JP2008109442A - Lost article search system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To more easily and surely search an important thing to a person himself/herself such as a key and a wallet without depending upon only an ambiguous memory or intuition even if the important thing is lost. <P>SOLUTION: This lost article search system includes a service center 3 provided with an owner information database (DB) 1 and a detection information database (DB) 2, a lost article detecting device 4 which is attached to belongings to notify the location of the lost article detecting device, and a telephone set 5 with which the owner inquires the lost article detecting device 4, or the like. They are connected through a network by a public telephone network 6. Then, the telephone set 5 and the service center 3 are connected through the public telephone network 6. In the case of using a portable telephone and in the case of connecting to the service center, the connection is made through the base station (A)7 that is the closest to the portable telephone, and in the case of being connected to the lost article detecting device 4, the connection is made through the base station (A)7 and a base station (B)8 that is the closest to the lost article detecting device 4. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a lost item search system, and more particularly to a lost item search system in consideration of personal information protection.

  When the property is lost, it may be very difficult to find the lost property. Even if you are careful in your daily life, you often forget to leave your important property somewhere or unconsciously drop it somewhere. If you find that you have lost something after it has been lost, and you try to find it, it is often very difficult to find it. Searching is particularly difficult when a small item such as a key or a mobile phone housed in a key holder is lost. At the present time, there is no service that provides support for finding out if an individual loses his / her property.

JP-A-10-122895

  The technology described in Patent Document 1 uses two PHSs, a parent device and a child device, and assumes that the search target person is carrying the child device and makes a phone call from the parent device to the child device. The current position of the person to be searched is specified by using a function in which the position of the child device is transmitted to the parent device based on the GPS function of the child device, and can be used only in a limited situation. As described above, it is relatively easy to search for the search target person carrying the mobile phone, but it is difficult to attach the mobile phone to the article when the search target is a small article. .

  An object of the present invention is to provide a system that supports the search for an article to be searched even when an article important to the user such as a key or a wallet is lost.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, an owner terminal possessed by an owner of an article having a first communication unit, and position information that is attached to the article and detects the position of the second communication unit and itself A lost part detection device that has a detection unit, obtains current position information in response to an incoming call in the second communication unit, and sends it back to the other party; the first communication unit and the second communication unit; A third communication unit that can be connected via a network, and when registered from the owner terminal, the property number is uniquely assigned to the article and can be referred to by the owner terminal, and the owner There is provided a lost item search system comprising a lost item management center that manages an owner information database that stores owner information including a terminal and an access destination to the lost item detection device.

  Here, the access destination and the property number are associated at the center. The possession number may be the telephone number of the lost item detection device itself. With this association, when the owner makes a call associated with the owner number, it is possible to communicate with the lost item detection apparatus directly in the former case or via the center in the latter case.

  When the owner terminal that has registered the property number of the lost item specifies the property number and is contacted to the Lost Item Management Center, and the communication to the lost item detection device is performed accordingly, the lost item detection device Detects its current position in response to the incoming call, and returns the detected current position to the lost article management center. The lost item management center that has received information on the current location of the lost item detection device transmits information on the current location of the lost item detection device to the owner terminal. As a result, the owner terminal is informed of the current position of the lost item detection device corresponding to the property number, and the owner can search for the lost item.

  The lost item management center is a map information creation unit that creates map information that is map information that identifies the current position information acquired from the lost item discovery device and that can be enlarged or reduced when displayed on the owner terminal. It is preferable to provide. Based on the screen display that can be enlarged or reduced, the owner terminal can easily search for lost items.

  Further, the lost article detection device includes an alarm notification unit that sounds an alarm based on an operation of the owner terminal, an alarm stop unit that stops an alarm based on an operation from the owner terminal, and the owner terminal Voice response means that conveys the longitude and latitude of the current position based on the operation of the voice, function control means for starting or stopping the function of the main body based on a command from the lost article management center inside and outside the contract period, It is preferable to have a self-power generation means and a waterproof means for protecting the main body from failure due to water immersion.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, an owner terminal possessed by the owner of an article having a first communication unit, a lost article detection device that is attached to the article and includes a second communication unit, A third communication unit that can be connected to the first communication unit and the second communication unit via a network. When registered by the owner terminal, the item is uniquely assigned to the item. An owner information database that stores owner information including the property number that can be referred to from the owner terminal, and the access destination to the owner terminal and the lost item detection device, and the discovery of the lost item detection device is notified. Then, there is provided a lost article search system characterized by having a lost article management center for managing a discovery information database including a unique discovery number automatically assigned and a storage location.

