Reading device and information provision system

Abstract

To provide a reading device and information provision system that reduce the influence of radio waves while ensuring convenience during reading. [Solution] The reader 20 reads information from the RF tag 12 attached to the product P. The reader 20 has an opening 30, and is provided with a shielding section 44 that accommodates the product P through the opening 30, and an antenna 60 that emits radio waves to communicate with the RF tag 12 attached to the accommodated product P. The reader 20 reads information from the RF tag 12 with the shielding section 44 open.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a reading device that reads information of an RF tag and an information providing system that provides information of an article with the RF tag attached thereto.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, an accounting system 100 shown in FIG. 6 has been proposed to smoothly perform accounting in a store. This accounting system 100 includes an RF tag 102 attached to each product P, a reader / writer 104 that reads information of the RF tag 102, and a register 106 communicably connected to the reader / writer 104. The reader / writer 104 is installed on the back surface of the accounting counter T, and collectively reads information from the RF tag 102 of the product P in the shopping basket on the accounting counter T, and transmits the read information to the register 106. The register 106 performs accounting processing based on product information (product name and price) corresponding to the received information.

[0003] According to the accounting system 100, accounting processing can be performed by a simple operation of placing the shopping basket on the accounting counter T. Further, since the accounting processing can be performed while the shopping basket is placed on the accounting counter T, the contents of the shopping basket can be visually recognized, and the customer can recheck the product P to be purchased even during the accounting process. On the other hand, since the communication area of the reader / writer 104 and the space where the customer exists are continuous, there is a possibility that the radio waves emitted from the antenna of the reader / writer 104 may affect other devices, or the radio waves emitted from other devices may interfere with the communication radio waves of the reader / writer 104.

[0004] Here, the reading device of Patent Document 1 includes a housing that houses a product through an opening and a lid that opens and closes the opening, and the housing and the lid are formed of members that reflect or absorb radio waves. This reading device reads the RF tag in a state where the opening of the housing is closed with the lid, that is, in a state where the article housed in the housing is sealed with a shield, so that the above problems related to radio waves can be prevented.

Prior Art Documents

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2015-207110 [Overview of the Initiative] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0006] However, the reading device described in Patent Document 1 requires the cumbersome process of placing the product inside the enclosure, closing the lid, processing the transaction, and then opening the lid to retrieve the product. Furthermore, since the shopping basket stored inside the enclosure cannot be visually inspected, the product cannot be reconfirmed during the transaction. In other words, customer convenience is compromised.

[0007] Thus, it was difficult to achieve both customer convenience and the reduction of radio wave interference. Furthermore, this problem can occur not only with reading devices used in accounting, but also with stationary devices that read RF tags attached to goods.

[0008] In view of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention aims to provide a reading device and an information provision system that reduce the influence of radio waves while ensuring convenience during reading. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] To achieve the above objective, the present invention is a reader device for reading information from an RF tag attached to an article, comprising: an antenna that emits radio waves for communicating with the RF tag; and a shielding section that houses the antenna and has an opening wider than that of the article, wherein the device reads information from the RF tag with the shielding section open.

[0010] Furthermore, it is characterized by having a mounting portion positioned on the opening side of the antenna on which the article is placed.

[0011] Furthermore, the shield portion is characterized by comprising a radio wave absorbing layer that absorbs radio waves, and a radio wave reflecting layer formed on the outside of the radio wave absorbing layer that reflects radio waves.

[0012] Furthermore, the device comprises the above-mentioned reading device and an information providing device capable of communicating with the reading device, wherein the information providing device includes a storage unit that stores item information relating to the item in association with the RF tag information, an acquisition unit that acquires the RF tag information from the reading device, an information generation unit that extracts the item information corresponding to the acquired RF tag information from the storage unit and generates information to be provided, and an output unit that outputs the generated information to be provided. [Effects of the Invention]

