JP2017065715A - Opening detection device, opening detection method and opening detection system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accurately detect opening of a container for transporting an article.SOLUTION: An opening detection device includes: an acceleration sensor attached to an opening/closing part of the container to detect acceleration; and determination means for determining if the opening/closing part is opened/closed based on a detection signal from the acceleration sensor.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to an opening detection device, an opening detection method, and an opening detection system.

  It is important that the quality of articles such as pharmaceuticals is maintained appropriately. For this reason, it is important to manage the quality in the distribution (distribution) process from when the article is shipped from the manufacturer to the consumer.

  However, there is a problem that genuine goods are replaced with counterfeits or stolen in the distribution process of goods. As such counter measures against counterfeiting and theft, techniques for detecting the opening of containers that store articles such as cold storage used for transportation are known. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a technique for detecting the opening of a container by comparing the illuminance in the container with a threshold value for each time zone.

  As mentioned above, detecting the opening of a container used for transportation is effective for counterfeiting or theft countermeasures, but with technology that uses illuminance, the container is opened in the dark in a truck or warehouse. However, there was a problem that opening could not be detected normally.

  The present invention has been proposed in view of the above-described conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to accurately detect opening of a container for transporting an article.

  In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention, an acceleration sensor that is attached to an opening / closing part of a container and detects acceleration, and whether the opening / closing part is opened or closed is determined based on a detection signal of the acceleration sensor. Determination means.

  In the present invention, it is possible to accurately detect the opening of a container for transporting an article.

It is a figure which shows the structural example of the cool box which mounts the opening detection apparatus concerning one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the detection coordinate axis of an acceleration sensor. It is a figure which shows the structural example of a data logger. It is a figure which shows the software structural example of a data logger. It is a figure which shows the example of the change of the acceleration at the time of opening and closing the cover of a cool box. It is a figure which shows the example of a judgment threshold value. It is a figure which shows the other software structural example of a data logger. It is a figure which shows the example of the change of the temperature and humidity after opening the cover of a cool box. It is a figure which shows the example of the method of judging the presence or absence of opening and closing of a cover from temperature and humidity. It is a figure which shows the example of a time lag table. It is a figure which shows the example of the other method of judging the presence or absence of opening and closing of a cover from temperature and humidity.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described.

<Configuration>
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a cool box 70 equipped with an opening detection device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1A shows a state in which the lid 72 of the cool box 70 composed of the main body storage portion 71 and the lid (opening / closing portion) 72 is opened. The data logger 21 is incorporated inside the lid 72, and the data logger 21 is provided with a temperature sensor 211, a humidity sensor 212, and an acceleration sensor 213.

  Note that a signal obtained from one acceleration sensor may be separated by filtering in order to suppress confusion between vibration during transportation and acceleration due to gravity. For example, by using a low-pass filter or moving average, the acceleration sensor signal is separated into a low-frequency component and a high-frequency component, and the low-frequency component is used for gravity acceleration detection and the high-frequency component is used for vibration detection. The detection accuracy can be improved by separating vibration and gravity. In addition, when the lid 72 has a hinge portion, the installation location of the data logger 21 is away from the hinge portion of the lid 72 so that the temperature sensor 211 and the humidity sensor 212 are more exposed to the outside air when the lid 72 is opened. The better.

  FIG. 1B shows a state in which the lid 72 is closed, and a display unit 73 is provided on the upper surface of the lid 72. The display unit 73 is a transparent member so that the display unit of the data logger 21 disposed therein can be seen. Thereby, even if it does not take out a data logger from a container, the user can know the presence or absence of opening of the container in transit.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the detection coordinate axes of the acceleration sensor 213, where the depth direction of the lid 72 is the X axis, the right direction is the Y axis, and the opening / closing direction is the Z axis. Needless to say, this is a method of determining coordinate axes for explanation and is not limited to this.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the data logger 21. In FIG. 3, the data logger 21 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 21a for control functions, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 21b, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 21c, and a storage unit (flash memory or the like) 21d. . Further, the data logger 21 includes a display unit 21e and an input unit 21f for a user interface.

