JP4513052B2 - Wireless tag information communication device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a wireless tag capable of exchanging information with the outside by wireless communication, and in particular, wireless tag information communication for reading or writing information from / to the wireless tag circuit element provided in the wireless tag. Relates to the device .

There is known an RFID ( Radio Frequency Identification) system that reads / writes information in a non-contact manner between a small wireless tag and a reader (reading device) / writer (writing device). For example, a wireless tag circuit element provided in a label-like wireless tag includes an IC circuit unit that stores predetermined information and an antenna unit that is connected to the IC circuit unit and transmits and receives information. Even if it is dirty or placed in an invisible position, information can be read / written from / to the IC circuit section from the reader / writer side, and various fields such as product management and inspection processes can be performed. Is expected to be put to practical use.

  For example, as a writer (writing device) for writing information to such a RFID circuit element, the one described in Patent Document 1 is known. In this prior art, belt-shaped paper with rectangular labels attached at predetermined intervals is sequentially unwound from the paper supply unit and supplied from one side of the housing, and the predetermined information generated by the module in the housing is By sequentially transmitting to the IC circuit portion of the RFID tag circuit element by transmitting to the RFID tag circuit element side attached to the label via the read / write antenna provided in the belt-shaped paper conveyance path. Finally, it is discharged from the other side of the housing.

JP 2002-2026 (paragraph numbers 0002 to 0009, FIGS. 1 to 4)

  In communication with wireless tags, the 125 KHz band that has been used for a long time and the 13.56 MHz band that has been used for a long time have been used. However, since those using these bands have a short communication distance, there is a problem that the use as a wireless tag is limited. Therefore, in the future, the use of high frequencies such as UHF bands (830 to 930 MHz band, 2.45 GHz band, etc.) that are widely used in Europe and the United States is being considered as frequency bands.

  In the above prior art, no special consideration has been given to the case of using such a high frequency band, so that as it is, not only the RFID tag circuit element that is the original information writing target but also the subsequent information is increased by increasing the communication distance. There is a possibility that information may be written to the IC circuit portion of another RFID circuit element.

  In addition, when reading from the RFID circuit element, as in the above case, if the communication distance is increased as it is, not only the RFID circuit element that is the original information reading target but also other RFID tag circuit elements that follow. There is a possibility that the information of the IC circuit part of the above is read.

The object of the present invention is to prevent a large number of RFID tags from being read or written to other RFID circuit elements that are not to be read or written even when using a high frequency such as UHF band. An object of the present invention is to provide a wireless tag information communication apparatus that can be generated efficiently.

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In order to achieve the above object, a first invention is a radio that houses a plurality of RFID tag circuit elements each having an IC circuit unit for storing information and an antenna unit connected to the IC circuit unit for transmitting and receiving information. A cartridge that includes a tag circuit element housing; a storage unit that holds identification information and communication protocol type information of the plurality of RFID circuit elements; and the cartridge is detachably attached so that the plurality of RFID circuit elements can be sequentially taken out. An access information generating unit that generates access information for accessing the RFID tag information of the IC circuit unit, and the access information generated by the access information generating unit is stored in the IC circuit unit of the RFID tag circuit element that is sequentially extracted. , transmitted in a non-contact manner via a wireless communication using a high frequency of UHF band, and the information access unit for accessing the RFID tag information, before Reads information stored in the storage means, on the basis of the read information, possess an access controller for controlling access by the information access unit, the access control unit, the identification included in the read information Using the information, the RFID tag circuit element to be accessed is identified among the RFID tag circuit elements sequentially taken out from the cartridge, and the information access unit corresponds to the information related to the communication protocol type included in the read information. Access to the RFID circuit element specified by the access control unit is performed using a high frequency in the UHF band .

When predetermined access information is generated by the access information generation unit, the access information is transmitted to the IC circuit unit of the RFID tag circuit element in a non-contact manner by the information access unit. Here , when a high frequency such as a UHF band is used, the communication distance becomes longer due to its characteristics. For this reason, for example, when a plurality of RFID tag circuit elements carried on a label material are sequentially taken out and accessed, not only the RFID tag circuit element to be accessed at the predetermined access position but also at the access position. There is a possibility that information is read or written by accessing even the RFID circuit element. Therefore, before performing the access, it is necessary to identify the RFID tag circuit element to be accessed and access only the IC circuit portion of the identified element. On the other hand, for example, in the case of generating a wireless tag, the wireless tag circuit element housing body made of the label material carrying the wireless tag circuit element is a consumable item if it is a raw material. When the generation of all the RFID tags is completed, a new RFID tag circuit element housing is usually attached to the RFID tag information communication apparatus and the RFID tag generation operation is performed again.

In view of the above, the first invention of this application forms the RFID tag circuit element housing in a cartridge that can be attached to and detached from the RFID tag information communication apparatus side, and also provides storage means for this cartridge, Identification information related to the tag circuit element and information related to the communication protocol type are held. Then, the access control unit reads the information held in the storage unit, and controls the access operation by the information access unit based on this information.

Thus, at the time of manufacturing the cartridge, for example, when the RFID tag circuit element housing is configured by sequentially supporting the RFID circuit elements on the label material, the identification information of each RFID circuit element grasped at that time is obtained from the cartridge, for example. If the cartridge is attached to the RFID tag information communication apparatus and the IC circuit unit is accessed, the storage unit is accessed from the access control unit outside the cartridge and the current information is read out. Identification information of the RFID tag circuit element to be written or written can be obtained. As a result, since the RFID circuit element to be read or written can be easily specified by the access control unit, the information access unit is controlled based on this, for example, reading or writing only to the specified RFID tag circuit element. By doing this, it is possible to reliably prevent information from being read or written to other RFID circuit elements that are not to be read or written. In addition, the storage means stores information related to communication protocol types of a plurality of RFID circuit elements, so that, for example, a plurality of types of RFID tag circuit element housings having different communication protocols to be used for one RFID tag information communication apparatus. Even in the case where these are exchanged as appropriate, it is possible to easily select a communication protocol corresponding to each RFID circuit element housing and perform reliable communication. At this time, since the storage means is disposed in the cartridge together with the RFID circuit element housing, the RFID tag circuit element of the RFID tag circuit element housing and the information held in the storage means are also attached when the cartridge is attached or detached. An integral association can be reliably maintained. As described above, it is possible to efficiently generate a large number of RFID tags while preventing information from being read or written to other RFID circuit elements that are not to be read or written.

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A second invention further includes a first communication interface unit connected to the access control unit in the first invention for reading information from the storage unit of the cartridge to the access control unit, The cartridge is configured to be detachable from the first communication interface means, and includes a second communication interface means for reading information from the storage means.

  Thereby, while securing the detachability of the cartridge to the RFID tag information communication apparatus side, the storage means in the cartridge and the access control unit outside the cartridge are securely connected via the first and second communication interface means at the time of attachment. It is possible to secure a communication path between them.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the invention, an information processing control unit that performs an update process of information held in the storage unit according to an access operation of the information access unit controlled by the access control unit It is characterized by having.

