Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
  • G06Q20/08—Payment architectures
  • G06Q20/20—Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
  • G06Q20/203—Inventory monitoring
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q10/00—Administration; Management
  • G06Q10/08—Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
  • G06Q10/087—Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
  • G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
  • G07F11/00—Coin-freed apparatus for dispensing, or the like, discrete articles
  • G07F11/02—Coin-freed apparatus for dispensing, or the like, discrete articles from non-movable magazines
  • G07F11/38—Coin-freed apparatus for dispensing, or the like, discrete articles from non-movable magazines in which the magazines are horizontal
  • G07F11/40—Coin-freed apparatus for dispensing, or the like, discrete articles from non-movable magazines in which the magazines are horizontal the articles being delivered by hand-operated means

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a device which can be used to track sales of smoking product containers in a commercial outlet.
• a number of tray systems are also known for use in commercial outlets that can hold a stack of consumer products, such as smoking product containers.
• the containers are generally held in a stack within the tray so that a front-most container can be removed by a user.
• a container is removed from the tray and sold to a customer.
• This sale is generally recorded by the retailer, sometimes in a fairly manual, unreliable and labour intensive manner.
• Sales data can be provided to a third party and aggregated between several retailers for analysis.
• One technical challenge is to improve the quality of the data provided regarding sales events in terms of accuracy and granularity.
• One object of the present invention is to address these issues.
• a device for use in a commercial outlet comprising: a housing that is sized and shaped to be accommodated in a tray which is configured to accommodate a plurality of smoking product containers in a stack; a trigger unit configured to detect a movement of the housing, which is indicative of a removal of a front-most smoking product container from the tray; a transmitter configured to transmit a signal to a receiver upon receipt of a signal from the trigger unit; and a power supply configured to supply electrical power to the trigger unit and the transmitter.
• the device which may be referred to as a tracker device, can be included within a conventional tray used to store smoking product containers in a commercial outlet.
• the device can transmit a signal upon removal of the front-most smoking product container from the tray so that product sales can be monitored in real-time. This can be achieved without any modification of the conventional hardware used in a commercial outlet, and by merely inserting the device in the product tray along with conventional smoking product containers
• the removal of the front-most container can cause the stack of containers to move together towards a front panel in the tray so that a new container is provided in the front-most position, ready for removal.
• the movement of the device can be detected and transmitted to a receiver. This can allow removal of a container to be identified. This may be helpful in linking a sale to a detectable physical activity and providing this information to a third party in real-time.
• the smoking product containers are preferably parallelepiped in shape having a front surface, a top surface, a bottom surface and a rear surface.
• the stack of smoking product containers is preferably arranged so that the front surface of a first smoking product container is adjacent a rear surface of the adjacent smoking product container in the stack.
• the smoking product containers may be containers for smoking articles such as cigarettes.
• the smoking product containers may be for non-traditional smoking products such as consumables for electronic cigarettes.
• the housing of the tracking device is preferably sized and shaped to match the size and shape of smoking product containers. In this way, the tracking device can be accommodated within the tray without any modification. For this purpose, it is particularly desired that the device housing and the smoking product container have substantially the same width and depth.
• the height of the device housing and the smoking product container may be substantially the same, although a shorter device housing may be advantageous to hide the device behind the smoking product containers so that it is not visible to consumers.
• a conventional tray could be used, although it would accommodate one less smoking product container in order to make space for the device housing.
• the trigger unit comprises a sensor that is configured to measure a distance to a surface that is fixed relative to the movement of the device.
• the surface may be located behind a front panel in the tray.
• the surface may be a wall of the commercial outlet to which the tray is attached, in use.
• the trigger unit may comprise a sensor and a microcontroller or processor which can be provided in combination on a printed circuit board (PCB).
• PCB printed circuit board
• the sensor may be an optical sensor.
• the optical sensor may measure a distance between the device and the fixed surface. Differences in the distance measured by the optical sensor may be detected to infer a movement of the device and the stack of containers in the tray.
• the device includes a sensor for detecting removal of all smoking product containers from the tray, such as an optical sensor provided on a front facing surface of the housing. Such an optical sensor may reliably detect the absence of any smoking product containers in the tray.
• the sensor preferably provides a signal to the transmitter so that an alert can be provided, prompting a retailer to replenish the tray with stock items.
• the sensor may be a switch or other sensor in the front facing surface that can detect an absence of any smoking product containers.
• the trigger unit may have an active mode in which it draws a first amount of power from the power supply and an inactive mode in which it draws a second amount of power from the power supply, which is less than the first amount.
