JP3433688B2 - Food management system - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a food management system for managing food based on data stored in an ID tag built in a plate which is circulated and conveyed by a conveyor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, as a mobile body identification system,
There is a remote ID system using high frequency radio waves.
This is for performing communication by radio waves between a controller and an ID tag to read data from an ID tag located at a distant position or write data to the ID tag.

It is considered that such a remote ID system is applied to various systems such as a delivery system, an inventory management system and a sales system. As an example, there is a totaling system for revolving sushi restaurants. The outline of this system is to record the data such as the type of sushi, the time when it was made, and the selling price on the ID tag embedded in the plate on which the sushi is placed. Gather in places to communicate with the ID tags on those dishes, and I
The data is obtained from the D tag and the amount payable by the customer is calculated.

[0004]

By the way, in such a totalizing system of a revolving sushi store, it is possible to improve sales by grasping the sales of sushi and reflecting it on the sushi to be provided to the customer. Realization is desired. In this case, although it has been proposed to write the information on the ID tag indicating the type of the sushi on the plate, the sushi craftsman operates the data writing device one by one to write the information on the ID tag. Writing is extremely complicated and impractical.

Therefore, by visually recognizing the image pattern of the sushi material with the visual recognition device and comparing the image pattern with the standard pattern of the material, the type of the material is automatically discriminated and the material information is written in the ID tag. Although it is conceivable, if there are many types of news items, the number of standard patterns of news items to be compared with the photographed image pattern will increase, and the determination time will increase and the probability of misjudgment will increase, so that incorrect info information will be written. There is a risk of being lost.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to quickly and surely identify a food placed on a plate and write food information into an ID tag built in the plate. To provide a food management system that can.

[0007]

According to the first aspect of the invention, the type information indicating the type of food placed on the plate is stored in the ID tag built in the plate. Now, when food is placed on the plate, the plate is set at a predetermined reading / writing position.
Then, the imaging means images the food placed on the plate, and the image recognition means recognizes the image pattern of the food imaged by the imaging means. On the other hand, the reading / writing means reads the type information stored in the ID tag.

Here, the judging means selects a standard pattern of the food based on the type information read by the reading / writing means from the ID tag, and compares the standard pattern with the image pattern of the food recognized by the image recognizing means. Judge the food on the plate.

Since the reading / writing means writes the food information judged by the judging means in the ID tag, it is possible to judge the food placed on the plate by reading the data stored in the ID tag. Become.

In this case, when the judging means judges the food based on the standard pattern, it is sufficient to perform the image discrimination on the standard pattern of the food of the same type, so that the number of standard patterns for discriminating the image is small. As a result, it is possible to shorten the discrimination time when discriminating the image and reduce the probability of erroneous discrimination.

According to the invention of claim 2, a pattern indicating the reference position of the dish is provided on the surface of the dish, and the judging means is
Since the standard pattern of the food is selected based on the type information read by the reading / writing means from the ID tag and the placement position of the food with respect to the reference position of the plate recognized by the image recognition means, the image patterns of the same type of food are similar. Even if the food is present, the food can be reliably identified by changing the placement position of the food with respect to the reference position of the plate.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the reading / writing means starts its operation at the timing when the image recognition means recognizes the plate. Therefore, the reading / writing means does not execute an unnecessary reading operation for the ID tag, and the power consumption is reduced. Consumption can be suppressed.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since it can be compared with the standard pattern of foods having the same selling price, it is effective when the selling prices of the foods are different.

According to the invention of claim 5, since the current time when the food type is written is stored in the ID tag, the freshness of the food can be judged based on the time.

According to the invention of claim 6, the control device is
The type information stored in the storage means corresponding to the D number is obtained, and the standard pattern is selected based on the type information. Compared with the configuration in which the type information is stored in the ID tag, Communication time can be shortened.

