KR20010005448A - A commercial-article handling data compiling system for an automatic commercial-article handling device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide an article dealing data summary system for automatic article dealing machine by which sales data can exactly and surely be collected from respective shops through a communication line on the side of a management headquarters. CONSTITUTION: In a communication system for sales data summary, the sales data of respective automatic video lending machines 31 of respective shops 3 are collected once a day into a data buffer device 32 and stored in a buffer memory 42 thereof. Corresponding to a transfer request from the side of a headquarters 2, the sales data collected in the data buffer device 32 are transferred at determined time everyday. The summary or the like of the sales data is not performed without needing manual work on the side of each shop 3. Therefore, the summary error of sales data on the side of each shop and illegal action such as the alteration of the sales data can be avoided or prevented. Further, when the sales data can not be collected on the side of the headquarters 2 because of any communication trouble, the date is designated later and the relevant sales data stored in the data buffer device 32 of each shop 3 can be obtained in the future.

Description

Product handling data aggregation system of automatic product handling machine {A COMMERCIAL-ARTICLE HANDLING DATA COMPILING SYSTEM FOR AN AUTOMATIC COMMERCIAL-ARTICLE HANDLING DEVICE}

The present invention provides a product handling data aggregation system of an automatic goods handling machine that can accurately grasp and collect sales data of a store where an automatic goods handling machine is installed, for example, each video rental shop in which an automatic goods rental machine is installed. It is about.

Conventionally, the following method has been taken to count sales of automatic video rental machines installed in many video rental stores. In other words, each video rental store is equipped with a computer dedicated to the store. The store staff inputs the sales data of each video rental machine into the store's computer, and the management headquarters sets up a management computer for collecting sales data. The sales data accumulated in the computer of each store by connecting through the communication line was collected from the management computer on the management headquarters side through the communication line.

Here, in the merchandise rental industry such as the video rental business, a system called RSS is known which distributes the amount of sales between the management headquarters, the video rental store, and the video tape supply company (production company). In order for such a system to operate smoothly, it must be premised that the sales amount of each store can be accurately grasped not only at each store but also at the management headquarters and the manufacturing company.

However, conventionally, the management headquarters collected the sales data collected by the computer of the store as described above, and distributed the sales amount. Therefore, the amount of sales may be different from the actual amount of money if the rental process of the goods is not carried out reliably or the wrong out-of-order processing is performed due to the operation and error of the computer of the store installed in each store. In addition, when a problem occurs in the communication line, sales data cannot be collected at the management headquarters.

Moreover, even if the computer of the store is tampered with or the sales data is arbitrarily corrected, the management headquarters cannot find such irregularities.

As described above, in the conventional sales data management system, the sales data may not be collected accurately at the store side, and there is a concern that the sales data may not be collected at all.

In addition, assuming that the amount of sales reported by the store is correct, the amount of sales is distributed by three parties, so there is a risk that the profit will not be distributed. In particular, in the merchandise rental business, unlike the merchandise sale, the same merchandise is repeatedly borrowed, so that cheating such as changing the sales data by tricking the number of rentals can be easily performed.

In order to prevent such damage, it is inconvenient, because measures such as dispatching a supervisor to each store are necessary from the management headquarters so that irregularities do not occur at each store.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to propose a product handling data aggregation system of an automatic goods handling machine in which inaccurate sales data is not supplied to the management headquarters due to operation error, communication line problem, or the like. have.

Another object of the present invention is to propose a product handling data collection system of an automatic product handling machine that cannot deal with product handling data such as sales on the side of each store.

1 is a schematic system configuration diagram of a sales data aggregation system of an automatic video rental device to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic control block diagram of the system shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a schematic flowchart illustrating an operation of collecting sales data of the system illustrated in FIG. 1.

4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a form of collecting sales data of the system shown in FIG.

* Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings *

1: Communication system for sales data aggregation 2: Management Division

21: managed computer 22: indicator

23: printer 24: keyboard

25: modem 3: store

31: automatic video rental machine 311: storage shelf

312 control panel 313 safe

32: data buffer device 33: modem

34: printer 41: communication port

42: buffer memory 43: control circuit

44: keypad 45: clock function

4: Supply company of video cassette tape (production company) 5: Internet server

6: communication line

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above problems, the present invention includes a store in which an automatic product handling machine is installed, and a management headquarters that can be connected to the store through a communication line to aggregate product handling data by the automatic product handling machine of the store. A communication system for commodity handling data aggregation is configured as follows.

