JP2000123101A - Retrieval system for display position of commodity - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a commodity retrieval system where a customer can easily detect his/her desired commodity among many similar commodities which are displayed primarily at a store with no facility of a large scale required. SOLUTION: This system consists of a retrieval device 1 including the input parts 11 and 12 and a display part 13, a controller 2 and a display device 3 consisting of plural display units 31 arranged corresponding to the displayed plural commodities. When an answer is inputted with respect to the question that is given from the device 1, a desired commodity is retrieved and displayed. At the same time, the corresponding unit 31 is turned on via the controller 2. Thus, a customer can know the position of his/her desired commodity.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a computer connection cable having many different standards and specifications.
The present invention relates to a search system for allowing a customer to search for a desired product from among a large number of similar products that are displayed while being of the same type.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the rapid spread of personal computers in recent years, the demand for cables used to connect various computer peripheral devices such as printers and scanners to the computer main body has also been expanding.
These connection cables are products of the same type and multi-specification, with various standards, connector shapes, lengths, qualities, and prices depending on the type of computer and peripheral devices.
In addition, many companies offer the market under various brands. Therefore, even if a consumer who is a customer goes to a store such as a computer shop, it is difficult to quickly find the intended connection cable from among a large number of products having different specifications, and inevitably the store side As the number of inquiries to the staff increased, the burden on the dealers who dealt with face-to-face sales also increased.

[0003] The inconvenience of both the customer side and the shop side at the time of such product selection is not limited to the connection cable for the computer, but often occurs in multi-specification products having different standards, sizes, lengths and the like depending on the corresponding models. To be seen.
Therefore, various search systems have been conventionally proposed in order to reduce the burden on both customers and retailers when selling products having many similar products.

For example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-39816, a simplified product identification code and a usage identification code are displayed on individual packaging of a product so that a target product can be easily searched for in an aluminum sash-related product. An invention has been proposed in which these displays are displayed in a product selection manual, and a customer can select a target product from a displayed product group with reference to a display of a manual in which detailed product descriptions are described. ing.

In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 10-187846, a computer selects an optimal drug by sequentially inputting the purpose of the drug, the age of the user, symptoms, etc. so that the target drug can be easily found in a pharmacy. At the same time, there has been proposed a drug search device that displays the characteristics and usage of a drug, a display position in a store, and the like on a display.

[0006] Further, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-230496, in order to allow a customer to easily find a desired product in a department store or a supermarket, the user selects and inputs the desired product into an input device mounted on a shopping cart. A search system that displays the current position of a cart and the display location of a target product on a display device has been proposed.

[0007]

However, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-39816, even if a product selection manual has been prepared, the customer stores the identification abbreviation of the target product found in the manual. Alternatively, it is necessary to sequentially check the manual and the displayed product, and it can be said that the complexity of searching for the target product from a large number of displayed product groups has not been solved. In addition, as described in
Also in -187846, since the same type of medicine is usually arranged at the displayed display location, customers need to accurately memorize the target product name etc. and go to the display location . Furthermore, in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-230496, there is a drawback that a large-scale system is required. However, as in the case of the above-described invention, the complexity of searching for a desired product from a display place where products of the same type are arranged collectively has not been solved.

[0008] However, the present inventor can easily find a desired product from a large number of similar products displayed at stores mainly without requiring large-scale facilities. I decided to consider a product search system.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION As a result of the study, a search device having an input unit and a display unit, a control device,
A display device comprising a plurality of display units arranged corresponding to a plurality of displayed products, and when a response to a question from the search device is inputted, a target product is searched and displayed, and a control device is provided. This is a product display position search system in which a display position of a target product is notified by turning on a corresponding display unit via the PC.

Here, a general-purpose personal computer is preferably used as the search device. In this case, a keyboard or a mouse functions as an input unit of the search device, and a display functions as a display unit of the search device. A search program is incorporated in the search device, and when a customer sequentially inputs a key or a mouse according to a question of the program, a target product is searched and displayed on a display. When a plurality of corresponding products are searched and displayed, the customer instructs to select an optimum product while referring to the price of the displayed product.

The search result or the selection instruction result is transmitted as a signal from the search device to the control device, and the transmission method may be a wired or wireless transmission such as an infrared ray or a radio wave.

As each display unit constituting the display device, a display unit having an LED for turning on and off and an individual identification number is preferably used. That is, for example, each display unit is arranged corresponding to each product of the same type displayed neatly at the store, and responds to the identification number of the target product transmitted from the control device as a search result or the like. Is turned on. In this way, as a result of assigning an identification number to each display unit, if there is no mistake in the product corresponding to the identification number, the display units need not be arranged in ascending or descending order, and can be displayed in any manner.

