JP5932524B2 - Article search system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a goods article retrieval system comprising an antenna device using the RF tag of the RFID type.

  Search by attaching an RF tag with a notification function such as LED to the search target and functioning a notification circuit such as LED attached to the search target with a command from the host system, or by paralleling the LED to the contact RF tag A system for notifying the location of an object is known (Patent Documents 1 to 5).

  In the systems of Patent Documents 1 to 4, since the RF tag with a notification function attached to a search target becomes expensive, if this RF tag is attached to all search targets, the system introduction cost becomes enormous, and there are many search targets such as libraries. In reality, the introduction is not progressing.

  On the other hand, since the system of Patent Document 5 uses a contact-type RF tag and requires wiring to an LED or the like, it is considered as an expensive system because it is a complicated storage for internal wiring.

JP 2006-290590 A JP 2006-24018 A JP 2009-301374 A JP 2006-44827 A JP 2010-163244 A

The present invention has been made in view of the above background art, and an object of the present invention is to provide an article search system including an antenna device that enables notification of the location of a search target while suppressing an increase in cost due to an RF tag.

In order to achieve the above object, an article search system according to the present invention reads a plurality of basic RF tag data respectively attached to a plurality of search objects, a plurality of antennas connectable to an RFID type reader / writer, A plurality of notification RF tags with a notification function attached in the vicinity of the plurality of antennas, and the plurality of notification RF tags include a main body control circuit and a notification circuit, and are radiated from any one of the plurality of antennas. The main body control circuit and the notification circuit can be operated with the electric power fed by the electromagnetic wave, and the control signal superimposed on the electromagnetic wave from any of the antennas that are feeding is received to switch the operation state of the notification circuit. it further has a driving circuit capable leader writer for operating the antenna device, a plurality of antennas The reader / writer can include the antenna number of the read antenna in each response data when reading the data of the basic RF tag and the notification RF tag. The upper system section identifies which antenna the search target is to be detected by identifying which antenna among the plurality of antennas the basic RF tag that has been read is detected from the response data obtained by the reader / writer. The host system unit determines which antenna among the plurality of antennas is used to read the notification RF tag from the response data obtained by the reader / writer. By identifying, the RF tag that has been read is located near which antenna The information RF tag that has been read is dynamically managed in association with the corresponding antenna, and the upper system unit includes a reader / writer, a designated search target basic RF tag, By transmitting a control signal to the notification RF tag corresponding to the common antenna via the common antenna, the operation state of the notification circuit built in the corresponding notification RF tag is switched and designated. The fact that the search target is arranged in the area covered by the antenna in the vicinity of the corresponding notification RF tag is notified.

In the article search system , a plurality of notification RF tags of the antenna device have a main body control circuit and a notification circuit that operate with power supplied from the antenna, and are superimposed on electromagnetic waves from any of the antennas that are supplying power. control signal received by the have a driving circuit capable of switching the operation state of the notification circuit, the host system unit is controlled to broadcast RF tag corresponding to the antenna common to the base RF tag of the specified search target By transmitting a signal, the fact that the designated search target is located within the area covered by the antenna near the corresponding notification RF tag is notified, so the arrangement or presence of the search target The user can be informed of the area covered by the antenna. In other words, a low-cost article search system that can confirm the rough arrangement of the designated search target simply by using a small number of notification RF tags corresponding to the number of antennas and eliminates the need for dedicated wiring for realizing the notification function is constructed. be able to.

  According to a specific aspect of the present invention, in the article search system according to the above, the antenna device further includes an antenna switching device that selects one or more antennas to be operated by being connected to the reader / writer among the plurality of antennas. . In this case, the number of antennas that can be used by a single reader / writer can be easily increased, and the article search system can be made simple and low-cost.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, the notification circuit notifies the presence of the search target by turning on the LED. In this case, the user can visually recognize the arrangement of the designated search target.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, the notification circuit notifies the presence of the search target by sounding a buzzer. In this case, it is possible to make the user audibly recognize the arrangement of the designated search target.

