JP2005173828A - Article management system and method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system and method for article management for easily managing the movement of an article such as a commodity, etc., in a management area and takeout of the article to the outside of the management area. <P>SOLUTION: The arrangement of articles in a display rack 207 is recognized by 1st or 2nd wireless tag recognition device 203 or 204. An article "in takeout monitoring" which is no more present at its original position in the display rack 207 is moved to a different position, paid for at a POS terminal 211, or carried out of an entrance exit 208 without permission. When the wireless tag recognition device 205 or 206 detects an article which is not paid for but being taken out through the entrance exit 208, an article state managing terminal 212 places alarms 209 and 210 in operation. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an article management system and an article management method for managing articles to be bought and sold in a store or to be lent or borrowed at a library or the like, and in particular, an article management system and an article for managing articles using a wireless tag. It relates to the management method.

  FIG. 13 shows an outline of a merchandise management system that handles merchandise as an example of a conventional merchandise management system. This merchandise management system 101 is connected to a stock management terminal 103 connected to a network 102 of a store intranet, a POS (Point Of Sales) terminal 104 also connected to the network 102 by wire, and connected to the network 102 wirelessly. The wireless POS terminal 105 is configured.

  In such a conventional merchandise management system 101, goods receipt information of merchandise not shown is input from the POS terminal 104 arranged at the cash register or from the wireless POS terminal 105 in the store, and transmitted to the inventory management terminal 103. . Product information indicating products placed on a display shelf (not shown) is transmitted to the inventory management terminal 103 by the wireless POS terminal 105. The product information at the time of sale at this store is transmitted to the inventory management terminal 103 from the POS terminal 104 of the cash register as a place where the customer pays a fee.

  In this conventional product management system 101, the difference between the warehousing information individually acquired from the POS terminal 104 at the time of warehousing each product and the sales information from the POS terminal 104 at the point of sale is obtained, thereby managing the inventory of the products. Is going. For this reason, inventory management of commodities becomes complicated.

  In order to eliminate the complexity of inventory management, there has been proposed a product management system that clearly grasps the location and flow of products using RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags (for example, Patent Document 1). . The RFID tag is also called an IC (Integrated Circuit) tag. In this specification, this is referred to as a wireless tag. A wireless tag is an electronic tag that uses a microchip and wirelessly transmits information such as a product serial number stored internally using a built-in antenna to the outside using a communication function. When a wireless tag is used, it is possible to read and update information on individual products in a non-contact manner.

In the proposal shown in Patent Document 1, a wireless tag is attached to a product that travels between a product storage location and a sales floor or a transport vehicle that carries these products and transports between the product storage location and the sales floor. It has become. Then, first tag information reading means for reading the information of the wireless tag is provided at the storage location of the product and the entrance / exit of the sales floor, and inventory management is performed using the information of the wireless tag read by this. Also, in this proposal, inventory management of products in the sales floor is performed based on the sales information of the products in the sales floor and the product information at the time of the sales floor loading obtained by the first tag information reading means. By using such a POS system, it is possible to simplify the inventory management of commodities in the sales floor.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2003-128213 (paragraphs 0008 to 0011, FIG. 1)

  As described above, in the proposal disclosed in the conventional merchandise management system 101 shown in FIG. 13 or Patent Document 1, the inventory status of the entire merchandise is grasped by using the information that the merchandise enters the sales floor and the sales information. I am doing so. However, with these technologies, if a customer moves a product to a different shelf or if some products are stolen, these facts cannot be grasped. The actual stock status cannot be accurately grasped. For this reason, in order to grasp the actual stock situation, it is necessary to take measures such as periodically performing processing for actually confirming individual products in the store.

  As described above, management of merchandise in a store has been described. However, the same problem occurs when managing articles such as books in a library or the like.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an article management system and an article management method capable of easily managing the movement of articles such as merchandise within the management area and the taking out of the management area.

