JP2019152966A - Sorting device, program and screen generation device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a sorting device capable of accurately and efficiently sorting commodities to which a variety of commodity tags are attached.SOLUTION: The sorting device photographs a commodity information indicator attached to a commodity by imaging means to generate a captured image. Then, the sorting device extracts commodity information from the captured image and displays a sorting result representation screen including sorting result information generated on the basis of the extracted commodity information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus for sorting products based on product information.

  In the distribution of merchandise, a system called vein distribution is known in which returned merchandise or unsold merchandise is collected, sorted into waste or outlet goods, and shipped again to a dealer. In many cases, products targeted for vein distribution are products several years ago, and code tags such as barcodes and RFID (Radio Frequency IDentifier) are often not printed on the tags of the products. Therefore, it is necessary for the operator to manually sort by looking at the product tag.

  In fields such as gift certificates, surplus gift certificates are returned to the secretariat during busy periods such as year-end gifts, and sorting is required for each type. For this reason, a system has been proposed in which information is read from the printing surface of a gift certificate delivered in a bundle and sorted (see Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-161641

  Gift certificates, cash vouchers, and the like are relatively uniform in size, and the same type circulates in large quantities, and therefore can be sorted by the system described above. On the other hand, for products that are distributed with price tags (product tags), there are a wide variety of product tags with different external sizes, and they will be randomly selected. I can't.

  The main object of the present invention is to provide a sorting apparatus that can accurately and efficiently sort products with various product tags.

  In one aspect of the present invention, the sorting device captures a product information display attached to a product, generates a captured image, an information extraction unit that extracts product information from the captured image, and an extraction Display means for displaying a sorting result display screen including sorting result information generated based on the item information.

  In the above sorting apparatus, the product information display body attached to the product is photographed by the photographing means to generate a photographed image. Next, the sorting apparatus extracts product information from the captured image, and displays a sorting result display screen including sorting result information generated based on the extracted product information. According to this sorting apparatus, the sorting result is displayed only by the operator shooting the product information display body. Preferably, the sorting result display screen includes a captured image. Preferably, the sorting result information includes a sorting place of the product and a sorting state of the product. More preferably, the sorting result display screen includes a product image of the product and product information extracted by the information extraction unit.

  One aspect of the sorting apparatus includes sorting means for generating a sorting result based on the extracted product information in accordance with a sorting rule that associates the product information and the sorting result. In this aspect, a sorting result is automatically generated based on a sorting rule prepared in advance.

  Another aspect of the sorting apparatus includes a storage unit that stores display position information indicating a display position of the product information for each type of the product information display body, and the information extraction unit includes the captured image in the captured image. The type of the product information display body is determined based on the information, and the product information is extracted with reference to the display position information. In this aspect, the product information can be extracted from the display position of the product information based on the type of the product information display body. In this case, preferably, the information extraction unit determines a type of the product information display body based on a mark included in the product information display body. In this aspect, the type of the product information display body can be accurately determined based on the mark.

  In another aspect of the above sorting apparatus, the display means displays a management information display screen including statistical information of sorting results for a plurality of product information display bodies, and the statistical information is stored in the product information display body. It includes the number of processes, the number or ratio indicating whether or not the product information has been extracted, and the number or ratio indicating whether or not the sorting result has been generated. In this aspect, the statistical information of the sorting process performed by the sorting device can be confirmed. Preferably, the statistical information includes information indicating the number of products sorted to the sorting location for each sorting location of the products.

  Another aspect of the sorting apparatus includes an automatic transport device that transports the product to a sorting place based on the sorting result information. In this aspect, the product is automatically conveyed to the sorting place based on the sorting result.

  In another aspect of the present invention, a program executed by a sorting device including a computer and a display unit includes: an acquisition unit that acquires a captured image obtained by capturing a product information display attached to a product; product information from the captured image; The computer is caused to function as an information extracting unit for extracting the sorting result and a display unit for displaying a sorting result display screen including sorting result information generated based on the extracted product information on the display unit. By executing this program on a computer, a sorting system can be realized.

