JP2006350893A - Commodity display rack system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve commodity inventory management on a commodity display rack, a display of inventory tag information, and a provision of commodity information to a shopper without individually attaching an RF-ID tag to each commodity. <P>SOLUTION: By disposing an RF-ID tag with an optical sensor and an RF-ID tag with a display device on a commodity display rack in a store, determining the presence of commodities through the RF-ID tag with the optical sensor, and transmitting the determination result to an RF-ID tag reader/writer installed in the store, the inventory management device connected to the RF-ID tag reader/writer performs inventory management of the commodities on the rack. Further, by providing the inventory tag information from the RF-ID tag reader/writer to the RF-ID tag with the display device, the management device displays the inventory information. This commodity display rack system provides commodity information from the RF-ID tag with the display device to a cellular phone with the reader/writer for the RF-ID tag. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a store system capable of providing merchandise information to a shopper along with inventory management of merchandise on a merchandise display shelf in a store and automatic update of shelf label display information.

Conventionally, stock replenishment of products to product display shelves by visual confirmation of employees is time consuming and difficult to perform efficient stock replenishment, and there is a potential need for an inexpensive stock replenishment system that can reduce human work. It has been.
For this reason, in recent years, a product inventory management system using an RF-ID tag system using RF-ID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology has attracted attention.
In the merchandise inventory management system using the RF-ID tag system, as introduced in Patent Document 1, an RF-ID tag is individually attached to each product lined up on the merchandise display shelf, and the RF-ID installed in advance on the merchandise display shelf or the like. Real-time product inventory management is achieved through constant communication with the tag reader / writer.
In this method, as a matter of course, since it is necessary to attach the RF-ID tag to all products, the cost of the RF-ID tag itself, the cost of individually mounting the product, etc. are generated.

Further, although not shown in Patent Document 1, the following matters are regarded as problems in the RF-ID tag system.
As a matter of course, the RF-ID tag can be read by an RF-ID tag reader / writer without contact. For this reason, for example, if a third party wants to grasp the contents of shopping by a young woman, the third party hides the reader / writer for the RF-ID tag under a coat, etc. It is possible to grasp the product with the RF-ID tag inside without being noticed by this woman. For this reason, from the viewpoint of privacy protection, it is pointed out that it is necessary to take a means for removing the RF-ID tag after the settlement process or erasing the product information recorded on the RF-ID tag.

Furthermore, in order to grasp all the products on one product display shelf at a time, the reader / writer for RF-ID tag has a limited number of RF-ID tags that can be read simultaneously, so it is displayed on the product display shelf. It is necessary to determine the number of reader / writers for RF-ID tags to be installed on the merchandise display shelf in consideration of the total number of commodities to be processed.
That is, it has been pointed out that a large number of reader / writers for RF-ID tags will be installed on the product display shelf, and the initial cost of the product display shelf will increase.

Further, depending on the writing and reading distance of the reader / writer for the RF-ID tag, mutual interference occurs between the reader / writers for the RF-ID tag. For this reason, it is necessary to individually register product display position information such as which product in which product display shelf is located in the RF-ID tag attached to each product. It has been pointed out that this trouble is also complicated.

For this reason, in a product inventory management system using an RF-ID tag realized by attaching an RF-ID tag to a product itself, the cost of the RF-ID tag itself and the RF-ID tag are attached to the product. In addition to the cost for the installation and the running cost for registering the product display position information in the RF-ID tag, the initial cost for installing a large number of reader / writers for the RF-ID tag on the product display shelf and the RF-ID tag after the settlement process are removed. In addition, there is a concern that the initial cost for taking measures to erase the product information recorded on the RF-ID tag is a factor that increases the sales price or causes the profit to be compressed.

Furthermore, the work of exchanging the shelf label of the product with the sale of the shelf label displaying the product name and price information of the product on the product display shelf and the product on the product display shelf is complicated.
Furthermore, since this work is usually performed outside the store's business hours, it leads to an increase in running costs such as labor costs due to an increase in overtime hours for employees, etc. If it is not possible to convert to sales price, it will be a factor to reduce profits.
Therefore, an automatic update system for shelf label display information of merchandise display shelves is also potentially required.

In addition, shoppers sometimes want to ask for product information from the store clerk at the time of purchasing the product, but in supermarkets and the like, the minimum number of store clerk is required for efficient management. The current situation is that there are few shoppers that shoppers want to hear.

