JP2024069858A - Opening/closing detection mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

To accurately detect whether a box body has been opened or not, using a mechanism which reads information from an RFID tag for detection.SOLUTION: An opening/closing detection mechanism includes: a box body 10 having a drawer 80 equipped with a storage region 86 for storing an article and a drawer housing body 90 which covers the storage region 86; an RFID tag 20 attached to the box body 10; and a switch member 60 which is connected to two state detection wiring lines of the RFID tag 20 and attached to the box body 10, to switch conduction state between the two state detection wiring lines between a state in which the drawer 80 is housed in the drawer housing body 90 and a state in which the drawer 80 is drawn out of the drawer housing body 90.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to an open/close detection mechanism that detects whether a box has been opened by reading information from an RFID tag attached to the box.

In recent years, RFID tags, which allow contactless writing and reading of information, have come to be used for a variety of purposes. For example, a technology is known in which RFID tags are attached to goods and other items, and information is written to and read from the RFID tags to manage the items. When managing items using RFID tags in this way, the ability to write and read information from multiple RFID tags at once can improve the efficiency of tasks related to managing items, etc.

Patent Document 1 discloses a technology in which an RFID tag is attached to a product, and payment is made by reading product information from the RFID tag. Specifically, the product with the RFID tag attached is placed in a storage chamber through an opening in a housing, and payment is made by reading information from the RFID tag. In this case, to prevent information from being mistakenly read from an RFID tag that is outside the storage chamber, the housing is made from a material that reflects or absorbs radio waves, and has a lid that covers the opening of the housing.

In this way, a system that stores RFID-tagged items in a housing and manages the items by reading information from the RFID tag can be made smaller and simpler in configuration than a system that manages RFID-tagged items by passing them through a so-called tunnel reader.

Patent Document 2 also discloses a configuration for monitoring the open/close state of an opening/closing part of a housing using an RFID inlet. Specifically, the IC chip of the RFID inlet and an antenna are connected via a switch, and when a door attached to the opening/closing part of the housing is opened, the switch brings the IC chip and the antenna into a conductive state, and alarm information stored in the IC chip is transmitted via the antenna, thereby monitoring the open/close state of the opening/closing part of the housing.

Japanese Patent No. 6200442 JP 2007-257557 A

As described above, when an item with an RFID tag attached is stored in a housing and information is read from the RFID tag to manage the item, the opening of the housing made of a material that reflects or absorbs radio waves can be covered with a lid to prevent erroneous reading of information from an external RFID tag. However, even if the housing has a lid, if the lid is opened while information is being written to or read from the RFID tag, there is a risk that information will be erroneously read from an external RFID tag. Furthermore, if the lid is opened while information is being read from an RFID tag attached to an item to manage the item, a new item will be stored in the housing, making it impossible to accurately manage the items stored in the housing.

The device disclosed in Patent Document 1 has an open/close sensor that detects whether the lid is open or closed. However, the open/close sensor is provided separately from the mechanism for reading information from the RFID tag attached to the item in order to manage the item. This means that a new mechanism must be constructed to input the detection results from the open/close sensor, such as connecting the open/close sensor to a processing device, which creates the problem of additional work and cost.

In addition, even if the system does not manage items by reading information from an RFID tag attached to the item, various systems using RFID tags have been put into operation in recent years, so it is preferable to be able to accurately detect whether the box has been opened using a mechanism for reading information from an RFID tag.

In addition, in the device disclosed in Patent Document 2, when the door attached to the opening/closing section of the housing is closed, the IC chip and antenna are in an open state due to a switch, so no information can be read from the IC chip. On the other hand, if the IC chip is faulty, no alarm information is transmitted even if the door attached to the opening/closing section of the housing is opened. Therefore, if the IC chip is faulty, even if the door attached to the opening/closing section of the housing is opened, it will be determined that the door is closed, and it will not be possible to accurately detect whether the box has been opened.

The present invention was made in consideration of the problems with the conventional technology described above, and aims to provide an open/close detection mechanism that can accurately detect whether a box has been opened by using a mechanism for reading information from an RFID tag used for detection.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides
A box having a storage section with a storage area for storing items and a covering section covering the storage area, the box being displaceable between a first state in which the storage area is not covered by the covering section and a second state in which the storage area is covered by the covering section, a detection RFID tag attached to the box for detecting whether the box is in the first state or the second state, and reading means for reading information transmitted in a non-contact manner from the detection RFID tag,
The RFID tag comprises:
A base material;
A communication antenna and two state detection wires formed on the base material;
an IC chip disposed on the base material and connected to the communication antenna and the two status detection wires, the IC chip detecting a continuity state between the two status detection wires and transmitting the detection result in a non-contact manner via the communication antenna;
moreover,
The box has a switch member connected to the two state detection wires and switches the electrical continuity between the two state detection wires between when the box is in the first state and when the box is in the second state.

In the present invention configured as described above, when the box is in a first state in which the storage area is not covered by the covering portion, and when the box is in a second state in which the storage area is covered by the covering portion, the switch member switches the electrical continuity state between the two status detection wires of the RFID tag attached to the box. The detection result of the electrical continuity state between the two status detection wires is then contactlessly transmitted from the IC chip of the RFID tag via the communication antenna, and the contactlessly transmitted information is read by the reading means, thereby detecting whether the box has been opened.

In this way, in a system that detects whether the box has been opened using a mechanism that reads information from a detection RFID tag, the electrical continuity between the two state detection wires is switched between when the box is in a first state in which the storage area is not covered by the covering portion and when the box is in a second state in which the storage area is covered by the covering portion, and whether the box has been opened is detected based on the detection result of this electrical continuity, so that it is possible to accurately detect whether the box has been opened.

In addition, if the switch member has a push-down portion that is pressed down by an external force, and switches the state of conduction between the two state detection wires depending on whether the push-down portion is pressed down, and is attached to one of the storage portion and the covering portion such that the push-down portion is pressed down by the other of the storage portion and the covering portion when the box body is in the second state, then when the box body is in the second state, the physical action of the push-down portion of the switch member being pressed down switches the state of conduction between the two state detection wires.

In addition, if the push-down portion is biased in a direction in which it is not pushed down, the electrical continuity between the two state detection wires is switched as the box body shifts from the second state to the first state.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides
A box having a storage section with a storage area for storing items and a covering section covering the storage area, the box being displaceable between a first state in which the storage area is not covered by the covering section and a second state in which the storage area is covered by the covering section, a detection RFID tag attached to the box for detecting whether the box is in the first state or the second state, and reading means for reading information transmitted in a non-contact manner from the detection RFID tag,
The RFID tag comprises:
A base material;
A communication antenna and two state detection wires formed on the base material;
an IC chip disposed on the base material and connected to the communication antenna and the two status detection wires, the IC chip detecting a continuity state between the two status detection wires and transmitting the detection result in a non-contact manner via the communication antenna;
moreover,
two contact terminals are attached to either the storage portion or the covering portion, the two contact terminals being respectively connected to the two state detection wires, and being in contact with the other of the storage portion and the covering portion when the box body is in the second state, and being not in contact with the other of the storage portion and the covering portion when the box body is in the first state;
The box has a conductive portion that conducts electricity between the two contact terminals in a region where the two contact terminals are in contact when the box is in the second state.

In the present invention configured as described above, two contact terminals are attached to either the storage section or the covering section of the box body, and the two contact terminals are connected to the two state detection wires of the RFID tag attached to the box body, and when the box body is in the second state in which the storage area is covered by the covering section, each of the two contact terminals contacts the other of the storage section and the covering section, and when the box body is in the first state in which the storage area is not covered by the covering section, each of the two contact terminals does not contact the other of the storage section and the covering section. Here, the box body has a conductive section that conducts the two contact terminals in the area where the two contact terminals contact when the box body is in the second state, so that when the box body is in the first state, the two state detection wires are not conductive, and when the box body is in the second state, the two state detection wires are conductive. The detection result of the electrical continuity of these two status detection wires is transmitted non-contact from the IC chip of the RFID tag via the communication antenna, and the non-contact transmitted information is read by the reading means to detect whether the box has been opened.

In this way, in a system that detects whether the box has been opened using a mechanism that reads information from a detection RFID tag, the conduction state between the two state detection wires changes when the box is in a first state in which the storage area is not covered by the covering portion, and when the box is in a second state in which the storage area is covered by the covering portion, and whether the box has been opened is detected based on the detection result of this conduction state. This allows accurate detection of whether the box has been opened.

In addition, if the conductive part is made of a ferromagnetic material and magnets are attached to the two contact terminals, the two contact terminals will be kept securely in contact with the conductive part when the box is in the second state.

According to the present invention, in a device that detects whether a box has been opened using a mechanism that reads information from a detection RFID tag, the electrical continuity between two state detection wires is switched between a first state in which the storage area of the box is not covered by the covering portion and a second state in which the storage area is covered by the covering portion, and whether the box has been opened is detected based on the detection result of this electrical continuity, so that it is possible to accurately detect whether the box has been opened.

