JP2024036906A - Information reading system, control device, RFID reader, and information reading program - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an information reading system capable of accurately reading information from an RFID tag to be read.SOLUTION: An information reading system 1 comprises a reference tag 3 installed in a warehouse 10, which is a prescribed reading region, an RFID reader 4 which reads information from an RFID tag 2, and a control device 5. The control device 5 performs processing for excluding information from an RFID tag 12 outside the reading region according to the reading results of the reference tag 3 by the RFID reader 4, and acquires information from the RFID tag 2 to be read in the warehouse 10 being the reading region.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present disclosure relates to an information reading system, a control device, an RFID reader, and an information reading program.

When taking inventory by reading RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags affixed to items indoors with an RFID reader, if the radio waves of the RFID reader are too strong, there is a risk that the RFID tags outside the room may also be read.

To address this problem, for example, Patent Document 1 proposes a method of adjusting the reception sensitivity of an RFID reader using user input.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-120090

However, in the conventional method, it is necessary to manually set the radio waves of the RFID reader in advance, and it is difficult to change the radio waves flexibly depending on the situation. Therefore, there is a possibility that the accuracy of reading information from the RFID tag may vary.

The present disclosure aims to provide an information reading system, a control device, an RFID reader, and an information reading program that can accurately read information from an RFID tag to be read.

An information reading system according to one aspect of an embodiment of the present invention includes a reference tag installed in a predetermined reading area, an RFID reader that reads information from the RFID tag, and a control device, and the control device includes the According to the reading result of the reference tag by the RFID reader, processing is performed to exclude information from RFID tags outside the reading area, and information from RFID tags within the reading area is acquired.

According to this aspect, since the reference tag can be used as a judgment standard for the control device to judge whether or not the RFID tag is to be read, the reception sensitivity of the RFID reader is RFID tags that are not to be read can be excluded with high precision without manual adjustment in advance. As a result, the information reading system of this aspect can accurately read information from the RFID tag to be read.

In the information reading system according to another aspect of the embodiment of the present invention, the control device determines whether the RFID tags outside the reading area are within the receivable range of the RFID reader, depending on the reading result of the reference tag by the RFID reader. The radio wave intensity of the RFID reader may be adjusted so as to deviate from the above.

According to this aspect, the radio wave intensity of the RFID reader can be adjusted so that the RFID tag to be read is surely included in the receivable range of the RFID reader, so that RFID tags that are not to be read can be excluded with higher precision. becomes possible.

In the information reading system according to another aspect of the embodiment of the present invention, when the reference tag can be read, the control device lowers the radio wave intensity of the RFID reader until the reference tag can no longer be read, and If the reference tag cannot be read, the radio wave intensity of the RFID reader may be increased to the extent that the reference tag cannot be read.

According to this aspect, it becomes possible to limit the RFID tags that can be read by the RFID reader to only the tags within a predetermined reading area, that is, the RFID tags to be read. This makes it possible to exclude RFID tags that are not to be read with higher precision.

In the information reading system according to another aspect of the embodiment of the present invention, the control device sets the strength of the radio waves received from the reference tag as a threshold, and selects an RFID tag whose strength is equal to or higher than the threshold. It may also be configured to extract it as an RFID tag to be read.

According to this aspect, the RFID tag to be read can be extracted without the need to adjust the radio wave intensity of the RFID reader, so information can be acquired from the RFID tag to be read with high precision and in a shorter time. It can be done in time.

In the information reading system according to another aspect of the embodiment of the present invention, the reading area is a warehouse, at least one reference tag is installed on a wall of the warehouse, and the RFID tag is stored in the warehouse. It may also be configured to be affixed to an item that is

According to this aspect, the reference tag is affixed to the wall surface of the side wall of the warehouse, which is the boundary part of the predetermined reading area, so if this reference tag is used as a judgment criterion, the RFID tag to be read in the warehouse, It becomes possible to reliably distinguish between RFID tags outside the warehouse that are not to be read. This makes it possible to exclude RFID tags that are not to be read with higher precision.

An information reading system according to another aspect of the embodiment of the present invention includes identification information of the reference tag, information specifying an area within the reading area allocated to the reference tag, and information stored within the area. and a storage unit that stores information on the article in a linked manner, and the control device reads the identification information from the reference tag and acquires the information on the article from the storage unit based on the read identification information. The information read from the RFID tag in the area related to the identification information may be compared with the information on the article acquired from the storage unit to determine whether the inventory in the area is complete.

According to this aspect, when the tag information is read by the RFID reader, it is possible to accurately determine the completion of the inventory work of the articles stored in the area for each of the plurality of areas within the predetermined reading area. It becomes possible. Thereby, inventory work can be performed easily and with high precision.

A control device according to one aspect of an embodiment of the present invention includes a process for excluding information from an RFID tag outside the reading area according to a reading result by an RFID reader from a reference tag installed in a predetermined reading area. and acquires information from the RFID tag within the reading area.

According to this aspect, since the reference tag can be used as a judgment standard for the control device to judge whether or not the RFID tag is to be read, the reception sensitivity of the RFID reader is RFID tags that are not to be read can be excluded with high precision without manual adjustment in advance. As a result, the control device of this embodiment can read information from the RFID tag to be read with high accuracy.

An RFID reader according to one aspect of an embodiment of the present invention includes a reading unit that reads information from an RFID tag, and a control unit, and the control unit is configured to read information from a reference tag installed in a predetermined reading area by the reading unit. The configuration may be such that a process is performed to exclude information from RFID tags outside the reading area according to the reading result, and information from RFID tags within the reading area is acquired.

According to this aspect, a user can carry out both reading control of tag information in a predetermined reading area and inventory control by simply carrying a single device called an RFID reader. Thereby, the workload of the user who performs inventory work can be reduced.

