JP7417427B2 - Wireless tag writing device and program - Google Patents

Description

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a wireless tag writing device and a program.

Traditionally, retail stores such as supermarkets have sold fresh foods with close expiration dates at discounts or discounts (hereinafter collectively referred to as ``discounts'') in order to reduce food waste. It is being said. When offering a discount, in order to let customers know that they are discounting the price, the store must print the discount amount, discount rate, etc. on the product label, in addition to the product label that has a barcode printed on it to read product information such as the price. affix a discount label or sticker (hereinafter collectively referred to as a ``discount sticker'') to the product.

A well-known POS (Point Of Sales) terminal process for products with discount stickers is one that captures an image of the product label and discount sticker with a camera, analyzes this image, and reads barcode information and discount information. (Patent Document 1).

On the other hand, product labels equipped with RF tags (hereinafter referred to as wireless tags) have come to be used instead of barcodes. The POS terminal reads information on the wireless tag using a wireless tag reading device, and performs product registration in order to pay for the product.

When discounting a product with a product label equipped with a wireless tag, a discount sticker is pasted on the product to notify customers of the discount, just as in the case of product labels with barcodes printed on them. In order to optically read and process this at a POS terminal, each POS terminal installed requires a camera for reading the information on the discount sticker in addition to a wireless tag reader. In order to operate the POS terminal without a camera, it is necessary to read discount information using a wireless tag reader. To do this, it is necessary to write discount information on the wireless tag after pasting the discount sticker, and it is desirable to improve the efficiency of the writing process.

The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a wireless tag writing device and a program that make it possible to efficiently write to a wireless tag provided on a product label.

The wireless tag writing device of the embodiment includes a benefit information reading unit that reads benefit information from a symbol attached to a product and indicating benefits related to the product, and a wireless tag attached to the product and written with product information related to the product. and a writing section for performing a process of writing the privilege information read by the privilege information reading section.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a wireless tag writing device according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a product with a product label and a discount sticker according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of the wireless tag according to the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the wireless tag writing device of the embodiment. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an example of data stored in the symbol image section of the wireless tag writing device of the embodiment. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the wireless tag writing device of the embodiment. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing privilege information writing processing in the control unit of the wireless tag writing device of the embodiment. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a modified example of privilege information writing processing in the control unit of the wireless tag writing device of the embodiment. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing cancellation processing in the control unit of the wireless tag writing device of the embodiment.

Hereinafter, a wireless tag writing device according to an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that in this specification, etc., the RFID tag writing device writes information to the RFID tag means that the RFID tag writing device causes the RFID tag to store data indicating information in a predetermined area of the RFID tag. This refers to sending a command for a wireless tag, or storing data in a predetermined area of a wireless tag. Furthermore, when the wireless tag writing device deletes the information on the wireless tag, it means that the wireless tag writing device sends a command to the wireless tag to delete data indicating information stored in a predetermined area of the wireless tag. It refers to sending or deleting data from a predetermined area of a wireless tag.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the appearance of a reader/writer 1, which is an example of a wireless tag writing device. The reader/writer 1 is a so-called handy type reader/writer, and includes a handle 2, a radio wave transmitter/receiver 3, a camera 4, and a monitor 5. The reader/writer 1 is used in a supermarket backyard or the like.

The handle 2 is a part that is gripped by the user. The radio wave transmitting/receiving section 3 is configured in a flat plate shape, and has a planar antenna 6 (see FIG. 4) inside. The radio wave transmitting/receiving unit 3 transmits and receives radio waves to and from a wireless tag attached to a product using an antenna 6. A camera (imaging section) 4 is provided above the radio wave transmitting/receiving section 3. The camera 4 captures a symbol image of a discount sticker attached to a product. The monitor 5 is a touch panel type display device that displays operation buttons operated by the user, various information, and the like. The monitor 5 receives various inputs from the user through a touch panel that detects operations on displayed operation buttons.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a product with a wireless tag on which information is written by the reader/writer 1. As shown in FIG. The product 10 is, for example, a package of fresh foods. A product label 11 and a discount sticker 12 are pasted on the surface of the product 10. On the product label 11, a product name 13, a price 14, and various other information regarding the product are printed. A wireless tag 15 is embedded in the product label 11.

