JP4826136B2 - Sensor device and method for correcting measurement time in sensor device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a sensor device that includes a timer unit that measures a time measured by a sensor, and a method for correcting the measurement time in the sensor device that corrects the time measured by the timer unit provided in the sensor device to a correct time. .

Conventionally, various sensor devices capable of measuring temperature, humidity, illuminance, pressure, impact force and the like have been used for quality control of foods and products in the physical distribution and distribution fields.
In addition, a method has been developed in which a sensor device is provided on a data carrier that has been used in recent years, and the measurement information acquired by measurement by the sensor device is stored together with the distribution history information of each article to perform quality control.

These sensor devices are equipped with a sensor that measures a measurement object and detects measurement information, and a time measuring unit that measures the time measured by the sensor, so that measurement information measured by the sensor is measured by the time measuring unit. The time information is written and stored in the memory together with the time information so that the measurement information can be managed. (For example, see Patent Document 1)
JP 2000-302111 A

  However, the timekeeping unit provided in the sensor device often does not measure the exact time, and there are many cases where an error occurs between the time measured by the timekeeping unit and the actual time. There is also a problem that the time information stored together with the measurement information is inaccurate, which is not preferable for quality control.

  The present invention makes it possible to correct the time measured by the time measuring unit to an accurate time even when an error occurs between the time measured by the time measuring unit provided in the sensor device and the actual time. And correct the measurement time information measured by the sensor device that enables accurate quality control of foods and products with the sensor device and the timing unit provided in the sensor device to the correct measurement time information. Thus, there is provided a method for correcting the measurement time in the sensor device so that accurate quality control of foods and products with the sensor device attached can be performed.

The method for correcting the measurement time in the sensor device according to the present invention includes a step of transmitting a measurement start signal instructing to start measurement by the sensor at a fixed time interval from the external device to the sensor device, and the measurement by the external device. The time when the measurement start signal is transmitted is registered in the memory of the external device, and the sensor of the sensor device performs measurement at regular time intervals and is measured by the sensor at the time measuring unit in the sensor device. A step of measuring the measured time, a step of relating the measurement information of the sensor and the measurement time information of the timekeeping unit and storing them in a memory in the sensor device, and when the measurement by the sensor is completed , A measurement end signal from the sensor device to the external device, measurement information and measurement time information stored in a memory in the sensor device Transmitting the time when the measurement end signal measured by the external device is received in the memory of the external device, the time when the measurement end signal is received in the external device, and Calculated based on the elapsed time calculated from the time at which the measurement start signal was transmitted, the measurement time information at the start of measurement, and the measurement time information at the end of measurement, measured by the timing unit in the sensor device received from the sensor device Generating a correction coefficient for correcting the measurement time information measured by the time measuring unit in the sensor device to an accurate time from the elapsed time, and in the external device, based on the correction coefficient, the measurement Correcting the time information to an accurate time, and transmitting the correction coefficient generated by the external device from the external device to the sensor device; A step of storing in a memory of the apparatus, characterized by Tona Rukoto.

The sensor device of the present invention is characterized in that, in the correction method of the present invention, the sensor device includes a memory in which a correction coefficient generated by an external device is stored .

The sensor equipment of the present invention includes a built-in battery, the battery level measuring section that measures the remaining battery level of the internal battery, the predetermined residual amount measuring battery level in the remaining battery level measuring section is predetermined and when that became, characterized Rukoto a sensor measuring interruptions interrupting the measurement at the sensor.

  The sensor device of the present invention has a correction coefficient stored in the memory even when the time information based on the measurement measured by the time measuring unit provided in the sensor device has an error with respect to the actual time. Since the sensor can be used to correct the correct time, there is an effect that correct management can be performed when quality control is performed by attaching the sensor device to a food or product.

  In addition, since the sensor device of the present invention is provided with a sensor measurement interrupting unit that interrupts measurement by the sensor when the remaining amount of the internal battery is low, inaccuracy due to the sensor in a state where the internal battery is low. Thus, it is possible to prevent the measurement information from being stored in the memory, and it is possible to perform the correct management when attaching the sensor device to the food or product to perform the quality control.

