JPH0863539A - Item identification method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To provide an article identification method capable of reliably identifying an article to be identified with a simple configuration. [Structure] An electromagnetic induction coil 13 having a number of turns unique to each identified article is attached to an optical connector 11 which is an identified article, and is connected to an electrode 14. A base 17 is provided on the article identification device side, and supports the permanent magnet 15 via the piezoelectric element 16. At the time of identification, the base 17 is moved at a predetermined interval with respect to the optical connector 11 at the identification position, and the electrode 14 is connected to the electrode on the base 17 side. In this state, an AC voltage is applied to the piezoelectric element 16,
The permanent magnet 15 is vibrated, and the electromotive force of the electromagnetic induction coil 13 is measured on the article identification device side. The optical connector can be identified by varying the number of turns, the cross-sectional area, and the like of the electromagnetic induction coils 13 of the plurality of optical connectors 11 to be identified.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for identifying products such as products, products and connectors. It can also be used in a subscriber line optical fiber core management system of a communication line network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a system has been developed in which an item such as a product or a product is provided with an identifier for identifying the item, the identifier is recognized, and each item is identified. For example, a system in which a barcode is printed on a product and the product is optically read to identify each product has been put into practical use and widely used. This barcode-based product identification system requires a large area for printing a barcode, which is an identification code, on the surface of the product to be identified. Therefore, it is difficult to print a bar code on a small part such as a line connector, and even if it can be printed, a special and expensive reading device is required.

As another article identification device, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-17
As disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 4406, a method is known in which a memory element is attached to a connector, electrically connected to an article identification device, and information stored in the memory element is read to identify an article. There is. In such an identification method, since the memory element can be made small, it can be attached to a small article. However, in order to electrically connect and read information, four or more reading electrodes are required.
Therefore, there is a problem that the reading unit becomes large.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an article identifying method and a connector which can reliably identify an article to be identified with a simple structure. It is intended to provide.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an article identifying method, wherein the article to be identified is provided with a magnetic field detecting means and the article identifying apparatus is provided with a magnetic field generating means. It is characterized in that the detection sensitivity of the magnetic field detecting means is varied depending on the article to be identified, and the article to be identified is identified by the voltage or current detected by the magnetic field detecting means.

According to a second aspect of the invention, in the article identifying method, the article to be identified is provided with a magnetic field generating means, the article identifying device side is provided with a magnetic field detecting means, and the magnitude of the magnetic field generated by the magnetic field generating means. It is characterized in that the object to be identified is identified by the voltage or current detected by the magnetic field detecting means.

According to a third aspect of the invention, in the article identifying method according to the first or second aspect, an electromagnetic induction coil is used as the magnetic field detecting means, and a magnet is used as the magnetic field generating means. It is a thing.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, in the article identifying method according to the third aspect, the electromagnetic induction coil or the magnet provided on the article identifying device side is vibrated.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention, in the article identifying method according to the fourth aspect, one of the electromagnetic induction coil and the magnet is attached to a piezoelectric element,
An alternating voltage is applied to the piezoelectric element to vibrate the electromagnetic induction coil or the magnet.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the article identifying method according to the second aspect, a hall element is used as the magnetic field detecting means.

According to a seventh aspect of the invention, in the article identifying method according to any one of the first to seventh aspects, the article to be identified is an optical fiber connector. is there.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the article identifying method according to any one of the first to seventh aspects, the identified article is a connector for connecting a communication line. is there.

[0013]

According to the present invention, since the magnetic field generating means or the magnetic field detecting means is simply attached to the article to be identified, the structure is simple. By using the electromagnetic induction coil as the magnetic field detecting means and the magnet as the magnetic field generating means, it can be mounted on a small article at a low cost, and the connection from the identification object side to the article identification device side is performed by a bipolar electrode. This is sufficient, and the size of the connecting portion can be reduced. Further, when a permanent magnet is used as the magnet and is attached to the article to be identified, it is not necessary to make an electrical connection with the article identifying device side.

By vibrating the electromagnetic induction coil or the magnet provided on the article identifying device side, the magnetic field can be easily detected. By attaching either one of the electromagnetic induction coil or the magnet to the piezoelectric element and applying an AC voltage to the piezoelectric element, the electromagnetic induction coil or the magnet can be vibrated by a simple mechanism. If a Hall element is used as the magnetic field detection means on the article identification device side, it is possible to detect even a DC magnetic field.

On the side of the article identifying device, it is sufficient to provide a means for measuring the voltage or current, so that the article to be identified can be easily identified. Also, when the present invention is applied to a connector for connecting an optical fiber or a communication line, since the structure is simple, it is possible to suppress the connector, which tends to be large, to a small size.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining one embodiment of the article identifying method of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is an article to be identified, 2 is an identification unit, and 3 is an article identification device. An identification unit 2 is attached to the identification target article 1.
The identification unit 2 is a magnetic field generation unit or a magnetic field detection unit, and the article identification device 3 is a magnetic field detection unit or a magnetic field generation unit.

