GB2254604A - Merchandising system. - Google Patents

Abstract

A merchandising system for the supply of orders (e.g. in a supermarket or a warehouse) comprising a plurality of storage units 2 each for holding a stack of products. Dispensing means 26 are associated with the stacks, for dispensing products 29 therefrom. A computer and means for inputting details of the order to be supplied are provided, the computer being operatively associated with the dispensing means 26 so as to effect automatic operation thereof to dispense products as required to satisfy the order. Preferably the chutes have bristles for slowing the articles being dispensed. Preferably the chutes have their tops arcuately arranged to allow easy refilling. The chutes may feed an outlet chute and a belt conveyor leading to a packing and collection station. <IMAGE>

Description

MERCHANDISING SYSTEM The present invention relates to a merchandising system for use in the sale or supply of goods, eg. in a supermarket or warehouse.

Customers in supermarkets make their own selection of goods displayed on the shelves of the supermarket and then take their products to a checkout where the amount of each item purchased is entered into a till (possibly automatically by a 'bar-code' system). The customer then pays for the goods. There are however a number of disadvantages. Firstly, the collection of items from the supermarket shelves is likely to take some time (particulary if the customer has a lot of goods to collect) and the total time spent in the supermarket is increased by the time taken for the goods to be entered into the till. Secondly, the fact that the goods are on display on the shelves often means that an excessive amount of packaging is used to display the goods.

So far as a warehouse or other store of goods is concerned, it is generally also the case that goods must be collected from the shelves in order to satisfy the order. This is true irrespective of whether the warehouse is of the 'cash-and-carry' type or one in which the orders are made up by warehouse personnel. Once again, the collection of the orders is a time-consuming operation.

It is therefore an object of the invention to obviate or mitigate the abovementioned disadvantages.

According to the present invention there is provided a merchandising system for the supply of orders, comprising a plurality of storage units each for holding a stack of products, dispensing means associated with said stacks for dispensing products therefrom, computer means, and means for inputting details of the order to be supplied into the computer, said computer being operatively associated with the dispensing means so as to effect automatic operation thereof to dispense products as required to satisfy the order.

Preferably the storage units enclose or substantially completely enclose the products. The storage units may therefore be tube-like structures.

Preferably also the dispensing means dispense products from the bottom of the stack whereby the upper products move down the stack under gravity. Alternatively, mechanical means may be provided for moving products down the stack. Means may be provided for retarding the fall of products in the stack. Such means may for example take the form of resilient bristles on the interior surface of the storage unit. Such storage units may be re-stacked from the top.

In use of the merchandising system, the products in any one storage unit will be the same although obviously different units may hold different products. The order to be satisfied is entered at a suitable terminal thus causing the computer to operate the dispensing means associated with the storage units to dispense goods as necessary to satisfy the order. Ideally the dispensed goods are received onto a conveying means for transfer to a collation station.

The conveying means may for example comprise a chute, a mechanically operated conveyor, or combination of the two.

Since the supply of the goods is controlled by the computer, the latter can also automatically calculate the total price of the goods which make up the order. The computer may also be used for stock control purposes.

The merchandising system may be used in a supermarket, in which case the goods in the storage units (which may be housed in an area away from where the customers have access) may be individual items such as cans, jars, boxes etc. The customer may select his/her choice from a menu or other display linked to the computer which controls dispensing of the goods as discussed previously. The dispensed goods may be packaged at the aforementioned collation station whilst the customer pays at a separate pay station (the total price having been automatically calculated by the computer). A substantial amount of waiting time is avoided and, in any event, the supermarket may include areas for the purchase of goods not included in the storage units (eg. frozen foods) and these goods may be collected whilst the other order is being processed.

There is the associated advantage that for those goods included in the storage units some of the packaging normally associated with the display of those goods on the shelves may be dispensed with.

The merchandising system may also be used in a warehouse, in which case the products in the storage units may be boxes of individual items, eg. boxes of cans, jars etc.

It will be appreciated that the computer of such a warehouse may link with that of the abovedescribed supermarket whereby there may be automatic stock re-ordering for the supermarket.

