JP2018013359A - Color sensor with RFID function and color information acquisition system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a color sensor used in a color information acquisition system, which does not require a commercial power supply and a battery, can wirelessly transmit acquired color information to an external device, and is cheaper than a one-dimensional color CCD camera. That is the issue. A color sensor including a color sensor unit 7 that identifies a color of an object 15 to be measured and an RFID unit 8 that wirelessly transmits the color information identified by the color sensor unit to an external device 13. The color identification means 3 of the sensor unit is a color detection sensor in which red, green, and blue color filters are individually arranged on a plurality of photodiodes, and the IC chip 2 of the RFID unit is a measurement object acquired by the color identification means. A color sensor 20 having an RFID function capable of transmitting color information data to a reader / writer. [Selection diagram] Fig. 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a color sensor having an RFID function capable of identifying a color and transmitting the identified color information to an external device, and a color information acquisition system using the color sensor.

  Color sensors that identify colors can range from those using a color CCD camera to simple types that only have a color identification function that combines photosensors such as photodiodes and color separation filters such as red, green, and blue. Various things are known.

  As application examples of the color sensor, for example, Non-Patent Document 1 shows various application examples for industrial, medical, household, and other fields. For industrial use, color difference management of automobile vehicle paints, color management of plastic products, etc., for medical use, color management of skin, organs, teeth, etc. and discrimination of uneven color of tablets, granules, powders, etc. Examples of color TV and video camera color adjustment, home appliance color unevenness determination, and the like. Other fields include color discrimination of printed matter, wall surfaces and carpets, signals, color matching of signs, etc., and the application range of color sensors is very wide. For each of these uses, a color sensor is manufactured by combining various optical sensors and various light sources.

  As the optical sensor, a one-dimensional or two-dimensional image sensor using a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) element or a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) element is generally used, and 3 corresponding to red, green, and blue. A color sensor composed of three elements in which red, green, and blue color filters are arranged in an optical sensor using two photodiodes and a semiconductor thin film is known.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for detecting surface defects with colors such as subtle pattern defects or discoloration defects caused by defective surface insulation coating, which is one of the surface defects of a coated steel sheet. A surface that receives reflected light from the surface of the inspection object by a plurality of color sensors sensitive to different wavelength ranges, and detects surface defects of the inspection object based on output signals of the wavelength ranges from the sensors. A wrinkle inspection method is disclosed. Specifically, when detecting surface wrinkles with a color sensor, the surface of the object to be inspected is placed close to the surface, and a reflecting plate is provided in the vicinity to give light condensing performance to the surface. Irradiated with a white rod-shaped light source, and arranged as a color sensor with an offset between the reflection position where the optical axes intersect on the surface of the object to be inspected and the irradiation position of the maximum illuminance by the rod-shaped light source A surface defect inspection method using a one-dimensional color CCD camera is disclosed.

  In this technique, a one-dimensional color CCD camera is used as a color sensor, and it is difficult to apply to a field where a cheaper color sensor is required. Although the one-dimensional color CCD camera can be driven by a battery, it requires a commercial power source for regular use, and is difficult to apply to applications where the commercial power source cannot be used.

Further, in a generally available one-dimensional color CCD camera, color information acquired by the camera cannot be transmitted to an external device in a non-contact manner.
Therefore, a prior art document regarding a color information acquisition system that is a batteryless color sensor that can transmit color information acquired by the color sensor to an external device without contact and a batteryless color sensor used in the system. I investigated, but could not find such a technique.

Japanese Patent No. 2698696

Sensor Technology (V), Kinki Aluminum Surface Treatment Study Group Journal No. 153, '92

  In view of the above circumstances, the present invention is used for a color information acquisition system that does not require a commercial power source and a battery, can wirelessly transmit acquired color information to an external device, and is less expensive than a one-dimensional color CCD camera. It is an object of the present invention to provide a color sensor.

