JPH046608B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an article lending device, and more particularly to an article registration processing device that registers product information of a loaned article in a lending management memory inside the article lending device.

[Prior Art] For example, when a book rental store or a record rental store lends out an item of almost regular size to the general public for a fee, the store clerk provides the item name or product code that specifies the rental item, the address and name of the borrower, and the rental date. Record it in a vote or notebook. If the item is returned, the rental record of the rental slip and notebook will be deleted.

However, if clerks record the name and product code of each loaned item on a loan slip or notebook, the efficiency of the lending office work decreases, so in recent years, barcodes indicating the product code have been attached to each loaned item, A membership card with a membership number recorded on it is issued to a person, and when an item is lent out, a barcode reader is used to read the product code of the barcode, and the product code is stored in a storage device along with the membership number keyed in, for example, from a keyboard, and then reused when the item is returned. 2. Description of the Related Art An article rental device has been developed that erases rental information stored in a storage device by reading a barcode attached to the article.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, even in the above-mentioned article lending device that uses barcodes to manage the lending and return of articles, the following problems still occur. In other words, generally, in addition to the rental period and rental fee, the rental slip handed to the customer at the same time as the rental item such as a video tape contains the name of the product or title that immediately indicates what the rental item is. Must be printed along with the product code. Therefore, when displaying a new loaned item on a store shelf, the store clerk or person in charge must check the product name, title, other incidental information, product code, etc. of the loaned item before starting the lending process. It is necessary to register the information in the storage device.

However, as mentioned above, this product information covers a wide variety of fields, and needs to be registered not only in numbers but also in katakana and alphabetic characters. Since a general article lending device only has a keyboard with numeric keys, in order to input the above-mentioned katakana and alphabetic characters, it is necessary to encode these characters and input them using the keys. As a result, a great deal of effort and time was required to register product information. Furthermore, since character codes are used for input, the probability of key operation errors increases. Therefore, there is a problem that the efficiency and reliability of the entire lending operation are reduced.

In particular, when renting video tapes, etc., it is easy to be dominated by trends and the product cycle is short.
Rented items need to be replaced frequently. Therefore, the problems mentioned above become even more important.

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 rental items, and to automatically read the product information when the item is inserted into a shelf. An object of the present invention is to provide an article registration processing device that can greatly simplify the registration work of new articles and suppress the occurrence of erroneous registration by registering them in a rental management memo.

[Means for solving the problems] As shown in FIG. 1, the article registration processing device of the present invention is incorporated into an article to be lent, and
an IC circuit 2 for storing the increase in product price; a plurality of shelves 3 into which each item is inserted; and a detection device installed in each shelf to detect when an item has been inserted into the shelf. 4, and a rental management memory consisting of a plurality of tables, each having a product information area for storing product information of the item, a rental information area for storing rental information, and a storage bin area for storing insertion shelf numbers, corresponding to each item. 5, a main body control device 6 that writes and reads information to and from this rental management memory, and a main body control device 6 that performs data transmission between the IC circuit and the main body control device when an article is inserted into the shelf. A signal connection mechanism 7 is provided in the signal connection mechanism 7, and in response to the detection of the insertion operation of the article into the shelf by the detection device, the product information reading means 7 reads the product information of the inserted article via the signal connection mechanism. When the job selection means 8 which selects and sets the job of reading and registering product information in the lending management memory selects the registration job, the product information read by the product information registering means 9 corresponds to the corresponding shelf in the lending management memory. The information is stored in the product information area of the table.

[Operation] With the article registration processing device configured as described above, when registering the product information of a new article in the rental management memory, when the article is inserted into the shelf with the registration job selected in the job selection means, the item is inserted into the shelf. , the detection device operates to read product information from the IC circuit built into the product via the signal connection mechanism. The read product information is then registered in the product information area of the table corresponding to the relevant shelf in the lending management memory.