  In the invention of claim 1, (a) in a state where each article attached with a wireless tag that wirelessly transmits unique individual identification information is arranged at a predetermined initial position in a specific area, Individual identification information initial position reading means for wirelessly reading the individual identification information in association with each position, and (b) in the specific area after the reading by the individual identification information initial position reading means is performed. Individual identification information position repetitive reading means for recognizing the individual identification information of each article in association with each position and wirelessly repeatedly with a time interval, and (c) the reading result of the individual identification information initial position reading means and the individual identification information position Comparing the reading results of the repeated reading means, take out the article that no longer exists at the position initially read by the individual identification information initial position reading means Of the taking-out in the article specifying means for specifying as articles are provided in the article management system.

  That is, in the first aspect of the invention, the individual identification information initial position reading means reads the individual identification information in association with each position in a state in which each article is arranged at a predetermined initial position. . In order to see such a change from the initial state, the individual identification information position repetitive reading means associates the individual identification information of each article with the respective positions at time intervals by utilizing the characteristic of wireless. I try to read it. The taking-out article specifying means compares the reading result of the individual identification information initial position reading means with the reading result of the individual identification information position repeated reading means, and exists at the position initially read by the individual identification information initial position reading means. Items that are no longer used are identified as items being taken out. In this way, by identifying the items that are no longer in the initial position as items being taken out and sequentially grasping them, whether these items have gone through regular procedures when they leave the specified area Can be tracked, and tracking when moving within a specific area is also possible.

  In the invention according to claim 2, in the article management system according to claim 1, the article specified as the article being taken out by the taking-out article specifying means is the initial in the specified area by the individual identification information position repetitive reading means. It is further characterized by further comprising a movement discriminating means for discriminating that the article has moved the position when read at a position different from the position.

  That is, the invention according to claim 2 shows the case where the articles that are specified as being taken out remain in a specific area. When such an article is read at a position different from the initial position, it can be determined that the article has been moved to a position different from the initial position. As an example, there can be cited a case in which a product is moved when the sales floor is moved in the store, or a case where the customer returns the product to a different shelf.

  In the invention according to claim 3, in the article management system according to claim 2, it is allowed that (b) the article after being read by the individual identification information initial position reading means is moved out of the specific area. A movement-permitted article specifying means for specifying the object that has been moved; and (b) an individual identification information reading means for moving outside the area for wirelessly reading the individual identification information of the article to be moved outside the specific area. It is a feature.

  That is, in the invention according to claim 3, the individual identification information reading means at the time of moving outside the area reads the individual identification information of the article moving outside the specific area. After the product is purchased at the store, there is no problem in taking the product out of the store as a specific area. Therefore, in order for the movement-permitted article specifying means to make this possible, an object permitted to be moved outside a specific area is specified. An article for which the rental procedure has been completed at the rental shop is also identified as a movement-permitted article.

  In the invention according to claim 4, in the article management system according to claim 3, the article specified by the taking-out article specifying means as being taken out is not specified by the movement-permitted article specifying means after that, It further comprises alarm generating means for generating an alarm when read by the individual identification information reading means.

  That is, the invention described in claim 4 is different from the case of claim 3 in that the object other than the object allowed to move outside the specific area is read by the individual identification information reading means when moving outside the area. Yes. In this case, since the article is moved out of the specific area without a legitimate authority, the alarm generation means generates an alarm. Such cases include shoplifting theft at stores and unauthorized removal of books at libraries.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the article management system according to the third aspect, the article is a commodity, the specific area is a sales floor where merchandise in a store is arranged, and the movement-permitted article specifying means is a commodity It is characterized by being a means of clearing at the time of purchase.

  In other words, in the invention described in claim 5, the article that is the object of the article management system is a commodity that is subject to commercial transactions in the store, and in this example, the specific area is a sales floor including a display stand on which the commodity is placed in the store. Is treated as an example.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the article management system according to the third aspect, the above-described article is an article to be lent, and the specific area is a space in which an article to be lent is arranged, and movement permission is provided. The article specifying means is a means for performing a rental procedure for an article to be lent.

