WO2000063826A1

WO2000063826A1 - System for locating files

Info

Publication number: WO2000063826A1
Application number: PCT/DE2000/001185
Authority: WO
Inventors: Margarete Habbel; Martin Kemper; Lutz Habbel
Original assignee: Margarete Habbel; Martin Kemper; Lutz Habbel
Priority date: 1999-04-16
Filing date: 2000-04-14
Publication date: 2000-10-26
Also published as: DE19917223C2; DE19917223A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a system for locating files according to which each file (10) presents an individual alphanumerical identification, which is referred to as file number (18). Each file (10) is fitted with a transponder (12) presenting an individual identification referred to as transponder code. The system comprises a hand-held portable reading device (1) for reading the transponder code. The reading device (1) comprises an erasable memory for the identification codes of several files (10). Input means are assigned to the reading device (1) by means of which the identification codes of a number of files (10) to be located can be entered into the memory. The reading device (1) further comprises an electronic comparison circuit which compares the transponder codes received by the reading device (1) with the identification codes, stored in the memory, of the files to be located. The reading device further comprises an electronic evaluation circuit which activates a display device if the comparison circuit detects an agreement.

Description

"Arrangement for locating files"

The invention relates to an arrangement for locating files

In everyday office life, locating files can require a time-consuming search, e.g. on overcrowded desks or, in the case of incorrectly filed files, on a large file shelf. If a file is not in the regular place in the registry, it can either be filed incorrectly or, depending on the office space. nization, for a variety of reasons, to be processed by a wide range of clerks, for example for monitoring deadlines or noting deadlines, because of the entry of a telephone note in this file, or for clerical processing when creating or answering pleadings

By means of what is referred to below as "file documentation"

The procedure can be used to track where the file is currently located. For this purpose, exact documentation of the current file location must be made, for example the removal from the registry must be noted. When the file is subsequently handed over to a clerk, the receipt of the file must also be documented become this can be in writing on paper or electronically with readers, e.g. B. barcode readers, if the files are provided with barcodes accordingly, the readers are advantageously connected to a center in which the location of a particular file can be queried.

This file documentation is comparatively complex and, on the other hand, not free of errors, since the corresponding actions may not be carried out under time pressure, for example.

In any case, even with such documentation, the problem of finding a specific file still arises, because the file is found only manually. For example, if two thematically related files are inserted into one another and therefore the internal file is not recognized when an optical search is carried out initially, or if the file searched is located within a large number of other files, or if the file in the registry is accidentally incorrect Was sorted, the file documentation only allows a rough statement about the location of the file, e.g. B. specifying a room. Until the files are actually found, a considerable search effort is still required.

From DE 198 12 883 A1 it is known to provide antennas at all likely locations of an object, the object itself being provided with a transponder. In this way, a location can be determined as to which of the possible locations the object sought is currently located. Such an arrangement, when applied to the search for files, is suitable for specifying the space in which the file is located. However, as mentioned above, this does not completely solve the concrete finding of the file, so that files, which are filed incorrectly in a registry still cause a considerable search effort

From DE 4322 500 A1 it is known to store file folders in specially equipped archives, the archives being equipped with a power supply and a line for electrical signal transmission and the file folders also having electrical contacts. This system also assumes that the files are stored properly Files, so that within this orderly system the

File can be found quickly The irregularities that occur in practice are not taken into account by this system because, for example, a lack of contact between the files and the correspondingly equipped archives means that the desired signal transmission cannot take place

DE 36 32 754 A1 discloses a device for automatically entering data into a storage device for carrying out inventories, in which a reading device is provided which is suitable for recognizing machine-readable standard letters and which is used for the automatic detection of an inventory during an inventory Applied to the finding of files, the problem arises that the optical recognition of the standard font is not possible, for example, if two files are inserted into one another, so that it would then not be possible to find the inner files. Furthermore, there is the problem that all recognized objects be read in, while finding files would lead to a flood of information that the targeted

Finding individual files would be difficult or impossible

The object of the invention is to make it easier to find files and to provide a suitable arrangement for this purpose This object on which the invention is based is achieved by an arrangement having the features of claim 1.

In other words, the invention proposes an arrangement which essentially consists of an element on each file with individual identification and a movable search or reading device which can recognize these identifications. Because the files to be found are stored in the reading device, this device can filter the incoming signals and only alert the user when one of the files to be found is reached.