  In addition, the correction method of the measurement time in the sensor device according to the present invention is the correction generated in the sensor device even when the measurement measured by the timer unit provided in the sensor device has an error from the actual time. Since the measurement time information can be corrected to an accurate time based on the coefficient, there is an effect that accurate quality control can be performed.

  In the method for correcting the measurement time in the sensor device of the present invention, a correction coefficient for correcting the measurement time information measured by the timekeeping unit in the sensor device to an accurate time can be stored in the memory of the sensor device. Therefore, at the time of the next measurement, the correction time can be corrected using this correction coefficient.

Hereinafter, a sensor device and a method for correcting the measurement time in the sensor device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view for explaining an outline of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a system block diagram of a sensor device and an external device used in the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a sensor in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the idea of correcting the device internal time to the actual time, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing information stored in the memory of the external device in the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a processing procedure in the embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart explaining these.

First, FIG. 1 shows a measurement object 2 attached with a sensor device 1 and a refrigerator 4 provided with an external device 3.
The measurement object 2 includes various objects to be measured such as foods, products, and products. In the description of this embodiment, the case where the measurement object 2 is a food will be described.
The sensor device 1 has a configuration in which a sensor unit and an IC tag are integrated, and can be subjected to quality control by measuring the temperature environment in which the food is stored by being attached to a predetermined portion of the food. It is like that.
The internal temperature of the refrigerator 4 can be changed by changing the temperature setting. However, the individual foods stored in the refrigerator are not always at the same environmental temperature, depending on the storage position in the refrigerator. There is a temperature difference.
Therefore, in order to check the temperature of each food, the sensor device 1 is attached to each food so that the accurate temperature related to each food can be checked.

As shown in FIG. 2, the sensor device 1 includes a transmission / reception unit 5, a timing unit 6, a battery unit 7, a remaining battery level measurement unit 8, a sensor measurement interruption unit 9, a control unit 10, a memory 11, a sensor 12, and measurement information. A measurement time information registration unit 13 and the like are provided.
The transmission / reception unit 5 transmits / receives information to / from the transmission / reception unit 14 of the external device 3.
The battery remaining amount measuring unit 8 has a function of measuring the remaining amount of the battery unit 7.
The sensor 12 has a function of measuring the temperature of the food that is the measurement target and detecting measurement information.
The time measuring unit 6 has a function of measuring the time measured by the sensor 12, and in particular, the time measured by the time measuring unit 6 determines what time the temperature measurement information of the food measured by the sensor 12 is measured. It can be specified.

Also, the measurement information measurement time information registration unit 13 is the time when the measurement information of the temperature measured by the sensor 12 is measured from the measurement information measured by the sensor 12 and the measurement time by the timekeeping unit 6. As can be seen, the measurement information and the measurement time are related to each other and written into the memory 11 and stored.
The memory 11 stores measurement information, measurement time information, and correction coefficient information for correcting the measurement time.
Note that these measurement information, measurement time information, and correction coefficient information are not registered in advance, but are stored after measurement processing and correction coefficient generation processing are performed.
The correction coefficient information does not need to be stored again after being once stored in the memory 11, but can be used for correction processing of the measurement time information any number of times using the stored correction coefficient information.

Next, the external device 3 includes a transmission / reception unit 14, a correction coefficient generation unit 15, a measurement time information correction unit 16, a control unit 17, a memory 18, a time measurement unit 19, a correction coefficient information transmission control unit 20, and the like. .
The external device 3 transmits a measurement start signal for instructing the sensor device 1 to start measurement for causing the sensor to perform measurement at regular time intervals. The sensor device 1 receives this signal, thereby 12, the temperature is measured at regular time intervals.
The correction coefficient generation unit 15 has a function of generating a correction coefficient used when correcting to an accurate time when the measurement time information measured by the time measuring unit 6 in the sensor device 1 is different from the actual time. have.
The measurement time information correction unit 16 has a function of correcting the measurement time using the correction coefficient generated by the correction coefficient generation unit 15 and calculating an accurate measurement time.
The correction coefficient information transmission control unit 20 has a function of transmitting the correction coefficient generated by the correction coefficient generation unit 15 to the sensor device 1 and is registered in the memory 11 of the sensor device 1.