• the trigger unit may be configured to transition from the inactive mode to the active mode and back again. In this way, the trigger unit can transition into its active mode when required. This may be user activated, or, more preferably, it may be done automatically when some movement of the device is detected.
• the device includes a motion sensor, separate from the trigger unit, configured to detect a movement of the device and to provide a signal to the trigger unit to cause it to transition from the inactive mode to the active mode.
• the motion sensor can therefore detect when a user removes one of the smoking product containers from the tray. This initiates movement of the device and causes the trigger unit to become active. In its active mode the trigger unit consumes more power, but it can accurately determine the distance of movement of the device in order to determine whether a smoking article container has been removed from the tray. This can allow the trigger unit to distinguish between genuine removal of smoking product containers and other movements of the device which may be caused by vibrations and other effects. This technique allows the trigger unit to remain ordinarily in its inactive mode, consuming very little electrical power. When movement of the device is detected the trigger unit can become active.
• the motion sensor may include an accelerometer.
• the tracker device can have two independent motion sensors.
• the first motion sensor preferably consumes very little electrical energy so that it can operate while the microcontroller is in its inactive mode.
• the second motion sensor is preferably more accurate but requires the microcontroller to be in its active mode.
• the motion sensor may also serve to detect removal of all smoking product containers from the tray, particularly when the motion sensor is an accelerometer.
• the motion sensor may detect an impact of the device against the front panel in the tray.
• the motion sensor may detect a change of the direction of movement of the device.
• Commercial trays usually lift the front-most container to display it to the consumer using lifting means proximate the front panel of the tray (e.g., a wedge-shaped piece). When the device reaches the lifting means, the motion sensor senses a change of direction of movement of the device.
• the trigger unit preferably comprises a microcontroller and it may be the microcontroller that has active and inactive modes.
• the accelerometer may be configured to provide an interrupt signal to one of the microcontroller pins, causing it to transition from its inactive mode to its active mode.
• a tray for use in a commercial outlet configured to accommodate a plurality of smoking product containers in a stack
• the tray comprising: a front panel configured to support the front-most smoking product container in the stack; a biased pusher configured to push against the rear-most smoking product container so that the stack is pushed towards the front panel; and the device as previously defined.
• the device can be included within the stack of smoking product containers so that any movement of the smoking product containers inevitably causes a detectable movement of the device.
• the device can be removed from the tray, as required, in order to replace depleted batteries, or if real-time monitoring of product sales is no longer required.
• the tracker device may be integrated within another movable component in the tray, such as the biased pusher.
• a system for use in a commercial outlet comprising: the device as previously defined, and a receiver configured to receive the signal from the transmitter.
• the receiver may be configured to update a counter when removal of a smoking product container is detected. This information may be provided to a remote server, for example, so that real-time product sales can be monitored.
• a method of operating a device in a commercial outlet comprising the steps of: providing a tray that is configured to accommodate a plurality of smoking product containers in a stack, a front panel configured to support the front-most smoking product container in the stack, and a pusher configured to push against the rear-most smoking product container so that the stack is pushed towards the front panel; providing the device as previously defined in the tray among the plurality of smoking product containers; detecting a movement of the device which is indicative of a removal of the front- most smoking product container from the tray; transmitting a signal to a receiver upon receipt of a signal from the trigger unit; and providing a power supply to the trigger unit and the transmitter.
• Figure 1 is a perspective view of a device for use in a commercial outlet in an embodiment of the invention.
• Figure 2 is a schematic view of some of the electrical components for use in a device in an embodiment of the invention.
• Figure 1 is a perspective view of a tray 40 having a channel 52 defined between two parallel side walls 42, 44, a rear wall 46 and a front wall 48.
• the channel 52 is sized to accommodate a stack of smoking article containers 50a, 50b, 50c, 50d, 50e so that they are standing upright; in other words, the width of the channel 52 is selected to match, or be slightly larger than, the width of the smoking article containers, which are standard packets with twenty cigarettes in a 7-6-7 configuration.
• a pusher 54 is provided to the rear of the smoking article containers 50a, 50b, 50c, 50d, 50e.
• the pusher 54 is connected to the rear wall 46 of the tray 40 with a spring-loaded rod 56.
• the spring-loaded rod 56 is configured to urge the pusher 54 towards the front wall 48 of the tray 40.
• a lifter (not shown) may be provided in the tray 40 proximate the front wall 48 to lift the front-most container 50e with respect to at least the rear-most container 50a and preferably with respect to the remaining containers 50a, 50b, 50c, 50d in the stack, as shown in Figure 1. This increases the visibility of the front-most container and eases its removal.
