JP2013037503A - Food inventory management system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inventory management system enabling a user to easily check a stock item and the like at a shop and the like.SOLUTION: A food inventory management system 100 includes: an inventory management device 10 having input means 12 for inputting an item, a number, and an expiration date or a consumption time limit of purchased food, an inventory management data base 15 for managing the item, the number, and the expiration date or the consumption time limit of the purchased food, and communication means 14 for transmitting/receiving data; and a portable terminal 20 having communication means 24 for accessing to the inventory management device 10 through a network 50 to receive the data about the item, the number, and the expiration date or the consumption time limit of the purchased food; and display means 23 for indicating the item, the number, and the expiration date or the consumption time limit of the purchased food which have been received.

Description

  The present invention relates to a food inventory management system.

  Conventionally, there has been an inventory management refrigerator that reads receipts and barcodes of purchased items and manages the inventory in the refrigerator of purchased items (Patent Document 1). For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a receipt reading unit that reads a receipt of a purchased item, a character recognition unit that recognizes character information of a purchased item described in the receipt, and outputs it as a purchased item list, and a database that manages inventory of a refrigerator. And a candidate extracting means for searching a database and extracting candidates for items to be stored in the refrigerator from the purchased goods list, and a database control means for registering the purchased goods extracted by the candidate extracting means in the database. Disclosed is an inventory management refrigerator.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-115956

  However, in the conventional inventory management method, the inventory can be confirmed only by the display means of the inventory management refrigerator. In order to confirm the inventory at the shopping destination, it is necessary to record the inventory item in a memo or the like when going out. It was. Therefore, it is desirable to easily check stock items at a shopping destination.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an inventory management system that can easily check inventory items and the like at a shopping destination.

In order to solve at least one of the above problems, the invention according to the food inventory management system 100 according to claim 1, for example, as shown in FIGS.
Input means 12 for inputting the item, quantity, expiration date or expiry date of the purchased food;
An inventory management database 15 for managing the items, quantity, expiration date or expiry date of the purchased food;
Communication means 14 for transmitting and receiving data;
An inventory management apparatus 10 having
Communication means 24 for accessing the inventory management apparatus 10 via the network 50 and receiving data relating to the item, quantity, expiration date or expiration date of the purchased food;
Display means 23 for displaying the received purchased food item, quantity, expiration date or expiry date;
A portable terminal 20 having
It is characterized by providing.

  According to the invention described in claim 1, since the mobile terminal 20 has the display means 23 for displaying the item, quantity, expiration date or expiration date of the purchased food received from the inventory management device 10, The item, quantity, expiration date, or expiration date of the purchased food managed by the inventory management device 10 can be confirmed.

The invention according to claim 2 is, for example, as shown in FIG.
In the food inventory management system 100 according to claim 1,
The display means 23 displays the items, quantity, expiration date, or expiration date of the purchased food managed by the inventory management apparatus 10 sorted in order of the expiration date or the expiration date.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the display device 23 of the mobile terminal 20 displays the items, quantity, expiration date, or expiration date of the purchased food sorted in order of the expiration date or the expiration date. Thus, it is possible to confirm the item, quantity, expiration date, or expiration date of the purchased food in the order of near expiration date or expiration date.

The invention described in claim 3 is, for example, as shown in FIGS.
In the food inventory management system 100 according to claim 1 or 2,
The portable terminal 20 further includes an input unit 22 for inputting an item, quantity, expiration date, or expiration date of newly purchased or newly purchased purchased food.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the item, quantity, expiration date or expiry date of the newly purchased or newly purchased purchased food is input, it is possible to save the trouble of inputting from the inventory management device. be able to. By using the portable terminal, it is possible to input while shopping or after payment.

For example, as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG.
In the food inventory management system 100 according to claim 3,
The communication means 24 of the portable terminal 20 transmits data relating to the item, quantity, expiration date or expiration date of the newly purchased food to the inventory management database 15;
The inventory management database 15 is characterized by updating inventory data based on data relating to an item, quantity, expiration date or expiration date of the newly purchased food received by the communication means 14.

  According to the invention described in claim 4, the inventory management database 15 is based on the data relating to the item, quantity, expiration date or expiration date of the newly purchased purchased food received by the communication means 14. Therefore, the inventory data of the inventory management database can be reliably updated directly with the inventory management device 10 or via the inventory management device 10 and the network.

The invention according to claim 5 is, for example, as shown in FIG.
In the food inventory management system 100 according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The inventory management apparatus 10 is provided in a refrigerator having a display unit 13 or a home energy management system having a display unit 13.

