JP2009237994A - Device for preventing belongings from being left behind - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a simple, practical device for automatically warning a user not to leave belongings behind when visiting customers by an automobile. <P>SOLUTION: A plurality of radio IC tags (tags for short) for transmitting radio beams are formed and attached to the belongings respectively. The radio beams are detected by a receiver 10, and when the radio beams from all the tags are sensed, "nothing left behind" is determined. If no radio beam is detected from any of the plurality of tags, an alarm 28 is given, and an LED pilot lamp of an indicator panel 26 is turned on to display the number of the tag. The receiver 10 comprises a power supply plug 14 adapted to a cigar lighter socket of the automobile, and electric power is supplied from the cigar lighter socket. Consequently, when a key switch is turned on to start the automobile, the receiver 10 is automatically started to inspect whether anything is left behind and to give a warning if something is left behind. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an alarm device improved so as to automatically warn a person who travels in an automobile so as not to leave his / her carry-on item.

  With the progress of computer technology, logistics is now managed by computers, and in addition, so-called wireless IC tags that can read and write data in a non-contact manner have been put into practical use. Used for receiving work.

For example, the invention described in Patent Document 1 was created for transportation work, and uses a PC card and a bar code seal to manage all packages loaded on a transportation vehicle based on matrix information of a delivery area. To prevent misdelivery.
Moreover, the invention described in Patent Document 2 includes a wireless IC tag, and prevents forgetting to carry items by collaborating with an in-vehicle electronic device such as a navigation device.
JP 2001-34878 A JP-A-2005-284771

  The aforementioned luggage management device according to the known invention is an advanced system that exhibits an excellent effect when managing large-scale logistics. There are various types of baggage management devices in practical use, and their lengths are various, but they are suitable and easy to prevent misplacement of carry-on items when visiting various places by car. No device has yet been developed that can easily be retrofitted to a vehicle.

That is, there are the following inconveniences through all the known luggage monitoring devices. First, an electronic device shows detailed data when an operator operates the apparatus and asks, but this inquiry operation is necessary. The computer won't answer unless you ask. As a result, if the questioning operation is forgotten, there is no warning that it has been misplaced. Second, when a worker gets out of a car, carries a carry-on item, enters a visited house, etc., a signal radio wave from a wireless IC tag attached to the carry-on item reaches a monitoring device in the vehicle. Because it disappears, the alarm mechanism will be activated.
For this reason, when the worker takes out the carry-on item from the automobile, it is troublesome because the operation of “temporary monitoring cancellation” must be performed.

  The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances described above. The purpose of the present invention is, firstly, when leaving from a visited place, the monitoring device is left without performing another inquiry operation. The object is to provide a misplacement prevention device that warns if there is a product and not warns if there is no misplaced product. The second is to provide a misplacement prevention device that does not activate an alarm even if the operation of “temporary monitoring cancellation” is not performed when taking a carried item out of an automobile.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present inventor has focused on a cigarette lighter socket of an automobile. Since the cigarette lighter consumes a large current, the cigarette lighter has an ACC (accessory) interlocking power switch that is not supplied with power to the cigarette lighter socket unless the car key switch is turned on.

For this reason, if the receiver of the monitoring device is configured to be powered from the cigarette lighter socket,
a. When you leave the place of visit, even if you do not ask for a special question, the receiver is automatically activated when the key switch is turned on to start the car, and the alarm function is activated.
b. When taking out carry-on items from the car, the alarm will not operate because the receiver is turned off when the car engine is turned off, even if the “temporary monitoring cancellation” operation is not performed.

  As a specific configuration based on the basic principle described above, the present invention includes a plurality of wireless IC tags that can be attached to a carry product and transmit signal radio waves, and a receiver that receives the signal radio waves. The receiver includes a power plug suitable for a cigarette lighter socket of an automobile, and the receiver includes all signal waves of the plurality of wireless IC tags selected when the automobile key switch is turned on. It has a function of issuing an alarm when any one or more of these are not received.

The receiver of the present invention does not issue an alarm when the signal radio waves of all the plurality of wireless IC tags are received, and any one of the plurality of radio IC tags transmits the signal radio waves. An alarm is issued when it cannot be received.
In this case, being unable to receive the signal wave of the wireless IC tag means that the wireless IC tag is far away from the communicable range.

Further, according to the present invention, an individual identification code ID is assigned to each of the plurality of wireless IC tags so that it can be identified from which wireless IC tag the signal radio wave.
And the misplacement alarm uses both sound and light. An acoustic warning has the advantage that it can be heard no matter which direction the worker is facing. However, it is not easy to distinguish a plurality of wireless IC tags by an acoustic alarm.

Therefore, a visual alarm is also used so that when an operator turns around and sees it visually, which wireless IC tag (which carry-on item) is far away is known.
For this reason, the receiver of the present invention is provided with a warning device and a number of display portions corresponding to the number of wireless IC tags.

