Article management system and article management apparatus

• US 7,136,721 B2
• Filed: 03/23/2005
• Issued: 11/14/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/02/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Toshiba Tec Corporation (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toshiba Tec Corporation (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Matsumoto, Yasuo, Sano, Kouichi, Kiji, Yasuhito, Murofushi, Nobuo
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Khoi H.
• Application Number:
  US11/086,663
• Publication Number:
  US 20050222707A1
• Time in Patent Office: 601 Days
• Field of Search: 700/213, 700/215, 700/225, 340/5.92, 340/10.51, 340/10.52, 340/572.1, 340/825.72, 340/825.69
• US Class Current: 700/215
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/0054 with control of supplementary check-parameters, e.g. weight or number of articles
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 3/006 False operation

Abstract

There is provided an article management system having a plurality of article management apparatus that are arranged at the respective process stage position in a production line and read information by RF tag readers from an article RF tag affixed to each of articles contained in a case and a case RF tag attached to each of the cases. A server connected to the respective article management apparatus for managing ID information on the articles, quantity of the articles, current process stage positions for each of the cases and other items. With this system, production management for the articles contained in the cases can be performed in a short time without being interrupted, even if some of the tags have become damaged and reading from the tags is impaired.

Claims

1. An article management system, comprising:

an article to which an article RF tag storing information pertaining to the article to be manufactured and a label recording information of the article are attached;

a case containing a plurality of the articles,

a case RF tag attached to the case for storing at least ID information of the case;

a plurality of article management apparatus each disposed at a respective process stage position in a production line for reading information through an RF tag reader from the article RF tags attached to the articles within the case and the case RF tag attached to the case; and

a server that is connected to the respective article management apparatus for managing ID information of the articles, a quantity of the articles, and a current process stage position that are stored in a database corresponding to each of the cases;

wherein said article management apparatus, comprising;

a display;

a transmitting means for transmitting information read by the RF tag reader to said server,

a display control means, when said article management apparatus receives from said server a notice on any of the articles whose tag has not been read from, for causing a reading-impairment instruction selection screen to be displayed on the display urging an operator to determine whether or not to inform to the sever of impairment of reading from said any of the article RF tags; and

a reading-impairment notifying means, when the operator selects the reading-impairment instruction on the tag-impairment instruction selection screen, for notifying said server of the “

impairment of reading”

from said any of the article RF tags; and

wherein said server, comprising;

a collating means, when the server receives the information from said article managing apparatus that the RF tag reader has read, for collating information received from said article managing apparatus with information read from the database in respect to ID information of the articles, quantity, and process stage position corresponding to each of the cases;

a transmitting means, when any of the articles whose RF tag is found not to have been read from as a result of the collation, for informing of said any of the articles as one whose tag has not been read from to said article management apparatus from which said server has received the relative information;

a setting means, when said server receives the notification from said article management apparatus on the impairment of reading from said any of the articles, for setting for the “

reading-impairment”

by said RF tag reader/writer relating to an ID information of said any of the articles within the corresponding case.

2. An article management apparatus, comprising:

an RF tag reader for reading information through an RF tag reader from article RF tags attached to articles within a case and a case RF tag attached to the case;

a display;

a transmitting means for transmitting information read by the RF tag reader to a server;

a display control means, when said article management apparatus receives from the server a notice on any of the articles whose tag has not been read from, for causing a reading-impairment instruction selection screen to be displayed on said display urging an operator to determine whether or not to inform to the sever of impairment of reading relating to said any of the articles on which said article management apparatus receives from the server; and

a reading-impairment notifying means, when the operator selects the reading-impairment instruction on the tag-impairment instruction selection screen, for notifying said server of the impairment of reading from said any of the articles.

3. An article management system, comprising:

an article to which an article RF tag storing information pertaining to the article to be manufactured and a label recording information of the article are attached;

a case containing a plurality of the articles,

a case RF tag attached to the case for storing ID information of the case and managing ID information of the articles within the case, a quantity of the articles, and a current process stage position; and

a plurality of article management apparatus each disposed at a respective process stage position in a production line for reading information through an RF tag reader/writer from the article RF tags attached to the articles within the case and the case RF tag attached to the case;

wherein said article management apparatus, comprising;

a display;

a collating means for collating the information of the articles contained in the case with information including article ID information, quantity, and process stage position that are managed by the case RF tag, based on the information that has been read by the RF tag reader/writer;

a display control means, when said article management apparatus finds any of the articles whose tag has not been read from, for causing a reading-impairment instruction selection screen to be displayed on the display over which an operator selects a reading-impairment instruction relating to said any of the articles; and

a setting means, when the reading-impairment instruction has been selected over the reading-impairment instruction selection screen by an operator, for setting for the reading impairment by the RF tag reader/writer relating to an ID information of said any of the articles retained in the case RF tag.

4. An article management apparatus, comprising:

an RF tag reader/writing for reading information through an RF tag reader from article RF tags attached to articles within a case and a case RF tag attached to the case;

a display;

a collating means for collating information of the articles contained in a case with information including article ID information, quantity, and process stage position that are managed by the case RF tag, based on the information that has been read by the RF tag reader/writer;

a display control means that causes a reading-impairment instruction selection screen to be displayed on the display urging an-operator to determine whether or not to inform to the sever of impairment of reading from any of the articles RF tags, when said article management apparatus receives from said server a notice on any of the articles whose tag has not been read from; and

a setting means for setting to the reading impairment by the RF tag reader/writer relating to an ID information of the relative article retained in the case RF tag, when reading impairment has been selected on the reading-impairment instruction selection screen by an operator.