In addition, in a case where the switch member has a push-down portion that is pressed down by an external force, and switches the state of conduction between the two state detection wires depending on whether the push-down portion is pressed down, and is attached to one of the storage portion and the covering portion such that the push-down portion is pressed down by the other of the storage portion and the covering portion when the box is in the second state, the physical action of the push-down portion of the switch member being pressed down when the box is in the second state switches the state of conduction between the two state detection wires.

In addition, when the push-down portion is biased in the direction in which it is not pushed down, the electrical continuity state between the two state detection wires can be switched as the box body is displaced from the second state to the first state.

In addition, in a device that detects whether a box has been opened using a mechanism that reads information from a detection RFID tag, the electrical continuity between two state detection wires changes when the box is in a first state in which the storage area is not covered by the covering portion, and when the box is in a second state in which the storage area is covered by the covering portion, and whether the box has been opened is detected based on the detection result of this electrical continuity, so it is possible to accurately detect whether the box has been opened.

In addition, in a case where the conductive part is made of a ferromagnetic material and magnets are attached to the two contact terminals, the two contact terminals can be kept securely in contact with the conductive part when the box is in the second state.

1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of an article management system to which an open/close detection mechanism of the present invention is applied; 2 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of a box body shown in FIG. 1 . 3A and 3B are diagrams showing the configuration of the RFID tag shown in FIG. 2, in which (a) is a diagram showing the internal configuration, (b) is a cross-sectional view of the A-A portion shown in (a), and (c) is a cross-sectional view of the B-B portion shown in (a). 3A and 3B are diagrams showing the configuration of the switch member shown in FIG. 2, in which FIG. 3A is an external view and FIG. 3B is a view showing an internal circuit. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an RFID reader shown in FIG. 1 . 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a management computer shown in FIG. 1; 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of an open/close detection mechanism applied to the article management system shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 . FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining items that are stored in a box and are to be managed by the item management system shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 . FIG. 9A and 9B are diagrams showing the configuration of an RFID tag attached to an item contained in the box shown in FIG. 8, in which (a) shows the stacked state, and (b) shows the configuration of the surface of the inlet. 3 is a flowchart for explaining an example of a process for managing items and detecting opening and closing of a box in the item management system shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 . 3 is a flowchart for explaining another example of the processing for managing items and detecting opening and closing of a box in the item management system shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 . 10 is a flowchart for explaining a process when an open/close detection mode is executed during an article reading mode in the article management system shown in FIG. 1 . 13 is an external perspective view of a box according to another embodiment of an item management system to which the open/close detection mechanism of the present invention is applied. FIG. 14 is an external view showing a detailed configuration of the detection board shown in FIG. 13. 15A and 15B are diagrams for explaining the operation of an open/close detection mechanism in the box shown in FIGS. 13 and 14 .

Below, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

<Configuration of the item management system>
Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of an item management system to which the open/close detection mechanism of the present invention is applied. Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the detailed configuration of the box 10 shown in Fig. 1, showing a state in which the drawer 80 is pulled out from the drawer housing 90.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, this embodiment includes a box 10, an RFID tag 20 attached to the box 10, antennas 30a to 30c and a switch member 60, an RFID reader 40, and a management computer 50.

The box 10 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape and has a drawer 80 and a drawer container 90.

Drawer 80 is the storage section in the present invention and is capable of storing items with RFID tags attached, which will be described later. Drawer 80 has a bottom plate 82, side plates 81, and guides 83a-83c, 84a-84c, and the area surrounded by bottom plate 82, side plates 81, and guides 83a-83c, 84a-84c is storage area 86 where items are stored.

The bottom plate 82 has a rectangular shape and is made of an insulating material such as resin, on which items with RFID tags attached are placed.

The side plate 81 is made of a material that reflects or absorbs radio waves, and is attached to one of the four edges of the bottom plate 82 that is the front edge when the drawer 80 is pulled out of the drawer housing 90. The side plate 81 has a handle 85 attached to the surface that is the outer side of the box 10, and the drawer 80 can be pulled out of the drawer housing 90 by pulling this handle 85. Note that the side plate 81 does not have to be made of a material that reflects or absorbs radio waves, and may instead be covered with a material that reflects or absorbs radio waves.

Guides 83a to 83c are provided on and extend along the three edges of bottom plate 82 other than the edge to which side plate 81 is attached. Guides 84a to 84c are provided above guides 83a to 83c and parallel to them at a specified distance.

The drawer housing 90 is the covering part in the present invention. The drawer housing 90 has a rectangular bottom plate 92, side plates 93a to 93c that are respectively provided on three sides of the bottom plate 92, and a top plate 91 that faces the bottom plate 92 and abuts the end of the side plates 93a to 93c opposite the end that abuts the bottom plate 92. The drawer housing 90 is open on the side where the side plates 93a to 93c are not provided, and is configured to be able to accommodate the drawer 80 from the open side. The bottom plate 92, side plates 93a to 93c, and top plate 91 are each made of a material that reflects radio waves or a material that absorbs radio waves. Note that the bottom plate 92, side plates 93a to 93c, and top plate 91 may not be made of a material that reflects radio waves or a material that absorbs radio waves, but may be covered with a material that reflects radio waves or a material that absorbs radio waves.

Of the three side panels 93a-93c, two opposing side panels 93a, 93c each have rails 94a, 94b attached to the inner surface of the box 10. The rails 94a, 94b extend in the direction in which the drawer 80 is drawn out of the drawer housing 90, and engage with the guides 84a, 84c of the drawer 80, allowing the drawer 80 to be inserted into or removed from the drawer housing 90.

Antennas 30a to 30c are attached to the inner surfaces of the top plate 91 and side plates 93b and 93c, which form the inner wall surfaces of the box body 10.

The RFID tag 20 is attached to the top plate 91 near the antenna 30a on the inner surface that forms the inner wall surface of the box body 10, and a switch member 60 is attached to the end of the top plate 91 opposite the side plate 93b. The RFID tag 20 and switch member 60 are electrically connected via connection wiring 62a and 62b.

When the drawer 80 is pulled out from the drawer housing 90, the box 10 configured in this manner is in a first state in which the storage area 86 is not covered by the drawer housing 90 and items can be stored in the storage area 86 or items stored in the storage area 86 can be removed. When the drawer 80 is housed in the drawer housing 90, the storage area 86 is covered by the drawer housing 90 and the box 10 is in a second state in which items cannot be stored in the storage area 86 or items stored in the storage area 86 can be removed. As a result, the box 10 can be switched between the first state and the second state by pulling the drawer 80 out of the drawer housing 90 or housing it in the drawer housing 90.

As described above, the side plate 81, bottom plate 92, side plates 93a-93c, and top plate 91 of the box 10 are each made of a material that reflects radio waves or a material that absorbs radio waves. This means that when the drawer 80 is housed in the drawer housing 90, the RFID reader 40 cannot read information from the RFID tag outside the box 10 via the antennas 30a-30c.

The RFID reader 40 is the reading means in the present invention. The RFID reader 40 is electrically connected via a cable to the antennas 30a to 30c attached to the side panels 93a to 93c of the drawer housing 90, and by emitting radio waves from the antennas 30a to 30c, reads information from the RFID tag present in the box 10 via the antennas 30a to 30c. In other words, the RFID reader 40 reads information from the RFID tag 20 attached to the top panel 91 via the antennas 30a to 30c, and when an item with an RFID tag attached is stored in the storage area 86 of the drawer 80, it also reads information from the RFID tag attached to the item via the antennas 30a to 30c.

The management computer 50 is electrically connected to the RFID reader 40 via a cable. The management computer 50 manages the items stored in the box 10 by reading information from the RFID tag present in the box 10 via the antennas 30a to 30c using the RFID reader 40, and determines whether the drawer 80 is stored in the drawer storage body 90.

In the item management system configured as described above, the box 10, the RFID tag 20, the switch member 60, and the RFID reader 40 constitute an open/close detection mechanism that detects whether the storage area 86 is covered by the drawer storage body 90 when the drawer 80 is stored in the drawer storage body 90, i.e., detects the open/close state of the box 10.

Configuration of RFID tag 20
Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the RFID tag 20 shown in Fig. 2, where (a) is a diagram showing the internal configuration, (b) is a cross-sectional view of part A-A shown in (a), and (c) is a cross-sectional view of part B-B shown in (a). Note that the configuration of the RFID tag 20 shown in Fig. 3 is merely an example, and other configurations may be used as long as information can be read by the RFID reader 40.

The RFID tag 20 shown in Fig. 2 is for detecting whether the drawer 80 is housed in the drawer housing 90, and serves as the detection RFID tag in the present invention. As shown in Fig. 3, the RFID tag 20 shown in Fig. 2 is configured such that adhesive layers 27a, 27b are laminated on the front and back of the inlet 24, and a surface sheet 25 is attached to the entire surface of the inlet 24 via the adhesive layer 27a, and is what is called a metal-compatible tag.

The inlet 24 has a base substrate 23, two antennas 22 for communication, two status detection wires 28a, 28b, an IC chip 21, and a metal layer 26.

