JPH10161541A - Electronic tag - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To confirm whether a reading is conducted or not by providing the visual display means which notifies the reading condition to the external during the reading of information. SOLUTION: When radio waves for a power supply are received by an antenna 23 of a remote ID2, a power supply circuit produces a power supply voltage from the received signals and supplies power to each of the circuits which are made into operable conditions. If communication radio waves are received by the antenna 23, a MODEM circuit performs a receiving process and an MPU transmits received data. Then, the MPU performs computations in accordance with a beforehand set program and performs the processes in accordance with the received data. If the received data are for an information writing, the information is stored in a memory. If the received data are for an information reading, the information stored in the memory is transmitted to the external. Note that an LED 24 is turned on while an information reading/ writing is conducted.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic tag that can be used for a price tag, an inventory management tag, and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as price tag tags, paper tags on which barcodes and prices are printed have been widely used. here,
The bar code is printed for machine reading, and the price is printed for human perception. In the case of such a barcode price tag, if the barcode price tags are read one by one for inventory inspection, etc., when the number of barcode price tags to be read is large, it takes time to read all the barcode price tags. Is a problem.

[0003] In recent years, various electronic tags having a built-in circuit (remote ID) for writing and reading information by communication with the outside have been proposed. Therefore, if a remote price tag incorporating this remote ID is used, even if the number of remote price tags to be read is large, a plurality of readings can be performed at once, so that the reading time can be shortened.

[0004]

However, when a plurality of readings are performed simultaneously, there is a problem that the reading operator cannot recognize whether or not the reading has been performed for all the remote price tags. For example, if there are 10 price tag tags in the reading range, reading is performed for 9 price tag tags, and even if reading is not performed for one price tag tag, the reading operator recognizes it. Can not do.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide an electronic tag which can confirm whether or not reading has been performed.

[0006]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic tag capable of writing and reading information, and the read state of the information is notified to the outside when the information is read. It is characterized by providing a visible display means. Therefore, even when there are a plurality of electronic tags, it is possible to recognize which electronic tag is being read.

Further, if the writing state is notified to the outside also when writing to the electronic tag, the writing state to the electronic tag can be recognized. Also, as in the invention described in claim 3,
If the visible display is performed based on a power supply voltage generated by an external radio wave, the visible display at the time of access such as reading or writing can be performed without using a battery.

[0008]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a price tag showing one embodiment of the present invention. (A) is a cross-sectional view of the price tag,
(B) is a plan view of a remote ID incorporated in the price tag,
(C) is a plan view of the price tag.

The price tag is provided with a remote I tag in the tag body.
D2 is built in. The tag body comprises a case 1 made of resin or the like, a rewritable paper 3 and a paper sheet 4 made of PET paper or the like. Remote ID
2 is installed on the case 1 and includes a circuit board 21;
It comprises a semiconductor section 22, an antenna 23, and an LED 24 mounted on the circuit board 21.

[0010] Information necessary for the price tag (for example, ID information for specifying the price tag, information such as the product number, etc.) is written into the semiconductor unit 22 by communication with the outside. Reading of information from the unit 22 is performed. The antenna 23 has a circular shape and is mounted on the circuit board 21 so as to surround the semiconductor section 22 as shown in FIG. 1B, and the LED 24 is located at a predetermined position (upper right position in the figure) of the circuit board 21. Has been implemented. The semiconductor section 22, the antenna 23, and the LED 24 are electrically connected by a copper foil pattern formed on the circuit board 21 and solder.

The case 1 has a circular board base 1a, and the circuit board 21 is set on the case 1 so that the semiconductor section 22 is located in the board base 1a. As shown in FIG. 1C, rewrite paper 3 on which price tag information such as a product name and a price is printed is affixed to the lower side of case 1, and the upper side of case 1 is attached to case 1 and circuit board 21. It is sealed by the attached paper sheet 4. In addition, the case 1 and the rewrite paper 3 are formed with holes for receiving the LEDs 24.
The LED 24 penetrates through the case 1 and the rewrite paper 3,
It is attached to be exposed to the outside.

In the price tag according to the present embodiment,
Rewriting of the print information is enabled using the rewrite paper 3 so that the price tag can be reused. As the rewritable paper 3, those disclosed in JP-A-61-237684 and JP-A-61-237684 can be used. Using a heat-sensitive recording material, heat to the recording temperature and then slowly cool to obtain a stable color development state. The color can be erased by the following method. Therefore, printing is performed in the color-developed state, and the print is erased in the decolored state, so that the information to be printed can be rewritten.