That is, in the invention described in claim 6, the article that is the object of the article management system is the article that is lent out, and in this example, the specific area is a space in which the rented article is arranged as an example. I handle it. For example, a library for renting a book and a store for renting a CD (Compact Disc) or a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) are examples.
When

  In the invention according to claim 7, (a) each article attached with a wireless tag for wirelessly transmitting unique individual identification information is arranged at a predetermined initial position in a specific area. The individual identification information initial position reading step for wirelessly reading the individual identification information in association with each position, and (b) each of the specific regions after the reading by the individual identification information initial position reading step is performed. Individual identification information position repetitive reading step that individually and wirelessly repeats the individual identification information of the article in association with each position, and at a time interval, and (c) Reading result and individual identification information position repetition by the individual identification information initial position reading step The results of reading by the reading step are sequentially compared, and the initial reading by the individual identification information initial position reading step is performed. The article identification step that identifies the article that is no longer present as the article that is being taken out, and the article that is identified as the article that is being carried out in the article identification step that is being carried out is described above by the individual identification information position repeat reading step. A movement determination step for determining that the article has been moved when read at a position different from the initial position in the specific area; and (e) the article after being read by the individual identification information initial position reading step. A movement-permitted article specifying step for specifying an object permitted to move outside the specific area, and (f) wirelessly reading the individual identification information of the article moved outside the specific area. The article identified as the article being taken out in the individual identification information reading step when moving out of the region and the (g) article taking out identification step After, thereby provided the article management method and alarm generating step of generating an alarm when read outside the region when moving individual identification information reading step without being identified by the movement permission article specification step.

  That is, in the invention according to claim 7, in the individual identification information initial position reading step, the individual identification information in a state where each article is arranged at a predetermined initial position is read in association with each position. . In order to see such a change from the initial state, the individual identification information position repetitive reading step associates the individual identification information of each article with each position at intervals by using the characteristic of wireless. I try to read it. Then, in the taking-in article specifying step, the reading result of the individual identification information initial position reading means is compared with the reading result of the individual identification information position repeated reading means, and is present at the position initially read by the individual identification information initial position reading means. Items that are no longer used are identified as items being taken out. The articles being taken out include those whose position is confirmed again in the above-mentioned specific area and those that are taken out of this area. In the movement determination step, when the individual identification information position repetitive reading step is read at a position different from the initial position in the specific area, it is determined that the article has moved its position. On the other hand, in the movement-permitted article specifying step, an article permitted to be moved out of the above-described specific area among the articles read by the individual identification information initial position reading step is specified. Therefore, a product that is allowed to be moved out of a specific area, such as when a product purchased in the store is taken out of the store, does not cause any particular problem when moved outside the area. When an object that has not been allowed to move outside the specific area, or an object that has not been identified as such, is moved outside the specific area, the individual identification information reading step during the movement outside the area When the individual identification information of the article is read, an alarm is generated in the alarm generation step, and the article is prevented from moving outside a specific area without permission.

  As described above, according to the present invention, an article existing in a specific area or outside an area using information received wirelessly from each article attached with a wireless tag for transmitting unique individual identification information wirelessly. Manage the items that go out. Therefore, it is possible not only to greatly reduce the labor required for article management as compared with the case where individual articles are tracked and managed manually, but also enables accurate and rapid management. In addition, since it can be managed finely for each article, it is possible to suppress theft by making it possible to issue an alarm even when the stolen goods move out of the area.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to examples.

  FIG. 1 shows an outline of a merchandise management system as an embodiment specializing in merchandise handled by a store in the article management system of the present invention. This merchandise management system 201 includes first to fourth wireless tag recognition devices 203 to 206 connected to a network 202 of an in-store intranet. Among these, the first and second wireless tag recognition devices 203 and 204 are arranged so as to cover the products displayed in the vicinity of the display stand 207 for displaying products (not shown). The third and fourth wireless tag recognition devices 205 and 206 are disposed in the vicinity of the entrance / exit 208 of the sales floor. The products carried out from the entrance / exit 208 are always read by the third or fourth wireless tag recognition devices 205 and 206. The third and fourth wireless tag recognition devices 205 and 206 are connected to alarm devices 209 and 210 for issuing an alarm in a predetermined case, respectively. The network 202 of this embodiment is also connected to a POS terminal 211 arranged at the cash register and a product state management terminal 212 for managing the state of the product.

