JP2000076273A - Article guide system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an article guide system which can easily correspond to the exchange of articles even if they are frequently exchanged and which can efficiently update data by divisionally making main information (character data) on an article, attached information (character data) and the picture of the article into data bases, linking them at the time of extraction and outputting them to a monitor screen and the like. SOLUTION: Main information of an applied article number from a article main information storage part 33, picture information of the applied article number from an article picture information storage part 31 and attached information of the applied article number from an article attached information storage part 32 are linked and are extracted with the article number (or bar code) inputted from an input device 1 as a key. Linked data is displayed in an output device 4.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a merchandise guidance system for managing a large number of commodities in a retail business or the like by computer and guiding various kinds of information such as the name, price, cost, stock quantity, and sales of each commodity.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, merchandise management by a computer in a retail business is classified into a large classification, a middle classification, a small classification, and a product, but each product is specified by character data such as a product name and a product number. Relying on In supermarkets, convenience stores, and the like, the number of products handled is large, and the products handled are frequently replaced. For example, when placing an order, erroneous orders are often not made when ordering is based solely on character data.

[0003]

Therefore, an image of a product is stored together with character data such as a product name in the same database, and an image of the product can be simultaneously displayed on a monitor screen together with character data such as a product name. It can be considered.

However, if character data and image data are mixed in the same database, it is advantageous in terms of saving memory capacity. However, when exchanging products, the image data is replaced (deleted / stored) in the database. Must be performed at the same time, and when the same replaced product is to be handled again several days later, the image data must be re-input, for example.

[0005] The main information such as the product name, sales price, and cost, and the additional information (history data) such as the sales, stock status, and sales rank of each product are all character data. When the main information and the accompanying information are mixed in the same database, the more frequently the products are replaced, the more troublesome data processing is required to maintain data consistency.

It is an object of the present invention to divide the main information (character data), accompanying information (character data), and product images of a product into a database, link them when extracting them, and output them on a monitor screen or the like. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a product guidance system that can easily cope with frequently changing products and that can efficiently update data.

[0007]

According to the present invention, there is provided a merchandise guide system comprising: a merchandise main information storage section storing main information on merchandise as character data together with a merchandise number; And a product accompanying information storage unit that stores accompanying information related to the product as character data together with the product number, and, using the product number input from the input device as a key, main information of the corresponding product number from the product main information storage unit, A corresponding data extracting / combining means for linking and extracting the image information of the corresponding product number from the product image information storage unit and the accompanying information of the corresponding product number from the product accompanying information storage unit.

At present, most retailers use barcodes to manage products. If a barcode attached to the product is read by a barcode reader, the read code is used as a key to obtain product main information. The main information of the product can be linked and extracted from the storage unit, the image information of the product can be linked from the product image information storage unit, and the accompanying information of the product can be extracted and linked from the product additional information storage unit.

Also, when storing in each of the product main information storage unit, the product image information storage unit and the product accompanying information storage unit, the code read by the barcode reader can be stored as the product number.

[0010]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the product guide system according to the present invention includes an input device 1 such as a keyboard and a bar code reader, a data processing device 2 operated by program control, and a storage device 3 such as a hard disk device. It comprises an output device 4 such as a display device or a printer.

The storage device 3 includes a product main information storage unit 33 that stores main information such as a name, a selling price, and a cost of each product as character data along with a product number, and image data of several types of patterns for each product (the product itself). Product image storage unit 31 which stores a photograph and a photograph of a display place) together with a product number.
And a product-related information storage unit 32 which stores, as character data, additional information (history data) such as sales, stock status, sales rank, and the like related to each product.

