A tag reader that collectively reads the identification information from the RFID tag and the RFID tag for identifying the article,
A management device that manages location information of the article in the article storage area or the article passage based on the identification information of the RFID tag read by the tag reader;
An article location management method in an article location management system configured to include:
The management device
The identification information of the RFID tag located in the article storage area or the article passage read by the tag reader is acquired from the tag reader at predetermined time intervals,
Based on the acquired identification information of the RFID tag and the previously acquired identification information of the RFID tag, a new appearance or disappearance of the identification information of the RFID tag is detected,
When the new appearance or disappearance of the identification information of the RFID tag is detected, the current location information of the article is based on the identification information of the RFID tag that has newly appeared or disappeared and the previous location information of the article. Decide
The article location management method, wherein the determined location information of the article is stored in a storage device as location history information. The article location management method according to claim 9,
The article storage area or the article passage is configured to include a conveyance unit that conveys the article,
An entrance tag reader that individually reads identification information of an RFID tag for identifying an article attached to an article carried into the transport unit is provided at the starting point of the transport unit,
An exit tag reader that individually reads identification information of an RFID tag for identifying an article attached to an article carried out from the transport unit is provided at an end point of the transport unit,
The management device
When determining the current location information of the article, it is based on the identification information of the newly appearing or disappearing RFID tag and the previous location information of the article, and is obtained via the entrance tag reader and the exit tag reader. An article location management method comprising: determining current location information of the article based on the identification information of the RFID tag. The article location management method according to claim 10,
The section identification RFID tag is provided in a part other than the transported part of the transport unit, and the section of the article storage area or the article passage is set not to depend on the operation of the transported part. The article location management method. The article location management method according to claim 10,
The article location management method, wherein the section identification RFID tag is provided on a transported part of the transport unit, and a section of the article storage area or the article passage is set on the transported part. The article location management method according to claim 9,
The article storage area or the article passage is
A transport unit configured to transport the article,
The section is set on a transported part of the transport unit, and each section is provided with the section identification RFID tag, and the section that is not shielded by an article placed in the section is provided. An RFID tag for identifying a second section for identification is provided,
An article location management method, wherein a shielding part that shields at least one of the second RFID tags for identifying a section provided in the section is provided in a part other than the part to be transported of the transport part.

Images