Method and system for acquiring maintenance information by an RFID tag

• US 20050162256A1
• Filed: 01/26/2005
• Published: 07/28/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 01/27/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NEC Platforms, Ltd. (NEC Corporation)
• Original Assignee: NEC Infrontia Corporation (NEC Corporation)
• Inventors: Kinoshita, Yutaka
• Granted Patent: US 7,683,762 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/10.410
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07749 the record carrier being capable of non-contact communication, e.g. constructional details of the antenna of a non-contact smart card

Abstract

A control apparatus 10 has a housing containing an IC memory 25 of an RFID tag 20 as a memory element. The RFID tag 20 has an antenna 21 so as to close the housing. The antenna 21 may be attached to an outside of the housing so as to transmit and receive a radio wave to and from the outside of the housing and is connected to the inside of the housing in a closed state via a lead wire insulated from the housing. The housing may be made of a metal with a removable metallic cover formed at a part thereof to allow transmission and reception of the radio wave. The control apparatus 10 may have an RFID tag counterpart section 14 with an antenna 16 so that the RFID tag 20 is electrically insulated from a control circuit of the control apparatus 10.

Claims

1. A method of acquiring maintenance information, in which maintenance information of an apparatus as a maintenance object is stored in the apparatus and the maintenance information is acquired from the outside of the apparatus at a predetermined time instant, the method comprising the steps of accommodating in the apparatus an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag having a first antenna and adapted to store the maintenance information, and reading and acquiring the maintenance information stored in the RFID tag at the predetermined time instant by a reader outside the apparatus via the first antenna of the RFID tag by using a radio wave.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the step of accommodating a second antenna in the apparatus, transmitting the maintenance information to the first antenna via the second antenna by using the radio wave, and storing the maintenance information received from the first antenna into the RFID tag.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2, further comprising the step of intercepting and acquiring, by the reader outside the apparatus, the maintenance information sent via the second antenna to the first antenna by using the radio wave.

4. A system for acquiring maintenance information, in which maintenance information of an apparatus as a maintenance object is stored in the apparatus and the maintenance information stored in the apparatus is acquired by a reader outside the apparatus at a predetermined time instant, wherein:

the apparatus comprises an RFID tag including a first antenna and an IC memory and allowing data to be written in and read from the IC memory through the first antenna, a second antenna, a historical data memory for storing the maintenance information, and an RFID tag counterpart transmitter/receiver section for reading from the historical data memory the maintenance information stored in the historical data memory at the predetermined time instant and transmitting the maintenance information through the second antenna to the first antenna by using a radio wave;

the RFID tag including a transmission/reception control section which is responsive to a write request through the first antenna from the second antenna, then produces induced power by a received radio wave carrying the write request to drive the RFID tag, and stores in the IC memory the maintenance information supplied next and which is responsive to a read request from the reader, then produces induced power by a received radio wave carrying the read request to drive the RFID tag, reads the maintenance information stored in the IC memory, and transmits the maintenance information through the first antenna to the reader by using the radio wave;

the reader including a third antenna and a transmission/reception control section for sending the read request via the third antenna by using the radio wave to acquire the maintenance information from the first antenna.

5. The system as claimed in claim 4, wherein, in case where a housing of the apparatus has a radio wave shielding structure, the housing of the radio wave shielding structure has a removable radio wave shielding cover allowing transmission/reception of the radio wave at least at a portion corresponding to the first antenna.

6. The system as claimed in claim 4, wherein, in case where a housing of the apparatus has a radio wave shielding structure, the first antenna of the RFID tag is disposed on an outer surface of the housing of the radio wave shielding structure, the RFID tag further having a fourth antenna disposed inside the housing of the radio wave shielding structure for transmitting and receiving data to and from the second antenna.

7. The system as claimed in claim 4, wherein, in case where a housing of the apparatus has a radio wave shielding structure, the second antenna of the apparatus and the RFID tag are disposed on an outer surface of the housing.

8. The system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the reader has a transmission/reception control section for intercepting, by the use of the third antenna, the radio wave sent from the second antenna to the first antenna to acquire the maintenance information.

9. A system for acquiring maintenance information, in which maintenance information of an apparatus as a maintenance object is stored in the apparatus and the maintenance information stored in the apparatus is acquired by a reader outside the apparatus at a predetermined time instant, wherein:

the apparatus comprises an RFID tag including a first antenna and an IC memory and allowing data to be written in and read from the IC memory through the first antenna, a historical data memory for memorizing the maintenance information, and a writing section for reading from the historical data memory the maintenance information stored in the historical data memory at the predetermined time instant and writing the maintenance information into the IC memory of the RFID tag;

the RFID tag including a transmission/reception control section which is responsive to a read request from the reader through the first antenna, then produces induced power by a received radio wave carrying the read request to drive the RFID tag, reads the maintenance information stored in the IC memory, and transmits the maintenance information through the first antenna to the reader by using the radio wave;

the reader including a third antenna and a transmission/reception control section for sending the read request via the third antenna by using the radio wave to acquire the maintenance information from the first antenna.

10. The system as claimed in claim 9, wherein the first antenna is disposed on an outer surface of a housing of the apparatus.