  Further, the data logger 21 includes a time acquisition unit 21g for data acquisition, a temperature acquisition unit 21h, a humidity acquisition unit 21i, an acceleration acquisition unit 21j, and an external I / F (Interface) 21k for connection to an external device. It has. The temperature sensor 211 shown in FIG. 1 corresponds to the temperature acquisition unit 21h, the humidity sensor 212 corresponds to the humidity acquisition unit 21i, and the acceleration sensor 213 corresponds to the acceleration acquisition unit 21j. Further, the data logger 21 may further measure the illuminance.

<First processing example>
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a software configuration example of the data logger 21 according to the first processing example, in which the presence / absence of opening / closing of the lid 72 is determined based only on the acceleration. In FIG. 4, the data logger 21 includes an acceleration data acquisition unit 2101, an open / close determination unit 2102, and an open / close display unit 2103. These functions are realized by the CPU 21a, for example.

  The acceleration data acquisition unit 2101 has a function of acquiring an acceleration measurement value from the acceleration sensor 213. The open / close determining unit 2102 has a function of determining whether or not the lid 72 of the cool box 70 is open / closed based on the measured acceleration value acquired by the acceleration data acquiring unit 2101. A determination threshold is used in determining whether to open or close. The open / close display unit 2103 has a function of displaying a result of determination of whether or not the open / close is determined by the open / close determination unit 2102.

  In addition, although the example of a structure in the case of determining the presence or absence of opening / closing in the data logger 21 was shown, it is also possible to give the terminal connected to the data logger 21 the function shown in FIG. Further, if it is determined whether or not to open / close from the data (temperature, humidity, acceleration) collected by the data logger 21, it can be realized by an external server device. In this case, the server device collects temperature, humidity, and acceleration data from the data logger 21 and determines whether the lid is opened or closed based on the collected data.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a change in acceleration when the lid 72 of the cool box 70 is opened and closed. The solid curve indicates the acceleration in the X-axis direction, the dashed curve indicates the acceleration in the Y-axis direction, and the dashed-dotted curve indicates the acceleration in the Z-axis direction. As is apparent from the coordinate axes shown in FIG. 2, when the lid 72 is opened, the acceleration in the Z-axis direction changes from near the negative gravity value to near 0, and the acceleration in the X-axis direction changes from near 0 to a positive gravity value. It changes in the vicinity. By closing the lid 72, the acceleration in the Z-axis direction changes from near zero to a negative gravity value, and the acceleration in the X-axis direction changes from near a positive gravity value to near zero.

  Returning to FIG. 4, the acceleration data acquisition unit 2101 acquires the acceleration values shown in FIG. 5 for each coordinate axis (for example, sampling at 10 Hz), and the open / close determination unit 2102 determines the acceleration of the Z axis and the X axis, for example, The presence / absence of opening / closing is determined based on the determination threshold shown in FIG. G is a gravity value (gravity acceleration). In order to stabilize the determination at rest, the threshold value can be set to 0.5 G or the like instead of 1 G.

  The determination result of whether or not the lid 72 is opened / closed by the opening / closing determination unit 2102 is recorded inside the data logger 21 and displayed by the opening / closing display unit 2103, and later when the operator looks at the display unit 73 of the cool box 70. In addition, it is possible to grasp whether the lid 72 is opened or closed.

<Second processing example>
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another software configuration example of the data logger 21 according to the second processing example, in which whether the lid 72 is opened or closed is determined using temperature and humidity in addition to acceleration. . In FIG. 7, the data logger 21 includes an acceleration data acquisition unit 2101, a temperature / humidity data acquisition unit 2104, an open / close determination unit 2102, a second open / close determination unit 2105, and an open / close display unit 2103. These functions are realized by the CPU 21a, for example.

