Patent Publication Number: US-2023132833-A1

Title: Reading system and reading method

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to a reading system and a reading method for reading information stored in a tag. 
     BACKGROUND ART 
     A reader is known that reads information stored in a wireless IC tag attached to a load through non-contact communication, and determines whether or not the load is correctly carried into a load chamber of a vehicle on the basis of the read information (for example, see Patent Document 1). 
     PRIOR ART 
     Patent Document 
     Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-320126 
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     Problems to be Solved by the Invention 
     A reader disclosed in Patent Document 1 sometimes failed to read the information stored in a tag if the tag attached to a load was not properly oriented. 
     The present disclosure focuses on this point, and an object thereof is to provide a reading system or a reading method capable of improving the accuracy of reading information stored in a tag. 
     Means for Solving the Problems 
     A reading system according to a first aspect of the present disclosure includes a controller that is mounted on a vehicle, and a reader that reads a tag of a load placed in a load chamber of the vehicle, wherein the reader includes a first determination part that determines whether a door of the load chamber is closed, and a tag information acquisition part that acquires identification information stored in the tag through non-contact communication if the first determination part determines that the door of the load chamber is closed, wherein the controller includes a second determination part that determines whether the door of the load chamber is closed, and a displacement control part that displaces the load chamber in accordance with a timing when the tag information acquisition part acquires the identification information if the second determination part determines that the door of the load chamber is closed. 
     The displacement control part may displace the load chamber by tilting the load chamber. The displacement control part may displace the load chamber by vibrating the load chamber. The displacement control part may displace the load chamber by driving an air suspension of the vehicle. The displacement control part may displace the load chamber by driving an engine of the vehicle. 
     The controller further may include an acquisition part that acquires, from a wireless terminal, instruction information indicating that all the identification information contained in list information indicating a list of identification information of tags attached to a plurality of loads to be loaded in the load chamber has not been acquired, wherein the displacement control part may displace the load chamber if the acquisition part acquires the instruction information. 
     A reading system according to a second aspect of the present disclosure includes a controller that is mounted on a vehicle, and a reader that reads a tag of a load placed in a load chamber of the vehicle, wherein the controller includes a second determination part that determines that a door of the load chamber is closed, and a displacement control part that displaces the load chamber if the second determination part determines that the door of the load chamber is closed, wherein the reader includes a first determination part that determines whether the door of the load chamber is closed, and a tag information acquisition part that acquires identification information stored in the tag through non-contact communication in accordance with a timing when the displacement control part displaces the load chamber if the first determination part determines that the door of the load chamber is closed. 
     A reading method according to a third aspect of the present disclosure is a reading method executed by a reader for reading a tag of a load placed in a load chamber of a vehicle, the method includes the steps of determining whether a door of the load chamber is closed, and acquiring identification information stored in the tag through non-contact communication if the door of the load chamber is determined to be closed, wherein the method executed by a controller mounted on the vehicle comprising the steps of determining whether the door of the load chamber is closed, and displacing the load chamber in accordance with the timing of acquiring the identification information if the door of the load chamber is determined to be closed. 
     Effect of the Invention 
     According to the present disclosure, it is possible to improve the accuracy of reading information stored in a tag. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    shows an overview of a reading system according to a first embodiment. 
         FIG.  2    shows an internal configuration of the reading system. 
         FIG.  3    shows a configuration of a wireless terminal. 
         FIG.  4    is a flowchart showing processing for reading a tag by the reading system. 
         FIG.  5    shows a configuration of a controller according to a second embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
     First Embodiment 
     [Overview of Reading System] 
       FIG.  1    shows an overview of a reading system S according to a first embodiment. The reading system S includes a door  1 , an open/closed sensor  2 , an air suspension  3 , a communication element  4 , a reader  5 , and a controller  6 . A vehicle  100  on which the reading system S is mounted is a truck having a load chamber for loading a load, for example. The walls and ceiling of the load chamber are made of metal plates. 
     The door  1  is used to carry the load into the load chamber of the vehicle  100 . In  FIG.  1   , the door  1  is shown by a dashed line. The open/closed sensor  2  detects whether or not the door  1  is closed. The air suspension  3  is an air spring that can adjust the height of the load chamber by adjusting an amount of air supplied from a compressor (not shown in figures). A plurality of air suspensions  3  are arranged at a rear of the vehicle  100 . 