[0013] According to the present invention, since the antenna is housed within the shield, the spread of radio waves emitted from the antenna is suppressed, and the influence of radio waves on other equipment can be reduced. Furthermore, since the shield has an opening wider than the item, RF tags can be read by placing the item inside the shield or on the opening. In this case, the shield remains open during reading, eliminating the need for the cumbersome action of closing the opening as in conventional methods. Therefore, the influence of radio waves can be reduced while ensuring convenience during reading. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0014] [Figure 1] This is an information provision system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and (a) is a perspective view of a reading device, and (b) is a diagram showing how information is provided by a mobile terminal. [Figure 2] This is a block diagram of the RF tag, reader, and mobile terminal that constitute the above information provision system. [Figure 3] The above images show a cross-sectional view and a partially enlarged cross-sectional view of the reading device. [Figure 4] The above is a functional block diagram of the mobile device. [Figure 5]This is a cross-sectional view of a reading device according to a modified embodiment. [Figure 6] This is a schematic diagram of a conventional accounting system. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0015] Hereinafter, embodiments of the reading device and information provision system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0016] As shown in Figure 1(a), the information provision system 10 according to this embodiment is used in a store that sells goods P such as clothing. In this store, an RF tag 12 is attached to each goods P along with a price tag. As shown in Figure 2, the RF tag 12 consists of an antenna 14 and an IC chip 18 that incorporates a communication circuit (not shown) that communicates with a reader / writer 16 via the antenna 14. This IC chip 18 has a CPU (not shown) and memory (not shown) built in, and unique information (hereinafter referred to as "tag information") that is defined to uniquely identify the RF tag 12 is stored in the memory.

[0017] Returning to Figure 1, products P to which the RF tags 12 are attached are displayed on shelves and tables in the store, and customers select their favorite products P and put them in their shopping basket B. At this point, as the customer continues shopping, there is a need to know the total amount of the multiple products P in the shopping basket B. Therefore, in the information provision system 10 according to this embodiment, a reader device 20 that reads the tag information of the RF tags 12 is used to display the total amount of products P placed in the shopping basket B on the mobile terminal 22 of the store employee S. The following describes the reader 20 and the mobile terminal 22 in detail.

[0018] The reading device 20 is a stationary device that communicates with the RF tag 12 attached to the product P in the shopping basket B to read tag information, and includes a housing 24 as shown in FIG. 3. The housing 24 includes a rectangular bottom plate 26 that is wider than the outer shape of the edge of the shopping basket B. Four wall plates 28 (FIG. 1) that stand vertically with respect to the bottom plate 26 are joined to each edge of the bottom plate 26. Each wall plate 28 extends vertically to about the height of an adult's waist, and the vertical edges are joined to each other. The four wall plates 28 (FIG. 1) and the bottom plate 26 form an upwardly open square housing 24.

[0019] Inside the housing 24, two horizontal plates 32 and 50 are provided vertically. The upper horizontal plate 32 is detachably supported by a shelf support 34. The horizontal plate 32 is a rectangular plate on which the shopping basket (FIG. 1) containing the product P (FIG. 1) is placed, and its height is adjusted so that the placed shopping basket B fits within the enclosure formed by the wall plates 28. That is, the horizontal plate 32 functions as a placement part on which the shopping basket B is placed. The lower horizontal plate 50 is adhered to the inner wall surface of each wall plate 28. An antenna 60 of the reader / writer 16 is arranged on the horizontal plate 50. The horizontal plates 32 and 50, each wall plate 28, and the bottom plate 26 are formed of wood.

[0020] Here, in each wall plate 28, a radio wave reflection sheet 38 is adhered to an inner wall surface 42 that extends above the horizontal plate 50. The radio wave reflection sheet 38 is a sheet made of a metal such as aluminum and functions as a radio wave reflection layer that reflects radio waves on its surface. A radio wave absorption sheet 40 is adhered to the entire inner surface of the radio wave reflection sheet 38. The radio wave absorption sheet 40 is a sheet formed by mixing a magnetic metal powder into a rubber material and functions as a radio wave absorption layer that absorbs radio waves inside. Also, similarly, a radio wave reflection sheet 38 is adhered to the upper surface of the horizontal plate 50, and a radio wave absorption sheet 40 is further adhered on the radio wave reflection sheet 38. Thus, the radio wave reflection sheet 38 and the radio wave absorption sheet 40 provided on each wall plate 28 and the horizontal plate 50 accommodate the antenna 60 and form a shield part 44 with an upwardly open opening 30.

[0021] The shield part 44 and the horizontal plate 32 described above form a space for accommodating the shopping basket B. That is, the shield part 44 and the horizontal plate 32 function as an accommodating part 36 for accommodating the shopping basket B.

[0022] The internal space formed below the horizontal plate 50 is a space where the main body 48 of the reader / writer 16 is installed, and the lower parts of the four wall plates 28 and the bottom plate 26 forming this space function as a base 46. The horizontal plate 50 and the radio wave reflection sheet 38 and the radio wave absorption sheet 40 adhered to the horizontal plate 50 are provided with through holes 52 penetrating the front and back surfaces thereof, and the antenna 60 and the main body 48 installed on the bottom plate 26 are electrically connected to each other by the wiring 54 passed through the through holes 52.