  In another aspect of the present invention, the screen generation device is a slick method for a next process determined by a classification based on a photographed image of a commodity information display attached to a commodity and commodity information extracted from the photographed image. A display screen including the result information indicating the item and the target product image is generated. According to this screen generation device, the operator can simultaneously view a photographed image of the product information display body, a method of flowing the product to the next process, and a product image of the product.

  In one aspect of the screen generation device, the captured image is a moving image display when the product information display body is not photographed, and a still image display when the product information display body is recognized and product information is acquired. Become. In this aspect, when the product information display is photographed, the photographed image is displayed as a still image so that the operator can easily see it.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the sorting apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a block which shows the function structure of a sorting apparatus. An example of a product tag is shown. An example of a tag information database is shown. An example of a sorting rule is shown. It is a flowchart of a sorting process. It is a figure explaining the process which a reading part extracts merchandise information. An example of a sorting result display screen is shown. An example of a management information display screen is shown.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[Configuration of sorting device]
FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a sorting apparatus according to the present embodiment. The sorting device 10 includes a terminal device 11 and a camera 12. The camera 12 captures a product tag (price tag) 2 attached to the product and supplies the captured image to the terminal device 11. The terminal device 11 extracts product information from the captured image, performs sorting based on the product information, and displays the sorting result.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the sorting apparatus 10. The terminal device 11 includes a reading unit 13, a control unit 14, a storage unit 15, a display unit 16, and a warning unit 17. These elements and the camera 12 are connected through a bus 18.

  The reading unit 13 reads character information and specific graphic information corresponding to a logo mark from the photographed image of the product tag 2 generated by the camera 12. Further, the reading unit 13 performs product character information by performing OCR (Optical Character Recognition) processing on the character information.

  Based on the product information obtained by the OCR process, the control unit 14 performs sorting according to a predetermined sorting rule, and generates a sorting result. Then, a sorting result display screen including the sorting result is displayed on the display unit 16.

  The storage unit 15 includes a ROM, a RAM, and the like, and stores programs for various processes executed by the control unit 14. The storage unit 15 is also used as a working memory when various processes are executed. The storage unit 15 stores a tag information database (DB) described later.

  The display unit 16 is a display device attached to the terminal device 11 such as a liquid crystal display, and displays a sorting result display screen. Further, as will be described later, a management information display screen is displayed on the display unit 16 in accordance with an instruction from the operator.

  The warning unit 17 issues a warning (alert) by displaying a warning lamp or outputting a warning sound when a reading error (reading NG) by the reading unit 13 or a sorting error (sorting NG) by the control unit 14 occurs. . Here, reading NG occurs when a photographed image is not supplied from the camera 12 to the reading unit 13 or when the product information cannot be read by OCR processing because the photographed image is unclear. Further, sorting NG occurs when the product information output by the reading unit 13 is insufficient and sorting cannot be performed, or when the sorting rule does not correspond to any of the sorting rules prepared in advance.

  As an example of the warning, the warning unit 17 turns on the warning lamp in blue when the reading is successful (reading OK), and turns on the warning lamp in red in the case of reading NG. In another example, the warning unit 17 does not output a warning sound in the case of reading OK, and outputs a warning sound in the case of reading NG. The warning unit 17 can similarly issue a warning by turning on a warning lamp or outputting a warning sound for sorting success (sorting OK) and sorting NG.

  In the above configuration, the camera 12 is an example of the photographing unit of the present invention, the reading unit 13 is an example of the information extracting unit of the present invention, and the control unit 14 is an example of the display unit and the sorting unit of the present invention. The sorting apparatus 10 is an example of a screen generation apparatus according to the present invention.

[Product tag]
FIG. 3 shows an example of a product tag. The product tag 2 is a tag attached to the product, and product information is printed thereon. The product tag 2 is an example of a product information display body of the present invention. In the product tag 2 illustrated in FIG. 3, a logo mark 21 is printed on the top. The logo mark 21 includes a logo mark indicating a manufacturer and a logo mark indicating a brand. A manufacturer's company name 22 is printed under the logo mark 21. A fabric 23, a size 24, and a model name 25 are printed under the company name 22. Below the model name 25, a color code 26 is printed on the left side, and a manufacturing year 27 is printed on the right side. The color code 26 is a code assigned for each color, and in the manufacturing year 27, only the last two digits of the year are printed. The production year “66” in this example indicates “1966”. A list price 28 is printed under the manufacturing year 27.

