Information storage device, scanner and information storage and reproducing apparatus

• US 6,176,422 B1
• Filed: 01/03/2000
• Issued: 01/23/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 12/16/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Yokohama Rubber Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Yokohama Rubber Company Limited
• Inventors: Hattori, Yutaka
• Primary Examiner(s): Pitts, Harold I.
• Application Number:
  US09/476,889
• Time in Patent Office: 386 Days
• Field of Search: 235/375, 235/472.01
• US Class Current: 235/375
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0723 the record carrier comprising an arrangement for non-contact communication, e.g. wireless communication circuits on transponder cards, non-contact smart cards or RFIDs
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0728 the arrangement being an optical or sound-based communication interface
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07758 arrangements for adhering the record carrier to further objects or living beings, functioning as an identification tag
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/0008 General problems related to the reading of electronic memory record carriers, independent of its reading method, e.g. power transfer

Abstract

An information storage device and an information storage and reproducing apparatus for facilitating the management of information about products and users. A storage device 1 receives an electromagnetic wave through its receiving antenna 11, and produces a DC current, which powers the constituting elements in the storage device 1. A central processor unit 13 thus powered reads the information in a memory 14 and feeds it via a transmitting module 15 to a transmitting antenna 16, which in turns transmits the information on an electromagnetic wave. A scanner 2 transmits the electromagnetic wave through its transmitting module 26 and transmitting antenna 27 to energize the storage device 1, while receiving, through its receiving antenna 21 and receiving module 22, the electromagnetic wave transmitted by the storage device 1. A central processor unit 23 processes the received signal, namely the information stored in the storage device 1, and displays it on a display unit 25.

Claims

1. An information storage device for reading information in a wireless manner comprising:

an ultrasonic receiver for receiving an ultrasonic wave at a first frequency,

an ultrasonic transmitter for transmitting an ultrasonic wave at a second frequency in response to input information,

a rectifier circuit for generating a predetermined DC current based on the current induced in response to the first frequency ultrasonic wave input to the ultrasonic receiver,

a semiconductor memory operating from the DC current output from the rectifier circuit,

a central processor unit operating from the DC current output from the rectifier circuit, for reading information stored in the semiconductor memory, and

a transmitting module operating from the DC current output from the rectifier circuit, for feeding the information read by the central processor unit to the ultrasonic transmitter.

2. An information storage device according to claim 1 further comprising a detector circuit connected to the ultrasonic receiver, for detecting the current induced in response to the first frequency ultrasonic wave input to the ultrasonic receiver, whereby said central processor unit reads the information stored in the semiconductor memory according to a predetermined read command contained in the signal coming in from the detector circuit.

3. An information storage device according to claim 1 further comprising a detector circuit connected to the ultrasonic receiver, for detecting the current induced in response to the first frequency ultrasonic wave input to the ultrasonic receiver, whereby said central processor unit reads the information stored in the semiconductor memory according to a predetermined read command contained in the signal coming in from the detector circuit while writing, according to a predetermined write command contained in said signal, information coming in succession to the write command onto a predetermined address in the semiconductor memory.

4. An information storage device according to one of claims 1 through 3, wherein each of the constituting elements in said storage device is packaged in a ceramic mold.

11. The information storage device of claim 1, wherein said ultrasonic receiver is separate from said ultrasonic transmitter.

5. A scanner for reading information from an information storage device in a wireless manner comprising:

an ultrasonic transmitter for transmitting an ultrasonic wave at a first frequency,

an ultrasonic receiver for receiving an ultrasonic wave at a second frequency,

a signal extracting module for extracting a signal component from the current induced in response to the second frequency ultrasonic wave received by the ultrasonic receiver, and

an information extracting module for extracting information from the signal provided by the signal extracting module, whereby the ultrasonic wave signal at the first frequency is transmitted while the information is read from the information storage device using the ultrasonic wave signal at the second frequency.

12. The scanner of claim 5, wherein said ultrasonic transmitter is separate from said ultrasonic receiver.

6. A scanner for reading information from an information storage device in a wireless manner comprising:

an ultrasonic transmitter for transmitting an information read command on an ultrasonic wave at a first frequency,

an ultrasonic receiver for receiving an ultrasonic wave at a second frequency,

a signal extracting module for extracting a signal component from the current induced in response to the second frequency ultrasonic wave received by the ultrasonic receiver, and

an information extracting module for extracting information from the signal provided by the signal extracting module, whereby the ultrasonic wave signal at the first frequency is transmitted while the information is read from the information storage device using the ultrasonic wave signal at the second frequency.

