JP2006227780A - Article display device and its program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a notice error of price of a display article in an article display device by using a radio IC tag given to the article. <P>SOLUTION: In a vending machine 1 which is a typical example of the article display device, price display arrangements 2a-2c are set up for every shelf, and a reading means 5a reads price information on a radio IC tag 9a attached to the article 7a and inputs a plurality of pieces of price information in a control means 3a, and the control means 3a determines retail price based on the second information inputted from an input means 6a and displays this retail price in a price display means 4a. Thus correct price display can be made only by arranging the articles in shelves. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a product display device such as a vending machine using a wireless IC tag, and a program thereof.

  In stores such as supermarkets where products are displayed and sold, POS and other systems are introduced and real-time inventory management in the stores is in progress. Vending machines, another typical example of product display devices, are installed throughout the city, and recently advanced vending machines that can grasp sales information via a network have been devised ( For example, see Patent Document 1).

On the other hand, wireless IC tags are being attached to commodities with the aim of a distribution revolution, and it is approaching the situation that wireless IC tags are attached to commodities.
JP 2003-196715 A

  However, sales prices are often displayed by hand-printed or printed plates created by store clerk in front of the product line, and the match between the products on the shelves and the price of the plates is definitely manual. The current situation depends on the time and effort of confirmation.

  Recently, many display terminal devices such as LEDs and liquid crystals that display sales prices electronically are laid on each shelf, and price information corresponding to the serial number provided by each display terminal device is connected to an information server in the store. An apparatus that transmits and displays the data from the main communication device using infrared rays or radio waves is also commercialized. However, there is no change in the fact that the match between the sales price displayed on each display terminal device and the price of the product arranged on the corresponding shelf must be confirmed manually.

  The sales price display method that relies on human resources is a time service that offers discounts at different time zones, increases and decreases in display space according to the sales, discounts through special sales, products that match customer demand and shopping purposes at each time zone In a fierce sales competition in which rearrangement of the displayed products is frequently performed, there is a concern that the price display and the displayed products may be mistaken, or that the time and trouble of confirmation may be an obstacle to quick rearrangement.

  The same problem applies to the price display posted for each shelf in the vending machine. For example, it is common to reduce the variety of prices to a level that can be roughly divided into several categories from the viewpoint of preventing an increase in the time and effort of maintenance personnel who go around and replenishing products, and the misuse of product supply shelves. However, there is a problem that it is impossible to adopt a speedy sales strategy such as changing the price display or changing to a product with a different price depending on the seasonality and the situation of vending machines of other companies in the vicinity.

  Therefore, in order to solve the above-described problem, the product display device of the present invention includes a shelf on which products are arranged, a reading unit that is installed for each shelf and reads information on a wireless IC tag attached to the product, And a control means for receiving and analyzing information from the reading means, and one or more price display devices having a price display means for displaying the selling price of the product, wherein the control means includes the wireless IC tag. The selling price of the product included in the information is displayed on the price display means.

  As described above, according to the present invention, as long as the products are arranged on the shelf, the price display device laid on the corresponding shelf reads the price information given to the product and displays the sales price. It is no longer necessary to manage the match between the displayed product and the price display by manpower, and labor saving at the sales site and rearrangement of products according to the real-time price strategy can be realized.

  1st invention is the shelf which arrange | positions goods, The reading means which reads the information of the radio | wireless IC tag attached to the said goods for every said shelf, Control which receives information from the said reading means, and analyzes and controls And one or more price display devices having a price display means for displaying the sales price of the product, and the control means displays the sales price of the product included in the information of the wireless IC tag as the price. Displayed on the display means. As a result, it is possible to reduce the trouble of checking the matching between the product and the selling price by relying on the manpower, and to reduce the loss cost such as a display mistake in the sales strategy such as dynamic product replacement.

