Article management system, article management method, and non-transitory computer readable medium storing article management program

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9652647-B2
Application number	US-201414892233-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 25, 2014
Priority date	May 20, 2013
Publication date	May 16, 2017
Grant date	May 16, 2017

Abstract

An article management system includes RFID tags ( 102 ) fixed above a reader transmission line ( 101 ), a metal sheet ( 103 ) having an opening ( 103 a ) at positions corresponding to RFID tags ( 102 ) located within an assigned position ( 108 ) assigned to place an article ( 106 ), a tag reading unit ( 104 ) that reads the plurality of RFID tags ( 102 ) by electromagnetic coupling through the reader transmission line ( 101 ), and an article presence/absence determination unit ( 105 ) that determines presence or absence of the article ( 106 ) at the assigned position ( 108 ) on the metal sheet ( 103 ) based on results of reading the plurality of RFID tags ( 102 ). It is thereby possible to manage articles at high speed even when a plurality of RFID tags are placed.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An article management system comprising:
a reader transmission line formed as a transmission line terminated with matching impedance;
a plurality of RFID tags fixed corresponding to an article allocable area above the reader transmission line and electromagnetically coupled to the reader transmission line;
a metal sheet placed on the plurality of RFID tags and having an opening at positions corresponding to RFID tags located within an assigned position of an article assigned to place the article in the allocable area among the plurality of RFID tags;
a tag reading unit that reads the plurality of RFID tags by electromagnetic coupling through the reader transmission line; and
an article presence/absence determination unit that determines presence or absence of the article at the assigned position on the metal sheet based on results of reading the plurality of RFID tags.

2. The article management system according to claim 1 , wherein a size of the plurality of RFID tags is smaller than a size coming into contact with the allocable area when the article is placed.

3. The article management system according to claim 1 , wherein an interval of the plurality of RFID tags is smaller than a size coming into contact with the allocable area when the article is placed.

4. The article management system according to claim 1 , comprising:
a tag position table storage unit that stores a tag position table associating tag information of the plurality of RFID tags and fixed positions of the plurality of RFID tags;
an article position table storage unit that stores an article position table associating identification information of articles and assigned positions of the articles assigned to place the articles in the allocable area; and
an article management table storage unit that stores an article management table associating the identification information of the articles and the tag information of the plurality of RFID tags based on the tag position table and the article position table, wherein
the article presence/absence determination unit determines presence or absence of the article based on association between the identification information of the articles and the tag information of the plurality of RFID tags by the article management table.

5. The article management system according to claim 4 , comprising:
an article management table creation unit that creates the article management table according to association between the fixed positions of the plurality of RFID tags in the tag position table and the assigned positions of the articles in the article position table.

6. The article management system according to claim 4 , comprising:
an article management table creation unit that receives input of the identification information of the articles and the tag information of the plurality of RFID tags in association and creates the article management table according to the input association.

7. The article management system according to claim 4 , comprising:
a metal sheet creation unit that makes the opening corresponding to positions of RFID tags in the article management table by referring to the article management table.

8. The article management system according to claim 1 , comprising:
an article placement sheet placed on the metal sheet and where the assigned position of the article is displayed, wherein
the article presence/absence determination unit determines presence or absence of the article placed on the article placement sheet.

9. The article management system according to claim 7 , comprising:
an article placement sheet placed on the metal sheet and where the assigned position of the article is displayed; and
an article placement sheet creation unit that creates the article placement sheet according to the assigned positions of the articles in the article position table by referring to the article position table, wherein
the article presence/absence determination unit determines presence or absence of the article placed on the article placement sheet.

10. The article management system according to claim 1 , wherein
the tag reading unit reads all of the plurality of RFID tags at a time, and
the article presence/absence determination unit determines presence or absence of the article based on all of the results of reading.

11. The article management system according to claim 4 , wherein
the tag reading unit reads all of the plurality of RFID tags at a time, and
the article presence/absence determination unit determines presence or absence of the article based on results of reading RFID tags contained in the article management table among the results of reading.

12. The article management system according to claim 4 , wherein
the tag reading unit reads RFID tags contained in the article management table among the plurality of RFID tags one by one, and
the article presence/absence determination unit determines presence or absence of the article based on all of the results of reading.

13. The article management system according to claim 1 , comprising:
a read tag table creation unit that creates a read tag table storing tag information read from the plurality of RFID tags after the metal sheet is placed and before the article is placed, wherein
the article presence/absence determination unit determines presence or absence of the article corresponding to the tag information contained in the read tag table.

14. The article management system according to claim 13 , wherein
the read tag table associates tag information read from the plurality of RFID tags with signal intensity received from the plurality of RFID tags, and
the article presence/absence determination unit determines presence or absence of the article by comparing the signal intensity received from the plurality of RFID tags with signal intensity contained in the read tag table.

15. An article management method comprising:
fixing a plurality of RFID tags in an article allocable area above a reader transmission line formed as a transmission line terminated with matching impedance, the plurality of RFID tags to be electromagnetically coupled to the reader transmission line;
placing, on the plurality of RFID tags, a metal sheet having an opening at positions corresponding to RFID tags located within an assigned position of an article assigned to place the article in the allocable area among the plurality of RFID tags;
reading the plurality of RFID tags by electromagnetic coupling through the reader transmission line; and
determining presence or absence of an article at the assigned position on the metal sheet based on results of reading the plurality of RFID tags.

16. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing an article management program causing a computer to execute an article management process, the article management process comprising:
fixing a plurality of RFID tags in an article allocable area above a reader transmission line formed as a transmission line terminated with matching impedance, the plurality of RFID tags to be electromagnetically coupled to the reader transmission line, and placing, on the plurality of RFID tags, a metal sheet having an opening at positions corresponding to RFID tags located within an assigned position of an article assigned to place the article in the allocable area among the plurality of RFID tags, and then reading the plurality of RFID tags by electromagnetic coupling through the reader transmission line; and
determining presence or absence of an article at the assigned position on the metal sheet based on results of readin

Assignees

• Nec Corp

Inventors

• Hattori Wataru

Classifications

• G06Q30/00

  Commerce · CPC title

• H01Q1/2208

  associated with components used in interrogation type services, i.e. in systems for information exchange between an interrogator/reader and a tag/transponder, e.g. in Radio Frequency Identification [RFID] systems (methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns G06K7/00; record carrier for use with machines and with at least a part designed to carry digital markings G06K19/00) · CPC title

• A47F2010/025

  using stock management systems · CPC title

• A47F2010/005

  using RFID elements · CPC title

• G06Q10/087

  Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders · CPC title