The base substrate 23 is made of a non-conductive material, such as a film.

The two antennas 22 are formed on one side of the base substrate 23 with two isosceles triangular conductors arranged with a gap between them. Note that the shape of the antennas 22 is not limited to this, and various shapes are possible, such as two strip-shaped conductors arranged in a straight line with a gap between them, or an antenna made of a single conductor.

One end of each of the two status detection wires 28a, 28b is connected to the IC chip 21, and then extends away from the IC chip 21 and terminates there.

The IC chip 21 is provided with two antenna terminals (not shown) and two detection terminals (not shown). The surface on which these antenna terminals and detection terminals are provided is the mounting surface, and the IC chip 21 is mounted on the surface of the base substrate 23 on which the antenna 22 and the state detection wirings 28a and 28b are formed, and is fixed with anisotropic conductive paste (not shown). The antenna terminals of the IC chip 21 are each connected to the antenna 22, and the detection terminals of the IC chip 21 are connected to one end of each of the state detection wirings 28a and 28b, and the antenna terminals are conductive to the antenna 22 and the detection terminals are conductive to the state detection wirings 28a and 28b by the anisotropic conductive paste. The IC chip 21 detects the resistance value between the state detection wirings 28a and 28b by passing a current due to the power obtained by non-contact communication via the antenna 22 through the state detection wirings 28a and 28b, and detects the conduction state between the state detection wirings 28a and 28b based on the resistance value. When the state detection wires 28a, 28b are conductive, a constant resistance value is detected by the IC chip 21, and when the state detection wires 28a, 28b are not conductive, the resistance value detected by the IC chip 21 is almost infinite. The IC chip 21 compares the detected resistance value with a preset threshold value, converts flag information according to the comparison result into digital information, and transmits it contactlessly via the antenna 22.

The metal layer 26 is laminated over almost the entire surface of the base substrate 23 opposite the surface on which the antenna 22 is formed. As a result, the metal layer 26 is laminated on the base substrate 23 so as to cover the antenna 22 in a plan view.

The RFID tag 20 configured as described above is attached to the top plate 91 of the drawer container 90 by the adhesive layer 27b as shown in FIG. 2. As described above, the top plate 91 is made of a material that reflects or absorbs radio waves. However, the RFID tag 20 attached to the top plate 91 has a metal layer 26 laminated on the surface of the base material 23 opposite the surface on which the antenna 22 is formed, so as to cover the antenna 22 in a plan view, thereby preventing the communication distance in non-contact communication via the antenna 22 from becoming shorter.

<Configuration of the Switch Member 60>
4A and 4B are diagrams showing the configuration of the switch member 60 shown in FIG. 2, where (a) is an external view and (b) is a diagram showing the internal circuit.

As shown in FIG. 4(a), the switch member 60 shown in FIG. 2 is configured with a push-down portion 61 protruding from one surface of the housing 64, and is connected to two state detection wires 28a, 28b of the RFID tag 20 via connection wires 62a, 62b. The push-down portion 61 is provided so that it can be pushed from the outside in a direction that enters the housing 64, and is biased by a spring or the like in a direction in which it is not pushed down. The push-down portion 61 is attached to the end of the top plate 91 opposite the side plate 93b so that it protrudes from the top plate 91 to the opposite side of the side plate 93b. As shown in FIG. 4(b), a conductive portion 65 is provided inside the housing 64, through which the connection wires 62a, 62b are conductive via the push-down portion 61. When the push-down portion 61 is not pressed down, the connection wires 62a, 62b are not conductive via the conductive portion 65, and when the push-down portion 61 is pressed down, the connection wires 62a, 62b are conductive via the push-down portion 61 at the conductive portion 65.

The switch member 60 configured as described above switches the conduction state between the connection wirings 62a, 62b in the conductive portion 65 between a state in which the storage area 86 is not covered by the drawer housing 90 when the drawer 80 is pulled out from the drawer housing 90 and a state in which the storage area 86 is covered by the drawer housing 90 when the drawer 80 is housed in the drawer housing 90. The connection wirings 62a, 62b are connected to the two state detection wirings 28a, 28b of the RFID tag 20, respectively, and thus switches the conduction state between the two state detection wirings 28a, 28b between a state in which the storage area 86 is not covered by the drawer housing 90 when the drawer 80 is pulled out from the drawer housing 90 and a state in which the storage area 86 is covered by the drawer housing 90 when the drawer 80 is housed in the drawer housing 90.

Configuration of RFID Reader 40
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the RFID reader 40 shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 5, the RFID reader 40 shown in FIG. 1 has a duplexer 41, a tag data transmission processing unit 42, a digital signal conversion unit 43, a communication unit 44, an RF transmission unit 46, an RF reception unit 47, and a tag data reception processing unit 48.

The duplexer 41 transmits the signal output from the RF transmitter 46 as a radio signal via the antennas 30a to 30c, and outputs the radio signal received by the antennas 30a to 30c to the RF receiver 47.

The tag data transmission processing unit 42 outputs a signal for detecting an RFID tag during polling, and also outputs a signal for reading information from the RFID tag via non-contact communication.

The digital signal conversion unit 43 converts the signal output from the tag data transmission processing unit 42 into an analog signal and outputs it to the RF transmission unit 46. The digital signal conversion unit 43 also converts the signal received by the RF reception unit 47 into a digital signal and outputs it to the tag data reception processing unit 48.

The communication unit 44 transmits and receives information to and from the management computer 50.

The RF transmitter 46 transmits the signal converted to an analog signal by the digital signal converter 43 on a carrier wave via the duplexer 41 and the antennas 30a to 30c.

The RF receiver 47 receives the response signal from the RFID tag in response to the signal transmitted from the RF transmitter 46 via the antennas 30a to 30c and the duplexer 41.

The tag data receiving and processing unit 48 transmits the signal converted into a digital signal by the digital signal conversion unit 43 to the management computer 50 via the communication unit 44 as information read from the RFID tag.

Configuration of the Management Computer 50
Fig. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the management computer 50 shown in Fig. 1. Note that in Fig. 6, the illustration and description of the components of the management computer 50 that are not directly related to the present invention are omitted.

The management computer 50 shown in FIG. 1 has a communication unit 51, a reading control unit 56, an open/close state determination unit 53, an item management unit 54, and an output unit 55, as shown in FIG. 6.

The communication unit 51 transmits and receives information to and from the RFID reader 40.

The reading control unit 56 transmits a command to read information from the RFID tag to the RFID reader 40 via the communication unit 51. The reading control unit 56 also receives information read from the RFID tag by the RFID reader 40 via the communication unit 51.

The open/close state determination unit 53 determines whether the storage area 86 of the drawer 80 is covered by the drawer storage body 90 based on the information received by the reading control unit 56 from the RFID reader 40 via the communication unit 51.

The item management unit 54 manages the items contained in the box 10 based on the information received by the reading control unit 56 from the RFID reader 40 via the communication unit 51. For example, the item management unit 54 has a database in which data on the items contained in the box 10 is registered, and manages the items contained in the box 10 by comparing the information registered in this database with the information received from the RFID reader 40 via the communication unit 51.

The output unit 55 is composed of a display etc., and displays and outputs the judgment result by the open/close state judgment unit 53 and the management status of items by the item management unit 54.

In this embodiment, the management computer 50 is used as an example for explanation, but the above-mentioned configuration may be any control device such as a computer that can control the RFID reader 40, including a portable terminal. In addition, the above-mentioned configuration of the management computer 50 may be installed in the RFID reader 40.

<Processing in the item management system>
The process of managing items using the item management system configured as above will be described below.

First, we will explain the function of the open/close detection mechanism of the present invention.

Figure 7 is a diagram to explain the operation of the open/close detection mechanism applied to the item management system shown in Figures 1 and 2.

As described above, in the RFID tag 20 shown in FIG. 2, the two state detection wires 28a, 28b are electrically connected to the switch member 60 via the connection wires 62a, 62b, respectively. When the push-down portion 61 is pressed down, the connection wires 62a, 62b are electrically connected to each other via the push-down portion 61 at the conductive portion 65, as shown in FIG. 7(a). As a result, when the push-down portion 61 is pressed down, the two state detection wires 28a, 28b of the RFID tag 20 are electrically connected to each other.

On the other hand, when the depression portion 61 is not pressed down, as shown in FIG. 7(b), there is no electrical continuity between the connection wirings 62a, 62b via the depression portion 61 at the conductive portion 65. As a result, when the depression portion 61 is pressed down, there is no electrical continuity between the two state detection wirings 28a, 28b of the RFID tag 20.

As described above, the switch member 60 is attached to the end of the top plate 91 opposite the side plate 93b so that the push-down portion 61 protrudes from the top plate 91 to the side opposite the side plate 93b. Therefore, when the drawer 80 is accommodated in the drawer housing 90 and the housing area 86 is covered by the drawer housing 90, the push-down portion 61 is pressed down by the drawer 80, thereby establishing electrical continuity between the two state detection wires 28a, 28b of the RFID tag 20.