  When a lost item is discovered by a discoverer, a discovery number is given for each discovery in addition to the owner number, so that even if the owner receives the lost number, there are fewer mistakes. Further, the articles are managed by the owner information DB specified for each article by the owner number affixed to the article, and the discovery of lost items is managed by the discovery information DB specified by the discovery number for each discovery. Is done. In this way, since articles and discoveries are managed in separate databases, there is an advantage that it is not necessary to disclose the discoverer's personal information to the owner or the like if the discoverer does not wish.

  Furthermore, it is preferable that a bar code including data obtained by encoding the access destination of the lost item management center and the registered property number is attached to the lost item detection apparatus. For example, it becomes easy for the discoverer to read the code or data with a mobile phone having a decoding function and send it to the center as it is.

  According to the lost item retrieval system of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

  Even if an item is lost, the current location of the lost item can be grasped by using this system, so it is easier and more reliable without relying only on ambiguous memory and intuition as in the past. Can find lost items.

  Also, the article is identified by the owner information DB specified for each article by the owner number attached to the article, and the discovery information DB specified by the discovery number for each discovery is found together with the owner number. Since each is managed in a separate database, there is an advantage that it is not necessary to disclose the personal information of the discoverer to the owner or the like if the discoverer does not want it.

  In this specification, an article means a certain form, such as a periodical case, a key holder, a mobile phone, and the like.

  Hereinafter, the lost item search system according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a lost item search system according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the lost item search system according to the present embodiment includes an owner information database (DB) 1 and discovery information that is arbitrarily provided in the present embodiment and essential in the second embodiment. A service center 3 having a function of managing the database (DB) 2, a lost object detection device 4 that is attached to the property and informs the location when the property is lost, and the owner makes an inquiry to the lost object detection device 4. And a telephone 5 to be performed (any of a mobile telephone, a home telephone, a public telephone, etc.). These are connected by a network such as a public telephone network 6. Accordingly, the telephone 5 and the service center 3 are connected through the public telephone network 6. When using a mobile phone, in the case of connection to the service center 3, the mobile phone is connected via the nearest base station (A) 7, and in the case of connection to the lost item detection device 4, the base station (A) 7 is connected to the nearest base station (B) 8 of the lost item detection device 4.

  FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the lost item detection apparatus 4 attached to the property. The description will be made with reference to FIG. 1 as appropriate. As shown in FIG. 2, the lost article detection device 4 according to the present embodiment is attached to an article. There are various forms of mounting. For example, when the article is a key holder, it indicates a state where the article is attached to the key holder, and when the article is a mobile phone, the state is associated with the strap. Any other state may be used as long as it is at least temporarily coupled.

  The lost item detection device 4 includes a receiving unit 21 that receives a call from the telephone 5, a control unit 22 that performs processing of each operation according to an operation from the owner by the incoming call, and a radio wave from a satellite to A GPS unit 23 that detects a position, a speaker unit 24 that outputs an alarm sound, a storage unit 25 that stores necessary data such as voice data associated with each operation process, and electricity necessary for the operation of the device itself And a power generation unit 26 that supplies power by its own power generation. The power generation unit 26 may have a function of mechanically operating and generating power as the apparatus moves, or may be equipped with a solar cell. Other position detection functions may be used instead of GPS. The control unit 22 includes an incoming call processing unit 221 that controls incoming calls from the telephone 5 and response processing to the telephone 5, a position information processing unit 222 that processes various types of position information using data acquired from the GPS unit 23, An alarm issuing process 223 for performing an alarm output process from the speaker unit 24 and an audio output processing unit 224 for performing a process such as a configuration of an audio response to the telephone 5 are configured.

  Furthermore, you may be covered with the waterproofing device 225 which protects an own apparatus from the malfunction by water immersion. Further, a barcode 226 which is data obtained by encoding identification information such as the URL of the service center 3 and the property number registered in the service center 3 is attached. The telephone number of the lost item detection device 4 itself and the property number are associated at the center. The possession number may be the phone number of the lost item detection device 4 itself.

  With this association, when the owner makes a call associated with the owner number, in the former case, it is possible to communicate directly with the lost item detection apparatus 4 via the service center 3 in the latter case. . The identification information may be identifiable with the naked eye.

  FIG. 3 is provided by the service center 3 so that after the owner acquires the latitude / longitude or address of the lost item from the lost item detection device 4, the detailed location of the lost item can be confirmed on a map. It is a figure which shows an example of the display screen of a web page. When the URL of the Web page provided by the service center 3 is entered in the address input field 31, the Web page can be displayed.

