JP2011221879A - Bidding machine and auction system with the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a bidding machine which is light in weight, has a long continuous use time and can correspond to bidding by many participants, and an auction system with the same.SOLUTION: The bidding machine includes a bidding button, a power source, and a radio RFID active tag that uses the power fed from the power source to transmit a radio wave, and transmits auction bidding information at predetermined timing while the bidding button is pressed down. The auction system includes the bidding machine, a receiver for receiving the auction bidding information from the bidding machine, a central processing unit for performing arithmetic processing of the auction bidding information received by the receiver, and a display device for displaying an arithmetic operation result by the central processing unit in real time.

Description

  The present invention relates to a bidding machine including a wireless active tag that transmits radio waves using power supplied from a power source and a cell system including the same.

Traditionally, it has been done by hand or mouth (commonly known as “hand-seri”), but it is difficult for outsiders to understand because of unique notes and business relationships, and it also takes time to train the people. It was considered a special field of specialization. In recent years, introduction of a seri system (automatic seri machine) has been promoted for perishables and the like in the wholesale market. According to the Seri system, when two or more Seri participants send a purchase intention by looking at the price displayed on the display board, the price of the display board automatically rises, and finally there is only one buyer. The price has stopped and it has become possible to automatically determine a successful bid.
The system of the seri system is roughly classified into two. One is a fixed terminal system, in which a buyer performs a bid using a bid terminal installed at a fixed seat. This method is used when a highly functional bidding terminal is required, such as displaying a graphical product. The other is a wireless terminal system, in which a buyer makes a bid from an arbitrary position in the venue with a simple wireless bidding machine.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a seri system using wireless communication. That is, in Patent Document 1, a Seri person and a plurality of Seri participants use a wireless handy terminal to display the progress of the Seri with a movable Seri display mechanism, and raise Seri according to Seri's instructions. Seri participants will bid for the desired purchase quantity with the wireless handy terminal, and if the total purchase quantity exceeds the listed quantity, the price will be raised sequentially, and the total desired purchase quantity will be below the listed quantity. At this point, a system is disclosed that finishes raising seri and determines the distribution of listed products according to the desired purchase quantity of seri participants at that time.

  Patent Document 2 relates to an application of the same applicant as Patent Document 1 on the same day. This document discloses a wireless handy terminal for a cell system including a microcontroller unit, an interface processor, a wireless module, PROM, RAM, RTC, bus control, liquid crystal display module, key switch, and SIO.

  Non-Patent Document 1 discloses a seri system in which a buyer who participates in a seri has a wireless bidding device, and bids with a bidding device at hand while looking at an electronic bulletin board installed in the seri field. .

  In Patent Document 3, a recording medium is attached to an exhibition commodity, and a participant uses a portable terminal device to read commodity information from the recording medium and place a bid. On the other hand, an auction system that can execute an auction by writing a bid amount is disclosed. This document also discloses that the mobile terminal device is composed of a portable RFID reader / writer.

JP-A-9-319811 JP 9-319800 A JP 2007-188273 A

Tokyo Meat Market Co., Ltd. website (http://www.tmmc.co.jp/business/index.html)

  In the bidding machine provided with the wireless module as in Patent Documents 1 and 2, it is difficult to reduce the weight of the bidding machine, and there is a problem that the continuous use time is shortened because there are many built-in electronic devices. The price of the bidding machine must also be expensive, and there is a problem that the construction price of the system rises. In addition, in trafficking transactions, high traffic is generated within a short time, so it was not possible to deal with buyer seats of a scale exceeding several hundred units.

  In a method using passive RFID (RFID that does not have a battery and operates using radio waves from a reader as an energy source) as in Patent Document 3, a touch operation (transfer within a reception distance) to a reader / writer is required. Therefore, there is a problem that it is not suitable for simultaneous bidding by a large number of participants.

  In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a bidding machine that is lightweight, has a long continuous use time, and that can cope with bidding by a large number of participants, and a cell system including the bidding machine.

The inventor made the present invention by minimizing the function of the bidding machine and using an active type wireless tag. The active wireless tag is, for example, an RFID (RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION) tag that emits radio waves with electric power from a built-in battery. Since an active tag emits radio waves with electric power from a built-in battery, it has a feature that a communication distance is longer (for example, several tens of meters) than a passive tag.
Furthermore, a standby communication type in which transmission is performed only when the button is pressed and a radio wave transmission method is optimized, thereby making it possible to realize a bid machine suitable for a cell system.