  [0036]

In the third invention of the present application , when the reading or writing of information to one RFID circuit element to be read or written is completed as described above, the information processing control unit accesses the storage unit and is held in the storage unit. For example, identification information of the RFID circuit element to be read or written next can be obtained. Therefore, by repeating this, it is possible to efficiently generate a wireless tag while preventing information from being read or written to other RFID circuit elements that are not to be read or written .

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In a fourth aspect based on the third aspect , the plurality of RFID tag circuit elements of the RFID tag circuit element container are carried on the label material so that the identifiers attached to the RFID tag circuit elements are in the order of removal from the cartridge. The storage means includes, as information related to the plurality of RFID circuit elements, a start identifier of a RFID circuit element that is first taken out from the cartridge among the plurality of RFID circuit elements in the cartridge, Holding an end identifier of the RFID circuit element to be lastly taken out from the cartridge and a next processing identifier of the RFID circuit element to be accessed next at the present time, and the information processing control unit includes the information access unit In accordance with the access operation, the migration processing of the next processing identifier held in the storage means is performed.

  For example, each time the information access unit finishes reading or writing processing of the RFID circuit element, the next processing identifier in the storage means is sequentially shifted in the extraction order, so that the next RFID tag to be read or written becomes The identification information of the circuit element can be obtained with certainty.

According to a fifth invention, in the third invention, the plurality of RFID tag circuit elements of the RFID circuit element housing are supported by a label material, the identifiers attached to the RFID tag circuit elements being independent of the order of removal from the cartridge. The storage means includes, as information relating to the plurality of RFID tag circuit elements, identifier strings of all RFID tag circuit elements in the cartridge, and information on the number of RFID tag circuit elements that have been accessed at the present time. The information processing control unit performs a process of increasing the number-of-uses information stored in the storage unit according to an access operation of the information access unit.

  For example, if the usage number information indicating the number of RFID tag circuit elements used from the beginning is applied to the identifier strings of all the RFID tag circuit elements held in the storage means, the wireless data to be read or written next Identification information of the tag circuit element can be obtained. Therefore, for example, each time the information access unit finishes accessing the RFID circuit element, if the usage number information in the storage means is increased by one, the identifier of each RFID circuit element in the RFID circuit element container Is attached in a manner irrelevant to the order of taking out from the cartridge, the identification information of the RFID circuit element to be read or written next can be sequentially and reliably obtained.

  According to the present invention, even when a high frequency such as a UHF band is used, a large amount of wireless tags can be formed while preventing reading or writing of information to other RFID circuit elements that are not to be read or written. It can be generated efficiently.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The present embodiment is an embodiment when the present invention is applied to an RFID tag generation system capable of only reading (not writing), which is one of RFID tag circuit element processing systems.

  FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing a wireless tag generation system to which the wireless tag information communication apparatus of this embodiment is applied.

  In the RFID tag generating system 1 shown in FIG. 1, the RFID tag information communication apparatus 2 according to the present embodiment includes a route server 4, a terminal 5, a general-purpose computer 6, and a plurality of information servers via a wired or wireless communication line 3. 7 is connected.

  FIG. 2 is a conceptual configuration diagram showing a detailed structure of the RFID tag information communication apparatus 2.

  In FIG. 2, the RFID tag information communication apparatus 2 has a plurality of RFID tag circuit elements 10A and a detachable cartridge (= RF tag circuit element accommodation portion) 20 configured to be able to sequentially take out the RFID tag circuit elements 10A. is doing.

  FIG. 3 is a view showing the detailed structure of the cartridge 20 as viewed from the direction III in FIG.

  3 and FIG. 2 described above, the cartridge 20 is wound with a belt-like base tape (tape label material) 21 in which a plurality of RFID circuit elements 10A are sequentially formed in the longitudinal direction (details will be described later). In addition, a first roll (reel member) 22, a second roll 24 around which a transparent cover film 23 having the same width as the base tape 21 is wound, and an ink around which a printing ink ribbon 25 is wound. The ribbon roll 26, the take-up roller 27 for taking up the ink ribbon 25 after printing, and the base tape 21 and the cover film 23 are pressed and bonded together to form a tag tape 28, and the tape is fed in the direction indicated by the arrow. The pressure roller 29 to be rotated is provided so as to be able to rotate about each axis. Of these, the take-up roller 27 and the pressure roller 29 are rotationally driven by the driving force of a cartridge motor 30 (see FIG. 2), for example, a pulse motor provided outside the cartridge. The driving of the cartridge motor 30 is controlled by a cartridge driving circuit 31 (see FIG. 2).

  The base tape 21 has a four-layer structure as shown in a partially enlarged view in FIG. 3, and is directed from the side (the right side in FIG. 3) to which the cover film 23 is later adhered to the opposite side (the left side in FIG. 3). Then, an adhesive layer 32, a colored base film 33 made of PET (polyethylene terephthalate), an adhesive layer 34, and a release paper 35 are laminated in this order. The base tape 21 and the first roll 22 constitute a wireless tag circuit element housing.

  An IC circuit unit 100 is integrally provided on the back side (left side in FIG. 3) of the base film 33, and an antenna unit 101 is formed on the surface of the back side of the base film 33. The antenna unit 101 constitutes the RFID circuit element 10A (see also FIG. 7 described later).

  FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing a functional configuration of the RFID circuit element 10A.

  In FIG. 4, the RFID circuit element 10A includes an antenna 40 (details will be described later) provided in the RFID tag information communication apparatus 2 and the antenna unit (not shown) that transmits and receives signals in a contactless manner using a high frequency such as a UHF band. Tag side antenna unit) 101 and an IC circuit unit 100 connected to the antenna unit 101.

  The IC circuit unit 100 includes a rectifying unit 111 that rectifies a carrier wave received by the antenna unit 101, a power source unit 112 that accumulates energy of the carrier wave rectified by the rectifying unit 111, and serves as a driving power source, and the antenna unit. 101, a clock extraction unit 114 that extracts a clock signal from a carrier wave received by the carrier 101 and supplies the clock signal to a control unit 113 (described later), a memory unit 115 that functions as an information storage unit that can store a predetermined information signal, and the antenna unit A modulation / demodulation unit 116 connected to 101, and a control unit 113 for controlling the operation of the RFID circuit element 10A through the rectification unit 111, the clock extraction unit 114, the modulation / demodulation unit 116, and the like.

  The modem unit 116 demodulates the communication signal received from the antenna 40 of the RFID tag information communication apparatus 2 received by the antenna unit 101 and received from the antenna unit 101 based on the return signal from the control unit 113. Reflectively modulate the carrier wave.

  The control unit 113 interprets the received signal demodulated by the modulation / demodulation unit 116, generates a reply signal based on the information signal stored in the memory unit 115, and performs basic operations such as control for returning by the modulation / demodulation unit 116. Execute proper control. In the present embodiment, the IC circuit unit 100 is configured to be capable of only reading (not writing) information stored in the memory unit 115 via the control unit 113.

  Returning to FIG. 3, the adhesive layer 32 for later bonding the cover film 23 is formed on the front side (right side in FIG. 3) of the base film 33, and the back side of the base film 33 is formed by the adhesive layer 34. The release paper 35 is bonded to the base film 33. The release paper 35 is configured such that when the completed wireless tag 10 is affixed to a predetermined product or the like, it can be adhered to the product or the like by the adhesive layer 34 by peeling it off.

