JP2007109058A - Commodity selection information providing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a commodity selection information providing apparatus capable of providing precise commodity selecting auxiliary information when a customer hesitates in selecting a commodity. <P>SOLUTION: The commodity selection information providing apparatus is provided with: traveling state detection means 7, 8 attached to a shopping cart to be used by a customer to detect a traveling state; a moving route information forming means 10 for forming the moving route information of the shopping cart on the basis of the traveling state detected by the traveling state detection means 7, 8, a commodity selection hesitation detecting means 10 for detecting a state that the customer hesitates in selecting a commodity on the basis of the shopping cart moving route information formed by the moving route information forming means 10; and a commodity selection information providing means 16 for providing commodity selecting auxiliary information near a customer's present position when the commodity selection hesitation detecting means 10 detects the commodity selection hesitating state. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a product selection information providing apparatus that collects information on a travel route of a customer and provides product selection assistance information when there is a problem with product selection.

As a conventional product selection information providing device, for example, a display, an information receiving unit that receives information, a position information receiving unit that receives position information, and information according to position information from information received by the information receiving unit A shopping cart that dynamically presents information corresponding to a position by a shopping cart or a shopping basket that includes an information selection unit that selects the information selection unit and an information output unit that displays information selected by the information selection unit on a display; A shopping basket is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-110805 (first page, FIGS. 1 to 3)

  However, in the conventional example described in Patent Document 1, when position information is received by the position information receiving unit, shopping information such as product advertisement information at a predetermined shopping position is moved according to the received position information. If you are unable to detect whether the customer is in a suspicion of purchasing a product that is confused about purchasing the product, and if the residence time is long, There is an unsolved problem that it is not possible to accurately determine whether it takes time to purchase multi-items or whether there is a problem in selecting a product.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made paying attention to the unsolved problems of the above-described conventional example, and it is possible to accurately determine whether a customer is at a loss in product purchase and to provide optimal information An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for providing product selection information that can be used.

  A product selection information providing device according to a first aspect of the present invention is a travel state detection means for detecting a travel state attached to a shopping cart used by a customer, and the shopping cart based on the travel state detected by the travel state detection means. Based on the movement route information forming means for forming the movement route information and the shopping route movement information of the shopping cart formed by the movement route information forming means, it is detected that the customer is in a merchandise selection stray state. Product selection wonder detection means, and product information provision means for providing product selection assistance information near the current position of the customer when the product selection suspicion detection means detects a product selection suspicion state. It is said.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the movement route information can be formed by the movement route information forming means based on the detection result of the traveling state detection means provided in the shopping cart, and the customer trend is determined based on the movement route information. In addition, it is possible to efficiently select customers' products by providing product selection assistance information such as best-selling products, bargain products, etc. that assist in product selection in the vicinity of the current position when in doubt about product selection Become. Moreover, since the product selection auxiliary information is provided only when the customer is confused about the product selection, the customer can be reliably prevented from feeling troublesome.

Further, in the product selection information providing apparatus according to the second invention, in the first invention, the product selection suspicion detecting means is confused when the stay time in the product purchase area within a predetermined range is equal to or longer than a predetermined time. It is characterized by being configured to detect a state.
In the second aspect of the present invention, it can be determined that there is a problem in selecting a product when staying within a predetermined range of the product purchase area for a relatively long time, and it is detected that the product selection is in a confused state. be able to.

Furthermore, the product selection information providing apparatus according to the third invention is the product selection information providing device according to the first invention, wherein the product selection suspicion detecting means selects the product when the number of visits to the product purchase area within a predetermined range is equal to or greater than a predetermined number. The present invention is characterized in that it is configured to detect that it is in a lost state.
In the third aspect of the invention, when the number of visits to the product purchase area in the predetermined range is equal to or greater than the predetermined number of times, it is very likely that the user is wondering whether or not to purchase the product. Can detect the merchandise selection state.

Furthermore, the product selection information providing apparatus according to the fourth invention is the product selection information providing device according to the first invention, wherein the product selection suspicion detecting means is a product when the number of reciprocating movements within a product purchase area within a predetermined range is equal to or greater than a predetermined number. The present invention is characterized in that it is configured to detect that the selection is in doubt.
In the fourth aspect of the invention, there is a very high possibility that the selection of the product is unclear when the number of reciprocating movements within the product purchase area in the predetermined range is greater than or equal to the predetermined number of times, and the selected product from the round-trip range. Therefore, it is possible to more accurately detect a merchandise selection lost state.

Still further, in the product selection information providing device according to the fifth invention, in the first to fourth inventions, the running state detecting means detects a moving direction detecting means for detecting a moving direction of the shopping cart, and a moving distance is detected. And a moving distance detecting means.
In the fifth aspect of the invention, the moving direction of the shopping cart is detected by the moving direction detecting means, and the moving distance of the shopping cart is detected by the moving distance detecting means, thereby accurately detecting the moving path of the shopping cart from both. Can do.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the fifth aspect, the product selection information providing apparatus is characterized in that the moving direction detecting means includes a gyro.
In the sixth aspect of the invention, since the moving direction detecting means includes the gyro, at least the yaw rate of the shopping cart and the moving direction of the wheels can be detected by the gyro, and the moving direction of the shopping cart can be accurately determined. Can be detected.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, and a plurality of, for example, ten shopping units are provided in the vicinity of an entrance 2 in a store 1 that uses a shopping cart such as a supermarket or a department store. Cart yards 4A and 4B for arranging the carts 3 in a row in a predetermined direction are arranged.

  Each of the cart places 4A and 4B has a guide bar 5 for guiding the shopping cart 3 in a predetermined direction as shown in FIG. The guide bar 5 includes side bar portions 5a and 5b arranged in parallel with an interval substantially equal to the width of the shopping cart 3, an end bar portion 5c connecting one end of the side bar portions 5a and 5b, and a floor For example, it is composed of support columns 5d that are planted on the surface and support the side bar portions 5a and 5b. Then, with the plurality of shopping carts 3 arranged in tandem, the front bar of the shopping cart 3 is regulated by the end bar portion 5c, and the left and right side portions of the shopping cart 3 are guided by the side bar portions 5a and 5b. Are arranged in a column in a certain direction.