The search is carried out with the aid of electronic or electromagnetic signals. As a result, the inner of nested files can also be found reliably. In the individual files, transponders are provided that, without their own energy source, emit an individual identifier, the so-called “transponder identifier”, which is then received and evaluated by the reader, with the appropriate excitation by a so-called “reader”. The transponders with their associated antennas have small structural dimensions and can therefore be easily in file covers or - z. B. designed as a credit card flat badge or adhesive label - attach to the files.

The arrangement according to the invention can not only be used for the pure search processes, but also a file documentation mentioned at the beginning can be carried out with the same arrangement in a cost-saving manner. In this case, several readers located at different locations can be connected to a central computer, the readers each having their own identifier. The files delivered to the respective location are captured by the reader. The

Forwarding the identifiers of file and reader to the Zen tralrechner enables each file to be clearly assigned to its current location.

The reader can detect and distinguish a large number of different transponder identifiers almost simultaneously. According to the invention, it is provided that the files to be searched are stored in the reading device and that when one of these stored files is found, a display device is activated which, for example, emits an acoustic or optical signal. With this signal, the user of the reading device receives the confirmation that one of the files sought is located in the immediate vicinity of the reading device. This can be followed by an intensive manual search with visual control by the searcher. In particular, if the file is stored incorrectly in the registry, the

Search time can be drastically reduced, since not every single file has to be checked "by hand", but rather the reader can be guided past the files very quickly.

The distance that can be bridged between the reading device and the transponder for signal transmission and which still enables the transponder to be reliably recognized by the reading device is usually in the centimeter to decimeter range. It is therefore advantageous that the signaling does not take place when the room in which a file is sought is entered, but rather only in the vicinity of the file sought, so that manual searching can quickly lead to the file being found. The transmission range can also be influenced, in particular restricted, by the design of the transponder and / or the reading device, so that a comparatively precise localization of the files to be found is made possible and the manual search is correspondingly simplified. Influencing the transmission range can e.g. B. by the design of the antennas of the transponder and / or reader, or by the design of the Housing of transponder and / or reader with partially shielding effect, which limits the antenna performance

If several of the files to be found that are listed in the memory have been found by the reading device, the display device can send out a signal modified accordingly, so that the user of the reading device is informed that not only one file in the area of the reading device has to be searched for manually If necessary, the file numbers of the files found can be displayed in clear text on an optical display field of the reading device in order to make it easier for the user to search for the files to be found

If the reading device has an optical display anyway in order to display all the files to be found in the memory, the files found can be optically marked in this list in order to facilitate the search. As parts of an alphanumeric file character, not only numbers and Letters viewed, but also the special characters such as dots, mathematical symbols, (oblique) lines and the like, which are usually provided on a typewriter or computer keyboard

The range of the reading device can advantageously be adjustable.This can be effected, for example, by changing the sensitivity of the receiving antenna of the reading device or by influencing the transmission power of the reading device.This allows a greater range of the reading device to be set in a more sensitive reception mode or stronger transmission mode, so that within the presence of a searched file is displayed in a larger area. The specific localization of the file can then be facilitated by switching the reading device to a shorter range, so that now the The presence of a searched file is only indicated by the reading device when the reading device is already in closer proximity to the relevant file.

An arrangement according to the invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the purely schematic and exemplary drawings. It shows

1 shows a top view of a reading device, FIG. 2 shows a reading device which is arranged in the vicinity of a file during a search process, and FIG. 3 shows a computer with an associated keyboard and with connected components of an arrangement according to the invention.

In the drawings, 1 denotes a reader which has an approximately T-shaped housing 2, with a housing head 3 and a grip area 4. In the housing head 3, an LCD display field 5 is provided, in which a large number of identification drawings 6 are displayed 1, in the form of two columns of such markings 6 in the exemplary embodiment shown. The reading device shown serves purely by way of example for locating files. Each label 6 therefore corresponds to a specific file.

A transmitter / receiver 7 is also provided in the housing head 3, a region of the housing head 3 being able to be characterized purely by way of example by a different surface structure, by a different coloring or in a similar manner in order to inform the user of the direction of radiation of the

Identify the transmitter and therefore simplify the handling of the reader 1.

An electronic memory is also provided in the reading device 1, in which the files to be found can be entered. This entry is made using a in the grip area 4 provided keyboard 8, it being provided purely by way of example to assign a separate key to all letters and all numbers from 0 to 9 and certain special characters.

With the help of an additional function key 9, the keys can be assigned multiple functions and an additional function can be called up for certain keys. For example, "S" can also stand for "search" in addition to entering the letter "S", so that the function key 9 and the "S" key are actuated after the aforementioned input of files to be found, so that the transmitter / receiver 7 of the reader 1 is activated and certain files can be searched with the aid of the reader 1.