According to the invention of claim 7, the control device is
Since the information is written in the storage means corresponding to the D number, the communication time with the ID tag can be shortened as compared with the configuration in which the information is written in the ID tag.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION (First Embodiment) A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. It should be noted that this embodiment is applied to a totalizing system of a revolving sushi restaurant. Here, the revolving sushi restaurant is
It is a store with the following sales system.

FIG. 2 schematically shows the sales system. In FIG. 2, a conveyor 1 having a loop shape is provided in the store.
The table 2 and the seats 3 are provided along the conveyor 1. The sushi is placed on the plate 4 and carried by the conveyor 1 along the seats 3. The customer takes the plate 4 on which the favorite sushi is placed from the plates 4 conveyed by the conveyor 1, and places the plate 4 after finishing eating on the table 2 in order. At the store, the sushi is placed on a plate with a color or pattern according to the selling price, so the customer
It is possible to know the approximate amount of money to be paid to the store from the plates 4 and the number of stacked plates. After finishing the meal, the clerk counts the number of plates by color or pattern, and determines the amount to be paid to the store.

As shown in FIG. 3, the dish 4 on which sushi is placed is made of plastic such as ABS resin, and an ID tag 5 is embedded therein. As shown in FIG. 4, the ID tag 5 includes an antenna coil 6 for transmitting and receiving radio signals and a resonance capacitor 7.
, The control IC 8 and the smoothing unit 9, and the resonance capacitor 7, the control IC 8 and the smoothing unit 9 are mounted on the printed wiring board 10.

The control IC 8 is an MP as a control unit.
Rectifier 1 in addition to U (microprocessor unit) 11
2. The semiconductor elements constituting the modulation / demodulation unit 13, the memory unit 14, etc. are integrated into one chip. In addition, the smooth portion 9
Has a smoothing capacitor, a Zener diode and the like, which are not shown.

The antenna coil 6 is connected in parallel with the resonance capacitor 7 to form a resonance circuit, and when a radio wave signal for power of a predetermined high frequency is transmitted from a reader / writer which is an external device, Rectifier 1 receives this
Send to 2. The rectifying unit 12 constitutes a power supply circuit for operation together with the smoothing unit 9, and rectifies the electric wave signal for electric power transmitted from the resonance circuit, smoothes it by the smoothing unit 9, and supplies DC power of a constant voltage (power for operation). ) And supply it to the MPU 11 or the like.

A signal such as data transmitted from the reader / writer is superimposed on the electric wave signal for electric power and transmitted, and the signal is demodulated by the modulator / demodulator 13 and given to the MPU 11. The MPU 11 operates according to an operation program stored in a ROM included in the memory unit 14, executes processing according to a signal input from the modulation / demodulation unit 13, and erases received data in an EEPROM or the like included in the memory unit 14. The data is written in a possible nonvolatile memory, or the data is read from the memory unit 14 and modulated by the modulation / demodulation unit 13, and transmitted as a radio signal from the antenna coil 6.

As a reader / writer that communicates with the ID tag 5 of the plate 4, there is a handheld reader / writer 15 shown in FIG. The handheld reader / writer 15 includes an operation unit 16 that also serves as a grip, such as a display unit 17 made of liquid crystal, and a battery 18 (see FIG. 6) as a power supply for operation.
Built in. The operation unit 16 is provided with, for example, a plurality of key switches 19, and the key switches 19 are used to instruct the operation content and to input basic data necessary for counting, for example, the unit price of the plate 4 by type. It is like this. In addition to the key switch 19 described above, the operation unit 16 is provided with a tally key switch 20 for instructing tally processing.

The handheld reader / writer 15 is provided with a main controller 21 and a remote controller 22 as shown in FIG. Further, the main control unit 21 is connected with the key switch 19 and the aggregation key switch 20 via a switch circuit 23, and exchanges data with the display unit 17 and a host device (for example, a personal computer). A communication unit 24 for performing the above is connected. The switch circuit 23 sends a signal corresponding to the operated key switch to the main control unit 21. The remote control unit 22 is in charge of data communication with the ID tag 5, and includes an antenna unit 25 for transmitting and receiving radio wave signals with the ID tag 5, and a sounding unit 26 such as a buzzer.
Are connected.