The invention will be further described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a view of a portion of one embodiment of merchandising system in accordance with the invention; Fig. 2 is a flow chart for a merchandising system of which the arrangement in Fig. 1 forms a part; Fig. 3 illustrates a dispensing arrangement which may be used in the system of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a detail of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 illustrates a further dispensing arrangement; Fig. 6 illustrates a portion of a further embodiment of merchandising system in accordance with the invention for use of full cases as in a warehouse situation; Fig. 7 is a flow chart for operating a merchandising system of which the arrangement shown in Fig. 6 forms a part.

Fig. 1 illustrates one embodiment of the merchandising system as applied to a supermarket. As shown, there is a bank 1 of dispensers 2 each of which is capable of holding five stacks of products (eg.

cans, jars etc.) to be dispensed onto chutes 3 for transfer onto a conveyer 4 so as to arrive at a collating station 5.

In accordance with the principle with which the system operates, orders for products held in the dispensers 2 are keyed into a computer (not shown) which controls release of the products from the dispensers 2 as required to make up the order so that the products may be collected at the station 5.

Referring now also to Fig. 2, a customer entering a store incorporating the system illustrated in Fig. 1 is able to make a selection from a set menu of goods which are held within the dispensers 2. This selection is input to a control computer for making up the orders by appropriate release of products from the dispensers 2.

The dispensed items are conveyed to the station 5 where the order is collated and bagged. The bag is sealed with a label printed under the control of the computer giving such information as the customers name, details of the order and the total price. The bagged order is then conveyed to a collection point 6.

Whilst the computer has been controlling the dispenser 2 to make up the order, the customer may wander around a self-service section of the store to select items which are not included in the dispensers 2. Such items may for example be frozen foods, fresh foods and non-foods.

There is a check-out at which a customer pays for both the self-selected goods as well as those being obtained from the dispensers 2. The order as made up from the dispensers 2 may then be picked up at the collection point 6.

In order to replenish stocks within the dispensers 2, the system of Fig. 1 shows that incoming goods are supplied on an elevator 7 to an upper floor of the system where an operative 8 loads the tops of the dispensers 2. Waste packaging may be removed by a conveyer system 9 which passes this packaging to a shredder and bailer 11.

The stock control for the system illustrated in Fig. 1 may also be effected by the control computer in the manner illustrated in the flow sheet of Fig. 2. The manner in which this stock control is effected is clear from the flow sheet and no further description will be given.

Referring now to Fig. 3 there is illustrated in more detail an embodiment of one of the dispensers 2 illustrated in Fig. 1. The illustrated dispensing unit 2 comprises a plurality of tubes 20 each of which extends above and below a ceiling/floor 21 which corresponds to the floor in Fig. 1 on which the operative 8 stands. Above the level of floor 21, the tubes 20 are configured in a generally dog-leg manner so that their upper ends 22 may be supplied with goods by a loading arm 23 which is movable along an arcuate path 24.

Below the level of floor/ceiling 21, the tubes 20 extend generally vertically and just below their lower open ends 25 are provided with pivotal cradles 26 which are rotatable (by motor and gear-box units) around a centre 27.

As shown in Fig. 3, the lower ends of the tubes 20 are at successively increasing height in going from left to right such that each of these lower ends is at an approximately fixed distance above an inclined chute 28 which corresponds to a chute 3 in Fig. 1.

Each of the tubes 20 will be stacked with cans 29 arranged with their longitudinal axes horizontal and coaxial with the pivot axis 27 of the cradle 26. To dispense a can, the motor and gear-box is actuated under the control of the computer so that the cradle 26 rotates around axis 27. The arrangement is such that, as the cradle 26 rotates past a certain point, the lower-most can 29 (ie. the one in the cradle) is released onto the chute 28 whilst the next upper can 29 is retained and becomes seated in the cradle when the latter is returned to the position illustrated in Fig. 3.

