JP2010073065A - Storage device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain appropriate tag characteristics as the same when put in the air even when an item, to which a wireless tag is attached, is stored in a storage box. <P>SOLUTION: The storage device, having a storage box 2 opened and closed by a lid 5, for storing an item 3 attached with a wireless tag 4, consisting of an IC chip and a tag antenna, in a storage box 2. An auxiliary antenna 17 for varying frequency characteristics of the tag antenna capacitatively coupled to the antenna of the radio tag 4 of the item 3 stored inside the storage box 2 is arranged inside the storage box 2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a storage device for a management medium to which a wireless tag such as an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag is attached.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, wireless tags capable of reading wireless IDs without contact using wireless are attached to management media such as articles and deliveries and used for logistics management.

  By the way, the management medium to which the wireless tag is attached is stored and transported in a trunk (storage box) that can be freely opened and closed by a lid, and the wireless tag is stored in the trunk (storage box). It may be read by the wireless tag reader.

  In general, the antenna of a wireless tag attached to a management medium has a frequency determined by its length and is tuned to resonate with a predetermined frequency. When the management medium is placed in the air, the wireless tag is optimal. Is supposed to work.

  In this way, there is no problem when the RFID tag of the management medium is placed in the air, but when it is stored in the trunk (storage box), the frequency of the antenna of the RFID tag is affected by the trunk. There is a disadvantage that the characteristics change and the wireless tag does not function optimally.

  Therefore, conventionally, a margin is provided for the power of the antenna on the RFID tag reader side so that the RFID tag functions well (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

However, in the method of giving a margin to the power of the antenna on the RFID tag reader side, control is difficult and it is difficult to vary the frequency characteristics of the tag antenna of the RFID tag.
JP, 2006-270813, A The present invention was made by the above circumstances, and even when a management medium to which a wireless tag is attached is stored in a storage box, the frequency characteristics of the tag antenna are changed and placed in the air. It is an object of the present invention to provide a storage device for a management medium in which the same tag characteristics as those described above can be easily obtained.

  A storage device for a management medium according to the present invention is a storage device that has a storage box that is opened and closed by a lid, and stores a management medium to which a wireless tag including an IC chip and a tag antenna is attached, in the storage box. An auxiliary antenna is provided in a storage box, capacitively coupled to a tag antenna of a wireless tag of the management medium stored in the storage box, and variable in frequency characteristics of the tag antenna. .

  According to the present invention, even when a management medium to which a wireless tag is attached is stored in a storage box, it is possible to easily obtain tag characteristics similar to those when the tag antenna is placed in the air by changing the frequency characteristics of the tag antenna. Can be provided.

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

  1 is a perspective view showing a storage device 1 such as a trunk according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side sectional view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a front sectional view thereof.

  The storage device 1 includes a storage box 2, and the upper surface opening of the storage box 2 is opened and closed by a lid 5. In the storage box 2, a plurality of articles 3 as management media are stored in parallel. A wireless tag 4 is attached to the top surface of the plurality of articles 3.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a reading system that reads the above-described wireless tag 4 by the wireless tag reader 6.

  The wireless tag 4 includes an IC chip 11 and a tag antenna 12 that receives radio waves. The IC chip 11 and the tag antenna 12 are connected to each other. The IC chip 11 includes a wireless communication unit 13 that performs communication control and a storage unit 14 that stores data.

  The wireless tag reading device 6 includes a transmission / reception unit 7 that controls transmission / reception and a control unit 8 that controls the transmission / reception unit 7, and the transmission / reception unit 7 communicates with the antenna 12 of the wireless tag 4 via a coaxial cable 9. Are connected to an antenna 10 for transmitting and receiving.

  In this system, when transmission data is sent from the wireless tag reading device 6 to the wireless tag 4 of the article 3, first, the transmission data is transmitted from the control unit 8 of the wireless tag reading device 6 to the transmission / reception unit 7. In the transmission / reception unit 7, the transmission data is modulated and converted into a high-frequency signal and output to the coaxial cable 9. The high frequency signal output to the coaxial cable 9 is radiated from the antenna 10 to the space as a radio signal.

  The radiated radio signal is received by the antenna 12 of the radio tag 4 of the article 3 and transmitted to the IC chip 11 as a high frequency signal. The IC chip 11 demodulates the high frequency signal received by the wireless communication unit 13 and returns it to data, stores the data in the storage unit 14 and performs processing according to the content of the data.

  Further, when the response data is sent back from the wireless tag 4 to the wireless tag reader 6, a high-frequency signal obtained by modulating the response data is transmitted from the wireless communication unit 13 of the IC chip 4 to the antenna 12, and the antenna 12 transmits a wireless signal to the space. Radiated. The radio signal radiated to the space is received by the antenna 10 of the radio tag reader 6 and transmitted to the transmitting / receiving unit 7 through the coaxial cable 9 as a high frequency signal. The transmission / reception unit 7 demodulates the received high frequency signal and transmits the demodulated response data to the control unit 8.

  In this way, the wireless tag reader 6 performs wireless communication with the wireless tag 4, acquires data stored in the storage unit 14 of the wireless tag 4, and stores data in the storage unit 14 of the wireless tag 4. Can be made.

  By the way, the length of the tag antenna 12 is set to such a length that the matching between the IC chip 11 and the tag antenna 12 is good in the air. That is, the article 3 is taken out from the storage box 2 and placed outside, and good matching characteristics can be obtained in a state where there is no substance other than air near the article 3.

  The good matching characteristic between the IC chip 11 and the tag antenna 12 means that power can be efficiently transmitted from the tag antenna 12 to the IC chip 11, and thereby the antenna 10 of the wireless tag 4 and the wireless tag reader 6. It becomes possible to lengthen the communication distance.