  2nd invention is the shelf which arrange | positions goods, The reading means which reads the information of the radio | wireless IC tag attached to the said goods for every said shelf, Control which receives and analyzes and controls information from the said reading means Means for displaying the sales price of the product, and one or more price display devices having second information input means for determining the sales price, written on the wireless IC tag The selling price is determined by the second information acquired by the input means from a plurality of price information, and the selling price is displayed by the price display means.

  This makes it possible to display the price that matches the second information such as the time zone from the multiple price information for each condition such as the price for the standard time zone and the term service zone written on the wireless tag, and the product is displayed incorrectly. This makes it possible to implement a speedy price strategy without worrying about price revision mistakes.

  According to a third invention, in the second invention, the second information is acquired by a signal from a slide switch or the like provided in the price display device as the input means. This makes it possible to dynamically change the prices of multiple products according to the sales strategy with a simple operation.

  According to a fourth aspect, in the second aspect, the input means includes a communication means for acquiring the second information stored in the information server. As a result, if the second information is distributed all at once, there is no need to manually manage price changes for each product, and a significant labor saving can be achieved.

  5th invention comprised the said shelf with the electromagnetic wave shielding material in 1st or 2nd invention. Thereby, since it can electromagnetically isolate | separate for every shelf, the trouble that the reading means reads the information of the radio | wireless IC tag attached to the different goods from the adjacent shelf, for example can be avoided.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, reading means that does not reach other shelves with a close communication distance is installed. As a result, the wireless IC tag of another product placed on the adjacent shelf is not erroneously read without taking any special electromagnetic wave shielding measures, and the configuration is simple.

  A seventh invention is a program for causing a computer to execute at least one function according to any of the first to fourth inventions, and an electrical information device and computer including a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, a storage device, an I / O, and the like A part or all of the present invention can be easily realized as a program by cooperating hardware resources such as the above. Also, by distributing the program on a recording medium or using a communication line, program distribution can be realized very easily compared to other means.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a vending machine as an embodiment of the commodity display device of the present invention.

  In the vending machine 1, as an example, shelves 12a, 12b, and 12c having a three-tier structure are configured, and each shelf is provided with price display devices 2a, 2b, and 2c.

  The price display device 2a includes a reading unit 5a that reads price information recorded on the wireless IC tags 9a and 10a attached to the products 7a and 8a displayed on the shelf 12a, a control unit 3a that controls the entire price display device, and a liquid crystal display. The price display means 4a presents the sales price to the purchaser by a display device constituted by a dot matrix display or the like, and the input means 6a constituted by a slide switch or the like. The control means 3a in the price display device 2a is composed of a microcomputer and its peripheral circuits.

  The control means 3a inputs the setting position of the slide switch of the input means 6a as the second information, and a plurality of price information is recorded in the wireless IC tags 9a and 10a as price information in pairs with the second information. The price information paired with the second information is displayed on the price display means 4a. Hereinafter, the shelves 12b and 12c are configured similarly.

  The second information may be a simple number corresponding to the position of the slide switch, or an ID of the product display device such as a region code, a time zone code, and a day code for determining conditions for performing a sale on sale. Any information that can be compared and referred to with the time function or the like may be used, and the price paired with the matching second information can be displayed.

  The shelves 12a, 12b, and 12c in the vending machine 1 in FIG. 1 are made of a material that blocks electromagnetic waves (for example, metal). In FIG. However, the shelves may be divided in any arrangement, but it is preferable that the shelves are made of an electromagnetic wave shielding material and are electromagnetically isolated from each other.

  Also in FIG. 1, the material of the partition material that partitions the upper shelf 12a, the middle shelf 12b, and the lower shelf 12c is made of a material that blocks electromagnetic waves, and the upper shelf 12a, the middle shelf 12b, Price display devices 2a, 2b, and 2c having reading means 5a, 5b, and 5c are attached to the shelves 12a, 12b, and 12c, respectively, each of which is electromagnetically partitioned.

  Thus, since the reading means 5a, 5b, and 5c are completely isolated electromagnetically, they do not interfere with each other, and the wireless IC tags 9a attached to the products 7a, 7b, and 7c existing on the respective shelves. , 9b, 9c can be read out separately by the reading means 5a, 5b, 5c.