In a second aspect of the present invention, in the commodity display position search system, when the search device is not used, the display device is appropriately flashed to provide an illumination effect.

Therefore, when the system in which nobody is touching the search device is not used, the LED of each display unit constituting the display device blinks as appropriate, so that the customer or the like is transferred to the display shelf on which the system is mounted. Attracts attention and increases the effect of attracting customers. The blinking of the LED can be adjusted by the control device, and the L of all display units can be adjusted.
In addition to blinking the ED at random, it is also possible to blink the ED sequentially so as to draw a wave.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A merchandise display position search system according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the configuration of the entire system. As shown in this figure, the display position search system for commodities according to the present invention mainly includes a search device 1, a control device 2, and a display device 3.

The search device 1 is provided with a keyboard 11 and a mouse 12 as an input unit and a display 13 as a display unit. The search unit 1 is installed near a merchandise display shelf at a store so as to be always usable and free for customers. Served for use. In this example, a general-purpose personal computer is used as the search device 1. 2 and 3 are flowcharts showing an example of a search program for a connection cable between a personal computer and a peripheral device or between peripheral devices incorporated in the search device 1.

In the search program of this example, when a customer or the like starts a search by touching the keyboard 11 or the mouse 12, the first step is to select a connection cable from the personal computer main body or to select from the purpose of the connection cable.
Three search items such as whether or not the connection cable part number is known are displayed on the display 13. Thereafter, the customer or the like sequentially answers in accordance with the questions displayed on the display 13 to arrive at the target connection cable.

For example, as shown in FIG. 2, when the customer or the like selects "select a connection cable from the personal computer", the next step is to list the model of the personal computer using the connection cable and the connection cable. A schematic diagram showing the use position is displayed. If, for example, a user wants to find a cable for connecting a personal computer of a model called “DOS / V” (“model D” in the figure) to a corresponding printer, the user selects and instructs the model from a model list, and In this case, the user selects and instructs the cable at the position connected to the printer with the mouse.

Based on the selection result of the customer or the like, a connection cable satisfying the search condition is searched, and the search result is displayed on the display 13. At this time, if there are a plurality of connection cables that satisfy the search condition, the target connection cables are displayed in a list, so that the customer or the like can view the product number, price, length, feature, The most appropriate connection cable is selected and instructed based on the information on the specifications and the compatible printers. Note that a photograph or a connection diagram of the connection cable may be displayed as product information to the customer or the like.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart when the customer or the like selects “select from use” in the first step of the search program in the example of FIG. In this example, the search program uses
Connection between PC and printer, connection between PC and display, LAN connection, RS-232C connection, US
Options such as connection of a B cable, connection of a personal computer to a keyboard or a mouse are provided.

For example, when a customer or the like is searching for a cable for connecting a personal computer to a corresponding printer, the user selects and instructs "printer" from the above options. Next, by selecting and instructing which type of personal computer to use the cable, a connection cable satisfying the search condition is searched, and the search result is displayed on the display 13. When there are a plurality of connection cables that satisfy the search condition, the target connection cables are displayed in a list as described above.
The customer or the like collects the information such as the product number, price, and length displayed in detail for each connection cable, and selects and instructs the most appropriate connection cable.

In the search program of FIG. 2, when the customer or the like knows the product number of the target connection cable, the user may select and instruct "when the product number is known" in the first step. Only by inputting a specific product number, if there is a corresponding connection cable, it is displayed on the display 31 as a search result.

In consideration of the case where the user wants to restart the search from the beginning during the search operation or wants to cancel the search, each search screen is provided with a stop button or a re-search button for returning to the start. desirable. Also,
More preferably, after a certain period of time elapses without performing an input operation, an introduction program of a search system, an advertisement program of a store, or the like is displayed as a screen saver on the display 31 serving as a display unit, so that the customer or the like can use the input unit. It is preferable to set so that the first start screen is displayed when the user touches the barrel 11 or the mouse 12.

The search result or the result of the selection instruction of the customer etc.
It is sent from the search device 1 to the display device 3 via the control device 2. The connection between the search device 1 and the control device 2 is, for example, RS
This is performed using a cable of -232C standard, and the control unit 2
Between the display device 3 and each display unit 31 of the display device 3
The connection between them is made using, for example, an RJ-11 (PhoneNet) standard 6-core cable, a UTP 4-pair standard 8-core cable, or the like.

