JP4815937B2 - Pallet moving direction confirmation system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a method and system for confirming the traveling direction of a pallet that is loaded with an article and that is conveyed with the article when the article is conveyed.

Usually, when carrying an article, a pallet that can be easily carried by being lifted by a forklift or the like by mounting the article is used.
In such logistics management using pallets, management can be performed on a pallet basis, and machine processing information can be managed by adding machine-readable information to the pallets using barcodes or non-contact IC tags. It is possible to manage efficiently.

Conventional technologies include a warehouse management system (see Patent Document 1) using a non-contact data carrier that is a non-contact IC tag, and a logistics management system and method using a pallet equipped with a non-contact IC tag (patent) Document 2) has been proposed.
In the warehouse management system, information on articles placed on a pallet on a non-contact data carrier provided on the pallet is read and written by a reader / writer provided on the loading / unloading path, so that the inside of the warehouse or factory The goods receipt / exit state of each article in the house is confirmed.
Further, in the physical distribution management system and method using the pallet, the article information is written to the non-contact IC tag and the article information is read from the non-contact IC tag using the pallet having the non-contact IC tag. Logistics management.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-223111 JP 2004-182364 A

As described above, by providing a non-contact IC tag on the pallet, warehouse management and physical distribution management can be performed. However, when a large number of pallets are transported by a forklift or the like, the pallets transported due to human error are previously stored. It may be placed in a direction different from the set direction.
For example, when the loading position of the article loaded on the pallet is determined in advance and the work is started in order from the article loaded on the front side of the pallet, the pallet that has been conveyed by a forklift or the like is determined in advance. and it must be placed in the orientation, if not pallet is placed in a predetermined orientation, it is impossible to handle the mounted article on the pallet on the front side or al order.

Therefore, the present invention confirms whether the pallet is transported in the correct direction when the pallet is transported so that the pallet can be placed in a predetermined direction when transporting the pallet on which the article is mounted. it is possible to not mistake pallets conveyed by forklifts, provides the traveling direction probability 認Shi stem pallet as put in a predetermined orientation.

A pallet traveling direction confirmation system according to the present invention includes a plurality of non-contact IC tags provided in a pallet, a non-contact IC tag reader that sequentially reads unique information stored in the non-contact IC tag according to the pallet traveling direction, A pallet traveling direction confirmation system including a processing device connected to a non-contact IC tag reader, wherein a plurality of non-contact IC tags provided on the pallet are arranged along the pallet traveling direction. In addition, each unique information is stored, and the non-contact IC tag reader has transmission means for transmitting the unique information read from the non-contact IC tag to the processing device, and the processing device receives the non-contact IC tag from the non-contact IC tag. Storage means for storing the transmitted unique information in time series, and the non-contact IC tag reader fixed the non-contact IC tag. A unique information database in which information related to the correct reading order of unique information when information is read is registered in advance, order information of unique information stored in time series in the storage means, and registered in the unique information database And unique information collating means for collating with the order information of the unique information.

Further, the pallet traveling direction confirmation system of the present invention is a collation by the specific information collating means. If there is a discrepancy in the order of specific information in the results of And features.

  In the present invention, when the pallet moves, the unique information stored in the plurality of non-contact IC tags provided in the pallet is sequentially read by the non-contact IC tag reader, and the unique information registered in the storage means in advance. It is possible to confirm whether the pallet being conveyed is being conveyed in a predetermined direction by verifying whether or not it matches the order of There is an effect that a pallet conveyed by a forklift or the like can be placed in a predetermined direction without mistake.

  Furthermore, in the present invention, when the order of the unique information is inconsistent in the verification result, a process for notifying that the pallet is placed in a different way is performed. There is an effect that the conveyed pallet can be placed in a predetermined direction without any mistake.

Hereinafter, the traveling direction confirmation method and system of the pallet and the pallet according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
1 is a perspective view of a pallet according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of a non-contact IC tag provided in the pallet according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a system configuration for executing a pallet traveling direction confirmation method according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart figure explaining the process sequence of the advancing direction confirmation method of the pallet which concerns.

First, based on FIG.1 and FIG.2, the pallet which concerns on embodiment of this invention is demonstrated.
A pallet 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a pallet main body 2 on which articles are mounted, and two non-contact IC tags 3a and 3b provided on the pallet main body 2.
The interior of the pallet main body 2 is hollow, and is configured to be inserted and lifted by inserting a part of the forklift into the hollow portion 4. The hollow inlets are respectively provided on both side surfaces of the pallet main body 2. .
Therefore, when the pallet 1 is transported by a forklift, one of the two cavity inlets is selected and a part of the forklift is inserted into the cavity 4 to be transported.