The present invention is constituted by the following technical means.
[1] A bidding machine including a bidding button, a power source, and a wireless RFID active tag that transmits radio waves using power supplied from the power source, and the bidding information at a predetermined timing while the bidding button is pressed A bidding machine characterized by sending out
[2] When the bid button is continuously pressed for a predetermined time including the first time zone and the second time zone, an interval for transmitting the bid bidding information between the first time zone and the second time zone is set. The bidding machine according to [1], which is changed.
[3] The bidding machine according to [2], wherein the interval for transmitting the bid information is controlled by firmware.
[4] The bidding machine according to any one of [1] to [3], wherein a primary battery can be used as a power source.
[5] The bidding machine according to any one of [1] to [4], wherein the tag bidding information includes a tag ID and a lane ID.
[6] The bidding machine according to [5], wherein a plurality of bid buttons are provided, and a different tag ID and lane ID are associated with each button.
[7] The bidding machine according to any one of [1] to [6], further comprising an operation confirmation lamp.
[8] The bidding machine according to any one of [1] to [7], further including a quantity designation button.
[9] When the button is pressed, the primary battery voltage of the RFID active tag is monitored, the tag ID with the battery consumption notification flag added is sent to the central processing unit, and displayed on the organizer operating device, so that an unbidding due to battery exhaustion can be made. The bidding machine according to any one of [1] to [8], characterized by a function to prevent.
[10] The bidding machine according to any one of [1] to [9], a receiver that receives the bidding information from the bidding machine, and a central processing unit that performs arithmetic processing based on the bidding information received by the receiver; A cell system comprising a display device for displaying the calculation result by the central processing unit in real time.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it becomes possible to provide the bid machine which is lightweight, has a long continuous use time, and can respond also to the bid by many participants, and a cell system provided with the bid machine.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of a cell system according to a first embodiment. 1 is a functional block diagram of a bidder according to Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a top view which shows arrangement | positioning of each apparatus in the beef carcass seri chamber of Example 1. FIG. It is a processing flow of the cell system of Example 1. FIG. It is a display before a seri of the display apparatus of Example 1. It is a display during a cell of the display apparatus of Example 1. It is a menu displayed on the organizer device of the first embodiment. 2 is a successful bid notification vote according to the first embodiment.

The seri system of the present invention is applied to auctions and auctions (seri). Auction / Selling (seri) is to compete for the purchase conditions that each buyer can present in order to sell the goods placed for some purpose for sale to the buyer (the bidder) who presented the best purchase conditions. Refers to the sales method.
Examples of the market where seri-type transactions are conducted include the following.
(1) Intermediary by suppliers in the wholesale market for fresh food (such as the central wholesale market) Auction (sale) market for livestock (horse, cattle, etc.) (for example, Seri City (horse race, etc.))
"Flower" auction (sale) market for flower seedlings, etc. (2) Auctions for used cars and current accident cars, such as auto auctions (3) Christie's, Sotheby's, etc. (4) Auctions and public auctions of seizure property executed by courts, etc.

An example of the bidding machine and cell system of the present invention will be described below.
The bidding machine of the present invention is a bidding machine including a bidding button, a power supply device, and a wireless active tag that transmits radio waves using electric power supplied from the power supply device. The wireless active tag is an RFID tag and can transfer data of several tens of meters. The bidder has a unique ID (purchaser number) and transmits the ID only when the bid button is pressed. At this time, since ID is not established only by performing ID transmission once when the button is pressed, the specification is such that it is continuously transmitted a plurality of times. The purchaser (seri participant) is required to press the bid button for 1 second or longer.
From the same bidding machine, even if the bid button is continuously pressed multiple times, the price will not increase unless there is a bid from another buyer. Further, by continuing to press the bid button, it is a specification that can always become the first right holder even if other buyers bid.
The bidder is provided with a lamp for operation confirmation. Since the lamp is lit when the bid button is pressed, it is possible to check whether or not the battery has run out. In addition, it is possible to perform a bid button test that also confirms battery consumption by displaying the purchaser number on the display device even before the start of the sale. Bidding machines for which battery consumption has been confirmed are displayed on the organizer terminal device.