JP-A-2005-34358

Therefore, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an inventory management system for products on the product display shelves in the store, without attaching individual RF-ID tags to the products themselves. Is to build an inventory management system.
Furthermore, it is possible to automatically update shelf label display information and automatically provide product information to shoppers.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical sensor-equipped RF-ID tag installed at a position where the amount of received light changes depending on the presence / absence of a commodity displayed on a commodity display shelf, and a signal from the optical sensor-equipped RF-ID tag. The product display shelf system is characterized in that presence / absence of a product in the product display shelf is determined by an RF-ID tag reader / writer to be detected. .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a display device mounted RF-ID tag installed for each product displayed on the front surface of the rack portion of the product display shelf according to the first aspect, and the display device mounted RF-ID tag. The product display shelf system is characterized in that the shelf label information is automatically updated by an RF-ID tag reader / writer that transmits the shelf label information.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a display device-mounted RF-ID tag according to the second embodiment in which a mobile phone equipped with an RF-ID tag reader / writer is attached, and product information on the display device-mounted RF-ID tag. The product display shelf system is characterized in that the product information is displayed on the display device of the mobile phone equipped with the RF-ID tag reader / writer by means of an RF-ID tag reader / writer that provides the information.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a commodity display wherein the RF-ID tag reader / writer according to the first aspect, the second aspect, and the third aspect is connected to a commodity inventory management device. It is a shelf system.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the optical sensor-equipped RF-ID tag according to the first aspect uses either an illuminance sensor-equipped RF-ID tag or a light reflection sensor-equipped RF-ID tag. And product display shelf system.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the optical sensor part of the optical sensor-equipped RF-ID tag according to the first aspect has means for adjusting the sensitivity of the optical sensor part according to the amount of transmitted light of the product. This is a product display shelf system characterized by the following.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a merchandise display shelf system in which a hood that suppresses incident light from the disturbance light is attached to the optical sensor-equipped RF-ID tag according to the first aspect.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, the display device mounted on the RF-ID tag mounted with the display device according to the second aspect is a liquid crystal display device, an electronic pH display device, or an organic EL display device. Product display shelf system.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the inventory management system according to the fourth aspect, when it is determined that there is no product on the product display shelf, a replenishment instruction for the product on the product display shelf is given to a store clerk. A merchandise display shelf system that can be displayed on a screen.

The merchandise display shelf system of the present invention has an advantage that an inventory management system for merchandise on a merchandise display shelf can be constructed with a low running cost and a low initial cost.
Specifically, for example, by installing an optical sensor-equipped RF-ID tag for each display of the merchandise display shelf, the merchandise on the merchandise display shelf is managed, so there is no need to attach an RF-ID tag to each product.
For this reason, in the commodity display shelf system of the present invention, there is no cost for individually attaching the RF-ID tag for each commodity, and the RF-ID tag is removed after the settlement process for privacy protection measures, or the RF-ID tag is There is no need to erase the product data of the tag and there is no need for an RF-ID tag reader / writer installed on the product display shelf, so that the running cost and the initial cost can be reduced.
Furthermore, the reader / writer for the RF-ID tag installed on the merchandise display shelf is not necessary, and the RF-ID tag reader / writer does not cause mutual interference, and the product itself does not have an RF-ID tag attached individually. Since it is not necessary to record the position information of the merchandise display shelf on the RF-ID tag, this labor is not required.
Further, in the product display shelf system of the present invention, shelf label information is displayed on a display device-mounted RF-ID tag installed in front of the product display section of the product display shelf, thereby eliminating the shelf label replacement work by a store clerk or the like. Therefore, it is possible to reduce running costs such as labor costs.
Furthermore, when a shopper wishes to obtain product information on a product, the product information can be obtained immediately by holding a mobile phone equipped with an RF-ID tag reader / writer over the display-equipped RF-ID tag. is there.

Hereinafter, as an example of an optical sensor-equipped RF-ID tag, an embodiment of the present invention in the case of using an illuminance sensor-equipped RF-ID tag will be described.
FIG. 1 is a basic configuration diagram of an RF-ID tag equipped with an illuminance sensor of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a basic configuration diagram of an RF-ID tag equipped with a display device of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the basic configuration of the commodity display shelf system of the present invention.