That is, the store includes a data buffer device having a buffer memory capable of accumulating product handling data by the automatic product handling machine installed in the store for a predetermined period of time, a communication device for communicating with the management headquarters, And an output device capable of outputting the product handling data stored in the buffer memory.

The data buffer device further includes data collecting means for collecting and storing the product handling data in the buffer memory every unit period, and communication control means for transmitting the data stored in the buffer memory to the management headquarters side. The communication control means includes a first data sending function for transmitting a unit period of product handling data to the management headquarters through the communication device every unit period, and a predetermined period accumulated in the buffer memory at the request of the management headquarters. And a second data sending function for collectively transmitting the unit period amount of data or the plurality of unit periods of the amount of data to the management headquarters via the communication device.

Here, the management headquarters is responsible for communicating the product transaction status of each store based on a communication device for communicating with the store, communication control means for collecting product handling data from the store through the communication device, and collected product handling data. And a data processing means for counting each predetermined period, and an output device capable of outputting the data processed by the data processing means.

In addition, the automatic product handling unit includes a handling product storage unit, an automatic handling function for automatically handling a product stored in the handling product storage unit, a safe storing a product handling price, and a data storage unit storing product handling data. And an output unit capable of outputting product handling data stored in the data storage unit.

Further, the product handling data is configured to include at least store identification information, identification information of the automatic product handling machine, and the amount of sales.

And, it is preferable that the output device of the store outputs the product handling data to be transmitted when the product handling data accumulated in the data buffer device is transmitted to the management headquarter side.

Next, typical automatic merchandise handlers are automatic merchandise lending machines and automatic merchandise vending machines. If the automatic goods handling machine is an automatic goods rental machine, the product handling data includes the information of the user who rented the goods together with the above information, information of a delinquent who has not returned the goods even after the return date, and whether each product to be rented is available for rental. It is preferable that information indicating whether or not is included.

In the merchandise handling data aggregation system of the present invention configured as described above, the merchandise handling data of the automatic merchandise handling machine of each store is automatically collected by the data buffer device for each unit period. For example, once a day, it is collected in the data buffer device and accumulated in the buffer memory. The data stored in the buffer memory is automatically transferred to the management headquarters side at a designated time, for example, once per day for each unit period, or automatically at the request of the management headquarters side at the designated time. Moreover, the management headquarters side can automatically collect any data among the data accumulated in the buffer memory as needed.

Therefore, according to the present invention, since the operator does not need to input, aggregate, and transmit the product handling data to the management side at the store side, incorrect product handling data is transmitted to the management headquarters side due to operation error. You can stop it. When data is transmitted every unit period, if a problem occurs in the transmission line or the like and the data in the buffer memory cannot be transferred to the management headquarters side, a predetermined amount of data corresponding to the storage capacity of the buffer memory is later determined by the management headquarters side. The necessary data can be transferred automatically on demand. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the damage that the management headquarters cannot receive the goods handling data due to communication problems.

Moreover, since the product handling data of the automatic goods handling machine of each store is automatically collected at the management headquarters side without passing through the hands of the person at the store side, fraudulent processing such as arbitrarily changing the sales data can be prevented.

On the other hand, at each store side, transmission data by the data buffer device is printed out by an output device such as a printer. Therefore, it is convenient because the store side can always confirm product handling data. In addition, since such output data immediately becomes a copy of the product handling information on the store side, it can be found even if an error occurs in the aggregation of the product handling data on the management headquarters side.

Hereinafter, a sales data aggregation system of an automatic video rental machine to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to the drawings.

Fig. 1 is a schematic system block diagram of the sales data aggregation system of this embodiment, and Fig. 2 is a schematic control block diagram thereof. As shown in these figures, the data aggregation system 1 of the present embodiment includes a management headquarters 2, a plurality of video rental shops 3, a video tape supply company (manufacturer; 4), and an Internet server. (5) and they can be connected via a communication line (6).

The management headquarters 2 includes a management computer 21, a display 22, a printer 23 as an output device, and a keyboard 24 as an input device. The computer 21 includes a communication modem 25. It is built in. The management computer 21 receives one day's worth of sales data from each video rental store 3 at a predetermined time once a day from each store 3 and at the same time purchases for each video rental store 3 at a predetermined time. At least a communication control function for requesting data on an arbitrary date and a data processing function for creating various tables through the collected sales data.

