KR101861304B1 - Portable SKU Number Detector Using RFID Technology and Detecting Method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed are a portable stock-keeping-unit (SKU) number detector of a radio frequency identification (RFID) manner, and a detecting method thereof. The SKU number detector of the present invention can automatically count the number of products to which the same SKU number is assigned by scanning an RFID tag in which the SKU number used for product management is recorded, and automatically records logistics state information in the counted RFID tag. The portable SKU number detector comprises: a barcode reader part; an RFID reader part; and a counter part.

Description

Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a portable SKU number detector,

The present invention relates to a method of performing logistics management of a product by recording SKU numbers used for product management in an RFID tag, and is a method of automatically counting the number of articles to which the same SKU number is assigned in a method of scanning RFID tags A SKU number detector, and a method thereof.

At each stage involved in the distribution of goods, a Stock-Keeping-Unit (SKU) number is used to manage the goods. SKU numbers are assigned the same number for each type of goods, and the type of goods is generally divided into basic packaging units for distribution. For example, an article packaged and circulated in a box unit (for example, a pencil, etc.) is given a SKU number in units of boxes. If the same specification box is assigned the same SKU number. In addition, a SKU number is assigned to each item, such as a garment or a hat, in which the form is not fixed and distributed individually. In this case, if the color or size is different, another SKU number will be assigned to the other item. SKU numbers are managed in point of sale (POS) systems or enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.

The SKU number can be printed directly on a box or packaging in the form of a barcode, printed as a barcode on a label or an item tag, then attached to a product or product package, or suspended . When the goods are shipped from the warehouse, the warehouse manager can check the SKU number using the barcode attached to each item using a barcode reader, thereby confirming the type of goods to be shipped, counting the number of articles shipped by each type of goods can do. Likewise, when an article is received, the goods receipt manager can check the SKU number by using a barcode attached to each article using a barcode reader to check the type of articles to be received and confirm the number of articles to be received for each article type. In the case of a store selling goods, by reading the SKU number from the barcode of the tag or label attached to the item to be sold, the kind of the goods currently sold through the POS system can be immediately confirmed.

However, a problem arises because the same SKU number is assigned to the same item. For example, if you have barcodes attached to all items in your store, the only way to verify that 30 red items, 50 yellow items, and 20 blue items are in stock will count the total number of items. This is because only three SKUs are obtained when all bar codes of 100 products are read by bar code reader.

[0002] Recently, RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags, which are a type of non-contact wireless communication, are widely applied to article management. RFID is a technology that reads information embedded in an electronic tag using an antenna and a reader in a non-contact wireless manner. Therefore, even when the RFID reader is not close enough to use the RFID reader, the user code stored in the tag can be read, Warehouse management and wealth management.

However, the RFID tag method was not introduced properly in the SKU number system. This is because the SKU numbering system assigns the same number to the same article. Even if an RFID tag in which a SKU number is recorded is attached to a plurality of identical articles, only one tag actually read can be confirmed, so that the number of tags can not be confirmed. In other words, it is meaningless for an administrator to introduce RFID in the SKU numbering system because all the RFID tags of each item must be individually scanned and counted together.

An object of the present invention is to provide a portable SKU number detector capable of automatically counting the number of articles to which the same SKU number is assigned among a plurality of articles in a manner according to an RFID protocol and a detection method thereof.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a portable SKU number detector and a method of detecting the SKU number detector capable of automatically recording the logistics status information of an article counted to an article having a specific SKU number once for each RFID tag.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention proposes a portable SKU number detector capable of detecting an article having the same SKU (Stock-Keeping-Unit) number among a plurality of articles. The portable SKU number detector of the present invention includes an RFID reader unit and a counter unit.

The RFID interrogator identifies the RFID tag including the SKU number in the tag identification number of the RFID tag attached to each article during the scan mode, and reads the tag identification number of the RFID tag and provides the tag identification number to the counter. At this time, the tag identification number is given a predetermined additional number to the SKU number, and the same SKU number is assigned to a plurality of articles of the same kind, and the additional number is given differently for each article. Therefore, the SKU numbers of the same kind of articles are the same, but the tag identification numbers are different for each article.