The organizer of seri registers seri product information from the organizer device (client) on which the seri system program runs. Specifically, information such as entry number, varieties of seri products, gender, weight, production location, producer, rating, loss summary, start price / limit price, etc. are input. The input item information is registered in a database stored in the main storage of the central processing unit (server).
Transmission information from the bidder is received by the receiver and transmitted to the central processing unit. The bid information is sent from the central processing unit to the display device, whereby the price is displayed in real time on the display device, and the purchaser number is displayed when the purchaser is determined.
The result is registered in the central processing unit database. It is possible to output a list of seri results on the organizer device. From the organizer device, it is possible to instruct the printing of various forms such as sales arrangement slips and successful bid notification tables.

The amount of money that increases every prescribed number of seconds when the bid button is kept pressed is set in advance by the organizer. The organizer can set this amount in units of 1 yen. For example, meat is 5 yen / kg, livestock / pets are 100 yen / head, and used cars are 1000 yen / unit. The buyer cannot set an increase price range, but the increase price range is clearly indicated to the purchaser according to the market operation regulations.
When the start of the line, if the first person presses the start price, the purchase right at the start price for the buyer will increase the price every specified number of seconds (0.2-2 seconds), and the price will increase at the end. The right to purchase will be given to those who have pushed up.
One seri time is usually about 15 to 20 seconds. There is a range depending on the market, and the local market tends to take more time.

By the way, the active RIFD tag is developed for general-purpose purposes, and products that are supposed to be used in various ways are commercially available (children attending school watching system, parking entrance / exit system, security gate, etc.).
For example, in the case of a child attendance school watching mail notification system (children's location mail notification), if the ID is not always sent without pressing the tag button, the receiver will indicate that it has passed the school gate or the station ticket gate. Cannot receive. Therefore, the firmware is programmed to keep sending the ID without pressing the button every second.
However, the ID system does not require constant ID transmission. On the other hand, in the Seri system, the ID transmission interval must be optimized so that reception failure does not occur when a plurality of buyers press the button. In the present invention, it is possible to obtain optimum performance at low cost by changing a program (firmware) of a commercially available RFID tag.

  Further, since the RFID tag has been developed assuming the above-mentioned applications, it has a battery life of one year or more even if it continuously emits radio waves every second. When radio waves are not emitted unless a button is pressed as in the case of a seri system, the replacement is unnecessary in theory for 3.5 years or more of the natural discharge expiration date of the battery. Until now, the bidding machines were recharged and collected when the cedar ended, and they were charged on the charging stand. On the other hand, RFID tags are maintenance-free for a long time, and depending on the market operation method, it is possible to propose a reduction in operation time by renting long-term loans to buyers instead of membership cards.

In the livestock market (living body) and the meat market, large animals (cow) and small animals (pigs) have separate rooms (separate rooms). However, in some livestock markets, there are large-scale markets where 2 to 4 lanes are provided in one room and a large amount of seri is parallel. In this case, it is assumed that a plurality of bidding machines for each lane are rented out.
It can be combined with cattle in the morning and pigs in the afternoon. You can handle pigs with cattle parcel room equipment, both large and small.
Also, in the markets such as grooms, used cars, pets, tuna, etc., large-scale markets have 2 to 8 lanes and perform a large amount of sericulture in parallel.
For example, a gray, red, blue, and yellow bidding machine may be prepared for each lane, and the display screen base color for each lane may be unified with the tag color to provide an interface that is easy for the buyer to understand.

  Hereinafter, details of the present invention will be described with reference to examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples.

Example 1 is related with the seri system which concerns on a beef carcass seri.
FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration diagram of the cell system of the present embodiment. The purchaser (seri participant) is lent to the bidding machine 1 for bidding. When the purchaser presses the bid button of the bidder 1 and issues a bid request, a bid request is transmitted from the receiver 2 to the central processing unit 3, and the display processing unit 7 updates the display on the display unit 8 in real time. The display device 8 is installed by suspending the ceiling near the serihito stand in the beef carcass sericulture room. FIG. 3 shows the arrangement of each device in the beef carcass sericulture room.
The beef carcass seri chamber is provided with a meat rail that can slide and move along with the carcass by suspending a roller with a hook for hanging the carcass on the ceiling wall. The number of lanes is 1. The purchaser (seri participant) actually sees the carcass hung on the hook, and then presses the bid button of the bidding machine while looking at the display device 8 to bid. The processing flow of the seri system is shown in FIG.

