Toshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha

Takashi Tomiyama

Sadatoshi Oishi

Hiroyuki Ishikawa

Yuki Koike

Yuki Kawasaki

Fumiharu Nakayama

Koki Nakamura

Toshihiro Imai

Hitoshi Iizaka

Masayuki Nakaeda

Masahito Sano

Yoshiyuki Hirahara

A communication apparatus includes an antenna, a driving unit, a reading control unit, an acquisition unit, and a setting unit. The driving unit is configured to move a relative position of the antenna relative to one or more wireless tags. The measurement control unit is configured to control measurement of tag data of the one or more wireless tags based on reception of radio waves from the one or more wireless tags by the antenna. The acquisition unit is configured to acquire the number of the one or more wireless tags based on the measurement of the tag data of the one or more wireless tags that is accompanied by the movement of the relative position at a first moving speed. The setting unit is configured to set a second moving speed of the relative position based on the acquired number of the one or more wireless tags. The measurement control unit controls measurement of the tag data of the one or more wireless tags that is accompanied by movement of the relative position at the set second moving speed.

Communication apparatus and method

An image forming apparatus, comprising a conveying component configured to convey a first sheet having a first wireless tag and a second sheet having a second wireless tag; a printer configured to form an image in a sheet conveyed by the conveying component; an antenna configured to transmit a radio wave in a first polarization direction and a second polarization direction which is different polarization direction from the first polarization direction; and a processor that starts to convey the first sheet by the conveying component; acquires a response to the radio wave of the first polarization direction transmitted by the antenna from the first wireless tag provided on the first sheet during the first sheet being conveyed by the conveying component, start to convey the second sheet by the conveying component; acquires a response to the radio wave of the second polarization direction transmitted by the antenna from the second wireless tag provided on the second sheet during the second sheet being conveyed by the conveying component, and determines, from the first polarization direction and second polarization direction, the polarization direction appropriate with respect to the first wireless tag and the second wireless tag.

Wireless tag communication device, image forming apparatus, and method

A conductive sheet that is configured to be stacked between a sheet tray of an image forming device and a sheet. The conductive sheet includes a base layer and a regulator. The base layer comprises a conductive material. The base layer is configured to be stacked between the sheet tray and the sheet so that the conductive material overlaps with a wireless tag of the sheet. The regulator is configured to regulate conveyance of the conductive sheet by the image forming device when the conductive sheet is stacked between the sheet tray and the sheet so that the conductive material overlaps with the wireless tag of the sheet.

Conductive sheet and sheet bundle package

An image forming apparatus includes a forming device, a wireless tag communication device, an external communication interface, and a processor. The forming device forms an image on a sheet including a wireless tag. The wireless tag communication device performs wireless communication with the wireless tag included in the sheet. The external communication interface acquires an image forming data file from another device through communication. The processor forms the image on the sheet by controlling the forming device based on information included in the image forming data file if the image forming data file includes an instruction for image formation, and sets parameters of the wireless tag communication device based on information included in the image forming data file if the image forming data file includes an instruction for wireless tag communication setting.

Image forming apparatus and control method using image forming data file

An image forming apparatus includes a wireless tag communication device to write data to, and read data from, a wireless tag attached to a sheet. An image forming device in the apparatus is configured to form an image on the sheet. A controller in the apparatus is configured to determine whether a writing of data to a wireless tag was successful based on a notification from the wireless tag communication device and generate investigation support information if the writing was not successful and control the image forming device to form an investigation support image corresponding to the investigation support information if the writing was not successful.