An information reading program according to one aspect of an embodiment of the present invention is an information reading program in an information reading system that includes a reference tag installed in a predetermined reading area, an RFID reader that reads information from the RFID tag, and a control device. The control device performs processing to exclude information from RFID tags outside the reading area according to the reading result of the reference tag by the RFID reader, and excludes information from RFID tags within the reading area. Causes a computer to execute an acquisition processing function to acquire information.

According to this aspect, since the reference tag can be used as a judgment standard for the control device to judge whether or not the RFID tag is to be read, the reception sensitivity of the RFID reader is RFID tags that are not to be read can be excluded with high precision without manual adjustment in advance. As a result, the information reading program of this embodiment can accurately read information from the RFID tag to be read.

According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide an information reading system, a control device, an RFID reader, and an information reading program that can accurately read information from an RFID tag to be read.

A schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of an information reading system according to the first embodiment A schematic diagram showing an overview of information reading control from an RFID tag to be read in the first embodiment Functional block diagram of the information reading system according to the first embodiment Hardware configuration diagram of RFID reader and control device Flowchart of tag reading control in the first embodiment Diagram explaining inventory control in the first embodiment A schematic diagram showing an overview of information reading control from an RFID tag to be read in the second embodiment Functional block diagram of the information reading system according to the second embodiment Flowchart of tag reading control in the second embodiment Diagram explaining inventory control in the second embodiment A schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of an information reading system according to a third embodiment A diagram showing an example of the configuration of the inventory information storage unit in the third embodiment Flowchart of tag reading control in the third embodiment

Embodiments will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In order to facilitate understanding of the description, the same components in each drawing are denoted by the same reference numerals as much as possible, and redundant description will be omitted.

[First embodiment]
A first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of an information reading system 1 according to the first embodiment.

The information reading system 1 is a system for reading, from an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag within a predetermined reading area, information regarding an article to which the RFID tag is attached. In the example of FIG. 1, a warehouse 10 in which a plurality of articles 11 are stored is illustrated as an example of the "predetermined reading area." Further, an RFID tag 2 is attached to each of the plurality of articles in the warehouse 10. In the example of FIG. 1, the information reading system 1 is used to inventory items in a warehouse 10.

As shown in FIG. 1, the information reading system 1 includes an RFID tag 2, a reference tag 3, an RFID reader 4, and a control device 5.

The RFID tag 2 is affixed to each article 11, and information regarding the affixed article 11 is recorded. The RFID tag 2 includes an IC chip and an antenna electrically connected to the IC chip, and can record information within the IC chip. The RFID tag 2 is sometimes called a wireless tag, an IC tag, an RF-ID tag, or an RF tag.

In the example of FIG. 1, a box-shaped object is illustrated as the article 11 to which the RFID tag 2 is attached, but the target article is not limited to this. For example, it includes medical supplies such as syringes, infusion bags, and drug containers used in medical settings, as well as industrial parts, electrical appliances, and various other items other than boxes.

The reference tag 3 is a tag used as a criterion for acquiring information from the RFID tag 2 to be read in the warehouse 10, which is a predetermined reading area. The information reading system 1 performs processing to exclude information from the RFID 12 (see FIG. 2) outside the warehouse 10 according to the reading result of the reference tag 3 by the RFID reader 4, and removes information from the RFID 2 tags inside the warehouse 10. can be obtained. For example, the relative positional relationship between the reference tag 3 and other tags can be determined based on the difference in the strength of radio waves that the RFID reader 4 receives from the reference tag 3 and other tags.

The reference tag 3 is a tag installed in the warehouse 10, which is a predetermined reading area, and is provided separately from the RFID tag 2 attached to each article. However, the reference tag 3 only needs to have different recorded information from other RFID tags 2, and the structure of the reference tag 3 may be similar to that of the other RFID tags 2. The information recorded on the reference tag 3 is, for example, identification information that is not included in the information regarding the article 11, and may be any information that allows the reference tag 3 to be detected from the tag information read by the RFID reader 4.

In particular, in this embodiment, the reference tag 3 distinguishes between an RFID tag 2 to be read that is inside a predetermined reading area and another RFID tag 12 that is not to be read and is outside the reading area (see FIG. 2, etc.). Used to differentiate. For this reason, it is preferable that the reference tag 3 is provided at the boundary of the outer edge of the predetermined reading area, and in the example of FIG. .

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, it is preferable that the reference tags 3 include a plurality of tags 3A to 3D installed on the wall surface 10A of the warehouse 10. The distance between the installation positions of the plurality of reference tags 3A to 3D may be appropriately set according to the readable range of the RFID reader 4. For example, when the user P is at an arbitrary position in the warehouse 10 and operates the RFID reader 4 in an arbitrary direction, at least one tag among the plurality of reference tags 3A to 3D can be read. It is preferable that a plurality of reference tags 3A to 3D are arranged as shown in FIG.

The RFID reader 4 reads information from the RFID tag 2 within the range of short-range communication. In the example of FIG. 1, the RFID reader 4 is a handy type that can be carried by a user P who performs inventory work, and is a gun grip type that can perform reading by operating a trigger 4b. In the case of the gun grip type, when the user P holding the grip 4a of the RFID reader 4 approaches the vicinity of the article 11 and pulls the trigger 4b, information on the surrounding RFID tags 2 can be read. The RFID reader 4 transmits the read information to the control device 5.

Note that for communication between the RFID tag 2 or reference tag 3 and the RFID reader 4, it is preferable to use the HF band, which is suitable for short-distance communication, considering the communication distance. The UHF band may also be used. Furthermore, the RFID tag 2 and the reference tag 3 may be passive tags that are driven by radio waves W emitted from the RFID reader 4, or active tags that are driven by an internal power source for communication.