  The acceleration data acquisition unit 2101 has a function of acquiring an acceleration measurement value from the acceleration sensor 213. The temperature / humidity data acquisition unit 2104 has a function of acquiring measured values of temperature and humidity from the temperature sensor 211 and the humidity sensor 212. The open / close determining unit 2102 has a function of determining whether or not the lid 72 of the cool box 70 is open / closed based on the measured acceleration value acquired by the acceleration data acquiring unit 2101. A determination threshold is used in determining whether to open or close.

  The second open / close determining unit 2105 determines whether the lid 72 of the cool box 70 is opened / closed based on the temperature / humidity measurement values acquired by the temperature / humidity data acquiring unit 2104 in addition to the open / closed determination by the open / close determining unit 2102. Has the function to judge. In addition to the determination based only on the acceleration by the opening / closing determination unit 2102, the determination based on the temperature / humidity by the second opening / closing determination unit 2105 can be added, for example, to prevent an erroneous determination when the cool box 70 falls. In addition, since the temperature and humidity may change even when the lid 72 is not opened due to a lack of capability of the latent heat material put into the cool box 70, only the opening / closing determination unit 2102 determines whether the opening / closing is performed. But sometimes it's not enough. In that sense, it is possible to more accurately determine the presence / absence of opening and closing by making a combination of different viewpoints.

  The opening / closing display unit 2103 has a function of displaying the result of the determination of whether the opening / closing is determined by the opening / closing determination unit 2102 and / or the determination of the presence / absence of opening / closing by the second opening / closing determination unit 2105.

  In addition, although the example of a structure in the case of determining the presence or absence of opening / closing in the data logger 21 was shown, it is also possible to give the terminal connected to the data logger 21 the function shown in FIG. Further, if it is determined whether or not to open / close from the data (temperature, humidity, acceleration) collected by the data logger 21, it can be realized by an external server device. In this case, the server device collects temperature, humidity, and acceleration data from the data logger 21 and determines whether the lid is opened or closed based on the collected data.

  In operation, as in the first processing example described above, the acceleration data acquisition unit 2101 acquires the acceleration value from the acceleration sensor, and the open / close determination unit 2102 uses the determination threshold to determine whether the lid 72 is open / closed. .

  On the other hand, FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of changes in temperature and humidity after the lid 72 of the cold storage 70 is opened. The solid line shows the temperature change and the broken line shows the humidity change. In the example shown in the figure, the lid 72 is opened around 16 minutes on the horizontal axis, and the temperature and humidity have risen through a slight time lag from that point. When the lid 72 is opened, the temperature sensor 211 and the humidity sensor 212 come into contact with the outside air, but it takes some time for the temperature sensor 211 itself to warm up, and the humidity sensor 212 also completely replaces the nearby air with the outside air. This is because it takes a little time.

  Returning to FIG. 7, the temperature / humidity data acquisition unit 2104 acquires the temperature and humidity values shown in FIG. 8 (for example, acquired every minute), and the second open / close determination unit 2105 receives the past temperature and humidity. The presence / absence of opening / closing is determined in consideration of the change from. The reason for determining whether to open / close from the change is that the temperature / humidity in the cool box 70 and the temperature / humidity of the outside air are not fixed, so it is not possible to determine whether the switch is open or closed based on a fixed reference value. .

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a method for determining whether the lid 72 is opened or closed based on temperature and humidity. In FIG. 9, the temperature and humidity are acquired at time intervals of 1 minute, and a value A that is three times the standard deviation of the past 10 samples is obtained for each time. In the above, the standard deviation of the past 10 samples is used. However, the number of samples may be set arbitrarily. Increasing the number of samples reduces the variation in standard deviation and enables more stable determination. Become. Three times the standard deviation is an example, and is generally represented as n times, and n can be arbitrarily changed. If it is desired to increase the sensitivity for determining whether to open or close, n is decreased, and if it is desired to decrease sensitivity, n is increased. For example, when the average value is −19.345 and the value three times the standard deviation is 0.15, the temperature or humidity to be acquired next is −19.345 ± 0 with a statistical probability of approximately 99.7%. .15.