  Each of the first and second wireless tag recognition devices 203 and 204 has a built-in wireless tag reader 213 that reads a wireless tag, and is placed on the display stand 207 and wirelessly stores products in a wireless reception area. The identification information transmitted from the tag is periodically collected and transmitted to the product status management terminal 212 via the network 202. The third and fourth wireless tag recognition devices 205 and 206 and the POS terminal 211 arranged at the cash register also include the same wireless tag reading device 213. Here, the identification information transmitted from the wireless tag of the product includes not only information indicating the type of product but also individual information for individually identifying the same type of product.

  The third and fourth wireless tag recognizing devices 205 and 206 read the identification information sent from the wireless tag of the product passing through the vicinity of the entrance / exit 208 of the sales floor, and the first and second wireless tag recognizing devices 203, Similar to 204, these pieces of identification information are transmitted to the product state management terminal 212. In the case of the POS terminal 211 arranged at the cash register, the identification information sent from the wireless tag of the product to be cleared is read and transmitted to the product status management terminal 212 in the same manner. The POS terminal 211 can set a clearing mode for clearing goods and a warehousing mode for warehousing goods. Which mode is set for the POS terminal 211 can be confirmed by display contents on an attached display screen (not shown).

  In this embodiment, the product management system 201 is provided with four wireless tag recognition devices 203 to 206. The number of these devices depends on the status of the display stand 207, the number of entrances 208, and the like. Of course it fluctuates.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of products handled in the present embodiment. A wireless tag 222 is attached to the product 221 or the wireless tag 222 is incorporated as a part of the product. The wireless tag 222 of this embodiment has a microchip (not shown), and transmits identification information representing the type of product and individual information of each product wirelessly.

  FIG. 3 shows an outline of the configuration of the product state management terminal of this embodiment. The merchandise state management terminal 212 is composed of an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer, and includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 231 that serves as the center of various controls. The CPU 231 is connected to each unit via a bus 232 such as a data bus. Among these, the control program storage medium 233 is configured by a storage medium such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) or a hard disk storing a control program for controlling the product state management terminal 212. The work memory 234 is a memory that temporarily stores various data necessary for the control of the merchandise state management terminal 212, and is configured by a RAM (random access memory). The communication control unit 235 is a circuit part that is connected to the network 202 shown in FIG. 1 and transmits / receives various data via the network 202.

  The product state management information generation management unit 236 connected to the bus 232 generates and manages product state management information triggered by reception of identification information transmitted from the POS terminal 211 when the product is received. . Here, the product status management information includes product identification information, an arrangement position on the display stand 207, product status indicating various product statuses, an entrance / exit location indicating the location of the entrance / exit 208 of the sales floor, and presence / absence of an alarm output. It is comprised from the information showing. When the goods have been received, the identification information sent from the first and second RFID tag recognition devices 203 and 204 arranged in the vicinity of the display stand 207 and scanned regularly is sent to the sales floor. The product state is updated based on the identification information sent from the third and fourth wireless tag recognition devices 205 and 206 arranged in the vicinity of the entrance / exit 208. Here, as the product state, “before placement” and “placement completion” of the display stand 207, “taking-out monitoring”, “completion of liquidation”, and “external take-out” of the product are defined.

  The alarm generation request unit 237 connected to the bus 232 detects the take-out of the product outside the sales floor and transmits the identification information when the third or fourth wireless tag recognition device 205 or 206 transmits the identification information. When the product is updated, it is determined whether or not the product has been cleared. If the checkout of the corresponding product is not completed at the time of the determination, an alarm generation request is transmitted to the corresponding one of the alarm devices 209 and 210. When an alarm generation request is sent from the alarm generation request unit 237, the alarm devices 209 and 210 sound a buzzer (not shown) arranged inside or send a predetermined alarm signal to a speaker (not shown). An alarm sound or a predetermined alarm message is output.

  The first to fourth wireless tag recognition devices 203 to 206 and the POS terminal 211 shown in FIG. 1 also include a storage medium (not shown) that stores a control program, and a CPU (not shown) controls each of them. ing.

  FIG. 4 shows the state of processing of the POS terminal and the merchandise state management terminal from the time of warehousing to the state where the settlement process is possible. The POS terminal 211 shown in FIG. 1 is set to a warehousing state when goods are received (step S301). And a warehousing state is transmitted to the goods state management terminal 212 (step S302).