The control device 5 controls reading of information from the RFID tag 2 and reference tag 3 and inventory work. The control device 5 performs processing to exclude information from the RFID tags 12 outside the warehouse 10 according to the reading result of the reference tag 3 by the RFID reader 4, and acquires information from the RFID tags 2 inside the warehouse 10. . In the example of FIG. 1, the control device 5 is implemented as an application installed on a smartphone so that the user P who performs inventory work can carry it. The control device 5 is communicably connected to the RFID reader 4 by wire or wirelessly.

In the example of FIG. 1, a gun grip type is applied to the RFID reader 4 so that the user P who performs inventory work can carry it, and a smartphone is applied to the control device 5, but the configuration is not limited to this. For example, the RFID reader 4 may be a handy type other than a gun grip type, or may be a stationary type mounted on a movable wagon or the like. The control device 5 may be a dedicated portable device other than a smartphone, such as a tablet. Further, the control device 5 may be configured to be a stationary device such as a PC and not carried by the user P. In this case, the control device 5 may be installed outside the warehouse 10. Alternatively, the RFID reader 4 may have a built-in function of the control device 5.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an overview of information reading control from the RFID tag 2 to be read in the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 2(A), in the warehouse 10, which is a predetermined reading area, depending on the position where the user P operates the RFID reader 4 and the radio wave strength of the RFID reader 4 at that time, A case may occur in which the output radio wave W1 is propagated to the outside of the warehouse 10. At this time, if there is an RFID tag 12 that is not to be read (indicated by "tag B" in FIG. 2) outside the warehouse 10 and within the range of the radio wave W1, the information of this tag 12 will also be read. Become. In the conventional tag information reading method using the RFID reader 4, it is not possible to distinguish between the RFID tag 2 to be read (indicated by "tag A" in FIG. 2) and the RFID tag 12 not to be read.

Therefore, in the information reading system 1 according to the first embodiment, the reference tag 3 is provided as described above, and control is performed to adjust the radio wave intensity of the RFID reader 4 according to the status of information reading from the reference tag 3. More specifically, in accordance with the reading result of the reference tag 3 by the RFID reader 4, the radio wave intensity of the RFID reader 4 is adjusted so that the RFID tags 12 outside the reading area are out of the receivable range of the RFID reader 4.

For example, as shown in FIG. 2(A), if the reference tag 3 can be read and the radio field strength is higher than necessary, as shown in FIG. Control is performed to reduce the intensity. By this control, as shown in FIG. 2(B), the radio wave W2 outputted by the RFID reader 4 is reduced to a reception range where information cannot be received from the reference tag 3. In other words, tag A located closer to the RFID reader 4 than the reference tag 3 is included within the reception range, while tag B located further away from the reference tag 3 is placed outside the reception range of the RFID reader 4. The radio field strength is adjusted. As mentioned above, since the reference tag 3 is placed at the boundary of the reading area, this control makes it possible to limit the RFID tags that can be read by the RFID reader 4 to only the 10 tags in the warehouse. Become.

Similarly, when the reference tag 3 cannot be read, control can be performed to increase the radio wave intensity of the RFID reader 4 within a range where the reference tag 3 cannot be read. With this control, the RFID reader is configured so that the tag B, which is located further away from the reference tag 3, is out of the reception range, and the tag A, which is located closer to the RFID reader 4 than the reference tag 3, is included within the reception range. 4 is adjusted, and the same effect as the control shown in FIG. 2 is achieved.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the information reading system 1 according to the first embodiment. As functions for performing the information reading control described with reference to FIG. 2, the RFID reader 4 includes a reading section 41 and a radio field intensity control section 42. The control device 5 also includes an information acquisition section 51, an acquisition processing section 52, an inventory control section 53, an inventory information storage section 54, and a display control section 55.

The reading unit 41 of the RFID reader 4 controls the output of radio waves W from the RFID reader 4 and the reading of information from the RFID tag 2. The reading unit 41 outputs information read from the RFID tag 2, the reference tag 3, or the non-target RFID tag 12 to the information acquisition unit 51 of the control device 5.

The radio wave intensity control unit 42 controls the intensity of the radio waves W output by the reading unit 41. The radio field intensity control unit 42 outputs a control command to the reading unit 41 to increase or decrease the radio field strength, for example, in accordance with a control command input from the acquisition processing unit 52 of the control device 5.

The information acquisition section 51 of the control device 5 receives information read from the RFID tag 2 and the like from the reading section 41 of the RFID reader 4 and outputs it to the acquisition processing section 52 .

The acquisition processing unit 52 performs processing to exclude information from the RFID tag 12 outside the reading area based on the tag information such as the RFID tag 2 inputted from the information acquisition unit 51, and acquires tag information to be read. do. In the first embodiment, as described with reference to FIG. 2, the acquisition processing unit 52 controls the radio wave of the RFID reader 4 depending on whether the tag information of the reference tag 3 is included in the acquired tag information. A control command to increase or decrease the intensity is output to the radio field intensity control section 42 of the RFID reader 4. Then, the tag information finally obtained as a result of adjusting the radio wave intensity is output to the inventory control section 53 as a reading result.

The inventory control unit 53 performs a series of controls on inventory work. A specific example of inventory control will be described later with reference to FIG.

The inventory information storage unit 54 stores various information related to inventory work. In the first embodiment, the inventory information storage unit 54 stores, for example, information such as the identification information and number of the articles 11 stored in the warehouse 10, which is a predetermined reading area, and the identification information of the reference tag 3. Various information is stored.

The display control unit 55 displays information regarding the inventory work on the screen 56 of the control device 5 (see FIG. 6).

FIG. 4 is a hardware configuration diagram of the RFID reader 4 and the control device 5. As shown in FIG. 4, the RFID reader 4 and the control device 5 physically include a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 101, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 102 and a ROM (Read Only Memory) 103, which are main storage devices. It can be configured as a computer system including an input device 104 such as a keyboard and a mouse, an output device 105 such as a display, a communication module 106 that is a data transmission/reception device such as a network card, an auxiliary storage device 107, and the like.