[Tag information DB]
FIG. 4 shows an example of the tag information DB. The tag information DB stores information indicating in which position of the product tag 2 each product information is printed for each type of the product tag 2. In other words, the tag information DB indicates which position in the captured image of the product tag 2 should be read by the reading unit 13 in order to extract each product information. Tag information is an example of display position information of the present invention.

  The coordinates in the product tag 2 are given by, for example, XY coordinates with the upper left corner of the product tag 2 as the origin. Further, the position coordinates of each piece of product information indicated by the tag information DB indicates, for example, the upper left position of the area where the product information is printed. Therefore, the reading part 13 can acquire applicable merchandise information by reading the predetermined range from the position coordinate of each merchandise information memorize | stored in tag information DB.

  Now, if the product tag 2 illustrated in FIG. 3 is a product tag with tag ID = 1, as shown in FIG. 4, among the product information, “company name” is the coordinates of the product tag 2 with ID = 1 ( x11, y11), and “manufacturing year” is printed at the coordinates (x12, y12) of the product tag 2 with ID = 1. As for product information other than these, as shown in FIG. 4, the printing position on the product tag 2 is stored as tag information. The reading unit 13 extracts a logo mark from an image captured by the camera 12 and specifies a tag ID based on the logo mark, thereby determining a position where each product information is to be read in the product tag 2.

[Sorting rules]
FIG. 5 shows an example of the sorting rule. The sorting rule defines a method in which the control unit 14 sorts products based on product information. The sorting rule includes “rule number”, “condition”, “sorting location”, and “sorting information”. “Rule number” is an identification number of a plurality of sorting rules. “Condition” is a condition for sorting, and is a condition related to one or more pieces of product information. The “sorting place” is a place where goods are sorted, and in this example, one of a plurality of boxes is designated. The “sorting state” indicates the status and status in the distribution process, for example, “next process” when proceeding to the next process in the distribution process, and “discard” when the product is discarded. .

  In the example of FIG. 5, the sorting rule (1) indicates that a product whose model name is 1XXXX to 2XXXX or a product whose manufacturing year is XX or later is No. It is stipulated that it is sent to one box. Further, according to the sorting rule (20), a product whose manufacturing year is XX or earlier is No. for disposal. It is specified to be sent to 20 boxes. Note that the sorting rules shown in FIG. 5 are merely examples, and various sorting rules can be defined for each piece of product information printed on the product tag 2 or a combination thereof. The sorting rules are prepared in advance and stored in the storage unit 15.

[Sort processing]
Next, the sorting process will be described. The sorting process is a process in which the sorting device 10 photographs the product tag 2 and sorts the product to which the product tag 2 is attached. The sorting process is performed by the control unit 14 of the terminal device 11 shown in FIG. 2 executing a prepared program and controlling each component. The sorting process is executed for each product tag.

  First, when the operator places the product tag 2 at the shooting position of the camera 12 and operates the input unit of the terminal device 11 to input a shooting instruction, the control unit 14 controls the camera 12 to capture the product tag 2. (Step S11). A photographed image generated by photographing is supplied to the reading unit 13.

  The reading unit 13 extracts product information from the captured image (step S12). FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a process in which the reading unit 13 extracts product information. First, the reading unit 13 performs rotation correction when the product tag 2 is slanted as in the photographed image 31, arranges the photographed image in the correct arrangement as in the photographed image 32, and then binarizes the photographed image. To do.

  Next, the reading unit 13 extracts characters and figures from the binarized captured image 32 and detects a logo mark by template matching. Specifically, the reading unit 13 matches a graphic extracted from the area of the frame 32x of the captured image 32 with a logo mark template prepared in advance, which logo mark, that is, which tag Determine whether it is a type. In the example of FIG. 7, a logo mark with tag ID = 1 is detected (see the frame of reference numeral 35).

