JP2006268693A - Wireless tag reader and reading method - Google Patents

Abstract

A wireless tag reading device and a reading method are provided that can reliably read wireless tags attached to articles and located at various positions.
A wireless tag reader has a built-in transmission / reception antenna for reading a wireless ID of a wireless tag, and the wireless transmission / reception antenna is moved vertically and horizontally to move the transmission / reception antenna at a predetermined speed to read the wireless ID of the wireless tag. When the wireless ID cannot be read, the moving speed of the transmission / reception antenna is made slower than a predetermined speed, and reading is retried.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a wireless tag reading device and a reading method, and more particularly, to a wireless tag reading device and a reading method capable of reliably reading wireless tag information at various positions.

  In recent years, a unique wireless ID has been set, a memory area where information can be rewritten is used, and a wireless data carrier that can read and write wireless ID and read and write arbitrary information wirelessly is used. Has been.

  For example, a mobile object is identified by attaching or incorporating a wireless data carrier having a unique wireless ID to a postal item, a delivery item, or the like.

  Mails, deliveries, etc. with a wireless tag attached are sent to the wireless tag reader through a transport process. A wireless tag reader equipped with a reading table and a transmission / reception antenna for reading is used to move the transmission / reception antenna vertically and horizontally to communicate with wireless tags such as postal items and delivery items placed on the reading table. Read the ID.

In addition, a search object individual search management method and search management apparatus that efficiently search a necessary item from a large number of search targets have been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2).
JP-A-9-175609 Japanese Patent No. 2593319

  In general, postal items, delivery items, and the like to which wireless tags are attached are handled in various ways during the conveyance process. In addition, the shapes of postal items and deliverables are various.

  Therefore, the wireless tag is placed on the reading table with the wireless tag facing up, or placed on the reading table with the wireless tag facing down.

  Therefore, even if the transmission / reception antenna for reading of the RFID tag reading apparatus is moved by the drive system, reading may not be possible, which has been a problem.

  The present invention has been made for the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a wireless tag reading device and a reading method which can reliably read wireless tag information attached to articles and located at various positions. It is.

  According to claim 1 of the present invention, the wireless tag includes a transmission / reception antenna for communicating with the wireless tag, and the wireless ID of the wireless tag attached to the article placed in the predetermined area by moving the transmission / reception antenna vertically and horizontally. The wireless tag reader is configured to read the wireless ID of the wireless tag by moving the transmitting / receiving antenna at a predetermined speed, and when the wireless ID cannot be read, the moving speed of the transmitting / receiving antenna is set. There is provided a wireless tag reader characterized in that reading is performed again at a speed lower than a predetermined speed.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wireless tag reading device comprising a reading table for placing the article and moving the transmitting / receiving antenna below the reading table.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the RFID tag reader, wherein the transmission / reception antenna is a planar patch antenna.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wireless tag reading device comprising means for detecting that the article has been placed in a predetermined area of the reading table.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the RFID tag reading apparatus, wherein the movement of the transmitting / receiving antenna refers to the position information of the article at the time of the already executed reading.

  According to claim 6 of the present invention, a wireless tag reading method for reading a wireless ID of the wireless tag attached to an article placed in a predetermined area by moving a transmission / reception antenna for communicating with the wireless tag vertically and horizontally. If the wireless ID of the wireless tag is read by moving the transmitting / receiving antenna at a predetermined speed, and the wireless ID cannot be read, the moving speed of the transmitting / receiving antenna is made slower than the predetermined speed. A method of reading a wireless tag is provided, wherein the reading is performed again.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the radio | wireless tag reading apparatus and reading method which were affixed on the articles | goods and were able to perform the reading of the radio | wireless tag in various positions reliably are obtained.

  A wireless tag reader according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a wireless tag reader. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the wireless tag reader.

  The wireless tag is a kind of wireless data carrier, and is an independent component in which a tag antenna and an IC chip that can be transmitted and received are integrally formed on a substrate. The IC chip includes a power generation unit that supplies power to each part of the IC chip by rectifying and stabilizing the modulated radio wave received by the tag antenna, a demodulation unit that demodulates the modulated radio wave and sends it to the control unit, and a control unit A modulation unit that modulates data sent from the tag and sends the data to the tag antenna, a controller that writes data demodulated by the demodulation unit to the memory, and reads transmission data from the memory and sends the data to the modulation unit, and a memory are provided Yes.

  The memory includes a wireless ID area for storing a unique wireless ID assigned and set by the manufacturer at the time of manufacturing the wireless tag, and a user area in which a user can write arbitrary data. In the user area, a unique tracking management code such as an article or a delivery item to which the wireless tag is attached is recorded.

  A mail or delivery with such a wireless tag attached is conveyed by, for example, a belt conveyor. Then, it is placed on the reading table of the RFID tag reading device from the conveyed belt conveyor.