  And the control unit 6 which forms the movement path information which measures the movement path information in the shopping cart 3 is arrange | positioned, and the wheel speed pulse according to the rotational speed and this wheel are set to the wheel 3a of the shopping cart 3. An incremental rotary encoder 7 capable of detecting a rotation direction by generating a rotation direction detection pulse having a phase difference of 90 ° with respect to the speed pulse is provided.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 6 includes a piezoelectric gyro 8 as an angular velocity detecting means for detecting the yaw rate of the shopping cart 3, and outputs a sensor unit 9 that outputs the angular velocity ω of the shopping cart 3. The angular velocity ω of the shopping cart 3 output from the unit 9 is stored, and traveling information D and stop time before and after the shopping cart 3 based on the wheel speed pulse and the rotation direction detection pulse input from the rotary encoder 7. Tst is calculated and stored, and further, an arithmetic processing unit 10 composed of, for example, a CPU that performs wireless communication control with an external device, and a program necessary for arithmetic processing performed by the arithmetic processing unit 10 are stored. Angular velocity ω, travel information D, stop time Tst, initial position information, current position information, A communication control unit 12 that performs wireless communication between a memory 11 that stores travel route information including a start time, a current position information acquisition time, and a gyro reset time, and an external information collection device that is controlled by the arithmetic processing device 10; , A wireless communication antenna 13 connected to the communication control unit 12, a position information receiving unit 14 for receiving position information for correcting the movement path via the wireless communication antenna 13, a sensor unit 9, an arithmetic processing unit 10, and communication A battery 15 that supplies power to the control unit 12, the position information receiving unit 14, and the display device 16 and a display device 16 that includes a liquid crystal display that displays product selection information, an organic EL display, a plasma display, and the like are provided.

Further, in the cart locations 4A and 4B, an initial information transmission device for transmitting the absolute position information of the cart locations 4A and 4B and the orientation information indicating the column direction of the shopping cart 3 to the control unit 6 of the corresponding shopping cart 3 as initial information. 17 is provided.
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 4, the communication range is regulated within the product purchase range corresponding to the product category, for example, in the upper part of the product display shelf 21 along the movement route arranged in the store 1. A location information transmission unit 22 as a location information transmission unit comprising a wireless LAN access point for transmitting current location information having a circular directivity, an RFID tag, etc. is installed, and for example several meters from the location information transmission unit 22 It is configured to transmit the current position information to the control unit 6 disposed in the shopping cart 3 located within a communication range of about tens of meters or more.

  In addition, a POS (Point Of Sales) system 32 is provided at a checkout location 31 in the store 1 to checkout purchased products. As shown in FIG. 5, the POS system 32 includes a travel route data communication unit 33 as travel route information acquisition means for acquiring travel route information from the control unit 6 of each shopping cart 3, and the travel route data communication unit 33. A product information input unit 35 including a bar code reader or a numeric keypad for inputting product information, and a display unit 36 such as a liquid crystal display, an EL panel, or a plasma display for displaying settlement information. CPU for controlling the movement path data communication unit 33 to acquire the movement path information and performing a data acquisition process for performing settlement based on the purchased product information and the settlement amount information input from the product information input unit 35, for example, CPU And a program used for the arithmetic processing of the arithmetic processing unit 37. And a memory 38 that temporarily stores settlement information, settlement end time, and travel route information, and a plurality of personal computers 40 for analysis that perform external data analysis via a local area network (LAN) 39, for example. And an external communication control unit 41 for performing the above.

Each personal computer 40 is connected to one or a plurality of databases 43 through, for example, a local area network 42, and stores the travel route information and the settlement information acquired from the POS system 32 in the database 43. Then, a data analysis process for analyzing the stored travel route information and settlement information and settlement end time is performed.
And in the arithmetic processing unit 10 of the control unit 6 mounted in the shopping cart 3, the movement path | route information collection process shown in FIG. 6 is performed.

  This movement route information collection processing is started when the supply of external power to the battery 15 of the control unit 6 is cut off by removing the shopping cart 3 from the cart yard 4A or 4B. , An angular velocity ω, travel information D, stop time Tst, initial position information, current position information, movement start time, current position acquisition time, reset time, total movement distance L, and travel time stored in the memory 11 It is determined whether or not the information is erased. When the travel route information is not erased, the process proceeds to step S2 and the travel route information is erased and then the process proceeds to step S3. When the travel route information is erased. The process proceeds directly to step S3.

In step S3, the movement start time is stored in the movement path information storage area of the memory 11, the counter for counting the wheel speed pulses output from the rotary encoder 7 is reset, and the piezoelectric gyro 8 is reset.
Next, the process proceeds to step S4, where the absolute position coordinates X ₀ , Y _{0 of the} shopping cart 3 and the shopping cart at the cart locations 4A, 4B transmitted from the initial information transmitting device 17 disposed at the cart locations 4A, 4B. It obtains the composed initial position information on the current direction information theta ₀ of 3, and stores the acquired initial position information to the route information storage area of the memory 11.

  Next, the process proceeds to step S5 to start the movement route information forming process shown in FIG. 7, and then the process proceeds to step S6 to determine whether or not the position information transmission unit 22 disposed on the display shelf 21 is present. If the position information transmission unit 22 is not present, the process proceeds to step S27 described later. If the position information transmission unit 22 is present, the process proceeds to step S7, and the current position acquisition flag FP is set to “ It is determined whether or not it is set to “1”, and when the current position acquisition flag FP is set to “1”, it is already in the communication range of the position information transmission unit 22 If the current position acquisition flag FP is reset to “0”, it is determined that the communication range of the position information transmitting unit 22 has been reached for the first time. To migrate to 8.

In this step S8, it is determined whether or not the current position information has been received from the position information transmitting unit 22. If the current position information has not been received, the process jumps to step S22 described later, and if the current position information has been received, step S9. In step S10, the current position information and the current position information acquisition time are stored in the movement path information storage area of the memory 11, and the process proceeds to step S10.
In step S10, the piezoelectric gyro 8 is reset to remove the drift, and then the process proceeds to step S11, where the gyro reset time T _R (n) is stored in the movement path information storage area of the memory 11, and then the step The process proceeds to S12, where the gyro drift component is estimated based on the current gyro reset time T _R (n) and the previous gyro reset time T _R (n-1), and the previous piezoelectric is determined according to the estimated gyro drift component. An angular velocity correction process for correcting each angular velocity ω stored after the reset time T _R (n−1) of the equation gyro 8 is performed, and then the process proceeds to step S13 to execute a passing position information calculation process shown in FIG. To step S14.