  Next, the reading unit 13 refers to the tag information DB shown in FIG. 4, identifies the print position of each product information on the product tag 2, and extracts characters printed at those positions as product information. In the example of FIG. 7, since the product tag 2 has a tag ID = 1, the reading unit 13 refers to the tag information DB, and the product information “size” is printed at coordinates (x13, y13). It is known that “type name” is printed at the coordinates (x14, y14) (see the frame of reference numeral 36). Then, the reading unit 13 extracts the size “M” from the area of the coordinates (x13, y13) indicated by the reference numeral 34a in the captured image 34, and the model name “1WK99” from the area of the coordinates (x14, y14) indicated by the reference numeral 34b. Is extracted. Similarly, the reading unit 13 extracts all other product information. When the reading unit 13 fails to read the product information, the warning unit 17 outputs an alert indicating reading NG.

  Next, the control unit 14 performs sorting according to the sorting rule based on the product information extracted in step S12, and generates a sorting result (step S13). Specifically, the control unit 14 determines a sorting place and a sorting state of the product. When the control unit 14 fails in sorting, the warning unit 17 outputs an alert indicating sorting NG.

  And the control part 14 produces | generates the sorting result display screen containing a sorting result, and displays it on the display part 16 (step S14). Furthermore, the control unit 14 updates the management information based on the obtained sorting result (step S15). The management information is displayed on a management information display screen described later. Thus, the sorting process ends.

[Sort result display screen]
FIG. 8 shows an example of a sorting result display screen. The sorting result display screen 40 includes a captured image display area 41, a product image display area 42, a sorting location display area 43, a sorting status display area 44, and a product information display area 45.

  A captured image generated by the camera 12 is displayed in the captured image display area 41. By displaying the photographed image, the operator can confirm the product tag 2 that is the target of sorting. When the product tag 2 is not photographed by the camera 12, a photographed image by the camera 12 is displayed as a moving image. On the other hand, when the product tag 2 is photographed by the camera 12 and product information is acquired from the product tag 2, the photographed image is displayed as a still image.

  In the product image display area 42, a product image prepared in advance for each product is displayed. By looking at the product image, the worker can visually and quickly determine whether the product is the same as the product he or she is holding.

  The sorting location display area 43 indicates the sorting location determined in step S13. In the example of FIG. 8, the sorting place is “No. 20 box”. In addition, when the control unit 14 cannot perform sorting based on the product information (that is, sorting NG), a display indicating that may be performed in the sorting location display area 43. For example, “sorting NG” is displayed in the sorting place display area 43, the background color of the sorting place display area 43 is changed, and the background color and the character color of the sorting place display area 43 are changed.

  The sorting status display area 44 shows the sorting status determined in step S13. In the example of FIG. 8, the sorting state is “discard”. In this way, the operator can immediately know the sorting location and sorting status of the product by looking at the sorting result display screen 40, and transfers the product to the sorting location as necessary.

  In the product information display area 45, the product information extracted by the reading unit 13 in step S12 is displayed. In the example of FIG. 8, “Production Year”, “Size”, “Model Name”, “Color”, “Price”, “Fabric”, “Brand Name”, and the like are displayed as the product information.

  The sorting result display screen 40 displays at least a sorting location and a sorting state. This is because the operator is necessary to know the sorting result of the product according to the sorting place and the sorting state. Further, displaying the photographed image and the product image is convenient because the operator can confirm the product tag and the product that are the objects of sorting. In addition, since the operator can know the sorting result without displaying the product information, the display of the product information is optional.

  As described above, according to the sorting device 10 of the present embodiment, the product sorting result is displayed on the sorting result display screen by photographing the product tag 2 with the camera 12. Therefore, it is not necessary for the operator to read the product information, and it is possible to prevent a sorting error due to a reading mistake or the like, so that even an inexperienced worker can accurately perform the sorting operation. In addition, the working time can be greatly shortened as compared with the manual work by the operator. In addition, it is possible to efficiently sort products with an old product tag (price tag) without introducing a new system such as RFID or changing a price tag by printing a new barcode.

  In addition, after a sorting place is determined by the sorting apparatus 10, the actual sorting work may be performed manually by an operator or may be performed by an automatic conveyance device. For example, an automatic transfer device using a chute or a conveyor for sorting products may be provided, and each product may be transported to a sorting place determined by the sorting device 10.