• a tracker device 51 is provided in the tray 40 between the rear-most smoking article container 50a and the pusher 54.
• the tracker device 51 has a plastic housing that is sized and shaped to match the size and shape of the smoking article containers 50a, 50b, 50c, 50d, 50e. In this way, the tracker device 51 can be inserted in the tray 40 by a retailer in place of a conventional smoking article container. The tracker device 51 can also be easily removed from the tray 40, as required.
• the stack of smoking article containers 50a, 50b, 50c, 50d, 50e and the tracker device 51 are held in compression between the pusher 54 and the front wall 48. If the front-most container 50e is removed from the tray 40 then the pusher 54, under influence of the spring-loaded rod 56, will push the remaining smoking article containers 50a, 50b, 50c, 50d, along with the tracker device 51 , towards the front wall 48. The lifter will raise container 50d with respect to the remaining containers in the stack 50a, 50b, 50c. In this way, a new front-most container 50d can be provided adjacent the front wall 48, ready for removal by a user.
• the tracker device 51 is generally sized and shaped to match the size and shape of the other containers that are provided within the tray 40.
• the tray 40 is shaped to facilitate easy removal of the front-most container 50e by a user. This is achieved by providing side walls 42, 44 that are tapered towards the front wall 48, at the location of the front-most container 50e.
• the height of the side walls 42, 44 is generally constant from the rear wall 46 to a position that is close to the front-facing surface of the front-most container 50e.
• the side walls 42, 44 reduce in height from this position towards the front wall 48 so that angled side walls 42, 44 are provided to the sides of the front-most container 50e. This facilitates easy removal of the front-most container 50e, while holding the other containers 50a, 50b, 50c, 50d and the tracker device 51 securely in the tray 40.
• the tracker device 51 comprises a PCB 61 which is accommodated within a plastic housing.
• Figure 2 is a schematic view of the PCB 61.
• the tracker device 51 comprises two optical sensors 58a, 58b which can measure a distance from the sensors 58a, 58b to a fixed surface behind them.
• the sensors 58a, 58b are configured to measure a distance to a wall in a commercial outlet, to which the tray 40 is attached.
• the tracker device 51 also includes a radio frequency transmitter 62 which operates at 2.4GHz and a microcontroller 60 which are respectively connected to the PCB 61.
• the tracker device 51 includes replaceable batteries 66 which provide a power supply to the PCB 61 and therefore to a tilt switch 64, the microcontroller 60, the transmitter 62, the optical sensors 58a, 58b, and any other components connected thereto.
• a removable lid is provided at the top of the tracker device 51 so that a user can access the batteries 66.
• the tilt switch 64 or accelerometer, is arranged to provide a signal that is indicative of movement of the tracker device 51.
• the tilt switch 64 would provide a signal if the tracker device 51 was moved because the front-most container 50e had been removed from the tray 40 and the stack of containers had advanced towards the front surface 48.
• a status LED (not shown) may be connected to the PCB 61.
• the status LED can be configured to operate when sending data. However, this is configurable and the status LED can be disabled to save power, if required.
• the microcontroller 60 In use, the microcontroller 60 is ordinarily in its inactive mode which means that it consumes very little electrical resource from the batteries 66.
• the tilt switch 64 When a signal is detected by the tilt switch 64, which is indicative of a movement of the tracker device 51 , the tilt switch 64 sends an interrupt signal to a pin on the microcontroller 60. On receipt of the interrupt signal the microcontroller 60 enters its active mode.
• the microcontroller 60 monitors distance measurements from the optical sensors 58a, 58b. This provides much more accurate distance measurements than can be achieved with the tilt switch 64, and this is achieved by triggering the optical sensors 58a, 58b multiple times, under the control of the microcontroller 60, in order to gain an average of distance readings to a wall to which the tray 40 is attached. The average distance reading is then compared by the microcontroller 60 to a previous distance reading and the distance of movement of the tracker device 51 is determined.
• the tracker device 51 If the tracker device 51 has moved by a distance that is greater than or equal to the thickness of a smoking article container 50a, 50b, 50c, 50d, 50e (and the movement is towards the front wall 48) then it can be determined that at least one smoking article container has been removed from the tray.
• the microcontroller 60 then prepares a packet of data to be sent, and forwards this to the transmitter 62.
• the transmitter 62 operates at a radio frequency of 2.4GHz, although it is preferably not a Bluetooth® device.
• the packet of data is transmitted so that it can be received at a receiver 70.