  According to the invention described in claim 5, since it is provided in the refrigerator having the display means 13 or the home energy management system having the display means 13, in addition to the portable terminal 20, the refrigerator or the home energy management system You can check the stock at

  According to the present invention, since the display means for displaying the item, quantity, expiration date or expiration date of the purchased food received from the inventory management device is provided, the item, quantity, expiration date or consumption of the purchased food is displayed on the portable terminal. You can check the deadline.

It is a figure which shows an example of the food stock management system which concerns on this invention, and is a functional block diagram. It is a flowchart which shows the operation example of a food stock management system. It is an example of the screen transition in a portable terminal.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

<Embodiment>
(Configuration of food inventory management system)
In FIG. 1, a food inventory management system 100 is shown. The food inventory management system 100 includes at least an inventory management device 10 and a portable terminal 20. The inventory management apparatus 10 and the portable terminal 20 can perform wired data communication, data communication such as far infrared rays and Bluetooth (Bluetooth, Bluetooth), and data communication via the network 50 such as the Internet. As the mobile terminal 20, a smartphone, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistants), or the like can be used.

  The inventory management apparatus 10 displays an input unit 12 for inputting a newly purchased purchased food item, quantity, expiration date, or expiration date, and a display for displaying the purchased food item, quantity, expiration date, or expiration date inventory data, and the like. Means 13, communication means 14 for transmitting / receiving inventory data, etc., inventory management database 15 for managing items, quantity, expiration date or expiry date of the purchased food, input means 12, display means 13, communication means 14, inventory A control unit 11 that controls various operations of the management database 15 is included. The inventory management device 10 is provided in a refrigerator having a display unit 13 or a home energy management system having a display unit 13. The home energy management system is a system that monitors and manages the energy consumption status (power consumption, energy saving, power generation status, etc.) at home, and connects the energy consumption devices in the home via a network, Enables energy consumption monitoring, remote control and automatic control.

  The portable terminal 20 accesses the inventory management apparatus 10 via the input means 22 for inputting the item, quantity, expiration date or expiry date of the newly purchased food, and the network 50, and the item of the purchased food. , Communication means 24 for receiving data on quantity, expiration date or expiration date, display means 23 for displaying the received item, quantity, expiration date or expiration date of the purchased food, input means 22, display means 23, communication Means 24, control means 21 for controlling various operations of the storage means 25, and the like. The input means 22 is used for inputting an item, quantity, expiration date or expiry date of newly purchased or newly purchased purchased food.

  The input means 12 is a keyboard or a barcode reader, for example, for the user to input when stocking the refrigerator. For example, when the input unit 12 reads the barcode attached to the food when the food is put into or out of the warehouse, the control unit 11 updates the inventory management database. The input means 22 of the portable terminal 20 includes a barcode reader that reads a barcode attached to the purchased food and a touch panel type keyboard. When the bar code of the food purchased by the user is read, the control means 21 stores the inventory data in the storage means.

  Although the input means is provided in both the inventory management apparatus 10 and the portable terminal 20, the inventory data of newly purchased purchased food is input using only the input means of either the inventory management apparatus 10 or the portable terminal 20. And avoid duplicate data. For example, the inventory management apparatus 10 and the portable terminal 20 use the communication means 14 and 24 to check whether new purchased food inventory data has been input every predetermined time. When the inventory data of new purchased food is input from the mobile terminal 20, the inventory management apparatus 10 updates the inventory of the newly purchased food until the inventory data to be added from the mobile terminal 20 is updated. The control means 11 controls the input means 12 so as not to accept data input.

(Operation example of inventory management device 10 and portable terminal 20)
Next, an operation example of the inventory management apparatus 10 and the mobile terminal 20 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The user operates the portable terminal 20 and requests the inventory management device 10 for the inventory data of the food in the refrigerator via the network 50 (step S1, FIG. 3A).

  The control means 21 sorts the items in the order of their expiry dates, and the display means 23 displays the sorted purchased food items, quantity, expiration date or expiry date (step S2, FIG. 3B). Note that the sorting may be performed by the control unit 11 of the inventory management apparatus 10 in the order of near expiration date or expiration date.

  The user inputs the item, quantity, and expiration date of the newly purchased purchased food into the mobile terminal 20 using the input means 22 (step S4). For example, when a new input button on the screen displaying inventory items, quantity, and expiration date is pressed (step S3, FIG. 3B), the screen is changed to an input screen (FIG. 3C). And the input means 22 inputs the item, quantity, and expiration date of the newly purchased purchased food. Here, the expiration date indicates the number of remaining days, but the date may be displayed. The portable terminal 20 has a function of reading barcode and QR code data attached to food from a camera or reading IC chip data.

  When the user finishes inputting the item, quantity, and expiration date of the newly purchased purchased food, the user determines whether to update the inventory management database of the inventory management apparatus 10 (step S5, FIG. 3C). .