[0013] A not-shown writing / writing
The printing device writes necessary information to the price tag in the semiconductor unit 22 and prints price tag information such as a product name and a price on the rewritable paper 3. As shown in FIG. 2, information is read from the price tag on which the information has been written and printed, using the handy terminal 10, and additional information (for example, additional information such as the date and time of receipt at the distribution stage). Is written. In this case, since the remote ID is used, information can be read or written to a plurality of price tags in a short time at the time of an inventory check or the like.

FIG. 3 shows a circuit configuration of the remote ID 2. The semiconductor section 22 includes a power supply circuit 22a, a modulation / demodulation circuit (transmission / reception circuit) 22b, an MPU (control circuit) 22c, a semiconductor nonvolatile memory (storage means) 22d, and an LED drive circuit 22e. Since the remote ID according to the present embodiment does not include a driving battery, the writing / printing device or the handy terminal 10 described above is used.
Transmits two types of radio waves. One is a radio wave for power supply, and the other is a radio wave for communication.

When a power supply radio wave is received by the antenna 23, the power supply circuit 22a generates a power supply voltage based on the received signal and supplies power to each circuit. By this power supply, each circuit is brought into an operating state. Thereafter, when a communication radio wave is received by the antenna 23, the modulation / demodulation circuit 22b performs a reception process and sends out reception data to the MPU 22c. MPU2
2c performs arithmetic processing according to a predetermined program and performs processing according to received data. For example, when the received data is information writing, the information is stored in the memory 22.
d, and when the received data is information reading, a process of transmitting the information stored in the memory 22d to the outside is performed. When writing / reading information, L
The ED 24 is turned on.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic operation process of a main part of the MPU 22c. When it is determined that a read command has been received from the handy terminal 10 (step 101), LE
D24 is turned on (step 102), and thereafter, information stored in the memory 22d is read out, and the antenna 23
Transmits the information to the handy terminal 10 (step 102). Therefore, Handy Terminal 1
When information is read from 0, the LED 24 is turned on, so that it is possible to notify the outside that it is in the read state. The LED 24 lights up while the power supply voltage is being output from the power supply circuit 22a.

If it is determined that a write command has been received from the handy terminal 10 (step 10).
4) The LED 24 is turned on (step 105), and then the transmitted information is written to the memory 22d (step 106). Therefore, the LED 24 is also turned on when information is written from the handy terminal 10, and it is possible to notify the outside that the writing is in progress.

FIG. 5 shows another configuration of the price tag.
(A) is a sectional view of a price tag, and (b) is a plan view of the price tag. In this embodiment, the antenna 23 is configured by a copper foil pattern formed on the circuit board 21, and the LED 24 is attached to the lower side of the circuit board 21.
The remote ID 2 is sandwiched between pet materials 5 serving as a base material.
Is pasted. As described above, the rewritable paper 3 is placed on the lower side of the circuit board 21, that is, the semiconductor section 22 and the antenna 23.
By sticking the rewritable paper 3 on the surface on which is not formed, the rewritable paper 3 becomes flat, and information printing on the surface of the rewritable paper 3 can be facilitated.

Also in this embodiment, a hole for receiving the LED 24 is formed in the lower pet material 5 and the rewrite paper 3, and the LED 24 is connected to the pet material 5 and the rewrite paper 3.
And is mounted so as to be exposed to the outside. In the above-described embodiment, reading / writing of information written in the price tag is performed by the handy terminal 1.
Although the method using 0 is shown, the same operation can be performed using a stationary terminal.

The electronic tag can be applied to an inventory management tag and the like in addition to a price tag.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a price tag showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state in which information is read / written from / to a price tag using a handy terminal.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a circuit configuration of a remote ID 2;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a main part calculation process of the MPU 22c in the semiconductor unit 22.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing another configuration of a price tag.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... case, 2 ... remote ID, 3 ... rewrite paper, 4 ...
Paper-like sheet, 10: Handy terminal, 21: Circuit board, 22: Semiconductor part, 23: Antenna, 24: LED.

Claims (3)

[Claims] A printing medium on which information is printed on a surface (3)
An electronic tag provided with a circuit (2) for writing and reading information by communication with the outside, the circuit comprising: a visible display unit for notifying a reading state to the outside when reading the information; An electronic tag having (24). 2. The electronic tag according to claim 1, wherein the circuit activates the visible display means even when the information is written and notifies the outside of the writing state. 3. The circuit has a power supply circuit (22a) for receiving a radio wave from the outside and generating a power supply voltage for operating the circuit, and the visible display means is based on a power supply voltage from the power supply circuit. 2. A visual display is performed by using
Or the electronic tag described in 2.