     The communication element  4  is installed in the load chamber of the vehicle  100 . For example, the communication element  4  is installed on the side wall of the load chamber. The communication element  4  is a coiled antenna, for example. The communication element  4  reads a tag attached to a load in the load chamber. The tag is a Radio Frequency IDentifier (RFID) tag without a battery, for example. The tag stores identification information for identifying the tag. The identification information is Tag ID (TID) or Electronic Product Code (EPC), for example. The communication element  4  supplies power for wireless communication to the tag using a contactless power supply method such as a radio wave method, and receives the identification information transmitted by the tag. 
     A plurality of communication elements  4  are disposed in the load chamber. By slightly shifting the timing of emitting radio waves, the communication element  4  can read tags almost simultaneously while suppressing interference of the radio waves among the plurality of communication elements  4 . Further, the communication elements  4  can read a plurality of tags almost simultaneously by slightly shifting the timing of communication with each of the plurality of tags. 
     The reader  5  is an RFID reader, for example. The reader  5  reads the tag of the load placed in the load chamber of the vehicle  100 , via the communication element  4 . The reader  5  is connected to the open/closed sensor  2 . The reader  5  determines whether or not the door of the load chamber is closed on the basis of a detection result of the open/closed sensor  2 . The reader  5  reads the identification information stored in the tag through non-contact communication if the door of the load chamber is determined to be closed. 
     The reader  5  is connected to an antenna element (not shown in figures) that is installed outside the load chamber. The reader  5  communicates with a wireless terminal  200  via that antenna element. For example, the reader  5  transmits the read identification information of the tag to the wireless terminal  200 . 
     The wireless terminal  200  is a smartphone, for example. The wireless terminal  200  communicates with the reader  5 . The wireless terminal  200  receives the identification information of the tag read by the reader  5 , from the reader  5 . The wireless terminal  200  lists the received identification information on a display part. 
     The controller  6  is an Electronic Control part (ECU), for example. The controller  6  is mounted on the vehicle  100 . Similar to the reader  5 , the controller  6  is connected to the open/closed sensor  2 . The controller  6  determines whether or not the door of the load chamber is closed on the basis of the detection result of the open/closed sensor  2 . If the controller  6  determines that the door of the load chamber is closed, the controller  6  displaces the load chamber of the vehicle  100  in accordance with the timing of reading the tag by the reader  5 . For example, the controller  6  displaces the load chamber of the vehicle  100  by driving the air suspension  3  or the like. 
     At this time, the relationship between a direction of the radio waves emitted by the communication element  4  and an orientation of a coil built in the tag changes during tag reading, causing the coil to temporarily assume the orientation suitable for receiving the radio waves. In this way, the controller  6  can improve the accuracy of reading the tag by the reader  5 . 
     Since the reader  5  acquires the identification information when the door  1  of the load chamber is closed, the radio waves emitted by the communication element  4  can be restricted from leaking outside the load chamber. Therefore, the reader  5  can be restricted from acquiring the identification information of the tag attached to the load outside the load chamber. 
     [Configuration of Reading System] 
       FIG.  2    shows an internal configuration of the reading system S. The reading system S includes the open/closed sensor  2 , the air suspension  3 , the communication element  4 , the reader  5 , and the controller  6 . The reader  5  includes a communication part  51 , a storage  52 , and a control part  53 . The controller  6  includes a storage  61  and a control part  62 . 
     [Configuration of Reader] 
     The communication part  51  is a communication module for communicating with the wireless terminal  200  via the antenna element. The storage  52  includes, for example, a Read Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), and the like. The storage  52  stores various programs and various types of data for causing the control part  53  to function. The control part  53  is a Central Processing Unit (CPU), for example. The control part  53  functions as a first determination part  531 , a tag information acquisition part  532 , and a communication control part  533  by executing the program stored in the storage  52 . 
     The first determination part  531  determines whether or not the door  1  of the load chamber is closed on the basis of the detection result of the open/closed sensor  2 . If the first determination part  531  determines that the door  1  of the load chamber is closed, the tag information acquisition part  532  operates the communication element  4  in a predetermined reading period to acquire the identification information stored in the tag via the communication element  4  through the non-contact communication. The tag information acquisition part  532  does not acquire the identification information stored in the tag if the first determination part  531  determines that the door  1  of the load chamber is not closed. The communication control part  533  communicates with the wireless terminal  200  via the communication part  51 . The communication control part  533  transmits the identification information acquired by the tag information acquisition part  532  to the wireless terminal  200 . At this time, the communication control part  533  transmits reading start information indicating that the reading is started at the start of the reading period, and sequentially transmits the plurality of pieces of identification information acquired by the tag information acquisition part  532  within the reading period. 
     [Configuration of Controller] 
     The storage  61  includes a ROM and a RAM, for example. The storage  61  stores various programs and various types of data for causing the control part  62  to function. The control part  62  functions as a second determination part  621  and a displacement control part  622  by executing the program stored in the storage  61 . 
     The second determination part  621  determines whether or not the door  1  of the load chamber is closed on the basis of the detection result of the open/closed sensor  2 . If the second determination part  621  determines that the door  1  of the load chamber is closed, the displacement control part  622  displaces the load chamber in accordance with the timing of reading the tag by the communication element  4 . For example, the displacement control part  622  displaces the load chamber by driving the air suspension  3  of the vehicle  100 . More specifically, the displacement control part  622  vibrates the load chamber by increasing or decreasing an amount of air supplied to the air suspension  3 . The load chamber may be vibrated by driving a starter or engine (both not shown in figures) of the vehicle  100 . 
     Further, the displacement control part  622  is not limited to an example in which the load chamber is displaced by vibrating the load chamber. The displacement control part  622  may displace the load chamber by tilting the load chamber. The displacement control part  622  does not displace the load chamber if the second determination part  621  determines that the door  1  of the load chamber is not closed. 
     [Configuration of Wireless Terminal] 
       FIG.  3    shows a configuration of the wireless terminal  200 . The wireless terminal  200  includes a communication part  21 , a display part  22 , a storage  23 , and a control part  24 . 
     The communication part  21  is a communication module for communicating with the reader  5  via wireless communication. The display part  22  is a display for displaying various kinds of information. The storage  23  includes a ROM and a RAM, for example. The storage  23  stores various programs and various types of data for causing the control part  24  to function. 
     The control part  24  is a CPU, for example. The control part  24  executes various kinds of processing by executing the program stored in the storage  23 . The control part  24  communicates with the reader  5  via the communication part  21 . The control part  24  receives the identification information of the plurality of tags read by the reader  5  within the reading period, from the reader  5 . The control part  24  lists the received identification information of the tags on the display part  22 . 
     [Processing for Tag Reading] 
       FIG.  4    is a flowchart showing processing for reading the tag by the reading system S. This processing is started when power is turned on to the reader  5 , for example. First, the second determination part  621  determines whether or not the door  1  of the load chamber is closed on the basis of the detection result of the open/closed sensor  2  (step S 101 ). If the second determination part  621  determines that the door  1  of the load chamber is closed (YES in step S 101 ), the displacement control part  622  displaces the load chamber (step S 102 ). The tag information acquisition part  532  acquires the identification information stored in the tag through the non-contact communication (step S 103 ), and ends the processing. If the second determination part  621  determines that the door  1  of the load chamber is not closed in the determination of step S 101  (NO in step S 101 ), the displacement control part  622  repeats the determination in step S 101 . 
     [Effect of Reading System of First Embodiment] 
     According to the first embodiment, the displacement control part  622  displaces the tag of the load relative to the communication element  4  in accordance with the timing of reading the tag by the tag information acquisition part  532 . Therefore, the displacement control part  622  can improve the accuracy of the tag reading by the tag information acquisition part  532 . Further, since the tag information acquisition part  532  does not acquire the identification information if the first determination part  531  determines that the door  1  of the load chamber is not closed, the radio waves emitted by the communication element  4  can be restricted from leaking outside the load chamber. 
     Second Embodiment 
     The second embodiment describes an example in which the displacement control part displaces the load chamber if the tag information acquisition part  532  does not acquire the identification information of the tag as scheduled. The control part  24  of the wireless terminal  200  communicates with an external device, the reader  5 , and the controller  6  via the communication part  21 . The external device is a server possessed by an administrator who manages an operation of the vehicle  100 , for example. 
     The control part  24  acquires list information indicating a list of the identification information of the tags attached to a plurality of loads to be loaded in the load chamber of the vehicle  100 , from the external device. For example, the control part  24  acquires the list information from the external device when an application for displaying the identification information of the tag is started. 
     The control part  24  acquires the identification information of the tag acquired by the tag information acquisition part  532 , from the reader  5 . The control part  24  sequentially receives the identification information of the plurality of tags from the reader  5  until the end of the reading period, which starts when a reading start signal is received from the reader  5 . 
     The control part  24  determines whether or not the tag information acquisition part  532  has acquired all the identification information of the tags contained in the list information acquired from the external device. If the control part  24  determines that the tag information acquisition part  532  has not finished acquiring all the identification information of the tags contained in the list information, the control part  24  sends instruction information to the reader  5  and the controller  6  indicating that the tag information acquisition part  532  has not finished acquiring all identification information contained in the list information. The control part  24  lists on the display part  22  whether or not the tag information acquisition part  532  has acquired the identification information contained in the list information. The control part  24  lists on the display part  22  which of the plurality of pieces of identification information contained in the list information has been acquired by the tag information acquisition part  532 , for example. 
     The tag information acquisition part  532  of the reader  5  acquires the instruction information from the wireless terminal  200 . When the tag information acquisition part  532  acquires the instruction information, the tag information acquisition part  532  acquires the identification information of the tag again in a second reading period. The communication control part  533  of the reader  5  transmits the reading start information indicating that the reading is started at the start of the second reading period, to the wireless terminal  200 . The communication control part  533  sequentially transmits the plurality of pieces of identification information acquired by the tag information acquisition part  532  during the second reading period, to the wireless terminal  200 . The control part  24  of the wireless terminal  200  lists on the display part  22  whether or not the tag information acquisition part  532  has acquired the identification information contained in the list information, as described above. The control part  24  adds the identification information of the tag received during the second reading period among the identification information of the tag not received during a first reading period, to the identification information acquired by the tag information acquisition part  532  in the list display. 
       FIG.  5    shows a configuration of the controller  6  according to the second embodiment. The controller  6  includes a communication part  701 , the storage  61  and the control part  62 . The control part  62  functions as the second determination part  621 , an acquisition part  702 , and a displacement control part  703 . Functional blocks similar to those of the controller  6  in  FIG.  2    are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted. 
     The communication part  701  is a communication module for communicating with the wireless terminal  200 . The acquisition part  702  communicates with the wireless terminal  200  via the communication part  701 . The acquisition part  702  acquires, from the wireless terminal  200 , the instruction information indicating that the tag information acquisition part  532  has not acquired all the identification information of the tag contained in the list information within the first reading period. The acquisition part  702  outputs the acquired instruction information to the displacement control part  703 . 
     When the acquisition part  702  acquires the instruction information, the displacement control part  703  displaces the load chamber in accordance with the timing when the tag information acquisition part  532  acquires the identification information again. On the other hand, when the acquisition part  702  does not acquire the instruction information, the displacement control part  703  does not displace the load chamber. 
     [Effect of Reading System of Second Embodiment] 
     According to the second embodiment, when the tag information acquisition part  532  does not acquire all the identification information of the tags contained in the list information, the tag information acquisition part  532  acquires the identification information of the tags again over the second reading period. The displacement control part  703  displaces the load chamber during another reading, thus improving the accuracy of the tag reading. 
     In the first and second embodiments, an example has been described in which the tag information acquisition part  532  acquires the identification information of the tag immediately after the first determination part  531  determines that the door  1  of the load chamber is closed, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, the tag information acquisition part  532  may acquire the identification information of the tag if the first determination part  531  determines that the door  1  of the load chamber is closed and the communication control part  533  receives operation information instructing to read the tag, from the wireless terminal  200 . In this case, the displacement control part  622  may displace the load chamber in accordance with the timing when the tag information acquisition part  532  acquires the identification information. 
     [Variation] 
     According to the first embodiment, the displacement control part  622  is described as an example in which the tag of the load is relatively displaced with respect to the communication element  4  in accordance with the timing of reading the tag by the tag information acquisition part  532 . However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, the displacement control part  622  displaces the load chamber if the second determination part  621  determines that the door of the load chamber is closed. The tag information acquisition part  532  may be configured to read the identification information stored in the tag through the non-contact communication in accordance with the timing when the displacement control part  622  relatively displaces the tag of the load with respect to the communication element  4  if the first determination part  531  detects that the door  1  of the load chamber is closed. In this way, the tag information acquisition part  532  can improve the accuracy of the tag reading. 
     The present disclosure is explained on the basis of the exemplary embodiments. The technical scope of the present disclosure is not limited to the scope explained in the above embodiments and it is possible to make various changes and modifications within the scope of the disclosure. For example, all or part the apparatus can be configured with any unit which is functionally or physically dispersed or integrated. Further, new exemplary embodiments generated by arbitrary combinations of them are included in the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Further, effects of the new exemplary embodiments brought by the combinations also have the effects of the original exemplary embodiments. 
     DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 
     
         
           1  door 
           2  open/closed sensor 
           3  air suspension 
           4  communication element 
           5  reader 
           6  controller 
           21  communication part 
           22  display part 
           23  storage 
           24  control part 
           51  communication part 
           52  storage 
           53  control part 
           61  storage 
           62  control part 
           100  vehicle 
           200  wireless terminal 
           531  first determination part 
           532  tag information acquisition part 
           533  communication control part 
           621  second determination part 
           622  displacement control part 
           701  communication part 
           702  acquisition part 
           703  displacement control part