13. The scanner of claim 6, wherein said ultrasonic transmitter is separate from said ultrasonic receiver.

7. A scanner for reading information from and writing information to an information storage device in a wireless manner comprising:

an ultrasonic transmitter for transmitting an information read command or an information write command and information on an ultrasonic wave at a first frequency,

an ultrasonic receiver for receiving an ultrasonic wave at a second frequency,

a signal extracting module for extracting a signal component from the current induced in response to the second frequency ultrasonic wave received by the ultrasonic receiver, and

an information extracting module for extracting information from-the signal provided by the signal extracting module, whereby the ultrasonic wave signal at the first frequency is transmitted to write to the storage device while the information is read from the information storage device using the ultrasonic wave signal at the second frequency.

14. The scanner of claim 7, wherein said ultrasonic transmitter is separate from said ultrasonic receiver.

8. An information storage and reproducing apparatus for reading information from a storage device in a wireless manner comprising:

said storage device comprising;

an ultrasonic receiver for receiving an ultrasonic wave at a first frequency, an ultrasonic transmitter for transmitting an ultrasonic wave at a second frequency in response to input information, a rectifier circuit for generating a predetermined DC current based on the current induced in response to the first frequency ultrasonic wave input to the ultrasonic receiver, a semiconductor memory operating from the DC current output from the rectifier circuit, a central processor unit operating from the DC current output from the rectifier circuit, for reading information stored in the semiconductor memory, and a high-frequency transmitting module operating from the DC current output from the rectifier circuit, for feeding the information read by the central processor unit to the ultrasonic transmitter; and

a scanner comprising;

an ultrasonic transmitter for transmitting the ultrasonic wave at the first frequency, an ultrasonic receiver for receiving the ultrasonic wave at the second frequency, a signal extracting module for extracting a signal component from the second frequency ultrasonic wave received by the ultrasonic receiver, and an information extracting module for extracting information from the signal provided by the signal extracting module.

9. An information storage and reproducing apparatus for reading information from a storage device in a wireless manner comprising:

said storage device comprising;

an ultrasonic receiver for receiving an ultrasonic wave at a first frequency, a detector circuit for detecting the current induced in response to the ultrasonic wave at the first frequency input to the ultrasonic receiver, an ultrasonic transmitter for transmitting an ultrasonic wave at a second frequency in response to input information, a rectifier circuit for generating a predetermined DC current based on the current induced in response to the first frequency ultrasonic wave input to the ultrasonic receiver, a semiconductor memory operating from the DC current output from the rectifier circuit, a central processor unit operating from the DC current output from the rectifier circuit, for reading the information stored in the semiconductor memory according to a predetermined read command contained in the signal coming in from the detector circuit, and a high-frequency transmitting module operating from the DC current output from the rectifier circuit, for feeding the information read by the central processor unit to the ultrasonic transmitter; and

a scanner comprising;

an ultrasonic transmitter for transmitting said read command on the ultrasonic wave at the first frequency, an ultrasonic receiver for receiving the ultrasonic wave at the second frequency, a signal extracting module for extracting a signal component from the current induced in response to the second frequency ultrasonic wave received by the ultrasonic receiver, and an information extracting module for extracting information from the signal provided by the signal extracting module.

10. An information storage and reproducing apparatus for reading information from and writing information to a storage device in a wireless manner comprising:

said storage device comprising;

an ultrasonic receiver for receiving an ultrasonic wave at a first frequency, a detector circuit for detecting the current induced in response to the ultrasonic wave at the first frequency input to the ultrasonic receiver, an ultrasonic transmitter for transmitting an ultrasonic wave at a second frequency in response to input information, a rectifier circuit for generating a predetermined DC current based on the current induced in response to the first frequency ultrasonic wave input to the ultrasonic receiver, a semiconductor memory operating from the DC current output from the rectifier circuit, a central processor unit operating from the DC current output from the rectifier circuit, for reading the information stored in the semiconductor memory according to a predetermined read command contained in the signal coming in from the detector circuit, and for writing, according to a predetermined write command contained in said signal, information coming in succession to the write command onto a predetermined address in the semiconductor memory, and a high-frequency transmitting module operating from the DC current output from the rectifier circuit, for feeding the information read by the central processor unit to the ultrasonic transmitter; and

a scanner comprising;

an ultrasonic transmitter for transmitting said read command or said write command and information on the ultrasonic wave at the first frequency, an ultrasonic receiver for receiving the ultrasonic wave at the second frequency, a signal extracting module for extracting a signal component from the current induced in response to the second frequency ultrasonic wave received by the ultrasonic receiver, and an information extracting module for extracting information from the signal provided by the signal extracting module.