The data processing device 2 has a function as a corresponding data extracting / combining means 21 as a part of the function.
Product number (or barcode) input from input device 1
Is used as a key to link the main information of the corresponding product number from the product main information storage unit 33, the image information of the corresponding product number from the product image information storage unit 31, and the accompanying information of the corresponding product number from the product accompanying information storage unit 32. Then, the linked data is displayed on the output device 4. Input device 1
Product number (number entered on the keyboard,
If the data corresponding to (or the code read by the bar code reader) does not exist in the product main information storage unit 33, the product image information storage unit 31 and the product accompanying information storage unit 3
2 is not executed, and a message indicating that there is no corresponding data is displayed on the output device 4.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

A product number (input number from a keyboard or a code read by a bar code reader) given from the input device 1 is supplied to a corresponding data extracting / combining means 21. The relevant data extracting / combining means 21 checks whether data having the same number as the input product number as a key is stored in the product main information storage unit 33 (steps A1 and A2 in FIG. 2). Product main information storage unit 3
If there is data having a product number as a key in 3, the corresponding product main information is extracted and the process proceeds to the next step.

If the corresponding data does not exist, a message indicating that there is no corresponding data is output to the output device 4.
(Step A3).

Next, a product image having the input product number as a key is extracted from the product image storage unit 31 (step A).
4). Then, the accompanying information is extracted from the article accompanying information storage unit 32 (step A5). Next, the searched various data are combined into one data and displayed on the output device 4 (step A6).

Product main information storage unit 33, product image storage unit 3
When storing the data of each product in the 1 and the product-related information storage unit 32, the product number of the product is also stored. However, it is troublesome to input the numbers one by one from the keyboard, and the input error easily occurs. If the barcode attached to the product is read by a barcode reader and the read code is stored as a product number, labor can be saved and an input error can be prevented.

[0019]

The first effect of the present invention is that the main information such as the name of the product, the selling price, the cost, etc., and the additional information (history data) such as the sales, stock status, sales order, etc. related to the product.
In addition, by combining the image data of the products, it is possible to enhance the recognition power of the products, thereby improving the management efficiency of the products in the store.

The reason is that in displaying only character information, it is necessary for a human to memorize in advance what shape the product has and where it has been arranged, but by displaying image data, This is because the information of the product can be more specifically recognized.

A second effect is that merchandise information is stored in advance so as to be linked with one key (merchandise number), and storage devices are divided according to the type of the information. That is, it is possible to efficiently update each information.

The reason is that various kinds of information are not updated synchronously, but are updated at different times. Therefore, when stored in a mixed manner, the update efficiency is deteriorated. This is because the data can be efficiently updated / extracted by dividing the data in units of update timing and storing the data so as to link data with one key.

According to the invention of claim 2, when the bar code attached to the product is read by the bar code reader, the read code is used as a key to store the main information of the product from the product main information storage unit. Since the image information of the product can be linked and extracted from the product image information storage unit and the accompanying information of the product from the product accompanying information storage unit, it is possible to save the trouble of inputting the product number from the keyboard, and to prevent erroneous input.

According to the third aspect of the invention, when the data of each product is stored in each of the product main information storage, the product image storage, and the product accompanying information storage, the product number of the product is also stored. If the barcode attached to the product is read by a barcode reader and the read code is stored as a product number, labor can be saved and an input error can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a product guidance system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an example of the operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Input device 2 Data processing device 3 Storage device 4 Output device 21 Applicable data extraction / combining means 31 Product image storage unit 32 Product accompanying information storage unit 33 Product main information storage unit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5B049 AA01 BB11 CC28 DD02 EE05 FF01 5B075 ND16 ND36 NK02 NK22 PP05 PP12 PP22 PQ02

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A product main information storage unit that stores main information on a product as character data together with a product number, a product image storage unit that stores an image of a product together with a product number, and additional information related to the product as character data. Using the product number information input from the input device as a key, a product associated information storage unit stored with the product number, and the main information of the corresponding product number from the product main information storage unit and the image of the corresponding product number from the product image information storage unit And a corresponding data extracting / combining means for linking and extracting accompanying information of a corresponding product number from the information and product accompanying information storage unit. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a bar code reader for reading a bar code attached to the product, wherein the corresponding data extracting / combining means uses the code read by the bar code reader as a key to store the corresponding product from the product main information storage unit. Main information of the number,
Image information of the corresponding product number from the product image information storage unit,
2. The product guidance system according to claim 1, wherein the associated information of the corresponding product number is extracted by linking from the product accompanying information storage unit. 3. The product guide according to claim 2, wherein the product main information storage, the product image information storage, and the product accompanying information storage store a code read by a bar code reader as a product number. system.