JPH046605B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an article storage device in which rental articles are stored on each shelf, and in particular, the present invention relates to an article storage device in which rental articles are stored on each shelf, and in particular, the present invention relates to an article storage device in which rental articles are stored on each shelf. The present invention relates to an article storage device.

[Prior Art] In an article storage device that stores a plurality of articles having the same shape, for example, a large number of shelves having the same shape are installed in a rack, and a micro switch is installed to detect whether an article is actually stored on each shelf. A system has been proposed in which a detector such as a microswitch is attached and the on/off information of the microswitch is stored in a storage device in correspondence with the shelf number. By arranging a detector on each shelf in this way, the administrator can confirm which shelf an item is stored on while he/she is present, and since this information is stored in the storage unit, each item can be You can clearly understand the storage status of the items.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, even in the above-mentioned article storage device in which each shelf is provided with a detector to manage the articles stored on each shelf, the following problems occur.
In other words, it is possible to know how many items are currently stored in the rack as a whole and which shelves they are stored in, but it is not possible to identify each item individually, even if they have the same shape. If the items are different, it is impossible to know which item is stored.

In order to solve the above problem, it is necessary to provide a one-to-one correspondence between the articles to be stored and the shelves on which they are stored, and to fix the shelves on which each article is stored. However, if a shelf is fixed for each item, when an item is returned, the operator must check the shelf number and then store the item on the corresponding shelf, making the item storage process complicated. In addition to reducing storage efficiency, there is also the risk of storing items on the wrong shelf.

Particularly, when the above article storage device is installed in a store that rents video tapes, etc., rentals and returns occur frequently, and the task of returning video tape cassettes returned by customers to the corresponding shelves becomes very complicated. Furthermore, since the rented videotape itself is changed to a new videotape in a short period of time, the newly set shelf number must be checked each time the tape is stored in the appropriate shelf. As a result, the probability of storing items on the wrong shelf increases. If items are stored in the wrong shelves, strict item management becomes difficult.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to incorporate an IC circuit that stores product information into the product so that the product can be accurately returned no matter which shelf it is inserted into when the product is returned. To provide an article storage device that can grasp the return information of the article, simplify article storage work, and perform strict article management.

[Means for Solving the Problems] As shown in FIG. 1, the article storage device of the present invention includes an IC circuit 2 that is incorporated into an article 1 to be lent and stores product information of this article, and an IC circuit 2 that stores product information of the article. A plurality of shelves 3 into which articles are inserted one by one, a detection device 4 provided in each of these shelves to detect that an article has been inserted into the shelf, and at least a product corresponding to each article. A rental management memory 5 consisting of a plurality of tables having a product information area for storing information and a shelf number area for storing insertion shelf numbers, a main body control device 6 for reading and writing information to and from the rental management memory, and an article storage system. is inserted into the shelf
Signal connection mechanism 7 provided between the shelf and the article to perform data transmission between the IC circuit and the main body control unit
The shelf number clearing means 8, which responds to the detection of an operation of pulling out an article from the shelf in the detection device, clears the shelf number in the shelf bin area of the table corresponding to the shelf number, and clears the shelf number of the shelf of the article in the detection mechanism. The product information reading means 9 that responds to the detection of the insertion operation reads the product information of the inserted article via the signal connection mechanism, and the table search means 10 uses the read product information to search for each table. Search the product information area. Then, the shelf number setting means 11 stores the shelf number of the shelf into which the article has been inserted into the shelf number area of the searched table.

[Function] If the article storage device is configured in this way,
Product information of the article currently inserted on the shelf is stored in each table of the rental management memory together with the shelf number of the corresponding shelf. When the rental item is pulled out from the shelf, the detection device is activated and the shelf number of the corresponding shelf in the rental management memory is cleared. Therefore, the fact that it has been lent out is stored. Furthermore, when a return article is inserted into any shelf where no articles are inserted, the detection device is activated and product information is read from the IC circuit of the inserted article via the signal connection mechanism. Then, each table in the lending management memory is searched using the product information. When the relevant table is searched, the shelf number of the shelf on which the insert operation occurred is stored in the shelf bin area of the table. Thus, it is stored that the item has been stored on the shelf.

