JP2010241230A - Wheel with ic tag, caster with ic tag, and carrying machine with ic tag - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a wheel with an IC tag, a caster with the IC tag, and a carrying machine with the IC tag capable of easily reading information of the IC tag even when a reader reads from a wheel side by solving the problem that it is easy to read when the reader is installed on a grounding surface (floor surface) of the wheel, however, it is difficult to read because the width of an outer wheel blocks when the reader reads from the wheel side since a conventional device has the IC tag attached on a boarder between an inner wheel part and the outer wheel part of the wheel. <P>SOLUTION: In the wheel with the IC tag, the caster with the IC tag, and the carrying device with the IC tag, the IC tag having an integrated circuit and an antenna and equipped with a wireless function is installed, and the antenna of the IC tag is arranged and integrated in a plate-shaped disk comprising a part of the wheel and thinner than a tire width so as to form a ring shape in the periphery of a bearing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a wheel attached to a transport device such as a cart, a cart, a carry, and a dolly for carrying a load, a caster including the wheel, and a transport device including the caster.

  In a package collection / delivery place where a large number of packages are collected and delivered, a transport device is used to move the packages within the site. When a package is moved by a transport device, the package is usually moved together with a record of package information such as package contents, delivery destination, package handling conditions, and delivery date and time. This is to carry the baggage correctly to the target location (the target delivery vehicle, planned storage location, etc.), but this baggage information is often recorded by handwriting on a tag, slip, whiteboard, etc. Not only was it troublesome, but there were also mistakes due to misreading by messy characters.

  Therefore, Patent Document 1 proposes that an IC tag (RFID: Radio Frequency IDentification) is installed on the wheel of the transport device, and the necessary information is recorded on the IC tag, and then the load of the transport device is moved. . The IC tag is often attached to the package itself as sometimes called an “electronic tag”. However, when package information is recorded for a plurality of packages, it is not preferable to attach an IC tag to the package, and in Patent Document 1, an IC tag is attached to a transport device that loads a package, not the package itself. It is characteristic that the package information is recorded together for a plurality of packages.

Japanese Patent No. 3846269

  However, according to Patent Document 1, although the trouble of handwriting to record the package information is eliminated, since the IC tag is attached to the boundary between the tire portion and the wheel portion of the wheel, the reader is connected to the wheel ground surface ( When reading from the floor surface, it is easy to read, but when reading from the side of the wheel, there is a difficulty that the signal is difficult to read because the thickness of the tire width becomes a barrier.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a wheel with an IC tag, a caster with an IC tag, and a transport device with an IC tag, which can easily read the information of the IC tag even when the reader reads from the side of the wheel. It is in.

  The wheel with an IC tag of the present invention is a wheel for a transport device having an integrated circuit, an antenna, and a built-in IC tag having a wireless function. This wheel has a disk on the outer periphery of the bearing and is on the outer periphery of the disk. A wheel having an outer ring portion, and a tire provided on the outer periphery of the outer ring portion, and the antenna of the IC tag is incorporated in the disk or / and the tire in a ring shape around the bearing in the circumferential direction thereof. is there.

  The wheel with an IC tag according to the present invention may include an IC tag in which an integrated circuit and an antenna are covered with a heat-resistant film. Moreover, a part or all of the antenna built-in part of the wheel may be outside the side view of the bracket to which the wheel is attached while the wheel is rotating and stationary.

  The caster with an IC tag according to the present invention is a caster that uses a wheel with an IC tag according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

  The carrier device with an IC tag according to the present invention is a caster with an IC tag according to claim 4, wherein the caster is on the bottom surface of the loading platform.

The wheel with an IC tag, the caster with an IC tag, and the transfer device with an IC tag according to the present invention have the following effects.
(1) Troublesome handwriting for recording package information and mistakes due to misreading of messy characters in handwriting do not occur.
(2) By writing the package information on the IC tag and reading the information, the package of the transport device can be transported reliably and quickly.
(3) Since the IC tag is embedded in a disk-shaped disk thinner than the tire width, the information on the IC tag can be easily read even when the reader reads from the side of the wheel.
(4) Even when the wheel is rotating, at least one part of the antenna is not hidden behind the bracket, so that the reader can be reliably viewed from the side of the wheel without being obstructed by the bracket. IC tag information can be read.
(5) Since the IC tag is packaged with an integrated circuit and an antenna with a heat-resistant film, problems such as deformation due to high-temperature heating in the manufacturing process hardly occur, and the IC tag functions stably.

The perspective view of the dolly with which the wheel with an IC tag of this invention was attached. The side view of the dolly explaining the condition where the wheel with an IC tag communicates in front of the reader. The perspective view of the caster which cut off some wheels with an IC tag of the present invention. The side view of the caster with an IC tag of this invention.