  When the merchandise state management terminal 212 receives the warehousing state from the POS terminal 211 (step S321), the warehousing process is started and a warehousing permission is transmitted to the POS terminal 211 (step S322). When the POS terminal 211 receives this warehousing permission (step S303), it displays that the warehousing process is possible on its display screen (not shown) (step S304).

  Thereafter, the POS terminal 211 acquires the product identification information by reading the wireless tag (step S305). Then, the obtained product identification information is transmitted to the product state management terminal 212 (step S306). When the product status management terminal 212 receives the product identification information from the POS terminal 211 (step S323), the product status management terminal 212 generates product status management information with the product status set to “before placement” because it is a stage before the product is placed on the display stand 207. (Step S324).

  When the warehousing process for the product is completed in this way, the POS terminal 211 is set to the checkout state (step S307). Then, this settlement state is transmitted to the product state management terminal 212 (step S308). When the merchandise state management terminal 212 receives that the POS terminal 211 is set in the clearing state (step S325), the merchandise state management terminal 212 completes the warehousing process and transmits a clearing permission to the POS terminal 211 (step S326). When the POS terminal 211 receives the clearing permission (step S309), the POS terminal 211 displays on the display screen that the clearing process is possible (step S310).

  FIG. 5 shows a state of processing of the first and second wireless tag recognizing devices after the settlement processing is enabled. When products are arranged on the display stand 207, the first and second wireless tag recognition devices 203 and 204 collect identification information of these products (step S341). Then, the collected product identification information is transmitted to the product status management terminal 212 (step S342). The first and second wireless tag recognizing devices 203 and 204 will repeat the same processing in sequence when the next collection time for the product identification information comes (step S343: Y).

  FIG. 6 shows the processing of the product state management terminal after the product is placed on the display stand. The product state management terminal 212 receives the product identification information when the first and second wireless tag recognition devices 203 and 204 transmit the product identification information in step S342 of FIG. 5 (step S361). And based on this, the arrangement position of the goods in the display stand 207 is recognized (step S362). Then, the product state management information is updated (step S363). In other words, the product placement position is registered as product status management information, and the product status is updated from “before placement” to “placement completion”.

  As already described, the POS terminal 211 is set to the warehousing state when goods are received. And the arrangement position of goods is registered as goods state management information. Now, assume that after the product state is updated from “before placement” to “completion of placement”, these products move from the display stand 207 at the time of registration, and at least temporarily the identification information of these products is lost. In this case, in the transmission of the product identification information performed in step S342 of FIG. 5, only the identification information about the moved or lost product is excluded from the transmission target. Therefore, the product status management terminal 212 detects the products excluded from the transmission target by storing the identification information about each product, and these items have moved or disappeared from the original position of the display stand 207. Can be detected. Therefore, the merchandise state management terminal 212 performs such a comparison process every time the product identification information is received, and the product status management information about the product for which the identification information is no longer sent is sent from “placement completed” to “take-out”. It is decided to update to “Monitoring”.

  FIG. 7 shows the state of processing of the POS terminal in the product state “monitoring take-out”, and FIG. 8 shows the state of processing of the product state management terminal in the product state “monitoring take-out”. It is. In FIG. 7, when the product is brought from the display stand 207 to the cash register for the settlement and the tag is read (step S381: Y), the POS terminal 211 acquires the product identification information at the time of the settlement (step S382). . Then, the product identification information is transmitted to the product status management terminal 212 (step S383). The POS terminal 211 repeats the above processing every time the product wireless tag is read (step S381: Y).

  On the other hand, when the product status management terminal 212 (FIG. 8) receives the product identification information sent from the POS terminal 211 of the cash register (step S401), the product status management terminal 212 searches the product status management information for the product identification information. The product state is updated to “clearing complete” (step S402).

  FIG. 9 shows a state of processing of the third wireless tag recognition device when the product passes through the entrance / exit of the sales floor, and FIG. 10 shows the state of the product status management terminal when the product passes through the entrance / exit of the sales floor. It shows the state of processing. Of course, the fourth wireless tag recognition device 206 performs the same processing as the third wireless tag recognition device 205. In FIG. 9, when the third wireless tag recognizing device 205 reads the wireless tag of the product passing through the entrance / exit 208 of the sales floor (step S421: Y), it collects identification information of the product (step S422). And this is transmitted to the merchandise state management terminal 212 (step S423).