On the other hand, when the drawer 80 is pulled out from the drawer housing 90 and the housing area 86 is not covered by the drawer housing 90, the depression portion 61 is not depressed, and therefore there is no electrical continuity between the two state detection wires 28a, 28b of the RFID tag 20.

Therefore, in this embodiment, in the IC chip 21 of the RFID tag 20, a current due to power obtained by non-contact communication via the antenna 22 is passed through the status detection wires 28a, 28b to detect the resistance value between the status detection wires 28a, 28b, and the conduction state between the status detection wires 28a, 28b is detected based on the resistance value. Then, the detection result is converted into digital information as flag information and transmitted non-contact via the antenna 22, so that it can be determined whether the storage area 86 is covered by the drawer container 90 when the drawer 80 is contained in the drawer container 90.

In this manner, in this embodiment, the switch member 60 has a push-down portion 61 that is pushed down by an external force, and switches the conduction state between the two state detection wires 28a, 28b depending on whether the push-down portion 61 is pushed down. The switch member 60 is attached to the drawer housing 90 so that the push-down portion 61 is pushed down by the drawer 80 when the drawer 80 is housed in the drawer housing 90 and the housing area 86 is covered by the drawer housing 90. As a result, when the drawer 80 is housed in the drawer housing 90 and the housing area 86 is covered by the drawer housing 90, the conduction state between the two state detection wires 28a, 28b can be switched by the physical action of the push-down portion 61 being pushed down.

In addition, since the push-down portion 61 is biased by a spring or the like in a direction in which it is not pushed down, the electrical continuity between the two state detection wires 28a, 28b can be switched as the drawer 80 goes from being housed in the drawer housing 90 to being pulled out of the drawer housing 90.

The switch member is not limited to a member that provides electrical continuity between the two status detection wires 28a, 28b of the RFID tag 20 when the drawer 80 is housed in the drawer housing 90 and when the drawer 80 is pulled out of the drawer housing 90, as long as it can switch the electrical continuity between the two status detection wires 28a, 28b of the RFID tag 20. ...

Next, we will explain the items that are stored in the box 10 and are subject to management.

Figure 8 is a diagram for explaining the items that are stored in the box 10 and are subject to management in the item management system shown in Figures 1 and 2, and is a diagram showing the items stored in the drawer 80 as viewed from above.

As shown in FIG. 8, in the box 10 in the item management system shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, items 70 are arranged vertically and horizontally, and further stacked vertically and stored in a drawer 80. Each item 70 stored in the drawer 80 is attached with a management RFID tag 120 by pasting it on its top surface. A unique ID is written in the RFID tag 120, and this unique ID is managed in the item management section 54 of the management computer 50 in association with information about the item to which the RFID tag 120 having that unique ID is attached.

Figure 9 shows the configuration of an RFID tag 120 attached to an item 70 housed in the box 10 shown in Figure 8, where (a) shows the stacked state and (b) shows the configuration of the surface of the inlet 124. Note that the configuration of the RFID tag 120 shown in Figure 9 is merely an example, and other configurations are also possible as long as the information can be read by the RFID reader 40.

The RFID tag 120 attached to the item 70 stored in the box 10 shown in FIG. 8 is intended to manage the item 70 stored in the box 10. As shown in FIG. 9, the RFID tag 120 is configured by laminating adhesive layers 127a, 127b on the front and back of a strip-shaped inlet 124, and attaching a surface sheet 125 to the surface of the inlet 124 via the adhesive layer 127a.

The inlet 124 has a base substrate 123, two antennas 122 for communication, and an IC chip 121.

The base substrate 123 is made of a non-conductive material, such as a film.

The two antennas 122 are formed on one side of the base substrate 123 with two isosceles triangular conductors arranged with a gap between them. The antennas 122 have the above-mentioned shape, so that they resonate at the same frequency as the RFID tag 20.

The IC chip 121 is provided with two antenna terminals (not shown), and the surface with the antenna terminals serves as the mounting surface, and is mounted on the surface of the base substrate 123 on which the antenna 122 is formed, and is fixed with anisotropic conductive paste (not shown). The two antenna terminals of the IC chip 121 are connected to the two antennas 122, respectively, and the antenna terminals and the antennas 122 are electrically connected by the anisotropic conductive paste. The IC chip 121 operates with power obtained by non-contact communication via the antenna 122, and transmits a unique ID, which is information stored in the IC chip 121, non-contactly via the antenna 122 using the same protocol as the RFID tag 20.

In this embodiment of the item management system, the RFID tag 120 configured as described above is attached to the item 70 as shown in FIG. 8, and the item 70 is stored in the box 10, and the information is read from the RFID tag 120 to manage the item 70.

Figure 10 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the processing for managing items in the item management system shown in Figures 1 and 2 and detecting the opening and closing of the box 10. Note that a description of the polling processing that is executed prior to the RFID reader 40 reading information from the RFID tags 20, 120 will be omitted.

When managing items using the item management system shown in Figures 1 and 2, the management computer 50 first confirms that the drawer 80 is stored in the drawer storage unit 90, thereby covering the storage area 86 with the drawer storage unit 90.

First, the read control unit 56 of the management computer 50 sends a command to read information from the RFID tag 20 via the antennas 30a to 30c from the read control unit 56 to the RFID reader 40 via the communication unit 51.

In the RFID reader 40, when a command transmitted from the read control unit 56 via the communication unit 51 is received via the communication unit 44, a signal for reading information from the RFID tag 20 is output from the tag data transmission processing unit 42 in accordance with the received command, and is converted to an analog signal by the digital signal conversion unit 43. At this time, the information read from the RFID tag 20 is the unique ID stored in the RFID tag 20 and flag information indicating the conduction state between the state detection wirings 28a, 28b. Here, by encoding a distinguishable ID between the RFID tag 20 and the RFID tag 120 attached to the item 70 as the unique ID, it is possible to easily determine whether the information read by the RFID reader 40 via the antennas 30a to 30c is information read from the RFID tag 20 or information read from the RFID tag 120 attached to the item 70. For example, an ID beginning with the code "FFFF" could be encoded into the RFID tag 20, and an ID beginning with the common code "AAAA" and consisting of a unique code for each RFID tag 120 could be encoded into the RFID tag 120 attached to the item 70.

Then, in the RF transmission unit 46, the signal converted to an analog signal by the digital signal conversion unit 43 is placed on a carrier wave and transmitted via the duplexer 41 and the antennas 30a to 30c, thereby executing the process of reading information from the RFID tag 20 (step S1).

When the signal transmitted from this RF transmitter 46 via the duplexer 41 and antennas 30a to 30c is received by the RFID tag 20, the RFID tag 20 transmits its unique ID as a response signal to the RFID reader 40 together with flag information indicating the electrical continuity between the status detection wires 28a, 28b. At this time, as described above, it is possible to encode an ID beginning with the code "FFFF" into the RFID tag 20, and encode an ID beginning with the code "AAAA" into the RFID tag 120 attached to the item 70, so that the information read from the RFID tag 20 includes a code that can be distinguished from the information read from the RFID tag 120. In this case, if the command sent from the read control unit 56 via the communication unit 51 to read information from the RFID tag 20 by the RFID reader 40 includes a command to transmit only IDs beginning with the code "FFFF", filtering can be performed by ID, and the ID can be transmitted together with flag information from only the RFID tag 20 out of the RFID tags 20 and 120.

In the RFID tag 20, as described with reference to FIG. 7, when the drawer 80 is accommodated in the drawer housing 90 and the housing area 86 is covered by the drawer housing 90, the two state detection wires 28a and 28b are conductive. On the other hand, when the drawer 80 is pulled out of the drawer housing 90 and the housing area 86 is not covered by the drawer housing 90, the two state detection wires 28a and 28b are not conductive. In addition, in the IC chip 21, the resistance value between the state detection wires 28a and 28b is detected by passing a current due to the power obtained by non-contact communication via the antenna 22 through the state detection wires 28a and 28b, and the conduction state between the state detection wires 28a and 28b is detected based on the resistance value. Then, the detection result is transmitted non-contact as flag information via the antenna 22. As described above, the RFID tag 20 has a metal layer 26 laminated on the surface of the base substrate 23 opposite the surface on which the antenna 22 is formed, so as to cover the antenna 22 in a planar view. This prevents the communication distance in non-contact communication via the antenna 22 from becoming shorter even when the RFID tag 20 is attached to the top plate 91 of the metal drawer container 90.

When the unique ID of the RFID tag 20 is transmitted as a response signal from the RFID tag 20 together with flag information via at least one of the antennas 30a to 30c to the RFID reader 40, the unique ID and flag information of the RFID tag 20 are received by the RF receiver 47 in the RFID reader 40 via the duplexer 41. The ID and flag information received by the RF receiver 47 are then converted into a digital signal by the digital signal converter 43. The unique ID of the RFID tag 20 converted into a digital signal by the tag data reception processor 48 is then transmitted to the management computer 50 via the communication unit 44.

