JP2012014555A - Ic tag holder for identification management of pipe body and identification management method using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an identification method capable of accurately detecting a pipe body by mounting an IC tag thereon without using a permanent magnet while preventing a dropout of the IC tag.SOLUTION: An IC tag 2 is mounted on a holder 3 made of a light-weight solid material having electric insulation. The holder 3 is provided with support legs 4 so that the holder 3 is fixed to an internal surface of a pipe body 1 with restoration forces of the support legs 4. A reading antenna 5 is arranged at an opposite side of an opening surface of the pipe body 1 to read information stored in the IC tag 2.

Description

  The present invention relates to an identification management method for identifying a standard or a dimension in a manufacturing process of a tubular body such as a steel pipe and managing a processing to be performed on the tubular body.

  Various standards and dimensions are defined for steel pipes, and it is necessary to finely manage the processing performed in the manufacturing process of steel pipes. For example, steel pipes having the same outer diameter but different wall thickness need to adjust the setting of the cutting tool when chamfering the end face. However, it is difficult to identify such steel pipes having the same outer diameter and different wall thickness only by appearance. Furthermore, even if it is a steel pipe with the same outer diameter and the same thickness, the processing which should be performed differs according to a material and a use.

Therefore, in order to identify the standard and dimensions of a steel pipe, the processing to be applied to the steel pipe is managed by a method such as printing a predetermined item on the outer surface of the steel pipe or attaching a label on which the predetermined item is printed. Yes.
However, when printing on the outer surface of a steel pipe, there are problems such as disappearance of characters due to contact with other steel pipes during conveyance, or inability to read characters due to adhesion of lubricating oil or foreign matter during processing. Further, since the steel pipe rotates during conveyance, even if the characters are clear, it is difficult to read during rotation. Further, when there is a character in a position that cannot be seen by the worker or the reading device when the operation is stopped, it is difficult to read.

Similarly, when a label is pasted, problems such as disappearance of characters and unreadableness occur. Furthermore, there is a problem that the label peels off and falls off.
Therefore, a technique for identifying a steel pipe using an IC tag has been studied (for example, see Patent Document 1). The IC tag is a combination of an IC chip storing predetermined items (for example, standards, dimensions, etc.) for identifying a steel pipe and a small antenna for transmitting the stored contents.

  The technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 is to attach an IC tag to a chemical resin plate and magnetically attach it to the inner surface of a steel pipe via a permanent magnet bonded to the plate. However, since the steel pipe receives various impacts in the manufacturing process, there is a problem that the magnetized permanent magnet is dropped from the steel pipe together with the IC tag. For example, the permanent magnet easily falls off due to an impact when it stops by rolling against an inclined surface called a skid and collides with a stopper, or when it falls onto a cradle called a cradle for bundling.

  Further, according to an experiment conducted by the inventors magnetizing a neodymium magnet having a strong magnetic force on a steel pipe, the neodymium magnet was observed to drop when the steel pipe collided with the stopper or dropped onto the cradle. That is, since the neodymium magnet and the steel pipe are both hard materials, when the neodymium magnet is subjected to an impact while being magnetically attached to the steel pipe, the energy of the impact cannot be absorbed. As a result, although the neodymium magnet has a strong magnetic force, it falls off from the steel pipe by impact.

  That is, even if the IC tag is magnetically attached to the steel pipe using a strong magnet, the IC tag is unavoidably dropped, and the accuracy of identifying the steel pipe is lowered.

JP 2007-230717 A

  It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for accurately identifying a tubular body by fixing the IC tag to a tubular body such as a steel pipe without using a permanent magnet and preventing the IC tag from falling off.

The inventors investigated and researched a technique for fixing an IC tag to the inner surface of a steel pipe without using a permanent magnet.
First, a technique for attaching a holder equipped with an IC tag to the inner surface of the tube was examined. As a result, it was possible to attach the holder to the inner surface of the tube using an adhesive, but it was found that a part of the adhesive remained on the inner surface of the tube after removing the holder. And the foreign material, such as a metal piece, adhered to the remaining adhesive, and the problem that it was determined as a defect in the inspection process occurred.

  Therefore, the inventors examined the technique for fixing the holder to the inner surface of the tubular body by utilizing the restoring force of the elastic body in more detail. As a result, it was found that the holder can be fixed to the inner surface of the tubular body by attaching two or more support legs made of a linear elastic body (for example, a spring material) to the holder. That is, one end of the linear support leg is fixed to the holder, while the other end is a free end, and the circular diameter formed by the free ends of two or more support legs is set larger than the inner diameter of the tubular body. When inserting the holder into the tube, the support leg is restrained from the outside, the circular shape formed by the free end is narrowed down, and if the support leg is opened in the tube, the free end tends to be larger than the inner diameter of the steel pipe. It was found that the holder can be fixed to the inner surface of the pipe body by the restoring force.

