JP2017097524A - Article retrieval system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an article retrieval system that enables a notification of battery exhaustion of tags without complicating a circuit configuration on a tag unit side, and enables reduction in wastage of the battery in the tag unit.SOLUTION: An article retrieval system is capable of wireless communication with a portable terminal, and includes a tag unit to be arranged inside an article to be searched or in the vicinity of the article. The portable terminal comprises: registration means that registers the article corresponding to the tag unit: display means that displays the registered articles; transmission means that establishes communication with the tag unit corresponding to a selected article of the displayed articles and transmits a notification signal to the tag unit; and battery exhaustion notification means. The tag unit comprises notification sound generation means that generates a notification sound when receiving the notification signal, and the battery exhaustion notification means of the portable terminal is configured to conduct a notification of the battery exhaustion about the tag unit when a period to be determined in accordance with the number of occurrences of the notification sound elapses a prescribed period.SELECTED DRAWING: None

Description

  The present invention relates to an article search system for searching where an article is, and more particularly to an article search system capable of selectively searching for a plurality of articles.

  Patent Document 1 describes an article search device that searches for a specific item among a number of articles such as misplaced keys and documents. In this article search device, a tag is attached to an article, and a light emitting element such as an LED (light emitting diode) and a lamp and / or a sounding element such as a buzzer, a battery, and the like are attached to the tag. The tag includes a receiving device for operating a light emitting element, a sound generating element, etc. according to an external signal. The signal received by the antenna is appropriately selected and amplified by the receiving circuit and decoded by the demodulating circuit. . This decoded signal is a code signal for identifying the owner of the article, and the identification circuit compares this identification signal with the owner information stored in the storage device, and if they match, the light emitting element and / or the sound is emitted. Drive the element. As a result, the lost article is found.

  Patent Document 2 describes an object location search system for finding a target object. This location search system is composed of one specific low-power wireless portable radio and 12 communication tags. In the portable wireless device, a recognition number, an object name, and a keyword of each communication tag associated with an object are registered. The communication tag is put in a cardboard box, a clothes can, a drawer or a bag, or attached to various objects such as a key holder for a key or a glass case. The communication tag includes a specific low-power radio reception circuit, a digital conversion circuit for received signals, a battery power source for operating these circuits, and sound, light and / or response that operates when the received signal matches a signal representative of the article. A means for generating radio waves is provided. In this communication tag, a recognition number corresponding to the object is input in advance. When searching for an object, enter the identification number of the communication tag attached to the object you want to search for on the portable wireless device and press the “Detect” button. The corresponding communication tag will emit a buzzer sound and light in about 1 second. Therefore, if you go around the house while pressing the “detect button” intermittently, you can easily find the target object.

JP 2000-207657 A JP 2003-023385 A

  According to the conventional article search technology as described above, it is possible to search for an article that has been lost by the sound emitted by the tag unit. However, due to the exhaustion of the battery provided in the tag unit, the battery runs out and cannot be searched. Inconvenience occurred.

  In order to eliminate such inconvenience, there is a technology for detecting the battery voltage of the tag unit and notifying the searching device (portable wireless device side), but this complicates the circuit configuration on the tag unit side. Providing such a voltage detection and transmission mechanism may further accelerate battery consumption.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an article search system capable of notifying that a tag has run out of battery with a simple configuration without complicating the configuration on the tag unit side.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide an article search system that can reduce battery consumption of a tag unit.

  According to the present invention, the article search system is capable of wireless communication between a portable terminal and the portable terminal, and is arranged in at least one article to be searched or at least one article arranged in the vicinity of at least one article. Tag unit. The portable terminal corresponds to a registration means for registering at least one article corresponding to at least one tag unit, a display means for displaying at least one registered article, and an article selected from the displayed at least one article A communication unit that establishes communication with the corresponding tag unit and transmits a notification signal to the corresponding tag unit; and a battery-out notification unit. The tag unit corresponding to the selected article among at least one article is provided with a notification sound generating means for generating a notification sound when a notification signal is received. The battery depletion notification means of the mobile terminal is at least when a period determined according to the number of occurrences of the notification sound has elapsed from the time registered by the registration means for at least one tag unit corresponding to the registered at least one article. The battery is configured to be notified of battery exhaustion for one tag unit.