Each store 3 is provided with several automatic video rental machines 31. These automatic video rental units 31 are connected to the communication port 41 to which the data buffer device 32 corresponds. The data buffer device 32 has a buffer memory 42 capable of accumulating a predetermined amount of time, and in this embodiment, 10 days worth of sales data, and the sales data of each automatic video rental unit 31 is a unit period. Each time, in this embodiment, it is collected once a day and accumulated in the buffer memory 42.

The data buffer device 32 includes a control circuit 43 configured around a microcomputer, and the control circuit 43 is configured to realize the following functions by executing a control program stored in a ROM. However, in the unit period, in this embodiment, a data collection function for collecting the sales data of each automatic video rental device 31 and storing it in the buffer memory 42 at a predetermined time once a day, and in the buffer memory 42 This is a communication control function for transmitting the accumulated data to the management headquarters 2 side.

In the present embodiment, the communication control function manages, through the modem 33, which is a communication device externally mounted at a predetermined time, once a day for the amount of sales data for one day at the request of the management headquarters 2 side. The first data sending function to be sent to the headquarters 2 side and the data of any one day or several days of the 10-day data stored in the buffer memory 42 at the request of the management headquarters 2. A second data transmission function for collectively transmitting data to the management headquarters 2 via the modem 33 is included.

A printer 34 serving as an output device is connected to the data buffer device 32, so that the sales data collected by the data buffer device 32 can be printed out as necessary. Further, the sales data transmitted under the control of the control circuit 43 of the data buffer device 32 is automatically printed out by the printer 34.

In addition, a keyboard 44 as an input device is connected to the data buffer device 32, and a clock function 45 is incorporated therein.

Next, the automatic video rental machine 31 provided in each store 3 includes a storage shelf 311 for storing the video cassette tape to be rented in a state where it can be seen through the glass, and an operation unit formed on the front surface. 312 and a safe box 313 built into the rental machine case to store the money.

In the operation unit 312, an input unit for designating a video cassette tape stored therein by designating a number of storage shelves, an input port for inputting a rental fee, an exit port for rental goods, an insertion port for a member card, an operation procedure for displaying the order, etc. The display section and the like are arranged. In the rental machine case, a control device made of a microcomputer, a card reader, a money processing mechanism, a conveying mechanism for conveying the video cassette tape between the storage shelf and the discharge port of the rental goods is arranged.

The automatic video rental machine 31 has a function of automatically renting a specified video cassette tape based on an input operation, and a function of automatically collecting the returned video cassette tape. There is also provided a printer capable of outputting the sales data stored in the memory by incorporating the memory of the sales data.

The basic configuration of the automatic video rental apparatus 31 configured as described above is known, and is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 193-81548 proposed by the present applicant. In addition, a conveying mechanism of a video cassette tape is also disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1995-21644 proposed by the present applicant.

Here, the sales data transmitted from each store 3 to the management headquarters 2 includes information of the store (the affiliated store), identification information of the automatic video rental machine, rental information (the number of rentals, etc.), sales amount information, and the video cassette of the work. Identification information of the member (user) who rented the tape, information of the return date, information (delinquent information) of the member (user) who did not return even after the return period has expired, and information indicating whether or not the video cassette tape to be rented is rented ( Tape inventory information).

Prior to the operation of the system according to the present embodiment, the following information is registered on the management computer 21 of the management headquarters 2 or on the automatic video rental machine 31 side of each store.

(1) Merchant data

(2) Customer Information (Member Information)

(3) Work information (tape title)

(4) Production company information (distribution company)

(5) Regional Operations Headquarters Information

(6) Arrival and exit information according to merchant

(7) Loss Treatment Information

In addition, on the management headquarters 2 side, the following sales accounting table is prepared based on these data.

(11) Goods receipt statement

(12) Business report by rental period (total sales, sales by works)

(13) Merchant business report (total sales, sales by works)

(14) Overdue customer list

(15) Specification for RSS

(16) Rental Status Report by Manufacturer

(17) Business Report by Merchant

(18) Turnover analysis table (total mean turnover, ranking) according to member stores

(19) Turnover analysis table (average turnover, ranking according to work) according to merchants

(20) Rental Rankings (Rental Collection, etc. to Top 20)

In addition, "(15) RSS Specification Sheet" is an aggregation table of sales data necessary for distributing the proceeds by three persons of the management headquarters, each store, and a video cassette tape supply company (manufacturer). Of course, a four-party distribution system can be considered, including manufacturers of automatic video rentals. In this case, an aggregation table of the sales data necessary for distributing the sales amount between the four characters is created.