  Next, the absolute value B of the difference between the temperature and the humidity one minute before (immediately before) is obtained for each time. Then, the difference between the value A and the value B is obtained for each of temperature and humidity. When A <B, it is determined to be “open”, and when A> B, it is determined to be “closed”.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 8, since there is a time lag for the temperature and humidity to start changing from the time when the lid 72 is opened, the second open / close determining unit 2105 determines that the open / close determining unit 2102 is “open”. After that, it is possible to determine whether or not to open and close when a time lag corresponding to the environment has elapsed. The open / close determination unit 2102 maintains the determination result of the presence / absence of opening / closing as a latch circuit for a time corresponding to the time lag. In addition, when there is a time lag in the judgment, when the open / close judgment unit 2102 is “closed” immediately after “open”, it is difficult to distinguish it from an impact during transportation, but changes in temperature and humidity occur after the time lag. In this way, it can be distinguished from impact.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a time lag table, in which time lags are set according to the logger type, the cold storage size, the lid shape, and the like. The second opening / closing determination unit 2105 can accurately determine whether the opening / closing is performed or not by referring to a time lag set in advance according to the environment. Since the time lag may change depending on the difference between the internal temperature and the external temperature of the cool box 70 or the difference between the internal humidity and the external humidity, the second open / close determination unit uses the time lag set in advance according to the environment as a difference threshold value. 2105 may determine “open” when the difference between the time when the open / close determination unit 2102 determines “open” and the time when the change in temperature and humidity exceeds the threshold is within the difference threshold.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of another method for determining whether the lid 72 is opened or closed based on temperature and humidity. FIG. 11A shows the upper limit value obtained by calculating the average value and standard deviation of the past 10 samples from the temperature acquired at each time, adding the standard deviation to the average value, and the lower limit value obtained by subtracting the standard deviation from the average value. Is calculated. When the temperature at a certain point is between the lower limit value and the upper limit value, it is determined as “closed”, and when the temperature is lower than the lower limit value or higher than the upper limit value, it is determined as “open”.

  FIG. 11B shows the upper limit value obtained by calculating the average value and standard deviation of the past 10 samples from the humidity acquired at each time, adding the standard deviation to the average value, and the lower limit value obtained by subtracting the standard deviation from the average value. Is calculated. Then, when the humidity at a certain point is between the lower limit value and the upper limit value, it is determined as “closed”, and when the humidity is lower than the lower limit value or higher than the upper limit value, it is determined as “open”.

  Also in the case of FIG. 11, since there is a time lag in temperature / humidity, it is possible to determine whether to open or close using a time lag table as shown in FIG. 10.

  In addition, although the case where the presence or absence of opening / closing of the lid | cover 72 was judged from temperature and humidity was demonstrated, you may judge from one of temperature or humidity.

  Moreover, although the cold storage 70 was demonstrated, since the temperature sensor 211 and the humidity sensor 212 should just touch outside air and the change of temperature and humidity should just arise when the cover 72 opens, it can apply also to a heat storage.

  Furthermore, from the time when the external server device that collects environmental information acquired by distribution records and data loggers acquired acceleration exceeding the predetermined threshold by the data logger, the delivery route or the GPS records of transport vehicles and data loggers, etc. The information processing apparatus that collects environmental information acquired by the data logger may specify a position where acceleration exceeding a threshold is recorded, and notify the delivery person or shipper of the specified position. Thereby, it is possible to reduce the possibility of damaging the article by specifying in detail a place where a strong impact is generated on a transported object, which has been roughly understood in the past, and transporting the article while avoiding the place.

<Summary>
As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to accurately detect opening of a container that transports an article.