The wireless tag 15 includes an antenna (not shown), and transmits and receives radio waves to and from the antenna 6 of the reader/writer 1 using this antenna. Here, tag information (product information) stored in the wireless tag 15 will be explained. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the data structure of tag information received by the reader/writer 1. As shown in FIG. 3, the area where tag information is stored includes a size area 141, a header area 142, a company code area 143, a product code area 144, a serial number area 145, and a user area 146. Information written from the header area 142 to the serial number area 145 is a UID (Unique Identification) that is the unique ID of the wireless tag itself.

The size area 141 is an area in which data representing the size of tag information is written. The header area 142 is an area in which a header of tag information is written. The company code area 143 is an area in which information indicating the company that produced or manufactured the product to which the wireless tag is attached is written. The product code area 144 is an area in which a product code that specifies a product to which a wireless tag is attached is written. The serial number area 145 is an area in which a serial number for uniquely identifying a product as an individual item is written. The user area 146 is an area where arbitrary information is written by the user using the wireless tag. Note that other information regarding the product, such as the product name and price, may be written as tag information.

Returning to FIG. 2, the discount sticker 12 is printed with the amount of money to be discounted from the price printed on the product label 11. The discount amount printed on the discount sticker 12 is an example of benefit information. The discount sticker 12 is used, for example, when offering a discount on products with near expiration dates. A customer at a supermarket can know the discount amount for a product by looking at the discount sticker 12 attached to the product.

Next, the hardware configuration of the reader/writer 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 4. The reader/writer 1 includes a control unit 20, a memory 30, a controller 40, a communication I/F (Interface) 50, and the like. The control unit 20, memory unit 30, controller 40, and communication I/F 50 are connected to each other via a bus 51.

The control unit 20 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 21, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 22, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 23. The CPU 21, ROM 22, and RAM 23 are connected to each other via a bus 51.

The CPU 21 controls the overall operation of the reader/writer 1. The ROM 22 stores various programs such as a program used to drive the CPU 21 and various data. The RAM 23 is used as a work area for the CPU 21 and loads various programs and data stored in the ROM 22 and the memory section 30. The control unit 20 executes various control processes for the reader/writer 1 by causing the CPU 21 to operate according to a control program stored in the ROM 22 or the memory unit 30 and developed in the RAM 23.

The memory section 30 includes a control program section 31 and a symbol image section 32. The control program unit 31 stores various control programs in addition to a control program for functioning as the RFID reader/writer 1.

As shown in FIG. 5, the symbol image section 32 includes an image printed on the discount sticker 12, such as a discount sticker or a sticker printed with a message indicating that the points to be given will be increased more than usual, and the benefit information indicated by the image. and are stored in association with each other. For example, -○○ yen is stored for the symbol image 121 of a discount sticker indicating a discount of ○○ yen. Similarly, −○○ yen is also stored for the symbol image 122 of a discount sticker indicating a discount of ○○ yen. In addition, -△△% is stored for the discount sticker symbol image 123 indicating a △△% discount, and △△% point increase is stored for the sticker symbol image 124 indicating a △△% point increase. has been done. The data stored in the symbol image section 32 can be updated by the store at any time.

Note that the control program executed by the reader/writer 1 of this embodiment may be configured to be recorded and provided on a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM. Further, the control program may be configured to be stored on a computer connected to a network such as the Internet and provided by downloading via the network, and further provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet. It may be configured to do so.