  When the product status management terminal 212 (FIG. 10) receives product identification information from the third wireless tag recognition device 205 in the vicinity of the sales floor entrance 208 (step S441), the product status management terminal 212 recognizes the product entrance from the source information. Is performed (step S442). Then, the identification information of the corresponding product in the product state management information is searched, and the registration of the entrance / exit position and the product state are confirmed. As a result, if this is “clearing complete”, the fact that the product has been changed to the “outside take-out” state is updated and registered. On the other hand, when the product state is not “clearing complete” and remains “monitoring carry-out”, an alarm transmission request is transmitted to the corresponding third wireless tag recognition device 205. (Step S443). The merchandise state management terminal 212 repeats the above process every time it receives the merchandise identification information from the third or fourth wireless tag recognition devices 205 and 206.

  FIG. 11 shows the processing of the third wireless tag recognition device when an alarm transmission request is output in step S443 of FIG. Of course, the fourth wireless tag recognition device 206 performs the same processing as the third wireless tag recognition device 205. When the third wireless tag recognizing device 205 receives an alarm transmission request from the product state management terminal 212 (step S461), the product is taken out without being cleared, so the alarm device 209 is activated to transmit an alarm. (Step S462).

  FIG. 12 shows the flow of processing when goods are moved between display stands. Here, the flow of processing of the first wireless tag recognition device 203 and the product state management terminal 212 when the first wireless tag recognition device 203 detects the return of the product is shown, but the second wireless tag recognition device 204 is shown. The same applies to the case where a product is detected.

  As already explained, in the merchandise management system or merchandise management method of this embodiment, when there are no more merchandise that existed at the original position of the display stand 207, the merchandise status management terminal 212 changes the merchandise status of the merchandise status management information to “placement complete” "Is updated to" Monitoring take-out ". However, if it is recognized by the first wireless tag recognition device 203 that the product moved from the display stand 207 has returned to the display stand 207 again (step S481), the first wireless tag recognition device 203 uses the product identification information. Are collected (step S482) and transmitted to the product state management terminal 212 (step S483). This process is basically the same as step S341 and step SS343 shown in FIG.

  On the other hand, when the product status management terminal 212 receives the product identification information sent from the first wireless tag recognition device 203 (step S501), it detects the return of the product to the display stand 207 "monitoring take-out". To do. Then, “Now taking out monitoring” in the product state is updated to “Arrangement complete” (step S502). In the case where the layout of the display stand 207 is changed and various products are moved in the display stand 207, “Now take-out monitoring” and “Arrangement complete” are the final placements. It is repeated until it is determined, and each time it is updated with new contents. Therefore, when the time zone for changing the layout of the display stand 207 is known in advance, the product state can be set to a state such as “Arranged”.

  By the way, if all the products displayed on the display board 207 are completely covered by the first wireless tag recognition device 203 and the second wireless tag recognition device 204, the identification information of these products is collected. There is a high possibility that the first wireless tag recognition device 203 and the second wireless tag recognition device 204 receive the information of the wireless tags of at least some products. In such an area where reception of wireless tags is performed in common, the first wireless tag recognition device 203 and the second wireless tag recognition device 204 send the same product identification information to the product state management terminal 212. This is transmitted (step S342 in FIG. 5). In such a case, the merchandise state management terminal 212 generates merchandise state management information based on the “arrangement position” for each of the first wireless tag recognition device 203 and the second wireless tag recognition device 204. That is, in this example, two pieces of product state management information are generated for one product.

  In such a case, when only the first wireless tag recognition device 203 detects the information of the wireless tag of this product, for example, when the product moves on the display stand 207 and returns, the second tag is detected at that stage. The product status on the wireless tag recognition device 204 side, “Now taking out monitoring” loses its significance. Therefore, in this case, the product state management information on the second wireless tag recognition device 204 side is deleted at this stage.