1 includes an RF unit 4 including an antenna unit 2 and an RF interface unit 3, an illuminance sensor unit 5, an illuminance sensor sensitivity adjustment unit 6, a nonvolatile memory unit 7, and a battery unit. 8 are each connected to the tag control unit 9.
Further, although not shown, the front surface of the illuminance sensor unit 5 has a mechanism that makes it possible to attach a hood that suppresses the entry of ambient light into the illuminance sensor unit 5.
Further, the function of the illuminance sensor sensitivity adjustment unit 6 is to enable, for example, the sensitivity of the illuminance sensor 5 to be adjusted to be low by this function. For products packaged with transparent packaging material, the illuminance sensor-equipped RF-ID tag 1 has no products, even though there is a product packaged with transparent packaging material when external light enters the illuminance sensor unit 5. This is to prevent erroneous discrimination.

The display device mounted RF-ID tag 16 having the configuration shown in FIG. 2 is a display device mounted RF-ID tag including the antenna unit 17 of the display device mounted RF-ID tag and the RF interface unit 18 of the display device mounted RF-ID tag. RF unit 19, display device mounted RF-ID tag display device driver circuit 20, display device mounted RF-ID tag liquid crystal display device 21, display device mounted RF-ID tag nonvolatile memory unit 22, display device mounted RF- The battery unit 23 of the ID tag is connected to the tag control unit 24 of the RF-ID tag equipped with a display device.
The non-volatile memory 22 of the display device mounted RF-ID tag records the ID number of the display device mounted RF-ID tag itself.

In the product display shelf 10 shown in FIG. 3, the illuminance sensor-equipped RF-ID tag 1 is arranged for each product at the end of the product display unit. Note that the power supply of the illuminance sensor-equipped RF-ID tag 1 is normally performed by the battery unit 8, and therefore wiring for supplying AC power to the illuminance sensor-equipped RF-ID tag 1 is not necessary.
The material of the rack portion 11 of the commodity display shelf 10 is a material that does not affect the communication between the RF-ID tag 1 equipped with the illuminance sensor and the RF-ID tag reader / writer 12 installed in the store. Specifically, a plastic material is suitable.
This is because non-contact communication becomes impossible if there is an entire surface metal material that shields electromagnetic waves between the illuminance sensor-equipped RF-ID tag 1 and the RF-ID tag reader / writer 12 installed in the store. Because.
Further, a display device-mounted RF-ID tag 16 is installed for each product on the front surface of the rack portion 11 of the product display shelf 10.

The reader / writer 12 for the RF-ID tag installed in the store shown in FIG. 3 can communicate with the RF-ID tag 1 equipped with the illuminance sensor in a non-contact manner, and is a product display shelf from the RF-ID tag 1 equipped with the illuminance sensor. The product inventory information has a function of transmitting to the product inventory management device 14 via the communication line 13.

The merchandise inventory management device 14 can be a personal computer system in which a display device is connected to the personal computer main body.
Note that the commodity inventory management device 14 has a display device-mounted RF-ID having an ID number that is arranged in which rack section 11 in which product display shelf 10 for all the products 15 handled in the store. A product display position information database 14a for recording whether the tag 16 has been installed is incorporated.
Further, the merchandise inventory management apparatus also incorporates a merchandise information database 14b. This merchandise information database 14b stores the merchandise information provided when the shopper holds the mobile phone 25 equipped with the RF-ID tag reader / writer over the display-equipped RF-ID tag 16 to obtain the merchandise information. To do.

Although not shown, the RF-ID tag reader / writer-equipped mobile phone 25 has an RF-ID tag reader / writer antenna circuit and an RF-ID tag reader / writer control circuit built in, and an RF-ID tag reader / writer. The configuration is such that the antenna circuit of the writer is a control circuit for the reader / writer for the RF-ID tag, and the control circuit for the reader / writer for the RF-ID tag is connected to the control circuit for the mobile phone itself.

The usage mode of the present invention will be described below.
[Inventory control]
The illuminance sensor-equipped RF-ID tag 1 has a product on the front surface of the illuminance sensor-equipped RF-ID tag shown in FIG. 15 is determined. Further, when there is no product on the front surface of the RF-ID tag equipped with the illuminance sensor, since external light enters the illuminance sensor unit 5 in 1b, it is determined that there is no product 15 in the product display shelf 10.

The RF-ID tag reader / writer 12 installed in the store reads the determination result of the presence / absence of the product 15 by the illuminance sensor unit 5 of the illuminance sensor-equipped RF-ID tag 1. Furthermore, the reader / writer 12 for RF-ID tags installed in the store sends the determination result of the presence / absence of the product 15 by the RF-ID tag 1 equipped with the illuminance sensor to the product inventory management device 14 connected via a communication line.