Next, FIG. 3 is a schematic flowchart showing the operation of the system configured as described above, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a transmission mode. The schematic operation of the system 1 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to these drawings.

Assuming that each of the above information is registered, if the video cassette tape is rented in the automatic video rental machine 31 of the store 3, the information of the rented video cassette tape, the amount of rental, information of the rental customer, The return date and time are accumulated in the memory built into the automatic video rental device 31. In addition, the input rental amount is stored in the built-in safe.

Similarly, when the video cassette tape is returned, information of the returned video cassette tape, returnee information, return date and time are accumulated in the built-in memory.

When the daily business hours of the store 3 are finished, the daily amount of sales data accumulated in the built-in memory is collected in the data buffer device 32 via a cable. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, in the data buffer device 32, the number of machines of the automatic video rental unit 31 installed in the store is checked (ST 3, 4), and set in step 1 (ST1). When the data collection time arrives, data transmission requests are made to each automatic video rental device 31 in turn (ST 5, 6), and sales data are collected when the data transmission request passes (ST 7, 8).

After collecting the sales data of all the automatic video rental machines 31 (ST 9), the sales data received from each automatic video rental machine 31 is stored in a form corresponding to the information and the day of the week information of each automatic video rental machine 31. do. Thereafter, the printer 34 is operated to print out the sales data of each of the automatic video rental machines 31 collected (ST 10).

On the other hand, the management headquarters 2 sets a time to collect sales data from each video rental store 3, and, if sales data on a specific day is needed, specifies the date and inputs it (ST 21). In addition, the number of stores in the video rental store 3 that is to be managed by the management headquarters 2 is checked (ST 22, 23).

In the normal data collection operation, when the time to collect the sales data is reached (ST 24), the modem 25 is initialized (ST 25) to request communication to the video rental store 3.

When a communication connection is established with the video rental store 3 and communication is requested from the management headquarters 2 side, the video rental store 3 transfers the daily amount of sales data stored in the buffer memory toward the management headquarters. (ST 2,11).

On the management headquarters 2 side, the process shifts from step 26 (ST 26) to step 27 (ST 27), which is one day's worth of data transferred from the data buffer device 32 of the video rental store 3 via the communication line 6. Collect sales data (ST 28). Next, after cutting the line (ST 29), collecting the sales data for the next video rental store 3, and collecting the sales data from all the video rental stores 3, the process is performed from step 30 (ST 30) to step 31 ( In step 31), the collected sales data is processed and displayed. In addition, the sales data collected from each video rental store is stored and held in a built-in memory corresponding to the information of each store.

Thus, the aggregation process of the sales data performed every day is shown by the arrow A of a solid line in FIG.

In addition, on the management headquarters 2 side, a tally table such as (11) to (20) is prepared on the basis of sales data collected from each store, for example, on a monthly basis. This table is FTP-transferred to the Internet server 5, and becomes accessible from the supply company 4 side of the video cassette tape, for example. In addition, information (a lot of rental times) of popular video cassette tape is disclosed to a general user via the Internet.

Next, in the management headquarters 2, in step 21 (21), when a specific date is specified and input together with the sales data collection time, the sales data of the designated date is displayed as indicated by the broken arrow C in FIG. 4. It is sent to the management headquarters 2 side. In addition, when several dates are designated and input, the sales data of the designated date amount is collectively transferred to the management headquarters 2, as indicated by arrows B in FIG. 4.

In addition, since the data buffer device 32 of the present embodiment is configured to store 10 days worth of sales data, for example, the 11 days from the data accumulation start date, the sales data of the first day is erased. Thereafter, similarly, whenever the daily amount of sales data is accumulated, the sales data of the oldest date is erased. As a result, the latest 10-day sales data is maintained.

The above description is an example in which the present invention is applied to a video rental system using an automatic video rental machine, but the present invention can be applied to the automatic rental system of other goods as well.

In addition, although the sales data is transmitted once a day, for example, it may be transmitted once every two days or several times a day. Furthermore, although the data accumulation amount of the data buffer device is 10 days, it may be less than 9 days or 11 days or more.

Meanwhile, the above description is an example in which the present invention is applied to a video rental store having an automatic video rental machine, but the present invention can be applied to a system for collecting sales data from a store having an automatic product vending machine such as an automatic video vending machine. Of course.