  The ink ribbon roll 26 and the take-up roller 27 are arranged on the back side of the cover film 23, that is, the side to be bonded to the base tape 21. At this time, in the vicinity of the cartridge 20, a thermal head 41 that is energized by the print drive circuit 42 (see FIG. 2) and performs printing (printing) on the cover film 23 is provided, and the ink ribbon 25 is connected to the thermal head 41. Is pressed against the back surface of the cover film 23.

  In such a configuration, the winding roller 27 and the pressure roller 29 are rotated in synchronization with each other in the directions indicated by the arrows by driving the cartridge motor 30, and a plurality of heat generation of the thermal head 41 is performed by the print driving circuit 42. The element is energized. As a result, a print 43 (see FIG. 6A described later) such as predetermined characters, symbols, and barcodes is printed on the back surface of the cover film 23 (= the surface on the adhesive layer 32 side, see FIG. 7 described later). Since the printing is performed from the back side, characters and the like to be mirrored are printed from the printing side). After this printing, the pressure-sensitive roller 29 is bonded to the base tape 21 to form the tag tape 28, and is unwound from the cartridge 20 through the conveyance guide 83 and is carried out.

  Further, referring back to FIG. 2, the RFID tag information communication apparatus 2 performs the above-described RFID circuit element 10 </ b> A included in the tag tape 28 with respect to the tag tape 28 passing through the conveyance guide 83 in association with the printing operation. Between the antenna (device-side antenna unit) 40 for transmitting and receiving signals by radio communication using a high frequency such as a UHF band, and information (wireless tag) of the IC circuit unit 100 of the RFID circuit element 10A via the antenna 40 Information) (reading is performed in this example) and the signal read from the IC circuit unit 100 of the RFID circuit element 10A are processed to read the information and the RFID circuit element 10A A signal processing circuit 52 that also functions as an access information generation unit for accessing the IC circuit unit 100, the cartridge drive circuit 31, A control circuit 60 for controlling the overall operation of the RFID tag information communication apparatus 2 through the printing drive circuit 42, the high-frequency circuit 51, the signal processing circuit 52, a solenoid drive circuit 88 and a delivery roller drive circuit 90 described later, and the like. I have.

  The control circuit 60 is a so-called microcomputer, and although not shown in detail, is composed of a central processing unit such as a CPU, a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like, and is temporarily stored in the RAM. The signal processing is performed according to a program stored in advance in the ROM while using the function. The control circuit 60 is connected to the communication line 3 by an input / output interface 61, and can exchange information with the route server 4, the terminal 5, the general-purpose computer 6, the information server 7, and the like. Yes.

  FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram showing detailed functions of the high-frequency circuit 51.

  In FIG. 5, the high frequency circuit 51 receives a transmission unit 53 that transmits a signal to the RFID circuit element 10 </ b> A through the antenna 40 and a reflected wave from the RFID circuit element 10 </ b> A that is received by the antenna 40. And a transmission / reception separator 55 using a directional coupler or the like.

  The transmission unit 53 is a crystal resonator 56 that functions as a carrier wave generation unit that generates a carrier wave for accessing (reading in this example) the RFID tag information of the IC circuit unit 100 of the RFID circuit element 10A. Locked Loop (57), VCO (Voltage Controlled Oscillator) 58, and a carrier wave generated by the carrier wave generator based on a signal supplied from the signal processing circuit 52 (for example, based on a “TX-ASK” signal) A first mixer 71 that functions as a carrier wave modulation unit that performs amplitude modulation) and a first amplifier 72 that functions as a modulation wave amplification unit that amplifies the modulated wave modulated by the first mixer 71. The carrier wave generated by the carrier wave generator preferably uses a UHF band frequency, and the output of the first amplifier 72 is transmitted to the antenna 40 via the directional coupler 55 to be a wireless tag. It is supplied to the IC circuit unit 100 of the circuit element 10A.

  The receiver 54 multiplies the reflected wave from the RFID circuit element 10A received by the antenna 40 and the carrier wave generated by the carrier wave generator, and the output of the second mixer 73 is a band. After being generated by the second wave generator 76 that is input through the pass filter 74 and amplified and supplied to the first limiter 75, the reflected wave from the RFID circuit element 10A received by the antenna 40, and the carrier wave generation unit A third mixer 77 that multiplies the carrier wave whose phase is shifted by 90 °, and a third amplifier 80 that inputs the output of the third mixer 77 through the band-pass filter 78 and amplifies and supplies the amplified signal to the second limiter 79; It has. The signal “RXS-I” output from the first limiter 75 and the signal “RXS-Q” output from the second limiter 79 are input to the signal processing circuit 52 and processed.

  At this time, the outputs of the first amplifier 76 and the third amplifier 80 are also input to an RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) 81 so that a signal “RSSI” indicating the strength of those signals is input to the signal processing circuit 52. It has become. In this way, in the RFID tag information communication apparatus 2 of the present embodiment, the reflected wave from the RFID tag 10 is demodulated by IQ orthogonal demodulation.

  Returning to FIG. 2 again, the RFID tag information communication apparatus 2 is provided in the vicinity of the outlet portion of the cartridge 20, and reads RFID tag information from the IC circuit portion 100 of the RFID circuit element 10A (in the modified example described later, A cutter 82 that cuts the tag tape 28, which has been described in detail later, to a predetermined length and divides the tag tape 28 into label-like wireless tags (wireless tag labels) 10 and the above-described reading (writing in a later-described modification, details will be described later) ) At a time, the RFID circuit element 10A is set and held in a predetermined access area facing the antenna 40 (= see the modification example described below for the read position and the write position), and each RFID tag 10 after being disconnected is held. A pair of conveyance guides (wireless tag circuit element holding portions) 83 to be guided and a transmission for conveying the guided wireless tag 10 to the carry-out port 84 and sending it out. A roller 85 and a sensor 86 for detecting the presence / absence of the wireless tag 10 at the carry-out port 84 are further provided.

  The cutter 82 is driven by a solenoid 87 to perform its cutting operation, and the solenoid 87 is controlled by a solenoid drive circuit 88. The delivery roller 85 is driven by a delivery roller motor 89, and the motor 89 is controlled by a delivery roller drive circuit 90. The sensor 86 is a transmissive photoelectric sensor including a projector and a light receiver, for example. When the wireless tag 10 does not exist between the projector and the light receiver, the light output from the projector is input to the light receiver. On the other hand, when the wireless tag 10 exists between the projector and the light receiver, the light output from the projector is shielded and the control output from the light receiver is reversed.

  FIGS. 6A and 6B are examples of the appearance of the wireless tag 10 formed after information reading (writing in a later-described modified example, details will be described later) and cutting are completed as described above. 6A is a top view, and FIG. 6B is a bottom view. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VII-VII ′ of FIG.

