JP2001118146A - Pos system and security system utilizing it - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize visual customer management having the customer's face incorporated as the picture data and to provide a security system utilizing a POS system where a customer's face is seen realistically in market information on the share, the sales, etc., of each product and utilizing also a POS system using a camera for recording picture data. SOLUTION: In this POS system for managing the investigation, totaling, etc., of the sales amount and stock of merchandise, a customer's face is photographed by cameras 40 and 45, the picture data are recorded with sales data to provide a graph of market information through the use of the picture data. The data are subjected to centralized control by a host computer 60 connected through a communication line 30, and switching and pan/tilt/zoom, etc., of video images picked up by a plurality of cameras arranged in a store are freely controlled by the computer 60.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a computer system for processing the data such as the name and price of a product purchased by a customer at a store or the like, or the age group and gender of the customer who purchased the product. POS system that manages surveys and totals of inventory and inventory, and a security system using the same, in particular, a POS system that uses an image photographed by a camera disposed in a store such as a store, and a security that uses the POS system About the system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Nowadays, the life cycle of products has become extremely short, and it has become increasingly important to provide customers with the exact products they want in supermarkets, convenience stores, department stores, and other stores. It is an important factor in sales strategy to understand the needs of customers and to make a wide selection. As a result, at stores such as supermarkets, convenience stores, and department stores, it is possible to quickly collect information on products purchased by customers, and to perform checkout operations at cash registers without fail, and to shorten the operation time. POS systems that can be used are widely adopted.

[0003] A "POS (Point of Sales: Point-of-Sale Information Management System) system" is designed to shorten the settlement time by instantly calculating the total price of goods purchased by a customer, change, and issuing a receipt at a store. In addition to computer processing of the product name and price of the product purchased by the customer or sales data such as the age group and gender of the customer who purchased the product, management of surveys and aggregation of sales and inventory of the product is performed. It is a system that performs. According to this POS system, various data can be easily taken into a computer by reading a barcode attached to a product with a scanner or the like. Furthermore, by inputting data such as the age group and gender of the customer who purchased the product from the input means provided in the POS terminal, information such as the age group, gender, and time zone of the customer who purchased the product is also captured. Can be.

[0004] The data obtained by such a POS system is used for various analyzes such as the sales situation and sales performance of the product, the share of the same type of product, and the sales performance of each store. Then, based on the results of these analyses, an assortment of goods at the store is determined, and the amount of stock is adjusted and purchased. Further, in a franchise store having a plurality of stores, sales data sent from each store is managed in a headquarters center that supervises each store, customer needs and the like are analyzed at the headquarters center, and a product lineup is determined. You.

On the other hand, in order to prevent accidents such as theft of merchandise and sales in the store, which have been increasing recently, images from cameras arranged in the store are displayed on a display for displaying POS information at the back of the store. Projecting and monitoring the inside of the store
Various monitoring systems linked with the OS system have been proposed.

[0006]

However, the conventional POS
In the system, the customer's age group and gender are determined and input by the cashier operator, and it cannot be said that accurate data is always recorded. Further, from a table or a graph created based on various sales data input at a cash register, it was not possible to know a specific face as to which customer purchased the product.

On the other hand, in a conventional surveillance system linked to a POS system, a camera installed in a store is used only to prevent accidents such as theft of merchandise and sales proceeds, and images in the store and customers are prevented. No attempt was made to use the face image data for market information.

In a franchise store or the like having a plurality of stores, the store is connected to the headquarters center via a communication line in order to send sales data for each store to the headquarters center. If you can see in real time, you can get more detailed market information, accidents such as theft of products and sales, congestion in the store, employee work and customer service, display and product replenishment, It is possible to check whether or not the cleaning status and the like are being performed as described in the manual and to provide guidance.

Accordingly, the present invention realizes a visual customer management that captures not only data such as gender and age group, but also the face of a customer as image data, and realizes customer management based on market information such as share and sales of each product. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a POS system in which the face of a person looks real.
According to the present invention, it is also possible to use a camera used for recording image data to freely view the inside of the store even at the headquarters center away from the store, and further photograph the inside of the store and record the image. It is an object of the present invention to provide a security system using a POS system that can perform the security.