It is a key map explaining the article search system of an embodiment. It is a figure explaining the circuit of an article search system. (A) is a block diagram illustrating the structure of a notification RF tag, and (B) is a block diagram illustrating the structure of a basic RF tag. It is a figure explaining operation | movement of an article | item search system. It is a circuit diagram explaining the goods search system of a modification. It is a circuit diagram explaining the goods search system of another modification. It is a key map explaining an article search system of a modification.

  Hereinafter, an article search system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view for explaining the external appearance of the article search system, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram for conceptually explaining the article search system.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an article search system 100 includes an antenna device 10 for performing detection by operating an RF tag, and a reader / writer that operates the antenna device 10 to read information from the RF tag. 20 and a host system unit 30 that controls the operation of the reader / writer 20.

  The antenna device 10 includes a plurality of antennas 11 (A1 to An) that can be connected to the RFID type reader / writer 20, and one antenna 11 that is connected to the reader / writer 20 and operates among the plurality of antennas 11 (A1 to An). And a plurality of notification RF tags 13 (LT1 to LTn) with a notification function attached in the vicinity of the plurality of antennas 11 (A1 to An), respectively.

  The plurality of antennas 11 (A1 to An) are configured by, for example, loop antennas, and each has a unique region R1 to Rn that is covered by the detection operation. In these regions R1 to Rn, a large number of search objects 52 (P1 to Pk) such as books are divided and arranged in small groups. In the example of FIG. 1, search objects P1 to P3 exist in the area R1 covered by the antenna A1, search objects P4 to P6,... Exist in the area R2 covered by the antenna A2, and the area Rn covered by the antenna An. There are search targets Pk-2 to Pk. A relatively inexpensive general basic RF tag 51 (T1 to Tk) is attached to each of these search targets 52 (P1 to Pk). These basic RF tags T <b> 1 to Tk are arranged at locations where the functions of the basic RF tags T <b> 1 to Tk can be reliably operated with power supplied by electromagnetic waves radiated from any of the antennas A <b> 1 to An.

  The antenna switching device 12 operates under the control of the reader / writer 20, and selects and operates any one antenna 11 among the plurality of antennas 11 (A1 to An), and by switching the antenna 11, All the antennas 11 are operated sequentially. Each antenna 11 can be provided with a switch circuit that switches between an open state and a short-circuit state. In this case, interference between the antennas 11 can be reliably prevented.

  The plurality of notification RF tags 13 (LT1 to LTn) are RFID tags with a notification function, and are attached to the plurality of antennas 11 (A1 to An) and arranged in the vicinity of these antennas 11 (A1 to An), respectively. Has been. Each notification RF tag 13 is operated by the power of electromagnetic waves radiated from the antenna 11. Each of the notification RF tags LT1 to LTn is in a state in which the ID information is individually detected by the antennas A1 to An existing in the vicinity thereof. That is, two types of RF tags (that is, the notification RF tag 13 and the basic RF tag 51) can be read by the common antenna 11 (A1 to An).

  FIG. 3A is a block diagram illustrating the structure of the notification RF tag 13. The notification RF tag 13 includes a tag antenna 13a, a control unit 13b, and a notification circuit 13c. The tag antenna 13 a enables the control unit 13 b to communicate with the reader / writer 20 via the antenna 11. The control unit 13b and the notification circuit 13c operate with power supplied by electromagnetic waves radiated from the nearby antenna 11. The control unit 13b includes a main body control circuit 61 that is an IC portion that enables a general operation as an RF tag, and a drive circuit 62 that operates the notification circuit 13c at an appropriate timing. The drive circuit 62 can switch the operation state of the notification circuit 13c to either ON / OFF based on the control signal received from the outside by the operation of the control unit 13b. That is, the drive circuit 62 receives the control signal superimposed on the electromagnetic wave from any one of the antennas 11, and switches the operation state of the notification circuit 13c. The notification circuit 13c can notify the presence of the search target 52 by turning on an LED or sounding a buzzer, for example, and allows the user to visually or audibly recognize the arrangement of the specified search target 52. be able to.