  6 (a), 6 (b), and 7, the wireless tag 10 has a five-layer structure in which the cover film 23 is added to the four-layer structure shown in FIG. The cover film 23, the adhesive layer 32, the base film 33, the adhesive layer 34, and the release paper 35 constitute five layers from the (upper side in FIG. 7) to the opposite side (lower side in FIG. 7). As described above, the RFID circuit element 10A including the IC circuit unit 100 and the antenna unit 101 is provided on the back side of the base film 33, and the print 43 (in this example, the type of the RFID tag 10) is provided on the back surface of the cover film 23. "RF-ID" character) is printed.

  FIG. 8 is displayed on the terminal 5 or the general-purpose computer 6 when the RFID tag information communication apparatus 2 as described above accesses (in this example, reads) the RFID tag information of the IC circuit unit 100 of the RFID circuit element 10A. It is a figure showing an example of the screen performed.

  In FIG. 8, in this example, the print character 43 printed corresponding to the RFID circuit element 10A, the access (reading in this example) ID that is an ID unique to the RFID circuit element 10A, the information server 7 The stored address of the article information and the storage destination address of the corresponding information in the route server 4 can be displayed on the terminal 5 or the general-purpose computer 6. Then, the RFID tag information communication apparatus 2 is activated by the operation of the terminal 5 or the general-purpose computer 6 so that the print characters 43 are printed on the cover film 23 and the article information stored in the IC circuit unit 100 in advance. The wireless tag information is read (as described above, this reading is performed on the tag tape 28 passing through the conveyance guide 83 in accordance with the printing operation). At this time, for example, the readout is performed for one RFID circuit element 10A by one operation to generate one RFID tag 10, and the generated ID of the RFID tag 10 and the IC circuit unit 100 of the RFID tag 10 are generated. The correspondence relationship with the RFID tag information read out from is stored in the route server 4 and can be referred to as necessary (see also step S120 in FIG. 11 described later).

In contrast to the basic configuration as described above, the most significant feature of the wireless tag information communication device 2 of the present embodiment is that all the wireless tags carried on the base tape 21 housed in the first roll 22 in the cartridge 20. A readable / writable memory (storage means) 150 that holds information related to the circuit element 10A (in this example, identification information of each RFID circuit element 10A, details will be described later), and a connector ( A communication interface means ( second communication interface means) 151 is provided, and a connector ( first communication interface means) 152 (see FIG. 6) that is connected to the control circuit 60 and that can be connected to and disconnected from the connector 151 when the cartridge 20 is attached or detached. Is provided on the main body side of the RFID tag information communication apparatus 2.

  In the memory 150, when the RFID circuit elements 10A are sequentially carried on the base tape 21 when the cartridge 20 is manufactured, the identification information (identifier, that is, ID number) of each RFID circuit element 10A grasped at that time is stored. For example, it is input in advance by an appropriate method (for example, manual input by an operator) so as to be in the order of removal from the cartridge 20 (serial type) or in random order (random type), and stored and held.

  9 and 10 are diagrams showing an example of the contents of data stored and held in the memory 150. FIG.

  FIG. 9 shows an example of the serial type data, and corresponds to the case where the RFID circuit elements 10A are arranged in the order of the ID numbers at the time of manufacturing or the like. As shown in FIG. 9, in this case, in the memory 150, “RFID tag circuit element type”, “manufacturing date”, “serial type identifier”, “RFID tag circuit element number to be unwound first”, “finally Information of “the RFID circuit element number to be unwound” and “the tag circuit element number to be accessed (read in this example)” is stored and held.

  The “type of RFID tag circuit element” information is, for example, a predetermined model number, and includes information on a frequency band to be used for transmission / reception and a communication protocol. Based on this information, the control circuit 60 of the RFID tag information communication apparatus 2 selects a frequency band, a communication protocol, and the like used during communication. The control circuit 60 generates control signals for the VCO 58 and the PLL 57 that generate corresponding frequency signals. Further, the signal processing circuit 52 is controlled to operate in accordance with the selected communication protocol.

  The “accessed tag circuit element number” information functions as a next processing identifier, and specifies the RFID circuit element 10A to be communicated by the control circuit 60 of the RFID tag information communication apparatus 2 according to this number. In this case, communication is performed only on the wireless tag information to access (read in this example) of the IC circuit unit 100 (details will be described later). Further, the “tag circuit element number to be accessed” information can be rewritten and updated from the control circuit 60 side. For example, when an unused cartridge 20 is attached, the above-mentioned “first RFID tag to be unwound” is used as a start identifier. Each time one access (read in this example, write in a later-described modification, details will be described later) is completed, the number is incremented by 1 (transition of the next processing identifier). Finally, all RFID tag circuit elements 10A in the cartridge 20 are unwound and accessed (read in this example, modified in a later-described modification) in agreement with the above-mentioned “last RFID tag circuit element number to be unwound” as the end identifier. Is completed (described later).

  FIG. 10 shows an example of the random type data, which corresponds to the case where the ID numbers of the RFID circuit elements 10A are arranged in random order at the time of the manufacturing or the like.

  As shown in FIG. 10, in this case, the memory 150 stores and holds the information of “RFID tag circuit element type”, “manufacturing date”, and “random type identifier”, and then addresses 1, 2, and 3 , Address 4,... (This address order is in accordance with the unwinding order from the cartridge 20), and the ID number string (identifier string) of each RFID circuit element 10A is stored and held in the order of removal from the cartridge 20. As a result, an at-random ID number unrelated to the address number is enumerated. Further, information (number of used information) of “number of printed pages” is stored and held after (last) the ID number columns.

  The “type of RFID tag circuit element” information is the same as described above.

  The “printed number of sheets” information is a wireless tag that has already been unwound by the present after the cartridge 20 is manufactured and has been printed and accessed (read in this example, written in a later-described modified example, details will be described later). This represents the number of circuit elements 10A. The control circuit 60 of the RFID tag information communication apparatus 2 designates the RFID circuit element 10A to be communicated on the basis of the number of printed sheets and the ID numbers of the address 1 to the final address. Access (reading, writing in a later-described modification, details will be described later) (details will be described later). The “printed number of sheets” information can be rewritten and updated from the control circuit 60 side. For example, when the unused cartridge 20 is attached, the information is “0”. The number is incremented, and finally, in accordance with the number of all the RFID circuit elements 10A originally provided in the cartridge 20, unwinding and access (reading, in the modification examples described later) of all the RFID circuit elements 10A. Writing (details will be described later) is terminated (described later).

  FIG. 11 shows the control executed by the control circuit 60 for the exchange of information with the memory 150, which is the main part of the present embodiment, and the access (reading in this example) to the IC circuit unit of the RFID circuit element 10A. It is a flowchart showing a procedure.

  In FIG. 11, when a read operation is performed in the RFID tag information communication apparatus 2 (as described above, for example, an operation is performed for each RFID circuit element 10A), this flow is started. First, in step S10, it is determined whether or not the cartridge 20 in which the memory 150 is installed is attached depending on whether there is a connector 151 connected to the connector 152 on the RFID tag information communication apparatus 2 side, for example.

  If the determination is not satisfied, it is regarded as a cartridge mounting error, and the process proceeds to step S15 to perform predetermined error processing (for example, output a predetermined error display signal to the terminal 5 or the general-purpose computer 6 via the input / output interface 61 and the communication line 3). And the corresponding failure (error) display is performed), and then this flow is terminated.

