JP2011048708A - Post for reading/writing sheet with radio tag, and sheet with radio tag - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a reading/writing post reliably communicating with a radio tag mounted on a specific sheet without being affected from external electromagnetic waves or noises even when applied in a UHF band RFID tag. <P>SOLUTION: The post includes a slot for the sheet with the radio tag on which the radio tag is mounted, and reads/writes information stored in the radio IC tag mounted on the inserted sheet. A closed space is formed by an electromagnetic wave shielding sheet in a body into which the sheet is inserted. A reader/writer antenna connected to a radio tag reader/writer is provided in a position facing the radio IC tag mounted on the sheet inserted into the depth of the closed space in the closed space. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for reading and writing information stored in a wireless tag embedded in a sheet with a wireless tag, and more particularly to a technique for surely communicating with a target wireless tag.

  A technique for using a sheet in which an RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) tag capable of wireless communication is embedded is used for work management in a distribution center or a factory (for example, Patent Document 1). In particular, the UHF (Ultra-High Frequency) band RFID tag can secure a communication distance of up to about 10 meters without a built-in battery, so that the future use range will rapidly expand and further price reduction will proceed. It is seen as a thing.

  As a conventional technique related to an RFID tag, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a work record collection system for collecting work record information in a factory for inputting a work instruction sheet equipped with a work identification wireless tag. There is disclosed a work management box having an opening for reading a wireless tag mounted on a loaded work instruction sheet.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a metal case for reliably transmitting and receiving to / from a specific wireless tag without being affected by an external electromagnetic field or electromagnetic noise.

JP 2007-328665 A JP 2000-137873 A

  However, when the work management box disclosed in Patent Document 1 is applied to a UHF band RFID tag, an inflow of electromagnetic waves from an opening or the like may detect a wireless tag existing within several meters in the vicinity, There is a problem that the wireless tag cannot be detected correctly due to the influence of electromagnetic noise. In addition, the metal case disclosed in Patent Document 2 has a problem in that it is not convenient because the wireless tag must be locked in a state in which the wireless tag is placed in the case in order to prevent inflow of electromagnetic waves.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and even when a UHF band RFID tag is used, the wireless tag mounted on a specific sheet is not affected by external electromagnetic waves or electromagnetic noise. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a read / write post that can reliably communicate with the Internet.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, the present invention includes an insertion port for a wireless tag-attached sheet on which a wireless IC tag is mounted, and reads / writes information stored in the wireless IC tag mounted on the inserted sheet. In a wireless tag-equipped sheet read / write post, a wireless IC mounted on a sheet inserted into the closed space in the closed space by forming a closed space by an electromagnetic wave shielding sheet in a main body portion into which the sheet is inserted A reader / writer antenna connected to the wireless tag reader / writer is provided at a position facing the tag.

  According to the present invention, even when a UHF band RFID tag is used, a read / write post that can reliably communicate with a wireless tag mounted on a specific sheet without being affected by external electromagnetic waves or noise. Can be provided.

It is an external view of the post | mailbox read / write post | mailbox with a wireless tag. It is a schematic diagram which shows the cross-sectional structure of the post | mailbox read / write post | mailbox with a wireless tag. It is a schematic diagram which shows the other cross-sectional structure of the sheet | seat read-write post | mailbox with a wireless tag. It is a schematic diagram which shows a UHF band radio | wireless tag inlet planar structure. It is a cross-sectional schematic diagram which shows the laminated structure of a wireless tag part. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of a wireless tag reader / writer. It is a flowchart of the reading operation | movement of a wireless tag reader / writer. It is a block diagram which shows the apparatus structure of the sheet | seat tracking system with a wireless tag. It is a structure and data example of a wireless tag detection table. It is a structure and data example of a wireless tag detection history table. It is a display example of a wireless tag detection history display screen.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings as appropriate.
FIG. 1 is an external view of a sheet reading / writing post (hereinafter abbreviated as “post”) with a wireless tag according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the post 1 includes an insertion port 14 that is an opening for inserting the wireless tag-attached sheet 2 on the front upper portion of a box-shaped main body 11 made of a metal plate such as duralumin or iron. Inside, it is connected to a reader / writer (not shown) that communicates with the wireless tag 4 mounted on the wireless tag-attached sheet 2 inserted into the main body 11, and supplies power to the wireless tag 4 by electromagnetic waves in the UHF band. A reader / writer antenna 3 for capturing a signal transmitted from the wireless tag 4 is provided. The main body 11 does not have to be made of metal as long as it prevents electromagnetic waves from entering from the outside. For example, an aluminum thin film deposited on the surface of the resin, or a resin mixed with magnetic powder. Etc.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a cross section taken along the line AA of the post 1 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the main body 11 is formed in a box shape by a metal plate or the like, and an insertion port 14 that is an opening for inserting the sheet 2 with a wireless tag is provided in the upper front portion. Moreover, the two electromagnetic wave shielding sheets 12 are provided so that the closed space 15 is formed along the inner surface of the main body 11 that forms a space below the insertion opening 14. One of the end portions on the insertion port 14 side is folded inward, and a pressing portion where the two electromagnetic wave shielding sheets 12 are pressed against each other is formed slightly below the insertion port 14. On the other hand, the lower end portions are bonded to each other to form a protruding anti-slip portion (projecting portion) 13. The anti-slip portion 13 contributes to the prevention of deformation and the stability of the position and posture when the end of the wireless tag-attached sheet 2 reaches the lower end of the closed space 15.