Image forming apparatus that forms image based on information from wireless tag

A wireless tag communication device includes an antenna, a first maximum value acquiring unit, a second maximum value acquiring unit, a first minimum value acquiring unit, a second minimum value acquiring unit, and a polarization direction determining unit. The wireless tag communication device acquires, for each of n wireless tags provided on a sheet, a maximum value M() of a received power intensity of the wireless tag when the radio wave is transmitted from the antenna to the sheet in a first polarization direction; acquires, for each of the wireless tags, a maximum value M() of a received power intensity of the wireless tag when the radio wave is transmitted from the antenna in a second polarization direction that is different from the first polarization direction; acquires a minimum value mof M(); acquires a minimum value mof M(); and determines the polarization direction along which one of mand mthat is not smaller is acquired as the polarization direction of the radio wave transmitted to the sheet.

A sheet conveyance device has a sheet conveyance path with a first path and a second path. A wireless tag communication device can write information to a wireless tag on a sheet on the first and second paths and receive responses from the wireless tag. A controller controls the wireless tag communication device to attempt to write information to the wireless tag while on the first path, then determines whether information has been written to the wireless tag on the first path according to a response received from the wireless tag. The controller switches a conveyance destination for the sheet to the second path if the information has not been written or to a discharge location if the information has been written. The controller then controls the wireless tag communication device to attempt to write information to the wireless tag while the sheet is on the second path.

Sheet conveyance device and method for writing to a wireless tag

A tag communication device includes a communication device and one or more control processors configured to cause the communication device to transmit a first command for notifying selection of a wireless tag including an identification code including a mask pattern that is a part of the common portion of identification codes. The one or more control processors are configured to cause the communication device to transmit a second command for requesting a response to the selected wireless tag and to cause the communication device to transmit a third command for requesting rewriting to the wireless tag that transmits data in response to receiving the data transmitted from one wireless tag. The one or more control processors are configured to cause a repeat of transmission of the second command if a third command is transmitted until the third commands are transmitted to each of a predetermined number of the wireless tags.

Tag communication device and information processing method

According to an embodiment, an image forming apparatus includes a sheet conveyance unit that is configured to transport a print medium along a conveyance path. An antenna is configured to emit radio waves towards a predetermined portion of the conveyance path. A controller is configured to control the antenna to emit the radio waves towards the predetermined portion with a polarization direction set according to a type of the print medium being transported by the sheet conveyance unit. The print medium may have, for example, one or more wireless tags thereon or therein.

Image forming apparatus

A conductive sheet capable of preventing erroneous reading and writing is provided. The conductive sheet according to one embodiment is configured to be positioned between a sheet tray of an image forming device and a sheet. The conductive sheet includes a base layer and a double conveyance prevention structure. The base layer comprises a conductive material positioned to overlap with a wireless tag of the sheet. The double conveyance prevention structure is coupled to or defined by the base layer. The double conveyance prevention structure is configured to prevent conveyance of the conductive sheet by the image forming apparatus when the conductive sheet overlaps the sheet in the sheet tray.

A sheet conveyance device includes a roller by which a sheet having a wireless tag is conveyed along a path, a communication device configured to transmit a radio signal to the wireless tag and receive a response signal therefrom, and a processor configured to repeatedly perform a process of controlling the roller to convey a sheet along the path while controlling the communication device to transmit the radio signal to a wireless tag of the sheet using a transmission power that is different in each repeat, and acquire a strength of the response signal from the wireless tag, and specify a minimum strength of the response signal that has been acquired in the repeated process, the minimum strength being equal to or greater than a threshold, and set a transmission power that has been used when the minimum strength has been acquired as a reference strength of the radio signal.

Sheet conveyance device and method

According to an embodiment, a control device for an image forming apparatus includes a controller that acquires reference information corresponding to expected signal strength values from a wireless tag on a sheet moving along a conveyance path and also acquires measured signal strength values for a first wireless tag on a sheet from a wireless tag communication device. The controller calculates a similarity value from the measured signal strength values and the expected signal strength values to determine whether the first wireless tag is on a sheet moving along the conveyance path. The controller controls the wireless tag communication device to write information to the first wireless tag when the calculated similarity value is above a threshold similarity value.

Growing community of inventors

Sunto Shizuoka, Japan

Takashi Tomiyama