JP2001039533A - Article sorting device using multi-read type radio id tag and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance the workability by sorting articles into appropriate sorting chutes even though a plurality of articles are handled in a mass. SOLUTION: An article sorting device is composed of multi-read type radio tags attached respectively to a plurality of articles 3 in an article group 4 in which the articles 3 are handled in a mass, and storing therein sorting data corresponding to the respective articles 3, a multi-read type radio ID tag antenna 9 for reading the sorting data from each of the multi-read type ID tags, a sorting destination determining means 11. With this arrangement, the sorting data of the respective articles in a single group are compared with each other, and if their sorting destinations are one and the same, it is determined that the single group is sorted so as to be send them to their destination.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an article sorting apparatus,
In particular, the present invention relates to an article sorting apparatus and a recording medium using a multi-read type wireless ID tag which is suitable for sorting under a situation where a plurality of articles are handled as one lump.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art From the prior art, there is widely used an article sorting apparatus which automatically sorts articles by dropping articles on a belt conveyor into sorting chutes according to their purposes. Such an article sorting apparatus is used, for example, for cleaning uniforms, wholesale and manufacture of general clothes, and for sorting parcels and mats.

[0003] This automatic sorting is realized by attaching a bar code to the outside of the article or attaching a wireless ID tag and reading the information. Here, the barcode needs to be attached to the outer surface of the article and read directly by optical means, whereas in the case of a wireless ID tag, it is sufficient that the tag is attached to a place where radio waves can reach, such as inside the packaging It can be attached to the unit for high convenience.

[0004]

However, when a plurality of articles are to be handled as one lump, regardless of whether a bar code or a wireless ID tag is used, each lump of the lump is really placed on the same chute. It is not possible to determine whether or not to sort. Actually, due to an operation mistake or the like, there is a possibility that the articles to be sorted into different chutes are mixed in a plurality of articles in one lump.

In such a case, in the prior art, as described above, it is not possible to determine whether the bar code or the like attached to each article can be sorted on the same chute of the sorting apparatus. It had to be flown on a conveyor one by one and sorted individually.

The present invention has been made in consideration of such circumstances, and even when a plurality of articles are handled as one lump, a multi-lead system capable of improving workability by being able to sort into appropriate sorting chutes. It is an object to provide an article sorting device and a recording medium using a wireless ID tag.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-read wireless ID tag in which each of a plurality of articles in an article group in which a plurality of articles are grouped together. , Each of which stores sorting information of the corresponding article.

Further, sorting information is simultaneously read from the multi-read wireless ID tag by the multi-read wireless ID tag antenna. That is, by using the multi-read type wireless ID tag system, even when information is read from a plurality of ID tags that are densely packed as one block, the information is read without any particular problem.

With respect to the read information, the sorting information for each article included in one article group is compared by the sorting destination determining means, and when the sorting destination of each article in one article group is the same, Is determined to sort the one article group to the sorting destination.

Therefore, in the article sorting apparatus using the multi-read type wireless ID tag provided with such means, even when a plurality of articles are handled as one lump, it is possible to sort into appropriate sorting chutes to improve workability. be able to.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the first aspect, the sorting destination determining means is provided when a different sorting destination is included between each of the articles in one article group. It is determined that the one article group is to be sorted to a sorting destination for article re-sorting.

Therefore, in an article sorting apparatus using a multi-read type wireless ID tag provided with such a means, when an article of a different sorting destination is erroneously included in the article group, the article group is replaced with a normal article group. It can be re-sorted without being sorted out.

Further, according to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer which sorts information of each article read from a wireless ID tag attached to each article in an article group in which a plurality of articles are grouped together. Based on the result of the comparison by the comparing means and the comparing means, when the sorting destination of each article in one article group is the same, a means for determining that the sorting destination sorts the one article group. A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for functioning as a computer is recorded.

Since the present invention is provided with such means, the computer which reads out the program stored in the recording medium functions as, for example, a sorting destination determination processing unit of the article sorting apparatus according to the present invention. I do.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

(First Embodiment of the Invention) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of an article sorting apparatus using a multi-read wireless ID tag according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

In the article sorting apparatus using the multi-read type wireless ID tag shown in FIG. 1, an article group 4 in which a plurality of articles 3 are put together is conveyed on a tray 2 provided on a belt conveyor 1. At the same time, each tray 2 is also provided with a belt conveyor 5 to drop the article group 4 onto an appropriate sorting chute 6 and sort the articles in article group units.

As shown in FIG. 1 (d), the article group 4 is formed by a plurality of articles 3 being bundled together by a binding band 18. The plurality of articles 3 are a group of articles 3 to be sorted to the same sort destination. Furthermore, a multi-read wireless ID tag 7 is added to each article so that individual information can be collected for each article.