Each function of the RFID reader 4 and the control device 5 described with reference to FIG. This is realized by operating the communication module 106, input device 104, and output device 105, and reading and writing data in the RAM 102 and the auxiliary storage device 107. That is, by executing the information reading program according to the present embodiment on a computer, the RFID reader 4 functions as the reading section 41 in FIG. It functions as an acquisition section 51 , an acquisition processing section 52 , an inventory control section 53 , an inventory information storage section 54 , and a display control section 55 .

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of tag reading control in the first embodiment.

In step S01, the reading section 41 of the RFID reader 4 outputs radio waves W. The reading unit 41 outputs information received from the RFID tag 2 or the like with respect to the output radio wave W to the information acquisition unit 51 of the control device 5. The information acquisition unit 51 outputs the acquired information to the acquisition processing unit 52.

In step S02, the acquisition processing unit 52 of the control device 5 confirms information regarding the detected RFID tag based on the information acquired in response to the radio wave W output in step S01.

In step S03, the acquisition processing unit 52 of the control device 5 determines whether the reference tag 3 is detected among the tags checked in step S02. The acquisition processing unit 52 acquires the identification information of the reference tag 3 in the warehouse 10 that is the target of the inventory work from the inventory information storage unit 54, for example, and compares it with the tag information acquired in step S02. Then, if tag information that matches the identification information of the reference tag 3 is included, it can be determined that the reference tag 3 has been detected. As a result of the determination in step S03, if the reference tag 3 is not detected (No in step S03), the process proceeds to step S04. On the other hand, if the reference tag 3 is detected (Yes in step S03), the process advances to step S05.

In step S04, a control command is transmitted from the acquisition processing unit 52 of the control device 5 to the radio field intensity control unit 42 of the RFID reader 4 in accordance with the determination result that the reference tag 3 was not detected in step S03. Based on this control command, the radio field intensity control unit 42 increases the radio field intensity of the RFID reader 4 within a range in which the reference tag 3 is not detected. In this step, for example, the radio field intensity control unit 42 controls the reading unit 41 to increase the radio field intensity in stages. During this control, the same processes as those in steps S01 to S03 described above are performed every time the radio field intensity is increased, and are repeated until the reference tag 3 is detected. Then, when the reference tag 3 is finally detected, by lowering the radio field intensity by one step from the radio field intensity at that time, a value is set that maximizes the radio field intensity within a range in which the reference tag 3 is not detected.

Alternatively, in step S04, the radio field intensity of the RFID reader 4 may be first increased to the maximum value, and then the radio field intensity may be controlled to be gradually lowered until the reference tag 3 is no longer detected.

In step S05, a control command is transmitted from the acquisition processing unit 52 of the control device 5 to the radio field intensity control unit 42 of the RFID reader 4 in accordance with the determination result that the reference tag 3 was detected in step S03. Based on this control command, the radio field intensity control unit 42 lowers the radio field intensity of the RFID reader 4 until the reference tag 3 is no longer detected. In this step, for example, the radio field intensity control section 42 controls the reading section 41 to lower the radio field intensity in stages. During this control, the same processing as in steps S01 to S03 described above is performed every time the radio field intensity is lowered, and is repeated until the reference tag 3 is no longer detected. Then, when the reference tag 3 is finally no longer detected, the radio field intensity at that time becomes the maximum value within the range in which the reference tag 3 is not detected, as in step S04.

In step S06, after the radio wave intensity of the RFID reader 4 is adjusted in step S04 or step S05, the same processing as in steps S01 to S03 described above is performed, and the acquisition processing unit 52 performs the radio wave intensity detected in this step. Information on the tag is obtained as a reading result (that is, a set of information on the RFID tag 2 to be read). The acquisition processing unit 52 outputs information on the acquired reading results to the inventory control unit 53. When the process of this step is completed, this control flow is ended, and the inventory control unit 53 continues to perform inventory control (see FIG. 6).

Note that a plurality of reference tags 3 may be detected in the process of step S04 or step S05. For example, in the example of FIG. 1, a case may be considered in which both the reference tag 3A in the output direction of the radio wave W of the RFID reader 4 and another reference tag 3D placed next to it are detected. When a plurality of reference tags 3 are detected in this way, the acquisition processing unit 52 can set the radio field intensity of all of the detected plurality of reference tags 3 as targets for adjustment. For example, in step S04, if a plurality of reference tags 3 are detected during the step-by-step process of increasing the radio field intensity, then the radio field intensity is increased until all of the detected reference tags 3 are no longer detected. step by step. For example, in step S05, if a plurality of reference tags 3 are detected in step S03, the radio field intensity is lowered stepwise until all of the plurality of detected reference tags 3 are no longer detected.

Furthermore, in steps S04 and S05, it is sufficient that the radio wave intensity of the RFID reader 4 can be adjusted so that at least the RFID tags 12 outside the reading area are out of the receivable range of the RFID reader 4. For example, in step S04, the radio wave intensity of the RFID reader 4 may be increased until the reference tag 3 is detected. Further, in step S05, the radio wave intensity of the RFID reader 4 may be set to the lower limit value of the range in which the reference tag 3 can be detected.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating inventory control in the first embodiment. As described above, in this embodiment, a smartphone application is illustrated as an example of the control device 5. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, the control device 5 can use the touch panel 56 of the smartphone as a display section that displays information regarding inventory control, or as an operation section that receives operation input from the user P.

FIG. 6 shows an example of an information display screen 6 related to inventory work that is displayed on the touch panel 56 of the smartphone during inventory control. The information display screen 6 includes an inventory information display section 61, a number of read tags display section 62, an inventory progress display section 63, a tag information display section 64, a sort button 65, a reset button 66, and a save button 67. have The display contents of the information display screen 6 are controlled by the display control section 55 in response to control commands from the inventory control section 53, for example. In the first embodiment, the user P can perform inventory control using the information display screen 6 of FIG. 6, for example, in the following procedure.