  Next, a case where the customer moves the product from the display stand 207 without permission will be described. After the product to be purchased is taken out from the display stand 207, if the next suitable product is found elsewhere on the display stand 207, the next product is not returned to the original place without returning the previous product. One example is when this product is placed in a place where is placed. In such a case, the merchandise status management terminal 212 detects that the identification information of the corresponding merchandise has disappeared, and the merchandise status of the merchandise is updated from “placement complete” to “taking out monitoring” already described. did. When the customer returns the corresponding product to another place on the display stand 207, this is equivalent to newly placing the product at that place. The first wireless tag recognition device 203 (the same applies to the second wireless tag recognition device 204) collects the identification information of the product after placement (step S341 in FIG. 5) and transmits this to the product state management terminal 212. (Step S342).

  Upon receiving this identification information (step S361 in FIG. 6), the product state management terminal 212 recognizes the position of the product based on the fact that the transmission source is the first wireless tag recognition device 203 (step S362). However, it is assumed that the product state management information for the product has already been generated by another wireless tag recognition device, for example, the second wireless tag recognition device 204. The product information in the product state management information is “take-out monitoring”. Therefore, from such a fact, it is found that the product has not been newly placed on the display stand 207, but has moved from another place on the display stand 207. In this case, only the “arrangement position” of the product state management information is updated.

  As understood from the above description, if the product state monitoring information at the time when all the product states on the display stand 207 are “placement complete” is stored in the product state management terminal 212, the product state is For a product that has been "taken out", if it is determined by comparing it with the product status monitoring information that it has finally returned to somewhere on the display stand 207, this will change the location of the product. You can recognize the destination. In addition, among the products whose product status is changed from “placement completed” to “being taken out”, only the POS terminal 211 placed at the cash register subsequently recognizes the information of the wireless tag is sold. The product status is "clearing complete".

  In the present embodiment described above, since the product state is managed by the product state management terminal 212, the wireless tag recognition such as the third and fourth wireless tag recognition devices 205 and 206 arranged near the entrance 208 of the sales floor is performed. Equipment can be added easily. Further, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to grasp the state of the product such as the movement or theft of the product by the customer at any time. Therefore, it is not necessary to check the inventory of goods, and it is possible to enhance the service by assigning the time required for this work to the time for customer service.

<Deformability of invention>
In the embodiment, the first and second wireless tag recognition devices 203 and 204 are arranged in the vicinity of the display stand 207, and the third and fourth wireless tag recognition devices 205 and 206 are arranged in the vicinity of the entrance / exit 208 of the sales floor. However, these numbers need not be two each. For example, the present invention can be similarly applied to the case where there are three or four or more of these.

  In the embodiment, the product is cleared using the POS terminal 211. However, in a library, a rental shop, or the like, it may be changed to a rental state in which an article is lent. In this case, the warehousing state for warehousing can be changed to a return or warehousing state for returning goods or warehousing. In addition, in this case, the product state management terminal 212 is used as an article state management terminal, and the name of the product state management information is changed to the article state management information. In addition, for each status of “Pre-placement”, “Placement completion”, “Monitoring take-out”, “Completion of clearing”, and “External take-out” of the product status, “Before placement” is changed to “Return and receipt”. Then, “liquidation completed” is changed to “lending”. By such a change, the present invention can be similarly applied to management of articles such as libraries and rental shops.