In addition, the external device 3 can temporarily store the information in the memory 18 of the external device 3 by reading the measurement information and the measurement time information stored in the memory 11 of the sensor device 1 with the transmission / reception unit 14. it can.
The external device 3 can correct the measurement time information temporarily stored in the memory 18 to the accurate time measured by the time measuring unit 19 of the external device 3.

Next, a method for correcting the measurement time of the measurement time information received from the sensor device 1 to the correct time by the external device 3 will be described with reference to FIGS.
First, the timer 18 provided in the external device 3 is set to a state in which accurate time is always measured.
FIG. 4 shows measurement information and measurement time information received by the external device 3 from the sensor device 1, and further corrected time information calculated based on the measurement time information.
These pieces of information are registered in the memory 18 of the external device 3.

In the case shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the case where the temperature measurement is performed four times by the sensor unit is shown.
The measurement time at the time measuring unit 6 of the sensor device 1 is measured at an interval of 40 minutes from 8:10 at the start of the first measurement. First, a measurement value of temperature as measurement information is stored in the memory 11 of the sensor device 1. It is associated and written and stored as measurement time information.
At the time measured by the time measuring unit 6 of the sensor device 1, the elapsed time from the initial measurement start time 8:10 and the final measurement end time 10:10 is 120 minutes.

On the other hand, as the time information when the measurement start signal is transmitted from the external device 3, the first time information is 8:00, and the last time information received by the external device 3 from the sensor device 1 is 9:00. To do.
That is, the first measurement start time 8:10 measured by the time measurement unit of the sensor device is 8:00, and the actual measurement start time 10:10 measured by the time measurement unit of the sensor device is Assume that the actual time is 9:00.
In this case, the elapsed time from the start of the first measurement to the end of the last measurement is 60 minutes.
That is, the actual time elapsed time of 60 minutes is stored as 120 minutes at the time measured by the time measuring unit 6 of the sensor device 1.

Then, the correction coefficient generation unit 15 of the external device 3 calculates a correction coefficient for 1 second from the above information.
The calculation of the correction coefficient for 1 second is the ratio of the elapsed time (60 minutes) of the real time to the elapsed time (120 minutes) from the start of the first measurement in the timer 6 of the sensor device 1 to the end of the last measurement. Is calculated by
That is, in the above case, the correction coefficient for 1 second is 0.5.
Using this 1 second correction coefficient, correction times are calculated for the second and third measurement times, which are intermediate measurement times, excluding the first time and the last time.

At the measurement time at the time measuring unit 6 of the sensor device 1, 40 minutes have passed from the start of the first measurement to the second measurement time, and 40 minutes from the second to the third measurement time. Therefore, when the ratio of the correction coefficient 0.5 of 1 second with respect to 40 minutes of this elapsed time is calculated, it becomes 20 minutes, and the actual elapsed time becomes 20 minutes.
Therefore, in the correction time, as shown in FIG. 4, 8:20 after 20 minutes is written as the second measurement time with respect to the already stored measurement start time 8:00. 8:40 after 20 minutes is written and stored as the third measurement time information.
In this way, the measurement time in the middle other than the time at the start of measurement and the time at the end of measurement can be calculated individually using the correction factor, so even if the number of measurements is large, it can be done in a short time. The measurement time can be corrected efficiently.