  When there is at least one wireless IC tag that cannot detect a transmission radio wave, the above receiver activates a sound alarm and lights a display unit corresponding to the wireless IC tag that cannot detect a signal radio wave.

The present inventor used one having a communicable distance of about 10 meters between the receiver in the vehicle and the wireless IC tag based on the experience of the patrol visit work.
The communicable distance is the maximum distance at which the receiver can detect the signal radio wave transmitted by the wireless IC tag. The value of the communicable distance varies because the communicable distance varies depending on various conditions in the vicinity of the visited site.

  When the device for preventing misplacement of carried items according to the present invention is applied, when an engine key switch is turned on to start the vehicle, a warning is automatically issued that there is something left behind (no warning if there is no leftover). As described above, since a separate monitoring operation is not required, there is no possibility of causing misplacement monitoring mistakes due to human error while not giving a mental load to the worker.

  According to the present invention, if there is something left behind, a warning is given by sound, so that the worker is unaware of which direction he is facing. When turning around, it is possible to immediately know which wireless IC tag (which carry-on item) was left behind.

  The carry-on goods to which the present invention is applied can be understood in a broad sense. That is, not only goods but also important things that are transported by car, for example, sightseeing bus group customers can have wireless IC tags one by one so that confirmation of boarding (calling) is all unnecessary.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of a misplacement prevention device for carried items according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a receiver used in the apparatus according to the embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a wireless IC tag to be attached to a carry item. The receiver 10 is equipped with a receiver main body 12, a power plug 14 that is a power supply means to the receiver main body 12, and a receiving antenna 16 for receiving an incoming signal from a wireless IC tag described later. The power plug 14 has a structure suitable for a cigarette lighter socket of an automobile, and is configured such that the receiver 10 operates by receiving power from the automobile battery when the automobile engine key switch is turned on. The receiver main body 12 is provided with a power supply unit 18 connected to the power plug 14 to divide 12V and convert it to a voltage of 3V or 5V to control the control unit 20 and the reception unit 22 connected thereto. It is made to operate. A tag switch 24 (24a, 24b, 24c, 24d, 24e) is connected to the control unit 20, and a tag to be detected can be selected by turning the tag switch 24 ON / OFF. In addition, a receiving unit 22 is connected to the control unit 20 so that a tag detection signal detected through the antenna 16 is input and output to the control unit 20 together with an ID identification signal set for each wireless IC tag. It has become. The control unit 20 makes a determination based on the received signal that detects whether or not the wireless IC tag is selected by the tag switch 24, and when all the received signals having the ID selected by the tag switch 24 are not input. An alarm is output. In the embodiment, a display panel 26 that distinguishes and displays from which wireless IC tag a received signal is not received as an alarm and a buzzer 28 that indicates that there is something left behind are set as output destinations by the control unit 20. ing.

  FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of the wireless IC tag 30. The wireless IC tag 30 includes a power source 32 with an ON / OFF switch made of a coin-type battery and a transmitter 34 driven by the switch. A tag signal 303.02 MHz is transmitted through a transmission antenna 36 as an ID. A signal is attached and transmitted.

3A and 3B are schematic external views showing specific examples of the forgetting prevention device according to the embodiment.
The carried item misplacement prevention device of this embodiment includes a plurality of wireless IC tags 30 shown in (A) and a receiver 10 shown in (B). (C) depicts the back tag switch 24 provided on the back surface of the receiver 10. The wireless IC tag 30 of this example includes five wireless IC tags 30 (hereinafter abbreviated as tags). That is, it consists of a first tag 30a, a second tag 30b, a third tag 30c, a fourth tag 30d, and a fifth tag 30e. Each of these five tags has a function of transmitting a signal radio wave via a built-in antenna, and is attached to a carried item one by one for use. As shown in FIG. 3, the attachment chain 36 may be used as an antenna. It incorporates a 3V coin battery and transmits signal radio waves in the 303.02 MHz band. An individual identification code ID is attached to the signal radio wave of each tag, and the tag radio wave can be identified by the received radio wave. That is, ID1 is assigned to the first tag 30a, ID2 is assigned to the second tag 30b, ID3 is assigned to the third tag 30c, ID4 is assigned to the fourth tag 30d, and ID5 is assigned to the fifth tag 30e. Are attached to each.

  The receiver 10 receives signal radio waves transmitted from the five tags 30 a to 30 e of the wireless IC tag 30. A power plug 14 having a shape corresponding to the cigarette lighter socket protrudes from the receiver case 10a to the back side. Since this receiver 10 monopolizes the cigarette lighter socket, a spare socket 10d is provided.