  When the update button is pressed, the communication means 24 of the portable terminal 20 transmits data regarding the item, quantity, and expiration date of the newly purchased food to the inventory management database 15 via the network, The inventory management database 15 updates the inventory data via the network 50 based on the data regarding the item, quantity, expiration date or expiration date of the newly purchased food received by the communication means 14 (step S6). ). Here, when the end button is pressed when the data is not updated via the network 50, the data of the purchased food is stored in the storage means 25, and far infrared communication or the like is performed after returning home. The inventory management database 15 is updated by using it.

  According to the present embodiment, since the portable terminal 20 has the display means 23 for displaying the item, quantity, expiration date or expiration date of the purchased food received from the inventory management apparatus 10, the inventory management is performed by the portable terminal 20. The item, quantity, expiration date or expiration date of the purchased food managed by the apparatus 10 can be confirmed.

  Moreover, since the display device 23 of the portable terminal 20 displays the items, quantity, expiration date, or expiration date of the purchased food sorted in the order of the expiration date or the expiration date, the expiration date or the expiration date is closer on the portable terminal 20. In order, the item, quantity, expiration date, or expiration date of the purchased food managed by the inventory management apparatus 10 can be confirmed.

  Further, since the item, quantity, expiration date or expiry date of the newly purchased or newly purchased purchased food is input, it is possible to save the trouble of inputting from the inventory management apparatus. By using the portable terminal, it is possible to input while shopping or after payment.

  Further, the inventory management database 15 updates the inventory data based on the data regarding the item, quantity, expiration date or expiration date of the newly purchased food received by the communication means 14, so that the inventory management device The inventory data in the inventory management database can be reliably updated directly with 10 or via the inventory management apparatus 10 and the network.

  Moreover, since it is provided in the refrigerator which has the display means 13, or the home energy management system which has the display means 13, in addition to the portable terminal 20, inventory can be confirmed with a refrigerator or a home energy management system.

(Modification)
In the above embodiment, the inventory data is simply displayed on the display means 23 of the portable terminal 20, but in this modification, the menu support function is used to display the missing food on the display means 23. May be. In addition, in a modification, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same member as the said embodiment, and description is abbreviate | omitted.

  In this case, the control means 21 of FIG. 1 takes out the menu information data stored in advance in the storage means 25 and displays a list of menus on the display means 23. Then, the amount of food used for the menu selected by the user is compared with the inventory data acquired from the inventory management device 10. Then, the missing food is extracted and displayed on the display means 23. If there is no deficient food, the fact is displayed on the display means 23. If there is a deficient food, the item and quantity of the food are displayed. Since the number of menu members uses the number of family members registered in advance, no input operation is required unless the number of people changes due to visits by customers.

  In this way, in this modification, the lack of food is immediately known and the convenience for the user is improved.

  In addition, a menu support function that uses foods whose expiration date is imminent may be provided. For example, the control unit 21 reads the inventory data acquired from the inventory management device 10 from the storage unit 25 and displays the food items in stock in the order of near expiration date or expiration date on the display unit 23. When the user selects the food to be used from the input means 22, the menu information for using the food is extracted from the menu information data stored in the storage means 25, and a menu list is displayed on the display means 23. Thereby, food can be used effectively without wasting it, and it becomes easy to decide a menu.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Inventory management apparatus 11 Control means 12 Input means 13 Display means 14 Communication means 15 Inventory management database 20 Portable terminal 21 Control means 22 Input means 23 Display means 24 Communication means 25 Storage means 50 Network 100 Food inventory management system

Claims (5)

Input means for entering the item, quantity, expiration date or expiry date of the purchased food;
An inventory management database for managing the items, quantity, expiration date or expiration date of the purchased food;
A communication means for transmitting and receiving data;
An inventory management device having
Communication means for accessing the inventory management device via a network and receiving data relating to the item, quantity, expiration date or expiration date of the purchased food;
Display means for displaying the received purchased food item, quantity, expiration date or expiry date;
A mobile terminal having
A food inventory management system comprising: In the food inventory management system according to claim 1,
The food inventory management system, wherein the display means displays items, quantity, expiration date, or expiration date of the purchased food sorted in order of the expiration date or the expiration date. In the food inventory management system according to claim 1 or 2,
The portable terminal further includes an input means for inputting an item, quantity, expiration date or expiry date of newly purchased or newly purchased purchased food. In the food inventory management system according to claim 3,
The communication means of the portable terminal transmits data relating to the item, quantity, expiration date or expiration date of the newly purchased purchased food to the inventory management database,
The food inventory management system, wherein the inventory management database updates inventory data based on data relating to an item, quantity, expiration date, or expiration date of the newly purchased purchased food received by the communication means. In the food inventory management system according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The food inventory management system, wherein the inventory management device is provided in a refrigerator having a display means or a home energy management system having a display means.

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