The bidding machine 1 of the present embodiment is assumed to be used in a bidable area where the radio wave reaches. There are 80 buyer seats (chair 50, standing seat 30) provided in the bidable area.
Since the range in which radio waves from the bidder 1 can reliably reach is about 20 m, the receiver 2 is installed according to the number of seats of the buyer.
The system of the present embodiment is an independent system for each lane called “one lane system”. The server, the network, the receiver 2 (can share up to 2 lanes), the display control PC, and the display device are independent for each lane, and are configured to withstand high loads in a large-scale market.
Even when a plurality of lanes are provided in the same room, the bidding machine corresponding to each lane can be determined by the lane identification ID transmitted from the bidding machine 1.

The bidding machine 1 includes a control unit 11, a bidding button 12, a communication unit 13, an antenna 14, a ROM 15, a power supply 16, and an LED lamp 17.
The control unit 11 controls the operation of the bidder 1. The control unit 11 of the bidder 1 is configured using, for example, a pick microcomputer, and the operation of the control unit 11 is defined by firmware. The bidding machine 1 according to the present embodiment is equipped with uniquely developed firmware specialized for the seri system.
The bid button 12 is a button having a first position (non-pressed position) and a second position (pressed position), and has a unique tag ID (purchaser number) and a lane identification ID. Then, each ID is transmitted.
The communication unit 13 communicates with the receiver 2 using the active communication antenna 14 in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 11.
The ROM 15 stores a unique tag ID (purchaser number) that does not overlap with other wireless tags and a lane ID that identifies the lane, and is configured so as not to be rewritten. When the bidder 1 loses the bidder 1, the ID information of the new bidder 1 is corrected and registered in the database. Note that the tag ID may be recorded in a part of the firmware.
The power source 16 uses a coin-type lithium battery (CR 2032).
The LED lamp 17 is for operation confirmation, and is a specification that lights up when the bid button 12 is pressed.
Table 1 shows the main specifications of the bidding machine of Example 1.

In the Seri system, high traffic is generated within a short time associated with Seri trading. However, if congestion occurs and data is lost, it may cause a fatal problem that the price does not rise correctly. Therefore, a mechanism for controlling information transmission from the bidding machine 1 and avoiding data loss is important.
Therefore, the bidding machine 1 of the present embodiment first minimizes the amount of information transmitted to the receiver 2. That is, only the tag ID (purchaser number) and lane ID information is transmitted together with the bid request in this embodiment.

  Next, when the bidding machine 1 of the present embodiment continuously presses the bid button for a predetermined time including the first time zone and the second time zone, the first time zone and the second time Collisions with other bidders 1 are avoided by changing the interval at which radio waves are transmitted between bands. That is, for example, transmission is performed at intervals of 0.2 seconds in the first time zone, and transmission is performed at intervals of 0.7 seconds, for example, in the second time zone. The sending interval of bid requests is set by changing the firmware. In this embodiment, the unit price of the bidding machine 1 can be suppressed by modifying the firmware of a commercially available RFID tag for a monitoring system to realize transmission control.

The reception accuracy of the RFID tag receiver is limited to about 60 ID per second depending on the authorized radio band and hardware. In the case of transmission at intervals of 0.2 seconds, if 12 or more bidders press the bid button all at once, a situation in which data cannot be captured occurs. Therefore, in this embodiment, (a) the first three transmissions are 0.2 second intervals, (b) the next two times are 0.7 second intervals, and (c) and after (a) (b) are repeated again. With this method, it is possible to realize reception accuracy of up to about 20 simultaneously per receiver.
Also, two active RFID tags and two receiver frequencies are provided so that radio waves do not collide when there are multiple lanes. The frequency can theoretically be increased to 8CH. In the embodiment, up to two lanes are handled at the same frequency, and a new frequency is used every two lanes.
In addition, when there are multiple cell rooms, fitting to the customer environment comprehensively, including consideration of frequency and adjustment of active RFID tag output radio wave intensity, receiver sensitivity adjustment, and antenna directivity, so that both radio waves do not interfere with each other It is preferable to carry out.
By providing the above configuration, it has become possible to handle up to a maximum of 1000 passenger seats, which could conventionally be supported only up to 500 seats.