  By inputting the latitude / longitude or address indicating the current location of the lost item acquired from the lost item discovery device 4 in the latitude / longitude or address input field 32, a detailed map near the lost item can be displayed in the map display field 33. Although this function is not shown, for example, it is provided in the lost item management center 3 and is map information specifying the current position information acquired from the lost item detection device 4. When displayed on the owner terminal 5, the function is enlarged or reduced. This can be realized by a map information creation unit that creates possible map information.

  The current position of the lost item 34 can be clearly indicated by a black arrow. Incidentally, by sliding the map scale slide bar 35, the map in the map display field 33 can be freely enlarged and reduced. For example, the user holds a notebook PC, a mobile phone, etc., and gradually enlarges the map while displaying this screen, so that the user gradually approaches the current position of the lost item 34 on the screen. You can search for lost items while checking.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of owner information data stored in the owner information database 1. As shown in FIG. 4, the owner information data includes the name 41 of the part owner (registrant), the address 42, the telephone number 43, the mail address 44, the possession number 45, and the validity period 46. As many records as the number of belongings are stored. Among these pieces of information, the name 41, the address 42, the telephone number 43, and the mail address 44 are stored as they are. On the other hand, with respect to the possession number 45, one unique number is automatically generated and assigned by the system for each possession. And this is memorize | stored in the barcode 226 etc. of the lost article discovery apparatus 4. FIG.

  Further, when the lost item detection device 4 receives a call from the telephone 5 or the center telephone, an access ID, for example, a telephone number for the incoming call unit 21 is required. The telephone number of the lost item detection device 4 only needs to be associated with the property number 45 (FIG. 4). In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the possession number is the same as the telephone number (contact address) of the lost item detection device 4. However, the possession number and the telephone number (contact address) of the lost item detection device 4 do not necessarily have to be the same. If both are unique and associated with each other, the lost item detection device is stored in the database of FIG. It is possible to cope by storing the telephone number (contact address) 4 in association with the property number.

  The valid period 46 is assigned with a specific date calculated from the registration date and the contract period. For example, when the validity period 46 is two weeks before the expiration date, an e-mail is sent from the service center 3 to the owner asking for a response regarding whether to extend the period or cancel the contract.

  When the time limit elapses without extending the period, the system automatically notifies the lost object detection device 4 that the valid period has expired, stops the service function, and deletes the data from the owner information database 1 as well. . When the contract for this service is made for the same property after the contract is canceled, the owner information is registered again and a new property number 45 is acquired.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an outline of the flow of search processing in the lost item detection apparatus 4. A call from the telephone 5 or the telephone of the service center 3 (not shown, hereinafter referred to as “telephone”) is received by the incoming call unit 21 (step 51). Next, in response to a call from the telephone, the user is prompted to enter a password that is negotiated in advance between the user and the center (eg, “Enter password”). In response to this, a password is input from the telephone (step 52). It is determined whether or not the input password matches (is correct) with the registered one (step 53). If the password is correct, the selection menu is notified by voice (example: “Press 1 to sound the alarm, press 2 to stop the alarm, press 3 to get the latitude and longitude and address”). If the password is incorrect, prompt the user to re-enter the password (eg "Re-enter password"). A menu is selected (step 54). An operation corresponding to the selected menu is performed (step 55). At this time, authentication may be performed using a unique property number instead of the password.

  In step 55, for example, when “1: Sound an alarm” is selected, the alarm notification processing unit 223 performs an alarm output process from the speaker unit 24. When “2: Stop alarm” is selected, the alarm notification processing unit 223 stops the alarm output processing from the speaker unit 24. When “3: Acquire latitude / longitude and address” is selected, the latitude / longitude of the lost item is acquired from the GPS unit 23, and the position information processing unit 222 is used to determine the address using the acquired latitude / longitude. The voice information of the latitude and longitude and the address is assembled by causing the function 224 to function, and for example, a voice response to the telephone 5 is performed via the center or directly. Through the above processing, lost articles can be searched with high accuracy.

  As described above, according to the lost item search system according to the present embodiment, when communication is performed directly from the owner terminal or via the lost item management center to the lost item detection device, the lost item detection device performs GPS. By detecting the current position of the user by means of, for example, and transmitting the user's position to the owner terminal via the lost item management center or directly, the lost item can be easily searched.