1 is a system configuration diagram showing an outline of a merchandise management system in an embodiment of the present invention. It is explanatory drawing showing an example of the goods handled by a present Example. It is a block diagram showing the outline | summary of the structure of the goods state management terminal of a present Example. It is a flow chart showing the situation of processing of a POS terminal and a merchandise state management terminal from the time of warehousing to the state where a settlement process is possible in this embodiment. It is the flowchart showing the mode of the process of the 1st and 2nd radio | wireless tag recognition apparatus after becoming a liquidation process possible state in a present Example. It is a flowchart showing the mode of processing of a goods state management terminal after goods are arranged on a display stand in this example. It is a flowchart showing the situation of the processing of the POS terminal in the product state of “being taken out monitoring” in the present embodiment. It is a flow chart showing the situation of processing of a merchandise state management terminal in a merchandise state of “being taken out” in the present embodiment. It is a flowchart showing the situation of the process of the 3rd wireless tag recognition apparatus in case a goods passes the entrance / exit of a sales floor in a present Example. It is a flowchart showing the mode of processing of a goods state management terminal when goods pass through the entrance of a sales floor in this example. It is a flowchart showing the process of the 3rd wireless tag recognition apparatus when an alarm transmission request | requirement is output in a present Example. It is a flowchart showing the flow of processing when goods move between display stands in this example. It is a system block diagram showing the outline | summary of the conventional merchandise management system.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 201 Commodity management system 202 Network 203 1st wireless tag recognition apparatus 204 2nd wireless tag recognition apparatus 205 3rd wireless tag recognition apparatus 206 4th wireless tag recognition apparatus 208 Entrance / exit of sales floor 209, 210 Alarm apparatus 211 POS terminal 212 Product status management terminal 213 Wireless tag reader 221 Product 222 Wireless tag 231 CPU
233 Control program storage medium 236 Product status management information generation management unit 237 Alarm generation request unit

Claims (7)

Each individual identification information is associated with each position in a state where each article with a wireless tag that wirelessly transmits unique individual identification information is placed at a predetermined initial position in a specific area. Individual identification information initial position reading means to be read wirelessly attached,
Individual identification information position repeatedly read by radio with a time interval in association with the individual identification information of each article in the specific area after reading by the individual identification information initial position reading means Repetitive reading means;
The reading result of the individual identification information initial position reading means and the reading result of the individual identification information position repeated reading means are compared, and an article that no longer exists at the position initially read by the individual identification information initial position reading means is being taken out An article management system comprising: a taking-out article identification unit that identifies the article as an article.   When the article specified as the article being taken out by the taking-out article specifying means is read at a position different from the initial position in the specific area by the individual identification information position repetitive reading means, the article moves its position. 2. The article management system according to claim 1, further comprising a movement discriminating unit for discriminating that it has been done. A movement-permitted article specifying means for specifying an article that has been read by the individual identification information initial position reading means and that is permitted to be moved out of the specific area;
3. The article management system according to claim 2, further comprising: an individual identification information reading unit that moves out of the area and wirelessly reads the individual identification information of the article moved outside the specific area.   An alarm is generated when an article specified as an article being taken out by the taking-out article specifying means is read by the individual identification information reading means when moving outside the area without being specified by the movement-permitted article specifying means thereafter 4. The article management system according to claim 3, further comprising alarm generating means for performing the above.   4. The article management according to claim 3, wherein the article is a commodity, the specific area is a sales floor where merchandise in a store is arranged, and the movement-permitted article identifying means is a clearing means at the time of purchasing the commodity. system.   The article is an article to be lent, the specific area is a space in which an article to be lent is arranged, and the movement-permitted article specifying means is a means for performing a renting procedure for the article to be lent. The article management system according to claim 3. Each individual identification information is associated with each position in a state where each article attached with a wireless tag that wirelessly transmits unique individual identification information is placed at a predetermined initial position in a specific area. Individual identification information initial position reading step read wirelessly,
Individual identification information position that is repeatedly read wirelessly with a time interval in association with the individual identification information of each article in the specific area after being read by the individual identification information initial position reading step Repeated reading steps;
The reading result of the individual identification information initial position reading step and the reading result of the individual identification information position repeated reading step are sequentially compared, and an article that no longer exists at the position initially read by the individual identification information initial position reading step is taken out. A taking-out article specifying step for specifying as an article inside;
When the article specified as the article being taken out in the taking-out article specifying step is read at a position different from the initial position in the specific area by the individual identification information position repeated reading step, the article moves its position. A movement determination step for determining that
A movement-permitted article specifying step for specifying an article permitted to be moved out of the specific area among the articles after being read in the individual identification information initial position reading step;
An individual identification information reading step at the time of movement outside the area for wirelessly reading the individual identification information of the article moved outside the specific area;
An alarm is generated when an article specified as an article being taken out in the taking-out article specifying step is read in the individual identification information reading step during the movement outside the area without being specified in the movement-permitted article specifying step thereafter. And an alarm generation step.

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