Further, the pallet 1 is provided with non-contact IC tags 3a and 3b at the upper part of the pallet body 2 and in the vicinity of the two cavity entrance sides.
The structure of these non-contact IC tags 3a and 3b will be described based on the non-contact IC tag 3 shown in FIG.
The non-contact IC tag 3 is formed with a coil pattern 38 as a transmission / reception means on a base material 31 such as plastic, and a resonance circuit is formed by the coil and a capacitive element to receive and transmit radio waves of a constant frequency. It is configured as follows.
As another method, power transmission and data transmission may be performed by electromagnetic induction of a carrier wave from a reader / writer.
In general, a frequency band of 135 kHz (medium wave), 13.56 MHz, 2.45 GHz (microwave), and UHF is used.

In the case of the illustrated example, the coil pattern 38 forms a jumping circuit on the back surface of the base material 31 by the conductive member 34 and is connected to the bumps on the back surface of the IC chip 32 by the coil connection terminals 38C.
The IC chip 32 includes a CPU and a memory, and unique information is stored in the memory.
Accordingly, different unique information is stored in each of the two non-contact IC tags 3a and 3b.

In the illustrated example, the capacitive element is built in the IC chip 32.
Such a non-contact IC tag 3 is formed by forming a coil pattern by photo etching or etching after resist printing on a metal foil such as an aluminum foil laminated on a resin base material, mounting an IC chip 32, and providing a protective coating. It can be formed by providing.
The size can also be about 76 mm × 45 mm or less.

As the resin base material 31 used for the non-contact IC tag 3, various materials such as PET, polypropylene, polyethylene, polystyrene, and nylon can be used, and paper may be used.
A thickness of 15 to 300 μm can be used, but 20 to 100 μm is more preferable from the viewpoint of strength, workability, cost, and the like.
Although copper foil, aluminum foil, or iron foil can be used as the metal foil, aluminum foil is preferable from the viewpoint of cost and workability, and the thickness is preferably about 6 to 50 μm.

  In reading and writing information recorded on these non-contact IC tags 3, a resonating call signal is transmitted from the non-contact IC tag reader / writer to the non-contact IC tag 3 at a distance of several centimeters to several tens of centimeters. A response signal from the non-contact IC tag 3 can be read, and information recorded in a memory that is a storage unit of the IC chip 32 of the non-contact IC tag 3 can be read or information can be written.

The non-contact IC tag 3 is provided on the upper surface of the pallet body 2 by various methods.
As a method of providing the non-contact IC tag 3 on the upper surface of the pallet main body 2, a cover having a size larger than that of the non-contact IC tag 3 is prepared, and the non-contact IC tag 3 is covered with the cover and the pallet is covered. There are a method of bonding on the main body 2 and a method of preparing a non-contact IC tag label having the non-contact IC tag 3 in advance and bonding the non-contact IC tag label on the pallet main body 2.

FIG. 4 shows a system configuration of the processing device 7 connected to the non-contact IC tag reader 6 and performing processing based on the unique information read by the non-contact IC tag reader 6.
The processing device 7 includes an interface (I / F) 8 connected to the non-contact IC tag reader 6 and a pallet 1 to be transported in advance from the two non-contact IC tags 3 provided on the pallet 1. Specific information database 9 in which information relating to the correct order at the time of reading is registered, two specific information read in sequence by the non-contact IC tag reader 6, and two registered in order in the specific information database 9 Unique information collating means 10 for collating unique information, warning means 11 for notifying by generating a warning sound when the result of collation by the unique information collating means 10 is inconsistent, control means 12, and storage Means 13 and the like are provided.

For example, the unique information in the memory of the non-contact IC tag 3a provided at the front part of the pallet 1 to be transported is “1”, and the unique information in the memory of the non-contact IC tag 3b provided at the rear part of the pallet 1 is used. When “2” is set and the pallet 1 is being conveyed in the correct direction, the non-contact IC tag reader 6 first reads the unique information “1”, and then reads the unique information “2”. It will be.
In the unique information database 9, a criterion that “1” is read first and then “2” is normally registered as the order information for reading the unique information in advance.
Such a standard is that when the same product is transported sequentially using a number of pallets, the unique information in the memory of the non-contact IC tag 3a provided at the front is provided for all of the individual pallets. If “1” is set and the unique information in the memory of the non-contact IC tag 3b provided at the rear part of the pallet 1 is set to “2”, processing based on the same reference information can be performed.