  The battery depletion notification means is provided in the portable terminal, and is configured to perform the battery depletion notification process only within the portable terminal, and does not communicate with the tag unit at all. Therefore, the tag unit does not need to have a function for detecting battery exhaustion or a communication function for notifying the mobile terminal of the battery exhaustion. Therefore, the configuration on the tag unit side becomes very simple. Consumption can be reduced.

  The at least one tag unit corresponding to at least one registered article has an elapsed time from the time registered by the registration means equal to or more than a threshold value obtained by correcting a predetermined period with at least the number of notification sounds. In this case, it is also preferable that notification of battery exhaustion regarding at least one tag unit is performed.

  The at least one tag unit corresponding to the registered at least one article has an elapsed time obtained by correcting a predetermined period with at least the number of occurrences of the notification sound with respect to the elapsed time from the time registered by the registration unit. It is also preferable that the battery is notified of at least one tag unit when the threshold value is exceeded.

  The battery depletion notification means is means for changing the display of at least one article corresponding to the at least one tag unit when a period determined according to the number of occurrences of the notification sound has elapsed from the time registered by the registration means. It is preferable.

  It is also preferable that the mobile terminal and the at least one tag unit are configured to establish communication according to the Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy (BLE) standard.

  In this case, the mobile terminal transmits a predetermined command, which is a standard service of the BLE standard, to at least one tag unit as a notification signal, and at least one tag unit that has received the predetermined command transmits a predetermined signal to the notification sound generating means. More preferably, it is configured to output.

  It is also preferred that the tag unit is provided in a housing independent of the at least one article, the housing being attached to the at least one article or the tag unit being provided inside the at least one article. .

  According to the present invention, it is not necessary to provide the tag unit with a function for detecting the battery exhaustion or a communication function for notifying the mobile terminal of the battery exhaustion, so that the configuration on the tag unit side becomes very simple. Battery consumption can be reduced.

It is a block diagram showing roughly the composition of the whole article search system in one embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows roughly the structure of the portable terminal in the article search system of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows roughly the structure of the tag unit in the article search system of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows roughly the content of the registration process of the tag unit in the article search system of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen display of the portable terminal in a registration process. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen display of the portable terminal in a registration process. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen display of the portable terminal in a registration process. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen display of the portable terminal in a registration process. It is a flowchart which shows roughly the content of the tag unit search process in the goods search system of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen display of the portable terminal in a search process. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen display of the portable terminal in a search process. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen display of the portable terminal in a search process. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen display of the portable terminal in a search process. It is a flowchart which shows roughly the content of the battery unit notification process of a tag unit in the article search system of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen display of the portable terminal in a battery exhaustion notification process.

  FIG. 1 schematically shows the overall configuration of an article search system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in the figure, a portable terminal 10 such as a portable tablet, a smartphone, a mobile phone, a PDA (personal digital assistant), a portable personal computer, a small portable computer, a mobile terminal, and a cellular phone includes a key 11, Tags 11a, 12a, 13a and 14a attached to articles such as a remote control 12, a bag 13 and a notebook 14 using a string, a wire, a chain or a ring, or attached thereto, and Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy (BLE) enables bidirectional communication.

  FIG. 2 schematically shows the configuration of the mobile terminal 10 in this article search system.

  In terms of hardware, the mobile terminal 10 includes an application processor 10a generally including a CPU (Central Processing Unit) including a multi-core and a cache, a GPU (Graphic Processing Unit), a memory controller, a peripheral device controller, and a display controller, and an application. A DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) 10b which is connected to the processor 10a and constitutes a main memory, and an application processor 10a, which stores an OS (operation system) and application programs (hereinafter referred to as applications). A flash memory 10c, a baseband processor 10d connected to the application processor 10a, and a baseband A radio unit 10e for telephone and general communication connected to the processor 10d, an antenna 10f connected to the radio unit 10e, and a power / audio LSI (semiconductor) connected to the application processor 10a and the baseband processor 10d Integrated circuit) chip 10g, battery 10h connected to power / audio LSI chip 10g, speaker 10i connected to power / audio LSI chip 10g, and touch panel type connected to application processor 10a Display 10j, Bluetooth transceiver 10k connected to application processor 10a, and camera, wireless LAN (local area network) connected to application processor 10a , A peripheral device 101 including a GPS (Global Positioning System) and sensors.