The merchandise inventory management device 14 determines whether the illuminance sensor-equipped RF-ID tag 1 sent from the RF-ID tag reader / writer 12 has the merchandise 15 in the merchandise display shelf 10 based on the determination result of the presence / absence of the merchandise 15 in the merchandise display shelf 10. Implement inventory management.
For this reason, the product inventory management device 14 uses the illuminance sensor-equipped RF-ID tag 1 sent from the RF-ID tag reader / writer 12 to store clerk or the like based on the information that the product display shelf 10 has no product 15. Issue a replenishment order for the product.
As described above, according to the present invention, it is not necessary for the store clerk to go around the store and check the stock status of the product 15 in the product display shelf 10, so that the product can be efficiently replenished to the product display shelf. It will be.

In the merchandise inventory management apparatus, a merchandise display position information database indicating which merchandise display-mounted RF-ID tag having an ID number assigned to which rack section 11 of which merchandise display shelf is assigned and installed. 14a is installed.
For this reason, when changing the shelf label information which is the display information of the display device mounted RF-ID tag 16, the ID number of the display device mounted RF-ID tag 16 is designated from the product stock management device 14, and the product stock is stored. When shelf label information to be updated is input to the management device 14, it is sent from the commodity inventory management device 14 to the RF-ID tag reader / writer 12, and the RF-ID tag reader / writer 12 16 to send.
Only the display-equipped RF-ID tag 16 having the same ID number receives the shelf label information transmitted from the RF-ID tag reader / writer 12 and displays the received shelf label information. It can be updated.

If the shopper holds the mobile phone 25 equipped with the RF-ID tag reader / writer carried by the RF-ID tag 16 equipped with the display device, the product information request command from the mobile phone 25 equipped with the RF-ID tag reader / writer is displayed. It is sent to the mounted RF-ID tag 16, and the display device mounted RF-ID tag 16 adds the ID number recorded in the nonvolatile memory unit 22 of the display device mounted RF-ID tag 16 to the product information request command. The product is transmitted to the RF-ID tag reader / writer 12 installed in the store, and the RF-ID tag reader / writer 12 sends a product information request command to which the ID number of the RF-ID tag 16 mounted on the display device is added. It transmits to the inventory management device 14. The inventory management device 14 selects the product information from the product information database 14b, and adds the ID number of the display device mounted RF-ID tag 16 to the product information sent from the reader / writer 12 for the RF-ID tag. The RF-ID tag reader / writer 12 sends the product information assigned the ID number of the display device-mounted RF-ID tag 16 to the display device-mounted RF-ID tag 16. To do.
Only the display-equipped RF-ID tag 16 having the ID number receives the merchandise information sent from the RF-ID tag reader / writer 12, and uses this merchandise information as the RF-ID tag reader / writer-equipped mobile phone 25. By displaying on the display screen of the mobile phone 25 equipped with the RF-ID tag reader / writer, the shopper can confirm the product information.

The merchandise display shelf system of the present invention can be modified without being limited to the embodiments described above.
Specifically, the optical sensor of the RF-ID tag equipped with the optical sensor has been described as an illuminance sensor, but may be a reflective optical sensor.
Note that the reflection type optical sensor-equipped RF-ID tag has reflected light from the product when there is a product, so it is determined that there is a product, and when there is no reflected light, the reflected light from the product is not reflected. Because there is no product, it is determined that there is no product.
Furthermore, in addition to the optical sensor, for example, an RF-ID tag equipped with a multi-sensor equipped with a temperature / humidity sensor may be used.
With the multi-sensor RF-ID tag, if it is used on a product display shelf for fresh foods, it will be possible to obtain information for detailed inventory and temperature / humidity management for each product display shelf. If we manage the temperature of the refrigerator for the product display shelf for fresh goods, it will contribute to energy saving in the store.
Further, although the optical sensor-mounted RF-ID tag has been described as an active type in which a battery is mounted, it may be a passive type.
Also, the reader / writer for the RF-ID tag and the commodity inventory management apparatus have been described with the wired communication line connection. However, as a matter of course, a wireless communication connection may be used.
Furthermore, although the display device mounted RF-ID tag display device has been described as a liquid crystal display device, it may be a display device using an electronic pH, a display device using an organic EL (Organic Electroluminescence Display), or the like.
Further, it may be realized that the product inventory management device 14 transmits the missing item information to the mobile terminal or the like owned by the store clerk, and the mobile terminal displays the product replenishment instruction, thereby replenishing the product.
The product display position information database and the product information database are not built in the product inventory management device 14, but are connected to the product inventory management device 14 to the server system. The product display location information database and the product information database are installed on the server system. You may build.
Furthermore, this server system is connected to the Internet so that a shopper can access the manufacturer's homepage when operating the RF-ID tag mobile phone and obtaining product information from the display-equipped RF-ID tag. Also good.
In addition, when a shopper obtains product information, a questionnaire screen is displayed on a mobile phone equipped with an RF-ID tag reader / writer, for example, in order to use it as a manufacturer campaign or marketing tool. Even if the shopper who answers the questionnaire by operating the on-board mobile phone can provide privilege-giving information such as coupon information to the RF-ID tag reader / writer on the mobile phone via the display device-mounted RF-ID tag. good.