When the unique ID of the RFID tag 20 transmitted from the RFID reader 40 is received by the reading control unit 56 together with the flag information via the communication unit 51 of the management computer 50, the open/close state determination unit 53 checks the flag information transmitted from the RFID tag 20. If the flag information indicates that there is no electrical continuity between the two status detection wires 28a, 28b, the open/close state determination unit 53 determines that the drawer 80 is pulled out of the drawer housing 90 and that the housing area 86 is not covered by the drawer housing 90 (step S2). After that, the process in step S1 is executed until flag information indicating that there is electrical continuity between the two status detection wires 28a, 28b is received from the RFID tag 20.

On the other hand, if the flag information transmitted from the RFID tag 20 indicates that there is electrical continuity between the two state detection wires 28a, 28b, the open/close state determination unit 53 determines that the drawer 80 is accommodated in the drawer container 90 and that the storage area 86 is covered by the drawer container 90.

When the open/close state determination unit 53 determines that the drawer 80 is accommodated in the drawer container 90 and the storage area 86 is covered by the drawer container 90, the reading control unit 56 transmits a command to the RFID reader 40 via the communication unit 51 to read information from the RFID tags 20, 120 via the antennas 30a-30c.

In the RFID reader 40, when a command transmitted from the reading control unit 56 via the communication unit 51 is received via the communication unit 44, a signal for reading information from the RFID tag 20, 120 is output from the tag data transmission processing unit 42 in accordance with the received command, and is converted into an analog signal by the digital signal conversion unit 43.

Then, the signal converted to an analog signal by the digital signal converter 43 is placed on a carrier wave by the RF transmitter 46 and transmitted via the duplexer 41 and the antennas 30a-30c, thereby reading information from the RFID tags 20, 120 (step S3). At this time, the output of the radio waves radiated from the antennas 30a-30c is set to a value that allows information to be read from all RFID tags 120 present in the box 10 via the antennas 30a-30c, so that information can be read from all RFID tags 120 attached to the items 70 stored in the storage area 86 of the drawer 80 without missing any. Note that the items 70 to which the RFID tags 120 are attached are stored in the drawer 80 in a row and column as described above. Therefore, when performing the process of reading information from the RFID tags 120, the output power of the radio waves radiated from the antennas 30a to 30c does not need to be set to a value that allows information to be read from each of the RFID tags 120 present in the box 10 via each of the antennas 30a to 30c, but only needs to be set to a value that allows information from all of the RFID tags 120 present in the box 10 to be read via at least one of the antennas 30a to 30c.

When the signal transmitted from this RF transmitter 46 via the duplexer 41 and antennas 30a to 30c is received by the RFID tag 20, 120, the RFID tag 20, 120 transmits its unique ID as a response signal to the RFID reader 40. In this case, as described above, if an ID beginning with the code "FFFF" is encoded in the RFID tag 20 and an ID beginning with the code "AAAA" is encoded in the RFID tag 120 attached to the item 70, it is possible to include a command to transmit both the ID beginning with the code "AAAA" and the ID beginning with the code "FFFF" in the command transmitted from the read control unit 56 via the communication unit 51 in order for the RFID reader 40 to read information from the RFID tag 120. In this case, while reading information from the RFID tag 120 attached to the item 70, it is also possible to detect whether the storage area 86 is covered by the drawer housing 90 by reading information from the RFID tag 20 attached to the top plate 91 of the drawer housing 90 when the drawer 80 is housed in the drawer housing 90.

When the unique ID of the RFID tag 120 is transmitted as a response signal from the RFID tag 120 to the RFID reader 40 and received by the RF receiver 47 via the antennas 30a-30c and the duplexer 41, it is converted into a digital signal by the digital signal converter 43. Then, the tag data reception processor 48 transmits the unique ID of the RFID tag 120 converted into a digital signal to the management computer 50 via the communication unit 44.

When the unique ID of the RFID tag 120 transmitted from the RFID reader 40 is received by the reading control unit 56 via the communication unit 51 of the management computer 50, the goods management unit 54 compares the information registered in the database with the information received by the reading control unit 56 via the communication unit 51, thereby managing the goods 70 contained in the box 10. The management status of the goods 70 may be displayed and output by the output unit 55 in the goods management unit 54.

At that time, the open/close state determination unit 53 checks flag information received together with the unique ID of the RFID tag 20 from among the IDs received by the reading control unit 56 via the communication unit 51. If the flag information indicates that there is no electrical continuity between the two state detection wires 28a, 28b, the open/close state determination unit 53 determines that the storage area 86 is not covered by the drawer housing 90 when the drawer 80 is pulled out of the drawer housing 90 (step S4), and outputs an error alarm via the output unit 55 (step S5). Note that possible alarm outputs via the output unit 55 include outputting a buzzer sound, turning on a lamp, and displaying an error message on a screen.

On the other hand, if the flag information received by the read control unit 56 via the communication unit 51 indicates that the two state detection wires 28a, 28b are conductive, the open/close state determination unit 53 determines that the drawer 80 is accommodated in the drawer housing 90 and the storage area 86 is covered by the drawer housing 90. Then, after the start of the process in step S3, when the time set as one read process for the item 70 accommodated in the box 10 has elapsed (step S6), in order to determine whether the process of reading information from the RFID tag 120 described above can be started for the next item, after a certain waiting time has elapsed (step S7), the open/close state determination unit 53 again determines whether the drawer 80 has been pulled out of the drawer housing 90 and the storage area 86 is no longer covered by the drawer housing 90 (step S8). In the open/close state determination unit 53, when the flag information transmitted from the RFID tag 20 indicates that the two state detection wires 28a, 28b are not electrically connected, it is determined that the drawer 80 has been pulled out of the drawer housing 90 and the storage area 86 is no longer covered by the drawer housing 90. When the drawer 80 has been pulled out of the drawer housing 90 and the storage area 86 is no longer covered by the drawer housing 90, the reading control unit 56 ends one reading process for the item 70 stored in the box 10 and performs a reading process for the next item. This is a process for determining that the drawer 80 has been pulled out of the drawer housing 90 and the item 70 has been removed after the ID has been read from the RFID tag 120 attached to the item 70. Therefore, the waiting time in step S7 is set to the time required to pull the drawer 80 out of the drawer housing 90 and remove the item 70.

In this manner, in this embodiment, different flag information is transmitted from the detection RFID tag 20 depending on whether the storage area 86 is covered by the drawer housing 90 as a result of the drawer 80 being housed in the drawer housing 90, or whether the storage area 86 is not covered by the drawer housing 90 as a result of the drawer 80 being pulled out of the drawer housing 90. The open/close state determination unit 53 of the management computer 50 then determines whether the storage area 86 is covered by the drawer housing 90 as a result of the drawer 80 being housed in the drawer housing 90 based on the flag information transmitted from the detection RFID tag 20, thereby detecting that the box 10 has been opened. As a result, when an item 70 to which an RFID tag 120 is attached is housed in the box 10 and information is read from the RFID tag 120 to manage the item, it is possible to accurately detect that the box 10 has been opened using a mechanism for reading information from the RFID tag 120. At this time, the flag information transmitted from the RFID tag 20 is used to determine whether the storage area 86 is covered by the drawer housing 90 when the drawer 80 is housed in the drawer housing 90. This makes it possible to avoid erroneous determination of whether the storage area 86 is covered by the drawer housing 90 when the drawer 80 is housed in the drawer housing 90 if the IC chip 21 of the RFID tag 20 is malfunctioning.

In addition, in this embodiment, information is read from the detection RFID tag 20 even when the storage area 86 is covered by the drawer housing 90 because the drawer 80 is housed in the drawer housing 90, and when the storage area 86 is not covered by the drawer housing 90 because the drawer 80 is pulled out of the drawer housing 90. Therefore, if information cannot be read from the RFID tag 20, this does not indicate that the storage area 86 is no longer covered by the drawer housing 90 because the drawer 80 has been pulled out of the drawer housing 90, but rather it can be determined that information cannot be read from the RFID tag 20 due to a malfunction of the RFID tag 20 or its attachment position.

In addition, in this embodiment, as described above, while the RFID reader 40 is reading information from the RFID tag 120 attached to the item 70 via the antennas 30a to 30c, the RFID reader 40 uses the flag information read from the detection RFID tag 20 via the antennas 30a to 30c to determine whether the storage area 86 is covered by the drawer housing 90. This makes it possible to notify the user that the drawer 80 has been pulled out of the drawer housing 90 while information is being read from the RFID tag 120 attached to the item 70.

Here, it is also conceivable that the process of determining whether the storage area 86 is covered by the drawer housing 90 by storing the drawer 80 in the drawer housing 90 by reading information from the RFID tag 20 and the process of managing the items 70 stored in the box 10 by reading information from the RFID tag 120 can be executed as different modes. The process in this case will be described below.

Figure 11 is a flowchart for explaining another example of the process for managing items in the item management system shown in Figures 1 and 2 and detecting the opening and closing of the box 10. Note that in this example, the explanation of the polling process that is executed prior to the RFID reader 40 reading information from the RFID tags 20, 120 is omitted.

In this example, when managing items using the item management system shown in Figures 1 and 2, the operating mode of the management computer 50 is first set to the open/close detection mode.