Next, based on FIG.3 and FIG.4, the advancing direction confirmation method of the pallet which concerns on embodiment of this invention is demonstrated.
FIG. 3 shows a state in which the pallet 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention is transported in the left direction by the pallet 1 on which the article 5 is mounted by a transport means such as a forklift.
The pallet 1 is provided with non-contact IC tags 3 a and 3 b in which unique information is stored in a memory on the front side and the rear side with respect to the traveling direction of the pallet 1.
A non-contact IC tag reader 6 is installed in advance at a predetermined place where the pallet 1 is transported.
The location where the radio wave transmitted from the non-contact IC tag reader 6 is received is determined so that the pallet 1 travels, whereby two non-contact IC tags provided in the pallet 1 with the non-contact IC tag reader 6 are determined. Each unique information stored in the memories 3a and 3b can be read in order.

That is, as shown in FIG. 3A, the front side of the pallet 1 being conveyed first approaches the non-contact IC tag reader 6, so that the non-contact IC tag reader 6 is provided at the front part of the pallet 1. The unique information stored in the memory of the contactless IC tag 3a can be read.
Further, the pallet 1 then advances, so that the rear side of the pallet 1 being conveyed approaches the non-contact IC tag reader 6, and the non-contact IC tag 3 b provided at the rear part of the pallet 1. The unique information stored in the memory can be read.
Thus, the non-contact IC tag reader 6 is provided so that two different pieces of unique information can be read.

For example, the unique information stored in the memory of the non-contact IC tag 3 a provided in the front part of the pallet 1 is set to “1”, and the non-contact IC tag 3 b provided in the rear part of the pallet 1 is stored in the memory. The stored unique information is “2”.
As shown in FIG. 3, the pallet 1 is moved leftward by a transport device such as a forklift and passed through a place where the non-contact IC tag reader 6 is installed. The unique information “1” stored in the memory of the tag 3a is read. (Step S1)
Next, the unique information “1” is transmitted from the non-contact IC tag reader 6 to the processing device 7 and stored in the storage unit 13. (Step S2)

Next, the pallet 1 is moved leftward by a transport device such as a forklift, and the non-contact IC tag reader 6 reads the unique information “2” stored in the memory of the non-contact IC tag 3b. (Step S3)
Next, the unique information “2” is transmitted from the non-contact IC tag reader 6 to the processing device 7, and the unique information is stored in the storage unit 13 in time series. (Step S4)
Then, collation processing is performed between the order information of the unique information “1” and “2” stored in the storage unit 13 in time series and the order information of the two unique information registered in the unique information database 9. (Step S5)

Next, when the result of the collation processing is collation coincidence, the traveling direction of the pallet 1 is correct, so that the warning means 11 does not give a warning and the pallet 1 is transported without any problem.
However, if the result of the verification process is a mismatch, a warning process by the warning unit 11 is executed. (Step S6)
By the above processing, when the pallet 1 is not transported in a predetermined direction, the transporter can be notified of a mistake in the traveling direction.

It is a perspective view of the pallet which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a top view of the non-contact IC tag with which the pallet concerning the embodiment of the present invention is equipped. It is a figure explaining the advancing direction confirmation method of the pallet which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the system configuration | structure which performs the advancing direction confirmation method of the pallet which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart figure explaining the process sequence of the advancing direction confirmation method of the pallet which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Pallet 2 Pallet main body 3,3a, 3b Non-contact IC tag 4 Cavity 5 Article 6 Non-contact IC tag reader 7 Processing device 8 Interface (I / F)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 9 Unique information database 10 Unique information collating means 11 Warning means 12 Control means 13 Storage means 31 Base material 32 IC chip 34 Conducting member 38 Coil pattern 38C Coil connection terminal

Claims (2)

A non-contact IC tag to be provided on the pallet;
A non-contact IC tag reader that sequentially reads the unique information stored in the non-contact IC tag according to the traveling direction of the pallet;
A processing device connected to the non-contact IC tag reader, and a pallet traveling direction confirmation system comprising:
A plurality of non-contact IC tags provided on the pallet are arranged along the direction of travel of the pallet, and each stores unique information,
The non-contact IC tag reader has transmission means for transmitting unique information read from the non-contact IC tag to the processing device,
The processing device includes storage means for storing the unique information transmitted from the non-contact IC tag in time series,
A unique information database in which information related to the correct reading order of the unique information when the unique information of the non-contact IC tag is read by the non-contact IC tag reader;
Unique information collating means for collating the order information of the unique information stored in time series in the storage means with the order information of the unique information registered in the unique information database;
A pallet traveling direction confirmation system characterized by comprising: 2. The pallet traveling direction confirmation system according to claim 1 , further comprising a warning unit that warns when the order of the unique information does not match in the result of collation by the unique information collating unit.

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