The controller 40 is connected to a monitor 5 equipped with a touch panel, a camera 4, and an antenna 6. This allows the control unit 20 to transmit and receive information (data) to and from the monitor 5, camera 4, and antenna 6 via the controller 40. Communication I/F 50 is an interface for communicating with external devices. As an example, the communication I/F 50 can communicate with a server that stores a product master in which a product code, product name, price, etc. are stored in association with each other. Furthermore, the communication I/F 50 is capable of communicating with an external computer in order to update the symbol image section 32.

Next, the functional configuration of the reader/writer 1 will be explained with reference to FIG. 6. The control unit 20 operates by the CPU 21 according to a control program stored in the ROM 22 or the control program unit 31 of the memory unit 30, thereby controlling the camera control unit 201, symbol input unit 202, privilege information reading unit 203, and writing unit 204. , an antenna control section 205, a radio wave input section 206, a tag information reading section 207, a display control section 208, and an operation reception section 209. Note that each of these functions may be configured by hardware.

Camera control section 201 controls camera 4 . The camera control unit 201 controls the camera 4 according to a user's operation to capture an image. Specifically, the camera control unit 201 captures a symbol image of the discount sticker 12 attached to the product 10. A symbol image of the discount sticker 12 captured by the camera 4 is input to the symbol input unit 202 .

The benefit information reading unit 203 reads benefit information from a symbol image indicating a benefit related to a product. Specifically, the benefit information reading unit 203 refers to the symbol image input to the symbol input unit 202 and the content stored in the symbol image unit 32 shown in FIG. Read information. For example, when the symbol image 121 is input to the symbol input unit 202, the benefit information reading unit 203 reads the benefit information of −○○ yen, that is, ○○ yen discount.

The writing unit 204 writes the benefit information read by the benefit information reading unit 203 to the wireless tag 15 attached to the product 10 and on which product information related to the product 10 is written. Specifically, the writing unit 204 outputs radio waves from the antenna 6 via the antenna control unit 205 and causes the wireless tag 15 to write data indicating privilege information and this privilege information in the user area 146. (memorize) command. Thereby, the writing unit 204 writes the privilege information to the wireless tag 15 via the antenna control unit 205 and the antenna 6.

Antenna control section 205 controls antenna 6. The antenna control unit 205 controls the antenna 6 based on the instructions from the writing unit 204 described above, and also controls the antenna 6 based on instructions received by the operation reception unit 209 and the like.

Radio waves received by the antenna 6 are input to the radio wave input section 206 . As an example, a radio wave received by the antenna 6 from the wireless tag 15 of the product label 11 attached to the product 10 is input to the radio wave input unit 206 .

The tag information reading unit 207 reads product information from the wireless tag 15 attached to the product 10. Specifically, the tag information reading unit 207 reads product information stored in the wireless tag 15 based on the radio waves input to the radio wave input unit 206.

The display control unit 208 causes the display device to display the product information read by the tag information reading unit 207. Specifically, the display control unit 208 causes the monitor 5 to display the product information read by the tag information reading unit 207. The product information to be displayed includes a product code, product name, price, etc. In this embodiment, the tag information reading unit 207 transmits the product code included in the product information read to the server that stores the product master, and receives information such as the product name, price, etc. corresponding to the product code from the server. are doing. Note that information to be displayed on the monitor 5 such as product name and price may be stored in the wireless tag, the tag information reading section 207 may read this information, and the display control section 208 may cause the display control section 208 to display the information on the monitor 5. Further, the display control unit 208 causes the monitor 5 to display operation buttons and various information for the user to operate.

The operation reception unit 209 accepts various operations from the touch panel. The operation reception unit 209 functions as a product code reception unit that receives input of a product code for identifying a product. Specifically, when searching for a specific product from a large number of products in order to write benefit information to a specific product, the operation reception unit 209 accepts input of a product code when specifying search conditions. The operation reception unit 209 also functions as a cancellation reception unit that accepts cancellation of writing of benefit information for each product code. Specifically, when deleting benefit information written in a wireless tag for a specific product, input of a product code is accepted when specifying search conditions for searching for the product. Note that the operation reception unit 209 can accept not only a product code but also a serial number.