In the open/close detection mode, first, a command to read information from the RFID tag 20 via the antennas 30a to 30c is sent from the reading control unit 56 to the RFID reader 40 via the communication unit 51.

In the RFID reader 40, when a command transmitted from the read control unit 56 via the communication unit 51 is received via the communication unit 44, a signal for reading information from the RFID tag 20 is output from the tag data transmission processing unit 42 in accordance with the received command, and is converted to an analog signal by the digital signal conversion unit 43. At this time, the information read from the RFID tag 20 is the unique ID stored in the RFID tag 20 and flag information indicating the conduction state between the status detection wirings 28a, 28b. However, by encoding distinguishable IDs for the RFID tag 20 and the RFID tag 120 attached to the item 70, it is possible to easily determine whether the information read by the RFID reader 40 via the antennas 30a to 30c is information read from the RFID tag 20 or information read from the RFID tag 120 attached to the item 70. For example, an ID beginning with the code "FFFF" could be encoded into the RFID tag 20, and an ID beginning with the common code "AAAA" and consisting of a unique code for each RFID tag 120 could be encoded into the RFID tag 120 attached to the item 70.

Then, the signal converted to an analog signal by the digital signal conversion unit 43 is placed on a carrier wave by the RF transmission unit 46 and transmitted via the duplexer 41 and the antennas 30a to 30c, thereby executing the process of reading information from the RFID tag 20 (step S11).

When the signal transmitted from this RF transmitter 46 via the duplexer 41 and antennas 30a to 30c is received by the RFID tag 20, the RFID tag 20 transmits its unique ID as a response signal to the RFID reader 40 together with flag information indicating the electrical continuity between the status detection wires 28a, 28b. At this time, as described above, it is possible to encode an ID beginning with the code "FFFF" into the RFID tag 20, and encode an ID beginning with the code "AAAA" into the RFID tag 120 attached to the item 70, so that the information read from the RFID tag 20 includes a code that can be distinguished from the information read from the RFID tag 120. In this case, if the command sent from the read control unit 56 via the communication unit 51 to read information from the RFID tag 20 by the RFID reader 40 includes a command to transmit only IDs beginning with the code "FFFF", filtering can be performed by ID, and the ID can be transmitted together with flag information from only the RFID tag 20 out of the RFID tags 20 and 120.

In the RFID tag 20, as described with reference to FIG. 7, when the drawer 80 is accommodated in the drawer housing 90 and the housing area 86 is covered by the drawer housing 90, the two state detection wires 28a and 28b are conductive. On the other hand, when the drawer 80 is pulled out of the drawer housing 90 and the housing area 86 is not covered by the drawer housing 90, the two state detection wires 28a and 28b are not conductive. In addition, in the IC chip 21, the resistance value between the state detection wires 28a and 28b is detected by passing a current due to the power obtained by non-contact communication via the antenna 22 through the state detection wires 28a and 28b, and the conduction state between the state detection wires 28a and 28b is detected based on the resistance value. Then, the detection result is transmitted non-contact as flag information via the antenna 22. As described above, the RFID tag 20 has a metal layer 26 laminated on the surface of the base substrate 23 opposite the surface on which the antenna 22 is formed, so as to cover the antenna 22 in a planar view. This prevents the communication distance in non-contact communication via the antenna 22 from becoming shorter even when the RFID tag 20 is attached to the top plate 91 of the metal drawer container 90.

When the RFID tag 20 transmits the unique ID of the RFID tag 20 together with flag information as a response signal to the RFID reader 40 via at least one of the antennas 30a to 30c, the unique ID and flag information of the RFID tag 20 transmitted from the RFID tag 20 via the antennas 30a to 30c are received by the RF receiver 47 in the RFID reader 40 via the duplexer 41. The ID and flag information received by the RF receiver 47 are then converted into a digital signal by the digital signal converter 43, and the tag data reception processor 48 transmits the unique ID of the RFID tag 20 converted into a digital signal to the management computer 50 via the communication unit 44.

When the unique ID of the RFID tag 20 transmitted from the RFID reader 40 is received by the reading control unit 56 together with the flag information via the communication unit 51 of the management computer 50, the open/close state determination unit 53 checks the flag information transmitted from the RFID tag 20. If the flag information indicates that there is no electrical continuity between the two status detection wires 28a, 28b, the open/close state determination unit 53 determines that the drawer 80 is pulled out of the drawer housing 90 and that the housing area 86 is not covered by the drawer housing 90 (step S12). Thereafter, the process in step S11 is executed until flag information indicating that there is electrical continuity between the two status detection wires 28a, 28b is received from the RFID tag 20.

On the other hand, if the flag information transmitted from the RFID tag 20 indicates that there is electrical continuity between the two state detection wires 28a, 28b, the open/close state determination unit 53 determines that the drawer 80 is accommodated in the drawer container 90 and that the storage area 86 is covered by the drawer container 90.

When the open/close state determination unit 53 determines that the drawer 80 is accommodated in the drawer container 90 and the storage area 86 is covered by the drawer container 90, the operating mode of the management computer 50 is switched to the item reading mode.

In the item reading mode, the reading control unit 56 sends a command to the RFID reader 40 via the communication unit 51 to read information from the RFID tag 120 via the antennas 30a to 30c.

In the RFID reader 40, when a command transmitted from the reading control unit 56 via the communication unit 51 is received via the communication unit 44, a signal for reading information from the RFID tag 120 is output from the tag data transmission processing unit 42 in accordance with the received command, and is converted into an analog signal by the digital signal conversion unit 43.

Then, the signal converted to an analog signal by the digital signal converter 43 is placed on a carrier wave by the RF transmitter 46 and transmitted via the duplexer 41 and the antennas 30a-30c, thereby executing the process of reading information from the RFID tags 120 in the article reading mode (step S13). At this time, the output of the radio waves radiated from the antennas 30a-30c is set to a value that allows information to be read from all the RFID tags 120 present in the box 10 via the antennas 30a-30c, so that information can be read from all the RFID tags 120 attached to the articles 70 stored in the storage area 86 of the drawer 80 without missing any. Note that the articles 70 to which the RFID tags 120 are attached are stored in the drawer 80 in a row and column as described above. Therefore, when performing the process of reading information from the RFID tags 120, the output power of the radio waves radiated from the antennas 30a to 30c does not need to be set to a value that allows information to be read from each of the RFID tags 120 present in the box 10 via each of the antennas 30a to 30c, but only needs to be set to a value that allows information from all of the RFID tags 120 present in the box 10 to be read via at least one of the antennas 30a to 30c.

When the signal transmitted from this RF transmitter 46 via the duplexer 41 and antennas 30a to 30c is received by the RFID tag 120, the RFID tag 120 transmits its unique ID as a response signal to the RFID reader 40.

When the unique ID of the RFID tag 120 transmitted as a response signal from the RFID tag 120 to the RFID reader 40 is received by the RF receiver 47 via the antennas 30a-30c and the duplexer 41, it is converted into a digital signal by the digital signal converter 43. After that, the tag data reception processor 48 transmits the unique ID of the RFID tag 120 converted into a digital signal to the management computer 50 via the communication unit 44.

When the unique ID of the RFID tag 120 transmitted from the RFID reader 40 is received by the reading control unit 56 via the communication unit 51 of the management computer 50, the goods management unit 54 compares the information registered in the database with the information received by the reading control unit 56 via the communication unit 51, thereby managing the goods 70 contained in the box 10. The management status of the goods 70 may be displayed and output by the output unit 55 in the goods management unit 54.

When the time set for one reading process of the item 70 contained in the box 10 has elapsed since the start of processing in the item reading mode in the management computer 50 (step S14), the management computer 50 transitions again to the open/close detection mode and executes the same reading process in the open/close detection mode as described above (step S15).

If the flag information received by the read control unit 56 via the communication unit 51 indicates that there is no electrical continuity between the two status detection wires 28a, 28b, the open/close status determination unit 53 determines that the storage area 86 is not covered by the drawer housing 90 when the drawer 80 is pulled out of the drawer housing 90 (step S16), and an error warning is output via the output unit 55 (step S17).

On the other hand, if the flag information received by the read control unit 56 via the communication unit 51 indicates that the two state detection wires 28a, 28b are conductive, the open/close state determination unit 53 determines that the drawer 80 is accommodated in the drawer housing 90 and the housing area 86 is covered by the drawer housing 90. Then, after a certain waiting time has elapsed (step S18), the open/close state determination unit 53 again determines whether the drawer 80 is pulled out of the drawer housing 90 and the housing area 86 is covered by the drawer housing 90, depending on whether the flag information received by the read control unit 56 via the communication unit 51 indicates that the two state detection wires 28a, 28b are conductive (step S19). Then, if it is determined that the drawer 80 is pulled out of the drawer housing 90 and the housing area 86 is not covered by the drawer housing 90, the read control unit 56 ends one read process for the item 70 accommodated in the box 10 and performs a read process for the next item. This is a process for determining that the drawer 80 has been pulled out from the drawer housing 90 and the item 70 has been removed after the ID has been read from the RFID tag 120 attached to the item 70. Therefore, the waiting time in step S18 is set to the time required to pull the drawer 80 out of the drawer housing 90 and remove the item 70.