As means for solving the above problems, the invention according to claim 1 of the present invention is a color sensor for acquiring color information of a measurement object,
On a base material that is a support, a color sensor unit that identifies a color of a measurement object and acquires color information, and an RFID unit that wirelessly transmits the color information acquired by the color sensor unit to an external device. And
The color sensor section
Illumination means for irradiating the measurement object with white light;
Color identification means for receiving reflected light from the measurement object of the white light and identifying the color of the measurement object to obtain color information;
An illumination means antenna for supplying the illumination means with power obtained by receiving electromagnetic waves radiated from an external device,
RFID part
An IC chip that generates a signal for wirelessly transmitting the color information acquired by the color identification means to an external device;
An RFID antenna that supplies power obtained by receiving electromagnetic waves radiated from an external device to the IC chip, and
Between the IC chip and the color identification means, the IC chip obtains color information from the color identification means, and includes connection wiring for supplying power for driving the color identification means from the IC chip,
The color identification means is a color sensor having an RFID function, which is a color detection sensor in which red, green, and blue color filters are individually arranged in a plurality of photodiodes.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, an external light shielding partition that prevents light other than the illumination unit from entering the color identification unit is provided around the color identification unit and the illumination unit. ,
2. The RFID function according to claim 1, wherein a partition wall is provided between the color identification unit and the illumination unit to prevent direct light from the illumination unit from entering the color identification unit. Is a color sensor.

The invention according to claim 3 is a color information acquisition system using the color sensor having the RFID function according to claim 1 or 2,
A color sensor having the RFID function for obtaining color information of the measurement object;
A reader / writer for obtaining the color information from a color sensor having the RFID function;
A color information acquisition system comprising: a control device that controls a reader / writer and a color sensor, acquires color information from the reader / writer, and stores the color information.

  According to the color sensor having the RFID function of the present invention, power is supplied to the RFID part and the color sensor part by electromagnetic waves emitted from the RFID reader / writer, so that it can be driven without a battery.

  In addition, since the color information of the measurement object acquired by the color sensor unit can be wirelessly transmitted to the reader / writer by the RFID unit, the color information of the measurement object can be acquired by the reader / writer without contact. .

  Further, the color identification means of the color sensor having the RFID function according to the present invention is a color detection sensor in which red, green, and blue color filters are arranged on three photodiodes, respectively. Therefore, an image sensor such as a color CCD camera is used. It can be made cheaper than the color sensor used. As a result, the color information acquisition system using the color sensor can be made inexpensive.

FIG. 3 is a schematic top view illustrating an example of a configuration of a color sensor having an RFID function according to the present invention. An outside light shielding partition for preventing light from entering from outside is provided around the area including the illumination means and the color identification means of the color sensor having the RFID function of the present invention, and is further provided between the illumination means and the color identification means. These are the schematic explanatory drawings which illustrated the case where the direct entrance prevention partition from an illumination means to a color identification means is provided, (a) is a schematic top view, (b) is a schematic sectional side view. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Schematic explanatory drawing which shows the structural example of the color information acquisition system of this invention.

<Color Sensor with RFID Function: First Embodiment>
A first embodiment of a color sensor having an RFID function according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
The color sensor 20 having the RFID function of the present invention is a color sensor that acquires color information of a measurement object.
The color sensor 20 having the RFID function according to the present invention is obtained by the color sensor unit 7 that identifies the color of the measurement object and acquires color information on the base material 1 that is a support, and the color sensor unit 7 acquires the color information. And an RFID unit 8 that wirelessly transmits color information to an external device.

  The color sensor unit 7 illuminates the measuring object with white light 4 and color identification for receiving the reflected light of the white light from the measuring object and identifying the color of the measuring object to obtain color information. Means 3 and an illuminating means antenna 5 that supplies electric power obtained by receiving electromagnetic waves radiated from an external device to the illuminating means 4.

  The RFID unit 8 generates the IC chip 2 that generates a signal for wirelessly transmitting the color information acquired by the color identification unit 3 to the external device, and the power obtained by receiving the electromagnetic wave radiated from the external device. RFID antenna 6 to be supplied to the device.

  Between the IC chip 2 and the color identification unit 3, the IC chip 2 obtains color information from the color identification unit 3 and includes connection wirings 11 for supplying power for driving the color identification unit 3 from the IC chip 2. The color identification means 3 is a color detection sensor in which red, green, and blue color filters are individually arranged on a plurality of photodiodes.