The counter unit counts the number of the tag identification numbers of the at least one RFID tag after the RFID reader unit confirms the SKU number from the tag identification number of the identified at least one RFID tag. Thus, the portable SKU number detector can count the number of articles to which the SKU number is assigned equally.

According to an embodiment, the counter unit may exclude the serial number separated from the tag identification number of the identified RFID tag from the counting target when the serial number does not conform to the predetermined scheme.

Example 1

According to the embodiment, the portable SKU number detector of the present invention may further include a barcode reader unit for reading a barcode from one of the plurality of articles to extract a code for checking the number of the plurality of articles having a specific SKU number have. In this case, the counter may provide the RFID reader with the code extracted by the bar code reader unit using the SKU number to be used in the scan mode. Accordingly, the RFID reader unit performs the scan mode using the SKU number provided by the counter unit.

Example 2

According to another embodiment, the portable SKU number detector of the present invention may further include an input unit and a state processing unit, and may store state information in an RFID tag of an article counted in the scan mode. The input unit receives the status information of the scan target article in the scan mode from the user and provides the status information to the status processor. Here, the status information is information on the state of the goods processing of the goods. The state processor may convert the state information received from the input unit into a predetermined state code, and then control the RFID reader to record the state code in the user memory of the RFID tag including the SKU number.

The present invention is also applicable to the SKU number detection method of the portable SKU number detector. The SKU number detection method of the present invention is characterized in that the RFID interrogator identifies at least one RFID tag including the SKU number in a tag identification number among RFID tags attached to each article, A scan step of reading a number; Wherein the counter unit counts the number of tag identification numbers of at least one identified RFID tag after identifying the SKU number in the tag identification number of at least one RFID tag identified by the RFID reader unit, The number of articles having the same number of articles as the number of articles is automatically counted.

The portable SKU number detector of the present invention can count the number of the plurality of articles to which the same SKU number is assigned by a scanning operation (or an RFID reading operation), so that the manager does not have to count the number of articles one by one.

In addition, since the portable SKU number detector of the present invention can read the SKU number of the article to be scanned from the barcode attached to the article, the manager can read the barcode of the specific article, The number of articles having a number can be counted.

In addition, the portable SKU number detector of the present invention can detect status information (e.g., goods receipt process, goods issue process, or inventory process) of the logistics process status in RFID tags of a plurality of articles counted as having the same SKU number in the scan mode, It is possible to easily record the state of logistics of the individual articles. Therefore, overall logistics management becomes very convenient. For example, an administrator does not need to read a bar code for each article, record the status in a note by hand, or record the information in a computerized system.

1 is a conceptual diagram of the operation of the portable SKU number detector of the present invention,
2 is a block diagram of a portable SKU number detector of the present invention, and
3 is a flowchart provided in the explanation of the SKU number detection method of the portable SKU number detector according to the embodiment of the present invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

The portable SKU number detector 100 of the present invention can automatically count the number of articles to which the same SKU number is assigned by scanning an RFID tag in which SKU (Stock-Keeping-Unit) number used for product management is recorded have.

RFID tag

First, an RFID tag is attached to each article. The RFID tag of the present invention is given a tag identification number. The tag identification number of the present invention includes a SKU number and a predetermined 'supplementary number'. Since the SKU numbers are numbered according to the types of articles, the same SKU number is assigned to a plurality of articles of the same kind. Additional numbers are assigned differently for each item. The supplementary number can be given in various formats, for example, a serial number to be sequentially given is one example. Therefore, the SKU numbers of the same kind of articles are the same, but the tag identification numbers are different for each article.

According to the standard, an RFID tag has four memory banks: a TID (Transponder ID) memory, an EPC memory, a USER memory, and a reserved memory. Among them, the TID bank is a ROM in which a unique identification number given by the RFID chip maker is recorded, which can not be changed by the administrator or the user, but the remaining EPC memory, USER memory and spare memory can be arbitrarily recorded by the user .

For example, both the SKU number and the supplementary number may be written to the EPC memory, or alternatively, the SKU number may be written to the EPC memory and the supplementary number may be stored in the USER memory or the spare memory.

The RFID tag may be operated in any one of an active type, a semi-passive type, and a passive type operation mode, but is preferably a passive type.