The present invention has been made based on these findings.
That is, according to the present invention, an IC tag is attached to a lightweight solid holder having electrical insulation, a support leg made of an elastic body is attached to the holder, and the holder is fixed to the inner surface of the tubular body by the restoring force of the support leg. This is a tube identification management method in which a reading antenna is disposed at a position facing the opening surface of the tube, and information stored in the IC tag is read by the reading antenna.

In the tube identification and management method of the present invention, the holder is preferably made of synthetic resin or synthetic rubber. Moreover, it is preferable to attach two or more support legs to the holder. The IC tag to be used is preferably in the 2.45 GHz band.
Further, the present invention is an IC tag holder for identification management of a tubular body to which an IC tag is attached, a support leg made of an elastic body is attached, and which has electrical insulation.

  In the IC tag holder of the present invention, the holder is preferably made of synthetic resin or synthetic rubber. Moreover, it is preferable to attach two or more support legs to the holder. The IC tag to be used is preferably in the 2.45 GHz band.

  According to the present invention, the IC tag can be fixed to the tube without using a permanent magnet, and the IC tag can be prevented from falling off, thereby accurately identifying the tube.

It is sectional drawing which shows typically the example of arrangement | positioning of an IC tag and a reading antenna. It is a perspective view which shows typically the example of arrangement | positioning of a holder and an IC tag.

Hereinafter, the embodiment of the present invention will be described by taking the case where the tubular body is a steel pipe as an example.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing an example of an arrangement of an IC tag and a reading antenna for identifying a steel pipe by applying the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing an example of the arrangement of the holder and the IC tag in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the IC tag 2 is a combination of an IC chip 2a storing predetermined items (for example, standards, dimensions, etc.) for identifying a steel pipe and a small antenna 2b for transmitting the stored contents. Is. Here, the IC chip 2a and the small antenna 2b are collectively referred to as an IC tag 2.

  As shown in FIG. 2, an IC tag 2 composed of an IC chip 2 a and a small antenna 2 b is attached to a holder 3. A means for attaching the IC tag 2 to the holder 3 is not particularly limited. For example, the IC tag 2 is attached to the holder 3 using an adhesive, the IC tag 2 is fixed to the holder 3 using an adhesive tape, and the IC tag 2 is embedded in the holder 3. Various techniques can be used.

  The holder 3 may be a lightweight solid having electrical insulation, and the material thereof is not limited. For example, synthetic resin, synthetic rubber, wood, cardboard, etc. can be used. However, considering the durability for repeated use, the workability when forming into a predetermined shape, the stability of the mounted IC tag 2, etc., the holder 3 is made of synthetic resin (eg, polypropylene) or synthetic rubber (eg, It is preferable to use urethane rubber or the like.

Since the steel pipe 1 is a conductor, if the IC tag 2 and the steel pipe 1 are in electrical contact, transmission from the small antenna 2b is impossible. Therefore, the IC tag 2 is electrically insulated from the steel pipe 1 using the holder 3 having electrical insulation.
The support leg 4 is attached to the holder 3 to which the IC tag is attached. The support leg 4 is made of a linear elastic body (for example, a spring material), and one end of the support leg 4 is fixed to the holder 3 so that the support leg 4 does not fall off the holder 3. In addition, although the example which attaches the four support legs 4 was shown in FIG. 2, in this invention, the number of the support legs 4 is not limited to a specific value. However, in order to fix the holder 3 to the inner surface of the steel pipe 1 as described later, it is preferable to attach two or more support legs 4.

The other end of the support leg 4 is a free end that is not constrained, and is set so that the circular diameter formed by the free ends of the two or more support legs 4 is larger than the inner diameter of the steel pipe 1.
When the holder 3 is inserted into the steel pipe 1, the support leg 4 is restrained from the outside, and the circle formed by the free end is narrowed down. In this way, the holder 3 can be easily inserted into the steel pipe 1. When the restraint is released in the steel pipe 1 and the support leg 4 is opened, the holder 3 is fixed to the inner surface of the steel pipe 1 by the restoring force that the free end of the support leg 4 is larger than the inner diameter of the steel pipe 1. The Moreover, since the support leg 4 can be pressed against the inner surface of the steel pipe 1 by the restoring force, the holder 3 can be prevented from falling off.

Furthermore, since the holder 3 can be used regardless of the outer diameter and thickness of the steel pipe 1 (that is, regardless of the curvature of the inner diameter), it is not necessary to classify the holder 3 and the length of the support leg 4 in detail. , It has the advantage that inventory management can be performed very easily.
When fixing the holder 3 to the inner surface of the steel pipe 1, the direction of the IC tag 2 is not particularly limited. The reason is that the electromagnetic wave 6 transmitted from the small antenna 2b of the IC tag 2 propagates while reflecting through the cavity inside the steel pipe 1 as shown in FIG. However, in order to improve the accuracy of transmission / reception between the reading antenna 5 provided outside the steel pipe 1 and the IC tag 2 inside the steel pipe 1, the holder 3 is attached so that the IC tag 2 faces the opening surface of the steel pipe 1. It is preferable to attach.

