JP2002204742A - Commodity carrying mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize a function for displaying a progress on the way where an ordered commodity is carried from a commodity feeding place to a commod ity receiving place by an image being successively changed at the commodity receiving place in a conveyer belt sushi store, etc. SOLUTION: In a commodity carrying mechanism of the present invention, in the commodity carrying mechanism provided with a carrying means for carrying the commodity from the commodity feeding place (a kitchen) to the commodity receiving place (a seat for a guest), a means is taken in which an image displaying means (a touch panel type displaying device) is provided at the commodity receiving place and a control means for successively changing the image displayed on the image displaying means in accordance with a timing when the commodity carried by the carrying means reaches the commodity receiving place is provided.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transport mechanism used in a product transport system such as a restaurant provided with transport means for transporting products from a kitchen to a plurality of customer seats.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a transport mechanism for transporting goods from a kitchen to a plurality of seats, such as a conveyor belt sushi restaurant, a transport belt type transport mechanism is often used.
Then, in the form in which the upper and side surfaces of the transport mechanism are open, it is possible to visually recognize that the goods ordered by the customer are gradually approaching. However, when the transport mechanism is disposed inside a tunnel-like transport path, the customer cannot visually recognize that the ordered product is being transported and approaching. In the case of such a tunnel-shaped transport path, in order to selectively deliver the ordered product to the customer seat that has issued the order, a selection device configured to push a predetermined product from the transport path to the table side of the customer seat. A specific transport means is provided.

[0003]

In such a transport mechanism using a tunnel-shaped transport path, the customer can view the progress of the ordered product from the tunnel-shaped transport path to the table of the ordered customer. It is inconvenient because it cannot be known, and there is a problem that customers are bored. If you can know the progress, you can also wait for customers who have ordered, but if you can not know the situation just before it arrives, is it really transmitted to the kitchen that you ordered? There was a problem of how long we should wait, and various anxiety.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to realize a function of displaying the progress of an ordered product in the course of being conveyed from a product supply location to a product receiving location with a sequentially changing image of the product receiving location. It is a thing.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a product transport mechanism provided with transport means for transporting a product from a product supply location to a product receiving location. Means is provided in which display means is provided and control means for sequentially changing the image displayed on the image display means in accordance with the timing at which the goods conveyed by the conveyance means arrive at the goods receiving place.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, an order input means for inputting product information to be ordered is provided at the product receiving location, and an order display means for displaying product information ordered from the product receiving location is provided at the product supply location. We took the measure.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a product transport mechanism provided with a selective transport means for transporting a product from a product supply location to a designated one of a plurality of product receiving locations. Provide a touch-panel display device that also serves as an image display unit and an order input unit that inputs product information to be ordered, and in the product supply location, location information corresponding to the product receiving location where the product information is input, An order display means for displaying input product information is provided, and the control means includes a product display function for displaying a plurality of product information on a touch panel display device provided at a product receiving location, and a display on the touch panel display device. When one of a plurality of pieces of product information selected by touch operation is selected, the selected product information is supplied to the product. The function of informing the user of the product and the image displayed on the touch panel display device are sequentially changed in accordance with the timing at which the product conveyed from the product supply location by the selective transport means reaches the designated product receiving location. And an image control function for notifying the arrival of the vehicle.

[0008]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a product conveying mechanism according to the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a main part of a product transport mechanism 10 of a transport belt type sushi restaurant employing a product transport mechanism according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a kitchen for preparing various products such as sushi. Are seats, and a table 21 and a seat 22 are provided respectively. Numeral 3 denotes a conveyor belt type conveying means, on which various commodities such as sushi prepared in the kitchen 1 are sequentially placed and conveyed through the front of each customer seat 2, 2, 2,. It is configured.

The transport means 3 is configured to deliver goods through the inside of a tunnel-shaped cover, and is for selectively transporting goods ordered from a customer seat to the customer seat. In addition, a selective product take-out mechanism 4 is provided near each customer seat, and reads the identification information of the conveyed product, and if the product is ordered at the customer seat, the selective product take-out mechanism 4 is provided. Is operated to select the product and send it out from a product exit 41 provided on the table of the customer seat. As the selective product take-out mechanism 4, various mechanisms such as a swing lever type, a parallel belt type, and a retractable lever type can be adopted.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the selective product take-out mechanism 4 as viewed from the side of the customer seat. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 5 denotes a touch panel type display device, which is disposed near, for example, the upper side of the commodity exit 41 of each customer seat. The product outlet 41 is installed to be openable and closable toward the table 21 surface. An opening / closing door 42 is provided at the product outlet 41 and is opened / closed by a door drive motor 43. The opening / closing door 42 prevents intrusion of dust and the like. The touch panel display device 5 has a touch sensor mounted on the front surface of a liquid crystal display, and outputs which image is touched by touching an image such as product information displayed on the liquid crystal display with a fingertip or the like. Has functions. A microphone 51 and a speaker 52 are provided beside the touch panel display device 5.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram for explaining a control system of the product transport mechanism according to the present invention. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 6 denotes a control device, which has an image control function of controlling an image displayed on the touch panel display device 5 provided at each customer seat 2 via a data output line 61, and a voice which emits a synthesized voice from the microphone 51. Combining function and speaker 5
2 has a voice recognition function of recognizing a voice signal output from the touch panel 2, and a data input function of recognizing information on a touch operation performed on the touch panel display device 5 via the data input line 62.