FIG. 7 schematically shows the structure of the main control section 21 of the handheld reader / writer 15. In this FIG.
The main control unit 21 includes an MPU 27, a ROM 28 that stores an operation program, a RAM 29 that temporarily stores data,
The remote control unit 22 includes a communication unit 30 that executes communication. The MPU 27 processes data and controls peripheral devices. The MPU 27 executes a process according to a signal sent from the remote control unit 22 or the switch circuit 23, and the contents of the process or the process being executed. The display unit 17 is configured to display the result and the like.

FIG. 8 schematically shows the structure of the remote control unit 22. In FIG. 8, the MPU 31,
R storing an operation program and a database described later
The OM 32, the RAM 33 for temporarily storing data, the communication unit 34 for communicating with the main control unit 21, and the like. The MPU 31 controls communication with the ID tag 5 and also controls the sounding unit 26. When communicating with the ID tag 5, first, the carrier signal is modulated by the transmitting unit 35 to generate electric power. A transmission radio wave signal is transmitted from the transmission antenna 36, and thereafter, data to be transmitted is modulated by the transmission unit 35 so as to be superimposed on the power radio wave signal and transmitted from the transmission antenna 36.

The radio signal transmitted from the ID tag 5 is received by the receiving antenna 37, demodulated by the receiving section 38 and discriminated as data. Then, the MPU 31 of the remote control unit 22 temporarily stores the data demodulated by the receiving unit 38 in the RAM 33, and then transmits the data to the main control unit 21 side via the communication unit 34. There is. In the communication with the ID tag 5 performed under the control of the remote control unit 22, if the communication mode is the multi-read mode as the multi-mode, the remote control unit 22 may change the sound generation unit during the communication. 26 is controlled so as to emit a beeping operation sound.

The multi-read mode is a mode for communicating with all the ID tags 5 existing in the communication area by the antenna section 25. Communication modes include a single read mode and a single write mode in addition to the multi-read mode. This single read mode is I
This is a mode for designating the ID number of the D tag 5 and reading data from the ID tag 5 of the relevant ID number. The single write mode is the ID number of the ID tag 5 designated by designating the ID number of the ID tag 5. This is a mode for writing data to.

Now, as shown in FIG. 2, a sushi item management system for managing the type of sushi placed on the plate 4 is provided inside the conveyor 1 (in FIG. 2, only a stationary reader / writer 39, which will be described later, is shown). ) Is installed.

FIG. 1 shows the entire sushi news item management system. In FIG. 1, a stationary reader / writer 39
The plate 4 is placed on (corresponding to a reading / writing means), and the stationary reader / writer 39 is a personal computer 40.
The ID information is read from the ID tag 5 built in the plate 4 by transmitting an inquiry signal to the plate 4 in response to a command from. The stationary reader / writer 39 has substantially the same configuration as the handheld reader / writer 15 described above, and thus the description thereof will be omitted.

A CCD is provided above the stationary reader / writer 39.
A camera 41 (corresponding to an image pickup means) is arranged, and the CCD camera 41 picks up an image of the sushi placed on the plate 4.

Image recognition device 42 (corresponding to image recognition means)
Judges the image pattern of the sushi placed on the plate 4 based on the image captured by the CCD camera 41, and notifies the personal computer 40 of the judgment result.

The personal computer 40 (corresponding to the judging means) judges the sushi material based on the image pattern judged by the image recognition device 42, and transmits the judged sushi material type from the set-type reader / writer 39 to the ID. Write on tag 5.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the personal computer 40.
In FIG. 9, the personal computer 40 has an image recognition device 42.
An image pattern of sushi is obtained (S101), and it is determined whether or not the dish 4 is present based on the image pattern (S102).