  In addition, in the case of passing through the lost item management center, the information on the current position detected by the lost item detection device by GPS is reflected in the map information providing software provided in the lost item management center, and includes the current position of the lost item. By transmitting the map information to the owner terminal, a map including the current position of the lost item can be displayed on the owner terminal side. Since this map display can be scaled, owners can zoom in on the value step as they approach the site when searching for lost items, making it easier to reach the current location of lost items can do. At this time, if the owner terminal is also provided with a GPS function, it is possible to display its own position and the position of the lost item on the map.

  Next, a search system according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, it is configured to take into account that someone else will find a lost item. That is, assuming the system configuration according to the first embodiment, by introducing the concept of a discovery number and a storage location for lost items, even if another person finds lost items, So that lost items can be delivered smoothly.

  In addition, when a third party (other person) finds a lost item, the third party (other party) does not store the lost item by himself / herself until delivery, but a somewhat fair organization such as a storage location 9 as shown in FIG. It is preferably provided in a public institution operated by the management or request of the center, a post office or a convenience store. In addition, since it is assumed that a third party discovers, the lost item detection device 4 does not necessarily have a GPS function, but it is necessary to have a bar code 226 as described below.

  The discoverer of the lost item is, for example, the barcode 226 attached to the lost item detection device 4 as described above, and the identification information such as the URL of the service center 3 and the property number registered in the service center 3 Is read using, for example, a barcode reader function of a mobile phone possessed by itself. The URL of the service center 3 and the property number described in the barcode 226 are taken into the mobile phone, and the property number is sent to the URL (addressed to the service center 3) by the method described later with reference to FIG. be able to. As described above, the possession number is managed in the service center 3. In the service center 3, the owner is searched based on the possession number. The identification information may be identifiable with the naked eye.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an input screen of a Web page provided by the service center 3 for registering the discovery when a third party finds a lost item before the owner. The URL of the Web page provided by the service center is input into the address input field 61 (obtained from the bar code 226), and the Web page is displayed on the mobile phone or PC owned by the user. Various information is input from the discovery information input field 62 and registered in the discovery information database 2 as discovery information. At this time, the lost item is stored, for example, in the storage location 9 managed by the center. When registering in the discovery information database 2, the system newly generates a later-described discovery number 791, and registration is performed together with it. When registration of the discovery information is completed, the owner is notified of the fact that the discovery has been automatically made and the discovery number 791 is notified to the owner by e-mail or the like. Discovery information can be referenced from the page. The center may be automatically accessed according to the barcode reading.

  When the owner who has received the notification receives the discovery from the storage location 79, it is necessary to present the discovery number 791. Only when the discovery number 791 matches, the owner can receive the discovery. Since the discovery number 791 is known only by the discoverer and the owner, it is possible to prevent the third party from receiving it illegally and to prove the owner by presenting this number. be able to. Therefore, it is not necessary to disclose personal information when the owner receives a discovery. In addition, from the viewpoint of personal information protection, at the time of discovery information registration, it is possible to select whether or not to disclose information by using a personal information disclosure flag 71. When “permitted” is selected, the owner can refer to information related to himself registered by the discoverer. On the other hand, if “reject” is selected, information about the discoverer himself does not need to be registered in the discovery information database 2 and the owner cannot be referred to. It is possible to prevent leakage of personal information such as numbers.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of discovery information data stored in the discovery information database 2. As shown in FIG. 7, the discovery information data includes a personal information disclosure availability flag 71, a registration date and time 72, a name 73, an address 74, a telephone number 75, a mail address 76, an possession number 77, a discovery A location 78, a storage location 79, and a discovery number 791 are included, and records corresponding to the number found are stored.

  The registration date and time 72 is automatically stored by the system. In the name 73, the address 74, the telephone number 75, and the mail address 76, information regarding the discoverer is stored as it is. The property number 77 stores the property number picked up by the discoverer, which is related by the bar code and therefore matches the property number of FIG. The discovery place 78 stores the found place. The storage location 79 stores information for specifying the location where the discovery is currently stored.

  This data can be referred to by the owner. From the viewpoint of personal information protection, it is possible to control permission / rejection of reference by specifying a personal information disclosure flag. For example, in the case of “permitted”, all information can be input, and the owner can refer to all the information and can contact the discoverer. In the case of “reject”, the name 73, address 74, telephone number 75, and mail address 76 cannot be entered, and the owner can only refer to the registered information, so even contact the discoverer. Is also impossible. In addition, by storing the storage location 79 in a public institution instead of the discovery person's own storage and registering it, there is no need for the discovery person and the owner to meet directly. After the discoverer registers the discovery information, the service center 3 notifies the owner to that effect. However, after the owner receives the discovery, the owner deletes the corresponding discovery information data from the discovery information database 2. .