Further, a notifying function for displaying ordered product information and location information on a monitor 7 installed in the kitchen 1,
A set signal output from a product set completion switch 63 installed in the kitchen 1 is received via a set signal input line 64, and a set detection for detecting a timing at which the ordered product is placed on the belt of the conveying means 3 Function, a call control function for a person in charge of the kitchen to talk to the selected seat via a microphone / speaker device provided in the kitchen, and an ordered product approaching the seat 2 to selectively remove the product. It has an arrival detection function of receiving, via an arrival signal line 66, an arrival signal from an arrival detection sensor 65 that detects the timing at which the mechanism 4 operates.

Further, a customer seat sensor (not shown) is provided, which detects the presence or absence of a customer and outputs a customer detection signal to the control device 6. As the customer seat sensor, a normal reflection type optical sensor, a pyroelectric infrared sensor, a pressure sensor installed in the seat 22 or the like can be used.
Each device such as the touch panel display device 5 as described above is arranged at each customer seat.

It should be noted that the kitchen 1 corresponds to a product supply location in the claims, each seat 2 corresponds to a product reception location in the claims, and the touch panel display device 5 is an order input means in the claims. And image display means,
The transporting means 3 and the selective product take-out mechanism 4 correspond to the selective transporting means in the claims, and the monitor 7 corresponds to the order display means in the claims.

In the above configuration, the customer is seated on the seat 22
The passenger seat sensor outputs a customer detection signal to the control device 6. Control device 6 that has received this customer detection signal
Switches the standby image displayed on the touch panel display device 5 to the greeting image. The greeting image is, for example, a “clerk character” dressed as a clerk
Is an animated image with a greeting. At the same time, a greeting such as "Hello!" Subsequently, the display is sequentially switched to an explanation image for explaining a system from order to payment, or to an item explanation image for displaying images of various orderable items and their explanations. At the same time, a sound corresponding to each screen is output from the speaker 52.

An example of a product description image displayed by the product display function of the control device 6 will be described. The main image is a "sushi order screen", and images of various fish, which are used as ingredients, are swimmingly displayed as animation. When an image of an arbitrary fish is touched, a description of the fish and a description of a sushi using the fish are provided by text, images, and voice as needed. Then, the user orders the product by touching twice or touching the image of the order button. Immediately after, it is also possible to cancel with the cancel button. The displayed product images include not only fish, but also other materials, and various products such as soups, desserts, and beers other than sushi.

Touching the image of the product switching button in the corner of the screen allows the user to forcibly switch to a screen for introducing another product. It is also possible to place an order by voice input through the microphone 51. In addition, characters such as "Ban-mae character" and "Clerk character" that look like a cook according to the order are displayed, and the contents of the order can be confirmed using the synthesized voice, and "What should I do with wasabi?" , Etc., and "Today's recommended products" can be presented.

As described above, when the order is determined by specifying the product and the quantity, the location information and the order information are displayed on the monitor 7 of the kitchen by the notification function of the control device 6. The place information is information such as a table number corresponding to the ordered seat, and the order information is information such as the type of the product and its quantity. Looking at this information, the person in charge of the kitchen instructs each kitchen employee as appropriate to prepare the product. The ready-to-use product is placed on a plate or the like on which identification information is individually set and set on the transporting means 3, and the person in charge of the kitchen presses the product setting complete switch 63. This product setting completion switch can be a touch panel display device for a kitchen. The image control function of the control device 6 detects that the ordered product has been sent out of the kitchen, calculates the transport time from the transport distance and transport speed to the customer seat of the order source, and displays the touch panel display device at the customer seat. The “transportation animation image” as illustrated in FIG. 4 is displayed on the screen 5.

In the “transportation animation image” illustrated in FIG. 4, as shown in FIG. 4A, the “happy bird character” appearing at the corner of the screen is replaced with the “Bird bird character” in FIG.
As shown in (c), a state of being sequentially enlarged and gradually approaching is displayed as an animation image. Note that the image may be such that the product is carried by the feet or beak of the “happy bird character”. Also, music may be sounded together with the animation image. Then, the maximum image is displayed as shown in FIG. 4D in accordance with the posted arrival timing of the seat, and an image showing the state of placing the product on the table image displayed at the bottom of the screen is displayed. .

