Inspection system and cash register system

Abstract

Provided is an inspection system that uses RFIDs to inspect articles such as valuables, and is capable of detecting that articles are present with an RF tag that cannot be read. An inspection system where products (9) with types capable of being specified by a weight difference are set as an inspection target, the inspection system for inspecting the products (9) provided with RF tags (8) on which information of the products (9) is recorded, and provided with: an RF reading device (1) for reading the information of the products (9) from the RF tags (8) of the products (9) placed on a placement platform (22); a weight measuring device (2) for measuring and recording weights of the products (9); and a management control device (3) for using measurement results of the weight measuring device (2) to ascertain a total weight of the products (9) on the placement platform (22). The management control device (3) is provided with a function for ascertaining the weights of the products (9) on the placement platform (22) based on standard weights of the products (9) from the information obtained from the RF reading device (1), measuring the total weight of the products (9) on the placement platform (22) by using the measurement results of the weight measuring device (2), performing a comparison between a calculated weight of the products (9) obtained from the RF reading device (1) and a total weight of the products (9) obtained from the measurement results of the weight measuring device (2), and estimating whether or not the totals of the number of the products (9) are matching.

1 - 13 . (canceled) 
     
     
         14 . An inspection system comprising:
 a radio frequency (RF) reader, wherein the RF reader is configured to read information recorded on RF tags of objects placed on a platform;   a scale configured to measure weights of the objects; and   a processor, wherein the processor is configured to:
 determine a total weight of all of the objects on the platform based on the measured weights obtained from the scale; 
 determine weights of the objects based on standard weights obtained based on the information recorded on the RF tags obtained by the reading by the RF reader; 
 compare the determined total weight to a total of the weights determined based on the information read by the RF reader; and 
 based on the comparison, estimate whether there is a mismatch between a number of the objects contributing to the weights determined based on the information read by the RF reader and a number of the objects whose weights were measured by the scale. 
   
     
     
         15 . The inspection system according to  claim 14 , wherein the information recorded on the RF tags includes weights of the respective objects in which the RF tags are includes, on the basis of which the determination of the weights of the objects is performed. 
     
     
         16 . The inspection system according to  claim 14 , wherein the processor is configured to:
 ascertain a respective weight for each type of the objects on the platform based on the information recorded on the RF tags obtained by the reading by the RF reader; and   ascertain an excess weight of the total weight determined based on the measured weights over a sum of the weights obtained based on the information recorded on the RF tags obtained by the reading by the RF reader.   
     
     
         17 . The inspection system according to  claim 16 , wherein the processor is configured to identify, based on the ascertained excess weight, types of the objects that are a cause of the mismatch. 
     
     
         18 . The inspection system according to  claim 16 , wherein the processor is configured to identify, based on the ascertained excess weight, types of the objects that are not a cause of the mismatch. 
     
     
         19 . The inspection system according to  claim 14 , wherein the processor is configured to ascertain a total monetary amount of the objects on the platform based on the information recorded on the RF tags. 
     
     
         20 . The inspection system according to  claim 14 , wherein the objects are gaming currency. 
     
     
         21 . The inspection system according to  claim 14 , wherein the objects are gaming chips. 
     
     
         22 . An inspection system comprising:
 a radio frequency (RF) reader, wherein the RF reader is configured to read information from RF tags included in objects;   a scale configured to measure weights of the objects; and   a processor, wherein the processor is configured to:
 determine weights of the objects based on the information read by the reader from the RF tags; and 
 determine whether there is a match between the measured weights obtained from the scale and the weights determined based on the information read by the reader from the RF tags. 
   
     
     
         23 . The inspection system according to  claim 22 , wherein the processor is configured to obtain prices of the objects based on the information read by the RF reader and output information regarding the obtained prices. 
     
     
         24 . The inspection system according to  claim 23 , wherein the RF tags store the prices. 
     
     
         25 . The inspection system according to  claim 23 , further comprising:
 a storage device, wherein:
 the RF tags include respective information identifying respective types of respective ones of the objects; 
 the inspection system is configured to store in association with each other the prices and the information identifying the types on the storage device; and 
 the processor is configured to obtain the prices from the storage device based on the types identified by the information on the RF tags. 
   
     
     
         26 . The inspection system according to  claim 22 , wherein the objects are gaming currency. 
     
     
         27 . The inspection system according to  claim 22 , wherein the objects are gaming chips. 
     
     
         28 . A cash register system, comprising:
 a radio frequency (RF) reader, wherein the RF reader is configured to read information from RF tags included in objects;   a scale configured to measure weights of the objects; and   at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:
 determine weights of the objects based on the information read by the reader from the RF tags; 
 determine whether there is a match between the measured weights obtained from the scale and the weights determined based on the information read by the reader from the RF tags; 
 obtain prices of the objects based on the information read by the RF reader and output information regarding the obtained prices; and 
 perform an accounting process based on the obtained prices. 
   
     
     
         29 . The cash register system according to  claim 28 , wherein the objects are gaming chips. 
     
     
         30 . An inspection system, comprising:
 a radio frequency (RF) reader, wherein the RF reader is configured to read RF tags of objects placed at a prescribed location;   a detector, wherein the detector is configured to detect, without radio frequency detection, a number of the objects placed at the prescribed location; and   an alarm, wherein the alarm is configured to generate an alarm output in response to there being a mismatch between (a) a number of the objects at the prescribed location having respective ones of the RF tags, determined based on the reading by the RF reader, and (b) a number of the objects detected by the detector.   
     
     
         31 . The inspection system according to  claim 30 , wherein the detector is a scale that is configured to measure weights of the objects placed at the prescribed location, and the inspection system is configured to detect the number of the objects placed at the prescribed location based on the weights. 
     
     
         32 . The inspection system according to  claim 31 , wherein the inspection system is configured to determine presence of the mismatch by:
 ascertaining at least one weight of the objects placed at the prescribed location based on output of the scale;   ascertaining weights of each of the objects placed on the prescribed location based on information of the RF tags read by the RF reader; and   comparing the at least one weight ascertained based on the scale output and the weights ascertained based on the information of the RF tags.   
     
     
         33 . The cash register system according to  claim 30 , wherein the objects are gaming chips.