In this step S14, the number N _{E of} entry into the product purchase area corresponding to the position information arrival area of the position information transmitting unit 22 is incremented (N _E = N _E +1), and then the process proceeds to step S15 to calculate the calculated product. It is determined whether or not the number N _{E of} purchase area entry is equal to or greater than a reference value N _{ES for} determining that a preset customer is at a loss in product selection. If N _E ≧ N _ES , the corresponding product purchase is performed. It is determined that there is a product selection hesitation state in which the number of times of arrival in the region is large and he / she is confused about product selection, and the process proceeds to step S16.

  In this step S16, one or a plurality of product selection auxiliary information including product name and product price such as bargain product information, recommended product information, sponsor maker product information (product information with a high profit margin) in the current product purchase area. Then, the process proceeds to step S17, the selected product selection auxiliary information is output and displayed on the display device 16, and then the process proceeds to step S22 described later.

On the other hand, if the determination result in step S15 is that the product purchase area entry number N _E is less than the set value N _ES , the process proceeds to step S18, the current position acquisition flag FP is set to “1”, and then step S19. Migrate to
In this step S19, the area location time T _P (= T _N −T _A ) is calculated by subtracting the current position information acquisition time T _A stored in step S9 from the current time T _N , and then the process proceeds to step S20. Then, it is determined whether or not the calculated region stay time T _P is equal to or greater than a reference value T _{PS for} determining that a preset customer is at a loss in product selection. If T _P ≧ T _PS , the customer If it is determined that the product selection is in a state of being in doubt about the selection of the product, the process proceeds to step S16. If T _P < _TPS, it is determined that the product is not in the process of selection selection and the process proceeds to step S21. .

  In this step S21, the number of reciprocating movements within the same product purchase area based on the position information calculated in step S13 is greater than or equal to a reference value for determining a product selection stupid state in which the customer is at a loss in product selection. If the number of reciprocating movements is greater than or equal to the reference value, it is determined that the product selection is in a lost state, and the process proceeds to step S16. It is determined that there is not, and the process proceeds to step S22. Here, the number of reciprocating movements is determined by counting how many times the accumulated angle exceeds 180 degrees with respect to the direction of entering the area, for example.

  In this step S22, it is determined whether or not a movement route information acquisition request has been received from the movement route data communication unit 33 of the POS system 32. If no movement route information acquisition request has been received, the process returns to step S6 to move When the route information acquisition request is received, the process proceeds to step S23, from when the wheel speed pulse is obtained to the count N of the counter for counting the wheel speed pulse until the next wheel speed pulse is obtained. After the travel distance ΔL of the shopping cart 3 is multiplied to calculate the total travel distance L, the process proceeds to step S24.

  In this step S24, the staying time in the store is calculated by subtracting the movement start time stored in step S3 from the current time, and then the process proceeds to step S25 where the passing position information and stop time stored in the memory 11 are calculated. The travel route information composed of Tst, total travel distance L, and stay time in the store is supplied to the communication control unit 12 and transmitted from the wireless communication antenna 13, and then the process proceeds to step S26 and stored in the memory 11. After the initial position information, the angular velocity ω, the passing position information, the current time, the gyro reset time, the total moving distance L, and the staying time in the store are deleted, the moving route information collecting process in FIG. 6 is terminated.

On the other hand, if the determination result of step S6 is that the position information transmission unit 22 does not exist, the process proceeds to step S27 to determine whether or not the current position acquisition flag FP is set to “1”. When the position acquisition flag FP is reset to “0”, it is determined that the position information transmission unit 22 does not exist and the process proceeds to step S22 as it is, and the current position acquisition flag FP is “1”. When the position information transmission unit 22 has been set, it is determined that it has left the communication range of the position information transmission unit 22, and the process proceeds to step S28 to reset the position acquisition flag FP to “0” and to set the reset time T _R (n). After setting as the previous reset time T _R (n−1), the process proceeds to step S22.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 7, when the movement route information forming process activated in step S5 is activated in step S5, it is first determined in step S31 whether or not a wheel speed pulse has been input. When the wheel speed pulse is not inputted, it waits until it is inputted, and when the wheel speed pulse is inputted, the process proceeds to step S32, and after reading the current time Tn, the process proceeds to step S33. After incrementing the count value N of the software counter that counts the wheel speed pulses, the process proceeds to step S34.

  In this step S34, it is determined whether the shopping cart 3 is moving forward or backward based on the combination of the wheel speed pulse and the direction detecting pulse and the previous combination. When the shopping cart 3 is moving forward, the process proceeds to step S35. Then, the travel information D is set to “1” indicating forward travel, and then the process proceeds to step S37. When the travel information is reverse, the process proceeds to step S36 and the travel information D is set to “0” that represents the reverse travel. To step S37.

  In step S37, the angular velocity ω detected by the piezoelectric gyro 8 is read, and then the process proceeds to step S38, where the previous current time T (n-1) is subtracted from the current time T (n), thereby reducing the time between pulses. ΔT (= T (n) −T (n−1)) is calculated, and then the process proceeds to step S39, and the minimum stop time Tmin at which the time between pulses ΔT can be determined as the shopping cart 3 set in advance is stopped. It is determined whether or not this is the case, and when ΔT ≧ Tmin, it is determined that the vehicle is in the stopped state, the process proceeds to step S40, the inter-pulse time ΔT is set as the stop time Tst, and then the process proceeds to step S42. When ΔT <Tmin, it is determined that the vehicle is not in the stop state, and the process proceeds to step S41. After the stop time Tst is set to “0”, the process proceeds to step S42.

  In step S42, the angular velocity ω, the travel information D, and the stop time Tst are stored in the travel route information storage area formed in the memory 11, and then the process proceeds to step S43 to calculate the pass position information shown in FIG. After executing the calculation process, the process proceeds to step S44, where the calculated passing position information and the sales floor layout are matched to calculate the sales floor position information, which is stored in the sales floor position information storage area of the memory 11. To return to step S31.