  Further, a reader / writer antenna 3 is provided at a lower portion of the rear surface of the closed space 15, and the wireless tag 4 mounted on the wireless tag-attached sheet 2 when the wireless tag-attached sheet 2 is inserted to the lower end of the closed space 15. They are close to each other and face each other.

  Note that the pressing force of the pressing portion formed by the two electromagnetic wave shielding sheets 12 does not hinder the insertion of the wireless tag-attached sheet 2, and when the wireless tag-attached sheet 2 is removed, there is a close contact with the gap. The position where the end portion is folded back and the curvature of the folded portion are appropriately adjusted so that the strength does not occur. In FIG. 2, only one of the two electromagnetic wave shielding sheets 12 is folded, but the other may be folded in the opposite direction.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing another structure of the post 1. In FIG. 2, one of the end portions of the two electromagnetic wave shielding sheets 12 is folded inward to form a pressing portion at the lower portion of the insertion slot 14, but in FIG. 3, one of the end portions of the electromagnetic wave shielding sheet 12 is swirled. The pressing part is formed by fixing in a shape. It should be noted that the pressing force of the pressing portion does not hinder the insertion of the wireless tag-attached sheet 2 and the end portion is wound so that the gap is not generated when the wireless tag-attached sheet 2 is removed. The length to be fixed in is adjusted appropriately. In FIG. 3, only one of the two electromagnetic wave shielding sheets 12 is fixed in a spiral shape, but the other may be fixed in a reverse spiral shape.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a planar structure of a UHF band RFID tag inlet incorporated in the RFID tag 4. As shown in FIG. 4, the wireless tag inlet 41 includes an IC chip 42 and a pair of strip-shaped tag antennas 43 formed of aluminum or copper foil on an insulating film base material. It is. Note that the shape of the tag antenna is not limited to this, and may be a linear shape or a more complicated shape including a so-called meander line.

  FIG. 5 shows an example of a mounting form of the wireless tag inlet 41 to the sheet 2 with the wireless tag. In the schematic cross-sectional view shown in FIG. 5, the wireless tag inlet 41 has an IC chip 42 and a tag antenna 43 mounting surface in close contact with the sheet base 21 of the wireless tag-attached sheet 2, and a magnetic sheet on the opposite surface. 44 and a protective sheet 45 are laminated and fixed to the sheet base material 21 by adhesion.

  This example is a mounting form when it is assumed that reading and writing of the wireless tag is performed only from the back side (the right side in FIG. 5) of the sheet 2 with the wireless tag, and the protective sheet 45 side and the tag antenna 43 are separated by the magnetic sheet 44. The wireless tag is read and written only from the side of the sheet base material 21 by shielding the electromagnetic wave between them.

  The wireless tag 4 is mounted at such a height as to directly face the reader / writer antenna 3 when the wireless tag-attached sheet 2 is inserted from the insertion port 14 to the back of the closed space 15, thereby allowing external electromagnetic waves to be mounted. The wireless tag 4 can be read and written under suitable conditions without being affected by the above.

  The length of the wireless tag-attached sheet 2 in the insertion direction is such that when the sheet is inserted from the insertion port 14 to the back of the closed space 15, the upper end of the sheet is not bent and the upper end of the sheet is not bent. It is preferable that the length is such that it stops outside the insertion port 14 and is easily inserted and removed by hand.

  In the example of FIG. 5, the wireless tag 4 is mounted on the front side of the sheet 2 with the wireless tag, but the wireless tag 4 may be mounted on the back side of the sheet 2 with the wireless tag. In that case, the magnetic tag 44, the wireless tag inlet 41, and the protective sheet 45 are laminated and fixed in this order on the sheet base material 21, so that the wireless tag can be read and written only from the back side of the sheet. Can do.