[0010]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention according to the first aspect of the present invention provides a product name and price of a product purchased by a customer at a store or the like or an age group of the customer who purchased the product. And information such as gender as sales data,
In a POS system for managing the sales amount and inventory of products by computer processing of the sales data, a camera or POS terminal arranged in the store when a customer purchases a product at a cash register. It is characterized in that a customer's face is photographed by a camera mounted on the machine, and the image data is recorded together with sales data.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a POS system according to the first aspect, wherein market information such as share or sales amount of each product is converted into image data of a customer who has purchased the product. Is displayed on the screen in the form of a graph using a computer, and the displayed customer image can be enlarged or reduced.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a POS system according to the first or second aspect, wherein sales data and image data recorded at one or more dealers are used. The system is characterized in that sales data and image data are centrally managed by a host computer installed in the headquarters center by transmitting the data to a headquarters center that manages each store via a communication line.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a POS system according to the third aspect, wherein the POS system is selected from among dealers connected to the headquarter center via a communication line. Select a store desired to be viewed by the user, and switch the image displayed by a plurality of cameras arranged in the store, pan, tilt, zoom, etc., can be freely controlled by the host computer. .

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the present invention according to claim 5 is directed to a P-type semiconductor device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.
This is a security system using an OS system. When an accident such as theft of goods or sales occurs, each camera placed in the store is operated in conjunction with an emergency report switch that notifies the accident, A recording device for photographing and recording a video is provided.

[0015] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention according to claim 6 provides the present invention according to any one of claims 1 to 5.
A security system using an OS system, wherein a sensor detects closing of a door when the store is closed, a recording device is operated, and a camera inside the store is used to record the inside of the store after the store is closed, and a sensor is used when the store is opened. To stop the operation of the recording device and end the recording.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A POS system according to the present invention and a security system using the same will be described in detail based on a preferred embodiment shown in the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a POS system according to the present invention and a security system using the same.

At first, a so-called "cash register" is provided in the store as a place where a customer purchases goods for each store counter A on each floor, and the name and price of the goods purchased by the customer or the purchase of the goods. A POS terminal 10 for recording information such as a customer's age group and gender as sales data is provided. As shown in FIG. 2, the POS terminal 10 includes a scanner 101 for reading a bar code attached to a product, a keyboard 102 for inputting the amount and quantity of the deposit, and a total amount based on the input data. And a central processing unit 100 for calculating the amount of change and the like,
It is composed of a monitor 110 for displaying the result and a printer 111 for issuing a receipt displaying the settlement result. A predetermined number of POS terminals 10 are arranged in accordance with the scale and congestion of each counter A.

The POS terminal 10 according to the present embodiment is equipped with a camera 40 for recording a customer's figure, particularly a face, as image data. If the camera 40 is provided in the POS terminal 10, the photographing distance with the customer is short, and a clear image can be recorded. The camera 40 is a sub-monitor 1 for the customer to check the total amount of the purchased goods and the like.
11a is built in or arranged on it. The image of the customer's face taken by the camera 40 is displayed on the monitor 110 of the POS terminal 10 and the monitor 1
By selecting an icon displayed on the display 10, it is possible to switch between displaying the image on a part of the monitor 110 or displaying the image on the entire surface. POS terminal 1
A camera 45 is provided at a position distant from 0, for example, on the ceiling, so that the inside of the store and the customer standing in front of the cash register can be displayed (see FIG. 3).
Note that the POS terminal 10 can be disposed near the POS terminal 10 without providing the camera 40.
The configuration may be such that the image of the customer is recorded using only the camera 45 located away from the S terminal 10. Camera 4
Both 0 and 45 are capable of panning, tilting, zooming, and the like, and can adjust the range of projection as desired. The keyboard 102 is provided with a key (shutter) (not shown) for recording the appearance of the customer projected by the cameras 40 and 45 as an image.

The POS terminal 10 is equipped with or connected to an emergency notification switch 105 for notifying an accident such as a theft of a product or sales proceeds. When the emergency notification switch 105 is pressed, each camera 4 arranged in the store
Reference numerals 0 and 45 operate in accordance with a pre-taught motion such as pointing in the direction of the POS terminal 10 at which the emergency notification switch 105 is pressed or projecting a wide area in the store.
R13 and recording device 15 provided in controller 15
A is set so that the video or image is recorded in a. Further, a sensor 19 is provided at a door 19a which is an entrance and exit of the store.
The door 19a is provided so that the employee who is the last leaver closes the door after closing and goes out of the store.
Is locked, the sensor 19 detects it and the camera 40,
The VTR 13 starts recording the inside of the store projected at 45. And the employee who came to the office the next day
Is unlocked, the sensor 19 senses this and stops the operation of the VTR 13 to end the recording.