<Color Sensor with RFID Function: Second Embodiment>
A second embodiment of the color sensor having the RFID function of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
The color sensor 20 ′ having the RFID function in the second embodiment of the present invention is an external light shielding partition wall 9 that prevents light other than the illumination unit 4 from entering the color identification unit 3 in the first embodiment. Are provided around the color identification means 3 and the illumination means 4, and direct light from the illumination means 4 enters the color identification means 3 between the color identification means 3 and the illumination means 4. A partition wall 10 is provided to prevent this. Others are the same as the first embodiment.

  Thus, by preventing external light from entering the color identification unit 3, the color identification unit 3 can easily identify the color of the measurement object. Moreover, the same effect is brought about by providing the partition 10 which prevents the direct light from the illumination means 4 from entering the color identification means 3.

(Base material)
The base material 1 is formed of a conductive material on the surface thereof to form the illumination means antenna 5, the RFID antenna 6, and the connection wiring 11 that electrically connects the color identification means 3 and the IC chip 2 at least. The surface is required to be formed from a material having electrical insulation.
The mechanical strength is not particularly limited, but it is desirable that the mechanical strength is sufficient to maintain a plate-like form.

(Lighting means)
The illumination unit 4 needs to be a white light source in order to identify the color of the measurement object. In addition, a light-emitting device with high light emission efficiency is preferable in order to enable driving without a battery. Therefore, for example, an LED element capable of emitting white light can be suitably used.

(Color identification means)
As the color discriminating means 3, a commercially available color detection sensor in which red, green and blue color filters are respectively arranged on three photodiodes can be suitably used. In addition, a single color detection sensor in which a large number of minute photodiodes and CMOS elements are formed on one chip and minute red, green, and blue color filters are formed on each element is also available. Can be used for

(Antenna for lighting means)
When the IC chip 2 of the RFID unit 8 communicates with the reader / writer, which is an external device, via the RFID antenna 6, the illumination means antenna 5 receives an electromagnetic wave emitted from the reader / writer at the same time. It plays a role of supplying power sufficient to drive the means 4 to emit light. Therefore, it is desirable to have a form corresponding to the number of turns capable of receiving sufficient power and the internal impedance of the illumination means 4 in accordance with the frequency and intensity of the electromagnetic wave emitted from the reader / writer.
The material is not particularly limited, but is preferably made of a material having high conductivity. For example, a conductive material such as copper or aluminum can be suitably used.

(IC chip)
The IC chip 2 has a function of supplying driving power to the color identification unit 3 in addition to a function enabling communication with a reader / writer that is an external device, and color information of the measurement object acquired by the color identification unit 3 And a function of transmitting to the reader / writer.

(RFID antenna)
When the IC chip 2 of the RFID unit 8 wirelessly communicates with a reader / writer that is an external device via the RFID antenna 6, the RFID antenna 6 simultaneously receives an electromagnetic wave emitted from the reader / writer, It plays a role of supplying sufficient power to drive the chip 2. Therefore, it is desirable to have a form corresponding to the number of turns that can receive sufficient power and the internal impedance of the IC chip 2 in accordance with the frequency and intensity of the electromagnetic wave emitted from the reader / writer.

(Connection wiring)
The IC chip 2 and the color identification unit 3 are electrically connected by the connection wiring 11, and the IC chip 2 can acquire the color information data acquired by the color identification unit 3. Further, the power received by the RFID antenna 6 from the reader / writer via the IC chip 2 is supplied to the color identification means 3 so that it can be driven.
The material of the connection wiring 11 is not particularly limited. For example, the connection material 11 may be formed using the same material at the same time as the illumination means antenna 5 and the RFID antenna 6 are formed.

<Method of manufacturing a color sensor having an RFID function>
Next, a method for manufacturing a color sensor having the RFID function of the present invention will be described.
The color sensor 20 having the RFID function according to the present invention includes, on a substrate 1, an RFID unit 8 including an RFID antenna 6 and an IC chip 2, an illumination means antenna 5, an illumination means 4, and a color identification means 3. And a color sensor unit 7.

  As a method for realizing the above configuration, first, a plate-like substrate 1 having at least a surface that is electrically insulating is prepared. At the same time, devices such as an IC chip 2, a color detection sensor as the color identification means 3, and a white light emitting diode as the illumination means 4 are prepared.

  Using these devices and the substrate 1, a color sensor having the RFID function of the present invention can be manufactured using the steps described below.