The receiver 2 transmits the ID of the RFID tag received from the bidder 1 to the central processing unit 3. The receiver 2, the central processing unit 3, the wireless communication device 4, the printing device 6, and the display processing device 7 are connected at high speed via a wired LAN.
The central processing unit 3 and the display processing unit 7 are composed of PC servers.
The organizer operation device 5 is a PC on which a seri system program operates. The organizer operation device 5 is connected to the central processing unit 3 via a wireless LAN, and can operate a database stored in the main storage device of the central processing unit 3.
From the printing device 6, various forms such as a successful bid notification table (FIG. 8) can be printed.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the pre-selling display of the display device 8. Seri performed on the date of the event is managed by the entrance number, and the entrance number is switched automatically or manually after a predetermined time after the end of the previous product, and the seri is executed sequentially.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the display during the display device 8. In the display device 8 of the present embodiment, the bidding status during the sale can be recognized by lighting of the three button displays. The price column is updated in real time. When the buyer is determined, the buyer number is displayed.

  FIG. 7 shows a menu displayed on the organizer device 5. An interface that allows quick operation using the function keys (F1 to F24) of the OADG keyboard and the mouse is adopted. Each operation can be performed by selecting the item displayed in the item list and highlighting it, and pressing a button. The product for which the message has been completed is displayed in a shaded display. The order of the seri can be changed arbitrarily with the button. Depending on the situation of the venue on the day, it is also possible to carry out seri in any order other than the registration order. In addition, the purchaser can be manually registered for registration without carrying out the service.

The cell system of the present embodiment described above can handle 1000 bidding machines, the maximum number of lanes is 4 lanes, and the number of exhibits is 1196 lanes per exhibition.
Table 2 shows a comparison between a conventional wireless bidding machine (Comparative Example 1) and the bidding machine of Example 1.

[Modification]
A function that monitors the primary battery voltage of the RFID active tag when the button is pressed, transmits a tag ID with a battery consumption notification flag to the central processing unit, and displays it on the organizer operation device, thereby preventing unbidding due to battery exhaustion May be provided.
It may be a multi-lane bidding machine equipped with a plurality of bidding buttons. That is, different lane IDs and tag IDs may be transmitted for each bid button, and a plurality of corresponding lanes may be handled by a plurality of active tag bidding machines.
It is good also as a quantity designation | designated type bidding machine equipped with six buttons, 1-5 quantity designation | designated buttons and a remaining total quantity designation | designated button, in one bidder. A different lane ID, quantity ID, and tag ID can be transmitted for each button, and a quantity designation bid can be made.

  The present invention can be applied to the market for used cars, meat, livestock, flowers, pets (dogs, cats, etc.), and is also applicable to large-scale markets such as a government-designated central wholesale market.

1 Bidding machine 2 Receiver 3 Central processing unit (server)
4 Wireless communication device (wireless LAN base unit)
5 Organizer operation device (client)
6 Printing device 7 Display processing device 8 Display device 11 Control unit 12 Bid button 13 Communication unit 14 Antenna 15 ROM
16 Power supply 17 LED lamp

Claims (10)

  A bidding machine including a bid button, a power source, and a wireless RFID active tag that transmits radio waves using power supplied from the power source, and transmits bid information at a predetermined timing while the bid button is pressed. A bidding machine characterized by that.   When the bid button is pressed continuously for a predetermined time including the first time zone and the second time zone, the interval for transmitting the bid information is changed between the first time zone and the second time zone. The bidding machine according to claim 1, wherein:   3. The bidder according to claim 2, wherein an interval for transmitting the bid information is controlled by firmware.   4. A bidder according to claim 1, wherein a primary battery can be used as a power source.   The bidding machine according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the tag bidding information includes a tag ID and a lane ID.   6. The bidding machine according to claim 5, wherein a plurality of bid buttons are provided, and a different tag ID and lane ID are associated with each button.   The bidding machine according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising an operation check lamp.   The bidding machine according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising a quantity designation button.   A function that monitors the primary battery voltage of the RFID active tag when the button is pressed, transmits a tag ID with a battery consumption notification flag to the central processing unit, and displays it on the organizer operation device, thereby preventing unbidding due to battery exhaustion A bidding machine according to any one of claims 1 to 8. The bidding machine according to any one of claims 1 to 9, a receiver for receiving bid bidding information from the bidding machine, a central processing unit for computing the bidding information received by the receiver, and a calculation by the central processing unit A seri system equipped with a display device that displays results in real time.