The arrival of the product is also confirmed by reading the identification data with the arrival detection sensor 65 provided in the selective product take-out mechanism 4 at the customer seat, and the ordered product arrives and is taken out of the conveyor belt. At the timing, the drive motor 43 is controlled to open the door 42. In this way, the ordered product can be taken out from the product exit 41 of the customer seat. By displaying the “transportation animation image” on the screen of the customer seat, the customer can visually check the transport status of the goods ordered by himself,
You can comfortably wait for the completion of the product without getting frustrated. The customer can switch to a product description image such as a “sushi order screen” at any time even while the “transportation animation image” is being displayed. Alternatively, a product introduction image may be automatically inserted as needed during the display to prompt an order.

The "conveyance animation image" may be started to be displayed immediately after ordering a product.
In this case, the ordered product, for example, "Nigiri Sushi"
May be displayed as an animation of the state of being prepared by the “Mr. Chef character”, and a state in which the completed product is handed over to the “Happiness bird character” and gradually approaches the customer seat may be displayed. In this way, it is possible to visually confirm the preparation of the product immediately after the order, so that the customer is not bored. In addition, a more realistic display can be achieved by displaying a product or character to be displayed in a three-dimensional 3D image. In addition, it is preferable that the customer can select characters such as the above-mentioned "Ichizen character", "clerk character", and "happy bird character" as desired.

The displayed animation image is
When a previously created animation moving image file is played back under the control of the control device 6, the display rate may be controlled to be slower or faster so as to be displayed in time with the arrival of the product. An image file of the reproduction time may be prepared, and an image file of the reproduction time corresponding to the location of the seat may be selected and displayed. At this time, the distance from the kitchen is determined for each customer seat, and the transport speed is constant, so that the transport time to each customer seat can be calculated and obtained in advance. Therefore, if an image file of the reproduction time for each seat is prepared and selected when reproducing, the processing load on the control device is reduced. Alternatively, in reproducing these moving images, the animation display engine maps the texture data of the appropriately selected character and reproduces the images while sequentially synthesizing the images, so that the necessary image file capacity can be reduced. In addition, a microcomputer equipped with an image processing function is arranged in each customer seat, and various types of control signals and minimum data such as order information are transmitted and received with a comprehensive control device that performs overall control, If processing such as generation of an animation image of each character is performed in a distributed manner by the microcomputer of each seat, the amount of data transmission between the kitchen and each seat can be reduced.

In the above description, the case of providing sushi has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to sushi and can be used for providing various products such as fast food stores. Further, the present invention can be applied not only to transportation in a store, but also to a business of providing home delivery pizza, home delivery, and the like via the Internet. The present invention of displaying the “transportation animation image” that changes according to the preparation state of the product on the display device of the orderer can also be applied to the task of providing the custom-made product via the Internet. . Each time the orderer connects to the provider's server, the orderer can visually check the preparation status.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention, even when the middle of the conveyance is not visible as in a tunnel-shaped conveyance path,
It has become possible to visually confirm the progress of the order until the ordered product is delivered with an image that changes sequentially.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an overall configuration of an embodiment of a product transport mechanism according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a main part of the product transport mechanism.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the product transport mechanism.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an image control function in the product transport mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Kitchen 2 Customer seat 21 Table 22 Seat 3 Transportation means 4 Selective goods removal mechanism 41 Commodity exit 5 Touch panel display device 6 Control means

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A product transport mechanism comprising transport means for transporting a product from a product supply location to a product receiving location,
The product receiving location is provided with an image display means, and a control means for sequentially changing an image displayed on the image display means in accordance with a timing at which the product conveyed by the transport means reaches the product receiving location is provided. Characteristic product transport mechanism. 2. The product receiving location is provided with order input means for inputting product information to be ordered, and the product supply location is provided with order display means for displaying product information ordered from the product receiving location. The goods transport mechanism according to claim 1, wherein: 3. A merchandise transport mechanism provided with a selective conveying means for conveying merchandise from a merchandise supply location to a designated one of a plurality of merchandise receiving locations. A touch-panel display device is provided that also serves as an image display unit and an order input unit for inputting product information to be ordered. The product supply location displays ordered product information and location information corresponding to the product receiving location. An order display means is provided, and the control means includes:
A product display function of displaying a plurality of product information on a touch panel display device provided at a product receiving location,
When any one of a plurality of product information displayed on the touch panel display device is touched and selected, a notification function for notifying the selected product information to a product supply location, and an ordered product is designated An image control function of sequentially changing an image displayed on the touch panel display device in accordance with the timing of arrival at the received product receiving location and notifying the arrival of the product.