JPS62137018A - Manless commodity guide apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application 1] The present invention relates to an unmanned product guidance device that automatically explains and guides products using pre-stored voice data.

[Conventional technology 1] Conventionally, this type of device divides product shelves into product types in advance, and installs beam sensors embedded in each area or fixedly, such as with clamps, to identify customers' interests. When you reach out to the product you are holding, the beam sensor detects this and stores it in the audio data EFROM mounted on the IC socket, which outputs a relatively long period of audio for the product. The configuration was such that it was extracted and synthesized based on the information, and selectively output to the corresponding external speaker.

In the two conventional devices, there is a fixed one-to-one correspondence between the beam sensor and the audio data EPROM for the same type of product, and the audio data and the speaker to be output are selected by a switch, etc. They were selected as a set and associated.

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention 1] - The conventional unmanned product guidance device described above uses a beam sensor to detect the approach of a customer, so if the width of the product placement area is wide, multiple sensors had to be placed and wired. Additionally, a complicated determination circuit is required to prevent malfunctions when the light beam from the beam sensor is blocked due to misalignment of the product placement. These pickles led to the problem of increased equipment cost.

Furthermore, there were various problems related to changing the arrangement of products, as described below.

That is, if the beam sensor was not installed in an area that was not planned at the time of previous manufacturing, the beam sensor would have to be removed and the wiring would have to be reassembled each time the product was changed, resulting in poor workability.

On the other hand, if beam sensors were installed in the entire area in advance at the time of manufacturing, the cost of the device would increase.

In addition, the correspondence between the beam sensor and the audio data is fixed, and the correspondence between the audio data and the output speaker is a semi-fixed one that can be selected using dip switches, etc., so it takes time and effort to rearrange the wiring. The reality is that this work is difficult when products are placed on both sides of a product shelf.

Regarding changes in voice data, the single phrase synthesis method cannot handle major changes in product types, and even in the case of the whole phrase synthesis method, the voice data EFRO mounted on the IC socket cannot be used.
The M had to be replaced one by one, which could not be handled by general users, and maintenance personnel were required to handle the problem.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide an unmanned product guide device that can reduce the cost of the device and can quickly and easily respond to changes in product placement.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the unmanned product guide device of the present invention is provided in a detachable manner in accordance with the types of products arbitrarily placed in a predetermined placement space. A detection means for detecting a change in the condition of a product, various replaceable voice bank cartridges storing voice data for guidance and explanation of the various products, and the detection means and voice data regarding the same type of product. a selection setting means for displaying the correspondence and the corresponding state thereof; and a selection reading means for selecting and reading out the audio data of the product corresponding to the output of the detection means from the audio bank cartridge according to the correspondence by the selection setting means. , and audio reproduction means that receives the audio data from the selection reading means and reproduces guidance and explanations of the corresponding products by voice synthesis.

[Example] Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of the unmanned product guide device according to the present embodiment, Fig. 2 (L) is a perspective view showing the external appearance of a product shelf on which the device is installed, and Fig. 2 (b) is the same as Fig. 2 (a). FIG. 3(a) is a side sectional view showing how the pyroelectric sensor is installed; FIG. 3(b) is an enlarged cross-sectional perspective view of portion B in FIG. 3(a); FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the mounting state of the audio bank cartridge.

In the drawings, IO is a pyroelectric sensor serving as a detection means for detecting changes in the state of the product. This pyroelectric sensor
O detects the heat radiated from a heat generating body such as a human body, and is attached to the upper edge of the frontage of the product shelf 100 via an attachment 11 as shown in FIG.

A plurality of attachments 11 are fixed to the upper edge of the product shelf 100 at predetermined intervals, and as shown in FIG. 3, the pyroelectric sensor 10 can be easily attached and detached in a sliding manner. There is. These attachments) 11 are electrically connected to an input section to be described later.

In FIG. 1, 12 is an input section, 13 is an audio bank cartridge, 14.15 is a setting keyboard as a selection setting means, and a setting display section. The input section 12 is a pyroelectric sensor l
In addition to checking the installation state of O and the insertion state of the audio bank cartridge 13, the manual input of the keys on the setting keyboard 14 is read, and a setting display output is performed on the setting display section 15.

As shown in FIG. 4, the voice bank cartridge 13 is of a cassette type and has a simple and easily replaceable structure, and is pre-stored with voice data for guidance and explanations of various products.

16 is a control CPU section, 17 is a setting storage section, and 18 is a host interface. The setting storage unit 17 is composed of a battery-backed RAM or a non-volatile memory, and the setting keyboard 14
The correspondence between the pyroelectric sensor lO and the audio bank cartridge 13 regarding the same type of product made in the above is stored.