When the article identifying device 3 is provided with magnetic field detecting means, the voltage or current detected by the magnetic field detecting means is measured by the article identifying device 3. In this case, the magnitude of the magnetic field generated by the magnetic field generating means of the identification unit 2 attached to the item to be identified 1 varies depending on the item to be identified 1. Therefore, the magnitude of the detected voltage or current varies depending on the article to be identified 1.

When the magnetic field generating means is provided in the article identifying device 3, the voltage or current detected by the magnetic field detecting means in the identifying unit 2 is introduced into the article identifying device 3 by the connecting electrode and measured. In this case, the detection sensitivity of the magnetic field detecting means of the identification unit 2 attached to the identification target article 1 differs depending on the identification target article 1. Therefore, the magnitude of the detected voltage or current varies depending on the article to be identified 1.

Although the connection electrodes for the identification unit 2 and the article identification device 3 are shown, the connection electrodes may be unnecessary in some cases.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a first concrete example of the above-mentioned embodiment. In this specific example, an electromagnetic induction coil is used as the magnetic field detection means provided in the identification unit 2 attached to the identification target article 1, and a permanent magnet is used as the magnetic field generation means on the article identification device side. In the figure,
Reference numeral 11 is an optical connector, 12 is an optical fiber, 13 is an electromagnetic induction coil, 14 is an electrode, 15 is a permanent magnet, 16 is a piezoelectric element, and 17 is a base. In this example, the optical connector 11 to which the optical fiber 12 is connected is the article to be identified, the electromagnetic induction coil 13 is provided as the identification unit, and the electrode 14 is provided.
It is connected to the. A base 17 is provided on the article identification device side, and supports the permanent magnet 15 via the piezoelectric element 16. Although not shown, the base 17 is provided with an electrode portion connected to the electrode 14 at the time of identification, and introduces a voltage or current from the electromagnetic induction coil 13 to the article identification device side. A measuring circuit for measuring the introduced voltage or current is provided on the article identifying device side.

The identification method will be described. An attempt is made to identify the optical connector 11, which is the article to be identified. The base 17 moves so as to approach the optical connector 11 at the identification position, the optical connector 11 side and the base 17 are placed at a predetermined interval, and at the same time, the electrode 14 on the optical connector side is the base. It is connected to the electrode on the 17 side. In this state, an AC voltage is applied to the piezoelectric element 16 to vibrate the permanent magnet 15. here,
If the number of turns of the electromagnetic induction coil 13 is n, the cross-sectional area is S, the magnetic flux is φ, and the magnetic flux density is B, the electromotive force V of the electromagnetic induction coil 13 is V = −n (dφ / dt) = − nS (dB / Dt). The magnetic flux density B changes due to the vibration of the permanent magnet 15, but the electromagnetic induction coil 13 and the base 17 at the time of identification.
Since the distance between and is constant, (dB / dt) is a constant value.

By varying the number of turns n and the cross-sectional area S of each electromagnetic induction coil 13 of the plurality of optical connectors 11 to be identified, the voltage or current corresponding to the electromotive force V of the electromagnetic induction coil 13 is identified. The optical connector can be identified by measuring at the device side.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a second specific example. In this specific example, a permanent magnet is used as the magnetic field generation means provided in the identification unit 2 attached to the identification target article 1, and an electromagnetic induction coil is used as the magnetic field detection means on the article identification device side. In the figure, the same parts as those in FIG. 18 is a permanent magnet, 1
Reference numeral 9 is an electromagnetic induction coil. Also in this example, the optical fiber 1
The optical connector 11 to which 2 is connected is an item to be identified. A permanent magnet 18 is provided as an identification unit attached to the optical connector 11. The magnetic flux generated by the permanent magnet 18 differs depending on the optical connector. A base 17 is provided on the article identification device side, and supports the electromagnetic induction coil 19 via the piezoelectric element 16. A measurement circuit for measuring the output voltage or output current from the electromagnetic induction coil 19 is provided on the article identification device side.

The identification method will be described. An attempt is made to identify the optical connector 11, which is the article to be identified. The base 17 moves so as to approach the optical connector 11 at the identification position, the optical connector 11 side and the base 17 are placed at a predetermined interval, and an AC voltage is applied to the piezoelectric element 16, The electromagnetic induction coil 19 is vibrated. The electromotive force V of the electromagnetic induction coil 19 has the same relationship as the above equation. In this specific example, since the magnetic flux density B differs depending on the permanent magnet 18,
The optical connector can be identified by measuring the voltage or current corresponding to the electromotive force V of the electromagnetic induction coil 19.