(Embodiment 1)
An embodiment of a wheel with an IC tag, a caster with an IC tag, and a transport device with an IC tag according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a dolly 2 having wheels 1 attached to four locations. The dolly 2 is composed of a loading platform body on which a load is placed and a wheel 1 and can be attached with a handle for pushing.
As shown in FIG. 2, an IC tag 3 is built in the wheel 1, and when the dolly 2 passes in front of a reader 4 fixed to a wall surface such as a warehouse, the reader 4 3 can be read.

In addition to the read-only type (read-only), the IC tag 3 can select a read-write type (writable). In this case, if the dolly 2 is stopped before the reader 4, the IC tag 3 is required from the reader 4. Information can also be recorded on the IC tag 3. The IC tag 3 includes an active type with a power supply and a passive type without a power supply. Needless to say, the active type can transmit information by itself and the communication distance can be increased. It has the feature that it is longer than the passive type.

In the present embodiment, the dolly 2 is described as an example of the transport device, but other transport devices such as a transport cart, a cart, and a carry may be used. The reader 4 is described as a so-called reader / writer capable of reading and writing, but it may be a read-only reader.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the caster 5 with a part of the wheel with an IC tag of the present invention cut out. The caster 5 is formed by a wheel 1 and a bracket 6. The wheel 1 has a structure of a tire 7, an outer ring portion 8, a disk 9, and a bearing 10 in order from the outer edge, and the outer ring portion 8, the disk 9, and the bearing 10 are integrally formed wheels 11.

The tire 7 has a donut shape, and its cross section is a substantially semi-elliptical shape with a straight line inside (center side of the disk 9) and a curved outer circumference side, and this outer circumferential curve portion is the outermost edge of the wheel 1 and is stationary. It becomes a ground contact surface that contacts the floor surface when rotating or rotating. In addition, the cross-sectional shape of the tire 7 is not limited to the shape shown in FIG. Further, in the present embodiment, the tire 7 has a solid interior, but it may be a tube type that fills the interior with air like a bicycle tire. As for the material of the tire 7, usually rubber containing carbon is often used, but other materials may be used. Any tire 7 can be used as long as it has a function of rotating the wheel 1 without causing a large deformation due to the overload.

The outer ring portion 8 is located inside the tire 7 (center side of the disk 9). The outer ring portion 8 is thin (thin in the radial direction of the disk 9) and has a width (width in a direction substantially perpendicular to the surface of the disk 9), and the width is the same as the width of the tire 7. Same or slightly wider. The tire 7 is supported by the outer ring portion 8, and the donut shape of the tire 7 is also maintained by the outer ring portion 8.

A disc-shaped disc 9 is located inside the outer ring portion 8 (center side of the disc 9). The thickness of the disk 9 is significantly smaller than the width of the outer ring portion 8. For example, when the width of the outer ring portion 8 is 3 to 5 cm, the thickness of the disk 9 is about 5 mm (3 to 10 mm). The outer ring portion 8 is attached to the circumferential portion of the disk 9, and the disk 9 is attached near the center of the outer ring portion 8 in the width direction. Even if the load received by the tire 7 acts on the disk 9 through the outer ring portion 8, the disk 9 does not deform so as to hinder the rotation of the wheel 1, and the shape of the tire 7 or the outer ring portion 8 is maintained and the wheel 1 rotates. It has a function of maintaining the function. As long as the disk 9 has such a function, it may be a disk-shaped one provided with some openings, or a disk-shaped one partially provided with a reinforcing member. The wall thickness is not limited to the above.

A bearing 10, which is an opening for inserting the rotary shaft 12, is provided at the center of the disk 9. The wheel 1 is rotatably attached to the rotating shaft 12 by inserting the rotating shaft 12 through the bearing 10, and the dolly 2 can be moved by the rotation of the wheel 1. The bearing 10 may be provided with a bearing so that the rotation can be made smoother. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the bearing 10 may have a large thickness in the thickness direction of the disk 9, or the disk 9 may have substantially the same thickness.
In this embodiment, the rotary shaft 12 is fixed to the bracket 6 so as to be fixed in rotation, and the wheel 1 rotates around the rotary shaft 12. However, the rotary shaft 12 is attached to the wheel 1 so as to be fixed in rotation. It is good also as a mechanism which freely installs in the bearing of the bracket 6 and rotates the inside of the bearing of the bracket 6 with the rotating shaft 12 and the wheel 1 integrated.