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the wireless tag reader / writer 5 that is connected to the reader / writer antenna 3 and communicates with the wireless tag 4. As shown in FIG. 6, the wireless tag reader / writer 5 is connected to the reader / writer antenna 3 provided with the antenna coil 31, and includes a control unit 51, a storage unit 52, and a wireless tag communication unit 53. The wireless tag reader / writer 5 is connected to the LAN 8 and transmits the detection result of the wireless tag 4 to a server (not shown) or the like via the LAN 8.

  The control unit 51 embodies various functions as the wireless tag reader / writer 5 when a built-in CPU (not shown) executes a program (not shown). The storage unit 52 includes a non-volatile RAM (Random Access Memory), and the storage unit 52 stores information read from the detected wireless tag 4 and the wireless tag 4 received from a server (not shown). Information to be written is stored. The wireless tag communication unit 53 communicates with the wireless tag 4 through the antenna coil 31.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the reading operation of the wireless tag reader / writer 5. Details of the reading operation of the wireless tag reader / writer 5 will be described below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  When the wireless tag reader / writer 5 is activated, first, in step S1, the wireless tag communication unit 53 detects the wireless tag, and determines whether or not the wireless tag is detected. If the wireless tag is not detected (“No” in step S1), step S1 is repeated until the wireless tag is detected. That is, wait here. When a wireless tag is detected (“Yes” in step S1), the process proceeds to step S2, and wireless tag detection information including the identification number of its own post and the identification number of the detected wireless tag is not shown. In step S3, the identification number of the detected wireless tag is stored in the storage unit 52.

  Next, in step S4, the wireless tag communication unit 53 detects the wireless tag again, and determines whether or not the wireless tag is detected. If the wireless tag is detected (“Yes” in step S4), the process returns to step S2 and the series of operations up to step S4 is repeated until no wireless tag is detected. If the wireless tag is not detected (“No” in step S4), the process proceeds to step S5 to indicate that the post identification number and the wireless tag are not detected. After the information is transmitted to a host device such as a server (not shown), in step S6, the identification number of the wireless tag stored in the storage unit 52 is deleted, the process returns to step S1, and the above process is repeated. .

  Thus, while the upper device such as the server continuously receives the same wireless tag detection information from the wireless tag reader / writer 5, the same wireless tag-attached sheet is inserted into the post, and the wireless tag is not detected. When the information is received, it can be recognized that the sheet with the wireless tag is taken out from the post. Alternatively, the wireless tag reader / writer 5 is provided with a function of monitoring the change in the detection state of the wireless tag, and the wireless tag detection information or the wireless tag non-detection information is sent to the host device only when the detection state changes. You may make it transmit.

  In the above description, only the identification number of the wireless tag is read from the wireless tag 4, but other information stored in the wireless tag 4 may be read simultaneously. The description of the writing operation to the wireless tag 4 is omitted.

Next, an example of the usage form of the post 1 described above will be introduced.
FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a sheet tracking system with a wireless tag using the post 1. As shown in FIG. 8, the wireless tag-equipped sheet tracking system S includes a plurality of posts 1 connected to a wireless tag reader / writer 5, a wireless tag information management server 6, and an administrator terminal 7 connected to a LAN 8. Composed.

  A storage unit (not shown) of the computer functioning as the wireless tag information management server 6 includes a wireless tag detection table 61 and a wireless tag detection history table 62.

  FIG. 9 shows the structure and data example of the wireless tag detection table 61. As shown in FIG. 9, in the wireless tag detection table 61, records including a “post identification number” field, a “wireless tag identification number” field, and a “detection start date / time” field are registered by the number of posts 1. Is done. Each record stores the identification number of the wireless tag being detected in each post 1 and the detection start date and time of the wireless tag. When there is no wireless tag being detected, “−” is stored in the “wireless tag identification number” column, and the date and time when the wireless tag can no longer be detected is stored in the “detection start date” column.

  FIG. 10 shows the structure and data example of the wireless tag detection history table 62. As shown in FIG. 10, the wireless tag detection history table 62 includes a “detection start date / time” field, a “detection end date / time” field, a “post identification number” field, and a “wireless tag identification number” field. Records are accumulated and registered in time series by the number of wireless tags 4 detected by each post 1. Each record stores the identification number of the post 1 that detected the wireless tag, the identification number of the detected wireless tag, and the detection start date and time and the detection end date and time of the wireless tag. Note that the wireless tag being detected in each post 1 is deleted from the wireless tag detection table 61 when it is no longer detected, and a record with the date and time at that time as the detection end date and time is stored in the wireless tag detection history table 62. Added and registered.