In the above two specific examples, the electromagnetic induction coil and the permanent magnet are used, but it goes without saying that an electromagnet may be used instead of the permanent magnet. When the electromagnet is used to excite with a direct current, the electromagnetic induction coil or the electromagnet may be vibrated on the article identifying device side, as in the specific example described above. When an electromagnet is attached to the article to be identified, it is preferable to attach an electrode and excite it with a constant current circuit from the article identifying device side. The magnitude of the magnetic flux generated can be changed by changing the number of turns and the area of the coil. It is also possible to excite the electromagnet with an alternating current. In this case, it is not necessary to vibrate the electromagnetic induction coil or the magnet in both the first and second specific examples.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view for explaining another embodiment of the article identifying method of the present invention. In the figure, the same parts as those in FIG. Reference numeral 21 is a hall element, and 22 is a support member. The optical connector 11 has
The permanent magnet 18 is attached to generate a DC magnetic field, and the magnetic flux is detected by the Hall element 21 supported by the support member 22 on the side of the article to be identified. Since the Hall element can detect the DC magnetic flux, it is not necessary to vibrate the Hall element side. As described above, an electromagnet can be used instead of the permanent magnet, but when a permanent magnet is used, it is not necessary to supply a current to the item to be identified and it is not necessary to vibrate the Hall element. A very simple structure can be realized.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an application example when the present invention is applied to connection of an optical fiber cable. In the figure, 31 is a connection plate, 32 is a connector, 33 is a permanent magnet,
34 is an optical fiber, 35 is an optical cable, 36 is a control device, 37 is an identification unit, and 38 is an identification control unit. In this example, an optical cable is connected at a manhole or a relay station. The control device 36 is composed of a CPU, an exchange, and the like. Optical cable 3 extending from control device 36
5 is combined with another optical cable at a manhole or a relay station. When connecting an optical cable, it is necessary to combine each optical fiber 34 in the optical cable with an optical fiber in another optical cable. Connectors 32 are provided at the ends of the optical fibers 34 on both sides, and a permanent magnet 33 for identifying each connector 32 is provided on each connector 32.
Is provided. The connector 32 provided with the permanent magnet 33 is attached to the connection plate 31 provided with the identification unit 37. By attaching the connector 32, the connection plate 31
The optical fibers 34 attached to both surfaces of the optical fiber will be coupled to each other. At the same time, the permanent magnet 33 provided on the connector 32 is detected by the identification unit 37 as a current corresponding to the magnetic flux, and the identification control unit 38 stores the identification information. The control device 36 processes the connector identification result and the arrangement information. Using these pieces of information, the control device 36 can detect which connector is connected to which connector. For the connection between the control device 36 and the identification control unit 38, a specific optical cable or electric wire in the optical cable may be used, or a separately arranged electric wire may be used.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of connection of optical fibers.
In the figure, parts similar to those in FIG. Each optical fiber 34 in the two optical cables 35
Are attached and joined to the connecting plate as described in FIG. At this time, by grasping the correspondence of the optical fibers at each relay point, that is, which optical fiber is coupled to which optical fiber, the optical fiber connected to the control device 36 and the optical fiber at the end of the laid optical cable are grasped. It is possible to grasp the correspondence of the fiber. For example,
The connectors 32 provided on the optical fibers 34 in the optical cable 35 connected to the control device 36 are connected to A1 and B
1 ,. ． ． , And the connector 32 provided on the optical fiber 34 in another optical cable is connected to A2, B2 ,. ． ． And
The connector 32 is attached to a connection plate (not shown) to couple the optical fibers. At this time, if it is assumed that the connectors are connected as shown in FIG. 6 (A), then in the control device 36, the respective connectors A1, B1, A2, and the like are identified by the identification information from the identification control unit.
B2 ,. ． ． Identify connectors A1 and A2, B1 and B
The combined information that 2 has been combined is obtained. Such connection information is obtained at each connection point such as a manhole or a relay point. By following this combined information, the control device 3
It is possible to control which optical fiber is connected to 6 and which device is connected to which device along the way.

Conventionally, work has been performed so that each optical fiber is accurately coupled at the connection point, and the coupling relationship of the optical fibers is maintained. However, by performing management using the coupling information as described above, the optical fibers are appropriately coupled at the connection point, and for example, A1 and B2 and B1 and A2 are coupled as shown in FIG. 6B. Even in such a case, the connection state of each fiber can be grasped from this coupling information. Therefore, the connecting work at the connection point is only required to attach an appropriate optical fiber connector to the PCB, and then the control device 36 may be configured to select the optical fiber, which greatly simplifies the connecting work.
In addition, it is possible to prevent wiring mistakes.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram showing another mode of an application example when the present invention is applied to the connection of an optical fiber cable. In the figure, parts similar to those in FIG. In FIG. 5, an example is shown in which optical fiber connectors are attached from both sides of the connection plate and the optical fibers are coupled, but in this example, the optical fibers are coupled by the connectors 32.