When the sushi worker holds the sushi and places it on the plate 4, the plate 4 is placed at the reading / writing position on the stationary reader / writer 39. In this case, the plate 4 on which the sushi is placed is a plate 4 on which a pattern indicating the price of the sushi is printed, and the plate 4 has an ID tag in which the ID number and the selling price of the sushi (corresponding to the type information) are stored. 5 is built in.

When the plate 4 is placed at the reading / writing position on the stationary reader / writer 39, the image of the plate 4 is picked up by the CCD camera 41 (S102: YES).
I installed in the dish 4 by the stationary reader / writer 39
The ID information stored in the D tag 5 is read (S10
3). In this case, since the ID number and the selling price of sushi are stored in advance as the ID information, the standard pattern corresponding to the read selling price is selected (S104). That is, when the selling price of sushi is 100 yen, a plurality of standard patterns corresponding to 100 yen sushi are selected. As the standard pattern, the size, shape, and color of the sushi are set in advance.

Next, when the pattern recognition is executed by comparing the image pattern recognized by the image recognition device 42 with the standard pattern stored in advance (S105), when the pattern recognition is completed for all the selected standard patterns. (S106: YES) estimates the type of story (S10).
7). That is, the recognized image pattern and the standard pattern are compared with each other, and it is determined that the standard pattern sushi having the closest pattern is placed on the plate 4.

Then, after the story information estimated as described above is written in the ID tag 5 (S108), the buzzer is driven (S109). As a result, a buzzer emits a ringing sound, and the sushi craftsman recognizes that the type information of the material has been correctly written on the ID tag 5 and places the plate 4 on the conveyor 1. The mode in which the information is written in the ID tag 5 is the single write mode in which the ID number is specified and written. As described above, the I built in the dish 4
It is possible to surely write sushi material information to the D tag 5.

Next, the operation of reading out the news information stored in the ID tag 5 built in the plate 4 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. When the customer has finished eating, the plate 4 is placed on the table 2. At this time, it is not necessary to stack the dishes 4 having the same pattern as in the conventional case, and all the dishes 4 may be stacked.

Then, in order to collect the payment amount of the customer who has completed the meal, the handheld reader / writer 15 is used for the customer table 2.
The totaling key switch 20 is operated with the tray 4 placed on top.

Then, a signal corresponding to the totaling key switch 20 is input from the switch circuit 23 to the main control section 21, and the MPU 27 decodes the signal input from the switch circuit 23. In this case, the input signal from the switch circuit 23 is a totalization command signal, which commands the communication with the ID tags 5 of all the dishes 4 that the customer has finished eating, so the MPU 27 instructs the input command. It is determined whether or not the communication mode corresponding to the signal is the multi-read mode (S201: YES).

When the MPU 27 of the main controller 21 determines that the command signal is the multi-read command, it sends a communication command in the multi-read mode to the remote controller 22. Then, the MPU 31 of the remote control unit 22 starts communication in the multi-read mode, first transmits the electric wave signal for power, and drives the sounding unit (buzzer) 26 (S
202) and then transmit the multi-read command signal by superimposing it on the electric power radio signal (S203).

Then, the sounding section 26 emits a beeping sound at the same time as the transmission of the electric wave signal for electric power.
The store clerk knows that the counting operation has started, and fixes the handheld reader / writer 15 so as not to move. On the other hand, when communication is started in the multi-read mode, the radio wave signal for power is received by the antenna coil 6 on the ID tag 5 side of the dish 4, and the radio wave signal is rectified and smoothed by the rectifying unit 12 and the smoothing unit 9 to be constant. The voltage is converted into DC power and supplied as power for operating the MPU 11 or the like.

When the operating power is supplied, the MPU 11 of the ID tag 5 of each dish 4 starts operating and discriminates the type of the transmitted command. In this case, since the command transmitted is a multi-read command, the ID tag 5 of each plate 4 stacked on the table 2 requires the MPU 11
Performs the operation of reading the data such as the ID number and the type of the dish 4 from the memory unit 14, modulating the data by the modulation / demodulation unit 13, and transmitting the data from the antenna coil 6.