In the passing position information calculation process executed in step S13 in FIG. 6 and step S43 in FIG. 7, as shown in FIG. 8, first, in step S51, the angular velocity ω is integrated to calculate the rotation angle θn of the shopping cart 3. . Here, in step S13, the corrected angular velocity ω ′ is integrated as the angular velocity ω.
Then, the processing proceeds to step S52, by adding sequentially rotation angle θn to accumulated rotation angle θa including azimuth information theta ₀ in the initial position information acquisition, it calculates a cumulative rotational angle θa of the shopping cart 3, and then step The process proceeds to S53, where it is determined whether the shopping cart 3 is in the forward state or the reverse state based on whether or not the traveling information D is “1”. When the traveling information D is in the forward state, the process proceeds to Step S54. The travel distance ΔL of the shopping cart 3 from when the speed pulse is obtained until the next wheel speed pulse is obtained is set as a positive value + ΔL, and then the process proceeds to step S56. Then, the travel distance ΔL is set as a negative value −ΔL, and then the process proceeds to step S56.

In step S56, the calculation of the following formulas (1) and (2) is performed based on the travel distance ΔL and the cumulative rotation angle θa set in step S54 or S55, so that the wheel speed pulse is input. Position coordinates X ′, Y ′ are calculated.
X ′ = X + ΔL · cos θa (1)
Y ′ = Y + ΔL · sin θa (2)
Next, the process proceeds to step S57, where the calculated position coordinates X ′ and Y ′ are stored as passing position information in the passing position information storage area of the memory 11 together with the cumulative rotation angle θa.

  6 to 8, the process of step S4 in FIG. 6 and the initial information transmitting device 17 correspond to the initial information setting means, and the processes of steps S7 to S14 in FIG. 6 correspond to the position information receiving means. The processing in steps S4, S9, S11 to S13 in FIG. 6, the processing in FIGS. 7 and 8 and the memory 11 correspond to the movement route information forming means, and the processing in steps S14, S15 and S19 to S21 in FIG. Corresponding to the merchandise selection lost detection means, the processing of steps S16 and S17 and the display device 16 correspond to the merchandise selection information providing means.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 9, the data acquisition process executed by the arithmetic processing unit 37 of the POS system 32 can be communicated with the communication control unit 12 of the control unit 6 of the shopping cart 3 in step S61. In a state where communication with the communication control unit 12 is not possible, the system waits until communication is possible. When communication is possible, the process proceeds to step S62.

  In step S62, a movement path information acquisition request for requesting transmission of movement path information is transmitted to the communication control unit 12, and then the process proceeds to step S63 to determine whether movement path information has been received from the communication control unit 12 or not. If the travel route information is not received, the process waits until it is received. If the travel route information is received, the process proceeds to step S64, where the travel route information is temporarily stored in the memory 38 and then step S65. Migrate to

In this step S65, a settlement process is performed based on the purchased product information input from the product information input unit 35, and then the process proceeds to step S66 to output the movement route information and the settlement information to the external communication control unit 41. Then, after transmitting to the personal computer 40, the process returns to step S61.
In the process of FIG. 9, the processes of steps S61 to S65 correspond to the movement route information acquisition unit.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 10, in the data analysis process executed by the personal computer 40, first, in step S71, it is determined whether or not the travel route information and the settlement information are received from the external communication control unit 41 of the POS system 32. If they have not been received, they wait until they receive travel route information and settlement information. If they have received travel route information and settlement information, they move to step S72 and store the travel route information and settlement information in the database 43. Then, the process proceeds to step S73.

  In step S73, the marketing data generation process for generating the marketing data based on the travel route information, the time information, and the payment information is performed, and then the process ends. In this marketing data generation process, the position coordinates X ′, Y ′ whose stop time Tst is set to other than “0” and the cumulative rotation angle θa are extracted, and the position coordinates X ′, Y ′ are matched with the sales floor layout. As a result, it is possible to detect in which area the shopping cart 3 is stopped and in which direction.

In addition, it is possible to collect the stay time in the store for each customer from the stay time in the store, and the stay in each area of the product purchase area corresponding to the area stay time T _P representing the communication time with the position information transmission unit 22 Time can be aggregated.
Further, by combining the stop time Tst and the purchased product, the selection time required for purchasing the product can be calculated.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be described.
Now, it is assumed that a plurality of shopping carts 3 are arranged in a row in the cart yards 4A and 4B. At this time, the angular velocity ω, various time information, passage position information, total travel distance L, area travel time stored in the memory 11 of the control unit 6 provided in each of the shopping carts 3 disposed in the cart locations 4A and 4B. It is assumed that all stored information such as store stay time has been erased.

In this state, when the customer enters the store through the entrance 2 and pulls out the shopping cart 3 from the cart storage 4A, for example, and the charging state of the battery 15 by the charging device 16 is canceled, the control unit 6 returns to FIG. The travel route information collection process shown is executed.
For this reason, first, the angular velocity ω, travel information D, stop time Tst, current position information, movement start time, current position acquisition time, reset time, area stay time, total travel distance L, store stay stored in the memory 11 are stored. It is determined whether or not the travel route information based on time is erased (step S1). If the travel route information is not erased, the travel route information is erased (step S2). For this reason, the previous shopping cart 3 was pulled out from the cart yard 4A and started to move. However, when shopping is stopped halfway, the previous movement route information remains stored in the memory 11, but the movement route information is acquired. Since the movement route information is erased when the processing is started, it is possible to reliably prevent the previous movement route information from being accumulated.

Then, the movement start time of the shopping cart 3 is stored in the movement path information storage area of the memory 11 and the counter for counting the wheel speed pulses is reset to set the count value N to “0”. The gyro 8 is reset (step S3).
Next, initial information composed of absolute position coordinates X ₀ , Y ₀ and absolute azimuth information θ ₀ of the shopping cart 3 is acquired from the initial information transmitting device 17 disposed on the exit side of the cart place 4A, and this is stored in the memory. 11 in the movement route information storage area (step S4).