(1) Selection of inventory information By tapping the name column of the inventory information display section 61, a list of inventory information currently stored in the inventory information storage section 54 of the terminal is displayed. The inventory information is stored, for example, in a CSV file. When the user P selects a CSV file corresponding to the warehouse 10 to be inventory taken from among the displayed items, the inventory information display section 61 displays the CSV file related to the selected inventory information, as shown in FIG. 6(A). The file name will be displayed. Furthermore, the tag information display section 64 displays tag information registered in the selected CSV file. The tag information displayed on the tag information display section 64 includes information such as the item name of the article associated with the tag, the JAN (Japanese Article Number) code of the article, and the number of articles.

The number of RFID tags 2 read by the RFID reader 4 is displayed on the read tag number display section 62. The inventory progress display section 63 shows that among the list of products displayed on the tag information display section 64, the number of articles recorded in the inventory information matches the number of reads of the RFID tag 2 regarding the corresponding article. The number of rows is displayed. In addition, in FIG. 6(A), the RFID reader 4 is not operated and the RFID tag 2 is not yet read, so the number of read tags is displayed as "0" in the read tag number display section 62. . Further, in the inventory progress display section 63, the number of corresponding articles is "51" lines, and the number of matching lines is displayed as "0".

(2) Reading of tag information When the user P pulls the trigger 4b of the RFID reader 4, reading of the RFID tags 2 in the vicinity is performed. At this time, the information reading control according to the first embodiment described with reference to FIG. 5 is performed, and the final reading result is displayed on the information display screen 6 as shown in FIG. 6(B).

When the number of tags read reaches a specified number registered in the CSV list, the display mode is changed, for example by changing the color of the tag line to gray, so that it can be distinguished from other lines. In the example of FIG. 6(B), the products in the second and third rows from the top of the list of products displayed in the tag information display section 64 have been read in the same number as the quantity information, so the corresponding parts are grayed out. The color has been changed.

Further, in lines other than the second and third lines of the tag information display section 64, the number of products that have been read is displayed. The number of read tags display section 62 displays the number of read tags as "20," and the inventory progress display section 63 displays "2" rows as the number of matched lines out of the "51" rows of applicable articles. ing.

Furthermore, by pressing the sort button 65, the display order of the list displayed on the tag information display section 64 can be changed as appropriate.

(3) Reset By pressing the reset button 66, all read tag information can be erased and read again from the beginning.

(4) Save By pressing the save button 67, the read tag information can be saved in a file and written to a predetermined folder in the terminal (for example, the inventory information storage section 54).

Next, the effects of the first embodiment will be explained. The information reading system 1 according to the first embodiment includes a reference tag 3 installed in a predetermined reading area (in the example of FIG. 1, a warehouse 10), an RFID reader 4 that reads information from the RFID tag 2, and a control device 5. , is provided. The acquisition processing unit 52 of the control device 5 performs processing to exclude information from the RFID tag 12 outside the reading area according to the reading result of the reference tag 3 by the RFID reader 4, and extracts information from the RFID to be read within the reading area. Get information from tag 2.

With this configuration, the reference tag 3 can be used as a criterion for the control device 5 to determine whether or not the RFID tag 2 is to be read. RFID tags 12 that are not to be read can be excluded with high precision without manually adjusting reception sensitivity in advance. As a result, the information reading system 1 of the first embodiment can read information from the RFID tag 2 to be read with high accuracy.

Further, in the information reading system 1 according to the first embodiment, the control device 5 determines whether the RFID tags 12 outside the reading area are out of the receivable range of the RFID reader 4, depending on the reading result of the reference tag 3 by the RFID reader 4. Adjust the radio wave intensity of the RFID reader 4 as follows.

With this configuration, the radio wave intensity of the RFID reader 4 can be adjusted so that the RFID tag 2 to be read is surely included in the receivable range of the RFID reader 4, so that RFID tags 12 that are not to be read can be excluded with higher precision. It becomes possible to do so.

Further, in the information reading system 1 according to the first embodiment, when the reference tag 3 can be read, the control device 5 lowers the radio wave intensity of the RFID reader 4 until the reference tag 3 can no longer be read, and the reference tag 3 cannot be read. In this case, it is preferable to increase the radio wave intensity of the RFID reader within a range where the reference tag 3 cannot be read.

With this configuration, as explained with reference to FIG. 2, it is possible to limit the RFID tags that can be read by the RFID reader 4 to only the tags within a predetermined reading area, that is, the RFID tags 2 to be read. Become. This makes it possible to exclude RFID tags 12 that are not to be read with higher accuracy.

Further, in the information reading system 1 according to the first embodiment, the reading area is the warehouse 10, at least one reference tag 3 is installed on the wall of the warehouse 10, and the RFID tag 2 is stored within the warehouse 10. It is attached to the article 11.

With this configuration, as described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the reference tag 3 is attached to the wall surface 10A of the side wall of the warehouse 10, which is the boundary of the predetermined reading area. If used as a determination criterion, it becomes possible to reliably distinguish between the RFID tags 2 to be read inside the warehouse 10 and the RFID tags 12 outside the warehouse 10 that are not to be read. This makes it possible to exclude RFID tags 12 that are not to be read with higher accuracy.

Further, in the information reading system 1 according to the first embodiment, the RFID reader 4 includes a reading section 41 that reads information from the RFID tag 2, and a control section, and the control section is configured to read information from a reference tag installed in a predetermined reading area. The configuration may be such that information from the RFID tag 2 to be read within the reading area is obtained by performing processing for excluding information from the RFID tag 12 outside the reading area according to the reading result by the reading unit 41 from 3. . In other words, the functions of the control device 5 described above may be built into the RFID reader 4 as a "control unit".