In order to collect information from the wireless ID tag 7, a multi-read wireless ID tag antenna 9 is provided at the entrance of the sorting chute area 8, and a data processing device 10 is connected to the antenna 9. I have. Also,
The data processing device 10 gives a sorting destination determination command to the control device 11, and the control device 11 controls the driving device based on the command to drop the tray 2 to the target sorting chute 6 for sorting.

The sorting chute 6 has different sorting destinations according to the purpose of the article sorting apparatus. Among them, the reject chute 6 provided especially in the last stage
“a” is provided so that if the article group 4 has an inappropriate article configuration, the article group 4 can be re-sorted by excluding the article group.

In addition, the present apparatus can be used, for example, by item delivery destination, delivery date,
It is possible to sort into various sorting patterns such as by delivery area (Tokyo, Osaka, etc.), by product type, etc.

The article group 4 composed of a plurality of articles is appropriately sorted, and the inappropriate article group 4 is rejected by the reject chute 6.
a, the antenna 9 and the data processing device 1
0 has a configuration as shown in FIG.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the antenna and the data processing device according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the antenna 9 includes a transmitting / receiving unit 21, an ID acquisition processing unit 22, and an individual information acquisition unit 2.
3 are provided.

First, the transmission / reception unit 9 transmits radio waves to the wireless ID tag 7 to supply driving power to the ID tag 7, transmit data to the tag 7, and transmit data from the tag 7. To receive. The multi-read type wireless ID tag has a built-in copper wire antenna and an IC chip as shown in FIG. 3, and performs necessary communication, calculation, and storage processing.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the relationship between a multi-read type wireless ID tag and an antenna.

When the article group 4 enters the communicable area of the antenna 9, the ID acquisition processing section 22 performs ID (identification information, identification information) for all the ID tags 7 included in the article group 4 at one time. No.) and the ID of each ID tag 7 obtained
To the individual information acquisition unit 23. In addition, in the combination of the multi-read wireless ID tag and the antenna, various types of information can be obtained from a plurality of ID tags at the same time, and a large number of ID tag information can be obtained in a short time.

The individual information acquisition unit 23 is an ID acquisition processing unit 2
All articles 3 belonging to the target article group 4 received from 2
, The individual information of the ID tag 7 corresponding to each article is acquired. Further, all the acquired individual information in the article group is sent to the individual information analysis unit 31 of the data processing device 10.

The data processing apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 2 is a computer system composed of a personal computer, a workstation, and the like. The data processing apparatus 10 is composed of hardware means composed of a CPU and a memory and software means composed of programs and data. The function realizing means shown in FIG. Specifically, the data processing device 10 includes, as function realizing means, an individual information analysis unit 31, a sorting destination determination processing unit 32, a sorting destination information holding unit 33, a performance information file 34, a result display unit 35, It has.

First, the individual information analysis unit 31 analyzes the individual information of each of the articles 3 of the article group 4 received from the antenna 9 and finds that the sorting information included in the individual information, which is a reference for sorting, does not match between the articles. It detects whether or not the information includes the information. The individual information analyzing unit 31 notifies the sorting destination determination processing unit 32 of the analysis result as to whether or not a mismatched sorting destination is included, together with the individual information.

The sorting destination determination processing unit 32 reads information as to which sorting chute 6 is to be sorted from the sorting information from the sorting destination information holding unit 33, and stores the information and the sorting information received from the individual information analyzing unit 31. By comparing
The sorting chute 6 of the article group 4 is determined. Here, when an analysis result notification indicating that sorting information that does not match between articles is included is received, the sorting destination of the article group 4 is determined as the reject chute 6a.

The sorting destination determining unit 32 instructs the control unit 11 on the determined sorting destination of the article group 4 and displays and outputs the sorting result from the result display unit 35. The handling result (sorting result) is output to the performance information file 34. In addition, when sorting to the reject chute 6a, an alarm output may be performed, and in this case, an alarm sound may be output in addition to the display.

The sorting destination information holding unit 33 stores each of the article groups 4
Is stored, and information on the sorting chute corresponding to the sorting information is stored. The sorting destination information holding unit 33 is configured on a memory (RAM) such as a main memory in order to realize high-speed processing.

The performance information file 34 stores the result information indicating the sorting destination of the article group 4 and the individual information about each article group 4, and is composed of a secondary storage device such as a hard disk.

The data processing device 10 corresponds to the sorting destination determining means in the claims. More specifically, for example, the individual information analysis unit 31, the sorting destination determination processing unit 32, and the sorting destination information holding unit 33 correspond to the same unit.