  The CPU provided in the application processor 10a is configured to execute an application stored in the flash memory 10c according to a basic program such as an OS or a boot program to perform the processing of this embodiment. The CPU is configured to control the operation of the application processor 10a.

  The DRAM 10b is used as a main memory, and is configured to temporarily store programs and data transferred from the flash memory 10c. The DRAM 10b is also used as a work area for temporarily storing various data during program execution.

  The Bluetooth transmission / reception unit 10k includes a transmission / reception mechanism (not shown) that performs bidirectional communication of Bluetooth 4.0 (BLE) and a Bluetooth antenna (not shown) according to an instruction from the application processor 10a.

  In the mobile terminal 10 having such a configuration, the application processor 10a first secures a program storage area, a data storage area, and a work area in the DRAM 10d at the time of starting the program, fetches the program and data from the flash memory 10c, Store in the program storage area and data storage area. Next, application processing is executed based on the program stored in the program storage area. Note that the application processor 10a may directly fetch a program and data from the flash memory 10c and execute application processing based on the program.

  FIG. 3 schematically shows the configuration of the tag unit in the article search system.

  In the present embodiment, a tag unit 30 as shown in FIG. 3 is provided inside each of the tags 11a, 12a, 13a and 14a. Depending on the type of article, the tag unit 30 may be arranged directly in the article without providing a tag.

  The tag unit 30 is mainly provided with a Bluetooth IC chip 30a, a Bluetooth antenna 30b, a battery 30c such as a button battery, a charge pump booster circuit 30d, and a piezoelectric buzzer 30e, and a notification signal is transmitted from the mobile terminal 10 via Bluetooth. When transmitted, a buzzer sound as a notification sound is generated from the piezoelectric buzzer 30e.

  In the article search system having such a configuration, the search application of the mobile terminal 10 includes a program for performing registration processing for each tag unit, search processing for each tag unit, and battery deadline notification processing for each tag unit. Hereinafter, these processes will be described in detail.

  FIG. 4 schematically shows the contents of the tag unit registration process in this search application.

  When the search application is activated in the mobile terminal 10, a tag unit registration list is displayed on the screen (step S1). When all tag units are unregistered, an unregistered list screen 50 as shown in FIG. 5 is displayed in which all lists including the list 50a are blank lines.

  The application of the mobile terminal 10 determines whether one of the unregistered lists has been pressed for a long time (step S2). If it is determined that the list has been long pressed (in the case of YES), the tag unit shown in FIG. The operation explanation screen 60 for registration of (Bella tool) is displayed (step S3). Thus, when the user inserts a battery into the tag unit and presses the connection start button 60a on the screen 60, a pairing operation is started between the tag unit and the mobile terminal 10. The application of the mobile terminal 10 determines whether or not the connection start button 60a has been pressed (step S4). If it is determined that the connection start button 60a has been pressed (in the case of YES), it starts pairing and is in the process as shown in FIG. Is displayed (step S5).

  Next, the application of the mobile terminal 10 determines whether or not pairing is successful (step S6). If it is determined that the application is successful (in the case of YES), the tag is displayed on the screen 80 as shown in FIG. The article name and icon relating to the unit are displayed, the article name inputted for the tag unit and the selected icon 80a are registered (step S7), and this registration process is terminated. This registration is performed for each tag unit, and the MAC ID that is the physical address of the tag unit, the name of the article to which the tag unit is attached, the icon ID, the registration time, and the display position on the list are linked. And stored in a predetermined position of the DRAM 10b.

  FIG. 9 schematically shows the contents of the tag unit search process in this search application.