With this configuration, the user P can carry out reading control of tag information within a predetermined reading area and inventory control at the same time by simply carrying a single device called the RFID reader 4. Thereby, the workload of the user P who performs inventory work can be reduced.

[Second embodiment]
The second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 10. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing an overview of information reading control from the RFID tag 2 to be read in the second embodiment. The situation shown in FIG. 7(A) is similar to FIG. 2(A) described in the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 7(A), the radio wave W1 output from the RFID reader 4A is propagated to the outside of the warehouse 10, and in addition to the RFID tag 2 (tag A) to be read, the RFID tag 12 (not to be read) ( In a situation where tag B) is also read, the second embodiment acquires information from the RFID tag 2 to be read using control different from the first embodiment.

In the information reading system 1A according to the second embodiment, the RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) value of the reference tag 3 is set as a threshold value, and a tag with an RSSI value larger than this threshold value or a tag with an RSSI value greater than or equal to the threshold value is set as an RFID tag to be read. Control is performed to extract as 2. Here, the RSSI value is a value indicating the strength of radio waves (the amplitude of the radio waves) that the RFID reader 4A receives from each RFID tag. In other words, a tag having an RSSI value greater than that of the reference tag 3 is a tag located closer to the RFID reader 4A than the reference tag 3, and indicates that it is the RFID tag 2 to be read inside the warehouse 10. On the other hand, a tag smaller than the RSSI value of the reference tag 3 is a tag located further from the RFID reader 4A than the reference tag 3, and indicates an RFID tag 12 outside the warehouse 10 that is not to be read. In addition, a tag with the same RSSI value as the reference tag 3 is a tag located at the same distance from the RFID reader 4A as the reference tag 3, and such a tag is also a tag that is the RFID tag 2 to be read in the warehouse 10. It can also be determined that there is.

As described above, the reference tag 3 is placed at the boundary of the reading area, so by this control, the RFID tag 2 in the warehouse 10 to be read is extracted from the RFID tags read by the RFID reader 4A. becomes possible.

In the second embodiment, the RSSI value is applied as a criterion (threshold value) for distinguishing between the RFID tag 2 to be read and the RFID tag 12 not to be read. Any information corresponding to the strength of the received radio waves, that is, the distance of each tag to the RFID reader 4 may be used, and information other than the RSSI value may be used as the determination criterion.

FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram of an information reading system 1A according to the second embodiment. As a function for performing the information reading control described with reference to FIG. 7, the RFID reader 4A includes a reading section 41A. Further, the control device 5A includes an information acquisition section 51A, an acquisition processing section 52A, an inventory control section 53, an inventory information storage section 54, and a display control section 55.

The reading unit 41A of the RFID reader 4A controls the output of radio waves from the RFID reader 4A and the reading of information from the RFID tag 2. The reading unit 41A outputs information read from the RFID tag 2, the reference tag 3, or the non-target RFID tag 12, and information on the RSSI value of the radio waves received from each tag to the information acquisition unit 51A of the control device 5. do.

The information acquisition section 51A of the control device 5A receives information read from the RFID tag 2 and the like and information on the RSSI value of each tag from the reading section 41A of the RFID reader 4A, and outputs the received information to the acquisition processing section 52A.

The acquisition processing unit 52A performs processing to exclude information from the RFID tag 12 outside the reading area based on the tag information of the RFID tag 2, etc. and the RSSI value information input from the information acquisition unit 51A, and performs reading. Get the target tag information. In the second embodiment, as described with reference to FIG. 7, the acquisition processing unit 52A compares the acquired RSSI value information of each tag with the RSSI value of the reference tag 3, and The tag with a large value is extracted as the RFID tag 2 to be read. The acquisition processing unit 52A outputs information on each tag and information on the determination result as to whether or not the tag is to be read to the inventory control unit 53 as a reading result.

The functions of the inventory control section 53, inventory information storage section 54, and display control section 55 are the same as those in the first embodiment, so their explanations will be omitted.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of tag reading control in the second embodiment.

Steps S11, S12, and S13 are the same processes as steps S01, S02, and S03 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 6, so their explanation will be omitted. In addition, in the second embodiment, since the RFID tag 12 outside the warehouse 10 may be detected, in step S11, the reading unit 41A of the RFID reader 4A may set the radio wave intensity of the RFID reader 4A to the maximum intensity, for example. good.

In step S14, since the reference tag 3 was not detected in step S13 (No in step S13), the acquisition processing unit 52A of the control device 5A transfers the information of the tag detected in step S12 to the read result (i.e., the read result). A set of information on the target RFID tag 2) is obtained. The situation in which the reference tag 3 is not detected means that the current receivable range of the RFID reader 4A is narrower than the position of the reference tag 3. This is because it can be determined that it is the RFID tag 2.

In step S15, since the reference tag 3 was detected in step S13 (Yes in step S13), the acquisition processing unit 52A of the control device 5A selects the RSSI from the reference tag 3 from among the tags detected in step S12. Information on tags with large values is extracted as a reading result (that is, a set of information on the RFID tag 2 to be read).

When the processing in step S14 or step S15 is completed, this control flow is ended, and the inventory control unit 53 continues to perform inventory control (see FIG. 10).

Note that when a plurality of reference tags 3 are detected in the process of step S13, in step S15, the acquisition processing unit 52A selects the one with the largest RSSI value among the plurality of detected reference tags 3, that is, the closest one. One reference tag 3 in position can be selected. Then, a tag to be read is extracted using the RSSI value of the selected reference tag 3 as a threshold. Further, in step S15, a configuration may be adopted in which a tag whose RSSI value is greater than or equal to the RSSI value of the reference tag 3 is extracted as the RFID tag 2 to be read.