  As described above, according to the system according to the present embodiment, even when an object is lost, the specific location of the lost object can be grasped according to the service using the system. Therefore, it is possible to find out more easily and reliably without relying on vague memories and intuitions as in the past. In addition, since the possession number is unique for each owner and article, it is possible to identify a large number of lost items.

  In addition, when a lost item is discovered by the discoverer, a discovery number is given for each discovery in addition to the owner number, so that even when the owner receives the lost number, there are fewer mistakes in receiving. Further, the article is identified by the owner information DB specified for each part by the owner number affixed to the article, and along with the owner number, the discovery of the lost item is detected by the discovery information DB specified by the discovery number for each discovery. Since it is managed in a separate database, there is an advantage that it is not necessary to disclose the personal information of the discoverer to the owner or the like when the discoverer does not want it.

1 is a system configuration diagram illustrating a configuration example of a lost item search system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a functional block diagram which shows the internal structural example of a lost article detection apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the position search confirmation screen in the web page of a service center. It is a figure which shows the data structural example of owner information. It is a flowchart figure which shows the flow of a process of a lost article discovery apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the registration screen in the web page of a service center when another person discovers. It is a figure which shows the data structural example of discovery information.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Owner information database, 2 ... Discovery information database, 3 ... Service center, 4 ... Lost thing detection apparatus, 5 ... Telephone, 6 ... Public telephone network, 7 ... Base station A, 8 ... Base station B, 9 ... Lost Object storage destination, 21 ... incoming part, 22 ... control part, 221 ... incoming call transmission processing part, 222 ... position information processing part, 223 ... alarm notification processing part, 224 ... voice output processing part, 225 ... waterproof device, 23 ... GPS unit, 24 ... speaker unit, 25 ... storage device unit, 26 ... power generation unit, 31 ... address input column, 32 ... latitude / longitude or address input column, 33 ... map display column, 34 ... position of lost item, 35 ... map Scale slide bar, 41 ... name, 42 ... address, 43 ... telephone number, 44 ... e-mail address, 45 ... property number, 46 ... validity period, 61 ... address entry field, 62 ... discovery information entry field, 71 ... personal information Disclosure flag 72 Registration date and time, 73 ... full name, 74 ... address, 75 ... phone number, 76 ... e-mail address, 77 ... property number, 78 ... discovery location, 79 ... storage location, 791 ... discovery number.

Claims (5)

An owner terminal possessed by the owner of the article having the first communication unit;
Loss attached to the article, having a second communication unit and a position information detection unit for detecting its own position, acquiring current position information in response to an incoming call in the second communication unit and returning it to the other party An object discovery device;
A third communication unit that can be connected to the first communication unit and the second communication unit via a network. When registered by the owner terminal, the item is uniquely given to the item A lost article management center that manages an owner information database that stores owner information including an owner number that can be referred to from the owner terminal, and an access destination to the owner terminal and the lost article detection device. Lost item search system characterized by   The lost article management center includes a map information creation unit that creates map information that identifies current position information acquired from the lost article discovery device and that can be enlarged or reduced when displayed on the owner terminal. The lost article search system according to claim 1, further comprising:   Further, the lost article detection device includes an alarm notification unit that sounds an alarm based on an operation of the owner terminal, an alarm stop unit that stops an alarm based on an operation from the owner terminal, and the owner terminal Voice response means that conveys the longitude and latitude of the current position based on the operation of the voice, function control means for starting or stopping the function of the main body based on a command from the lost article management center inside and outside the contract period, The lost item search system according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a self-power generation unit and a waterproof unit that protects the main body from a failure due to flooding. An owner terminal possessed by the owner of the article having the first communication unit;
A lost article detection device mounted on the article and provided with a second communication unit;
A third communication unit that can be connected to the first communication unit and the second communication unit via a network. When registered from the owner terminal, the item is uniquely assigned to the item and is owned. An owner information database that stores owner information including the property number that can be referred to by the owner terminal, and the access destination to the owner terminal and the lost item detection device, and the discovery of the lost item detection device is notified. And a lost article management center for managing a discovery information database including a unique discovery number and a storage location automatically assigned.   5. The lost item detection apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a bar code including data obtained by encoding an access destination of the lost item management center and a registered property number. The lost item search system according to any one of the above items.

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