The radio signal transmitted from each ID tag 5 is
The signal is received by the receiving antenna 37 of the handheld reader / writer 15, the received signal is demodulated by the receiving unit 38, and the demodulated data is temporarily stored in the RAM 29. The reception of the radio wave signal transmitted from the ID tag 5 is performed by the IDs of all the dishes 4 existing in the communication area of the antenna unit 25.
This is performed until the radio signal from the tag 5 is received (S20
4, S205), and when the reception of the radio wave signals from the ID tags 5 of all the dishes 4 is completed (S205: YES), the MPU 31 of the remote control unit 22 ends the multi-read communication and the sounding unit 26 Stop driving (S20
6). For this reason, the sounding unit 26 stops the sounding operation of "pip, pip", so that the clerk knows that the counting operation is completed.

Here, the determination as to whether or not the radio wave signals from the ID tags 5 of all the dishes 4 existing in the communication area of the antenna section 25 have been received is performed as follows, for example.
That is, as shown in FIG. 11, the MPU 27 of the remote control unit 22 repeatedly transmits the multi-read command after a fixed time, and divides the multi-read command transmission period into, for example, 10 time slots.

On the other hand, when the MPU 11 of the ID tag 5 receives the multi-read command, it first determines the position of the time slot for transmitting a signal in response to the multi-read command, to the position of the one's ID number. For example, there are three ID tags 5a, 5b, 5c in the communication area of the antenna unit 25, and their ID numbers are 121, 132, 14 respectively.
If it is 2, those three ID tags 5a, 5
b and 5c determine the number of time slots to be 1, 2 and 2, respectively.

Therefore, when the first multi-read command is transmitted from the remote control unit 22, the ID tag 5a transmits the response signal in response to the first multi-read command, and the ID tags 5b and 5c generate the second response signal. Send in the time slot of. The ID tag 5 transmitted in the first time slot is 1
Since there is only one, the radio signal transmitted from the ID tag 5a is received by the remote control unit 22, and the ID tag 5a
a receives a signal from the remote control unit 22 indicating that it has been received. However, since the ID tags 5b and 5c both transmit in the second time slot, their response signals collide,
It is not received by the remote control unit 22.

When the second multi-read command is transmitted from the remote controller 22, the ID tags 5b and 5c are
This time, the position of the time slot to send is set to the ID number 10
The number of time slots is determined, that is, the ID tag 5b with the ID number 132 determines the number of time slots to be 3, and the ID number 1
The ID tag 5c of 42 determines the number of time slots to be 4. Therefore, the response signals of the ID tags 5b and 5c are the second signals.
It is transmitted in the third time slot and the fourth time slot after the transmission of the multi-read command for the second time. in this case,
Since only one ID tag is transmitted in each of the third and fourth time slots, the ID tags 5b and 5c
The radio signal transmitted from the remote control unit 22 is received by the remote control unit 22, and the ID tags 5 and 5b receive the signal from the remote control unit 22 indicating that the signal is received.

Next, the remote control unit 22 transmits the third multi-read command. Then three IDs
Since the tags 5a, 5b, 5c have already received the signal indicating that the response signal has been received, they do not respond to the third multi-read command. Therefore, the remote control unit 22
Does not receive a response signal until the time corresponding to 10 time slots elapses from the third transmission of the multi-read command, so that all I existing in the communication area are
It is determined that communication has been made with the D tag.

When the main control unit 21 causes the remote control unit 22 to perform communication by an operation other than the operation of the tab key switch 20, the mode is the single read mode or the single write mode.
When it is determined to be “NO” in 01, the remote control unit 22 transmits a single read command or a single write command (S207), and the ID tag 5 having the designated ID number transmits data to the remote control unit 22 or Data is received from the control unit 22 (S208).