[Example] An example of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the article storage device of the embodiment. In this embodiment, a case will be explained in which the device is installed in a video rental shop that rents out video tapes to the general public for a fee. That is, numeral 21 in the figure is a rack having a large number of shelves 22 arranged on the front side, and a main body control device 23 is installed adjacent to this rack 21. Each shelf 2 provided in the rack 21
2 has a rectangular shape into which a videotape cassette 24 as an article is inserted with a slight gap in the longitudinal direction, and a micro switch as a detection device is attached to the abutting wall surface of this shelf 22. When the cassette 24 is inserted into the shelf 22 to its proper position, the microswitch is closed. Further, a light emitting element and a light receiving element as a signal connection mechanism are disposed on one side wall of the shelf 22.
In addition, an operation panel 2 is provided on the front of the main body control device 23.
5 is installed.

In the cassette 24, as shown in FIG. 3, a window 26 for optical communication is provided near the corner of the side surface of the cassette case. An IC circuit 27 is disposed within the cassette 24 facing the window 26, and the light emitting element 28a and light receiving element 28b are disposed on a PC board supporting the IC circuit 27. Furthermore, a battery 29 is provided adjacent to the PC board. Incidentally, since these electronic parts are arranged in the corners of the cassette case, they do not interfere with tape running. When the cassette 24 is properly inserted into the shelf 22, it faces a light emitting element and a light receiving element attached to the side wall of the shelf 22. In addition, the storage section in this IC circuit 27 contains the product code of the videotape in this cassette 24, a branch number used when there is more than one of the same product, a title name, and a rental unit price indicating the rental fee for one time. Product information is stored. Note that this product information is written in the video software management center. Then, the cassette 24 is supplied to the video rental store with the product information written thereon.

As shown in FIG. 5, the operation panel 25 includes a display section 3 that displays various messages and amounts.
1. Numerical key 32 for inputting numerical data such as membership number, Set key 34 used when inputting numerical data, Rental key 3 to be pressed when renting a cassette.
5. A transmission key 36 for transmitting data to the host computer of the video software management center, a mode selection key 39 operated with keys for selecting and setting various business modes, and an issue port for the printer 40 for printing rental slips, etc. 41 etc. are arranged.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the main body control device 23. The CPU 42 connects to the ROM via the bus line.
43, RAM 44, input port 46 into which opening/closing information of each micro switch 45 provided in each shelf 22 is input, input/output to which light emitting element 47a and light receiving element 47b attached to the side wall of shelf 22 are connected. Port 48, keyboard 49 of operation panel 25
An input port 50 to which a key signal is input, an output port 51 to send data to the printer 40 or display unit 31, and a clock circuit 5 to measure the current month, day, hour, and minute.
2. I/O for transmitting data such as rental information
Controls the interface 53. Note that this I/O interface 53 is MODEM54,
It is connected via a switch 55 to a host computer 56 of a video software management center.

Further, each of the electronic components described above is supplied with a driving voltage from a power supply circuit 58 connected to an AC power supply via a power switch 57.

In the RAM 44, as shown in FIG.
A rental management memory 59 is formed. This rental management memory 59 is stored on a shelf 22 formed in the rack 21.
It is formed of a number of tables 60 corresponding to the number of installed shelves, and each table 60 includes a shelf bin area 62 for storing the shelf number of the shelf 22, a product code, a branch number,
Product information area 63 that stores product information consisting of title name, loan unit price, total number of loans lent to date, total loan amount, total arrears, month and date of loan if currently being lent, and if currently being lent. A lending information area 64 is formed to store lending information including the member number of the borrower. Note that if the item is currently on loan, the shelf number in the shelf bin area 62 is cleared.

