WORK DIRECTION DETERMINING METHOD AND DEVICE, AND WORK PROVIDED WITH DIRECTION DETERMINING FUNCTION

• US 20120025986A1
• Filed: 03/24/2010
• Published: 02/02/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/25/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi High-Tech Company Limited (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Inventors: Yamaguchi, Takuya, Minemura, Yusuke, Hino, Yoshiharu, Miyake, Akira, Kuroki, Daisuke
• Granted Patent: US 8,704,663 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/572.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10445 the record carriers being fixed to further objects, e.g. RFIDs fixed to packages, luggage, mail-pieces or work-pieces transported on a conveyor belt
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/2225 used in active tags, i.e. provided with its own power source or in passive tags, i.e. deriving power from RF signal
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/38 formed by a conductive layer on an insulating support patch antennas H01Q9/0407; microstrip dipole antennas H01Q9/065; microstrip slot antennas H01Q13/106; transmission line microstrip antennas H01Q13/206; manufacturing reflecting surfaces using insulating material for supporting the reflecting surface H01Q15/142
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 7/00 Loop antennas with a substantially uniform current distribution around the loop and having a directional radiation pattern in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the loop
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 9/27 Spiral antennas

Abstract

A work direction determining device includes a passive tag type IC tag secured at a predetermined position on the front surface thereof. The IC tag includes a substrate, an IC module and an antenna coil disposed on the substrate in an offset manner. The device includes an antenna communicating with the IC tag, and a determination circuit. Where the work and the direction determining device are located at respective predetermined communication positions, communication is done between the antenna of the direction determining device and the antenna coil of the IC tag, and the magnitude of communication intensity during the communication is determined by the determination circuit to thereby determine a direction of the work.

Claims

1. A work direction determining method that aims to determine a work having a passive tag type IC tag secured at a predetermined position on a front surface thereof, the method allowing a direction determining device to determine a direction of the work,

wherein the IC tag includes a substrate, an IC module and an antenna coil, the IC module and the antenna coil being disposed on the substrate adjacently to each other;

wherein the direction determining device includes an antenna communicating with the IC tag, and a determination circuit; and

wherein in a state where the work and the direction determining device are located at respective predetermined communication positions, communication is performed between the antenna of the direction determining device and the antenna coil of the IC tag, and the magnitude of communication intensity during the communication is determined by the determination circuit to thereby determine a direction of the work.

2. The work direction determining method according to claim 1,

wherein if the work located at the predetermined communication position assumes a normal posture, the antenna coil installed on the IC tag is located inside a communicable zone of the antenna of the direction determining device;

wherein if the work located at the predetermined position assumes a reverse posture, the antenna coil installed on the IC tag is located outside the communicable zone of the antenna of the direction determining device; and

wherein the presence or absence of the communication intensity, during the communication, of the work at the time of assuming the normal posture and of assuming the reverse posture is determined by the determination circuit to thereby determine a direction of the work.

3. The work direction determining method according to claim 1,

wherein the direction determining device is configured by attaching the determination circuit to a tag reader;

and

wherein communication is performed between an antenna of the tag reader and the antenna coil of the IC tag, and the magnitude of communication intensity during the communication is determined by the determination circuit to thereby determine a direction of the work.

4. The work direction determining method according to claim 1,

wherein a group of the works, assuming a uniform posture, disposed adjacently to each other at predetermined intervals is transferred in one direction toward the direction determining device installed at a predetermined position;

and

wherein each time the work reaches the predetermined communication position, communication is performed between the direction determining device and the IC tag provided on the work to continuously perform direction determination on the works.

5. A work direction determining device that aims to determine a work having a passive tag type IC tag secured at a predetermined position on a front surface thereof, the device determining a direction of the work,

wherein the IC tag includes a substrate, an IC module and an antenna coil, the IC module and the antenna coil being disposed on the substrate adjacently to each other;

wherein the direction determining device includes an antenna adapted to communicate with the IC tag via the antenna coil, and a determination circuit determining the magnitude of communication intensity during the communication; and

wherein in a state where the work and the direction determining device are located at respective predetermined communication positions, communication is performed between the antenna of the direction determining device and the antenna coil of the IC tag, and the magnitude of the communication intensity during the communication is determined by the determination circuit to thereby determine a direction of the work.

6. The work direction determining device according to claim 5,

wherein in a state where the work kept to assume a normal posture and the direction determining device are located at the respective predetermined communication positions, the antenna is disposed in such a manner that a communicable zone of the antenna of the direction determining device partially overlaps only an installation area of the antenna coil installed on the IC tag.

7. The work direction determining device according to claim 5,

wherein the direction determining device is comprised of a tag reader equipped with the determination circuit determining the magnitude of communication intensity.

8. The work direction determining device according to claim 5,

wherein a demagnetizing body made of a magnetic material and reducing a leakage magnetic flux of the antenna is disposed adjacently to the antenna of the direction determining device.

9. A work provided with a direction determining function, communicating with a direction determining device at a predetermined communication position and determined by the direction determining device as to whether to assume a normal posture or a reverse posture,

wherein the direction determining device includes an antenna communicating with an IC tag, and a determination circuit determining the magnitude of communication intensity during the communication;

wherein the IC tag capable of communicating with the direction determining device is secured to the front surface of the work at a predetermined position;

wherein the IC tag is configured as a passive tag type including a substrate, an IC module and an antenna coil, the IC module and the antenna coil being disposed on the substrate adjacently to each other; and

wherein the antenna coil is disposed on the substrate in an offset manner so that a communication distance between the antenna coil and a communicable zone of the antenna of the direction determining device is different in magnitude on the basis of a difference in the posture of the work at the predetermined communication position.

10. The work provided with the direction determining function, according to claim 9,

wherein the antenna coil is disposed on one side of the substrate in an offset manner so that the whole of the antenna coil installed on the IC tag is located inside the communicable zone of the antenna of the direction determining device only when the work located at the predetermined communication position assumes a normal posture.

11. The work provided with the direction determining function, according to claim 9,

wherein an arrangement pattern of the antenna coil installed on the IC tag is formed in a non-rectangle;

and

wherein the antenna coil is disposed on the substrate so that an overlapping area between the communicable zone of the antenna of the direction determining device and the antenna coil may be different in magnitude between when the work located at the predetermined communication position assumes a normal posture and when assumes a reverse posture.

12. The work provided with the direction determining function, according to claim 9,

wherein a demagnetizing body made of a magnetic material and reducing a leakage magnetic flux of the antenna is disposed adjacently to the antenna coil of the IC tag.

13. The work provided with the direction determining function, according to claim 9,

wherein the work is shaped in a rectangular parallelepiped and is provided with two compartments;

wherein respective mouths for the compartments are opened in an upper surface of the work at anteroposteriorly symmetrical positions and the IC tag is disposed between both the mouths; and

wherein the antenna coil is disposed in an offset manner on one of front and rear sides of the substrate constituting the IC tag, and the IC module is disposed on the other side.