Next, a description will be given according to the flowchart of FIG. 5 based on the processing procedure of the system to which the method for correcting the in-sensor measurement time according to the embodiment of the present invention is applied.
First, a signal instructing to temporarily delete information in a storage area for storing measurement information and measurement time information in the memory 11 of the sensor device 1 is transmitted from the external device 3 to the sensor device 1. (Step 1)
Next, a measurement start signal is transmitted from the external device 3 to the sensor device 1 for instructing the sensor 12 to start measurement at a constant time interval that is a sampling cycle. (Step 2)
The signal transmitted from the external device 3 to the sensor device 1 may be various signals depending on the purpose. For example, from the measurement start time at the sensor to the end time, only the measurement start time at the sensor, The elapsed time measured by the sensor can be freely selected.
Further, the time when the measurement start signal is transmitted is registered in the memory 18 of the external device 3. (Step 3)

Next, measurement is performed at regular time intervals by the sensor 12 of the sensor device 1. (Step 4)
Then, the measurement information of the sensor 12 and the measurement time information measured by the timer unit 6 in the sensor device 1 are related and stored in the memory 11 in the sensor device 1. (Step 5)
Next, when measurement by the sensor 12 is finished, the sensor device 1 sends a measurement end signal to the external device 3, and measurement information and measurement time information stored in the memory 11 in the sensor device 1. Send. (Step 6)

Then, in the external device 3, from the time when the measurement end signal is received, the elapsed time calculated from the time when the measurement start signal is transmitted, and the elapsed time calculated based on the measurement time information received from the sensor device 1, A correction coefficient for correcting the measurement time information measured by the time measuring unit 6 in the sensor device 1 to an accurate time is generated. (Step 7)
Next, in the external device 3, the measurement time information is corrected to an accurate time based on the correction coefficient. (Step 8)
Further, the correction coefficient generated by the external device 3 is transmitted from the external device 3 to the sensor device 1 and stored in the memory 11 of the sensor device 1. (Step 9)

In the example shown in FIG. 4, at the start of measurement, the measurement value of the measurement information is −5 ° C., the measurement time at the time measuring unit 6 of the sensor device 1 is 8:10, and the external device 3 is the sensor device 1. 8:00 of the time information at which the measurement start signal is transmitted is stored as correction time information.
In this case, since the correct time as the measurement start time is 8:00, the time information 8:00 when the external device 3 transmits the measurement start signal to the sensor device 1 is stored as the correction time information.

In the case shown in FIG. 4, when the temperature measurement at the start of measurement is included, the temperature measurement is performed four times.
In this example, the temperature measurement time measured by the timer 6 of the sensor device 1 is 8:10 at the start of measurement, 8:50 at the second measurement, 9:30 at the third measurement, and 9:30 at the end of measurement ( (At the time of final measurement) is 10:10, and the measurement interval is 40 minutes.
These temperature measurement times are sequentially written and stored in the memory 11 in association with the measurement information measured by the sensor 12.

As shown in FIG. 4, from the information stored in the memory 11 of the sensor device 1, the time interval between the start of measurement and the end of measurement is 120 minutes as measured by the timer 6 of the sensor device 1, and the sensor It can be seen that the time measured by the time measuring unit 6 of the sensor device 1 has an error from the actual time because the time interval according to the time information received by the device 1 from the external device 3 is 60 minutes.
Therefore, for the time at the start of measurement and the time at the end of measurement, the time received from the external device 3 may be written as the correction time, but it is necessary to correct the second and third times during the measurement, Correction processing for the second and third measurement time information is performed using the correction coefficient generated by the correction coefficient generation unit 15 of the external device 3.

In the measurement time correction process, as shown in FIG. 3, first, a correction coefficient (0.5) of 1 second is calculated from the ratio of the actual time (60 minutes) to the elapsed time (120 minutes) of the time in the sensor device 1. The
Then, the correction time information for the second and third measurement times is specified by calculating the actual time from the second and third measurement times using this correction coefficient.
For example, at the time within the sensor device 1, there is an interval of 40 minutes from the start of measurement to the second measurement and from the second measurement to the third measurement.
Since the ratio of the correction coefficient of 0.5 to 40 minutes is 20 minutes, the correction times of the second and third measurement times are 8:20 and 8:40, respectively, which are actual measurement times.