  In this way, when the article 3 is placed outside, the wireless tag 4 functions well, but when the article 3 is stored in the storage box 2 and the lid 5 is closed, the wireless tag 4 is operated. The radio wave transmitted to 1 does not function well under the influence of the storage box 2 and the lid 5.

  In other words, the wavelength of radio waves is short among substances having a high dielectric constant.

  Further, when materials having the same dielectric constant and different thicknesses are placed at the same distance from the antenna, the thicker the thickness, the lower the resonance frequency of the antenna tends to be. Furthermore, even if the same substance is used, the resonance frequency of the antenna tends to be lowered as it is closer to the antenna. Therefore, it is desirable to determine the length of the antenna based on the permittivity and thickness of the storage box 2 and the lid 5 that are close to each other when the wireless tag 4 is actually used and the distance from the expected antenna.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, a plurality of auxiliary antennas 17 are disposed on the inner surface side of the lid 5 of the storage box 2 as shown in FIGS. The auxiliary antennas 17 are respectively arranged corresponding to the tag antennas 12 of the wireless tags 4 of the plurality of articles 3 described above. When the lid 5 of the storage box 2 is closed, the auxiliary antenna 17 and the wireless tag 4 are overlapped as shown in FIG. 3, and the auxiliary antenna 17 is placed on the tag antenna 12 of the wireless tag 4 as shown in FIG. Are coupled in contact or non-contact, that is, capacitively coupled. When the tag antenna 12 and the auxiliary antenna 17 are connected in contact with each other, the total length of the tag antenna 12 of the wireless tag 4 and the auxiliary antenna 17 of the lid 5 propagates through the storage box 2 and the lid 5. The length matches the wavelength of the radio wave.

  When the tag antenna 12 and the auxiliary antenna 17 are combined in contact with each other as described above, the total length of the tag antenna 12 of the wireless tag 4 and the auxiliary antenna 17 of the lid 5 is set to the storage box 2 and the lid 5. Therefore, the matching characteristics between the IC chip 11 and the antenna (the antenna composed of the tag antenna 12 and the auxiliary antenna 17) can be improved.

  Therefore, even when the article 3 to which the wireless tag 4 is attached is stored in the storage box 2 and the lid 5 is closed, the frequency characteristics of the tag antenna 12 of the wireless tag 4 can be varied and the tag performance can be maintained well. .

  Also, when the article 3 is taken out of the storage box 2 and placed outside, the wireless tag 4 functions well as described above.

  In other words, according to this embodiment, the wireless tag 4 can function well both when the article 3 to which the wireless tag 4 is attached is stored in the storage box 2 or taken out of the storage box 2. There is an advantage that can be.

  Further, since the auxiliary antenna 17 is provided on the inner surface side of the lid 5 of the storage box 2, the radio tag 4 of the article 3 and the auxiliary antenna 17 can be easily capacitively coupled simply by closing the lid 5 of the storage box 2. It becomes possible.

  In addition, since the plurality of auxiliary antennas 17 are disposed on the inner surface side of the lid 5 of the storage box 2, the lid 5 of the storage box 2 can be used even when a plurality of articles 3 are stored in the storage box 2. Only by closing, the wireless tags 4 of the plurality of articles 3 and the plurality of auxiliary antennas 17 can be easily capacitively coupled.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a plurality of positioning recesses 2a are formed at predetermined intervals on the inner bottom surface of the storage box 2, and the positioning recesses 2a are formed in the positioning recesses 2a. The lower end portion of the article 3 is fitted and positioned. With this positioning, when the lid 5 is closed, the wireless tag 4 of the article 3 and the auxiliary antenna 17 corresponding to the wireless tag 4 can be reliably connected.

  The positioning portion is not limited to the concave portion 2a, and a frame-like convex portion or engaging portion is formed on the inner bottom surface of the storage box 2, and the lower end portion of the article 3 is fitted by the convex portion or engaging portion. In addition, a tape having a large number of hooks may be provided on the inner bottom surface of the storage box 2, and a tape having a large number of piles may be provided on the lower surface side of the article 3. The article 3 may be positioned and held by meshing.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. Various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the above-described embodiments. For example, you may delete some components from all the components shown by embodiment mentioned above. Furthermore, you may combine the component covering different embodiment suitably.

The perspective view which shows the storage apparatus of the state by which the cover body which is one embodiment of this invention was open | released. FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing a state in which a lid of the storage device of FIG. 1 is closed. The front sectional view which shows the state by which the cover body of the storage apparatus of FIG. 1 was closed. The figure which shows the state in which the tag antenna and auxiliary antenna of FIG. 3 were connected. The block diagram which shows the reading system which reads the wireless tag of the articles | goods accommodated in the storage apparatus of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Storage device, 2 ... Storage box, 2a ... Positioning recessed part (positioning part), 3 ... Goods (management medium), 4 ... Wireless tag, 5 ... Cover, 11 ... IC chip, 12 ... Tag antenna, 17 ... Auxiliary antenna.

Claims (4)

A storage device having a storage box that is opened and closed by a lid, and storing a management medium for attaching a wireless tag including an IC chip and a tag antenna in the storage box,
The auxiliary antenna is provided in the storage box, capacitively coupled to the tag antenna of the RFID tag of the management medium stored in the storage box, and varies the frequency characteristics of the tag antenna. Storage device.   The storage device according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary antenna is provided on an inner surface side of a lid body of the storage box.   The storage device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the auxiliary antennas are arranged corresponding to the plurality of management media.   The storage device according to claim 3, wherein a positioning portion for positioning the management medium is formed on an inner bottom surface portion of the storage box.

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