The application examples of the optical cable connection described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 7 can be directly applied to the communication cable connection. In the case of a communication cable, since it is sufficient to electrically connect the electric wires in the communication cable at the connection point, it is not always necessary to connect the electric wires facing each other as shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. The electric wires can be identified by the identification units arranged side by side and attached to the electric wires. Also in this case, connection management can be performed based on the connection information of each electric wire, connection work can be simplified, and connection mistakes can be prevented.

Further, as another application example, the present invention can be applied to a lending business such as video tapes, CDs, cassette tapes, and books. For example, videotape, CD,
An identification unit is attached to a lending item such as a cassette tape or a book, and when the user brings the lending item to the counter at the time of lending, the lending item is set in the item identifying device of the present invention. Then, as described above, it is possible to specify the rented item by detecting the magnetic flux and input the data of the lent item as it is to the lending management system or the like.

Further, as another application example, a large number of sections are provided on a plane, for example, a hall element is provided in each section, and a permanent magnet is attached to an article arranged on this plane. It is possible to detect the position where the article is placed by the output of the Hall element. For example, a game board can be considered as a plane and a piece can be considered as an article. For each piece,
Depending on the type, permanent magnets having different magnetic forces may be provided. Further, it is possible to consider a case where a schedule table is used as a plane and a plate on which an actual work is written is used as an article. In this case, a different permanent magnet may be provided for each work.

[0034]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, since the magnetic field generating means or the magnetic field detecting means is simply attached to the article to be identified, it is inexpensive and can be mounted on a small article. In particular, if it is used in a system for monitoring the connection state of the communication line, the module mounted on the connector can be downsized and the configuration can be simplified. Therefore, it is more effective when used in a core switching system for an outdoor rail network.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining an embodiment of an article identification method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a first specific example in the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a second specific example in the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for explaining another embodiment of the article identifying method of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an application example when the present invention is applied to connection of an optical fiber cable.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of connection of optical fibers.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram showing another mode of an application example when the present invention is applied to connection of an optical fiber cable.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... To-be-identified article, 2 ... Identification unit, 3 ... Article identification device, 11 ... Optical connector, 12 ... Optical fiber, 13 ... Electromagnetic induction coil, 14 ... Electrode, 15 ... Permanent magnet, 16 ... Piezoelectric element, 17 ... Base Table, 18 ... Permanent magnet, 19 ... Electromagnetic induction coil, 21 ... Hall element, 22 ... Support member, 31 ... Connection plate, 32 ... Connector, 33 ... Permanent magnet, 34 ... Optical fiber, 35 ... Optical cable, 36 ... Control device , 37 ... Electromagnetic induction coil, 38 ... Identification control unit.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Koichi Kojima, 1 Taya-cho, Sakae-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. Yokohama Works (72) Inventor, Katsuya Yamashita 1-6 Uchisai-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo No. Japan Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (72) Inventor Fumio Otsuki 1-1-6 Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nihon Telegraph and Telephone Corp.

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An article to be identified is provided with a magnetic field detecting means, an article identifying device side is provided with a magnetic field generating means, and the detection sensitivity of the magnetic field detecting means is varied depending on the article to be identified, and is detected by the magnetic field detecting means. An article identifying method, characterized in that the article to be identified is identified by the applied voltage or current. 2. An article to be identified is provided with a magnetic field generation means, an article identification device side is provided with a magnetic field detection means, and the magnitude of the magnetic field generated by the magnetic field generation means is varied depending on the article to be identified. An article identification method, characterized in that the article to be identified is identified by the voltage or current detected by the detection means. 3. The article identifying method according to claim 1, wherein an electromagnetic induction coil is used as the magnetic field detecting means, and a magnet is used as the magnetic field generating means. 4. The article identifying method according to claim 3, wherein the electromagnetic induction coil or the magnet provided on the article identifying apparatus side is vibrated. 5. The electromagnetic induction coil or the magnet is attached to a piezoelectric element, and an AC voltage is applied to the piezoelectric element to vibrate the electromagnetic induction coil or the magnet. Item identification method according to item 4. 6. The article identifying method according to claim 2, wherein a Hall element is used as the magnetic field detecting means. 7. The article identifying method according to claim 1, wherein the article to be identified is an optical fiber connector. 8. The article to be identified is a connector for connecting a communication line.
Item identification method according to item.