To load the tubes 20, the loading arm 23 is moved to the upper end 22 of the appropriate tube 20 and cans are then supplied along the arm for entry into the tube. The loader of cans into the tubes 20 is also shown in Fig. 4 (which illustrates two different positions of the loading arm 23). It is to be noted from Fig. 4 that at least the vertical sections of the tubes 20 have stiff bristles 30 which serve to decelerate downward movement of the cans 29.

Fig. 5 is an illustration of a dispensing unit incorporating the principles outlined for Figs. 3 and 4. In the arrangement of Fig. 5, the vertical sections of the dispensing tubes may be positioned below a box-like unit 31 (housing the "dog-leg" upper sections illustrated in Fig. 3 and 4) and the lower sections are mounted on a slideway. As such, the unit of lower sections may be withdrawn for complete access to the sides of the tubes and their individual dispensing mechanisms (incorporating the geared motors 32 which effect rotation of the cradles 26).

Fig. 6 illustrates application of the merchandising system of the invention to a warehouse environment. In this case, the products to be dispensed are stored in banks 101 of tubes 102. Whereas, in the system of Fig. 1, the dispensers 2 housed individual items such as cans, each stack 102 may include product units which are themselves comprised of a plurality of individual items. For example, the product units in the stacks 102 could be boxes containing a plurality of cans 29 which, at the point of retail sale, are unpacked by the operative 8 (see Fig. 1) and loaded into the dispensers 2.

As with the system illustrated in Fig. 1, the product units 103 are supplied to the top of the stacks 102 so that they may move under gravity or mechanical means to the point at which the products are dispensed from the lower end of the tube by any suitable mechanism.

For the purpose of loading the product unit 103 into the stacks 102, pallets of the units 103 are supplied to a goods inward bay at which they are "de-palletised" and transferred to an elevator 104 which introduces the package units onto a conveyer system 105 which distributes the products (under computer control) to the appropriate hopper 102.

When the goods are dispensed from the stacks 102, in response to the order being satisfied, they move down slides 107 onto a conveyor system 108 for subsequent stacking on a pallet or the like and then inspection prior to despatch.

The overall manner in which the warehousing system may be operated is illustrated in the flow chart of Fig. 7.

Claims (15)

1. A merchandising system for the supply of orders, comprising a plurality of storage units each for holding a stack of products, dispensing means associated with said storage units for dispensing products therefrom, computer means, and means for inputting details of the order to be supplied into the computer, said computer being operatively associated with the dispensing means so as to effect automatic operation thereof to dispense products as required to satisfy the order.

2. A merchandising system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the storage units enclose or substantially completely enclose the products.

3. A merchandising system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the storage units are tube-like structures.

4. A merchandising system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the dispensing means dispense products from the bottom of a storage unit whereby the upper products move down the storage unit under gravity.

5. A merchandising system as claimed in claim 4, wherein means are provided for retarding the fall of products in the storage unit.

6. A merchandising system as claimed in claim 5, wherein the retarding means are resilient bristles on the interior surface of the storage unit.

7. A merchandising system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the dispensing means dispense products from the bottom of a storage unit, and mechanical means are provided for moving products down the storage unit.

8. A merchandising system as claimed in any one of claims 4 to 7, wherein the storage units are re-stacked from the top.

9. A merchandising system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the storage units are positioned adjacent to one another, the upper ends of the storage units lying on an arcuate path, and wherein an arcuately moveable feed device is provided which is moveable so as to be capable of selectively re-stacking any one of the storage units.

10. A merchandising system as claimed in claim 9, wherein the storage units are arranged in a line, the upper ends of the storage units being cranked to lie in a generally vertical arcuate path, said feed device being moveable along said vertical path so as to selectively re-stack any one of the storage units.

11. A merchandising system as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein lower portions of the storage units are slidably moveable relative to the upper ends of the units to allow access to the dispensing means.

12. A merchandising system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the dispensing means comprises a cradle pivotally mounted at a lower end of the storage unit.

13. A merchandising system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the dispensing goods are received onto a conveying means for transfer to a collation station.

14. A merchandising system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the conveying means comprise a chute.

15. A merchandising system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the conveying means comprise a mechanically operated conveyor.