As described above, the ID information stored in all the ID tags 5 built in the stacked dishes 4 can be read. Since this ID information includes information on the item in addition to the ID number and the selling price, it is possible to grasp the sushi item currently on sale based on the item information and reflect it on the sushi to be provided to the customer. it can.

According to such an embodiment, when the plate 4 on which the sushi is placed is set at a predetermined reading / writing position, the sushi stored in the ID tag 5 built in the plate 4 in advance. Since the selling price of the sushi is read, the sushi material is identified based on a standard pattern stored in advance corresponding to the selling price, and the identified material information is written in the ID tag 5. Unlike the standard pattern that has to be compared with all the standard patterns of sushi when distinguishing, the number of standard patterns required for image recognition is small,
Accordingly, the recognition time at the time of image recognition can be shortened and the probability of misjudgment can be reduced.

In addition, as a structure having such an excellent effect, it can be easily implemented by storing the selling price of sushi in the ID tag 5, so that the cost can be reduced.

(Second Embodiment) Next, the second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
An embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 12 to 16.
The second embodiment is characterized in that a standard pattern for image recognition is selected based on the correspondence between the pattern printed on the plate 4 and the sushi position.

That is, when there is a similar standard pattern as a standard pattern for selection when recognizing a pattern in the above-described first embodiment, it is difficult to reliably estimate the type of data, In this case,
From the relationship between the pattern printed on the plate 4 and the sushi position, the type of material is estimated as follows.

FIG. 12 shows the pattern printed on the plate 4. As shown in this FIG. 12, 100 yen plate, 200 yen plate,
Different patterns are printed on the same portion on the 300-yen plate and the 500-yen plate, and these patterns are stored as a plate image standard pattern. The circles, triangles, crosses, and squares in the figure are displayed as symbols, and actually have different patterns.

FIG. 13 shows a standard pattern for each dish 4. In FIG. 13, the pattern of the plate 4, that is, the direction in which the sushi is placed with respect to the reference position of the plate 4, is determined for each of the 100-yen plate, the 200-yen plate, the 300-yen plate, and the 500-yen plate. In this case, the reference position of the plate 4 is the center line position where the pattern of the plate 4 is symmetrical left and right.

By the way, FIG.
The standard patterns shown in 1 may be similar, and in such a case, there is a possibility that it is difficult to determine a story based on the standard pattern.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, sushi having the same selling price and similar standard patterns is placed at different angles with respect to the pattern of the plate 4. In this case, the personal computer 40 has a story position table showing the relationship between the pattern of the plate 4 and the sushi placement position, and discriminates the story based on the story position table. That is, as shown in FIG. 14 showing the material position table, when the selling price of sushi is 100 yen, there are similar standard patterns such as iron roll, perilla roll, burdock roll, and when it is 200 yen, tie and flounder. If there is 300 yen, there are salmon roe, sea urchin, etc.
In the case of 0 yen, there are large toro, medium toro, etc., but the direction of sushi placed on the plate 4 is set differently for each of the same price stories. Specifically, in the case of a 100-yen plate, the iron fire roll is placed in the direction of 0 ° with respect to the reference position of the plate 4, in the case of a perilla roll, it is placed in the direction of 45 °, and in the case of a burdock roll, it is 90 °. Place in the direction of °. In the case of a 200-yen dish, the tie is placed in the direction of 0 ° and the flatfish is placed in the direction of 45 ° with respect to the reference position of the dish 4. In the case of a 300-yen dish, the salmon roe is placed in the direction of 0 ° and the sea urchin is placed in the direction of 45 ° with respect to the reference position of the dish 4. In the case of a 500-yen dish, the large toro is placed in the direction of 0 ° and the medium toro is placed in the direction of 45 ° with respect to the reference position of the dish 4. In the case of a warship roll, the direction in which the warship roll is arranged is changed with respect to the pattern of the plate 4 as shown in FIG.