The display device 3 in the example of FIG. 1 is composed of a total of 50 display units 31. Each of the display units 31 is given an identification number of 1 to 50 so as not to overlap, and the top and bottom of the 50th display unit 31 are arranged one by one from the first display unit 31 in a horizontal line. 5
They are arranged in stages to form a three-dimensional display shelf. Each display unit 31 of each stage is connected to the adjacent display unit 31 in order, and furthermore, 10 units arranged at the right end of the first stage.
From the numbered display unit 31 to the numbered 20 display unit 31 arranged at the right end of the second row, from the numbered display unit 31 arranged at the left end of the second level to the numbered 21 arranged at the left end of the third row Are sequentially connected to the display unit 31 of the
It is formed in the shape of a chain of books. Note that the connection between the display units 31 is the same as that used for the connection of the control device 2, similarly to the above-described 6-core cable of the RJ-11 standard or 8 cores of the UTP4 standard.
Use a core cable or the like.

The identification number assigned to each display unit 31 may be set by, for example, a dip switch provided on the display unit 31. Therefore, the order in which the display units 31 are displayed is not limited to the example of FIG. 1 and may be any order, and the number of stages and the number of displays can be set freely.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing one example of each display unit 31 constituting the display device 3 of FIG. In this example,
A display unit is provided for each display hook 5 using a display stand provided with a grid-like wall surface 4 made of a metal bar and displaying products by hanging the display hook 5 at an arbitrary position on the wall surface. 31 is installed. The connection cables individually housed in the packaging case as the display products 6 are hooked and displayed on the round bar-shaped hook portions 51 erected below the display hooks 5. On the front side of the display unit 31, an identification number (No. 10 in this example) of the connection cable displayed on the display 13 as a search result is written, and an LED 32 is mounted above the identification number. Although not shown,
The six-core cable connecting the tenth display unit 31 to the ninth display unit 31 on the right and the twentieth display unit 31 in the lower stage is wired on the back side of the lattice-shaped wall surface 4.

When the target connection cable is searched by operating the search device 1, only the LED 32 of the display unit 31 corresponding to the connection cable is repeatedly turned on or flashed quickly, and the display position of the product is displayed to the customer or the like. I will let you know.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in the commodity display position search system as described above, when the search device is not used, the display device is made to flash appropriately to provide an illumination effect. That is, as described above, in the system according to the present invention, the display position of the product that the customer or the like is looking for is notified by lighting or blinking of the LED 32 in the display unit 31. After a predetermined time has passed, the LEDs 32 of all the display units 31 are switched to blink at random or to blink in sequence so as to draw a wake. The variously flashing LEDs 32 will draw customers' attention to the display shelf where the system according to the invention is mounted.

[0030]

According to the present invention, a display position search system for a product can easily attach a display device to an existing display shelf and an exhibition hook, and a general-purpose control device and a search device for the display device can be used. Since the system is completed only by connecting a personal computer, the cost for introducing the system can be reduced. Then, the customer himself / herself can easily find the target product from the products having many different standards / specifications, which can contribute to customer service. At the same time, it is not necessary to explain the product, so that it is possible to reduce the explanation burden on the store side and to save labor.

Further, in the second invention, when the search device is not used, the display device is appropriately flashed to provide an illumination effect, so that the product display shelf, which tends to be dull, is brightly lit. can get.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the configuration of the entire product display position search system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of a connection cable search program for connecting a personal computer and a peripheral device or between peripheral devices incorporated in the search device.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart when a customer or the like selects “select from use” in the first step in the search program in the example of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating an example of each display unit included in the display device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Search device 2 Control device 3 Display device 5 Exhibition hook 6 Product

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5B049 BB11 CC02 DD01 EE05 FF03 FF04 5B075 ND03 PP02 PP03 PP12 PP13 PP30 PQ02 PQ16 PQ22 PQ46 UU40 5C096 AA00 AA11 BA04 BC02 CA06 CB01 CC06 DC02 DC06 DC19 DC22 DC30 FA

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A search device comprising: a search device having an input unit and a display unit; a control device; and a display device including a plurality of display units arranged corresponding to a plurality of displayed products. When the answer to the question is input, the target product is searched and displayed, and the corresponding display unit is turned on through the control device to inform the display position of the target product. Search system. 2. The product display position search system according to claim 1, wherein when the search device is not used, the display device flashes appropriately to provide an illumination effect.