Next, the movement route information forming process shown in FIG. 7 is started (step S5).
In this state, when the shopping cart 3 is retracted along the side bar portions 5a and 5b and is completely pulled out from the cart storage 4A toward the desired sales floor, the wheels 3a are reversed by first retracting the shopping cart 3. Then, a wheel speed pulse and a direction detection pulse are output from the rotary encoder 7 and input to the control unit 6.

  For this reason, when the wheel speed pulse is input in the movement route information forming process of FIG. 7, the current time Tn is read (step S32), and then the count value N of the software counter is incremented (step S33). Based on the combination of the wheel speed pulse and the direction detection pulse and the previous combination, it is detected that the vehicle is moving backward, whereby the traveling information D is set to “0” representing the backward movement (step S36). The angular velocity ω is read from the equation gyro 8 (step S37), and the previous time T (n-1) is subtracted from the current time T (n) to obtain the pulse time ΔT (= T (n) -T (n-1). )) Is calculated (step S38).

In this case, since the shopping cart 3 continues to move backward, the stop time Tst is set to “0” when the inter-pulse time ΔT becomes less than the minimum stop time Tmin (step S41). Then, the angular velocity ω, the travel information D, and the stop time Tst are stored in the travel route information storage area formed in the memory 11.
With this travel route information forming process, every time the shopping cart 3 moves and a wheel speed pulse is input from the encoder 7, the angular velocity ω, the travel information D, and the stop time Tst are sequentially stored in the travel route information storage area. Then, the passing position information calculation process of FIG. 8 is executed to calculate the cumulative rotation angle θa and the position coordinates X ′ and Y ′.

  That is, the rotation speed θn is calculated by integrating the angular velocity ω (step S51), and the calculated rotation angle θn is added to the cumulative rotation angle θa to calculate a new cumulative rotation angle θa (step S52). When the traveling information D is “1” representing forward (or “0” representing backward), the traveling distance ΔL is set to + ΔL (or −ΔL) (step S54 (or step S55)), and the previous position coordinate X , Y, the current position coordinates X ′ and Y ′ are calculated by performing the calculations of the above-described equations (1) and (2) based on the travel distance ΔL and the cumulative rotation angle θa (step S56). The position coordinates X ′ and Y ′ are stored in the memory 11 together with the cumulative rotation angle θa as passing position information (step S57).

Then, matching between the calculated passing position information and the position coordinates of the actual sales floor layout is performed to calculate the sales floor position coordinates (step S44).
As described above, each time the wheel speed pulse is input, the movement position information formation process and the passage position information calculation process calculate the passage position information, the sales floor coordinate information, the cumulative rotation angle θa, and the stop time Tst. They are stored in the movement path information storage area of the memory 11 in time sequence.

After that, when the shopping cart 3 reaches the communicable area of the position information transmission unit 22 arranged on the upper part of the commodity display shelf 21, the process moves from step S6 to step S7 in the movement route information collection process of FIG. Since the current position acquisition flag FP is reset to “0”, the process proceeds to step S8, where the current position coordinates X _P and Y _P and the direction information θ _P are acquired from the position information transmission unit 22. At this time, the position information transmitting unit 22 has the current position coordinates X _P1 , Y _P1 and X _P2 , Y _P2 and the direction in the path when the communication range reaches the communication range for the path in the vicinity of the position information transmitting unit 22. The current position information composed of the information θ _P1 and θ _P2 is transmitted to the control unit 6 of the shopping cart 3 that can communicate. For this reason, in the control unit 6, when the communication with the position information transmission unit 22 becomes possible in the movement route information collection process of FIG. 6, the current position acquisition flag FP is reset to “0”. The process proceeds to S8 and waits until the current position information is acquired. When the current position information is acquired, the current position information and the acquisition time are stored in the current position information storage area (step S9).

Next, the piezoelectric gyro 8 is reset (step S10), and the gyro reset time is stored in the reset time storage area (step S11).
Then, a gyro reset interval is calculated based on the gyro reset time T _R (n) and the previous gyro reset time T _R (n-1), and a drift component is estimated from the gyro reset interval and the gyro specification, Each angular velocity ω stored in the memory 11 is corrected every time a wheel speed pulse is input from the previous gyro reset time T _R (n−1) based on the drift amount (step S12).

Then, for each of the angular velocities ω that have been corrected, the passing position information calculation process of FIG. 8 is executed to integrate the angular velocities ω to calculate the rotation angle θn of the shopping cart 3 (step S51). By sequentially adding the rotation angle θn to the azimuth information θ ₀ of the information, the cumulative rotation angle θa of the shopping cart 3 is calculated individually (step S52), and by determining whether to move forward or backward based on the traveling information D, After setting the sign of the travel distance ΔL, the calculation of the equations (1) and (2) is performed to calculate the position coordinates X ′ and Y ′ when the wheel speed pulse is input (step S56), The calculated position coordinates X ′, Y ′, the cumulative rotation angle θa, and the stop time Tst are stored in the memory 11 as movement path correction information.

In this way, by receiving the current position information from the position information transmitting unit 22, the drift component of the piezoelectric gyro 8 is estimated and the angular velocity ω is corrected. Therefore, by receiving the current position information, an accurate passing position can be obtained. Information can be calculated.
Then, since the corresponding purchase area entry number _NE is incremented and the purchase area is entered first, the purchase area entry number _NE is “1”, which is smaller than the reference value N _ES , so the current position acquisition flag FP is set to “ It is set to 1 ″ (step S18). At this time, the region stay time _TP is also less than the reference value _TPS, and there is no reciprocation of the shopping cart 3 in the purchase region, so the process proceeds to step S22 without being determined to be in a merchandise selection lost state. At this time, since the shopping cart 3 has not been moved to the checkout station and the movement route information acquisition request has not been received, the process returns to step S6 in the process of FIG.

  During this time, when the shopping cart 3 moves within the communication range of the position information transmission unit 22, the current position acquisition flag FP is set to “1”, so that the current position coordinates are not acquired again. By executing the movement route information forming process of FIG. 7 and the passing position information calculation process of FIG. 8, the movement route information of the shopping cart 3 is sequentially stored in the movement route storage area.