  When the determination is satisfied, the process proceeds to step S20, and information stored in the memory 150 of the cartridge 20 (see FIGS. 9 and 10) is read. The read information is temporarily stored in a RAM (not shown) provided in the control device 60, for example.

  Next, in step S30, it is determined whether or not the remaining number of RFID tag circuit elements 10A in the attached cartridge 20 is zero. This determination is performed as follows, for example.

  When the data in the memory 150 is a serial type as shown in FIG. 9, the “tag circuit element number to be accessed” shown at the bottom of FIG. It is determined whether or not the number matches. If they match, the remaining number is regarded as 0, the determination in step S30 is satisfied, and the process proceeds to step S40. A display signal indicating that the remaining number is 0 is sent via the input / output interface 61 and the communication line 3. Are output to the terminal 5 or the general-purpose computer 6 described above, and the corresponding display is performed. If they do not match, the determination in step S30 is not satisfied, and the routine goes to step S50.

  When the data in the memory 150 is a random type as shown in FIG. 10, the “number of printed sheets” shown at the bottom of FIG. 10 is the number of addresses of “the last RFID tag circuit element number to be unwound”. Determine if they match. If they match, the remaining number is considered to be 0, the determination of step S30 is satisfied, and the process proceeds to step S40. As described above, the display signal indicating that the remaining number is 0 is sent to the input / output interface 61 and the communication line. 3 is output to the terminal 5 or the general-purpose computer 6 described above, and a corresponding display is performed. If they do not match, the determination in step S30 is not satisfied, and the routine goes to step S50.

  In step S50, first, the remaining number of RFID circuit elements 10A in the attached cartridge 20 is counted.

  This remaining number count is performed as follows, for example.

  When the data in the memory 150 is a serial type as shown in FIG. 9, the “tag circuit element number to be accessed” shown at the bottom of FIG. Calculate how many numbers differ. In the case of this serial type, the RFID circuit elements 10A are arranged in the order of ID numbers as described above, and this difference matches the remaining number. When the data in the memory 150 is a random type as shown in FIG. 10, the “number of printed sheets” shown at the bottom of FIG. 10 is the number of addresses of “the last RFID tag circuit element number to be unwound”. Calculate how many are different. As above, these differences also coincide with the remaining number. Therefore, in other words, it can be said that the memory 150 holds information related to the remaining number of the RFID circuit elements 10A remaining in the cartridge 20.

  The remaining number calculating procedure in step S50 may be performed in step S30.

  Then, the remaining number of the RFID circuit element 10A counted in this way is output to the terminal 5 or the general-purpose computer 6 through the input / output interface 61 and the communication line 3 as a corresponding remaining number display signal, and the corresponding display is displayed. Let it be done.

  Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S60, and it is determined whether or not the remaining number of RFID circuit elements 10A calculated in step S50 is smaller than a predetermined threshold value (5 in this example). If it is 4 or less, the determination is satisfied and the routine goes to Step S 70, where a warning display signal indicating that the number of unused RFID circuit elements 10 A in the cartridge 20 is small is sent via the input / output interface 61 and the communication line 3. The data is output to the terminal 5 or the general-purpose computer 6 to display a corresponding remaining number warning. As described above in the method of counting the remaining number, when the data in the memory 150 is a random type as shown in FIG. 10, the determination whether the remaining number is smaller than 5 is already used. This corresponds to the determination as to whether or not the number of RFID tag circuit elements 10A used (unwound and subjected to read processing) is larger than the number obtained by subtracting 5 from the total number originally stored in the cartridge 20.

  If the remaining number is 5 or more, the determination is not satisfied and the routine goes to Step S80.

  In step S80, it is determined whether the information in the memory 150 is a serial type.

  In the case of the serial type, the determination is satisfied and the process proceeds to step S90A. In the case of the random type, the determination is not satisfied and the process proceeds to step S90B, and access (reading, writing in a modification example described later) is described in detail later. ) A process of reading to the target RFID circuit element 10A (writing in a modification described later, details will be described later) is performed.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the detailed control contents in steps S90A and S90B.

  In FIG. 12, first, in step S91, an operator N that counts the number of retries when a communication failure or the like is suspected is initialized to zero.

  In step S92, an “ID” command corresponding to the tag number of the RFID tag circuit element 10A to be read is output to the signal processing circuit 52. Based on this, an “ID” signal as access information is generated by the signal processing circuit 52 and transmitted to the corresponding RFID circuit element 10A via the high frequency circuit 51 to prompt a reply.

  Next, in step S93, a reply signal (wireless tag information such as article information) transmitted from the RFID circuit element 10A with the tag number corresponding to the “ID” signal is received via the antenna 40, and the high frequency signal is received. The data is taken in via the circuit 51 and the signal processing circuit 52.

  Next, in step S94, based on the reply signal received in step S93, it is determined whether information in the memory unit 115 of the RFID circuit element 10A has been normally received.

  If the determination is not satisfied, the process moves to step S95, 1 is added to N, and it is further determined in step S96 whether N = 5. If N ≦ 4, the determination is not satisfied and the routine returns to step S92 and the same procedure is repeated. If N = 5, the process proceeds to step S97, where an error display signal is output to the terminal 5 or the general-purpose computer 6 via the input / output interface 61 and the communication line 3, and a corresponding read failure (error) display is performed. Exit. In this way, even if reading is not successful, retry is performed up to five times.

  When the determination in step S94 is satisfied, reading of the RFID tag information from the RFID circuit element 10A to be read is completed, and this routine ends.

  By the above routine, the RFID tag information of the IC circuit unit 100 of the RFID circuit element 10A to be accessed can be accessed and read.

  In the case of the serial type, after the information reading process is performed on the RFID tag circuit element 10A having the ID number currently held in the “accessed tag circuit element number” in step S90A as described above, The process moves to step S100A shown in FIG. In step S100A, 1 is added to the “tag circuit element number to be accessed” shown at the bottom of FIG. 9 among the information previously read from memory 150 in step S20. Then, the process proceeds to step S110 and the memory 150 is updated. A control signal is output, and the information in the memory 150 is overwritten and updated with the above contents.

  In the case of the random type, as described above, the RFID tag circuit element 10A having the ID number stored at the address obtained by adding 1 to the number of sheets printed at that time in step S90B is added to the RFID tag circuit element 10A. After performing the information reading process, the process proceeds to step S100B. In step S100B, 1 is added to the “number of prints” shown at the bottom of FIG. 10 among the information previously read from memory 150 in step S20, and then the process proceeds to step S110 to output an update control signal to memory 150. The information in the memory 150 is overwritten and updated with the above contents, and the process proceeds to step S120.

  In step S120, the tag number of the RFID circuit element 10A that has been read in step S90A or S90B, the RFID tag information such as article information read from the RFID circuit element 10A, and the RFID circuit element 10A. The print contents (print characters 43 and the like) performed on the cover film 23 corresponding to the above are transmitted to the route server 4 and stored in the corresponding predetermined storage address in the route server. As a result, when it is desired to obtain article information relating to the article to which the wireless tag 10 in the form of a label is attached later, the wireless tag information of the IC circuit unit 100 of the wireless tag 10 is read by the reader, and the corresponding article information is obtained from the route server 4. By searching more, it becomes possible to obtain article information of the article.