  However, if a cigarette lighter (not shown) is inserted into this spare socket, a large current is consumed and a voltage drop may occur, which may affect the operation of the receiver 10. Therefore, in this embodiment, the spare socket 10d is connected to the spare socket 10d. Inserting a cigarette lighter is prohibited. Since the cigarette lighter socket of an automobile has an ACC (accessory) -linked power supply unit that is not powered unless the key switch is turned on, the power plug 14 is left inserted in the cigarette lighter socket. However, while the engine is stopped, the receiver 10 is powered off and does not operate.

FIG. 4 shows an operation flow of the carry-away device for carrying items.
When starting the automobile, the engine key is always inserted and the starting operation is performed. Accordingly, the cigarette lighter socket is conducted to the power source (battery) (step 100), and the receiver 10 is supplied with power through the power plug 14 (step 110). When the receiver 10 is powered, the power pilot lamp 10e is turned on and the misplacement prevention device including the receiver 10 is activated (step 200). The wireless IC tag 30 attached to the carry-on item is in a state of transmitting a tag signal (step 300).

  The operating receiver 10 senses the signal radio waves of each of the tags 30 selected by the tag switch 24 among the five tags 30a to 30e (step 210), and receives the tag signal (step 220). The alarm is not activated when all the individual identification codes ID1 to ID5 are detected. If any one of the individual identification codes ID1 to ID5 is missing in the received signal radio wave, the buzzer 28 is sounded and the LED pilot lamp provided on the display panel 26 is turned on. Five LED pilot lamps are provided corresponding to the five tags, and the LED pilot lamps corresponding to the tags that do not detect signal radio waves are turned on (step 230).

On the back surface of the receiver 10, the back surface tag switch 24 shown in FIG.
When there are five items to be carried, each of the five tags may be attached to the item to be carried, but if there are less than five items, the tag will remain. Since it is uneconomical to exhaust the button battery by always operating the tag that is idle, the switch (not shown) provided in the surplus tag is turned off to be paused.

  In such a case, the receiver 10 does not detect the signal wave of the tag that is at rest. However, since it is difficult for the receiver to activate the alarm, the rear tag switch 24 is manually operated so that the alarm is not activated even if the signal radio wave of the inactive tag is not detected.

  Assume that a worker visits a work site, completes equipment maintenance, and is about to leave for the next destination. For example, the hand tool box to which the first tag 30a is attached and the measuring instrument to which the second tag 30b is attached are loaded in the trunk of the work vehicle, and the computer and the fourth tag to which the third tag 30c is attached. The key ring attached with 30d is placed close to the worker. However, this is a case where the document attached with the fifth tag 30e is left behind in the work place.

  In such a case, when the engine key is turned on to start the work vehicle, the cigarette lighter socket is energized and the receiver 10 starts operating. Immediately thereafter, the receiver 10 performs an alarm operation because the signal radio wave of ID5 transmitted by the fifth tag 30e is not detected.

  The worker hears the sound of the buzzer 28 and notices that something has been left behind. When viewing the display panel 26, it can be seen that the LED pilot lamp indicating the fifth tag 30e is lit, and that the document has been misplaced.

  As can be understood from the above operation, it is not necessary to pay special attention or perform a specific operation at the time of departure. The device of the present invention is automatically activated by a key operation that is always performed when departing from a car, and a warning is given if there is something left behind, and nothing happens if there is no leftover.

It is a receiver block block diagram of the misplacement prevention device of the carrying goods which concerns on embodiment. It is a block block diagram of the same wireless IC tag. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, (A) is an external view of a wireless IC tag, (B) is an external front view of a receiver, and (C) is an external view of a rear tag switch provided on the back surface of the receiver. FIG. It is an operation | movement flow of the misplacement prevention apparatus which concerns on embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

  10 ......... Receiver, 12 ......... Receiver body, 14 ......... Power plug, 16 ......... Receiving antenna, 18 ......... Power supply unit, 20 ......... Control unit, 22 ......... Receiving unit, 24... Tag switch, 26... Display panel, 28... Buzzer, 30... Wireless IC tag, 32.

Claims (2)

A plurality of wireless IC tags that can be attached to a carry-on product and transmit signal radio waves, and a receiver that receives the above signal radio waves,
The above receiver has a power plug that fits into a car cigarette lighter socket,
The receiver has a function of issuing an alarm when not receiving any one or more of the signal waves of all of the plurality of wireless IC tags selected when the automobile key switch is turned on. A device for preventing misplacement of carried items. An individual identification code ID is attached to each of the plurality of wireless IC tags,
The receiver is provided with a number of display units corresponding to the number of horns or the wireless IC tag,
The display device corresponding to a wireless IC tag that is not detected is activated and the alarm is activated when there are one or more wireless IC tags that do not detect signal radio waves. 1. A device for preventing misplacement of carry items described in 1.

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