If it should be provided that transponder identifiers are entered into the reader 1, it can advantageously be provided that at the latest when the search mode is switched on, the display on the display field 5 is switched from the representation of the entered transponder identifiers as identifiers 6 to the display of file numbers. The entry of the file number directly into the reader 1 is advantageously provided, since this enables a simpler workflow for the user.

First, a list of the files to be searched for is entered into the memory of the reader 1 using the keyboard 8. The entered markings can advantageously be displayed on the display field 5, so that the user has control over the correct entry of data in the

Reader 1 is possible.

In Fig. 2 is shown purely schematically how the reader 1 is aligned with its transmitter / receiver 7 on a file 10. The file 10 has a double-walled spine 11, here between the two walls of the file back 11 the manufacturer's file 10 can be equipped with a circular transponder 12 indicated by dashed lines. Alternatively, such a transponder 12 can be designed in the form of a rectangular, stick-on label, as indicated on the front of the file 10.

In order to prevent injury or removal of the glued-on transponder 12 from the outside of the file 10, in contrast to the exemplary embodiment shown, this glued-on transponder 12 can also be attached to the inside of the file cover, since this affects the transmission or reception performance of the reading device 1 is irrelevant.

If a comparison circuit provided in the reader 1 determines a correspondence between the transponder identifier of the transponder 12 on the file 10 and an identifier stored in the memory of the reader 1, an audible alarm sounds. At the same time, the corresponding marking 6 is marked on the display field 5, for example by a color change, by underlining, by an optical signal appearing next to this marking or in a similar manner distinguishable from the other markings 6. The user can firstly stop on the basis of the acoustic signal in his search movement and secondly read off on the display field 5 which files must be in the vicinity of the housing head 3, which he can then search for by hand in a comparatively simple manner.

If the reading device 1 leaves the transmission range in which signal transmission from the transponder 12 of the file 10 is possible, the marking disappears. In this way, the manual search is made easier because sets can only be the marked files in the vicinity of the reader 1.

The electronic circuit of the reading device 1 can, after such a positive comparison between the received transponder identification and the memory entry remove the corresponding marking 6 automatically from the memory and from the display field 5. However, it is advantageously provided that the user deletes a marking 6 entered in the memory of the reading device 1 by hand or at least confirms a suggestion for deletion of the reading device 1.

In this way, the user can check whether the file has actually been found and is therefore reliable from the one present in the memory of the reading device 1

List of files still to be searched can be deleted. In particular, when a signal was first given when quickly searching a file shelf, but the further movement of the reading device 1, however, led to the marking of the relevant identification 6 in the display field 5 being extinguished because the

Has been left in the transmission range, this marking is advantageously not automatically deleted. Rather, the reader 1 can be guided back into the transmission area, so that signaling takes place again, a marking 6 is marked and then the manual one

Searches can begin. After the relevant file has been found, the file can then be manually deleted from the memory of the reading device 1.

3 shows an arrangement of several components. Connection cables are indicated purely by way of example, although wireless connections, for. B. are possible by means of infrared interfaces. A computer 14 is schematically indicated, which has a keyboard 15 known per se. When a file 10 is created, an alphanumeric file number can therefore first be assigned to the file 10, this file number being designated 18 in FIG. 2 and can be attached to the file 10 by means of an adhesive label or by hand. Provision can be made to attach the file number 18 directly to the transponder 12, eg. B. if the transponder 12 is made as a writable adhesive label is designed. This individual alphanumeric identification of the file in the form of the file number 18 is entered into a computer database using the keyboard 15.

A transponder shell 17 is connected to the computer 14

This transponder shell 17 has a trough 19 into which a transponder 12 can be inserted. The alphanumeric transponder identifier of the transponder 12 located in the recess 19 can now be displayed via the computer 14 and its monitor. This transponder identifier can be entered into a database along with other data when the new file is created. In addition to the transponder identifier, this database also contains at least the file number 18, so that this database is referred to as a comparison list, which unambiguously assigns the human-readable ones

File number 18 and the recognizable for the reader 1 transponder identifiers.

A reader 1 is connected to the computer 14 via connection means 16, so that a comparison list of this type can be loaded into the reader 1 from the computer 14 and the current comparison list is present in the reader 1 in the case of changing files.