The POS terminal 10 and the camera 45 arranged at each sales floor A are connected by an in-store line 20 (for example, “LAN”), and are connected to a monitor 1 via a controller 15 described later.
1. Connected to the VTR 13, and the controller 15 is connected to the headquarters controller 55 in the headquarters center C via the communication line 30. In the case of a chain store, a franchise store, or the like having a plurality of stores, the controller 15 disposed in each store is connected to the headquarters controller 55. Note that the communication line 30 can use a dedicated line, but can also use an ISDN line that is now widely used.

In the control room B, which is separated from the sales floor A, the management room B refers to the master information such as the product name and price registered in advance based on the data input from the POS terminal 10 of each sales floor A, and Controller 1 that sends back data
5 are provided. The controller 15 also controls the video signals captured by the cameras 40 and 45 to display the video projected by the specific camera on the monitor 11 or converts the video from each camera 40 and 45 to an arbitrary number of frames. It can be divided and displayed (see FIG. 5). Further, the controller 15 is provided with a recording device 15a that records customer image data captured by the POS terminal 10. It is preferable that the image data be compressed and stored because the data size can be reduced.

The monitor 11 is connected to a VTR 13 for recording video images captured by the cameras 40 and 45. The video inside the store and the image of the customer's appearance and the like are recorded by the VTR 13 and reproduced when necessary, and the video is displayed on the monitor 1.
1 can be seen. In general, video recording is performed using a tape, but the recording is not limited to the tape, but may be performed using a recording medium such as an optical disk or a DVD.

The headquarters center C records the sales data sent from each store and sends the data to the host computer 60. The headquarters controller 55 centrally manages the sales data sent from each store. Based on the data, it is processed into market information such as the market share and sales of each product, and is graphed.
A host computer 60 for controlling the movements of 0 and 45 is installed. The market information processed by the host computer 60 and the video transmitted from each store are displayed on a monitor 61 connected to the host computer 60. A VTR 63 is connected to the monitor 61.
By selecting an icon displayed in the above, the user can select a desired state of a store or a customer, and can record the image as a video or an image.

The market information such as the share and the sales amount of each product processed by the host computer 60 is graphed using the image data of the face of the customer who purchased the product, and is displayed on the monitor 61. For example, if the sales volume is to be graphed, the customer's face is photographed with a preset image size, and the images are arranged vertically to complete a bar graph of the sales volume. If the image is reduced and displayed, the image is represented as a group of dots, and is recognized as a simple bar graph without being conscious of the face. Then, if a part of the graph is enlarged and displayed, the figure gradually appears, and the face of the customer who purchased the product can be recognized. Of course, the image can be reduced and displayed again, so that it can be displayed as the original bar graph.

Next, the operation of the POS system according to the present invention and the security system using the same will be described. First, when a shopping customer comes to a cash register for checkout, the camera 40 or the camera 45 captures the figure and displays it on the monitor 110. POS terminal 10
The operator presses a key (shutter) provided on the keyboard 102 when the operator scans the barcode of each product with the scanner 101 or inputs the amount or quantity of the product from the keyboard 102 and performs a checkout operation. Especially for the face. The photographed image is sent to the controller 15 via the in-store line 20 together with the sales data of the purchased product, and is recorded in the recording device 15a.

Sales data and image data recorded in the controller 15 installed in each store are transmitted to the head office controller 55 installed in the head office center C via the communication line 30.
Sent to and saved. The headquarters center C centrally manages sales data and image data sent from a plurality of stores using the host computer 60, and processes the market data such as the share and sales of each product based on the sales data. Since the image data of the customer's face is used when the market information is graphed, more detailed market research can be performed.

In the headquarters center C, by selecting a store desired to be viewed with the icons displayed on the monitor 61, the state in the selected store is displayed on the monitor 61. Then, the camera 4 of each store is controlled by the host computer 60.
By panning, tilting and zooming 0 and 45, the state of the selected shop can be freely checked. And the state can be recorded by the VTR 63.

After the business hours are over, the employee who is the last leaver closes the door after the store closes and goes out of the store by the door 19a.
Is locked, the sensor 19 senses this, the VTR 13 is activated, and the inside of the store projected by the cameras 40 and 45 is recorded. And the employee who came to the office the next day
Is unlocked, the sensor 19 senses this and stops the operation of the VTR 13 to end the recording. The recorded video can be reproduced and viewed on the monitor 11 when necessary.

When an accident such as theft of goods or sales proceeds occurs in the store, an operator of the POS terminal 10 presses the emergency notification switch 105 to notify the occurrence of the accident. When the emergency report switch 105 is pressed, each of the cameras 40 and 45 arranged in the store operates at the P when the emergency report switch 105 is pressed.
It operates in accordance with the movement taught in advance, such as facing the OS terminal 10 or projecting the inside of the store over a wide area, and the video and image are recorded in a recording device 15a provided in the VTR 13 and the controller 15 described later.