The elastic body which comprises the support leg 4 should just be the thing which can absorb the impact energy with respect to the impact accompanying conveyance of the steel pipe 1, and the material is not limited. However, considering that the energy of the impact is absorbed by the support legs 4 when the steel pipe 1 receives an impact, use a material having elasticity such as a spring material (for example, a piano wire, a hard steel wire, etc.). Is preferred.
Such a support leg 4 can prevent the holder 3 from falling off due to the impact caused by the conveyance of the steel pipe 1, but the holder 3 can be removed smoothly if an operator, a dedicated robot or the like tries to remove it. Is possible. Since the holder 3 is lightweight, the inertia when receiving an impact is reduced, and the holder 3 does not fall off due to the impact even if the restoring force of the support leg 4 is not excessively increased.

The electromagnetic wave 6 transmitted from the small antenna 2b of the IC tag 2 propagates while reflecting the cavity of the steel pipe 1. Therefore, by disposing the reading antenna 5 at a position facing the opening surface of the steel pipe 1, the electromagnetic wave 6 transmitted from the IC tag 2 can be accurately received and the contents stored in the IC tag 2 can be read. it can.
In order to further improve the accuracy of transmission and reception, it is preferable to use the IC tag 2 having a frequency of 2.45 GHz. If the frequency is in this band, the directivity of the electromagnetic wave 6 is strong, so that it is possible to prevent crosstalk with other steel pipe IC tags.

The electromagnetic wave 6 propagates while being reflected by the inner surface of the steel pipe 1 in the cavity of the steel pipe 1, so that scattering is prevented. However, it is inevitable that the electromagnetic wave 6 is scattered outside from the opening surface of the steel pipe 1. Therefore, the distance L between the opening surface of the steel pipe 1 and the reading antenna 5 is preferably set to be smaller than the distance (generally about 800 mm) in which the IC tag 2 can communicate in the atmosphere.
Although FIG. 1 shows an example in which the IC tag 2 is directed to the opening surface on the side far from the position where the holder 3 is attached, there is no problem even if the IC tag 2 is directed to the opening surface on the near side.

As shown in FIG. 1, a rectangular parallelepiped holder 3 was fixed to the inner surface of a steel pipe 1 (outer diameter 500 mm, length 12000 mm) via support legs 4. The holder 3 was fixed at a position 50 mm inside from the opening surface of the steel pipe 1 and the surface on which the IC tag 2 was mounted was directed to the other opening surface on the far side. The holder 3 was made of foamed polypropylene, and the support leg 4 was made of piano wire.
In this way, the steel pipe 1 having the holder 3 fixed on the inner surface was made to collide with the stopper to give an impact, and further dropped to the cradle to give the impact, but the holder 3 was not removed.

Next, the reading antenna 5 was provided at a position 800 mm outside from the opening surface of the steel pipe 1 (that is, the distance L = 800 mm), and the electromagnetic wave 6 transmitted from the IC tag 2 was received.
In this way, the contents stored in the IC tag 2 could be read without any trouble. The length of the above-described steel pipe is the maximum length defined in various standards. Therefore, it was confirmed that the steel pipe manufactured in the normal manufacturing line can be identified by applying the present invention.

1 Steel pipe (tube)
2 IC tag
2a IC chip
2b Small antenna 3 Holder 4 Support leg 5 Reading antenna 6 Electromagnetic wave

Claims (8)

  An IC tag is attached to a lightweight solid holder having electrical insulation, and a support leg made of an elastic body is attached to the holder, and the holder is fixed to the inner surface of the tubular body by the restoring force of the support leg. A tube identification management method, wherein a reading antenna is disposed at a position facing an opening surface of a tube, and information stored in the IC tag is read by the reading antenna.   2. The tube identification management method according to claim 1, wherein the holder is made of synthetic resin or synthetic rubber.   The tubular body identification management method according to claim 1, wherein two or more of the support legs are attached to the holder.   The tube identification management method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the IC tag is a 2.45 GHz band IC tag.   An IC tag holder for identifying and managing a tubular body, characterized in that an IC tag is mounted, a support leg made of an elastic body is attached, and has electrical insulation.   6. The IC tag holder for tube identification management according to claim 5, wherein the holder is made of synthetic resin or synthetic rubber.   The IC tag holder for tube identification management according to claim 5 or 6, wherein two or more of the support legs are attached to the holder. The IC tag holder for tube identification management according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the IC tag is an IC tag of a 2.45 GHz band.

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