  That is, in the upper shelf 12a in FIG. 1, the wireless IC tag 9a attached to the product 7a is read only by the reading means 5a and is not read from the reading means 5b and 5c. Conversely, the wireless IC tag 9b attached to the product 7b is read only by the reading unit 5b and is not read from the reading unit 5a.

  Moreover, as shown to the goods 7a and 8a of the shelf 12a of the vending machine 1, it can also be comprised so that a several goods can be arranged in the same shelf. In this case, as an example, a multi-reader in which products having the same price information written therein are stored in the same shelf, such as the wireless IC tags 9a and 10a, and the reading means 5a can be read simultaneously by a plurality of wireless IC tags. Configuration using a system, or configuration using a short-distance type system so that only the wireless IC tag 9a of the foremost product 7a visible to the customer falls within the possible distance range of the reading means 5a The method to do is taken.

  In particular, in the latter short-distance configuration, it is possible to store products with different prices on the same shelf, and in this case, it is not always necessary to use a shelf made of an electromagnetic wave shielding material.

  With the above configuration, the sales price is displayed on the price display device simply by displaying the product on each shelf, so if the display plate of the price matches the displayed product as in the conventional case It is possible to eliminate the trouble of consciously checking and displaying.

  Also, since a plurality of price information paired with the second information input from the input means can be recorded on the wireless IC tag 9a or the like, for example, if a normal price and a time service period price are recorded, Since the price can be switched simply by changing the position of the slide switch that constitutes the input means, the trouble of checking the price display can be saved. Strategic sales can be performed.

  In the above description, the method of recording price information in the wireless IC tag has been described. However, when recording a plurality of price information, the price information is recorded by a ratio from one price and read by the reading means. Of course, a configuration for calculating the sales price displayed by the program stored in the control means may be used.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of the merchandise display apparatus according to the present invention, in which each display device is provided with communication means for transmitting and receiving data to and from the information server 15 via the main control means 14. It is a figure which shows an example. In fact, with the latest type vending machines linked with POS sales management systems, the main control means has a function to connect to such network communications in order to upload inventory information and sales information in the vending machine in real time. The model with the has started to spread.

  The vending machine 17 in FIG. 2 includes main control means 14 for controlling the entire vending machine 17, and this main control means 14 is connected to the local information server 15 provided in the store via the network 16. It has a communication function to communicate with servers of vending machine manufacturers and merchandise distribution companies outside the store, and communicates with the communication means 13a, 13b, 13c in the price display devices 2a, 2b, 2c of each shelf. It also has a communication function to collect and distribute. The other constituent means can be configured in the same manner as in the first embodiment.

  The network 16 described here may be the Internet and the information server 15 may be external, or the network 16 may be an in-store LAN and the information server 15 may also be in the store.

  In the vending machine 1 according to the first embodiment, the second information is input by the slide switch. However, in the vending machine 17 according to the second embodiment, the second information is displayed from the main control unit 14 to each price. Distribute to the communication means 13a, 13b, 13c of the devices 2a, 2b, 2c. Based on the distributed second information, the control means 3a, 3b, and 3c of the price display devices 2a, 2b, and 2c use the second information from the plurality of price information stored in the wireless IC tag of the product on the corresponding shelf. The sales price is determined based on the information and displayed on the price display means 4a, 4b, 4c.

  For example, the second information includes an ID indicating a condition for changing a price when a sale sale such as a sale date or time service is performed, and this ID is used when the sales manager performs a sale sale. Is registered in the information server 15 and distributed to the communication means 13a, 13b, 13c of each price display device 2a, 2b, 2c via the main control means 14.

  The control means 3a, 3b, 3c of each price display device reads the price information recorded in pairs with the ID distributed from the price information recorded in the wireless IC tags 9a, 9b, 9c, the reading means 5a, 5b, 5c, the display prices of the price display means 4a, 4b, 4c are updated all at once, and the new sales price corresponding to the special sale is displayed.