RFID tags in the form of labels (barcode printing)

The RFID tag may itself be attached to or suspended from the article, but is not limited thereto. For example, an RFID tag can be supplied in the form of a label sheet. A label is printed on the front side of the label and an RFID tag is attached on the back side. Labels can be affixed to the item using glue applied on the back side or tagged on the item. Naturally, the bar code label and the RFID tag may be separately manufactured and attached.

Only the SKU number is displayed in the bar code, not the tag identification number, and both bar-type bar codes and 2D bar codes (for example, QR codes) are applicable. This is because the store or logistics manager only needs to check the SKU number, and the supplementary number need not be managed other than the label producer.

The process of assigning the tag identification number to the RFID tag may be performed by the logistics manager, but may also be performed by the tag supplier or the label supplier. For example, product manufacturers order RFID tag-labeled label sheets from barcode label suppliers in accordance with production plans for each type of product. Every time a producer makes a product, it is possible to attach a label according to the type of product and perform the logistics processing as described below. Product producers or store managers need to manage the SKU number only to ship goods and goods. Because the portable SKU number detector 100 of the present invention automatically counts the number of items shipped and received.

In Fig. 1, four A type articles A1, A2, A3 and A4 belonging to the article type A and three B type articles B1, B2 and B3 belonging to the article type B are exemplarily shown. Barcode label sheets (L1, L3, L5, L7, L9, L11, L13) are attached to each article. A bar code b1 is printed on the front face of the bar code label sheet L1 and an RFID tag 11 is attached on the back face of the bar code label sheet L1. The bar codes of the A-type articles A1, A2, A3 and A4 have the same first SKU number and the bar codes of the B-type articles B1, B2 and B3 have the same second SKU number. However, since the first SKU number differs from the second SKU number, the bar codes of the A-type articles A1, A2, A3 and A4 are different from the bar codes of the B-type articles B1, B2 and B3.

In the RFID tags of the A-type articles A1, A2, A3 and A4, different tag numbers are assigned to the first SKU numbers and different tag identification numbers are recorded. The RFID tags of the B-type articles B1, B2, Different tag numbers are assigned to the second SKU numbers, and different tag identification numbers are recorded.

Portable SKU  Configuration of number detector

2, a portable SKU number detector 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes an RFID reader unit 201, a barcode reader unit 203, a display unit 205, an input unit 207, a network interface unit 209 and a control unit 210. [ Hereinafter, for the sake of convenience in explanation of operation, the case where the first article A1 which is an A-type article is connected will be described as an example.

The RFID interrogator 201 forms a wireless channel with the RFID tag c1 through the antenna ANT and performs wireless communication according to the RFID standard. The RFID interrogator 201 identifies the RFID tag including the SKU number to be scanned in the tag identification number among the RFID tags attached to each article in the scan mode, reads the tag identification number of the identified RFID tag, to provide.

As a method of identifying the RFID tag during the scan mode, there are a broadcasting method and an optional reading method. According to the broadcasting scheme, the RFID interrogator 201 calls all the RFID tags c1 within the reach of the wireless channel, and then identifies the RFID tags having the tag identification numbers including the SKU number. According to the selective reading method, the RFID interrogator 201 can selectively call only the RFID tag (c1) having the tag identification number including the SKU number to be scanned.

The RFID interrogator 201 can record a status code in the RFID tag of the scanned article according to the controller 210. [ At this time, the RFID interrogator 201 can control to record the status code by calling the scanned article according to the selective writing method. The status codes are described below again.

The barcode reader unit 203 reads the barcode and provides it to the control unit 210. The bar code attached to the article is read, so the code read by the bar code reader 203 from the bar code will be the SKU number.

The display unit 205 is provided on one side of the outer surface of the portable SKU number detector 100 to visually display the scan result to the user immediately. The input unit 207 is an apparatus for receiving various control commands from a user and can be implemented in various ways. One of the control commands is the status information of the scan target article in the scan mode. If there are four items of [status of goods issue], [goods receipt process], [return process] and [stock process] in the status information, the input unit 207 displays [goods issue] , [Return processing], and [inventory processing], it is possible to process the state information as input when each button is operated.