• the packet of data may identify the particular tray 40 and therefore a type of smoking article container.
• the receiver 70 can store the received data or forward it to any connected device such as a remote server accessed via the internet.
• the receiver 70 can also maintain a count of the number of smoking article containers that have been removed from the tray 40. In this way, granular and reliable sales information can be obtained. This can also facilitate determination of sales event in real-time, based on the data transmitted by the transmitter 62 in the tracker device 51.
• the PCB 61 includes a front-facing optical sensor 68 which is mounted in a front facing surface of the housing of the tracker device 51.
• the front-facing optical sensor 68 is positioned so that it is obscured when one or more smoking article containers 50a, 50b, 50c, 50d, 50e are present in the tray 40 between the tracker device 51 and the front panel 48.
• the front-facing optical sensor 68 is exposed when there are no smoking article containers 50a, 50b, 50c, 50d, 50e present in the tray 40 and the tracker device 51 is adjacent the front panel 48. In this way, the amount of light detected by the front-facing optical sensor 68 can be indicative of whether the tray 40 is empty and needs to be replenished.
• an appropriate data packet can be prepared by the microcontroller 60 and sent to the transmitter 62.
• the transmitter 62 can broadcast the data packet to be received at the receiver 70. This can provide an alert or prompt for the retailer that the tray 40 is empty and requires replenishment.
• the tilt switch 64 may also be used to detect that the tray 40 is empty and needs to be replenished. Since the tilt switch 64 detects movements and accelerations of the device 51 , when the rear-most container 50a is removed, the pusher 54 pushes the device 51 towards the front wall 48 so that the device 51 becomes the front-most element in the tray 40 (the device 51 is in place of the front-most container 50e of Figure 1). During this movement, the device 51 contacts the lifter and is lifted with respect to its previous position, causing a change of direction and acceleration that is detected by the tilt switch 64. In these circumstances an appropriate data packet can be prepared by the microcontroller 60 and sent to the transmitter 62. The transmitter 62 can broadcast the data packet to be received at the receiver 70. This can provide an alert or prompt for the retailer that the tray 40 is empty and requires replenishment.
• the optical sensors 58a, 58b can also detect movement of the tracker device 51 and the pusher 54 from the front wall 48 towards the rear wall 46. This kind of movement may occur when the tray 40 is replenished with new smoking article containers 50a, 50b, 50c, 50d, 50e. In this preferred arrangement the replenishment of the tray 40 with new containers would cause a movement that is detected by the tilt switch 64. In turn, this would cause the microcontroller 60 to enter its active mode.
• the number of containers added to the tray 40 may be stored based on the detected distance moved by the tracker device 51 , as determined by the optical sensors 58a, 58b. In these circumstances no data packets are transmitted by the transmitter 62, although this information could also be transmitted if real-time data are required regarding the replenishment of a tray 40.
• the microcontroller 60 can return to its inactive mode, following detection of movement of the tracker device 51 , and after the amount of light detected at the front-facing optical sensor 68 is checked. In one arrangement the microcontroller 60 can return to its inactive mode if no further motion is detected by the optical sensors 58a, 58b within a few seconds. This can allow the microcontroller 60 to consume very little battery resource between movement events, which means that the device 51 can be used over a long period of time before batteries need to be replaced. Through experimentation it has been found that this approach can facilitate use of the tracker device 51 for around eight weeks based on a normal amount of use. However, if items are removed from the tray 40 infrequently then the life span of the batteries 66 may be significantly longer.
• the tracker device 51 may be integrated together with the pusher 54.
• the tracker device 51 may be a fixed part of the tray 40 such that it cannot be easily removed. Such an arrangement may be preferred in some circumstances since the retailer would not need to take the special step of providing the tracker device in the tray.

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• Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Accounting & Taxation (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
• Economics (AREA)
• Strategic Management (AREA)
• Finance (AREA)
• General Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
• Human Resources & Organizations (AREA)
• Entrepreneurship & Innovation (AREA)
• Development Economics (AREA)
• Marketing (AREA)
• Operations Research (AREA)
• Quality & Reliability (AREA)
• Tourism & Hospitality (AREA)
• Details Of Rigid Or Semi-Rigid Containers (AREA)
• Vending Machines For Individual Products (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=65003203

Family Applications (1)

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• 2019
  • 2019-12-19 WO PCT/EP2019/086479 patent/WO2020141093A1/en unknown
  • 2019-12-19 EP EP19829188.2A patent/EP3906518A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2019-12-19 EA EA202191533A patent/EA202191533A1/ru unknown

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