In this way, with the movement of the shopping cart 3, the passing position information, the sales floor position information, the stop time Tst, and the like are collected and sequentially stored in the moving route information storage area.
Here, a specific example of the passing position information calculation process will be described. First, the absolute position coordinates X ₀ and Y ₀ of the initial position transmitting device 17 are stored as the initial position, and the azimuth information θ ₀ is accumulated as the accumulated rotation angle θa. Store in the rotation angle storage area. Thereby, the initial position of the shopping cart 3 is stored in the movement route storage area. At this time, the direction of the side bar portions 5a and 5b of the cart yard 4 is assumed to be the Y-axis direction of the XY orthogonal coordinate system, and the azimuth information θ ₀ is assumed to be 90 °.

When the shopping cart 3 is retracted to be pulled out from the cart yard 4, the angular velocity ω detected by the piezoelectric gyro 8 when the wheel speed pulse is input is determined by the shopping cart 3 at the sidebar portions 5a and 5b. Since it is guided and recedes straight, the detected angular velocity ω is “0”, and the rotation angle θn obtained by integrating this is also 0 °.
For this reason, since the cumulative rotation angle θa is set to the initial orientation information θ ₀ = 90 °, the new cumulative rotation angle θa obtained by adding the rotation angle θn = 0 ° to the cumulative angle θa maintains 90 °. .

On the other hand, since the shopping cart 3 is retracted, a negative value −ΔL is set as the travel distance ΔL, and the position coordinates X ₁ ′, Y ₁ ′ are calculated according to the equations (1) and (2), cos θa = Since 0, sin θa = 1, X ₁ ′ = X ₀ , Y ₁ ′ = Y ₀ −ΔL, and the calculated position coordinates X ₁ ′, Y ₁ ′ are stored in the movement path storage area. For this reason, the current estimated position coordinates X ₁ ′ and Y ₁ ′ are moved from the initial position coordinates X ₀ and Y ₀ in the negative direction by the travel distance ΔL from the initial position coordinates X ₀ and Y _{0 as} shown in FIG.

Thereafter, since the shopping cart 3 continues to move backward, the current estimated position coordinates X _j ′ and Y _j ′ (j = 2, 3,...) Sequentially move in the negative direction in the Y-axis direction by the travel distance ΔL.
Thereafter, when the shopping cart 3 is rotated in the clockwise direction, the angular velocity ω of the shopping cart 3 is detected from the piezoelectric gyro 8 accordingly, and by integrating this, a negative rotation angle θn is calculated and accumulated. The rotation angle θa decreases from 90 °.

For this reason, the position coordinates X _j ′, Y _j ′ calculated according to the equations (1) and (2) move as the shopping cart 3 rotates as shown in FIG. Is moved forward in the X-axis direction, the cumulative rotation angle θa becomes 0 °, and the travel distance ΔL becomes a positive value, and the position coordinates X _j ′, calculated according to the equations (1) and (2) are obtained. Y _j ′ moves in the X-axis direction.

Thereafter, when the shopping cart 3 is moved forward in a counterclockwise direction so as to go to the merchandise display shelf 21 in the vicinity of the cart yard 4A, the position coordinates X _j ′, Y corresponding to the movement path of the shopping cart 3 are accordingly obtained. _j ′ is calculated and stored in the moving path analysis information storage area sequentially.
In this way, the cumulative rotation angle θa is updated as the shopping cart 3 moves, and the current estimated position coordinates X _j ′, Y _j ′ are sequentially calculated and sequentially stored in the movement path storage area. Since the detection error is accumulated in the piezoelectric gyro 8, in order to correct this, the shopping cart 3 reaches a position in the vicinity of the position information transmitting unit 22 disposed on the display shelf 21 and transmits this position information. When wireless communication with the unit 22 becomes possible, in the movement route information collection process of FIG. 6, the process proceeds from step S6 to step S7, and the current position acquisition flag FP is reset to “0”. Then, the current position coordinates X _P and Y _P and the azimuth information θ _P are acquired from the position information transmission unit 22. At this time, the position information transmission unit 22 presents the current position coordinates X _P1 , Y _P1 and X _P2 , Y _P2 and the direction information θ _P1 and θ _P in each path when the communication range reaches the communication range for the nearby path. _The current position information composed of _P2 is transmitted to the control unit 6 of the shopping cart 3 that can communicate. For this reason, the control unit 6 can determine from which direction the position information transmission unit 22 has been approached from the previous movement route, and the current position coordinates X _Pi , Y _Pi and direction information corresponding to the approach direction. θ _Pi (i = 1, 2) is determined, the current position coordinates X _Pi , Y _Pi are stored in the movement path storage area, and the azimuth information θ _Pi is stored as the cumulative rotation angle θa in the cumulative rotation angle storage area.

During this time, the customer is the shopping cart 3, together with the If you are doing the shopping while moving without hesitation the product selection, the region stay time T _P in one purchase area is less than the reference value T _PS, purchasing less than purchasing entry number N _E many a and the reference value is about 2 times N _ES to stop by region, the reciprocating number of the shopping cart 3 in the purchasing area is small, the product selection auxiliary information display device 16 The display device 16 displays general information corresponding to the purchase area without being displayed.

However, the results in lost in the selection of products in a certain purchase area, in situ, by examining for or hands to visually recognize the various items, the area stay time T _P is longer or, in the purchasing area The number of reciprocating movements of the shopping cart 3 increases, or even after moving to another purchase area, the product selection state in which the operation of returning to the purchase area is performed several times is lost.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 12, when the number drop to Purchasing 3 increases, an increase in the purchasing area enters the number N _E, If this is the reference value N _ES above, in route information collection processing of FIG. 6, Shifting from step S15 to step S16, based on the sales floor information corresponding to the position information transmission unit 22, bargain product information, recommended product information, and product selection auxiliary information for sponsor maker products (such as products with high profit margin) are selected. Then, the selected product selection auxiliary information is output to the display device 16 and displayed on the display device 16. For this reason, the customer who uses the shopping cart 3 can select a product based on the product selection auxiliary information displayed on the display device 16, and can quickly make a purchase determination. At this time, by displaying the comparison information such as the price and function of the product for which the customer is not sure about the product selection on the display device 16 as the product selection auxiliary information, the product selection can be performed more quickly without calling the sales staff. Can do.