  In the above operation flow, an example is shown in which the conveyance guide 83 is held and accessed in the access area with respect to the moving tag tape 28 in accordance with the printing operation. However, the present invention is not limited to this. That is, the access may be performed while the tag tape 28 is stopped at a predetermined position and held by the conveyance guide 83.

  In the above, the transmission unit 53 including the crystal resonator 56, the PLL 57, the VCO 58, and the first mixer 71 and the antenna 40 transmit the access information to the IC circuit unit 100 in a contactless manner via wireless communication. An information access unit that accesses the wireless tag information is configured. In addition, the control circuit 60 constitutes an access control unit that controls an access operation by the information access unit. Further, the control circuit 60 also constitutes an information processing control unit that controls an access operation by the information access unit and performs an update process of information held in the storage unit.

  The operation and action of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described below.

  In the RFID tag generating system 1, IC tags are sequentially applied to the RFID circuit elements 10A that are unwound from the cartridge 20 as the tag tape 28 and set and held at a predetermined position (access area) facing the antenna 40 by the conveyance guide 83. Access to the circuit unit 100 (in this example, for the reading and writing of the RFID tag information, refer to a modification described later). That is, the access information (the above-mentioned ID signal) generated by the signal processing circuit 52 of the RFID tag information communication apparatus 2 is used by the first mixer 71, the carrier wave from the VCO 58 is modulated, and further amplified by the first amplifier 72. Then, it is transmitted from the antenna 40 to the IC circuit unit 100 side of the RFID circuit element 10A in a non-contact manner. At this time, when transmission / reception is performed by radio communication using a high frequency such as a UHF band, the communication distance becomes longer due to its characteristics. Therefore, as it is, only the RFID circuit element 10A held in the conveyance guide 83 which is an original information reading target is used. In addition, the RFID tag information is also received from the subsequent RFID circuit element 24A (the RFID circuit element immediately after being unwound from the cartridge 20 that is immediately behind or other RFID circuit element housed in the cartridge 20) 24A. There is a possibility of being read out. Therefore, before reading the information, it is necessary to specify the RFID circuit element 10A to be read and perform communication only with the specified element. On the other hand, when the RFID tag 10 is generated, the RFID tag circuit element housing body composed of the base tape 21 carrying the RFID tag circuit element 10A is a consumable item if it is a raw material. When the generation of all the wireless tags 10 using the storage body is completed, a new wireless tag circuit element storage body is attached to the wireless tag information communication apparatus 2 and the wireless tag generation operation is performed again.

  In the present embodiment, in view of the above, the RFID circuit element housing is formed as a cartridge that can be attached to and detached from the RFID tag information communication apparatus 2 side, and a memory 150 is provided in the cartridge 20 so that all of the RFID tag circuit element housing is provided. Information relating to the RFID tag circuit element 10A (the identification information and the like) is held. Specifically, when the RFID circuit element housing is configured by sequentially supporting the RFID circuit elements 10A on the base tape 21 when the cartridge 20 is manufactured, each RFID circuit element 10A grasped at that time is identified. ID numbers are stored in the memory 150 in advance in the order of removal from the cartridge 20 (see FIGS. 9 and 10). Thus, when the cartridge 20 is mounted on the RFID tag information communication apparatus 2 and the RFID tag information reading operation is performed, the control circuit 60 outside the cartridge 20 accesses the memory 150 in step S20 shown in FIG. The ID number of the RFID circuit element 10A to be read can be obtained. As a result, the RFID tag circuit element 10A to be read can be easily specified. Therefore, by performing communication only with the specified RFID tag circuit element 10A in step S90A or step S90B, Reading of RFID tag information from the IC circuit unit 100 of the RFID tag circuit element 10A can be prevented. Further, when the ID number to be read is specified as described above and the information reading from the IC circuit unit 100 of one RFID circuit element 10A is completed, the RFID tag circuit element number to be read or the reading tag RFID tag element number in Step S100A or Step S100B By performing a process of adding 1 to the number of printed sheets and updating the information held in the memory 150 in step S110, the ID number (or information for that) of the RFID circuit element 10A to be read next is obtained. Obtainable. Therefore, by repeating the above, it is possible to efficiently generate the wireless tag 10 while preventing information from being read from the other RFID circuit elements 10A that are not to be read.

  Further, since the memory 150 as the storage means is disposed in the cartridge 20 together with the RFID circuit element housing, the memory tag 150 is held in the RFID circuit element 10A and the memory 150 even when the cartridge 20 is attached / detached. It is possible to reliably maintain an integrated association with the information.

  As a result of the above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to efficiently generate a large number of wireless tags 10 while preventing the wireless tag information from being read from the IC circuit unit 100 of the other wireless tag circuit elements 10A that are not to be read. Can do.

Further, by storing information on the use frequency and communication protocol in the memory 150, for example, a plurality of types of RFID tag circuit element housings having different use frequencies can be appropriately replaced for one RFID tag information communication apparatus 2. Even when used, it is possible to easily select a frequency band and a communication protocol corresponding to each RFID circuit element housing and to perform reliable communication .
Furthermore, by connecting the memory 150 side and the control circuit 60 side via a connector 151 and a connector 152 that can be engaged and disengaged with each other, while securing the detachability of the cartridge 20 to the wireless tag information communication device 2 side, A communication path between the memory 150 in the cartridge 20 and the control circuit 60 can be ensured through the connector 151 and the connector 152 at the time of attachment.

  Further, as described in step S50 of FIG. 11, the remaining number of RFID circuit elements 10A in the cartridge 20 is always displayed on the terminal 5 or the general-purpose computer 6. Thereby, it is possible to always reliably and accurately grasp the number of RFID circuit elements 10A remaining in the cartridge 20 that is usually difficult to understand. Further, as described in step S60 and step S70 of FIG. 11, when the remaining number of RFID circuit elements 10A in the cartridge 20 is reduced to some extent (in this example, less than 5), the terminal 5 or the general-purpose computer A warning is displayed at 6. As a result, when the number of RFID circuit elements remaining in the cartridge 20 decreases, it becomes possible to prepare the next new cartridge 20 in advance, and a large number of RFID tags 10 are generated more efficiently. be able to.

  In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the cartridge 20 includes the cartridge 20 including the first roll 22 around which the strip-shaped base tape 21 in which the plurality of RFID tag circuit elements 10A are sequentially formed in the longitudinal direction is wound is provided. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other cartridge embodiments may be used.

  FIG. 13 is a conceptual perspective view showing such a modification.

  In FIG. 13, in this modification, a substantially flat box-shaped tray member (tray type cartridge) 91 is provided as a cartridge. In this tray member 91, a plurality of flat paper-like label materials 92 each formed with one RFID circuit element 10A are stacked and stored in the stacking direction. A plurality of RFID tag circuit elements 10A can be sequentially taken out by pulling out the flat paper-like label material 92 one by one from the takeout port 91A provided on one side surface (in this example, the rear side in the figure) of the tray member 91. ing. The RFID circuit element 10A taken out from the tray member 91 is set at a position facing (directly below) the antenna 40 provided in the RFID tag information communication apparatus 2, and reading is performed.