[0023] As shown in FIG. 2, the main body 48 of the reader / writer 16 includes a CPU 56, a memory 58, a communication circuit 62 (transmission / reception circuit, oscillation circuit, modulation / demodulation circuit) for communicating with the RF tag 12 via an antenna 60, and a wifi module 64. The CPU 56 executes the program in the memory 58 to collectively or individually acquire tag information from the RF tag 12 via the communication circuit 62 and the antenna 60, and transmits the tag information to the mobile terminal 22 using the wifi module 64.

[0024] The mobile terminal 22 is a smart device such as a tablet terminal or a smartphone owned by the store clerk S (FIG. 1(b)) of the store, and as shown in FIG. 2, is mainly realized by a computer including a CPU 66, a memory 68, a wifi module 70, a liquid crystal display 72, and a touch sensor 74.

[0025] The memory 68 stores the information provision program 76. The information provision program 76 has a predetermined product table 78. The product table 78 is a table in which product information such as the name, size, and price of each product P (Figure 1) in the store is associated with each tag information. Therefore, the computer having the memory 68 functions as a storage unit 80 (Figure 4) that stores product information associated with tag information.

[0026] The information provision program 76 further defines the process for providing customers with information about product P, and this process is executed by the CPU 66. Specifically, the acquisition step, information generation step, and output step are executed by the CPU 66 in this order. (1) The acquisition step is a step of acquiring tag information, which involves connecting to a network via the Wi-Fi module 70, identifying a reader / writer 16 present on the connected network by its IP address, requesting the identified reader / writer 16 to send tag information, and receiving the tag information read from the reader / writer 16. In this way, the Wi-Fi module 70 and the CPU 66 function as an acquisition unit 82 (Figure 4) that acquires tag information. (2) The information generation step is a step of generating information to be provided to the customer based on the received tag information, which involves extracting product information corresponding to the received tag information from the product table 78, for example, listing the extracted product information, and summing up the prices included in the product information. In this way, the CPU 66 functions as an information generation unit 84 (Figure 4) that generates the information to be provided. (3) The output step is a step in which the generated provided information is output, and as shown in Figure 1(b), the list of products P in shopping cart B and the total amount are displayed on the liquid crystal display 72. In this way, the CPU 66 and the liquid crystal display 72 function as an output unit 86 (Figure 4) that outputs the provided information.

[0027] In this embodiment, as shown in Figure 1, when the shopping basket B is placed in the storage section 36 of the reading device 20, the storage section 36 opens and the reading device 20 reads the tag information of each product P, and the mobile terminal 22 displays the provided information (list and total amount).

[0028] According to the reading device 20 of this embodiment, preparation for reading the RF tag 12 can be completed with a simple operation such as placing the shopping basket B into the storage section 36 through the opening 30. Furthermore, during reading (communication), the product P in the shopping basket B can be viewed through the opening 30 to reconfirm the product P.

[0029] Furthermore, the shielding section 44 that constitutes the housing section 36 suppresses the spread of radio waves emitted from the antenna 60 of the reader / writer 16 around the reading device 20, thereby reducing the influence of radio waves on other devices. In addition, it also suppresses the entry of radio waves from other devices around the reading device 20 into the housing section 36, thereby reducing the decrease in reading accuracy caused by radio wave interference.

[0030] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 3, the shielding section 44 is formed on the outside of the radio wave absorbing sheet 40 such that the radio wave reflective sheet 38 surrounds the radio wave absorbing sheet 40. As a result, weak radio waves leaking from the radio wave absorbing sheet 40 are reflected by the radio wave reflective sheet 38 and absorbed inside the radio wave absorbing sheet 40, resulting in excellent radio wave shielding performance. Consequently, the communication area with the RF tag 12 is limited to the housing section 36 and the area above it, preventing problems such as misreading of the tag information of the RF tag 12 of product P around the reader 20.

[0031] The reading device and information provision system according to the present invention have been described above based on embodiments, but of course the present invention is not limited to the above-described forms, and may be implemented in the following forms, for example.

[0032] <Variation> (1) In the above embodiment, the antenna 60 of the reader / writer 16 is attached to the horizontal plate 50, but the antenna 60 may also be attached to the lower side of the horizontal plate 32. In this case, the horizontal plate 50 may be omitted to simplify the structure. Alternatively, the antenna 60 may also be attached to the upper side of the horizontal plate 32. In this case, the effect of radio waves can be further reduced by providing a radio wave reflective sheet 38 on the upper or lower surface of the horizontal plate 32. Alternatively, the antenna 60 may be attached to the inner wall surface of the wall plate 28. In short, the antenna 60 may be attached anywhere inside the shielding section 44, as long as it is away from the opening 30.