(Conductor layer forming process)
A conductor layer is formed on at least one surface of the substrate 1. Specifically, a conductive thin film layer such as aluminum or copper is formed using a thin film forming technique such as sputtering or vacuum deposition. Alternatively, an aluminum foil or a copper foil may be bonded through an adhesive layer. Or you may abbreviate | omit this conductor layer formation process and form a conductor pattern directly.

(Conductor pattern formation process)
A desired wiring pattern is formed on the conductor layer formed on the substrate 1 in the conductor layer forming step by using a photolithography technique. By this step, the RFID antenna 6, the illumination means antenna, and the connection wiring 11 are formed.

(Device mounting process)
Next, at a predetermined position of each of the conductor patterns such as the RFID antenna 6, the illumination means antenna, and the connection wiring 11 formed on the substrate 1, the white light emitting diode and the color identification means as the IC chip 2 and the illumination means 4 are provided. 3 is mounted. Although it is not necessary to limit the method of mounting each device on the substrate 1, for example, a method of bonding each device using an adhesive can be suitably used.

<Color information acquisition system>
The color information acquisition system 30 using the color sensors 20 and 20 ′ having the RFID function of the present invention can be constructed in the same manner as a generally used RFID system.

As shown in FIG. 3, the color information acquisition system 30 of the present invention includes color sensors 20 and 20 ′ having the RFID function of the present invention, and reader / writers 13 used in various commercially available RFID systems. And a control device 12 composed of a personal computer or the like.
The control device 12 has a function of controlling the reader / writer 13 and the color sensors 20 and 20 ′, acquiring color information from the reader / writer 13, and storing it. In addition, a command for obtaining color information of the measurement object may be issued to the color sensors 20 and 20 ′.

  In addition, the personal computer which is the control device 12 drives the reader / writer 13 to be used in advance, and acquires and stores the color information acquired from the color sensors 20 and 20 ′ having the RFID function via the antenna 14. You just need to install application software.

  In addition, by installing dedicated application software on a smartphone or tablet instead of a personal computer, it can be used in the same manner as a personal computer.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Base material 2 ... IC chip 3 ... Color identification means 4 ... Illumination means 5 ... Illumination means antenna 6 ... RFID antenna 7 ... Color sensor part 8 ... · RFID unit 9 · · · external light shielding partition 10 · · · partition wall 11 that prevents direct light from the illumination means from entering the color identification means · · · connection wiring 12 · · · Control device 13 · · · external Device (reader / writer)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 14 ... Antenna 15 ... Measurement object 20, 20 '... Color sensor 30 equipped with RFID function ... Color information acquisition system

Claims (3)

A color sensor that acquires color information of a measurement object,
On a base material that is a support, a color sensor unit that identifies a color of a measurement object and acquires color information, and an RFID unit that wirelessly transmits the color information acquired by the color sensor unit to an external device. And
The color sensor section
Illumination means for irradiating the measurement object with white light;
Color identification means for receiving reflected light from the measurement object of the white light and identifying the color of the measurement object to obtain color information;
An illumination means antenna for supplying the illumination means with power obtained by receiving electromagnetic waves radiated from an external device,
RFID part
An IC chip that generates a signal for wirelessly transmitting the color information acquired by the color identification means to an external device;
An RFID antenna that supplies power obtained by receiving electromagnetic waves radiated from an external device to the IC chip, and
Between the IC chip and the color identification means, the IC chip obtains color information from the color identification means, and includes connection wiring for supplying power for driving the color identification means from the IC chip,
A color sensor having an RFID function, wherein the color identification means is a color detection sensor in which red, green, and blue color filters are individually arranged in a plurality of photodiodes. An external light shielding partition that prevents light other than the illumination unit from entering the color identification unit is provided around the color identification unit and the illumination unit,
2. The RFID function according to claim 1, wherein a partition wall is provided between the color identification unit and the illumination unit to prevent direct light from the illumination unit from entering the color identification unit. Color sensor equipped with. A color information acquisition system using the color sensor having the RFID function according to claim 1,
A color sensor having the RFID function for obtaining color information of the measurement object;
A reader / writer for obtaining the color information from a color sensor having the RFID function;
A color information acquisition system comprising: a control device that controls a reader / writer and a color sensor, acquires color information from the reader / writer, and stores the color information.