The outer ring portion 8, the disk 9, and the bearing 10 are integrally formed with a wheel 11, and in this embodiment, the wheel 11 is made of resin. As an example of the manufacturing method, there is a method in which an IC tag is placed between an upper mold and a lower mold, a resin is injected into the mold, and a molded product is taken out after the resin is solidified. Of course, you may manufacture by another method.

The bracket 6 holds the wheel 1 through the rotary shaft 12 and maintains the rotational posture of the wheel 1, and attaches the wheel 1 to the main body of the dolly 2. The bracket 6 has a top plate portion that is substantially horizontal at the upper portion thereof, and four connection holes are provided in the top plate portion. The bracket 6 is fixed to the main body of the dolly 2 by inserting bolts into the connecting holes, and as a result, the wheel 1 is attached to the main body of the dolly 2. In this embodiment, a bolt fixing type is used, but a structure that can be easily attached and detached using a conventional technique such as a removal tool or a magnetic action can be used. Further, in the present embodiment, a so-called fixed wheel 1 that cannot rotate around the vertical axis is used. However, the moving direction of the dolly 2 can be changed smoothly as a free wheel that can rotate around the vertical axis. . Needless to say, the wheel can be provided with a stopper function regardless of whether it is a fixed type or a free type.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a wheel with an IC tag according to the present invention as viewed from the side. The IC tag 3 includes a wireless function part of the IC chip 13 and the antenna 14 and a packaging part (not shown) that wraps them. The IC chip 13 is an integrated circuit (Integrated Circuit) in the form of a chip, and the IC tag 3 is an RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification, a wireless non-contact automatic recognition technology). . As described above, the IC tag 3 can be selected from a read-only type and a read / write type, or an active type and a passive type.

The packaging part is in the form of a film, and when manufactured by the above-described resin mold molding, it is particularly desirable to use a heat resistant film. The packaging portion is not limited to a film shape, but may be other such as resin. Depending on the manufacturing method of the wheel 1, the packaging portion may be omitted and the IC tag 3 including the IC chip 13 and the antenna 14 may be used.

The IC chip 13 stores information, and the antenna 14 is an end for transmitting and receiving information. Specifically, when information is transmitted wirelessly from the reader 4 (reader / writer), the antenna 14 receives this information and is written in the IC chip 13, and the information stored in the IC chip 13 is transmitted from the antenna 14. It is transmitted and read by the reader 4.

In the wheel with an IC tag of the present invention, the IC tag 3 is built in the disk 9, and in particular, the antenna 14 is arranged so as to surround the bearing 10 as shown in FIG.
Since the IC tag 3 is built in the thin disk 9 in this way, the transmission / reception sensitivity with respect to the side of the wheel 1 (substantially perpendicular to the surface of the disk 9) is built in the tire 7 and the outer ring portion 8 part. This is a significant improvement compared to

If the antenna 14 is disposed only on a part of the wheel 1, it is not guaranteed where the antenna 14 is located while the wheel 1 is rotating, and the antenna 14 is hidden behind the bracket 6 when passing in front of the reader 4. In this case, wireless communication of information may not be possible. In that respect, in the case of the present invention, since the antenna 14 is arranged around the bearing 10, it is hidden behind the bracket 6 in any state during rotation of the wheel 1 (when the wheel 1 is viewed from the side, It is only a part of the antenna 14 that is hidden behind), and the remaining part can be transmitted and received with high sensitivity. If the antenna 14 is arranged so as not to be hidden behind the bracket 6 in any state during the rotation of the wheel 1, a circular arrangement as shown in FIG. 4 (arranged at 360 ° around the bearing 10 to close the antenna 14). The arrangement is not limited to the above, and an arcuate arrangement (C-shaped arrangement) in which a part of a circle is missing can be used, or a plurality of arcuate antennas can be arranged.

In this embodiment, one IC tag 3 is built in one wheel 1, but two or more IC tags 3 can be built in one wheel 1.

As shown in FIG. 1, casters 5 having wheels 1 are attached to the dolly 2 at four locations, at least one of which is a caster 5 having wheels 1 with IC tags 3, and four locations. All may be provided with an IC tag 3. Of course, the dolly 2 may have four wheels 1 or more, or two or three wheels 1.

(Usage example of Embodiment 1)
An example of the case where a baggage is moved in the baggage collection area using the wheel with the IC tag, the caster with the IC tag, and the transfer device with the IC tag in the present embodiment will be shown below.
The packages collected at the baggage collection / delivery site must be appropriately loaded on a predetermined transport vehicle. Therefore, a person who transports the luggage in the hall (hereinafter referred to as “transporter”) grasps the target transport vehicle and the luggage to be loaded thereon, and then starts the transportation work.