FIG. 16 shows the operation of the personal computer 40. The same steps as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same step numbers and the description thereof is omitted, and different steps are designated by different step numbers. .

That is, when the personal computer 40 selects the standard pattern based on the selling price read from the ID tag 5 (S104), it selects the dish image standard pattern based on the selling price (S301).

Subsequently, pattern recognition is executed by comparing the recognized image pattern with the standard pattern (S1).
05). At this time, when a plurality of similar patterns exist as the standard patterns selected by the pattern recognition (S
302: YES), pattern recognition is performed by comparing the similar pattern with the dish image standard pattern (S303), and the neta position is detected based on the pattern recognition (S304), and based on the detected neta position. To search the material position table (S305). That is, pattern recognition is difficult in the case of similar items among the standard patterns of the same price shown in FIG.
When placing such a material on the plate 4, the direction of mounting the material is changed with respect to the reference position of the plate 4,
By detecting the material position, the material type can be reliably estimated (S107), and the material information can be written in the ID tag 5 (S108).

According to such an embodiment, even if similar patterns exist at the same selling price as standard patterns for image recognition, sushi is placed on the reference position of the plate 4 for each similar pattern. Since the orientation is changed, the personal computer 40 can surely determine the type of news item based on the news item position table.

(Third Embodiment) Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 17. The same parts as those of the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals. The description is omitted. The third embodiment is configured to determine the type of sushi material placed on the plate 4 on the conveyor 2.

FIG. 17 shows a sushi news item management system. In FIG. 17, the installed card reader / writer 3
9 is arranged on the side of the conveyor 2, and the ID tags 5 to I built in the plate 4 circulated and conveyed by the conveyor 2
The D number and the selling price are read. Also,
CCD corresponding to the position of the installed card reader / writer 39
A camera 41 is arranged so as to capture an image of the plate 4 conveyed by the conveyor 2.

In this case, the personal computer 40 determines the ID tag 5 located on the conveyor 2 by sequentially reading the ID numbers from the ID tag 5 built in the plate 4 by the installed card reader / writer 39. , When a new ID number is read from the ID tag 5, the standard pattern corresponding to the selling price stored in the ID tag 5 is compared with the sushi image pattern photographed by the CCD camera 41. The type of is determined.

According to such an embodiment, the sushi craftsman can put the sushi material type information on the ID tag 5 simply by placing the dish 4 on which the sushi he has grasped is placed on the conveyor 2. It is superior in usability as compared with the first embodiment.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings, and the following expansions and modifications are possible. Instead of storing the type information in the ID tag 5, the type information is stored in a memory (corresponding to a storage unit) of the personal computer 40 (corresponding to the control device) corresponding to the ID number, and the ID tag is used at the time of image recognition. ID read from 5
The type information stored in the memory corresponding to the number may be obtained, and the standard pattern may be selected based on the type information. In the case of such a configuration, since only the ID number needs to be read from the ID tag 5, the communication time with the ID tag 5 can be shortened, and the image recognition time can be shortened.

Instead of storing the news item type in the ID tag 5, the news item type is stored in the memory of the personal computer 40 in correspondence with the ID number and corresponds to the ID number read from the ID tag 5 at the time of collecting charges. The sushi material types stored in association with the ID numbers stored in the memory may be totaled. In the case of such a configuration, the communication time with the ID tag 5 can be shortened, so that the charge collection time can be shortened.