  The present invention has been described above by the preferred embodiments of the present invention. While the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, various modifications and changes may be made to the embodiments without departing from the broad spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims. Obviously you can. In other words, the present invention should not be construed as being limited by the details of the specific examples and the accompanying drawings.

<Correspondence between Terms in Embodiment and Terms in Claims>
The acceleration sensor 213 is an example of an “acceleration sensor”. The open / close determination unit 2102 is an example of a “determination unit”.

21 Data Logger 211 Temperature Sensor 212 Humidity Sensor 213 Acceleration Sensor 2101 Acceleration Data Acquisition Unit 2102 Open / Close Determination Unit 2103 Open / Close Display Unit 2104 Temperature / Humidity Data Acquisition Unit 2105 Second Open / Close Determination Unit 70 Cold Storage 71 Main Body Storage Unit 72 Lid 73 Display Unit

JP 2009-238166 A

Claims (10)

An acceleration sensor attached to the opening and closing part of the container for detecting acceleration;
Determining means for determining whether the opening / closing portion is open or closed based on a detection signal of the acceleration sensor;
An opening detection device comprising: In the opening detection device according to claim 1,
A temperature sensor or a humidity sensor for detecting the temperature or humidity in the container;
The opening detection device that determines whether the opening / closing portion is opened or closed based on a detection signal of the acceleration sensor and a detection signal of the temperature sensor or a detection signal of the humidity sensor. In the opening detection device according to claim 2,
The determination means includes a time when a detection signal of the acceleration sensor exceeds a predetermined acceleration threshold, a time when the detection signal of the temperature sensor exceeds a predetermined temperature threshold, or a detection signal of the humidity sensor indicates a predetermined humidity threshold. An unsealing detection device that obtains a difference from an exceeded time and determines whether the opening / closing part is opened or closed based on a value of the difference with respect to a predetermined difference threshold. In the unsealing detection device according to claim 3,
The determination unit is an opening detection device that determines that the opening / closing part is open when the difference is equal to or less than the difference threshold. In the unsealing detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The acceleration sensor includes a first axis in which an acceleration detection direction in a state where the opening / closing portion is closed is a vertical direction, a second direction orthogonal to the connection direction of the opening / closing portion and the container body, and the first axis. Acceleration is detected with respect to the axis of
The determination unit is an opening detection device that determines whether the opening / closing part is opened or closed based on accelerations of two axes. In the opening detection device according to claim 5,
The opening detecting device that determines that the opening / closing portion is closed when the determining means is gravity applied to the first axis and is not applied to the second axis. In the opening detection device according to claim 5,
The opening detection device that determines that the opening / closing portion is open when the determination unit does not apply gravity to the first shaft and applies gravity to the second shaft. In the opening detection device according to claim 2,
The determination means has a detection signal of the acceleration sensor equal to or greater than a predetermined acceleration threshold value, and a difference between the temperature or humidity data at a certain time and the past data is more than a variation in the past temperature or humidity data. An opening detection device that determines that the opening / closing portion is open when the opening is large. An acceleration acquisition step of acquiring acceleration information from an acceleration sensor attached to the opening and closing part of the container;
Based on the acceleration information, a determination step for determining whether or not the opening / closing portion of the container is opened and closed,
An opening detection method comprising: An opening detection system for detecting whether or not a container is opened,
Acceleration acquisition means for acquiring acceleration information from an acceleration sensor attached to the opening and closing part of the container;
Temperature information acquisition means for acquiring temperature information in the container;
Determining means for determining whether the container is opened or closed based on the acceleration information and the temperature information;
With
The determination means obtains a difference between a time when the change in acceleration exceeds a predetermined acceleration threshold from the acceleration information and a time when the change in temperature exceeds a predetermined temperature threshold from the temperature information, An unsealing detection system for determining whether the opening / closing part is opened or closed from a value of the difference with respect to a predetermined difference threshold.

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