The control CPU section 16 has a function as a selection reading means for selecting and reading out the audio data of the product corresponding to the output of the pyroelectric sensor lO from the audio bank cartridge 13 according to the stored correspondence, and also has a function as a selection reading means for selecting and reading out the audio data of the product corresponding to the output of the pyroelectric sensor IO according to the stored correspondence. Processes such as checking the operating state of the synthesis unit 21 are performed. The host interface 18 performs predetermined communication with a host PC viewer (not shown).

20 is an audio reproduction means. This audio reproduction means 20 is
A voice synthesis section 21 that synthesizes voice data from the voice bank cartridge 13; a control amplifier section 2 that amplifies the synthesized voice and outputs it to a required speaker 22;
It is composed of 3. In the setting keyboard 14, the correspondence between the pyroelectric sensor lO and the speaker 22 regarding the same product type is also performed, and the correspondence is stored in the setting storage section 17. Then, the control CPU section 16 performs the necessary switching so that the sound is output from the speaker 22 corresponding to the output of the pyroelectric sensor 10 in accordance with this correspondence.

In addition, each part except the pyroelectric sensor lO, attachment 11 degree speaker 22 is mounted on the chassis 30 as shown in FIG. 4, and the stocker part 101 shown in FIG.
will be stored in.

Next, the operation for normal audio reproduction will be explained. In FIG. 1, the detection signal detected by the pyroelectric sensor IO is converted into a matrix by the attachment 11, thereby reducing the number of wiring lines, and sent to the control CPU section 16 via the input section 12.

The control CPU section 16 determines whether the speech synthesis section 21 is currently synthesizing speech or not, and if it is synthesizing speech, no further processing is performed.

If voice synthesis is not in progress, after determining the priority order based on the simultaneous arrival of detection signals, the correspondence table between the pyroelectric sensor lO and the voice bank cartridge 13 written in the setting storage section 17 and the separate input section 12 are used. According to the already input voice bank cartridge insertion state, one of the currently connected voice bank cartridges 13 corresponding to the output sensor is selected, and the voice synthesis section 21 is caused to start voice synthesis. Also, according to the correspondence table between the pyroelectric sensor 13 and the speaker 22 written in the setting storage section 17 at the same time, the speaker 22 is connected to the control amplifier section 23.
make a selection. In this way, the voice-synthesized product explanation and guidance is output from the speaker 22 closest to the customer at t11.

When changing the product arrangement on the product shelf 100, the following operations are performed.

First, the mounting position of the pyroelectric sensor 10 is changed in response to a change in the layout of the product. This operation can be easily performed by simply removing the attachment 11 by sliding it on the attachment 11 as shown in FIG. 3, and attaching it to a new predetermined attachment 11.

When the position of the pyroelectric sensor 1O is changed, the setting keyboard 14 and the setting display section 15 change the position of the pyroelectric sensor 10 and the voice bank cartridge 1 stored in the setting storage section 17.
3 and the correspondence between the pyroelectric sensor 10 and the speaker 22 need to be changed. Key inputs are input from the setting keyboard 14 to the control CPU section 16 via the input section 12, are displayed on the setting display section 15, and the corresponding tables in the setting storage section 17 are changed. At this time, the insertion status of the pyroelectric sensor 10 and the audio bank cartridge 13 is also checked, and the corresponding pyroelectric sensor 10 or audio bank cartridge 1 is checked.
3 is missing, an error message is displayed on the setting display section 15.

Audio data is exchanged using the EF mounted on the IC socket.
Instead of replacing the ROM chip, as shown in FIG. 4, by replacing the voice bank cartridge 13 corresponding to the product, even a general user can easily perform replacement.

In this embodiment, by eliminating the complicated logic circuit in the sensor input section and employing a microprocessor in the control CPU section 16, software logic is added and the pyroelectric sensor lO, speaker 22, audio bank cartridge 13
Each self-check function has been strengthened.

That is, the self-check of the pyroelectric sensor 10 is started by manually inputting a key from the setting keyboard 14, and by comparing the sensor insertion state and the detection signal, an abnormal pyroelectric sensor 10 is detected, and the setting display section 15 is displayed. It is done by displaying it.

The self-check of the speaker 22 is performed by checking any speaker 22 by determining the speaker 22 that outputs audio before performing a self-check of the audio bank cartridge 13, which will be described later.

A self-check of the voice bank cartridge 13 is performed by inputting the product number of the slot in which the voice bank cartridge 13 is set from the setting keyboard 14, outputting the corresponding voice data by voice synthesis, and replacing the voice bank cartridge 13. This is done when checking the audio level of the speaker 22.