  FIG. 3B is a block diagram illustrating the structure of the basic RF tag 51. The basic RF tag 51 includes a tag antenna 51a and a control unit 51b. The tag antenna 51 a enables the control unit 51 b to communicate with the reader / writer 20 via the antenna 11. The control unit 51b has a main body control circuit that is an IC part that enables general operation as an RF tag. Unlike the notification RF tag 13 shown in FIG. 3A, the basic RF tag 51 does not have the notification circuit 13c, and thus is relatively inexpensive, but notifies the user of the existence of the search target 52 by itself. I can't.

  Returning to FIG. 2 and the like, the reader / writer 20 is an RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) type reader / writer for reading data of a plurality of basic RF tags 51 respectively attached to a plurality of search objects 52. The reader / writer 20 includes a transmission circuit that generates a transmission signal, a reception circuit that receives and decodes the reception signal, and a control circuit that controls the operation of the reader / writer 20, although detailed description is omitted. Of these, the control circuit outputs a control signal to the antenna switching device 12, thereby selecting any one of the antennas 11 (A1 to An) and performing a detection operation. The reader / writer 20 analyzes the ID information and the like of the basic RF tag 51 and the notification RF tag 13 from the received signal detected by the selected antenna 11, and associates the ID information with the active antenna 11 (A1 to An). ) To identify information (antenna number).

  The host system unit 30 controls the operation of the reader / writer 20 and includes a storage unit 31, an input / output unit 32, and a main control unit 33. The host system unit 30 includes the ID information and the like of the notification RF tag 13 and the basic RF tag 51 read by the reader / writer 20 and the information of the antenna 11 selected at that time and used for reading (specifically, the antenna number). Associating and storing. In other words, the main control unit 33 identifies which antenna 11 among the plurality of antennas 11 the read notification RF tag 13 has been read, so that the group unit notification that has been read is performed. By grasping which antenna 11 the RF tag 13 is disposed in the vicinity of, the notification RF tag 13 that has been read is dynamically managed in association with the corresponding antenna 11. In addition, the main control unit 33 identifies which antenna 11 among the plurality of antennas 11 the individual basic RF tag 51 from which the reading has been performed, so that the designated search target 52 is identified. It knows which antenna 11 is located in the vicinity. Further, the host system unit 30 determines whether the ID information of the basic RF tag 51 detected using the reader / writer 20 or the like corresponds to the designated search target 52. When the host system unit 30 determines that the detected basic RF tag 51 corresponds to the designated search target 52, the host system unit 30 identifies the antenna number of the antenna 11 used for the detection and corresponds to the antenna number. A control signal is sent to the notification RF tag 13 attached to the antenna 11 and disposed in the vicinity thereof. Thereby, only the specific notification RF tag 13 can be selectively activated, and the operation state of the notification circuit 13c can be turned on for a certain period of time, for example, by the drive circuit 62 provided therein. That is, the notification RF tag 13 existing in the vicinity of the detected basic RF tag 51 can be selectively operated to notify the user of the rough arrangement of the designated search target 52 visually or audibly.

  With reference to FIG. 4, the outline | summary of operation | movement of the goods search system 100 of embodiment shown in FIG. 2 etc. is demonstrated.

  First, the host system unit 30 operates the reader / writer 20 as appropriate, detects the notification RF tag 13 through the antenna device 10, reads information, and detects the antenna that has detected the read RF tag 13. 11 is specified (step S11). That is, the reader / writer 20 includes the antenna number of the read antenna 11 in the response data when the data of the notification RF tag 13 is read.

  The host system unit 30 sets the ID information of the notification RF tag 13 together with the antenna number, temporarily stores it in the storage unit 31, and updates the information regarding the arrangement of the notification RF tag 13 to the latest one (step S12). As a result, the host system unit 30 can dynamically manage the ID information of the notification RF tag 13 that has been read in association with the antenna number of the antenna 11 existing in the vicinity thereof.