Furthermore, in step S14, similar to step S04 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. The configuration may be such that control is obtained as follows. Thereby, the receivable range of the RFID reader 4A can be extended to the boundaries within the warehouse 10, and tag information can be read more efficiently.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating inventory control in the second embodiment. FIG. 10 corresponds to FIG. 6(B) of the first embodiment, and shows an example of an information display screen 6A related to inventory work that is displayed on the touch panel 56 of the smartphone during inventory control. The information display screen 6A, like the information display screen 6 in FIG. , a reset button 66, and a save button 67. The information display screen 6A further includes a reference tag RSSI value display section 68. The reference tag RSSI value display section 68 displays information on the RSSI value of the reference tag 3 acquired by the reading section 41A of the RFID reader 4. Furthermore, each row of the tag information display section 64 includes an RSSI value display area 69 that displays the RSSI value of the corresponding tag. The display contents of the information display screen 6A are controlled by the display control section 55 in accordance with control commands from the inventory control section 53, for example.

In the example of FIG. 10, in addition to the RFID tags 2 to be read in the warehouse 10, the tag information display section 64 also displays tag information of RFID tags 12 that are not to be read. Further, in the example of FIG. 10, tags to be read and tags not to be read are displayed separately based on the information of the reading result of the information reading control according to the second embodiment. In FIG. 10, the reference tag RSSI value display section 68 displays that the RSSI value of the reference tag 3 is 20 (dBm). On the other hand, in the RSSI value display area 69 of each row of the tag information display section 64, it is displayed that the RSSI values of the tags of each row are 18, 21, 21, 22, 22, and 13 (dBm) in order from the top. . Then, based on these RSSI values, the tags in the first and sixth lines from the top that have a smaller RSSI value than the reference tag 3 are determined to be RFID tags 12 that are not to be read, and in the example of FIG. is included to distinguish the display mode. On the other hand, since the tags in the second to fifth lines are the RFID tags 2 to be read, the display format is similar to that in FIG. 6(B).

Note that in the inventory control in the second embodiment, the tag information display section 64 of the information display screen 6A may be configured to display only the RFID tag 2 to be read, unlike FIG. 10.

In this way, in the information reading system 1A according to the second embodiment, the control device 5A sets the strength of the radio waves received from the reference tag 3 (RSSI value in the example of FIG. The RFID tag with the highest radio wave strength is extracted as the RFID tag 2 to be read.

With this configuration, it is possible to extract the RFID tag 2 to be read without having to adjust the radio field intensity of the RFID reader 4A as in the first embodiment, so information from the RFID tag 2 to be read can be extracted. can be acquired with high precision and in a shorter time.

[Third embodiment]
The third embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 to 13. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of an information reading system 1B according to the third embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 11, in the information reading system 1B according to the third embodiment, the inside of the warehouse 10, which is a predetermined reading area, is further divided into a plurality of areas for managing and inventorying articles. In the information reading system 1B, at least one reference tag 3 is installed in association with each other in each of a plurality of areas.

In the example of FIG. 11, two areas A and B are illustrated. A plurality of articles 11A are stored in area A, and an RFID tag 2A is attached to each article 11A. Similarly, a plurality of articles 11B are stored in area B, and an RFID tag 2B is attached to each article 11B. A reference tag 3A is placed in area A, and information associated with area A is recorded on the reference tag 3A. Further, a reference tag 3B is arranged in area B, and information associated with area B is recorded in the reference tag 3B.

The functional blocks of the information reading system 1B according to the third embodiment are similar to those of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 3 and the second embodiment shown in FIG. It includes an inventory information storage section 54 (storage section) similar to the embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the inventory information storage section 54 in the third embodiment. As shown in FIG. 12, in the third embodiment, the inventory information storage unit 54 stores "reference tag ID", "area ID", and "article ID" in association with each other. “Reference tag ID” is identification information for each of the plurality of reference tags 3A to 3D placed in the warehouse 10. The "area ID" is identification information for each of a plurality of areas divided within the warehouse 10, such as areas A and B shown in FIG. "Article ID" is identification information of the article 11 stored in each area.

Information corresponding to article IDs of articles 11A and 11B stored in areas A and B, respectively, is recorded on the RFID tags 2A and 2B. Therefore, by referring to the inventory information storage unit 54 based on the reference tag ID information read from the reference tag 3, it is possible to specify the inventory target area and the information on the articles stored in the target area.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of tag reading control in the third embodiment. In the following description, the reference numerals of each functional block are those of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 3, but the same as those of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 8 are also applicable.

In step S21, the acquisition processing unit 52 of the control device 5 detects the reference tag ID of the reference tag 3. If the reference tag 3 is not detected, for example, the same processing as steps S01 to S04 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 5 is repeated until the reference tag 3 is detected.

In step S22, the acquisition processing unit 52 of the control device 5 acquires information on the RFID tag 2 to be read. In this step as well, for example, the same processing as in steps S01, S02, and S06 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. Obtained as tag 2. The acquisition processing unit 52 outputs the acquired information on the RFID tag 2 to the inventory control unit 53.

In step S23, the inventory control unit 53 of the control device 5 acquires the area ID and article ID from the inventory information storage unit 54 based on the reference tag ID acquired in step S21. Thereby, information about the area to which the reference tag 3 detected in step S21 is associated and the article 11 stored in this area is obtained.

In step S24, the inventory control unit 53 compares the article ID read from the RFID tag 2 to be read in step S22 with the article ID acquired from the inventory information storage unit 54 in step S23.

In step S25, the inventory control unit 53 determines whether reading of all article IDs in the target area has been completed as a result of the comparison in step S24. For example, if there is a shortage in the article ID acquired in step S22 compared to the article ID acquired in step S23, it is determined that reading of all article IDs in the target area has not been completed (step No in S25) Proceed to step S26. On the other hand, if the article ID acquired in step S22 and the article ID acquired in step S23 match, it is determined that reading of all article IDs in the target area has been completed (Yes in step S25). Proceed to S27. The inventory control unit 53 outputs information on the determination result of this step to the display control unit 55.