Further, when the product selection state is lost and the region stay time T _P of the same purchase region 3 becomes longer than the reference value T _PS as shown in FIG. 13, in the processing of FIG. The process proceeds to step S16, and the product selection auxiliary information can be displayed on the display device 16 in the same manner as described above. Further, the product selection is lost and shopping is performed in the same purchase area 3 as shown in FIG. When the number of reciprocating movements of the cart 3 exceeds a predetermined value, in the process of FIG. 6, the process proceeds from step S21 to step S16, and product selection auxiliary information can be displayed on the display device 16 in the same manner as described above. it can.

In this way, the product selection assistance information is displayed on the display device 16 each time a product selection state is lost in each purchase area, so that it is possible to reduce the time required for the customer's shopping, and the store is also congested. Can be relaxed.
Thereafter, when the shopping is finished and the shopping cart 3 is moved to the checkout office, communication with the movement path data communication unit 33 provided in the POS system 32 becomes possible. When the information acquisition request is received, the process proceeds from step S22 to step S23 in the travel route information collection process of FIG. 6, and the total travel distance L is calculated by multiplying the count value N of the software counter by the travel distance ΔL. The travel time information is calculated by subtracting the travel start time from the time to calculate the store stay time, and including the passing position information, the sales floor position information, the stop time Tst, the total travel distance L, and the store stay time stored in the travel path storage area. Is transmitted to the travel route data communication unit 33, and when this transmission is completed, the stored data in the travel route storage area and the time storage area are erased. Rutotomoni ends the travel route information acquisition processing is cleared to "0" to the count value N of the software counter.

In the POS system 32, the travel route data communication unit 33 acquires travel route information from the shopping cart 3, and performs predetermined settlement processing based on the purchased product information input from the product information input unit 35 to obtain the settlement information. The settlement information and the travel route information are transmitted to the personal computer 40.
When the personal computer 40 receives the payment information and the movement route information from the POS system 32, the personal computer 40 executes a data analysis process shown in FIG. In this data analysis process, it is determined whether or not the travel route information and the settlement information are received (step S71). When the travel route information and the settlement information are received, the process proceeds to step S72, where the travel route information and the settlement information are obtained. Store in the database 43.

  Then, marketing data generation processing is performed based on the travel route information and the payment information stored in the database 43 (step S73). In this marketing data generation process, the position coordinates X ′, Y ′ whose stop time Tst is set to other than “0” and the cumulative rotation angle θa are extracted, and the position coordinates X ′, Y ′ are matched with the sales floor layout. By taking this, it is possible to detect in which area the shopping cart 3 is stopped and in which direction, and from this and the payment information, it is possible to determine whether or not the product has been purchased at the stop position. .

In addition, it is possible to collect the stay time in the store for each customer based on the stay time in the store calculated from the movement start time to the time when the settlement ends, and it is also possible to collect the stay time in the area.
Furthermore, by combining the stop time Tst and the purchased product included in the settlement information, the time required for purchasing the product can be calculated.

Furthermore, based on the travel route information for each customer stored in the database, the customer's flow line is judged, and layout settings that take into account customer trends such as the setting of sales floor layouts that are efficient for shopping and the distribution of customer congestion It can be performed.
As described above, according to the embodiment, by providing the shopping cart 3 with the incremental rotary encoder 7 and the piezoelectric gyro 8, it is possible to accurately detect the movement path of the shopping cart 3. . At this time, it is not necessary for the customer to have a device for detecting the moving route, and the moving route can be detected without bothering the customer.

Moreover, regarding the accumulated error that occurs in the piezoelectric gyro 8, the current position coordinates and direction can be corrected by communicating with the position information transmission unit 22 disposed on the product display shelf 21, Since the piezoelectric gyro 8 is reset at this time, the influence of the accumulated error can be suppressed.
And since the movement route of the customer can be detected continuously, it is possible to detect the number of reciprocating movements within the same purchase area, and that the customer is in a state of product selection in the same purchase area. When it is detected accurately, this product selection auxiliary information is displayed on the display device 16 to accurately provide the product selection auxiliary information to help customers select the product. be able to.

  In addition, since the travel route information acquisition means for acquiring the travel route information collected by the control unit 6 of the shopping cart 3 is provided at the checkout place where the charge of the shopping item is settled, the travel from the customer to the time when the fee is settled. Route information can be acquired with certainty, and the payment information of the POS system provided at the checkout office and the movement route information are stored together in the database to accurately grasp the relationship between the customer's movement route and the purchased item. It is possible to accurately analyze customer trends, and use the analysis results to set a sales floor layout that enables customers to shop efficiently.

Further, the control unit 6 mounted on the shopping cart 3 only collects the travel route information, and the travel route is analyzed using another processing device (personal computer 40). This can be reduced and an inexpensive CPU can be applied.
In the above embodiment, the case has been described in which the incremental rotary encoder 7 is provided on the fixed wheel 3a of the shopping cart 3 so as to grasp the forward and backward movement of the wheel 3a. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Instead, when the forward and backward movement of the shopping cart 3 is detected by providing a longitudinal acceleration sensor, a wheel speed sensor that outputs a wheel speed pulse according to the rotation of the wheel 3a is provided instead of the rotary encoder 7. Furthermore, by detecting the angular velocity of the wheel 3a with a gyro and integrating the angular velocity, the traveling direction of the wheel 3a can be detected. A sensor capable of measuring the above may be provided.

  Moreover, although the said embodiment demonstrated the case where position coordinate X ', Y' was calculated based on traveling distance (DELTA) L and cumulative rotation angle (theta) a, it is not limited to this, Traveling speed V of the shopping cart 3 Can be calculated according to the following equations (3) and (4), and any other estimated navigation (dead reckoning) can be applied. it can.