The operation of the reader/writer 1 based on the above configuration will be explained. The reader/writer 1 of this embodiment is used, for example, when discounting fresh foods near the closing time of a supermarket. At the store, first, a discount sticker 12 is pasted on the product to which the wireless tag 15 is attached. Thereafter, discount information is written into the wireless tag 15. The benefit information writing process of writing the discount information displayed on the discount sticker 12 into the wireless tag 15 will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When an instruction to write discount information is input to the operation reception unit 209, the camera control unit 201 controls the camera 4 to capture a symbol image of the discount sticker 12 (S1). At this time, the user grasps the handle 2 and points the camera 4 at the discount sticker 12 affixed to the product 10. Subsequently, the symbol image captured by the camera 4 is input to the symbol input section 302, and the benefit information reading section 203 reads the discount information indicated by the symbol image by referring to the content stored in the symbol image section 32. (S2).

The control unit 20 stores the discount information read in S2 in the RAM 23 (S3). Next, the antenna control unit 205 outputs a control signal to the antenna 6 to cause it to transmit and receive radio waves with the wireless tag 15 attached to the product 10 (S4). At this time, the user grasps the handle 2 and directs the flat radio wave transmitting/receiving section 3 toward the product label 11 attached to the product 10. Next, a radio wave is input from the antenna 6 to the radio wave input unit 206, and the tag information reading unit 207 reads tag information, that is, product information from the radio wave input to the radio wave input unit 206 (S5).

The display control unit 208 causes the monitor 5 to display information regarding the product including the product information read by the tag information reading unit 207 (S6). Information regarding the product to be displayed on the monitor 5 is obtained by transmitting the product code included in the product information read by the tag information reading unit 207 to the server that stores the product master by the control unit 20, and corresponding to the product code received from the server. Contains information such as product name, price, etc. By performing this display, the user can look at the displayed product information and confirm whether or not the product is attached with a wireless tag in which the discount information read from the discount sticker 12 should be written.

Next, the control unit 20 determines whether a write instruction has been input to the operation reception unit 209 (S7). If there is no write instruction input to the operation reception unit 209 (N in S7), the control unit 20 determines whether a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the product information was displayed on the monitor 5 (S8). If the predetermined time has not elapsed (N at S8), the control unit 20 returns to the process at S7. If the predetermined time has elapsed (Y in S9), the control unit 20 ends the benefit information writing process.

In S7, when the operation reception unit 209 receives the write instruction (Y in S7), that is, as described above, the user checks the information displayed on the monitor 5 and writes the benefit information to the wireless tag 15. When the instruction is input, the writing unit 204 performs a writing process (S9) and ends the benefit information writing process. The writing process by the writing unit 204 is a process for causing the wireless tag 15 to write benefit information. Specifically, the writing unit 204 outputs information to the antenna control unit 205 and causes the antenna 6 to write (store) data indicating bonus information and the bonus information in the wireless tag 15 in the user area 146. ) to send commands and. The wireless tag 15 that receives these stores the discount information in the user area 146. In this way, the discount information indicated by the discount sticker 12 is written into the wireless tag 15. Note that the discount information may be automatically written into the wireless tag 15 without a writing instruction from the user.

As described above, the reader/writer 1 of this embodiment includes the privilege information reading section 203 that reads privilege information regarding the product 10, and the writing section 204 that writes the read privilege information to the wireless tag 15. Therefore, discount information can be read from the symbol image of the discount sticker 12 captured by the camera 4 and written into the wireless tag 15. Therefore, there is no need for the user to manually input discount information into the reader/writer 1 each time, and writing of the discount information into the wireless tag 15 can be facilitated.

Furthermore, by writing discount information on a wireless tag attached to a product, there is no need to provide each POS terminal with a camera to read the discount sticker. In addition, as described above, the reader/writer 1 of this embodiment is useful for stores that sell products because writing to the wireless tag is facilitated.