A memory 150 ′ is incorporated on the side of the tray member 91. Although not shown, the tray member 91 is provided with a connector (communication interface means; second communication interface means) 151 ′ connected to the memory 150 ′, and the tray member 91 is connected to the main body of the RFID tag information communication apparatus 2. When being attached to and detached from the side, the connector 152 (see FIG. 6) on the main body side of the RFID tag information communication apparatus 2 can be engaged and disengaged.

  Also by this modification, the same effect as the above-mentioned embodiment is acquired.

  Furthermore, in the above description, the case where the present invention is applied to an RFID tag generation system capable of only reading (not writing) has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the IC circuit unit 100 of the RFID circuit element 10A is not limited thereto. The present invention may be applied to a wireless tag generation system for writing wireless tag information.

  In this case, in the configuration of the RFID tag information communication apparatus 2 described above, the high frequency circuit 51 performs a function of accessing (writing) the RFID tag information of the IC circuit unit 100 of the RFID tag circuit element 10A via the antenna 40 and transmitting the information. The crystal resonator 56, the PLL 57, and the VCO 58 of the unit 53 function as a carrier generation unit that generates a carrier for accessing (writing) the RFID tag information of the IC circuit unit 100. Further, the signal processing circuit 52 functions as an access information generation unit that generates access information (an “Erase” signal, a “Verify” signal, a “Program” signal, etc., which will be described later) for accessing the IC circuit unit 100.

  As described above with reference to FIG. 8, in this case, the terminal 5 or the general-purpose computer 6 has the print character 43, the access (write in this case) ID of the RFID circuit element 10A, and the address of the article information. , And the storage address of the correspondence information, etc. are displayed. Then, the RFID tag information communication apparatus 2 is activated by the operation of the terminal 5 or the general-purpose computer 6, and the print characters 43 are printed on the cover film 23, and the write ID, article information, etc. are written on the IC circuit unit 100. Information is written.

  FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a procedure of information exchange with the memory 150 and access (in this case, writing) to the IC circuit unit of the RFID circuit element 10A in the control executed by the control circuit 60 in this modification. FIG. 12 is a view substantially corresponding to FIG. 11 of the above-described embodiment.

  In FIG. 14, when the write operation of the RFID tag information communication apparatus 2 is performed (for example, the operation is performed for each RFID circuit element 10A), this flow is started.

  Steps S10 to S70 are the same as those in FIG. In step S80, as in FIG. 11, it is determined whether or not the information in the memory 150 is a serial type. If the information is a serial type, the determination is satisfied, and the process proceeds to step S90A '. If the determination is not satisfied, the process proceeds to step S90B ′, and writing processing to the access (in this case, writing) target RFID circuit element 10A is performed.

  FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the detailed control contents in steps S90A 'and S90B'.

  In FIG. 15, first, in step S210, operators N and M for counting the number of retries (retry) when communication failure is suspected are initialized to 0, respectively.

  In step S 220, the “Erase” command is output to the signal processing circuit 52. Based on this, an “Erase” signal as access information is generated by the signal processing circuit 52 and transmitted to the RFID circuit element 10A to be accessed (in this example, to be written) via the high frequency circuit 51, and the memory unit 115 is initialize.

  Next, a “Verify” command is output to the signal processing circuit 52 in step S230. Based on this, a “Verify” signal as access information is generated by the signal processing circuit 52 and transmitted to the RFID circuit element 10A to which information is to be written via the high frequency circuit 51 to prompt a reply. Thereafter, in step S240, a reply signal transmitted from the RFID tag circuit element 10A to be written in response to the “Verify” signal is received via the antenna 40, and taken in via the high frequency circuit 51 and the signal processing circuit 52.

  Next, in step S250, based on the reply signal, information in the memory unit 115 of the RFID circuit element 10A is checked to determine whether or not the memory unit 115 has been normally initialized.

  If the determination is not satisfied, the process moves to step S260, 1 is added to M, and it is further determined in step S270 whether M = 5. If M ≦ 4, the determination is not satisfied and the routine returns to step S220 and the same procedure is repeated. If M = 5, the process moves to step S280, where an error display signal is output to the terminal 5 or the general-purpose computer 6 via the input / output interface 61 and the communication line 3, and the corresponding writing failure (error) display is performed. Exit. In this way, even if initialization is not successful, retry is performed up to five times.

  If the determination in step S250 is satisfied, the process moves to step S290, and a “Program” command is output to the signal processing circuit 52. Based on this, a “Program” signal as access information, which is predetermined information to be originally written by the signal processing circuit 52, is generated and transmitted to the RFID circuit element 10 A to which information is written via the high frequency circuit 51, and its memory unit The predetermined information is written in 115.

  Thereafter, a “Verify” command is output to the signal processing circuit 52 in step S300. Based on this, a “Verify” signal as access information is generated by the signal processing circuit 52 and transmitted to the RFID circuit element 10A to which information is to be written via the high frequency circuit 51 to prompt a reply. Thereafter, in step S 310, the reply signal transmitted from the RFID tag circuit element 10 A to be written in response to the “Verify” signal is received via the antenna 40 and taken in via the high frequency circuit 51 and the signal processing circuit 52.

  Next, in step S320, based on the reply signal, the information stored in the memory unit 115 of the RFID circuit element 10A is confirmed, and whether or not the transmitted predetermined information is normally stored in the memory unit 115. Determine whether.

  If the determination is not satisfied, the process moves to step S330, 1 is added to N, and it is further determined in step S340 whether N = 5. If N ≦ 4, the determination is not satisfied and the routine returns to step S290 and the same procedure is repeated. If N = 5, the process proceeds to step S280 described above, and similarly, writing failure (error) display corresponding to the terminal 5 or the general-purpose computer 6 is performed, and this routine is terminated. In this way, even if information writing is not successful, retry is performed up to five times.

  If the determination in step S320 is satisfied, the process moves to step S350, and a “Lock” command is output to the signal processing circuit 52. Based on this, a “Lock” signal is generated by the signal processing circuit 52 and transmitted to the RFID circuit element 10A to which information is to be written via the high frequency circuit 51, and writing of new information to the RFID circuit element 10A is prohibited. This routine is terminated.

  By the above routine, it is possible to designate (specify) the RFID tag circuit element 10A to be written and write desired information (RFID tag information) to the IC circuit unit 100.

  In the case of the serial type, after performing the information writing process on the RFID tag circuit element 10A having the ID number held at that time in the “accessed tag circuit element number” in step S90A ′ as described above, The process moves to step S100A ′ shown in FIG. In step S100A ′, 1 is added to the “accessed (in this case, write) target tag circuit element number” shown at the bottom of FIG. 9 among the information previously read from memory 150 in step S20, and then in step S110. Then, an update control signal is output to the memory 150, and the information in the memory 150 is overwritten and updated with the above contents.