As described above, in the merchandise handling data aggregation system according to the present invention, the merchandise handling data of the automatic merchandise handling machine of each store is automatically collected in the data buffer device for each unit period and accumulated in the buffer memory. The data accumulated in the buffer memory is automatically transferred to the management headquarters once a day, for example, every unit period. Moreover, the management headquarters side can automatically collect data stored in the buffer memory as needed.

Therefore, according to the present invention, since the operator does not need to perform input processing, aggregation, and transmission processing of the product handling data at the store side, the incorrect product handling data is transmitted to the management headquarters due to operation error. The case can be prevented. In addition, when data is transmitted every unit period, when a problem occurs in a communication line or the like and the data in the buffer memory cannot be transmitted to the management headquarters side, the management headquarters side later stores a predetermined amount of data corresponding to the storage capacity of the buffer memory. The required data can be automatically transferred as required. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the damage such as not receiving the product handling data from the management headquarters due to communication problems.

Moreover, since the product handling data of the automatic goods handling machine of each store is automatically collected at the management headquarters side without passing through the hands of the person at the store side, fraudulent processing such as arbitrarily correcting the sales data can be prevented.

On the other hand, at each store side, transmission data corresponding to the data buffer device is printed out by an output device such as a printer. Therefore, it is convenient because the store side can always confirm product handling data. In addition, since such output data becomes a copy of the product handling information on the store side, it can be found even if a misunderstanding or the like occurs during the aggregation of the product handling data on the management headquarters side.

Moreover, the automatic goods handling machine set in each store is provided with the safe which accommodates goods sales money. If the safe is open only to the management headquarters, the management headquarters combines the sales amount of each automatic goods handling machine collected through the communication line with the actual sales amount stored in the safe to detect communication data errors. can do. Further, such irregularities can also be found in the case of arbitrarily changing the product handling data of the automatic goods handling machine or the data transmitted from the data buffer device.

Each automatic merchandise handling device stores and holds the merchandise handling data and is provided with an output device therefor. Therefore, if only the person of the management headquarters is allowed to output the goods handling data through the output device, it is possible to find an irregularity such as arbitrarily changing the transmission data transmitted from the store side to the management headquarters side.

Claims (8)

In a communication system for merchandise handling data aggregation provided with a store equipped with an automatic product handling machine and a management headquarters that can be connected to the store through a communication line, in order to aggregate product handling data by the automatic product handling machine of the store. , The store includes a data buffer device having a buffer memory capable of accumulating product handling data by the automatic product handling device installed in the store for a predetermined period of time, a communication device for communicating with the management headquarters, An output device capable of outputting the product handling data stored in a buffer memory, The data buffer device includes data collecting means for collecting and storing the product handling data in the buffer memory every unit period, and communication control means for transmitting the data stored in the buffer memory to the management headquarters side. The communication control means includes a first data sending function for transmitting a unit period of product handling data to the management headquarters through the communication device every unit period, and a predetermined period accumulated in the buffer memory at the request of the management headquarters. An automatic commodity handling machine having a second data transmission function for collectively transmitting data of an arbitrary unit period or a plurality of unit periods of data of the amount of data to the management headquarters through the communication device; Product handling data aggregation system. According to claim 1, wherein the management headquarters is a communication device for communicating with the store, communication control means for collecting product handling data through the communication device, and the goods transaction status of each store based on the collected product handling data And a data processing means for aggregating the data in predetermined periods, and an output device capable of outputting the data processed by the data processing means. The product handling apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the automatic product handling unit includes a handling product accommodating unit, an automatic handling function for automatically handling a product stored in the handling product accommodating unit, a safe storing a product handling price, and a product. And a data storage unit for storing handling data, and an output unit capable of outputting product handling data stored in the data storage unit. The product handling data according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the product handling data includes at least store identification information, identification information of an automatic goods handling machine, and sales amount. Aggregation system. The product handling apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the output device of the store outputs a product handling data of a unit period amount each time the unit period elapses. Data aggregation system. 6. The product handling data aggregation system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the automatic goods handling machine is an automatic goods rental machine or an automatic goods vending machine. 7. The automatic goods handling machine according to claim 6, wherein the automatic goods handling machine is an automatic goods rental machine, and the product handling data includes information of a user who rents a product, information of a delinquent who has not returned a product even after a return date, and each product that is subject to rental. A product handling data aggregation system for an automatic product handling machine, characterized by including information indicating whether or not to be rentable. The data buffer device according to any one of claims 1 to 7.