Further, the reader/writer 1 of this embodiment displays the product information written on the wireless tag 15 on the monitor 5 before writing the discount information on the wireless tag 15. Therefore, the user can check the product to which the wireless tag 15 is attached before issuing an instruction to write discount information to the wireless tag 15. Therefore, erroneous writing of discount information can be prevented.

(Modification 1)
Next, a modification of the benefit information writing process will be described with reference to FIG. 8. In this modification, the same discount information is written on a plurality of wireless tags by capturing the symbol image of the discount sticker 12 once. Note that the processes of discount sticker imaging (S11), discount information reading (S12), and discount information storage (S13) are the same as the processes of S1, S2, and S3 in the benefit information writing process of FIG. 7 described above. Therefore, the explanation will be omitted.

After the discount information is stored in S13, the control unit 20 determines whether a product code has been input to the operation reception unit 209 (S14). The same discount information is written to the wireless tag attached to each product specified by the product code input here. If the product code is not input (N in S14), the control unit 20 determines whether a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the discount information was stored in S13 (S15). If the predetermined time has elapsed (Y in S15), the control unit 20 ends the benefit information writing process, and if the predetermined time has not elapsed (N in S15), the control unit 20 returns to the process in S14.

When a product code is input (Y in S14), the control unit 20 searches for a wireless tag that stores the product code input in S14 from among the wireless tags within the communication range of the antenna 6 (S16). . The product code may be entered manually by the user, or may be entered by the reader/writer 1 reading the product code from the wireless tag of the target product. Alternatively, product information for each product may be stored in the reader/writer 1 in advance, a list of these product information may be displayed on the monitor 5, and the user may select a product code to input a product code.

The reader/writer 1 transmits and receives radio waves to and from a plurality of wireless tags, and uses a tag information reading unit 207 to read and search the tag information of each wireless tag. Then, the reader/writer 1 stores the serial number in the RAM 23 for the wireless tag in which the product information including the product code input in S14 is stored (S17). At this time, the user moves the reader/writer 1 so that the movement range of the reader/writer 1 includes the range where the plurality of products with the discount stickers imaged in S11 are placed. The writing unit 204 sequentially performs a writing process on the wireless tags in which serial numbers are stored (S18). The control unit 20 determines whether the writing process has been completed for all the searched wireless tags (S19), and if it has been completed (Y in S19), ends the benefit information writing process. , if it has not been completed (N at S19), the process returns to S19.

According to this modification of the benefit information writing process, an input of an identification code for identifying a product is accepted, and discount information is written to a wireless tag on which product information including the accepted product code has been written. Therefore, by capturing the symbol image of the discount sticker once, it is possible to sequentially write discount information for the same product. Therefore, the user can write discount information into the wireless tag 15 more easily. Accordingly, the working time for the above-mentioned writing work can also be shortened.

In this embodiment, the bonus information has been described as discount information, but it is not limited to this. Any information that benefits the customer may be used, such as discount information and point increase information shown in FIG. Such benefit information is displayed to inform the customer, so that by reading the displayed symbol, it is possible to easily write the benefit information to the wireless tag.

In this embodiment, the content of the benefit is written in the user area 146, but only a flag indicating that there is benefit information may be written. In this case, the content of the benefit may be stored separately in the server. That is, the benefit information written in the wireless tag 15 includes information indicating the presence or absence of the benefit and information indicating the content of the benefit.

Furthermore, if a barcode indicating discount information is also printed on the discount sticker, the discount information may be read from the barcode. In this case, the reader/writer 1 may include a barcode scanner or the like that uses laser light instead of the camera 4.