Furthermore, within the RAM 44, there is a rental days memory 65 that stores the number of days for one rental, an overdue charge memory 66 that stores the overdue amount or overdue rate per day when the item is returned after the rental period, and a cassette 24.
A lending buffer 67 temporarily stores the product information of each cassette 24 for one customer pulled out from the shelf 22 when lending the product, and sets the shelf number of the shelf when an abnormality occurs when inserting the cassette 24 into the shelf 22. A shelf number flag 68 and the like are formed.

The main body control section 23 of such an article storage apparatus performs lending/return processing for each cassette 24 according to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, when the power switch 57 is turned on, predetermined initial processing is performed in S1. Next, in S2, the mode selection key 39 of the operation panel 25
Make sure that is set to the [ON] position, which indicates normal operations such as lending and returning.

Then, when the micro switch 45 of one shelf 22 is opened in S3, the cassette 24 inserted in that shelf is pulled out, so in S4, the lending management memory 5 of the RAM 44 is loaded with the shelf number of the corresponding shelf 22.
The storage bin area 62 of each table 60 of 9 is searched.
When the table 60 of the corresponding shelf number is searched, the rental information area 64 of the corresponding table 60 is set using the current month, day, hour, and minute read from the clock circuit 52 as the rental month, day, hour, and minute.
Store in. Thereafter, in S5, the shelf number in the shelf number area 62 of the corresponding table 60 is cleared. Then, the product code and title name of the corresponding cassette 24 read from the product information area 63 are displayed on the display section 31. Then, the product information is stored in the rental buffer 67.

This completes the process associated with the operation of pulling out one cassette 24 from the shelf. When the lending key 35 is pressed in S6, it is determined that the operation of pulling out all the cassettes 24 to be lent to one person from the shelf 22 has been completed. When the membership number is key-input in S7, each lending information such as the total number of lending times and the total lending amount in the lending information area 64 of each table 60 corresponding to each product information stored in the lending buffer 67 is updated. , stores the assigned member number. Then, the product information of each cassette 24 in the lending buffer 67, the lending month, day, hour and minute, and the lending deadline are printed on the printer 40.
Then, the rental slip is printed out and discharged from the issuing port 41. Then, the lending buffer 67 is cleared and the lending process of the cassette 24 to one customer is completed.
Return to S3.

When the cassette 24 is not pulled out from the shelf 22 in S3 and the micro switch 45 of the shelf 22 in which no cassette 24 is currently inserted is closed in S8, the cassette returned by the customer is placed on that shelf 22. It is determined that 24 has been inserted. Then, in S9, the shelf number of the shelf 22 is read, and the product information stored in the IC circuit 27 of the inserted cassette 24 is read via the light emitting element and the light receiving element.
If no communication error has occurred in S10, the product information area 63 of each table 60 of the rental management memory 59 is stored using the product code included in the read product information.
I'm going to search for it.

When the corresponding product code is retrieved in S11, if the shelf number flag 68 is set, the shelf number flag 67 is cleared. Then, the previously read shelf number is stored in the shelf number area 62 of the searched table 60. Next, a message indicating that the corresponding cassette 24 has been returned is displayed on the display section 31.

Next, in S13, the rental date stored in the rental information area 64 of the searched table 60 is compared with the current month and date of the clock circuit 52, and if the cassette 24 is returned within the deadline, , performs return registration processing for the rental information area 64 of the corresponding table 60. That is, the lending information area 64 is cleared of the lending month, day, hour, and minute, and the membership number. Since the return process for one cassette 24 has been completed above, the process returns to S8 and waits for the insertion operation of the next cassette 24.

In addition, if the return has passed the loan deadline in S13, the overdue amount will be calculated based on the overdue amount in the overdue amount memory 66 of the RAM 44, and will be displayed on the display unit 31 and an invoice with the overdue amount printed out will be issued. do. Then, the total arrears in the lending information area 64 is updated.