In this manner, even in this embodiment, different flag information is transmitted from the detection RFID tag 20 depending on whether the storage area 86 is covered by the drawer housing 90 when the drawer 80 is housed in the drawer housing 90 or whether the storage area 86 is not covered by the drawer housing 90 when the drawer 80 is pulled out of the drawer housing 90. The open/close state determination unit 53 of the management computer 50 determines whether the storage area 86 is covered by the drawer housing 90 when the drawer 80 is housed in the drawer housing 90 based on the flag information transmitted from the detection RFID tag 20, thereby detecting that the box 10 has been opened. As a result, when an item 70 to which an RFID tag 120 is attached is housed in the box 10 and information is read from the RFID tag 120 to manage the item, it is possible to accurately detect that the box 10 has been opened using a mechanism for reading information from the RFID tag 120. At this time, the flag information transmitted from the RFID tag 20 is used to determine whether the storage area 86 is covered by the drawer housing 90 when the drawer 80 is housed in the drawer housing 90. This makes it possible to avoid erroneous determination of whether the storage area 86 is covered by the drawer housing 90 when the drawer 80 is housed in the drawer housing 90 if the IC chip 21 of the RFID tag 20 is faulty.

In the above-described series of processes, the open/close detection mode is not executed from when the article reading mode is started until it is ended. Therefore, if the article reading mode is set to a long period of time, and the drawer 80 is pulled out of the drawer housing 90 between when the article reading mode is started and when it is ended, and the storage area 86 is no longer covered by the drawer housing 90, this fact cannot be notified.

Figure 12 is a flowchart for explaining the processing when the open/close detection mode is executed during the item reading mode in the item management system shown in Figure 1.

In this process, during the period in which information is read from the RFID tag 120 in the article reading mode in step S13 described above, the process of reading information from the RFID tag 20 in the open/close detection mode in step S15 described above is executed at predetermined intervals. For example, if the execution time of the article reading mode determined in step S14 described above is 1 second, during the period in which information is read from the RFID tag 120 in the article reading mode in step S13, the process of reading information from the RFID tag 20 in the open/close detection mode in step S15 described above is executed at intervals of, for example, 0.1 seconds.

In this case, while reading information from the RFID tag 120 in the article reading mode in the above-mentioned step S13 (step S21), at the timing of 0.1 second intervals (step S22), the mode is switched to the open/close detection mode, and the ID is transmitted from the RFID tag 20 alone together with flag information, as in the above-mentioned step S15. For example, an ID beginning with a code "FFFF" is encoded in the RFID tag 20, and an ID beginning with a code "AAAA" is encoded in the RFID tag 120 attached to the article 70, so that the information read from the RFID tag 20 may include a code that can be distinguished from the information read from the RFID tag 120. In this case, a command to transmit only IDs beginning with a code "FFFF" in the command transmitted from the reading control unit 56 via the communication unit 51 in order for the RFID reader 40 to read information from the RFID tag 20 may include a command to transmit only IDs beginning with a code "FFFF", thereby filtering by ID and transmitting IDs together with flag information from the RFID tag 20 alone.

Then, in the RF transmission unit 46, the signal converted to an analog signal by the digital signal conversion unit 43 is placed on a carrier wave and transmitted via the duplexer 41 and the antennas 30a to 30c, thereby executing the process of reading information from the RFID tag 20 (step S23).

As a result, the mode in which the RFID reader 40 reads information from the RFID tags 20 and 120 changes from the item reading mode to the open/close detection mode, and information is read from the RFID tag 20.

Then, similar to the process in step S16 described above, if the flag information received by the reading control unit 56 via the communication unit 51 indicates that there is no electrical continuity between the two state detection wires 28a, 28b, the open/close state determination unit 53 determines that the storage area 86 is not covered by the drawer container 90 when the drawer 80 is pulled out of the drawer container 90 (step S24), and an error warning is output via the output unit 55 (step S25).

On the other hand, if the flag information received by the reading control unit 56 via the communication unit 51 indicates that there is electrical continuity between the two status detection wires 28a, 28b, the open/close status determination unit 53 determines that the storage area 86 is covered by the drawer housing 90 because the drawer 80 is housed in the drawer housing 90, and the process returns to step S21, where the process of reading information from the RFID tag 120 continues.

In this manner, in this process, while reading information from the RFID tag 120 in the item reading mode, the mode is switched to the open/close detection mode, and if it is determined that the storage area 86 is not covered by the drawer container 90 because the drawer 80 has been pulled out of the drawer container 90, the open/close state determination unit 53 outputs an error from the output unit 55. This makes it possible to notify the user that the box 10 is opened while reading information from the RFID tag 120 attached to the item 70, and the storage area 86 of the drawer 80 is not covered by the drawer container 90.

In this embodiment, in order to detect whether the drawer 80 is housed in the drawer housing 90, the RFID reader 40 reads the ID and flag information from the RFID tag 20 via the antennas 30a to 30c. However, the RFID tag 20 ID and flag information may be read only from the antenna 30a attached near the RFID tag 20 among the antennas 30a to 30c. By attaching the antenna 30a near the RFID tag 20, the antenna 30a can reliably read information from the RFID tag 20. In this case, when reading information only from the RFID tag 20, the read control unit 56 of the management computer 50 transmits a command to the RFID reader 40 to read information from the RFID tag 20 only via the antenna 30a. The RFID reader 40 reads information from the RFID tag 20 only via the antenna 30a according to the command transmitted from the management computer 50.

The switch member 60 and the RFID tag 20 may also be attached to the drawer 80. Even in this case, it is necessary to configure the two state detection wires 28a, 28b of the RFID tag 20 so that they are conductive when the drawer 80 is housed in the drawer housing 90, and so that the two state detection wires 28a, 28b of the RFID tag 20 are not conductive when the drawer 80 is drawn out of the drawer housing 90. Specifically, as in this embodiment, it is possible to configure the switch member 60 so that the push-down portion 61 is pushed down by the drawer housing 90 when the drawer 80 is housed in the drawer housing 90. In this case, the distance between the antennas 30a-30c and the RFID tag 20 will be different when the drawer 80 is stored in the drawer housing 90 and when the drawer 80 is pulled out of the drawer housing 90. Therefore, it is preferable to adjust the output of the radio waves radiated through the antennas 30a-30c to read information from the RFID tag 20 so that information can be reliably read from the RFID tag 20 in either state.

Other Embodiments
Fig. 13 is an external perspective view of a box according to another embodiment of an item management system to which the open/close detection mechanism of the present invention is applied, showing a state in which a drawer 80 has been pulled out from a drawer housing 90. Fig. 14 is an external view showing a detailed configuration of a detection board 160 shown in Fig. 13.

As shown in FIG. 13, the box 110 in this embodiment differs from that shown in FIG. 2 in that a detection board 160 is attached to the top plate 91 of the drawer container 90 instead of the switch member 60.

As shown in FIG. 14, the detection board 160 is configured by forming two detection wires 166a, 166b that extend parallel to each other on one surface of the base material 164. Each of the detection wires 166a, 166b has a contact terminal 163a, 163b at one end, and the other end is connected to the state detection wires 28a, 28b of the RFID tag 20 via connection wires 162a, 162b. In addition, a magnet 167 is attached on the contact terminals 163a, 163b. The magnet 167 has a surface coated with conductive paint or has a cover made of a conductive material attached thereto, thereby providing electrical continuity with the contact terminals 163a, 163b.

The detection board 160 configured as described above is folded via a folding section 168 perpendicular to the direction in which the detection wirings 166a, 166b extend so that the surface on which the detection wirings 166a, 166b are formed is on the outside. The detection board 160 is attached to the surface of the top plate 91 of the drawer housing 90 that faces and abuts against the side plate 81 of the drawer 80 via the folding section 168 by an adhesive layer (not shown) laminated on the side opposite to the surface on which the detection wirings 166a, 166b are formed of the base substrate 164, and the opposite area is attached to the surface of the top plate 91 that faces the bottom plate 92 via the folding section 168.

Figure 15 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the open/close detection mechanism in the box 110 shown in Figures 13 and 14.

As described above, in the RFID tag 20, the two state detection wires 28a, 28b are electrically connected to the detection wires 166a, 166b of the detection board 160 via the connection wires 162a, 162b, respectively. When the drawer 80 is pulled out of the drawer housing 90, as shown in FIG. 15(a), there is no electrical continuity between the state detection wires 28a, 28b.