In step S26, since the display control unit 55 of the control device 5 determines that tag reading is not completed in step S25, an instruction to reread the same area is presented to the user. The display control unit 55 displays a re-reading instruction on the touch panel 56 of the smartphone, for example. After confirming the instruction screen, the user operates the RFID reader 4 again to read the tag in the same area. The processes of steps S21 to S26 are repeated until it is determined in step S25 that reading is complete.

In step S27, since the display control unit 55 of the control device 5 determines that tag reading has been completed in step S25, an instruction to the effect that the inventory of the corresponding area has been completed is presented to the user. The display control unit 55 displays an instruction to complete inventory on the touch panel 56 of the smartphone, for example. When the user checks the instruction screen, if there is another area where inventory work is not being performed, the user moves to that area and performs the tag reading operation. On the other hand, when the inventory work for all areas is completed, the work is finished.

Note that if a plurality of reference tags 3 are detected in the process of step S21, reading determination of articles 11 in a plurality of areas associated with all the detected reference tags 3 may be performed from step S22 onwards. can.

The information reading system 1B according to the third embodiment uses the identification information (reference tag ID) of the reference tag 3 and the area (for example, the area in FIG. An inventory information storage unit 54 is provided that stores information (area ID) for specifying items A and B) in association with information (article IDs) for articles 11A and 11B stored in the area. The control device 5 reads the identification information from the reference tag 3, acquires information on the articles 11A and 11B from the inventory information storage unit 54 based on the read identification information, and reads the information from the RFID tags 2A and 2B in the area related to the identification information. Completion of the inventory in the area is determined by comparing the obtained information with information on the articles 11A and 11B acquired from the inventory information storage unit 54.

With this configuration, when the tag information is read by the RFID reader 4, it is possible to accurately determine the completion of the inventory work of the items stored in each of the multiple areas in the warehouse 10 that are predetermined reading areas. It becomes possible to do so. Thereby, inventory work can be performed easily and with high precision.

The present embodiment has been described above with reference to specific examples. However, the present disclosure is not limited to these specific examples. Design changes made by those skilled in the art as appropriate to these specific examples are also included within the scope of the present disclosure as long as they have the characteristics of the present disclosure. The elements included in each of the specific examples described above, their arrangement, conditions, shapes, etc. are not limited to those illustrated, and can be changed as appropriate. The elements included in each of the specific examples described above can be appropriately combined as long as no technical contradiction occurs.

In the embodiment described above, a warehouse 10 is exemplified as an example of a "predetermined reading area" in which the RFID tag 2 to be read and the reference tag 3 are arranged, and a plurality of articles to which the RFID tags 2 are affixed are exemplified in the warehouse 10. 11 is stored, the "predetermined reading area" may be other than the warehouse 10. For example, it may be a space partitioned by a wall or the like like the warehouse 10, such as a room in a building. Alternatively, it may be an area indoors or outdoors that is separated from the outside by an element other than a wall, such as a line drawn on the ground.

1, 1A, 1B Information reading system 2 RFID tag 3 Reference tag 4, 4A RFID reader 5, 5A Control device 54 Inventory information storage unit (storage unit)
10 Warehouse (reading area)
11 Articles

Claims (9)

a reference tag installed in a predetermined reading area;
an RFID reader that reads information from an RFID tag;
comprising a control device;
The control device performs processing to exclude information from RFID tags outside the reading area according to the reading result of the reference tag by the RFID reader, and acquires information from the RFID tags within the reading area. ,
Information reading system. The control device adjusts the radio wave intensity of the RFID reader so that RFID tags outside the reading area are out of the receivable range of the RFID reader, depending on the reading result of the reference tag by the RFID reader.
The information reading system according to claim 1. The control device includes:
If the reference tag can be read, lower the radio wave intensity of the RFID reader until the reference tag can no longer be read;
If the reference tag cannot be read, increase the radio wave intensity of the RFID reader to the extent that the reference tag cannot be read;
The information reading system according to claim 2. The control device uses the strength of the radio waves received from the reference tag as a threshold value, and extracts an RFID tag whose strength is equal to or greater than the threshold value as an RFID tag to be read.
The information reading system according to claim 1. the reading area is a warehouse;
at least one reference tag is installed on a wall of the warehouse;
The RFID tag is affixed to items stored in the warehouse,
The information reading system according to claim 1. comprising a storage unit that stores identification information of the reference tag, information specifying an area within the reading area allocated to the reference tag, and information about articles stored within the area, in association with each other;
The control device reads the identification information from the reference tag, acquires information about the article from the storage unit based on the read identification information, and acquires information read from the RFID tag in the area related to the identification information. comparing the information on the article acquired from the storage unit to determine completion of inventory in the area;
The information reading system according to any one of claims 1 to 5. Processing is performed to exclude information from RFID tags outside the reading area according to the reading result by the RFID reader from a reference tag installed in a predetermined reading area, and information from the RFID tag within the reading area is processed. Obtain, control device. a reading unit that reads information from the RFID tag;
Equipped with a control unit,
The control unit performs processing for excluding information from RFID tags outside the reading area according to the reading result of the reading unit from a reference tag installed in a predetermined reading area, and Obtain information from RFID tags,
RFID reader. a reference tag installed in a predetermined reading area;
an RFID reader that reads information from an RFID tag;
An information reading program in an information reading system comprising a control device,
The control device performs processing to exclude information from RFID tags outside the reading area according to the reading result of the reference tag by the RFID reader, and acquires information from the RFID tags within the reading area. An information reading program that causes a computer to perform acquisition processing functions.

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