Next, the operation of the article sorting apparatus using the multi-read type wireless ID tag according to the present embodiment configured as described above will be described.

First, a plurality of ID tags 7 attached to the respective articles 3 of the article group 4 placed on the tray 2 by a multi-read type wireless ID tag antenna 9 installed upstream of the sorting apparatus shown in FIG. The individual information of each article 3 belonging to the article group 4 is read in a short time.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a mechanism in which the antenna reads the individual information stored in each ID tag at a time by the multi-read method.

As shown in the figure, first, a command for requesting ID information is wirelessly output from the antenna 9 to each ID tag 7 by the operation of the ID acquisition processing section 22 (S1). Where ID
Since the tag 7 uses the multi-read method, the ID request is output to all the ID tags 7 at the same time and is received by the ID tags 7 at the same time.

In response to this request, the ID tags 7
Information is returned, but in this information return, timing adjustment based on a random number is performed in each tag, and ID information is not transmitted from a plurality of tags 7 at the same time (S2).

All the ID information thus acquired by the antenna 7 is transferred from the ID acquisition processing unit 22 to the individual information acquiring unit 23, and the individual information acquiring unit 23 starts acquiring individual information for each article 3. You.

The individual information is separately requested for each wireless ID tag 7 (S4), and the individual information on each article is sequentially obtained, and finally the individual information on all the articles 3 belonging to the article group 4 is obtained. It is acquired (S5).

The individual information is transferred to the individual information analyzer 31 of the data processing device 10, and it is confirmed based on the sorting information included in the individual information whether the articles 3 to be sorted into different shoots are not included. .

In the multi-read method, the ID is acquired only once, so that the reading time is shortened accordingly, and the data is read by the above-described mechanism. Data can be obtained even if there are many.

Here, when the articles 3 to be sorted into different chutes are not included in the article group 4, the chutes 6 corresponding to the sorting information are stored in the sorting destination information holding section 3.
A command to be selected based on the information of No. 3 and to be sorted to the sorting chute 6 is given to the control device 11.

On the other hand, if the articles to be sorted into different chutes are included in the same article group 4 according to the respective sorting information, it is determined that the mass of the article group 4 is erroneous at the time of creation, and re-sorting is performed. To do so, a command to sort the article group 4 into the reject chutes 6a is issued to the control device 11.

Thus, the drive device 12 is controlled by the control device 11 which has received the sorting command. When the article group 4 moves to the corresponding chute 6 or 6a by this control, the belt conveyor 5 on the tray 2 is driven, and the article group 4 is dropped on the chute 6 or 6a.

The bundle of articles 4 sorted into the reject chute 6a is manually separated from the binding band, disintegrated into articles, and placed on the tray 2 of the sorting apparatus again. The tray 2 passes through the antenna 9 again, and the articles 3 on the tray 2 are sorted into the corresponding sorting chutes 6 based on the information of the respective wireless ID tags 7.

As described above, the article sorting apparatus using the multi-read type wireless ID tag according to the embodiment of the present invention is capable of simultaneously reading information on a plurality of articles each having individual sorting information by itself. Using the wireless ID tag, the sorting information included in each article group 4 is compared, and only when each article is constituted by the same sorting information, the sorting is performed on the sorting chute 6. It can be sorted even if it is tied as it is, improving workability, reducing the scale of equipment by reducing the number of times of sorting (reducing capital investment costs), reducing the required space by reducing the scale of equipment, and simplifying the system. Can be achieved.

If the sorting information in the article group does not match, the article group 4 is dropped on the reject chute 6a, so that such an article 4 can be sorted again. .

[Modification] In the present embodiment, the sorting apparatus based on the combination of conveyors shown in FIG. 1 has been described. However, various forms can be considered for the sorting mechanism itself. FIG. 5 shows a modification.

FIG. 5 shows a multi-read wireless ID according to the present invention.
It is a figure which shows the modification of the sorting mechanism part in the goods sorting device using a tag.

As shown in the drawing, the article group 4 moving on the conveyor 1 is pushed out by the pusher 40 at the sorting position and dropped on the sorting chute 6 or the reject chute 6a.

(Second Embodiment of the Invention) In this embodiment, a case where the article sorting apparatus using the multi-read type wireless ID tag of the first embodiment is applied to a mat sorting apparatus will be described.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an example of an article sorting apparatus using a multi-read type wireless ID tag according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The same parts as in FIGS. The description will be omitted, and only different parts will be described here.

The article sorting apparatus using the multi-read type wireless ID tag of the present embodiment is configured in the same manner as the first embodiment except that it is used for sorting mats.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing mats to be sorted in this embodiment.