In the case shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the measurement is performed four times in total. However, even when the number of measurements is several tens or several hundreds, the above method can be used efficiently in a short time. Individual measurement times can be corrected to actual times.
According to the above procedure, even if the measurement time in the time measuring unit 6 in the sensor device 1 has an error with respect to the actual time, it can be corrected to the correct time and stored as corrected time information.

  In the above embodiment, the case of the sensor device having the temperature sensor unit has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to the temperature sensor unit, and can be applied to various sensor devices having a timer unit inside. is there.

In the sensor device 1 of the present invention, a battery unit 7 provided with a built-in battery, a battery remaining amount measuring unit 8 for measuring the remaining battery level of the built-in battery, and a measurement battery in the battery remaining amount measuring unit 8 Since the sensor measurement interruption unit 9 for interrupting the measurement by the sensor 12 when the remaining amount reaches a predetermined predetermined amount, the battery remaining amount becomes a predetermined predetermined amount. In addition, the measurement by the sensor 12 can be interrupted.
This is because if the remaining amount of the battery is exhausted during the measurement by the sensor 12, there is a risk that accurate measurement cannot be performed and trouble may occur. Therefore, in the stage before the remaining amount of the battery completely disappears, The measurement is stopped and only accurate measurement information is stored in the memory.

In the above embodiment, the correction coefficient is generated in the external device 3, but the correction coefficient generation unit is provided in the sensor device so that the correction coefficient can be generated in the sensor device. Good.
In this case, the correction coefficient is generated in the sensor device 1 and the generated correction coefficient is registered in the memory 11 in the sensor device 1 so that the correction coefficient registered in the memory 11 at the next measurement is used. Thus, the time measured in the sensor device 1 can be corrected to the correct time.

It is a perspective view explaining the outline | summary of embodiment of this invention. It is a system block diagram of a sensor device and an external device used in an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure explaining the idea which correct | amends the time in a sensor apparatus to real time in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the information memorize | stored in the memory of an external device by embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining a process sequence in embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 Sensor device
2 Measurement object
3 External devices
4 Refrigerator
5,14 Transceiver
6,19 Timekeeping Department
7 Battery part
8 Battery level measuring part
9 Sensor measurement interruption part
10, 17 Control unit
11,18 memory
12 sensors
13 Measurement value information measurement time information registration part
15 Correction coefficient generator
16 Measurement time information correction unit
20 Correction coefficient information transmission control unit

Claims (3)

Transmitting a measurement start signal instructing the sensor device to start measurement with a sensor at a constant time interval from an external device;
Registering the time of transmission of the measurement start signal measured by the external device in the memory of the external device ;
Measuring at a predetermined time interval by the sensor of the sensor device, and measuring a time measured by the sensor in a time measuring unit in the sensor device;
Storing the measurement information of the sensor and the measurement time information in the timekeeping unit in a memory in the sensor device; and
A step of transmitting a measurement end signal, measurement information stored in a memory in the sensor device, and measurement time information from the sensor device to the external device when measurement by the sensor is completed; ,
Registering the time of receiving the measurement end signal measured by the external device in the memory of the external device ;
In the external device, the elapsed time calculated from the time when the measurement end signal was received and the time when the measurement start signal was transmitted, and the measurement start time measured by the timekeeping unit in the sensor device received from the sensor device Generating a correction coefficient for correcting the measurement time information measured by the time measuring unit in the sensor device to an accurate time from the measurement time information of the measurement time and the elapsed time calculated based on the measurement time information at the end of the measurement. When,
In the external device, based on the correction coefficient, correcting the measurement time information to an accurate time;
Transmitting the correction coefficient generated by the external device from the external device to the sensor device and storing it in the memory of the sensor device;
A method for correcting a measurement time in a sensor device, comprising: The sensor device used for the correction method according to claim 1, further comprising a memory in which a correction coefficient generated by the external device is stored. A built-in battery, a battery remaining amount measuring unit for measuring the remaining battery amount of the built-in battery, and when the remaining battery power measured by the battery remaining amount measuring unit reaches a predetermined remaining amount, The sensor device according to claim 2, further comprising a sensor measurement interrupting unit that interrupts the measurement.

Images