The reader can be battery operated, the accumulators such. B. are chargeable in that the entire reader 1 is placed in a charging cradle, not shown, without it having to be opened and the batteries must be removed. This charging cradle can also create a wired or wireless data connection between the computer 14 and the reading device 1 via contacts provided on the housing of the reading device 1.

It can be particularly advantageous to use the transponder shell 17 not only for reading out the transponder identifier, but when using writable transponder codes. ponder 12 also as a writing device. In this case, the transponder identifier can be set up according to the wishes of the user, so that the transponder identifier can correspond to the alphanumeric identifier that forms the file number 18 in a particularly simple manner without using a comparison list, as is otherwise the case with transmission errors can occur when creating or evaluating the comparison list mentioned are excluded

If not loose transponders 12 are used, but

Files 10 with transponders 12 already attached can advantageously be used with a file tray 20, also shown in FIG. 3, which enables a defined arrangement of the files in the file tray 20 by means of a side stop 21 and a rear side 22, so that a reliable reading respectively

Write access to the transponder 12 provided in the file 10 can take place by the read or write head of the file shell 20 being closely adjacent to the transponder 12. If necessary, use can be made of file covers from different manufacturers, with correspondingly different locations for attaching the transponders to the file cover, the read - or write head of the file shell 20 can be adjustably mounted

The connection of the reader 1 to the computer 14 makes the keyboard relatively complicated to operate

10 for all files 10 to be created or provided with a transponder 12 avoided. Instead, the corresponding data is simply transferred from the computer 14 into the reading device 1. The keyboard 8 of the reading device 1 is only used to enter the smaller number of files to be searched for, but also here A connection to the computer 14 can be provided such that the "search list" is also created in the computer 14 and then transferred to the memory of the reader 1 via the connection means 16. In this way, the reader 1 can advantageously be made small and lightweight and the input from alpha- Numerical data can be made for the user with the usual PC keyboard 15. As expected, the handling of this keyboard 15 is faster and, above all, more secure, so that the incorrect input of characters can be reduced compared to the use of non-PC keyboards.

In particular, if the comparison list mentioned is used, the connection of the reading device 1 via the connection means 16 to the computer 14 can enable a reduction in the storage capacity required in the reading device. In this case, the complete comparison list of the entire file inventory need not be provided in the reading device 1, but it can be provided that the list of the files to be found is compiled in the computer 14 and only a small comparison list which contains only these files to be found is sent to the reading device transfer.

Claims

Claims:

1. Arrangement for locating files (10), each file (10) having an individual alphanumeric identifier, referred to as file number (18), and wherein each file (10) is provided with a transponder (12) that has an individual, has designated as a transponder identifier, with a handheld portable reader (1) for

Reading out the transponder identifier, the reading device (1) having an erasable memory for the identification of a number of files (10), and wherein the reading device (1) is assigned input means such that the identification of a number of files (10) to be found in via these input means the memory can be entered, and wherein the reading device (1) has an electronic circuit called a comparison circuit which compares the transponder identifiers received by the reading device (1) with the identifications of the files (10) to be found in the memory, and wherein the reading device (1 ) has an electronic circuit referred to as an evaluation circuit, which in the case of a circuit identified by the comparison circuit

Match activated a display device.

2. Arrangement according to claim 1, characterized in that the evaluation circuit is effectively connected to the memory, such that, after a match determined by the comparison circuit, the identification of the relevant file (10) is deleted from the memory.

3. Arrangement according to claim 2, characterized by a

Confirmation button and an electronic switch device, which deletes the deletion only after pressing the confirmation key.

Arrangement according to one of Claims 1 to 3, characterized by an electronic memory referred to as a comparison list, which contains file numbers (18) on the one hand and transponder identifiers on the other hand, a transponder identifier being assigned to each file number (18).

5. Arrangement according to claim 4, characterized by connection means (16) to a computer (14), such that the comparison list from the computer (14) in a designated as a second comparison list electronic memory of the reader (1) is transferable.

6. Arrangement according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the transponder identifier with the file number (18) is identical.

7. Arrangement according to claim 6, characterized by a transponder (12) with a user-writable identification, and by a writing device for entering a transponder identifier in a transponder (12).

8. Arrangement according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by an acoustic display device

9 Arrangement according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by an alphanumeric character display field (5).

10. Arrangement according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by connecting means to a computer

(14), such that the computer keyboard (15) inputs means of the reader (1).

11. Arrangement according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by connection means to a computer (14), such that the memory of the reading device (1) can be written on by means of the computer keyboard (15).

12. Arrangement according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the range of the reading device is adjustable.