[0030]

According to the present invention, in a POS system, when a customer purchases a product purchased at a cash register, the customer's face is photographed by a camera arranged in the store or a camera mounted on a POS terminal. Since the image data is recorded together with the sales data, the customer information can be managed visually, and the market information such as the share and sales of each product is purchased. The image of the customer's face is displayed on the screen in a graph using a computer using the image data of the customer's face, and the displayed image of the customer's face is configured to be scalable. Be able to see not only data such as gender and age group but also the face of the customer realistically, and use it for sales promotion and various marketing strategies. There is an effect that can be.

According to the present invention, sales data and image data are transmitted to a headquarter center managing each store via a communication line, and sales data and image data are centrally managed by a host computer installed in the headquarter center. As a result, it is possible to build more detailed sales promotion and various marketing strategies.

Further, according to the present invention, a store desired to be viewed on the side of the headquarters center is selected from the stores connected to the headquarters center via the communication line, and a plurality of cameras arranged at the stores show up. Switching of images and pan / tilt / zoom can be freely controlled by the host computer, so that the inside of each store can be viewed freely from the headquarters center away from the store, and theft of products and sales proceeds. In addition to accidents, it is possible to check whether or not congestion in the store, employee work and customer service, preparation for display and replenishment, cleaning, etc. are being carried out according to the manual and provide guidance. .

Further, according to the present invention, when an accident such as theft of goods or sales proceeds, each camera arranged in the store is operated in conjunction with the emergency notification switch for notifying the accident, and Is recorded and photographed, so that the inside of the store can be viewed freely even at the headquarters center away from the store, and there is an effect that the state can be photographed and recorded.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a POS system according to the present invention and a security system using the same.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a POS terminal in the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a photographing state of a customer's face during settlement in the POS system shown in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 4A to 4C are explanatory diagrams showing screens displayed on a monitor of a POS terminal. FIGS.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are explanatory diagrams showing screens displayed on a monitor of a headquarters center.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a graph displayed on a host computer and images constituting the graph.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A sales floor B management room C head office center 10 POS terminal 100 central processing unit 101 scanner 102 keyboard 105 emergency notification switch 110 monitor 111 printer 11 monitor 11a sub monitor 13 VTR 15 controller 15a recording device 20 in-store line 30 communication line 40 camera 45 camera 55 head office Controller 60 Host computer 61 Monitor 63 VTR

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 3E042 BA10 BA13 CE06 EA01 5B049 AA02 AA05 BB11 CC27 DD01 EE07 FF01 FF07 GG01 GG02 GG05 GG07 GG09 5C087 AA09 AA22 AA24 AA25 BB03 BB13 FF19 FF19 DD GG83

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A method of recording information such as a product name and price of a product purchased by a customer at a store or the like, or an age group and a gender of the customer who purchased the product as sales data, and processing the sales data by computer. In a POS system that manages the survey / aggregation of sales amount and inventory of merchandise, when the customer pays for the merchandise purchased at the cash register, the camera placed in the store or the camera mounted on the POS terminal is used by the customer. A POS system, wherein a face is photographed and the image data is recorded together with the sales data. 2. The POS system according to claim 1, wherein market information such as share or sales of each product is graphed by a computer using image data of a customer who has purchased the product, and is displayed on a screen. A POS system, wherein the displayed customer image can be scaled up and down. 3. The headquarters center according to claim 1, wherein the sales data and the image data recorded at one or two or more stores are managed through a communication line. POS system, wherein the sales data and the image data are centrally managed by a host computer installed in the headquarters center. 4. The POS system according to claim 3, wherein a store desired to be viewed on the headquarters center side is selected from the stores connected to the headquarters center via a communication line, and arranged at the store. A POS system wherein the host computer can freely control switching of images projected by the plurality of cameras and pan / tilt / zoom. 5. A security system using the POS system according to claim 1, wherein when an accident such as theft of a product or a sales proceeds occurs, each of the security systems is arranged in a store. A security system, comprising: a recording device that operates the camera in conjunction with an emergency notification switch for notifying the accident, and captures and records a video of the accident. 6. A security system using the POS system according to claim 1, wherein a sensor detects door closing when the store is closed, and the recording device is operated to be disposed in the store. A security system which records the inside of the store after the store is closed and which is projected by each of the cameras, and at the time of opening the store, stops the operation of the recording device by the sensor to terminate the recording.