  Next, the host system unit 30 accepts designation of a specific search target 52 by the user (step S13). Specifically, the host system unit 30 displays that the search target 52 is in a specified reception state via the display of the input / output unit 32 and receives input of specified information by a user key operation or the like. That is, a specific search target 52 is selected from a large number of search targets 52 (P1 to Pk), and the ID information of the basic RF tag 51 corresponding to the selected search target 52 is stored in the storage unit 31 as specified ID information. Is done.

  Next, the host system unit 30 operates the reader / writer 20 as appropriate, performs the detection operation of the basic RF tag 51 and the like via the antenna device 10, and reads ID information and the like (step S14).

  Next, the host system unit 30 designates one of the ID information of the basic RF tag 51 that can be detected and read, corresponding to the specific search object 52 or the basic RF tag 51 designated in step S13. It is determined whether or not it matches the ID information (step S15). When the ID information of the read basic RF tag 51 matches the specified ID information corresponding to the specified search object 52, the upper system unit 30 detects the read basic RF tag 51. The used antenna 11 is specified (step S15). That is, since the read antenna number of the antenna 11 is included in the response data when the reader / writer 20 reads the data of the basic RF tag 51, the upper system unit 30 corresponds to the specified specific search target 52. ID information of the basic RF tag 51 can be stored in the storage unit 31 in association with the antenna number of the antenna 11 existing in the vicinity thereof. That is, any one of the regions R1 to Rn to be detected that covers the position of the basic RF tag 51 corresponding to the designation is specified as the antenna number.

  Next, the host system unit 30 operates the reader / writer 20 as appropriate, and determines the notification RF tag 13 arranged in the vicinity of the antenna 11 specified in step S15 based on the information regarding the arrangement obtained in step S12. A control signal for performing notification is transmitted to the notification RF tag 13 (step S16). Thereby, only the notification RF tag 13 arranged in the vicinity of the antenna 11 covering the basic RF tag 51 corresponding to the designation can be selectively operated to perform the notification operation. The user perceives the notification state (lighting, ringing, etc.) of the notification RF tag 13 existing in the vicinity of the specific search target 52 designated by the user, and knows that the search target 52 specified in the vicinity exists. In this case, the area covered by the antenna 11 corresponding to the specific notification RF tag 13 allows the presence of a plurality of search targets 52, but is limited to some extent. The search object 52 is found quickly.

  In the above description, the antenna device 10 has the antenna switching device 12, and the antenna switching device 12 sequentially switches the plurality of antennas 11. However, the antenna switching device 12 is not essential, and a plurality of reader / writers 20 are also provided. be able to.

  FIG. 5 shows a configuration example of the article search system 100 including a plurality of reader / writers 20 that omit the antenna switching device 12 from the antenna device 10 and operate the plurality of antennas 11 respectively.

  Further, an article search system in which the system of FIG. 2 and the system of FIG. 5 are fused or mixed is also possible. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, a plurality of reader / writers 20 are managed by the host system unit 30, and some of the reader / writers 20 operate a plurality of antennas 11 using the antenna switching device 12 and the remaining readers / writers 20. The writer 20 may be an article search system that operates the antenna 11 individually.

  In the above description, the case where the antenna 11 is arranged in a partition shape has been described. However, the antenna 11 may be arranged on the mounting table.

  FIG. 7 illustrates a case where the antenna 11 is arranged in a sheet shape on the mounting table 71. Also in this case, the notification RF tag 13 is provided in association with the antenna 11 on each mounting table 71, and it is possible to specify on which mounting table 71 the specified search target 52 is disposed.