Further, when information indicating a price is written on the wireless tag 15, the price information may be rewritten instead of writing the read discount information itself on the wireless tag 15. That is, the reader/writer 1 may calculate the discounted price based on the price information read from the wireless tag 15 and the discount information read from the discount sticker, and write this into the price information of the wireless tag. In other words, the reader/writer 1 writing benefit information to the wireless tag 15 is a concept that includes rewriting price information based on the benefit information.

(Modification 2)
Next, as a second modification, a cancellation process in which privilege information is written on the wireless tag 15 attached to a product and then canceled will be described with reference to FIG. When an instruction to cancel discount information is input to the operation reception unit 209, the control unit 20 determines whether a product code has been input to the operation reception unit 209 (S21).

If the product code is not input (N in S21), the control unit 20 determines whether a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the cancellation instruction was input to the operation reception unit 209 (S22). If the predetermined time has elapsed (Y in S22), the control unit 20 ends the cancellation process, and if the predetermined time has not elapsed (N in S22), returns to the process in S21.

When the product code is input (Y in S21), the control unit 20 searches for a wireless tag in which the product code input in S21 is stored from among the wireless tags within the communication range of the antenna 6 (S23). . The product code may be entered manually by the user, or may be entered by the reader/writer 1 reading the product code from the wireless tag of the target product.

As described in the modification, the control unit 20 stores the serial number of the wireless tag including the input product code in the RAM 23 as a result of the search (S24). The writing unit 204 sequentially performs deletion processing on the wireless tags in which serial numbers are stored (S25). The deletion process by the writing unit 204 is to transmit a command from the antenna 6 to the wireless tag 15 to delete the discount information written in the user area 146.

The control unit 20 determines whether the deletion process has been completed for all the searched wireless tags (S26), and if it has been completed (Y in S26), it ends the cancellation process and indicates that the deletion process has not been completed. If not (N at S26), the process returns to S26.

According to this cancellation process, even if discount information is written in the wireless tag 15 by mistake, the writing of benefit information can be easily canceled for the same product. Note that the above-described cancellation process can also be performed not for each product but for each discount information. For example, it is possible to cancel all 10% discount processing, and in this case, the discount information 10% discount is input to the operation input unit 209, and the reader/writer 1 searches the user area of each wireless tag. Then, cancellation processing is performed on the wireless tag in which the 10% discount is stored.

The above embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. This embodiment can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and changes can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. This embodiment and its modifications are included within the scope and gist of the invention, as well as within the scope of the invention described in the claims and its equivalents.

1 Reader/writer (wireless tag writing device)
203 Benefit information reading section 204 Writing section 208 Display control section 209 Operation reception section (product code reception section, cancellation reception section)

Patent No. 4422706

Claims (6)

a benefit information reading unit that reads benefit information from a symbol attached to a product and indicating a benefit related to the product;
a writing section that writes the privilege information read by the privilege information reading section to a wireless tag attached to the product and written with product information related to the product;
A wireless tag writing device comprising: a tag information reading unit that reads product information from a wireless tag attached to the product;
a display control unit that causes a display device to display the product information read by the tag information reading unit;
The wireless tag writing device according to claim 1, further comprising the following. It further includes a product code reception unit that accepts input of a product code for identifying the product,
2. The writing section writes the privilege information read by the privilege information reading section to a wireless tag in which product information including the product code received by the product code receiving section is written. 2. The wireless tag writing device according to 2. Furthermore, it is equipped with a cancellation reception department that accepts cancellations of writing of benefit information,
Any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the writing unit deletes benefit information written on a wireless tag on which information for specifying the product accepted by the cancellation reception unit is written. The wireless tag writing device described in . The wireless tag writing according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the symbol attached to the product is written with information that allows visible benefits for a purchaser of the product. Device. A program for controlling a wireless tag writing device by a computer,
The computer,
a benefit information reading unit that reads benefit information from a symbol attached to a product and indicating a benefit related to the product;
a writing section that writes the privilege information read by the privilege information reading section to a wireless tag attached to the product and on which product information related to the product is written;
A program to make it work.

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