If a communication error occurs in S10, a message indicating that the cassette 24 should be re-inserted is displayed on the display section 31, and the shelf number of the relevant shelf 22 is set in the shelf number flag 68. Then, the process returns to S8 and waits for the cassette 24 to be inserted again.

Further, if the corresponding product code is not found in S11, it is determined that the product information of the inserted cassette 24 is a cassette that is not registered in the lending management memory 59, and a message to that effect is displayed on the display section 31. The shelf number of the relevant shelf 22 is set in the shelf number flag 68. Then, the process returns to S8.

If the article storage device is configured in this way,
When the mode selection key 39 is set to the [ON] position and the cassette 24 is pulled out from the shelf 22, the corresponding cassette 2
4 is lent out is registered in the lending information area 64 of the corresponding table 60. Also, the corresponding table 6
The shelf number 0 is cleared.

In addition, the cassette 24 can be placed on any empty shelf 22.
When the shelf 2 inserted into the corresponding table 60 is automatically searched, the table 60 storing the product information and rental information of this cassette 24 is searched.
2 shelf number is set and the rental information area 6
Return information is registered in 4. Therefore, the returned cassette 24 and the shelf number of the shelf 22 that stores the cassette 24 are stored in the lending management memory 59.

In this way, when a cassette 24 is returned by a customer, the clerk simply inserts it into any empty shelf 22 without checking the product information such as the product code of the cassette 24, and the cassette 24 is returned. is registered. Therefore, the efficiency of storing the cassettes 24 on the shelves 22 can be greatly improved.

Further, since the situation where the cassette 24 is inserted into the wrong shelf 22 unlike in the conventional device does not occur, lending and return management of each cassette 24 can be strictly performed.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, since an IC circuit for storing product information is incorporated into the product,
No matter which shelf the article is inserted into when returning the article, the return information of the article can be accurately grasped, the article storage work can be simplified, and the article can be strictly managed.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of the present invention, Figs. 2 to 8 show an article storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the entire device, and Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the entire device. The figure is a perspective view showing the cassette, Figure 4 is a schematic diagram showing the IC circuit built into the cassette, Figure 5 is a diagram showing the operation panel, Figure 6 is a block diagram showing the main body control device, and Figure 7 is a diagram showing the operation panel. 8 is a diagram showing the stored contents, and FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation. 21... rack, 22... shelf, 23... main body control device, 24... cassette, 25... operation panel, 27... IC circuit, 31... display section, 32...
...Number key, 35...Rent key, 39...Mode selection key, 40...Printer, 42...CPU,
44...RAM, 45...Micro switch, 5
7...Power switch, 59...Rental management memory,
60...Table, 62...Storage bin area, 63...
Product information area, 64...Rental information area, 67...
Rental buffer, 68...Shelf bin flag.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An IC circuit that is built into an article to be rented and stores product information of the article, a plurality of shelves each into which one article is inserted, and an IC circuit that is installed in each shelf and stores the article on the shelf. A rental device comprising a detection device for detecting insertion of an item, and a plurality of tables each having a product information area for storing at least product information of the item and a storage bin area for storing an insertion shelf number corresponding to each item. a management memory, a main body control device for writing and reading information to and from the rental management memory, and for transmitting data between the IC circuit and the main body control unit when the article is inserted into the shelf. A signal connection mechanism provided between the shelf and the article, and a shelf number clearer for clearing the shelf number in the shelf bin area of the table corresponding to the shelf number in response to the detection of the withdrawal operation of the article from the shelf by the detection device. means, a product information reading means for reading product information of the inserted product via the signal connection mechanism in response to the detection of the insertion operation of the product into the shelf by the detection mechanism; It has a table search means for searching the product information area of each table, and a shelf number setting means for storing the shelf number of the shelf where the article is inserted into the shelf bin area of the table searched by the table search means. An article storage device characterized by: