Patent ID: 12254375

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

First Embodiment

[Outline of a Reading Controller]

FIG.1shows an outline of a reading controller1according to a first embodiment. A vehicle100on which the reading controller1is mounted is shown. The vehicle100is 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 vehicle100includes a door2, an open/closed sensor3, a communication element4, a communication unit5, and the reading controller1. The door2is used to carry the load into the load chamber of the vehicle100. The open/closed sensor3detects an open state in which the door2is open and a closed state in which the door2is closed.

The communication element4is installed in the load chamber of the vehicle100. For example, the communication element4is installed on the side wall of the load chamber. The communication element4is a communication unit including a coiled antenna, a modulation circuit, and a demodulation circuit, for example. The communication element4receives radio waves emitted by a tag attached to a load in the load chamber through the coiled antenna. The communication element4demodulates the received radio waves. The tag is a radio frequency identifier (RFID) tag without a battery, for example. The tag stores tag information including identification information for identifying the tag. The identification information is a tag ID (TID) or an electronic product code (EPC), for example. The communication element4supplies power for wireless communication to the tag using a contactless power supply method such as a radio wave method, and receives the tag information transmitted by the tag.

A plurality of communication elements4are disposed in the load chamber. By slightly shifting the timing of emitting radio waves, the communication elements4can read tags almost simultaneously while suppressing interference of the radio waves among the plurality of communication elements4. Further, the communication elements4can read a plurality of tags almost simultaneously by slightly shifting the timing of communication with each of the plurality of tags.

The communication unit5is a communication module for performing wireless communication with a management apparatus300via a mobile phone network. The communication unit5communicates with the management apparatus300by using a wireless communication method such as 4G, for example. The management apparatus300is a server that manages traveling data indicating a traveling state of the vehicle100, such as a traveling distance of the vehicle100, for example. The communication unit5wirelessly communicates with a wireless terminal200via the management apparatus300. The communication unit5is connected to the reading controller1with a signal cable. The wireless terminal200is a smartphone, for example. The wireless terminal200may be an in-vehicle controller capable of communicating with Bluetooth (registered trademark) or Wi-Fi (registered trademark). The wireless terminal200is an infotainment device such as a display audio, for example.

The reading controller1is an RFID reader. The reading controller1communicates with the wireless terminal200of a user via the communication unit5, for example. For example, the reading controller1receives, from the wireless terminal200, instruction information instructing the start of tag reading. Further, the reading controller1may directly communicate with the wireless terminal200of the user through wireless communication such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or the like.

The reading controller1acquires the tag information via the communication element4. The reading controller1determines an open/closed state of the door2on the basis of a detection result of the open/closed sensor3. When the reading controller1determines that the door2is in the closed state, the reading controller1controls the radio wave strength of radio waves emitted by the communication element4to be a first radio wave strength. When the reading controller1determines that the door2is in the open state, the reading controller1controls the radio wave strength to be a second radio wave strength lower than the first radio wave strength.

When the reading controller1determines that the door2is in the open state, the reading controller1can prevent or reduce leakage of the radio waves to the outside of the load chamber by reading the tag at the relatively low second radio wave strength. In this way, the reading controller1can prevent or reduce reading of a tag attached to a load outside the load chamber. In a case where the door2is in the open state, the tag moves relative to the communication element4when the load is carried into the load chamber. Therefore, the reading controller1can improve the reading accuracy by reading the tag when the tag passes through a position easily reached by the radio waves of the communication element4. On the other hand, the risk of leakage of the radio waves to the outside of the load chamber is small when the door2is in the closed state of. Therefore, the reading controller1can improve the accuracy of tag reading by relatively increasing the radio wave strength in the closed state.

[Vehicle Configuration]

FIG.2shows a configuration of the vehicle100. The vehicle100includes a reading controller1, an open/closed sensor3, a plurality of communication elements4, and a communication unit5. The reading controller1includes a communication part11, a storage12, and a control part13.

The communication part11is a communication module for communicating with the wireless terminal200through a wireless communication method such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or the like. The storage12includes a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), and the like, for example. The storage12stores various programs and various types of data for causing the control part13to function. The control part13is a central processing unit (CPU), for example. The control part13functions as an open/closed state determination part131, a communication control part132, a radio wave control part133, and a tag information acquisition part134by executing the programs stored in the storage12.

The open/closed state determination part131determines the open/closed state of the door2in the load chamber of the vehicle100on the basis of the detection result of the open/closed sensor3. The door2is installed at a rear of the load chamber, as shown inFIG.1, but is not limited thereto. For example, the door2may be installed on the side wall of the load chamber.FIG.3shows another example of the door2of the vehicle100. In the example ofFIG.3, the door2and the open/closed sensor3are installed on the side wall of the load chamber.

The communication control part132communicates with the management apparatus300via the communication unit5and the mobile phone network. The communication control part132communicates with the wireless terminal200of the user via the management apparatus300. Further, the communication control part132may directly communicate with the wireless terminal200of the user via the communication part11using the wireless communication method such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. The communication control part132receives, from the wireless terminal200, the instruction information instructing the start of tag reading, for example. The communication control part132outputs the received instruction information to the tag information acquisition part134. The communication control part132transmits information indicating the open/closed state of the door2determined by the open/closed state determination part131to the wireless terminal200. The communication control part132transmits, to the wireless terminal200, the tag information of the tag read by the communication elements4input from the tag information acquisition part134.

[Control of Radio Wave Strength]

The radio wave control part133controls the radio wave strength of the radio waves emitted by the communication elements4. When the open/closed state determination part131determines that the door2is in the closed state, the radio wave control part133controls the radio wave strength of the radio waves emitted by the communication elements4to be the first radio wave strength in order to read the tag. The first radio wave strength is the maximum value of the radio wave strength of the radio waves emitted by the communication elements4, for example. On the other hand, when the open/closed state determination part131determines that the door is in the open state, the radio wave control part133controls the strength of the radio waves emitted by the communication elements4to be the second radio wave strength, which is lower than the first radio wave strength. The second radio wave strength is the minimum value of the radio wave strength of the radio waves emitted by the communication elements4, for example.

Further, the radio wave control part133is not limited to the example in which the plurality of communication elements4are controlled to emit radio waves of the same radio wave strength. For example, when the open/closed state determination part131determines that the door2is in the open state, the radio wave control part133may make the strength of radio waves emitted by the communication elements4near the door2among the plurality of communication elements4installed in the load chamber lower than the strength of the radio waves emitted by communication elements4distant from the door2.

More specifically, when the open/closed state determination part131determines that the door2is in the open state, the radio wave control part133sets the radio wave strength of the radio waves emitted by the communication elements4near the door2to the second radio wave strength. At this time, the radio wave control part133sets the radio wave strength of radio waves emitted by the communication elements4which are farther from the door2than the communication elements4that emit the radio waves of the second radio wave strength to the first radio wave strength, which is greater than the second radio wave strength.

On the other hand, when the open/closed state determination part131determines that the door2is in the closed state, the radio wave control part133sets the radio wave strength of all the radio waves emitted by all the communication elements4in the load chamber to the relatively high first radio wave strength. In this way, since the radio wave control part133causes the radio wave strength of the radio waves emitted by the communication elements4closer to the door2to be lower than the first radio wave strength when the door2is in the open state, the radio wave control part133can prevent or reduce the leakage of the radio waves to the outside of the load chamber.

The tag information acquisition part134acquires the tag information stored in the tag attached to the load via the communication elements4. When the communication control part132receives the instruction information, the tag information acquisition part134starts acquisition of the tag information via the communication elements4. The tag information acquisition part134outputs the acquired tag information to the communication control part132.

[Configuration of a Wireless Terminal]

FIG.4shows a configuration of the wireless terminal200. The wireless terminal200includes a communication part21, an operation part22, a display part23, a storage24, and a control part25.

The communication part21is a wireless communication module for communicating with the reading controller1or the management apparatus300. For example, the communication part21communicates with the reading controller1through a wireless communication method such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or the like. The communication part21communicates with the management apparatus300via wireless communication lines such as 4G. The communication part21may communicate with the reading controller1via the management apparatus300.

The operation part22is a touch screen that detects a user's touch operation, for example. The display part23is a display for displaying an image. The touch screen includes the display part23and the operation part22. The storage24includes a ROM, a RAM, and the like, for example. The storage24stores various programs and various types of data for causing the control part25to function.

The control part25is a CPU, for example. The control part25executes various kinds of processing by executing the programs stored in the storage24. The control part25communicates with the management apparatus300via the communication part21. The control part25receives, from the management apparatus300, list information indicating a list of identification information of tags attached to a plurality of loads scheduled to be loaded in the load chamber of the vehicle100. For example, when the control part25accepts a user's operation instructing an update of the list information, the control part25receives the list information from the management apparatus300. The control part25causes the storage24to store the received list information.

The control part25determines whether the loads have been loaded in the load chamber as scheduled. The control part25receives the tag information read by the communication element4from the reading controller1. The control part25reads, from the storage24, the list information indicating the list of identification information of the tags attached to the plurality of loads scheduled to be loaded in the load chamber. By referencing the read list information, the control part25determines whether (i) the identification information of the tag included in the tag information received from the reading controller1and (ii) the identification information of the tags included in the list information match.

The control part25notifies the user of a determination result. More specifically, the control part25receives, from the reading controller1, information indicating the open/closed state determined by the open/closed state determination part131. When the received information indicating the open/closed state indicates that the door is in the open state, the control part25displays whether or not each piece of identification information of the plurality of tags included in the list indicated by the list information is included in the received tag information. In this way, the control part25can notify the user about identification information of the tag attached to a load that has not yet been carried into the load chamber, during carry-in work of the loads into the load chamber.

When it is determined that (i) the identification information of the tag included in the tag information acquired by the tag information acquisition part134and (ii) the identification information of the tags included in the list information do not match after tag reading is performed at the relatively high first radio wave strength, the control part25notifies the user that the loads have not been loaded as scheduled. For example, in addition to displaying whether or not each piece of identification information of the plurality of tags included in the list indicated by the list information is included in the received tag information, the control part25causes the display part23to display a message indicating that the loads have not been loaded as scheduled.

[Processing Procedure of Acquiring Tag Information]

FIG.5is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of reading the tag attached to the load with the reading controller1. This processing procedure starts when the communication control part132receives instruction information instructing the start of tag reading from a wireless terminal of a user, for example.

First, the open/closed state determination part131determines the open/closed state of the door2in the load chamber of the vehicle100on the basis of the detection result of the open/closed sensor3(S101). Next, the radio wave control part133determines whether the state determined by the open/closed state determination part131is the open state (S102). If the door2is in the closed state (NO in S102), the radio wave control part133causes the communication element4to transmit radio waves at the first radio wave strength (S103). On the other hand, if the door2is in the open state (YES in S102), the radio wave control part133causes the communication element4to transmit radio waves at the second radio wave strength, which is lower than the first radio wave strength (S104). After processing of S103or S104, the tag information acquisition part134acquires the tag information stored in the tag attached to the load, via the communication element4(S105), and ends the processing.

Effect of the Present Invention

According to the present embodiment, when the open/closed state determination part131determines that the door2is in the open state, the radio wave control part133controls the radio wave strength of the radio waves emitted by the communication element4to be the second radio wave strength, which is lower than the first radio wave strength, and therefore it is possible to prevent or reduce instances of the tag information acquisition part134acquiring the tag information of a tag attached to a load outside the load chamber. Therefore, the radio wave control part133can prevent the inability to distinguish between a load that has been carried into the load chamber and a load that has not been carried into the load chamber.

Second Embodiment

The case where the radio wave control part133controls the radio wave strength to be the second radio wave strength, which is lower than the first radio wave strength, when the open/closed state determination part131determines that the door is in the open state has been explained in the first embodiment. On the other hand, in a second embodiment, the reading controller1further includes the sensitivity control part301, and an example in which the sensitivity control part301makes the reading sensitivity of the communication element4lower when the open/closed state determination part131determines that the door2is in the open state, as compared with the reading sensitivity in the closed state, will be described.

FIG.6shows a configuration of the vehicle100equipped with a reading controller1according to the second embodiment. Regarding the functional blocks other than the sensitivity control part301inFIG.6, since they are the same as those inFIG.2, the same reference numerals are used and the associated descriptions are omitted.

When the open/closed state determination part131determines that the door2is in the closed state, the sensitivity control part301controls the reading sensitivity of the communication element4to be a first reading sensitivity. The first reading sensitivity is a reading sensitivity realized by the communication element4demodulating radio waves having a received signal strength indication (RSSI) that exceeds a first RSSI and not demodulating radio waves of a signal strength less than or equal to the first RSSI, for example.

When the open/closed state determination part131determines that the door2is in the open state, the sensitivity control part301controls the reading sensitivity of the communication element4to be a second reading sensitivity, which is lower than the first reading sensitivity. The second reading sensitivity is realized by the communication element4demodulating radio waves having an RSSI that exceeds a second RSSI and not demodulating radio waves of a signal strength less than or equal to the second RSSI, for example. The second RSSI is a value greater than the first RSSI.

In this way, when the open/closed state determination part131determines that the door2is in the open state, the sensitivity control part301controls the reading sensitivity of the communication element4to be the second reading sensitivity, which is lower than the first reading sensitivity, and therefore it is possible to prevent the tag information acquisition part134from acquiring the tag information of a tag attached to a load outside the load chamber. On the other hand, when the open/closed state determination part131determines that the door2is in the closed state, the sensitivity control part301controls the reading sensitivity of the communication element4to be the first reading sensitivity, and therefore the success rate of the tag information acquisition part134acquiring the tag information of a tag attached to a load inside the load chamber can be increased.

When the open/closed state determination part131determines that the door2is in the open state, the radio wave control part133may make the radio wave strength of the radio waves emitted by the communication element4lower, as compared with the radio wave strength in the closed state, and the sensitivity control part301may make the reading sensitivity of the communication element4lower, as compared with the reading sensitivity in the closed state.

The present disclosure is explained based on 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 of 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. Further, effects of the new exemplary embodiments brought by the combinations also have the effects of the original exemplary embodiments.

DESCRIPTION OF THE REFERENCE NUMERALS

1Reading controller2Door3Open/closed sensor4Communication element5Communication unit11Communication part12Storage13Control part21Communication part22Operation part23Display part24Storage25Control part100Vehicle131Open/closed state determination part132Communication control part133Radio wave control part134Tag information acquisition part200Wireless terminal300Management apparatus301Sensitivity control part