The network interface unit 209 is a wired and / or wireless network configuration for connecting to a point-of-sale (POS) system, an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system, . When the portable SKU number detector 100 of the present invention includes the network interface unit 209, the control unit 210 can provide the scan result of the scan mode to the POS system.

The control unit 210 controls the overall operation of the portable SKU number detector 100 of the present invention and includes a counter unit 211 and a state processing unit 213 for its operation.

The counter unit 211 counts the number of RFID tags having a tag identification number including a specific SKU number in the scan mode. For the counting operation, the counter unit 211 firstly provides the SKU number to be scanned to the RFID interrogator 201 in the case of entering the scan mode, so that the RFID interrogator 201 performs the scan . (2) When the RFID reader unit 201 scans the SKU number provided from the counter unit 211 and identifies at least one RFID tag to the counter unit 211, (3) And counts the tag identification number of at least one RFID tag provided from the reader unit 201.

The state processing unit 213 may record the state information into the RFID tag of at least one or more articles counted by the counter unit 211 in a single operation in the scan mode. Therefore, the state information recording of the state processing unit 213 is performed following the scan operation. The status information is, for example, [goods issue processing], [goods receipt processing], [return processing], and [inventory processing] as information on the goods processing state of the goods. The status information may be received from the user through the input unit 207 or received from the external management server, the POS system, or the ERP system through the network interface unit 209. [

SKU  Example of operation of number detector

Hereinafter, the operation of the portable SKU number detector 100 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

≪ Acquisition of scan target SKU number: S301 >

Upon entering the scan mode, the SKU number to be scanned is required. One of the preferable methods is the bar code b1 read from the label sheet L1 attached to the article A1 by the bar code reader unit 203. [ This is because the bar code b1 is recorded as the SKU number as described above.

Alternatively, the SKU number to be scanned may be input directly from the user or the SKU number to be scanned may be received from the POS system or the like through the network interface unit 209. [

On the other hand, the scan mode entry may be determined according to the control command of the user. However, for example, if no separate operation mode is required, the bar code reader 203 enters the scan mode at the moment when the bar code reader 203 reads the bar code of the article, can do.

<Scan all items RFID tag with SKU number: S303>

When the bar code reader unit 203 reads the bar code, the counter unit 211 receives the code (i.e., the SKU number) from the bar code reader unit 203 and provides the code to the RFID reader unit 201 to perform the scan mode . As described above, the RFID interrogator 201 scans the RFID tag having the tag identification number including the SKU number to be scanned in the brocasting or selective reading mode.

&Lt; Counting the number of RFID tags: S305 to S309 >

The counter unit 211 counts the tag identification numbers of at least one RFID tag provided from the RFID interrogator 201 (S305 and S307). Since the RFID interrogator 201 has already identified and provided the tag identification number including the SKU number, it is possible to count the number of articles having the same SKU number only by counting the number of tag identification numbers.

According to the embodiment, the counter unit 211 separates the SKU number and the supplementary number from the tag identification number of the RFID tag provided by the RFID interrogator 201, and if the separated supplementary number does not conform to the predetermined number scheme Can be excluded from the counting target. For example, the supplementary number is fixed to a certain number of digits, so that if the number of digits of the supplementary number is small or large, it is excluded from the counting.

The counter unit 211 repeats the steps S303 and S305 to complete the scan (S307), and displays the counted number of articles on the display unit 205 (S309).

&Lt; Record state information in the RFID tag: S311, S313 >

If the state information is input from the user through the input unit 207 after step S309, the process proceeds to the step of recording the state information. The state information input by the user may be input not after step S309 but before step S301 or immediately after step S301 (S311)

The state processing unit 213 provides the RFID reader unit 201 with a status code corresponding to the state information input from the input unit 207. [ At this time, the state processor 213 may provide the tag ID number finally held in the last scan mode (305) to the RFID interrogator 201, and the RFID interrogator 201 The identified tag identification number may be stored while performing steps S303 and S303. The RFID interrogator 201 records the status code received from the status processor 213 for each RFID tag identified in the last scan mode. At this time, the status code can be stored in the user memory area. The recording of the status code can be performed by a selective writing method for the identified tag identification number (S313).