The carrier takes the dolly 2 to which the wheel 1 equipped with the IC tag 3 is attached to the command point. At this command point, a reader 4 (reader / writer) and an electronic computer (hereinafter referred to as a personal computer) are installed, and the reader 4 is embedded in the wall as shown in FIG. The dolly is stopped in front of the reader 4 to wait for information to be written. The reader 4 is not limited to being embedded in a wall surface, and a gate-type one, a handy-type reader, or other various modes can be selected.
The commander waiting here communicates through the reader 4 by operating the personal computer, and writes necessary baggage information such as the baggage to be transported and the target transport vehicle into the IC tag 3 of the dolly 2.

The transporter appropriately loads the packages into the dolly 2 based on the package information recorded on the IC tag 3. At this time, if the carrier carries a portable monitor (for example, a mobile computer such as a PDA) that can read and display information from the IC tag 3 in order to confirm the package information recorded on the IC tag 3, Is preferred.

When the carrier finishes loading all the packages, the carrier carries the dolly 2 to the intended transport vehicle. At the transport vehicle standby point, it is possible to check whether or not the packages are loaded as planned.
Specifically, it can be performed by the following procedure. First, the planned package information is read from the IC tag 3 of the dolly 2 by the reader 4 and transmitted to a personal computer installed in advance. Next, the IC tags attached to the individual packages placed on the dolly 2 are each read by a handy type reader and transmitted to a personal computer. Accordingly, it is possible to determine whether or not the cargo is appropriately loaded by comparing the planned baggage information with the actually loaded baggage information.

After the confirmation work, the transporter reloads all the packages placed on the dolly 2 onto the transport vehicle. When this transshipment work is completed, the transporter returns to the command point again and repeats a series of work.

(Embodiment 2)
Other embodiments of the wheel with an IC tag, the caster with an IC tag, and the transfer device with an IC tag according to the present invention will be described. This embodiment is an embodiment for explaining the case where the IC tag 3 is incorporated in another place instead of incorporating the IC tag 3 in the disk 9, and the basic structure and method of use are implemented. Common to Form 1.

The IC tag 3 can also be incorporated in the tire 7 of the wheel 1. The built-in position can be an arbitrary position in the tire 7, but it is more preferable because it is near the surface of the tire 7 because communication is easy. Note that if the tire 7 is made of a material in which carbon is mixed, the communication sensitivity of the built-in IC tag 3 may be somewhat inferior, so the tire 7 using a material that does not hinder communication is used. desirable.
In addition, including the case where the tire 7 uses a carbon-mixed material, the IC tag 3 can be built into the tire 7 and further built into the disk 9.

The IC tag 3 can be incorporated in the bearing 10 of the wheel 1. The built-in position can be an arbitrary position in the bearing 10, but communication is easy if it is near the surface of the bearing 10. When the bearing 10 is thick, it is particularly preferable to dispose it on the surface.
Further, including the case where the IC tag is built in the tire 7, the IC tag 3 can be built in the bearing 10 and further built in the disk 9.

  The wheel with an IC tag, the caster with an IC tag, and the transport device with an IC tag according to the present invention are not limited to use with a transport device in a baggage collection / delivery place. When used for rearrangement, it can also be applied in various situations, such as when a shopper uses a cart in a store.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Wheel 2 Dolly 3 IC tag 4 Reader 5 Caster 6 Bracket 7 Tire 7 Outer ring part 9 Disc 10 Bearing 11 Wheel 12 Rotating shaft 13 IC chip 14 Antenna

Claims (5)

In a wheel for a transport device in which an IC tag having an integrated circuit and an antenna and having a wireless function is incorporated
The wheel comprises a wheel having a disk on the outer periphery of the bearing and an outer ring part on the outer periphery of the disk, and a tire on the outer periphery of the outer ring part,
A wheel with an IC tag, wherein the antenna of the IC tag is incorporated in the disk or / and the tire in a ring shape around the bearing in the circumferential direction thereof. The wheel with an IC tag according to claim 1,
A wheel with an IC tag, wherein the IC tag is an integrated circuit and an antenna covered with a heat-resistant film. In the wheel with an IC tag according to claim 1 or claim 2,
A wheel with an IC tag, wherein a part or all of a part with a built-in antenna of a wheel comes out outside the side view of a bracket to which the wheel is attached while the wheel is rotating and stationary. In casters with wheels attached to brackets,
The wheel with an IC tag according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the wheel is a wheel with an IC tag. In transport equipment with casters attached to the bottom of the loading platform,
The carrier with an IC tag, wherein the caster is a caster with an IC tag according to claim 4.

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