This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-75303, filed on Mar. 16, 2005, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatuses for placing articles with radio-frequency-identification (RFID) tags and communicating with the RFID tags.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various systems have been developed to communicate with RFID tags stuck to articles to transfer information. It is desirable for apparatuses for reading and writing RFID tags stuck to articles and having an antenna for communicating with the RFID tags with the minimum electric power.
However, there are various relationships between the directivity of antennas and RFID tags stuck to articles. Accordingly, a large amount of power is required to constantly provide preferable communication.
The invention has been made in consideration of the problems of the related art. Accordingly, an advantage of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for placing an article with an RFID tag, which is capable of communicating with the RFID tag efficiently with low power.
To achieve the above advantage, one aspect of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for placing an article with an RFID tag. The apparatus includes: a first table and a second table on which an article with an RFID tag is to be placed; a retaining mechanism for selectively retaining the first table and the second table in a state in which the second table is placed on the first table and in a state in which the first table and the second table are apart from each other vertically by a specified distance; a first article detector and a second article detector disposed on the upper surface of the first table and the upper surface of the second table, respectively, for detecting that the article has been placed; and an antenna communicating with the RFID tag, with the directivity aimed upward when the second article detector has detected the article, and with the directivity aimed downward when the first article detector has detected the article.
An aspect of the invention has an advantage of providing an apparatus for placing an article with an RFID tag capable of communicating with the RFID tag efficiently with low power.
An embodiment of the invention will be described hereinbelow with reference to the drawings.
The RFID-tag mount apparatus 10 includes a first table 11 and a second table 12 on which articles may be placed, a first article detector 13 disposed on the top of the first table 11, a second article detector 14 disposed on the top of the second table 12, foldable mechanisms 15a and 15b disposed on the sides of the first and second tables 11 and 12, and retaining the first and second tables 11 and 12 selectively in a state in which the second table 12 is placed on the first table 11 and in a state in which the tables 11 and 12 are vertically separated; and a patch antenna 16 disposed under the second table.
The bent mechanism 15a includes rod-like members 17a and 18a and a hinge 19a for rotatably connecting the members 17a and 18a at the ends. The bent mechanism 15b includes rod-like members 17b and 18b and a hinge 19b for rotatably connecting the members 17b and 18b at the ends.
As shown in
On the other hand, as shown in
For example, when a document file of large number of sheets of paper each having an RFID tag on the top is placed as the article 36, as shown in
The embodiment has been described for the case in which a patch antenna is used as the antenna of the reader and writer. The use of the patch antenna offers the advantage of facilitating switching between upward directivity and downward directivity. However, the antenna for use in the invention is not limited to this type of antenna, but may be any other antennas that can switch between the directivity forward and downward.
While the embodiment has been described for the case in which an antenna is disposed on the lower surface of the upper second table, the antenna may be disposed on the upper surface of the second table. The article detector may be either a pressure sensor that detects articles with pressure or an optical sensor that detects articles optically from the interception of light.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2005-075303 | Mar 2005 | JP | national |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
6641042 | Pierenkemper et al. | Nov 2003 | B1 |
20050171854 | Lyon | Aug 2005 | A1 |
20050218219 | Sano et al. | Oct 2005 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
2000-198505 | Jul 2000 | JP |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20060220860 A1 | Oct 2006 | US |