Further, in this embodiment, the detection power of the pyroelectric sensor 10 is calculated, the counting result is stored for each product, and the detection power is displayed at any time. In other words, since the detection condition of the pyroelectric sensor 10 captures rapid changes in the temperature state in the positive and negative directions, the counted value becomes a fraction of the borrowed view - L, so in actual counting, the pyroelectric sensor 10 detection signals are controlled via the input section 12 c
The input 1 is determined and calculated in the U section 16, and the results are made to correspond to each Otonishi Bank product, written in the setting storage section 17, and stored constantly or on a host computer (not shown).
The detection frequency is displayed on the setting display section 15 in response to a data request received from the host interface 18 from the host interface 18 . Further, the calculated detection frequency can also be transmitted to the host computer via the host interface 18.

” - As mentioned above, the unmanned product guidance device according to this embodiment,
By using the pyroelectric sensor 10, there is no need to detect beam interruption caused by the product, which occurs in the case of beam sensors, so malfunctions can be prevented, and a relatively wide range can be detected with one pyroelectric sensor 10. There is. In addition, by using the attachment (attachment) 11, the mounting position of the pyroelectric sensor 10 can be easily changed when the product layout is changed, and the number of wires to the pyroelectric sensor 10 can be reduced, and the actual sensor It is now possible to reduce the number of Even in general retail stores, the product can be easily attached to existing product shelves without the need to purchase dedicated product shelves.

Furthermore, since the audio data is not based on an EPROM but on the audio bank cartridge 13, the audio data can be exchanged as easily as a cassette tape, and can be easily created as a library.

Furthermore, by making the built-in CPU intelligent, the complicated circuit configuration based on hardware logic is eliminated, and the self-check function is strengthened, making it possible to check for incorrect setting, connections, and operating status. . Furthermore, each setting that was conventionally done with complicated dip switches can now be entered using a keyboard, and all correspondence with audio data and speakers can now be associated with sensors, allowing the same product to be placed in multiple locations on the product shelf. It is now possible to set up more flexible associations, such as being able to make associations even in such cases. In addition, the detection power of the pyroelectric sensor IO, that is, the function of counting the degree of proximity of the human body, makes it possible to quantify the customer's latent purchase desire. It is also possible to consider factors, effects, price settings, etc.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the present invention includes a detection means that is detachably provided corresponding to the type of product arbitrarily arranged in a predetermined arrangement space, and detects a change in the state of the product; Selection settings for associating various replaceable voice bank cartridges that store voice data for guidance and explanations of various products with the detection means and voice data regarding the same type of product, and displaying the corresponding state. means, a selective reading means for selecting and reading out audio data of a product corresponding to the output of the detecting means from the audio bank cartridge according to the association by the selection setting means, and receiving audio data from the selective reading means; Since the system is equipped with a voice reproducing means that reproduces guidance and explanations of corresponding products through voice synthesis, it is possible to reduce the cost of the device, and also has the effect of being able to quickly and easily respond to changes in product placement. be.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an unmanned product guide device, FIG. (b) is an enlarged view of part A in Figure (a), Figure 3 (a) is a side cross-sectional view showing how the pyroelectric sensor is installed, and Figure 3 (b) is the same figure (
FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional perspective view showing part B in a), and FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the mounting state of the audio bank cartridge. IO: Pyroelectric sensor ll: Attachment 12:
Input section 13: Audio bank cartridge 14: Setting keyboard 15: Setting display section 16: Control CPU section 17: Setting storage section 18: Host interface 20: Audio reproduction means 21: Audio synthesis section 22: Speaker 23: Control amplifier section 1st Figure 3 (b) Figure 4

Claims (5)

[Claims] (1) A detection means that is removably provided to correspond to the type of product arbitrarily placed in a predetermined placement space and detects changes in the status of the product, and audio data for guidance and explanation of the various products. a selection setting means for associating various replaceable voice bank cartridges storing the same type of product with the detection means and audio data for the same type of product and displaying the corresponding state; Therefore, a selection reading means selects and reads out the audio data of the product corresponding to the output of the detection means from the audio bank cartridge, and a selection reading means receives the audio data from the selection reading means and provides guidance and explanation of the corresponding product by voice synthesis. An unmanned product guidance device characterized by comprising a voice reproduction means for reproducing sound. (2) The unmanned product guide device according to claim 1, wherein the detection means is a pyroelectric sensor. (3) The unmanned product guide device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the selection setting means performs the required association by keyboard operation. (4) Calculation storage means for calculating the detection frequency of the detection means and storing the result of the counting calculation for each product according to the association by the selection setting means, and the selection setting means 4. The unmanned product guide device according to claim 1, 2, or 3, wherein the detection frequency is displayed by the following. (5) The unmanned product guide device according to claim 4, further comprising communication means for transmitting the detection frequency stored in the calculation storage means to a higher-order calculation processing device.