JPH1152859A - Position detecting tag - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily find out required baggage from piled up baggage. SOLUTION: An IC tag 10 is stuck to a baggage label, etc. In the IC tag 10, a sounding body 22 and an RF circuit 24 for radio communication are connected to an IC 20 consisting of a microprocessor 12, a mask ROM 14, an EEPROM 16 and an RAM 18. An antenna 26 is connected to the RF circuit 24. For instance, the operation program and the fixed information of the microprocessor 12 are stored in the mask ROM 14, and the data, etc., to be revised at need are stored in the EEPROM 16. A deliverer calls out the IC tag 10 stuck to the baggage by a calling radio equipment when the baggage to be taken out exists. This radio signal is received by the antenna 26 and the RF circuit 24 to be transferred to the microprocessor 12. The microprocessor 12 judges whether or not a call shows itself, and when it shows itself, the microprocessor 12 makes the sounding body 22 generate an acoustic signal for a prescribed time.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a position detecting tag, and more particularly, to a position detecting tag which enables a position of a desired package to be easily detected in a delivery truck or a warehouse.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, in a physical distribution (or delivery), a package is managed by a slip attached thereto. Barcodes are almost always printed on slips, which are read and compiled into a database together with information on the client and the destination, so that the location of any package can be immediately identified.

[0003]

In the prior art, it is easy to detect the location of a desired package macroscopically. However, for example, a delivery person or a warehouse manager is piled up in a delivery truck or a warehouse. It is not easy to find a desired package from among a large number of packages, and requires considerable skill.
Of course, it is necessary to take into account the order of removal before storing in the delivery truck or the warehouse.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a position detecting tag capable of immediately detecting a desired item from a large number of packages.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A position detecting tag according to the present invention outputs a call discriminating means for discriminating a call signal to the tag itself, and outputs a signal which can be perceived by a human in accordance with the discrimination result of the call discriminating means. And output means.

In response to the call signal, the output means outputs a signal that can be perceived by a human, for example, an acoustic signal and / or a light signal. However, the desired luggage can be found quickly and easily.

[0007] By using an electronic circuit having a microprocessor as the call discrimination means, a target tag can be detected from a large number of tags, and can be used for other purposes.

[0008] By transmitting the call signal by radio waves, the call signal can easily reach a hidden place.
Achieve initial goals.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing an embodiment of an IC tag as a position detecting tag according to the present invention.

In the IC tag 10 of this embodiment, a sounding body 22 and an RF circuit 24 for wireless communication are connected to an IC 20 comprising a microprocessor 12, a mask ROM 14, an EEPROM 16 and a RAM 18, and an antenna 26 is connected to the RF circuit 24. Connected.

The mask ROM 14 stores, for example, an operation program of the microprocessor 12 and the IC tag 10.
Fixed information (identification data, etc.) is stored in EEPRO
In M16, data that is changed as necessary is stored.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a slip to which the IC tag 10 shown in FIG. 1 is attached. As is well known, a slip number and an information barcode corresponding to the slip number are printed on the slip, and predetermined information is entered in the fields of the requester and the destination. Since the IC tag shown in FIG. 1 can be formed very thin and lightweight, it is affixed to the corner of the slip, in the example shown in FIG. When the recipient receives the package and the slip, or at the collection center, using a double-sided tape or the like, the load IC tag 10 is attached to the slip as shown in FIG. Is also good.

It is clear that the association between the IC tag 10 and the slip is preferably as close as possible to the time of receiving the package. For example, the following method is available. The baggage receiving department (such as the package receiver or the input department of the collection center where the received package is first collected) reads the barcode (or slip number) and stores the client and destination on the mobile terminal or the delivery database. At the same time as the input, the slip number is wirelessly notified to the attached IC tag 10 and stored in the EEPROM 16. As another method, when the slip number or the like is input to the portable terminal or the delivery data, the identification information of the attached IC tag 10 is queried, and the slip number and the identification information of the attached IC tag 10 are obtained. They may be linked to each other and registered in the database.
In the former method, if the slip number is known, the corresponding IC tag 10 can be called, but in the latter method, the identification information of the corresponding IC tag 10 must be retrieved from the slip number. In the former method, there is no need to write the slip number in the IC tag 10, and there is an effect that power consumption for that can be reduced.

Assume that a large number of packages to which the IC tag 10 as shown in FIG. 1 is attached are piled up in a delivery truck, for example. At that time, if there is a package that you want to take out, the delivery person
The tag 10 is called by the IC tag calling radio. The wireless signal includes, for example, identification information of an IC tag to be called or a slip number of a package to which the IC tag to be called is attached. This wireless signal is received by the antenna 26, demodulated by the RF circuit 24, and transferred to the microprocessor 12. The microprocessor 12
It is determined whether or not the received signal indicates itself, and if so, the sounding body 22 generates a predetermined sound signal for a predetermined time. The delivery person searches for a desired package based on the generated acoustic signal. In order to save power consumption, it is usually preferable to set the time during which the acoustic signal is continuously generated to be short enough to detect a package. If the delivery member cannot find the package during that time, the desired IC tag 10 may be called again from the wireless device.

A light emitting body (for example, a red light emitting diode) may be used in place of the sounding body or together with the sounding body. In the light emitting diode, power consumption can be significantly reduced as compared with the sounding body.

In the above embodiment, by using the EEPROM 16 having a storage capacity of a certain level or more, it is possible to store not only the information for position detection but also other information, for example, information on the client and the destination. If this is used, for example, even if the delivery database becomes temporarily unusable, data can be recovered relatively easily.

If it is not necessary to store the variable data, the position detecting tag may be a resonance circuit that resonates at a specific radio frequency, and a sound / light emitter that emits or emits light by resonance of the resonance circuit. Even with a simple configuration, the purpose of position detection can be achieved. In this case, there is an advantage that it is not necessary to prepare a power supply. Of course, this does not prevent provision of a power supply. By changing the radio frequency output from the calling radio device, a specific position detection tag can be called, and it can emit sound and / or emit light.

Although the embodiment in which the slip is separate from the slip has been described, it goes without saying that the same function and effect can be obtained even when integrated with the slip. In other words, it is sufficient to add an area for writing the requester and the destination to the position detection tag of the present invention, and print a series of slip numbers in advance. At this time, the slip number is the identification information of the position detection tag.

[0020]

As can be easily understood from the above description, according to the present invention, it is possible to easily and quickly find a desired package even when piled up in a dark place in a delivery truck. Become.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a state in which the IC tag of this embodiment is attached to a slip.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10: IC tag (Example) 12: Microprocessor 14: Mask ROM 16: EEPROM 18: RAM 20: IC 22: Sound generator 24: RF circuit 26: Antenna

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A position detecting device, comprising: a call discriminating means for discriminating a call signal for itself; and an output means for outputting a signal perceptible to humans according to the discrimination result of the call discriminating means. tag. 2. The position detecting tag according to claim 1, wherein said call discriminating means comprises an electronic circuit having a microprocessor. 3. The position detecting tag according to claim 1, wherein said output means is a sound generating means for outputting a sound signal. 4. The position detecting tag according to claim 1, wherein said output means is a light emitting means. 5. The position detecting tag according to claim 1, wherein the calling signal is transmitted by radio waves.