  As described above, in the article search system 100 according to the embodiment, the host system unit 30 passes through the reader / writer 20 that operates under the control thereof, and the antenna 11 that is common to the basic RF tag 51 of the designated search target 52. Then, by transmitting a control signal to the notification RF tag 13 corresponding to the common antenna 11, the operation state of the notification circuit 13c incorporated in the corresponding notification RF tag 13 is switched, and the designated search is performed. Since the target 52 is notified that it is arranged in any one of the areas R1 to Rn covered by the antenna 11 in the vicinity of the corresponding notification RF tag 13, a small number of notification RFs corresponding to the number of antennas 11 is provided. By simply using the tag 13, it is possible to easily and quickly confirm the rough arrangement of the designated search object 52. This article retrieval system 100 is an inexpensive one that does not require a dedicated wiring for realizing the notification function. Note that in the case of a search such as a book search in which a print indicating the type of article is printed on the search target 52, the search target 52 can be found immediately by visual inspection only by informing the rough arrangement as described above. It is possible to construct a necessary and sufficient article search system 100 by utilizing this technology.

  Although the present invention has been described based on the above embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments.

  For example, the search target 52 using the article search system 100 is not limited to books, but can be various. However, it is desirable that some index indicating the type of article is provided in the search target itself.

  In the above, the notification RF tag 13 is provided for each antenna 11, but a common notification RF tag 13 may be provided for a plurality of antennas 11. In this case, a rough arrangement will be notified.

The operation of the article search system 100 shown in FIG. 4 is an example. For example, the notification RF tag 13 in step S11 can be detected only when the operation is initialized.
The basic RF tag detection in step S14 can also be performed prior to the reception of the search target designation in step S13, and the ID information of the basic RF tag 51 can be stored in the storage unit 31 in advance.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Antenna apparatus, 11 ... Antenna, 11b ... Control part, 12 ... Antenna switching apparatus, 13 ... Notification RF tag, 13a ... Tag antenna, 13b ... Control part, 13c ... Notification circuit, 20 ... Reader / writer, 30 ... Higher system 51: Basic RF tag, 51a: Tag antenna, 51b: Control unit, 52 ... Search target, 61 ... Main body control circuit, 62 ... Drive circuit, 100 ... Article search system, A1-An ... Antenna, LT1-LTn ... Notification RF tag, R1 to Pk ... Search target, R1-Rn ... Covered area, T1-Tk ... Basic RF tag

Claims (4)

In order to read data of a plurality of basic RF tags respectively attached to a plurality of search targets, a plurality of antennas connectable to an RFID type reader / writer, and a plurality of notification functions attached in the vicinity of the plurality of antennas. and a notification RF tag, the plurality of broadcast RF tag has a built-in body control circuit and the notification circuit, the main body control circuit and said the power fed by electromagnetic waves emitted from one of the plurality of antennas The alarm circuit can be operated, and a drive circuit that can receive a control signal superimposed on an electromagnetic wave from any of the antennas that is supplying power and can switch an operation state of the alarm circuit is further provided. An antenna device ;
The reader / writer for operating the plurality of antennas;
A host system unit for controlling the operation of the reader / writer,
The reader / writer can include the antenna number of the read antenna in each response data when reading the data of the basic RF tag and the notification RF tag,
The higher-order system unit identifies the target antenna to be searched by identifying which antenna among the plurality of antennas the basic RF tag that has been read from the response data obtained by the reader / writer. Know which antenna is located near it,
The host system unit identifies the antenna that has been read from the response data obtained by the reader / writer by identifying which of the plurality of antennas is used for the reading. By grasping in which antenna the performed notification RF tag is arranged, the notification RF tag that has been read is dynamically managed in association with the corresponding antenna,
The upper system unit transmits a control signal to the notification RF tag corresponding to the common antenna via the reader / writer and the antenna common to the designated basic RF tag to be searched, The operation state of the notification circuit incorporated in the corresponding notification RF tag is switched, and the designated search target is disposed in the area covered by the antenna in the vicinity of the corresponding notification RF tag. An article search system for informing. The article search system according to claim 1 , wherein the antenna device further includes an antenna switching device that selects one or more antennas to be operated by being connected to the reader / writer among the plurality of antennas. The notification circuit notifies the existence of a search target by turning on the LED, article retrieval system according to any one of claims 1 and 2. The article notification system according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the notification circuit notifies the presence of a search target by sounding a buzzer.

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