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

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an article lending device incorporating the article registration processing 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 22 provided in the rack 21 has a rectangular shape into which a video tape cassette 24 as an article is inserted with a slight gap in the longitudinal direction.
A micro switch as a detection device is attached to the end wall inside, and the cassette 2 is placed on the shelf 22.
4 is inserted to the proper position, the microswitch is closed. Furthermore, a light emitting element and a light receiving element as a signal connection mechanism are arranged on one side wall of the shelf 22. In addition, the main body control device 23
An operation panel 25 is attached to the front of the machine.

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 a light emitting element 28a and a 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. Please note that these electronic components are located in the corners of the cassette case.
It does not interfere with tape running. and,
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.

As shown in FIG. 5, the operation panel 25 includes display lamps 30a and 30b that indicate that the cassette has been inserted incorrectly and cannot be borrowed, a display section 31 that displays various messages and amounts, and numerical data such as membership numbers that are input using keys. numeric key 32, A for hexadecimal display used when setting various data in the storage section
-F alphabetical keys 33, set key 34 used when inputting numerical data, lending key 35 to be pressed when lending a cassette, send key 3 used to send data to the host computer of the video software management center.
6. A mode selection key 39 as a business selection means operated by a key for selecting and setting various business modes;
Also provided are an issuance port 41 of a printer 40 for printing rental slips and the like.

The mode selection key 39 is used for general lending/returning operations indicated by the [NO] position, [inspection] operations for printing out the lending information cumulatively registered in the lending management memory, and for printing out the lending information as well as for printing out the already outputted lending information. You can select the [Aggregation] task for clearing the lending information of the item, and the [Registration/Delete] task for registering or deleting product information in the lending management memory.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the IC circuit 27 built into the cassette 24. To CPU27a,
Via the bus line 27b, the ROM 27c,
RAM27d, the light emitting element 28a and the light receiving element 2
8b is connected to the input/output port 27e. In addition, as shown in FIG. 7, the RAM 27d contains the product code of the videotape in this cassette 24, the branch number used when there is more than one of the same product, the title name, and the rental unit price indicating the rental fee for one time. All product information is stored. In addition,
This product information is written in the video software management center. Then, the cassette 24 is provided to the video rental store with product information written thereon.

FIG. 8 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 into which key signals are input, an output port 51 which sends data to the printer 40 and the display section 31, a clock circuit 52 which has a built-in timer 52a and which measures the current month, day, hour and minute, and data such as rental information. Controls the I/O interface 53 for transmission. Note that this I/O interface 53 is connected to a host computer 56 of the video software management center via a MODEM 54 and a switch 55.

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.
Each table 60 includes a shelf number 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, rental unit price, total number of times it has been lent to date, total loan amount, total arrears, month and date of loan if it is currently being lent, and the amount of money that has been lent if it is currently being lent. Rental information area 6 that stores rental information consisting of the applicant's membership number
4 is formed.

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 loan is returned after the rental period, and M memory cells. Number of tables actually used among the 60 tables C
Counter 67 for number of tables used to calculate, shelf 22
A shelf number flag 68 is formed to set the shelf number of the shelf when an abnormality occurs during insertion of the cassette 24 into the shelf.

The main body control section 23 of such an article lending apparatus performs a process of registering the product information of the cassette 24 in the lending management memory 59 according to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, when the power switch 57 is turned on,
At S1, predetermined initial processing including clearing of various counters and flags is performed. Next, in S2, it is confirmed that the mode selection key 39 of the operation panel 25 is set to the [registration/deletion] mode, and a message prompting the user to select registration or deletion is displayed on the display section 31. Then, in S3, when [1] is entered with the number key 32, the registered business has been selected, and the actual number C of tables 60 in use in the lending management memory 59 is entered as the number of used tables counter. 6
Set to 7.