X ′ = X + V · Δt · cos θa (3)
Y ′ = Y + V · Δt · sin θa (4)
Here, Δt is a sampling period.
Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the control unit 6 mounted on the shopping cart 3 performs the data analysis process to calculate the position coordinates X ′, Y ′, the cumulative rotation angle θa, and the sales floor position information has been described. The current time information and the previous gyro reset time are stored each time the current position information is acquired from the position information transmission unit 22 in the arithmetic processing unit 10 of the control unit 6 disposed in the shopping cart 3. Each angular velocity ω and traveling information D are transmitted to the personal computer 40 via the position information transmitting unit 22, and the personal computer 40 calculates the drift amount of the piezoelectric gyro 8 up to the present, and based on this drift amount, Is corrected based on the corrected angular velocity ω and the cumulative rotation angle θa. The position information may be calculated by performing the calculations of the expressions (1) and (2), and this may be transmitted to the processing unit 10 of the controller 6 as the movement path information.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the position information transmission unit 22 is disposed on the upper part of the commodity display shelf 21 has been described. Can be disposed on the object. Further, as the position information transmitting unit 22, a short-range wireless communication means such as Bluetooth or wireless LAN can be applied with the communication range limited according to the product category.

  Still further, the accumulated error of the piezoelectric gyro 8 is not limited to the case where the position information transmission unit 22 is applied, but a landmark is formed on the floor surface, and the landmark is imaged by the imaging device. The current position information may be acquired. In this case, the moving direction and the moving speed can be calculated by performing the same processing as that of the optical mouse from the floor surface image captured by the imaging device. Therefore, the position coordinates X ′ and Y ′ can be calculated by the above-described equations (3) and (4).

In the above embodiment, the case where the piezoelectric gyro is applied as the angular velocity detection means has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a gyro having an arbitrary configuration can be applied. Any angular velocity sensor other than the gyro can be applied as long as the angular velocity (yaw rate) can be detected.
Furthermore, although the said embodiment demonstrated the case where merchandise selection assistance information was memorize | stored in the control unit 6 mounted in the shopping cart 3, it is not limited to this, Merchandise selection assistance from the positional information transmission part 22 is carried out. Information may be transmitted to the control unit 6, and further, a program update device is provided in the cart yards 4A and 4B so that the program update process shown in FIG. 15 is executed outside business hours such as late at night. Also good. In this program update process, first, in step S81, it is determined whether or not there is an update program to be updated. If there is no update program, the process is terminated, and if there is an update program, The process proceeds to step S82, where it is determined whether or not a communicable shopping cart 3 exists. If there is no communicable shopping cart 3, the processing is terminated as it is, and there is a communicable shopping cart 3. In the case, the process proceeds to step S83.

  In this step S83, ID information such as a MAC address of the corresponding shopping cart 3 is acquired, and then the process proceeds to step S84, the management table is referred to based on the acquired ID information, and the corresponding shopping cart 3 It is determined whether or not the update of the current update program has been completed. If the update has not been completed, the process proceeds to step S85, and the update program is transmitted to the control unit 6 of the shopping cart 3 to update. Then, the process proceeds to step S86, the completion of the update is recorded in the ID information position corresponding to the management table, and then the process proceeds to step S87 to determine whether there is another shopping cart 3 with ID information that can be communicated. If it exists, the step S83 is performed. Return, if it does not exist, the processing is terminated.

  On the other hand, when the determination result in step S84 indicates that the update program has been updated, the process directly proceeds to step S87. Thus, by providing the program update device, there is an advantage that the product selection auxiliary information can be automatically updated without manpower.

It is a schematic structure figure showing one embodiment of the present invention. It is a top view which shows a cart place. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the control unit arrange | positioned at the shopping cart. It is explanatory drawing which shows the positional relationship of the positional infomation transmission part of a goods display shelf, and a shopping cart. It is a block diagram which shows an example of a POS system. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the movement route information collection process procedure performed with a control unit. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the movement route information formation process procedure performed with a control unit. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the passage position information calculation processing procedure performed with a control unit. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the data acquisition process procedure performed with a POS system. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the data-analysis processing procedure performed with a personal computer. It is explanatory drawing which shows the movement path | route of a shopping cart. It is explanatory drawing with which it uses for description of the merchandise selection hesitation state of the form which carries out the multiple approach to a purchase area | region. It is explanatory drawing with which it uses for description of the merchandise selection hesitation form of staying in a purchase area. It is explanatory drawing with which it uses for description of the goods selection lost state of the form which reciprocates several times within a purchase area | region. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the program update process sequence performed with a program update apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Store, 2 ... Entrance / exit, 3 ... Shopping cart, 3a ... Fixed wheel, 4A, 4B ... Cart place, 5 ... Guide bar, 6 ... Control unit, 7 ... Encoder, 8 ... Piezoelectric gyro, 9 ... Sensor unit, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Processing unit, 11 ... Memory, 12 ... Communication control part, 13 ... Wireless communication antenna, 14 ... Position information receiving part, 15 ... Battery, 16 ... Display apparatus, 17 ... Initial information transmission apparatus, 21 ... Merchandise display shelf , 22 ... Location information transmission unit, 31 ... Payment office, 32 ... POS system, 33 ... Travel path data communication unit, 34 ... Antenna, 35 ... Product information input unit, 36 ... Display unit, 37 ... Arithmetic processing unit, 38 ... Memory, 40 ... analytical personal computer, 43 ... database

Claims (6)

  Travel state detection means for detecting a travel state attached to a shopping cart used by a customer; travel path information forming means for forming travel path information of the shopping cart based on the travel state detected by the travel state detection means; Product selection stray detection means for detecting that the customer is in a product selection stray state in which the customer is at a loss in product selection based on the travel route information of the shopping cart formed by the travel route information forming means, and the product selection stray detection A product selection information providing device, comprising: product selection information providing means for providing product selection auxiliary information in the vicinity of a customer's current position when a product selection suspicion state is detected by the means.   2. The product selection lost detection means is configured to detect a product selection lost state when a stay time in a predetermined range of product purchase area is equal to or longer than a predetermined time. The product selection information providing device described in 1.   The product selection lost detection means is configured to detect that the product selection is in a lost state when the number of visits to the product purchase area within a predetermined range is equal to or greater than a predetermined number. The product selection information providing device according to 1.   The product selection lost detection means is configured to detect that the product selection is lost when the number of reciprocating movements within a predetermined range of product purchase areas is equal to or greater than a predetermined number. The product selection information providing device according to 1.   5. The travel state detection unit includes a movement direction detection unit that detects a movement direction of the shopping cart, and a movement distance detection unit that detects a movement distance. 6. The product selection information providing device described in 1.   The product selection information providing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the moving direction detection unit includes a gyro.

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