The food to be placed on the plate 4 is not limited to sushi and may be dim sum. The means for informing that the multi-read communication mode is in progress is not limited to the sound emitting unit 26, and may be displayed by a light emitting element such as a light emitting diode or the display unit 17.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a food management system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a rotary sushi selling system.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a plate including an ID tag.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of an ID tag.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a reading / writing state by a handheld reader / writer.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a handheld reader / writer.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a main control unit.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a remote control unit.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the personal computer.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the handheld reader / writer.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing communication timing in multi-read mode.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing the pattern of each plate in the form of the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing a standard pattern of each plate.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing the relationship between each plate and the angle at which sushi is placed.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a relationship between a plate and a mounting position of a warship roll.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the operation of the personal computer according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a view corresponding to FIG. 1 showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 is a conveyor, 4 is a plate, 5 is an ID tag, 15 is a handheld reader / writer, 39 is an installed reader / writer (reading / writing means), 40 is a personal computer (judging means), 41 is a CCD camera (imaging means), 42 Is an image recognition device (image recognition means)
Is.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP-A-10-215998 (JP, A) JP-A-8-238157 (JP, A) JP-A-10-78983 (JP, A) JP-A-7- 182567 (JP, A) JP 10-63927 (JP, A) JP 9-236421 (JP, A) JP 8-238160 (JP, A) JP 2000-107006 (JP, A) (JP 58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A47G 23/08

Claims (7)

(57) [Claims] 1. A food management system for managing food based on data stored in an ID tag built in a plate which is circulated and conveyed by a conveyor, wherein the ID tag indicates the type of food placed on the plate. Is stored, and the plate is set at a predetermined reading / writing position, the I
A read / write means for reading the type information stored in the D tag, an image pickup means for picking up an image of the food placed on the plate with the plate set at the read / write position, and an image picked up by this image pickup means. An image recognition means for recognizing an image pattern of food, and a standard pattern of food selected based on the type information read by the reading / writing means from the ID tag, and the standard pattern and the image pattern recognized by the image recognition means. And a determination means for determining the food placed on the plate by comparing the above, and the read / write means writes the food information determined by the determination means in the ID tag. system. 2. A food management system for managing food based on data stored in an ID tag built in a plate which is cyclically conveyed by a conveyor, wherein a pattern indicating a reference position of the plate is provided on the surface of the plate. The type information indicating the type of food placed on the plate is stored in the ID tag, and the I-tag is set in a state where the plate is set at a predetermined reading / writing position.
A read / write means for reading the type information stored in the D tag, an image pickup means for picking up an image of the food placed on the plate with the plate set at the read / write position, and an image picked up by this image pickup means. An image recognition means for recognizing the image pattern of the food and the placement position of the food with respect to the reference position of the dish, the type information read from the ID tag by the reading / writing means, and the food with respect to the reference position of the dish recognized by the image recognition means. Select a standard pattern of food based on the placement position of
The standard pattern and the image pattern recognized by the image recognition means, by comparing the image pattern recognized by determining means for determining the food placed on the plate, the reading and writing means, the food information determined by the determining means Is written in the ID tag. 3. The food management system according to claim 1, wherein the reading / writing means starts operation at the timing when the image recognition means recognizes the plate. 4. The food management system according to claim 1, wherein the type information is a selling price of food placed on a plate. 5. The food management system according to claim 1, wherein the reading / writing means writes the current time in the ID tag together with the food information judged by the judging means. 6. Built in a plate that is cyclically conveyed by a conveyor
The food based on the data stored in the ID tag
In the managed food management system, the type information indicating the type of food placed on the plate is the I
Storage means stored corresponding to the ID number of the D tag
And the plate is stored in a predetermined position in the storage means
And a control device for obtaining the type information stored in the dish and the dish placed on the dish with the dish positioned at the predetermined position.
An image pickup means for picking up the food that is present and an image pattern of the food picked up by the image pickup means
Based on the image recognition means and the type information obtained by the control device, the standard pattern of food
Select a turn, its standard pattern and the image recognition means
The dish by comparing the image pattern recognized by
And a determination means for determining the food placed on the control unit , wherein the control device provides the food information determined by the determination means in advance.
A food management system characterized by writing on an ID tag . 7. The control device judges by the judging means.
Instead of writing the food information on the ID tag
Write in the storage means in correspondence with the ID number of the tag.
The food management system according to claim 6, which is characterized in that .