When it is confirmed in S5 that the number of tables C set in the counter 67 has not reached the maximum number M of tables, a message instructing the insertion of the cassette 24 (video) to be registered is displayed on the display section 31. When the microswitch 45 of the shelf 22 on which product information has not yet been registered is closed in S6, it is determined that the cassette 24 to be newly registered has been inserted into the empty shelf 22 on which no product information has been registered yet. and,
The shelf number of the relevant shelf 22 and the IC circuit 2 of the inserted cassette 24 via the light emitting element and light receiving element.
Read the product information stored in 7. Next, confirm that no communication error has occurred. If a communication error has occurred, a message indicating that the cassette 24 should be re-inserted is displayed on the display section 31, and the corresponding shelf number is set in the shelf number flag 68. And S5
Return to

If no communication error has occurred, each table 60 of the lending management memory 59 is searched using the product code and branch number of the read product information to confirm that the same product code and branch number are not already registered. Note that when the same product code and branch number are retrieved, since this cassette 24 has already been registered, this fact is displayed on the display section 31 and the read shelf number is set in the shelf number flag 68.

If the cassette 24 inserted in S7 is a new cassette 24, in S8 the IC circuit 27 reads the product code, branch number, title name, rental unit price, etc. to the product information area 63 of the table 60 of the corresponding shelf number. Stores product information consisting of. Then, the shelf number flag 68 is cleared. Then table 60
A message indicating that the product information registration process has been completed is displayed on the display unit 31. moreover,
The newly registered product information is printed out using the printer 40.

Since the registration process for one new cassette 24 is thus completed, 1 is added to the number of tables C in the counter 67, and the process returns to S5.

When the number of tables C after addition reaches the maximum value M in S5, it is impossible to register any more new cassettes 24, so a message to that effect is displayed on the display 3.
1 and completes this registration process.

In addition, with the product information of each cassette 24 registered in the rental management memory 59 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 24 is rented out. This information is registered in the rental information area 64 of the corresponding table 60. Furthermore, when the cassette 24 is inserted into the corresponding shelf 22, return information is registered in the rental information area 64.

With the article registration processing device configured in this way, when registering a new cassette 24 in the lending management memory 59, the mode selection key 39 is pressed to [registration/
[Delete] mode and set [1] with the number key 32, simply insert the corresponding cassette 24 into the shelf 22 where no cassette is registered.
Product information consisting of the product code, branch number, title name, rental unit price, etc. of the corresponding cassette 24 is automatically registered in the rental management memory 59.

Therefore, the task of registering a new cassette 24 is greatly simplified compared to conventional devices. Moreover, erroneous registration due to key operation errors during registration does not occur.

Further, in this embodiment, rental registration and return registration of the cassette 24 are also performed on the shelf 22 of the cassette 24.
Since this is automatically performed in conjunction with the withdrawal and insertion operations, the business efficiency of the entire article lending device can be greatly improved.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, an IC circuit for storing product information is incorporated into a rental item, and when an item is inserted into a shelf, the product information is automatically read and registered in the rental management memory. I try to do that.
Therefore, it is possible to provide an article registration processing device that can greatly simplify the process of registering new articles in the rental management memory and can also suppress the occurrence of erroneous registration.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 to 10 show an article lending device incorporating an article registration processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the entire device, Figure 3 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 diagram showing the operation panel. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the IC circuit, FIGS. 7 and 9 are diagrams showing stored contents, FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the main body control device, and FIG. 10 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...Shelf number area, 63...
...Product information area, 64...Rental information area.

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 detection device that detects that the item has been inserted; a product information area that stores product information of the item corresponding to each item; a rental information area that stores rental information; and a storage bin area that stores an insertion shelf number. a lending management memory consisting of a plurality of tables having a plurality of tables; a main body control device that writes and reads information to and from the lending management memory; a signal connection mechanism provided between the shelf and the article in order to perform data transmission between the shelves; a product information reading device that reads product information through a mechanism; a task selection device that selects and sets a product information registration task for the lending management memory; and when the task selection device selects a registration task, the read product information is 1. An article registration processing device comprising: article information registration means for storing article information in an article information area of a table corresponding to a corresponding shelf of a lending management memory.