On the other hand, when the drawer 80 is housed in the drawer housing 90, as shown in FIG. 15(b), the contact terminals 163a and 163b of the detection board 160 contact the side plate 81 of the drawer 80 via the magnet 167. At this time, the side plate 81 is made of a material that reflects or absorbs radio waves as described above, but by making the side plate 81 out of a material having electrical conductivity, the two connection wires 162a and 162b are electrically connected, and thus the two state detection wires 28a and 28b of the RFID tag 20 are electrically connected. Note that instead of making the entire side plate 81 out of a material having electrical conductivity as the conductive part of the present invention, a conductive part made of a conductive material may be provided in the area of the side plate 81 where the contact terminals 163a and 163b come into contact when the drawer 80 is housed in the drawer housing 90 so that the contact terminals 163a and 163b are electrically connected. For example, if the side plate 81 is coated with a paint made of a non-conductive material, it is possible to apply a conductive tape or paint made of a conductive material to the area where the contact terminals 163a, 163b come into contact. In addition, as the drawer 80 is repeatedly pulled out from the drawer housing 90 and then housed in the drawer housing 90, the contact terminals 163a, 163b will repeatedly hit the side plate 81. Therefore, if a material having elasticity such as rubber or sponge made of a conductive material is attached to the area of the side plate 81 where the contact terminals 163a, 163b come into contact, the contact terminals 163a, 163b will be less likely to wear out or be damaged, even if the drawer 80 is repeatedly pulled out from the drawer housing 90 and then housed in the drawer housing 90.

In this way, the detection board 160 is attached to the top plate 91 of the drawer housing 90 so that the contact terminals 163a, 163b are not in contact with the drawer 80 when the drawer 80 is pulled out of the drawer housing 90, but are in contact with the drawer 80 when the drawer 80 is housed in the drawer housing 90.

As a result, in this embodiment, in the IC chip 21 of the RFID tag 20, a current due to the power obtained by non-contact communication via the antenna 22 is passed through the status detection wires 28a, 28b to detect the resistance value between the status detection wires 28a, 28b, and the electrical continuity between the status detection wires 28a, 28b is detected based on the resistance value. The detection result is then converted into digital information as flag information and transmitted non-contact via the antenna 22, making it possible to determine whether the drawer 80 is accommodated in the drawer housing 90 and the housing area 86 is covered by the drawer housing 90.

In addition, magnets 167 are attached to the contact terminals 163a and 163b. Therefore, if at least the area of the side plate 81 of the drawer 80 that comes into contact with the magnet 167 when the drawer 80 is housed in the drawer housing 90 is made of a ferromagnetic material such as iron that is attracted to the magnet 167, the two contact terminals 163a and 163b can be kept in reliable contact with the side plate 81 of the drawer 80 when the drawer 80 is housed in the drawer housing 90.

In this embodiment, a detection board 160 having contact terminals 163a and 163b is used, but the RFID tag 20 may be provided with two contact terminals connected to the state detection wires 28a and 28b, respectively, and the RFID tag 20 may be bent and attached to the top plate 91 so that these two contact terminals contact the side plate 81 when the drawer 80 is housed in the drawer housing 90.

Also, in this embodiment, the detection board 160 and the RFID tag 20 may be attached to the drawer 80 instead of the drawer housing 90. Even in this case, it is necessary to configure the two state detection wires 28a, 28b of the RFID tag 20 so that they are conductive when the drawer 80 is housed in the drawer housing 90, and the two state detection wires 28a, 28b of the RFID tag 20 are not conductive when the drawer 80 is drawn out of the drawer housing 90. Specifically, as in this embodiment, it is possible to configure the contact terminals 163a, 163b of the detection board 160 so that they are conductive via the drawer housing 90 when the drawer 80 is housed in the drawer housing 90. In this case, the distance between the antennas 30a-30c and the RFID tag 20 will be different when the drawer 80 is stored in the drawer housing 90 and when the drawer 80 is pulled out of the drawer housing 90. Therefore, it is preferable to adjust the output of the radio waves radiated through the antennas 30a-30c to read information from the RFID tag 20 so that information can be reliably read from the RFID tag 20 in either state.

In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the antennas 30a to 30c are attached to the drawer housing 90, but the antennas 30a to 30c may be attached to the drawer 80. In that case, only the antenna 30a that reads information from the RFID tag 20 may be attached to the drawer housing 90 to which the RFID tag 20 is attached.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the box 10, 110 has a drawer 80 and a drawer housing 90, and when the drawer 80 is pulled out of the drawer housing 90, the storage area 86 is not covered by the drawer housing 90, and when the drawer 80 is housed in the drawer housing 90, the storage area 86 is covered by the drawer housing 90. However, the open/close detection mechanism of the present invention can be applied to other boxes that have a storage section with a storage area in which items are stored and a covering section that covers the storage area, and can be displaced between a first state in which the storage area is not covered by the covering section and a second state in which the storage area is covered by the covering section. For example, in a box that has a storage section with a storage area in which items are stored and a lid, and the lid rotates relative to the storage section to cover the storage area, it is possible to attach a switch member 60 to one of the storage section and the lid so that when the lid covers the storage area, the push-down section 61 shown in FIG. 2 is pushed down by the other of the storage section and the lid. It is also possible to attach a detection board 160 to one of the storage section and the lid so that when the lid covers the storage area, the contact terminals 163a and 163b shown in Figs. 13 and 14 are conductive through the other of the storage section and the lid. In a device that has a storage chamber having a storage area in which items are stored and a door, and the door rotates relative to the storage chamber to cover the storage area, it is also possible to attach a switch member 60 to one of the storage chamber and the door so that when the door covers the storage area, the push-down part 61 shown in Fig. 2 is pressed down by the other of the storage chamber and the door. It is also possible to attach a detection board 160 to one of the storage chamber and the door so that when the door covers the storage area, the contact terminals 163a and 163b shown in Figs. 13 and 14 are conductive through the other of the storage chamber and the door.

The number of antennas attached to the box body 10, 110 is set appropriately depending on the shape of the box body 10, 110 and the item 70 stored therein.

10 Box body 20, 120 RFID tag 21, 121 IC chip 22, 30a to 30c, 122 Antenna 23, 123, 164 Base substrate 24, 124 Inlet 25, 125 Surface sheet 26 Metal layer 27a, 27b, 127a, 127b Adhesive layer 28a, 28b Status detection wiring 40 RFID reader 41 Shared device 42 Tag data transmission processing unit 43 Digital signal conversion unit 44, 51 Communication unit 46 RF transmission unit 47 RF reception unit 48 Tag data reception processing unit 50 Management computer 53 Open/close state determination unit 54 Goods management unit 55 Output unit 56 Reading control unit 60 Switch member 61 Depressing unit 62a, 62b, 162a, 162b Connection wiring 64 Housing 65 Conductive portion 70 Item 80 Drawer 81, 93a to 93c Side plate 82, 92 Bottom plate 83a to 83c, 84a to 84c Guide 85 Handle 86 Storage area 90 Drawer storage body 91 Top plate 94a, 94b Rail 160 Detection board 163a, 163b Contact terminal 166a, 166b Detection wiring

Claims (5)

A box having a storage section with a storage area for storing items and a covering section covering the storage area, the box being displaceable between a first state in which the storage area is not covered by the covering section and a second state in which the storage area is covered by the covering section, a detection RFID tag attached to the box for detecting whether the box is in the first state or the second state, and reading means for reading information transmitted in a non-contact manner from the detection RFID tag,
The RFID tag comprises:
A base material;
A communication antenna and two state detection wires formed on the base material;
an IC chip disposed on the base material and connected to the communication antenna and the two status detection wires, the IC chip detecting a continuity state between the two status detection wires and transmitting the detection result in a non-contact manner via the communication antenna;
moreover,
an open/close detection mechanism having a switch member connected to the two state detection wires and switching the electrical continuity state between the two state detection wires when the box body is in the first state and when the box body is in the second state. The open/close detection mechanism according to claim 1,
The switch member is
A pressing portion that is pressed down by an external force is provided.
switching a conduction state between the two state detection wirings depending on whether the depression portion is pressed;
An open/close detection mechanism that is attached to one of the storage portion and the covering portion so that the press-down portion is pressed down by the other of the storage portion and the covering portion when the box body is in the second state. The open/close detection mechanism according to claim 2,
The depression portion is biased in a direction not to be depressed. A box having a storage section with a storage area for storing items and a covering section covering the storage area, the box being displaceable between a first state in which the storage area is not covered by the covering section and a second state in which the storage area is covered by the covering section, a detection RFID tag attached to the box for detecting whether the box is in the first state or the second state, and reading means for reading information transmitted in a non-contact manner from the detection RFID tag,
The RFID tag comprises:
A base material;
A communication antenna and two state detection wires formed on the base material;
an IC chip disposed on the base material and connected to the communication antenna and the two status detection wires, the IC chip detecting a continuity state between the two status detection wires and transmitting the detection result in a non-contact manner via the communication antenna;
moreover,
two contact terminals are attached to either the storage portion or the covering portion, the two contact terminals being respectively connected to the two state detection wires, and being in contact with the other of the storage portion and the covering portion when the box body is in the second state, and being not in contact with the other of the storage portion and the covering portion when the box body is in the first state;
The box has a conductive portion that makes the two contact terminals conductive in an area where the two contact terminals are in contact when the box is in the second state. The open/close detection mechanism according to claim 4,
the conductive portion is made of a ferromagnetic material,
An open/close detection mechanism, wherein magnets are attached to the two contact terminals.

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