  In the case of the random type, the RFID tag circuit element 10A having the ID number stored at the address obtained by adding 1 to the “number of printed sheets” at the time is added to the “number of printed sheets” in step S90B ′ as described above. After performing the information writing process, the process proceeds to step S100B similar to FIG. 11, and 1 is added to the “number of printed sheets” shown at the bottom of FIG. 10, and then the process proceeds to step S110 to store the information in the memory 150. The contents are overwritten and updated, and this flow ends.

  As described above, for the basic configuration and function for writing the RFID tag information to the IC circuit unit 100, a memory that holds information related to the RFID tag circuit element 10A (identification information of each RFID circuit element 10A, etc.). By applying the cartridge 20 (or the tray member 91) provided with 150 (or the memory 150 '), it is possible to obtain substantially the same effect as described above.

  That is, when the cartridge 20 (or the tray member 91) is attached to the wireless tag information communication apparatus 2 and the wireless tag information writing operation is performed, the control circuit 60 outside the cartridge 20 accesses the memory 150 in step S20 shown in FIG. The ID number of the RFID circuit element 10A to which the RFID tag information should be written this time can be obtained. As a result, since the RFID tag circuit element 10A to be written can be easily specified, communication is made only to the specified RFID tag circuit element 10A in step S90A 'or step S90B', so that it is not to be written. It is possible to prevent the RFID tag information from being written to the IC circuit unit 100 of the other RFID circuit element 10A. In addition, when the ID number to be written is specified as described above and information writing to the IC circuit unit 100 of one RFID circuit element 10A is completed, the RFID tag circuit element number to be written or By performing a process of adding 1 to the number of printed sheets and updating the information held in the memory 150 in step S110, the ID number (or information for that) of the RFID circuit element 10A to be written next is obtained. Obtainable.

  In the above, the wireless tag information communication device 2 accesses the wireless tag information of the IC circuit unit 100 of the wireless tag circuit element 10A to read or write information, and the thermal head 41 uses the wireless tag circuit element 10A. However, this printing is not necessarily performed, and only reading or writing may be performed.

  In addition, although not illustrated one by one, the present invention is implemented with various modifications within a range not departing from the gist thereof.

1 is a system configuration diagram showing a wireless tag generation system to which a wireless tag information communication device of a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention is applied. It is a notional block diagram showing the detailed structure of the RFID tag information communication apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the detailed structure of the cartridge shown in FIG. 2 as viewed from the direction of the arrow III in FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing a functional configuration of the RFID tag circuit element shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram showing detailed functions of the high-frequency circuit shown in FIG. 4. It is the top view and bottom view showing an example of the appearance of the wireless tag formed after information reading and cutting are completed. It is a cross-sectional view by the VII-VII 'cross section in FIG. It is a figure showing an example of the screen displayed on an above-mentioned terminal or a general purpose computer at the time of reading of the information to the RFID circuit element by the RFID tag information communication apparatus. It is a figure showing an example of the content of the data memorize | stored and hold | maintained at memory. It is a figure showing the other example of the content of the data memorize | stored and hold | maintained at memory. It is a flowchart showing the procedure of transmission / reception of information with memory, and the reading of the information to a RFID circuit element among the control performed by a control circuit. It is a flowchart showing the detailed control content in the information read-out procedure shown in FIG. It is a conceptual perspective view showing the modification which provided the tray type cartridge. 10 is a flowchart showing a procedure for writing RFID tag information in the control executed by the control circuit in a modification in which RFID tag information is written to the IC circuit unit. It is a flowchart showing the detailed control content in the information writing procedure shown in FIG.

2 RFID tag information communication apparatus 10 RFID tag 10A RFID circuit element 20 Cartridge 21 Base material tape (tape label material)
22 First roll (reel member)
40 Antenna (device side antenna section, information access section)
52 Signal processing circuit (access information generator)
56 Crystal resonator (carrier generation unit, information access unit)
57 PLL (carrier generation unit, information access unit)
58 VCO (carrier generation unit, information access unit)
60 Control circuit (access control unit; information processing control unit)
71 1st mixer (carrier modulation unit, information access unit)
72 1st amplifier (modulation wave amplification part, information access part)
91 Tray member (tray type cartridge)
92 Label material 100 IC circuit part 101 Antenna part (tag side antenna part)
150 memory (storage means)
150 'memory (storage means)
151 connector ( second communication interface means, communication interface means)
151 'connector ( second communication interface means, communication interface means)
152 connector ( first communication interface means)

Claims (5)

A wireless tag circuit element housing body that houses a plurality of RFID circuit elements each having an IC circuit section that stores information and an antenna section that is connected to the IC circuit section and transmits / receives information; Storage means for holding identification information and communication protocol type information; and a cartridge detachably attached so that the plurality of RFID circuit elements can be sequentially taken out;
An access information generating unit for generating access information for accessing the RFID tag information of the IC circuit unit;
The access information generated by the access information generating unit is transmitted to the IC circuit unit of the RFID tag circuit element sequentially taken out in a non-contact manner through wireless communication using a high frequency in the UHF band, and is added to the RFID tag information. An information access unit for access;
An access control unit that reads information held in the storage unit and controls an access operation by the information access unit based on the read information;
Have
The access control unit
Using the identification information included in the read information, the RFID tag circuit element to be accessed is identified among the RFID tag circuit elements sequentially taken out from the cartridge,
The information access unit
The RFID tag circuit element specified by the access control unit is accessed using the high frequency in the UHF band corresponding to the information related to the communication protocol type included in the read information.
A wireless tag information communication apparatus characterized by the above. The wireless tag information communication apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
A first communication interface unit connected to the access control unit for reading information from the storage unit of the cartridge to the access control unit;
The wireless tag information communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cartridge is configured to be detachable from the first communication interface means and includes second communication interface means for reading information from the storage means. In the wireless tag information communication device according to claim 1 or 2,
A wireless tag information communication apparatus, comprising: an information processing control unit that performs an update process of information held in the storage unit in accordance with an access operation of the information access unit controlled by the access control unit. The wireless tag information communication device according to claim 3 ,
The plurality of RFID tag circuit elements of the RFID circuit element housing are carried on a label material so that the identifiers attached to the RFID tag circuit elements are in the order of removal from the cartridge,
The storage means includes, as information relating to the plurality of RFID circuit elements, a start identifier of a RFID circuit element that is first taken out from the cartridge among a plurality of RFID circuit elements in the cartridge, and lastly from the cartridge. It holds the end identifier of the RFID circuit element to be taken out and the next processing identifier of the RFID circuit element to be accessed next at the present time,
The wireless tag information communication apparatus , wherein the information processing control unit performs a transition process of the next processing identifier held in the storage unit according to an access operation of the information access unit. The wireless tag information communication device according to claim 3 ,
A plurality of RFID tag circuit elements of the RFID circuit element housing is carried on a label material, regardless of the order of taking out identifiers attached to the cartridge,
The storage means holds, as information relating to the plurality of RFID circuit elements, identifier strings of all RFID circuit elements in the cartridge and usage number information of RFID circuit elements already accessed at the present time. And
The wireless tag information communication apparatus , wherein the information processing control unit performs an increase process of the usage number information held in the storage unit according to an access operation of the information access unit.

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