A multi-read type wireless ID tag 7 is attached to a mat 3 'as the article 3 in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a mat group to be sorted according to the present embodiment.

As shown in the figure, the article group 4 in FIG.
The mat group 4 ′ is formed by binding the mat 3 ′ to which the ID tag 7 is attached with the binding band 18.

The article sorting apparatus using the multi-read type wireless ID tag configured as described above operates in the same manner as in the first embodiment, whereby the same effect can be obtained. Further, the modification shown in FIG. 5 can be applied to the present embodiment.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, but can be variously modified without departing from the gist thereof.

In each of the embodiments, the case of a so-called general sorting apparatus having a conveying means and a sorting means has been described, but the sorting apparatus described in the present specification is not limited to such a case. For example, all devices that need to sort articles, such as automatic warehouses, are included in the sorting device.

As an embodiment for realizing the apparatus, FIG.
In addition to the pusher described above, various types such as an AGV and an overhead conveyor can be considered.

Further, according to the method described in the embodiment, as a program (software means) which can be executed by a computer (computer), for example, a magnetic disk (floppy disk, hard disk, etc.), an optical disk (CD-ROM, DVD, etc.) ), Stored in a storage medium such as a semiconductor memory, or transmitted and distributed via a communication medium. The program stored on the medium side includes a setting program for causing the computer to execute software means (including not only an execution program but also a table and a data structure) to be executed in the computer. A computer that realizes the present apparatus reads a program recorded in a storage medium, and in some cases, constructs software means by using a setting program, and executes the above-described processing by controlling the operation of the software means.

[0066]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, even when a plurality of articles are handled as one lump, a multi-read type wireless ID tag which can be sorted into appropriate sorting chutes to improve workability. And a recording medium using the same.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an example of an article sorting device using a multi-read wireless ID tag according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary block diagram showing a functional configuration of the antenna and the data processing device according to the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a relationship between a multi-read type wireless ID tag and an antenna.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a mechanism in which an antenna reads individual information stored in each ID tag at a time by a multi-read method.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a modification of a sorting mechanism in an article sorting apparatus using a multi-read wireless ID tag according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram showing an example of an article sorting device using a multi-read wireless ID tag according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an exemplary view showing a mat to be sorted in the embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a view showing a mat group to be sorted in the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Belt conveyor 2 ... Tray 3 ... Article 3 '... Mat 4 ... Article group 4' ... Mat group 5 ... Belt conveyor 6 ... Sorting chute 6a ... Reject chute 7 ... Multi-read type wireless ID tag 8 ... Sorting chute area 9 ... Multi-read type wireless ID tag antenna 10 ... Data processing device 11 ... Control device 12 ... Drive device 18 ... Bundling band 21 ... Transceiving unit 22 ... ID acquisition processing unit 23 ... Individual information acquisition unit 31 ... Individual information analysis unit 32 ... Sorting destination confirmation processing unit 33 ... Destination information holding unit 34 ... Result information file 35 ... Result display unit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Shigeki Fukamachi 1-33 Toyotsucho, Suita-shi, Osaka, Japan Inside Daskin Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kazuhiko Ishii 1-33, Toyotsu-cho, Suita-shi, Osaka, Japan Inside Da Skin Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Seiji Ochi 1-33, Toyotsu-cho, Suita-shi, Osaka Prefecture Inside Da Skin, Inc. (72) Katsumi Hirano, 1-1-1, Shibaura, Minato-ku, Tokyo Inside the head office of Toshiba Corporation (72) Inventor Kaichi Yokoi 2-term, 24-24 Harumicho, Fuchu-shi, Tokyo Reference) 3F015 AA24 AA25 JA02 JC08 JC12 JC14 JC23

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A multi-read type wireless ID tag which is attached to all individual articles in an article group in which a plurality of articles are grouped together and stores sorting information of the corresponding articles, respectively. A multi-read type wireless ID tag antenna that reads the sorting information from a wireless ID tag is compared with the sorting information for each article included in one article group, and the sorting destination of each article in the one article group is the same. In the case of (1), an article sorting device using a multi-read type wireless ID tag, comprising: a sorting destination determining means for determining that the one group of articles is sorted to the sorting destination. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein when the different articles in the one group of articles include different sort destination articles, the one sort group of articles is sorted to a sort destination for article re-sorting. The article sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the item is determined. 3. The computer according to claim 2, wherein the computer is configured to compare sorting information of each article read from a wireless ID tag attached to each article in an article group in which a plurality of articles are grouped together. If the sorting destination of each article in the one article group is the same based on the result of the comparison by the means, a program for functioning as a means for determining that the sorting destination sorts the one article group is provided. A computer-readable recording medium that has been recorded.