[0033] (2) In the above embodiment, the radio wave reflecting sheet 38 and the radio wave absorbing sheet 40 provided on the inner wall surface of each wall panel 28 may extend downward to an extent that does not hinder wireless communication between the main body 48 of the reader / writer 16 and the mobile terminal 22.

[0034] (3) The radio wave absorbing sheet 40 provided on the horizontal plate 50 may be omitted.

[0035] (4) Furthermore, the radio wave reflective layer and the radio wave absorbing layer are not limited to sheet material, but may also be made of plate material. In this case, the upper part of each wall plate 28 that constitutes the peripheral wall around the shield section 44 may be omitted.

[0036] (5) In the above embodiment, the horizontal plate 32 is positioned (depth) such that the shopping basket B is accommodated, but it may also be positioned (depth) such that a part of the shopping basket B is exposed.

[0037] (6) Furthermore, the horizontal plate 32 is not limited to being positioned inside the shielding section 44. For example, as shown in Figure 5, the horizontal plate 90 may be provided so as to cover the opening 30 of the shielding section 44. In this case, it is preferable to display a marker on the upper surface of the horizontal plate 90 indicating the location (area) where the shopping basket B is placed. In this modified configuration as well, the reading device 20 communicates within the communication area shown in Figure 3, thus reducing the influence of radio waves on other equipment. In addition, it is convenient as the customer only needs to place the shopping basket B on the horizontal plate 90.

[0038] (7) In the above embodiment, a rectangular enclosure is formed by four wall panels 28, and a shield portion 44 is formed along the inner wall surface thereof. However, the shape of the enclosure may be other polygons or circles, and the shield portion 44 may also be polygons or circles.

[0039] (8) The shield portion may also be configured to have an opening formed laterally. That is, the housing may comprise a bottom plate 26, four wall plates 28, a top plate provided at the upper end of each wall plate 28, and horizontal plates 32, 50, and an opening for loading and unloading articles may be formed at the top of one of the wall plates 28. In this configuration, it is preferable that a radio wave reflective sheet 38 is attached to the entire lower surface of the top plate, and a radio wave absorbing sheet 40 is attached to the entire lower surface of the radio wave reflective sheet 38.

[0040] (9) Furthermore, the opening 30 of the shield portion 44 only needs to be formed in at least one direction, and may be formed in two directions, for example, upward and sideways.

[0041] (10) In the above embodiment, the reader / writer 16 and the mobile terminal 22 communicate via a network using their respective Wi-Fi modules 64 and 70, but the communication interface is not limited to this, and known wireless communication interfaces such as Bluetooth® modules can be used.

[0042] (11) In the above embodiment, a mobile terminal 22 is used as an information providing device that provides information to customers, but the invention is not limited to this, and a device used as a higher-level device for the reader / writer 16 may be used, for example, a server that can communicate with the reader / writer 16 via a network.

[0043] (12) In the above embodiment, clothing was used as an example, but it may be used for various products such as food products, home appliances, books, DVDs, etc.

[0044] (13) In the above embodiment, products were used as an example, but the method is not limited to products and can be used for various items such as samples, cards or documents describing the contents of a service, etc. In this case, the memory 68 (storage unit 80) of the mobile terminal 22 (information providing terminal) stores an item table in which item information and tag information related to the item are associated.

[0045] The present invention can be implemented in various forms with improvements, modifications, or alterations based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art, without departing from its spirit. Furthermore, the invention may be implemented in a form in which any of its defining features is replaced with other technologies, as long as the same function or effect is achieved. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0046] 10… Information provision system 12 … RF tag 16… Reader / Writer 20 ... Reader 22… Mobile devices (information provision devices) 36... Detention area 38… Radio wave reflective sheet (radio wave reflective layer) 40… Radio wave absorbing sheet (radio wave absorbing layer) 44... Shield section 48… Reader / writer main unit 60… Antenna 80 … Storage section 82 … Acquisition Department 84 … Information generation section 86 ... Output section P … Goods (items)

Claims

[Claim 1] A stationary reader that reads information from RF tags attached to items, An antenna for communicating with the aforementioned RF tag, A shield portion provided within the housing, housing the antenna, surrounding the article, and having an opening wider than the article facing upwards, Equipped with, A reading device characterized by reading information from the RF tag with the housing and the shield portion open upward.

Images