  When the search application is activated on the mobile terminal 10, as shown in FIG. 10, a screen 100 showing the registered tag unit icons and article name list 100a is displayed (step S11).

  Next, the application of the mobile terminal 10 determines whether one item in the registration list has been pressed (step S12). If it is determined that it has been pressed (in the case of YES), the MAC ID, which is the physical address of the tag unit related to the article, is read from the DRAM 10b, and a response request is made to the tag unit based on the MAC ID to establish Bluetooth communication. (Step S13). FIG. 11 shows a screen 110 displayed in this case. In the figure, reference numeral 110a denotes a cancel button for this operation.

  Next, the application of the mobile terminal 10 sends a command to this tag unit and sounds a buzzer (step S14). Specifically, a GATT Immediate Alert command, which is a BLE standard profile for Bluetooth communication, is issued together with an “Alert Level High” parameter, and a notification sound signal of a predetermined frequency is transmitted from the Bluetooth IC chip 30a of the tag unit to the charge pump booster circuit 30d. Time (for example, about 5 to 15 seconds) is output, and a buzzer sound (notification sound) is generated by driving the piezoelectric buzzer 30e. FIG. 12 shows a screen 120 displayed in this case.

  Next, the application of the mobile terminal 10 determines whether or not the button 130a that makes this buzzer sound once again has been pressed (step S15). On the mobile terminal 10, a screen 130 shown in FIG. 13 is displayed following the screen 120 of FIG. This screen 130 asks the user whether or not an article attached to the tag unit has been found. If the article is not found and it is determined that the user has pressed the button 130a that rings again (in the case of YES), the app executes the process of step S14 again. Thereby, a buzzer sound is generated again for a predetermined time (for example, about 5 to 15 seconds) from the piezoelectric buzzer 30e of the tag unit. When it is determined that the button 130a to be sounded again has not been pressed (in the case of NO), this search process is terminated.

  FIG. 14 schematically shows the content of the battery life notification processing of the tag unit in this search application. When the tag unit is registered, the application of the mobile terminal 10 starts this battery exhaustion notification process.

  First, for each tag unit, the elapsed time from registration to the present is calculated (step S21).

On the other hand, with respect to the tag unit, the threshold value relating to battery exhaustion is corrected (step S22). This correction is performed according to the number of times the buzzer has been sounded from the time of registration to the present, according to the environment and load. Specifically, for example, a correction of subtracting the correction value T _NC in accordance with the number N of times from the reference time T _B rang correction value T _EC and the buzzer in accordance with the environmental and load or the like. That is, the corrected threshold value becomes _T B _-T EC _{-T NC.} As an example, if T _B = 365 (days), T _EC = 60 (days), and T _NC = 0.1 (days) × N, the corrected threshold value is 365-60−0.1 × N (days). ).

  Next, it is determined whether or not the calculated elapsed time is equal to or greater than the corrected threshold value (step S23). When it is determined that the value is less than the threshold value (in the case of NO), the process returns to step S21, and the processes of steps S21 to S23 are repeated. If it is determined that the value is equal to or greater than the threshold value (in the case of YES), the battery unit is notified of a battery exhaustion warning (step S24). For example, as shown in FIG. 15, a screen 150 that changes or blinks the background color of an article (in the illustrated example, work wallet) list 150a related to the tag unit, and gives a warning to that effect on a message window. Notification is made by displaying on the mobile terminal 10.

  Next, it is determined whether or not the above-described process of running out of batteries has been performed for all registered tag units (step S25). When it is determined that the processing is not performed for all the tag units (in the case of NO), the process returns to step S21, and the processes of steps S21 to S25 are repeated. If it is determined that the processing has been performed for all the tag units (in the case of YES), the battery exhaustion notification processing is terminated.

  The user who has received the notification of running out of battery depresses the article list to cancel the registration, replaces the battery of the corresponding tag unit, and re-registers the tag unit.