Through the step S313, it is possible to perform the logistics process (for example, goods receipt) by immediately recording the status information on the goods immediately after confirming the number of the plurality of goods having the same SKU number.

In this way, the operation of the portable SKU number detector 100 of the present invention is performed. 1, when a plurality of goods of various kinds are received, the user uses the portable SKU number detector 100 to read only one barcode of the goods, and the same SKU number as the corresponding barcode Can be confirmed through the display unit 205. When the state information of the confirmed article is input, the state information is recorded for each RFID tag attached to the article, so that the distribution processing can be automatically performed at the same time.

For example, in the example of Fig. 1, the user can read the barcode (b1, first SKU number) of the first article A1 of the articles using the portable SKU number detector 100, A1 can be confirmed through the display unit 205 that the number of articles of the same kind is four. When a button (not shown, example of the input unit) corresponding to [Stocking Process] is subsequently operated, a status code corresponding to [Stock Processing] is recorded in the RFID tags of the four articles identified as being identical to the first SKU number, The processing can be completed.

In the above embodiment, the process of scanning using the SKU number as it is is explained, but it is also possible to scan using only a part of the SKU number.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is clearly understood that the same is by way of illustration and example only and is not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Claims (15)

A portable SKU number detector for detecting an article to which an identical SKU number is assigned to a selected one of a plurality of articles,
A barcode reader unit for extracting the SKU number indicated by a barcode of the search object;
The method comprising the steps of: scanning a plurality of RFID tags attached to each of the plurality of articles to identify at least one RFID tag in which a tag identification number including an SKU number and an attachment number extracted by the barcode reader unit is recorded; An RFID reader unit for reading an identification number; And
And counting the number of articles having the same SKU number as the SKU number of the search target article by counting the number of tag identification numbers identified by the RFID interrogator.
delete The method according to claim 1,
An input unit for receiving status information of the retrieval object article from the user (the status information is information on the state of the goods processing state of the retrieval object article); And
Further comprising: a status processor for converting the received status information into a corresponding status code,
The RFID reader unit records the status code in the user memory of at least one RFID tag identified as containing the SKU number according to the control of the status processor, And the status code is recorded in the same manner in the portable SKU number detector.
The method of claim 3,
A counting result of the counter unit and a control result of the state processing unit to an external management server.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the same SKU number is assigned to a plurality of articles of the same kind, and said additional number is assigned differently for each article.
6. The method of claim 5,
Wherein the counting unit excludes the additional number separated from the tag identification number of the identified RFID tag from the counting object when the additional number does not conform to the predetermined scheme.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the tag identification number is recorded in an EPC (Electronic Product Code) memory of the corresponding RFID tag.
The method according to claim 1,
And a display unit for displaying the counted number of the counter units.
A method for detecting a SKU number of a portable SKU number detector for detecting an article to which an SKU number identical to a selected one of a plurality of articles is assigned,
Extracting the SKU number indicated by a barcode from the search target article by the barcode reader;
The RFID reader identifies at least one RFID tag in which the tag identification number including the SKU number and the supplementary number extracted from the RFID reader attached to each of the plurality of articles is recorded by the RFID reader, ; And
Counting the number of articles having the same SKU number as the SKU number of the search object article, counting the number of tag identification numbers identified by the RFID interrogator, Detection method.
delete 10. The method of claim 9,
The method comprising: inputting status information of the retrieval object article (the status information is information on a state of processing of the retrieval object article) from an inputting unit;
Providing a state code corresponding to state information received by the input unit to the RFID interrogator; And
Further comprising the step of recording the status code in a user memory of at least one RFID tag identified by the RFID interrogator as including the SKU number, so that the RFID tag of the article having the same SKU number as the search object And the code is recorded in the same manner.
10. The method of claim 9,
Wherein the same SKU number is assigned to a plurality of articles of the same kind, and the additional number is assigned to each article differently.
13. The method of claim 12,
Wherein the counter unit excludes, when the supplementary number separated from the tag identification number of the identified RFID tag does not comply with the predetermined scheme, from the counting target.
10. The method of claim 9,
Wherein the tag identification number is recorded in an EPC (Electronic Product Code) memory of the corresponding RFID tag.
10. The method of claim 9,
Further comprising the step of: displaying on the display unit the counted number of the counter units.

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