  The wireless tag reader is equipped with a transmission / reception antenna, and reads the memory data of the wireless tag in the communication area of the transmission / reception antenna in a non-contact manner. This transmission / reception antenna can be moved vertically and horizontally within a predetermined area by an XY direction driving device disposed below the reading table.

  The wireless tag reader is connected to a host device such as a personal computer, for example, an interface unit that exchanges data, a CPU that controls communication with the wireless tag and hardware to be connected, a ROM that stores an operation program, and data temporarily. A control unit composed of a RAM or the like that stores data, a modulation unit that modulates data supplied from the control unit into a modulation signal suitable for wireless communication, and a transmission amplifier that amplifies the modulation signal and emits it as radio waves from a transmission / reception antenna And a receiving amplifier that amplifies the radio signal received by the antenna unit, and a demodulator that demodulates data from the amplified radio signal and applies the data to the control unit.

  When communicating with a wireless tag, the carrier signal is first modulated by the transmitter and transmitted as a power radio signal from the transmission antenna, and then the data to be transmitted is superimposed on the power radio signal. The signal is modulated by the unit and transmitted from the transmission antenna.

  The postal items, delivery items, and the like placed on the reading table may be in a state where the wireless tag faces upward or in a state where the wireless tag faces downward. In addition, the position where the wireless tag is attached also varies. Further, the position on the reading table is not uniform.

  When the wireless tag reader 10 detects that an article 2 such as a mail or delivery with the wireless tag 1 attached thereto is placed in a predetermined area of the reading table 3, or receives such information, the wireless tag reader 10 A command is issued to move the predetermined area to the mounted XY drive unit 5. At the same time, the wireless tag reader 10 activates the transmission / reception antenna 4. The above-described detection may be performed by providing a sensor (not shown) near the reading table.

  The XY drive device 5 is preferably a linear motor drive that can realize high-speed and accurate driving. The transmission / reception antenna 4 is preferably a flat patch antenna having a long radio wave reach.

  The movement within the predetermined area may be started from the start point (0, 0) of the XY coordinates, for example, but is not limited thereto. For example, the time required for reading can be shortened by referring to the previous information about the position of the wireless tag 1. In any case, if the reading is completed, the movement of the transmission / reception antenna 4 is immediately terminated and the communication is completed.

  If reading cannot be performed after the movement in the predetermined area at the predetermined speed, the moving speed of the transmission / reception antenna 4 is made slower than the predetermined speed, and the reading retry is executed. Since retry will be repeated until reading is possible, it is not appropriate that the rate of deceleration of the moving speed is extremely small. Therefore, it is more efficient to hold the deceleration rate at which all readings are completed in one retry as data for each article to which the wireless tag is previously attached.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the wireless ID of the wireless tag is read by moving the transmission / reception antenna at a predetermined speed. For the wireless tag that cannot be read, the moving speed of the transmission / reception antenna is decreased. Since retry is performed, stable communication is possible.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments as they are, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of components disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, constituent elements over different embodiments may be appropriately combined.

It is the schematic which shows the structure of the radio | wireless tag reader which concerns on embodiment of this invention. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a wireless tag reader according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Wireless tag, 2 ... Article, 3 ... Reading table, 4 ... Transmission / reception antenna, 5 ... XY drive device, 10 ... Wireless tag reader.

Claims (6)

A wireless tag reader that includes a transmission / reception antenna for communicating with a wireless tag and reads the wireless ID of the wireless tag attached to an article placed in a predetermined area by moving the transmission / reception antenna vertically and horizontally,
The wireless ID of the wireless tag is read by moving the transmitting / receiving antenna at a predetermined speed. If the wireless ID cannot be read, the moving speed of the transmitting / receiving antenna is made slower than the predetermined speed, and the reading is performed again. A wireless tag reader characterized by executing.   2. The wireless tag reader according to claim 1, further comprising a reading table on which the article is placed, wherein the transmitting / receiving antenna is moved below the reading table.   3. The wireless tag reader according to claim 1, wherein the transmission / reception antenna is a planar patch antenna.   4. The wireless tag reader according to claim 1, further comprising means for detecting that the article is placed in a predetermined area of the reading table.   The wireless tag reader according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the movement of the transmitting / receiving antenna refers to position information of an article at the time of reading that has already been performed. A wireless tag reading method for reading a wireless ID of the wireless tag attached to an article placed in a predetermined area by moving a transmission / reception antenna for communicating with the wireless tag vertically and horizontally,
The wireless ID of the wireless tag is read by moving the transmitting / receiving antenna at a predetermined speed. If the wireless ID cannot be read, the moving speed of the transmitting / receiving antenna is made slower than the predetermined speed, and the reading is performed again. A method of reading a wireless tag, comprising:

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