  In the above-described battery exhaustion notification process based on FIG. 14, the threshold regarding battery exhaustion is corrected according to the environment, load, etc. and the number of times the buzzer is sounded, but the calculated elapsed time is not corrected without correcting the threshold. It is obvious that the correction may be made according to the environment, load, etc. and the number of times the buzzer is sounded.

  As described above in detail, according to the present embodiment, only the application side of the mobile terminal 10 is configured to perform notification processing for the battery of the tag unit being out of battery, and at that time, no communication is performed with the tag unit. Not performed. Therefore, since it is not necessary to provide the tag unit with a function for detecting the battery exhaustion and a communication function for notifying the mobile terminal 10 of the battery exhaustion, the circuit configuration on the tag unit side becomes very simple. Battery consumption can be reduced.

  All the embodiments described above are illustrative of the present invention and are not intended to be limiting, and the present invention can be implemented in other various modifications and changes. Therefore, the scope of the present invention is defined only by the claims and their equivalents.

10 mobile terminal 10a application processor 10b DRAM
10c Flash memory 10d Baseband processor 10e Radio unit 10f Antenna 10g Power supply / Audio LSI chip 10h Battery 10i Speaker 10j Touch panel display 10k Bluetooth transceiver 10l Peripheral device 11 Key 11a, 12a, 13a, 14a Tag 12 Remote control 13 Bag 14 Note 30 Tag unit 30a Bluetooth IC chip 30b Bluetooth antenna 30c Battery such as button battery 30d Charge pump booster circuit 30e Piezo buzzer 50 Unregistered list screen 50a, 100a, 150a List 60 Operation explanation screen 60a Connection start button 70, 80, 100, 110 , 120, 130, 150 screen 80a icon 110 cancel button 13 Button to play a again

Claims (8)

An article search system that includes a portable terminal and at least one tag unit that is wirelessly communicable between the portable terminal and is arranged in or near the at least one article to be searched. And
The portable terminal selects a registration unit that registers the at least one item corresponding to the at least one tag unit, a display unit that displays the registered at least one item, and a selection among the displayed at least one item. A communication unit that establishes communication with the tag unit corresponding to the received article, and transmits a notification signal to the corresponding tag unit, and a battery exhaustion notification unit,
The tag unit corresponding to the selected article among the at least one article comprises a notification sound generating means for generating a notification sound when receiving the notification signal,
The battery depletion notification means of the portable terminal has a period determined according to the number of occurrences of the notification sound for the at least one tag unit corresponding to the registered at least one article from the time when the registration means registers. An article search system configured to notify a battery exhaustion regarding the at least one tag unit when it has elapsed.   The battery exhaustion notifying means corrects the elapsed time from the time registered by the registration means with respect to the at least one tag unit corresponding to the registered at least one article by at least the number of occurrences of the notification sound. 2. The article search system according to claim 1, wherein the article search system is configured to notify a battery exhaustion related to the at least one tag unit when the threshold is exceeded.   The battery exhaustion notification means corrects a predetermined period with respect to the elapsed time from the time registered by the registration means with at least the number of occurrences of the notification sound for the at least one tag unit corresponding to the registered at least one article. 2. The article search system according to claim 1, wherein when the elapsed time becomes equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, notification of running out of battery regarding the at least one tag unit is performed.   The battery exhaustion notification means changes the display of the at least one article corresponding to the at least one tag unit when a period determined according to the number of occurrences of the notification sound has elapsed from the time registered by the registration means. The article search system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the article search system is characterized in that   The said portable terminal and the said at least 1 tag unit are comprised so that communication may be established by Bluetooth (trademark) Low Energy specification, The any one of Claim 1 to 4 characterized by the above-mentioned. Article search system.   The portable terminal transmits, as the notification signal, a predetermined command that is a standard service of Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy standard to the at least one tag unit, and the at least one tag unit that has received the predetermined command The article search system according to claim 5, wherein the article search system is configured to output a predetermined signal to the notification sound generating means.   7. The tag unit according to claim 1, wherein the tag unit is provided in a housing independent of the at least one article, and the housing is attached to the at least one article. The article search system described.   The article search system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the tag unit is provided inside the at least one article.