[Management information display screen]
The sorting apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment can hold statistical information of sorted products as management information, and can display it as necessary. FIG. 9 shows an example of the management information display screen. The management information display screen 50 has display areas 51 to 56 and a clear button 57.

  In the display area 51, the number of product tags 2 (the number of integrated processes) subjected to the sorting process is displayed. The display area 52 displays the number of product tags 2 that can be read by the reading unit 13 (reading OK number), and the display area 53 displays the number of product tags 2 that have failed to be read by the reading unit 13 (reading NG). Number) is displayed. Instead of the number of product tags 2, the display area 52 displays the rate of reading OK product tags 2 (reading OK rate), and the display area 53 displays the rate of reading NG product tags 2 (reading NG rate). It may be displayed.

  In the display area 54, the number of product tags 2 that can be sorted by the control unit 14 (number of sorting OK) is displayed. In the display area 55, the number of product tags 2 in which sorting by the control unit 14 results in an error (sorting). NG number) is displayed. Instead of the number of product tags 2, the display area 53 displays the proportion of product tags 2 with sorting OK (sorting OK rate), and the display area 55 displays the proportion of product tags 2 with sorting NG (sorting NG rate). It may be displayed. The number in the display areas 51 to 55 can be reset by the clear button 57.

  In the display area 56, the breakdown is displayed. Specifically, the number of product tags 2 sorted in each sorting place is displayed. In addition to this, the display area 56 may display the number of product tags 2 for each product information. In the example of FIG. 9, the number of product tags 2 classified by “size” in the product information is displayed. Depending on the operator's selection, other product information, for example, the number classified by year of manufacture, color code, etc. may be displayed.

2 Product tag (price tag)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Sorting device 11 Terminal device 12 Camera 13 Reading unit 14 Control unit 15 Storage unit 16 Display unit 17 Warning unit

Claims (13)

A photographing means for photographing a product information display attached to the product and generating a photographed image;
Information extracting means for extracting product information from the photographed image;
Display means for displaying a sorting result display screen including sorting result information generated based on the extracted product information;
Sorting device comprising   The sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sorting result display screen includes the captured image.   The sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sorting result information includes a sorting place of the product and a sorting state of the product.   The sorting apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the sorting result display screen includes a product image of the product and product information extracted by the information extraction unit.   5. The sorting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a sorting unit that generates a sorting result based on the extracted product information in accordance with a sorting rule that associates the product information with a sorting result. A storage unit that stores display position information indicating a display position of the product information for each type of the product information display body,
The said information extraction means determines the classification of the said merchandise information display body based on the said picked-up image, The said merchandise information is extracted with reference to the said display position information. Sorting device.   The sorting device according to claim 6, wherein the information extraction unit determines a type of the product information display body based on a mark included in the product information display body. The display means displays a management information display screen including statistical information of sorting results for a plurality of product information display bodies,
The statistical information includes a processing number of the product information display body, a number or a ratio indicating whether or not the product information can be extracted, and a number or a ratio indicating whether or not the sorting result can be generated. Item 8. The sorting apparatus according to any one of Items 1 to 7.   9. The sorting apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the statistical information includes information indicating the number of products sorted to the sorting location for each sorting location of the products.   The sorting device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, further comprising an automatic transport device that transports the product to a sorting place based on the sorting result information. A program executed by a sorting apparatus including a computer and a display unit,
An acquisition means for acquiring a photographed image obtained by photographing a product information display attached to a product;
Information extracting means for extracting product information from the photographed image;
Display means for displaying a sorting result display screen including sorting result information generated based on the extracted product information on the display unit;
A program for causing the computer to function as   A photographed image of a commodity information display attached to a commodity, result information indicating a method of flowing to the next process determined by classification based on commodity information extracted from the photographed image, and a target commodity image A screen generation device that generates a display screen including the display screen.   13. The screen generation device according to claim 12, wherein the captured image is a moving image display when the product information display body is not photographed, and is displayed as a still image when the product information display body is recognized and product information is acquired.