  As described above, whenever the wireless tag-attached sheet 2 is inserted into or removed from the post 1, the wireless tag reader / writer 5 connects the wireless tag information management server 6 via the LAN 8 each time. The wireless tag detection information or the wireless tag non-detection information is transmitted, and the wireless tag information management server 6 detects the wireless tag using the newly received wireless tag detection information and the wireless tag non-detection information with the reception date and time as the detection start date and time. Stored in the corresponding record of the table 61. In addition, when the wireless tag non-detection information is received, the wireless tag information stored in the record corresponding to the post 1 that has not been detected is read from the wireless tag detection table 61 and detected in the information. A record to which the end date and time is added is generated and additionally registered in the wireless tag detection history table 62.

On the other hand, the wireless tag information management server 6 reads information stored in the wireless tag detection table 61 and the wireless tag detection history table 62 in response to a request from the administrator terminal 7 and displays the screen on the display unit of the administrator terminal 7. Let
FIG. 11 shows an example of a wireless tag detection history display screen 71 displayed on the display unit of the administrator terminal 7. The example of FIG. 11 is a graph display of the detection status of the wireless tag of each post P001, P002,... In the morning of the day around 10:50 on September 15, 20xx. The shaded portion of represents the state in which the wireless tag has been detected. As a result, it can be seen that the wireless tag has not been detected from about 9:50 in the post P002, and for example, it can be understood that the work station in which the post P002 is installed is out of service.

  In addition, a variety of display methods are possible depending on the application and purpose, such as displaying a list of detection histories of a specific RFID tag seat 2 or displaying a graph of the detection rate of each post's RFID tag during a specified period. It is.

    This is the end of the description of the embodiment of the present invention. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the hardware configuration, the structure of various tables, and the like are appropriately changed without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Is possible.

S sheet tracking system with wireless tag 1 wireless tag sheet reading and writing post (post)
11 Body 12 Electromagnetic wave shielding sheet 13 Anti-slip part (protrusion part)
14 insertion slot 15 closed space 2 sheet with wireless tag 21 sheet base material 3 reader / writer antenna 31 antenna coil 4 wireless tag 41 wireless tag inlet 42 IC chip 43 tag antenna 44 magnetic material sheet 45 protective sheet 5 wireless tag reader / writer 51 control unit 52 Storage unit 53 Radio tag communication unit 6 Radio tag information management server 61 Radio tag detection table 62 Radio tag detection history table 7 Administrator terminal 71 Radio tag detection history display screen 8 LAN

Claims (6)

In a sheet read / write post with a wireless tag that includes an insertion port for a wireless tag sheet on which a wireless IC tag is mounted, and that reads and writes information stored in the wireless IC tag mounted on the inserted sheet,
A closed space is formed by the electromagnetic shielding sheet in the main body part into which the sheet is inserted,
A sheet with a wireless tag, comprising a reader / writer antenna connected to a wireless tag reader / writer at a position facing a wireless IC tag mounted on a sheet inserted to the back of the closed space in the closed space Post for reading and writing. The electromagnetic wave shielding sheet forming the closed space has flexibility,
In the vicinity of the insertion slot, there is provided a pressing part in which two electromagnetic wave shielding sheets are pressed and adhered to each other, and an opening through which the sheet can be inserted is formed in the closed space by a force for inserting the sheet with the wireless tag. The wireless tag-equipped sheet read / write post according to claim 1. The pressing portion is
3. The sheet read / write post with a wireless tag according to claim 1, wherein at least one end of the electromagnetic wave shielding sheet is folded back. The pressing portion is
3. The sheet read / write post with a wireless tag according to claim 1, wherein at least one end of the electromagnetic wave shielding sheet is fixed in a spiral shape. When the sheet with the wireless tag is inserted to the back of the closed space, the protrusion that holds the position of the lower end of the sheet is fixed to the end of the electromagnetic wave shielding sheet opposite to the pressing portion. The sheet read / write post with a wireless tag according to claim 1, wherein the post is for reading and writing. The wireless IC tag is a sheet with a wireless tag mounted on the lower part of the sheet,
The wireless IC tag has a position where the wireless tag faces the reader / writer antenna when the sheet is inserted to the back of the sheet read / write post with the wireless tag according to any one of claims 1 to 5. Mounted on
The length of the insertion direction of the sheet is such that the sheet is not bent when the sheet is inserted to the back of the sheet reading / writing post with the wireless tag according to any one of claims 1 to 5. A sheet with a wireless tag, characterized in that the upper end of the sheet is outside the insertion slot and stops at a position where it can be easily inserted and removed by hand.

Images