  The second information may be input from the input means provided in the main control means 14 or may be distributed from the information server 15 inside or outside the store as shown in the second embodiment. I do not care.

  In the case of the configuration shown in FIG. 2, the price information itself stored in the wireless IC tag also stores the product code instead of the price and downloads the price information from the information server 15 via the main control means 14. It does not matter if the configuration is Such a method is particularly effective when price revision is assumed, and since the price information is not directly stored in the wireless IC tag, it is not necessary to replace the wireless IC tag attached to the product. It is only necessary to rewrite the product code and price information master file registered in the information server 15.

  As an example of the operation at this time, when the product code stored in the wireless IC tag 9a of the product 7a read by the reading unit 5a of the price display device 2a is transmitted from the communication unit 13a to the main control unit 14, the main control unit 14 Via the network 16, the information server 15 in the store or the price information master file of the information server of the food company is accessed using this product code as a key. The price information corresponding to the product code read by this access is transmitted again to the price display device 2a via the main control means 14, and displayed on the price display means 4a by the control means 3a.

  At this time, if there is a plurality of price information corresponding to the second information such as a sale sale, the information server 15 may be configured to transmit only the price information corresponding to the second information. Alternatively, the main control unit 14 or the control unit 3a of the price display device 2a may be configured to determine price information corresponding to the second information.

  Note that the means described in this embodiment causes hardware resources such as a CPU (or microcomputer), a RAM, a ROM, a storage / recording device, an electric / information device including an I / O, a computer, a server, and the like to cooperate. You may implement with the form of a program. In the form of a program, new functions can be easily distributed / updated and installed by recording them on a recording medium such as magnetic media or optical media, or distributing them using a communication line such as the Internet.

  As described above, the commodity display device according to the present invention and the program thereof read and display the price information given to the commodity by the price display device laid on the corresponding shelf as long as the commodity is arranged on the shelf. As a result, it is no longer necessary to manually manage the consistency between the products on the shelf and the price display, and it has become possible to realize labor-saving at the sales site, real-time product replacement, and sales strategies such as price revisions.

The figure which shows an example of a structure of the vending machine which is Embodiment 1 of the goods display apparatus of this invention. The figure which shows an example of a structure of the vending machine which is Embodiment 2 of the goods display apparatus of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1,17 Vending machine (product display device)
2a, 2b, 2c Price display device 3a, 3b, 3c Control means 4a, 4b, 4c Communication means 5a, 5b, 5c Price display means 6a, 6b, 6c Input means 7a, 7b, 7c, 8a, 8b, 8c Product 9a , 9b, 9c, 10a, 10b, 10c Wireless IC tags 12a, 12b, 12c Shelf 13a, 13b, 13c Communication means 14 Main control means 15 Information server 16 Network

Claims (7)

Shelves for placing products,
A reading unit that is installed for each shelf and reads information of a wireless IC tag attached to the product, a control unit that receives and analyzes and controls information from the reading unit, and a price display that displays a selling price of the product One or more price display devices having means,
The product display device, wherein the control unit reads a sales price of a product included in the information of the wireless IC tag and displays the sales price on the price display unit. Shelves for placing products,
A reading unit that is installed for each shelf and reads information of a wireless IC tag attached to the product, a control unit that receives and analyzes and controls information from the reading unit, and a price display that displays a selling price of the product Means and one or more price display devices having second information input means for determining the selling price,
A merchandise display device that determines a sales price from the plurality of price information written on the wireless IC tag based on second information acquired by the input means, and displays the sales price by the price display means. The product display device according to claim 2, wherein the second information is acquired by a signal from a changeover switch or the like as input means. The merchandise display device according to claim 2, further comprising a communication unit that acquires second information stored in the information server as an input unit. The product display device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the shelf is made of an electromagnetic wave shielding material. The commodity display device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a reading unit that does not reach other shelves with a close communication distance. The program for making a computer perform at least 1 function in the goods display apparatus in any one of Claims 1-4.

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