Reading apparatus
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional reading apparatuses require customers to manually remove products from shopping baskets, perform sales registration, and then repack them, which is inefficient and prone to errors in reading RFID tags attached to products.
Innovation Solution
A reading apparatus with a shielding body, antenna, and reader/writer that allows simultaneous sales registration and product accommodation into an accommodating body, such as a bag, by shielding radio waves and providing antennas for RFID tag reading through an upper opening, enabling efficient product packing and registration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a planar antenna is embedded in a checkout counter for collective reading, then product information can be read automatically, but the structure becomes complex and requires infrastructure modification
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the RFID reading function from the checkout counter infrastructure and relocates it to a portable handheld device. This eliminates the need to embed planar antennas in counters while maintaining automatic reading capability. The reading function is now a standalone device that customers can carry and use flexibly throughout the shopping area.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables customers to perform their own product registration and checkout using the portable RFID reader. Customers independently scan products, register them, and complete purchases without requiring staff-operated fixed checkout counters with embedded antennas. This self-service approach simplifies the infrastructure while maintaining productivity.
2Productivity
If manual product removal and repacking is required after checkout, then sales registration can be completed, but the process time increases and efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the checkout registration process with the product packing process. As customers place products into their bags or containers, the portable RFID reader automatically detects and registers them in real-time. This eliminates the separate steps of manual removal, registration, and repacking, allowing all three actions to occur simultaneously and reducing overall processing time.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables continuous RFID reading and product registration throughout the packing process. Instead of batch processing after all products are removed, the system continuously reads tags as products are placed into containers, maintaining uninterrupted useful action from selection through packing to registration completion.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables seamless sales registration and product accommodation, preventing erroneous RFID tag reading and writing, and streamlining the checkout process by allowing products to be placed directly into a bag for packing while being scanned.
Implementation Method 1
a shielding body 21, an antenna 23, and a reader and writer 41. The shielding body 21 is formed in a box shape with an upper opening to place an accommodating body 300 and to shield radio waves
Implementation Method 2
The antenna 23 is provided in the shielding body 21 to receive information from an RFID tag 200 attached to a product 100 that is passing through the opening
Data Source
AI summary
According to one embodiment, a reading apparatus includes a shielding body, an antenna, and a reader and writer. The shielding body is formed in a box shape with an upper opening, to place an accommodating body and to shield radio waves. The antenna is provided in the shielding body to receive information from an RFID tag attached to a product that is passing through the opening. The reader and writer is connected to the antenna to read information of the product from the information received by the antenna.