The merchandise display shelf system of the present invention is effective not only in the distribution field but also in the logistics field. Specifically, it is used for picking manufactured parts, etc., and used for inventory management of parts to be picked on the picking rack. Therefore, it can be applied to various uses in a wide range of fields.

Basic configuration diagram of RF-ID tag equipped with illuminance sensor of the present invention Basic configuration diagram of RF-ID tag with display device of the present invention Basic configuration explanatory diagram of the commodity display shelf system of the present invention

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 RF-ID tag mounted with illuminance sensor 2 Antenna part 3 RF interface part 4 RF part 5 Illuminance sensor part 6 Illuminance sensor sensitivity adjustment part 7 Non-volatile memory part 8 Battery part 9 Tag control part 10 Product display shelf 11 Rack part 12 RF-ID Tag reader / writer 13 Communication line 14 Product inventory management device 14a Product display position information database 14b Product information database 15 Product 16 Display device mounted RF-ID tag 17 Display device mounted RF-ID tag antenna 18 Display device mounted RF- RF interface part of ID tag 19 RF part of RF-ID tag with display device 20 Display device driver circuit of RF-ID tag with display device 21 Display device of RF-ID tag with display device 22 Display of RF-ID tag with display device Non-volatile memory section 23 Display device Battery unit of RF-ID tag mounted on device 24 Tag control unit of RF-ID tag mounted on display device 25 Mobile phone mounted with reader / writer for RF-ID tag

Claims (9)

An RF-ID tag with an optical sensor installed at a position where the amount of received light changes depending on the presence or absence of products to be displayed on the merchandise display shelf, and an RF-ID tag reader / writer for detecting a signal from the RF-ID tag with an optical sensor A product display shelf system characterized by determining whether or not there is a product in the product display shelf. A display device-mounted RF-ID tag installed for each product displayed on the front surface of the rack portion of the product display shelf according to claim 1, and an RF-ID tag that transmits shelf label information to the display device-mounted RF-ID tag A shelf display system that automatically updates shelf label information with a reader / writer. A display-equipped RF-ID tag according to claim 2, wherein a mobile phone equipped with an RF-ID tag reader / writer is mounted, and an RF-ID tag reader / writer that provides product information to the display-equipped RF-ID tag. A product display shelf system, wherein product information is displayed on a display device of a mobile phone equipped with an RF-ID tag reader / writer. 4. A commodity display shelf system, wherein the RF-ID tag reader / writer according to claim 1 is connected to a commodity inventory management device. An optical sensor-equipped RF-ID tag according to claim 1, wherein either an illuminance sensor-equipped RF-ID tag or a light reflection sensor-equipped RF-ID tag is used. The product display shelf system according to claim 1, wherein the optical sensor unit of the RF-ID tag with an optical sensor according to claim 1 has means for adjusting the sensitivity of the optical sensor unit according to the amount of transmitted light of the product. A merchandise display shelf system, wherein a hood for suppressing incident light from ambient light is attached to the optical sensor-equipped RF-ID tag according to claim 1. The product display shelf system, wherein the display device mounted on the display device-mounted RF-ID tag according to claim 2 is any one of a liquid crystal display device, an electronic pH display device, and an organic EL display device. The inventory management system according to claim 4 is capable of displaying on the screen a replenishment instruction for the product in the product display shelf to a store clerk when it is determined that there is no product in the product display shelf. Product display shelf system characterized by.

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