KR20180001529A - Apparatus and Method for managing a department - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a device for managing a store and a method thereof. More specifically, the device obtains and processes information from a point of sales (POS) terminal, a sensor device, and a camera and generates information desired by a user to provide the information to the user. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the store management device includes: a communication unit; a memory; an event information reception unit receiving event information in accordance with the occurrence of an event through the communication unit; an image reception unit which receives images recorded at the point of the event occurrence through the communication unit at the point of the event occurrence; and an image storage unit storing the received image in a memory only for a predetermined period from the storage point.

Description

[0001] APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MANAGING A STORE [0002]

And more particularly, to an apparatus and method for acquiring and processing information from a POS terminal, a sensor device, and a camera provided in a store, and generating and providing information desired by a user.

Customers visiting the store carry out commerce activities such as purchasing goods, cancellation of purchase or refund. Most customers who visit the store are doing normal purchasing, while others visit the store to cheat. Closed circuit television (CCTV) is installed in the store to prevent these customers from causing cheating.

The store owner can check all the situations in the store through CCTV. However, it is inefficient and time-consuming to keep track of images taken for a long time by store owners.

Accordingly, it is necessary to provide the store owner with an image of a specific situation or a video image of only a specific situation. It is necessary to provide information on a specific situation when providing the above-mentioned image or image.

One of the problems to be solved by the proposed invention is processing the information received from the POS terminal and the camera and providing it to the user.

Another problem to be solved by the proposed invention is to collect the image of the cash settlement cancellation situation and the image of the cash settlement situation corresponding to the cancellation of the cash settlement when the cash settlement cancellation information is received from the force terminal, .

Another problem to be solved by the proposed invention is to process the information received from the sensor device and the camera and provide the processed information to the user.

Another problem to be solved by the proposed invention is to provide the user with information distinguished from the case in which the movement of the object is detected in the image obtained from the camera and the case in which the movement is detected in the case of receiving the detection information from the sensor device.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

In an aspect, a store management apparatus includes an event information receiving unit that receives event information according to an event occurrence through a communication unit, a memory, and a communication unit, a video receiving unit that receives an image photographed at an event occurrence point at the time of occurrence of an event through the communication unit, And an image storage unit for storing one image in the memory, and storing the image in the memory only for a predetermined period of time from the storage time.

In another aspect, the store management device includes: a still cut generating unit for generating at least one still cut from a received image, the still cut generating unit generating a still cut associated with the event information; and a still- Cut transmission unit.

In still another aspect, the event information receiving unit receives event information from the force terminal.

In another aspect, the event information is payment information including at least one of purchase information, purchase cancellation information, and exchange information.

In still another aspect of the present invention, when the event information receiving unit receives the event information as the purchase cancellation information, the still cut transmission unit transmits the still cut combined with the purchase cancellation information generated by the still cut creating unit to the user terminal, And the still cut combined with the purchase information corresponding to the purchase information.

In another aspect, when the event information receiving unit receives the event information as the purchase cancellation information, the store management apparatus combines the still cut combined with the purchase cancellation information generated by the still cut creating unit and the purchase information corresponding to the purchase cancellation information And determining whether the person included in the still cut is the same person.

In still another aspect, the event information receiving unit receives event information from the sensor device.

In yet another aspect, the event information includes detection information.

In yet another aspect, the store management apparatus further includes a motion detection unit for detecting a motion of a person on the received image when the event information receiving unit receives the event information, which is the sensing information.

The proposed invention can process the information received from the POS terminal and the camera and provide it to the user.

When receiving the cash settlement cancellation information from the force terminal, the proposed invention can collect images of the cash settlement cancellation situation and images of the cash settlement situation corresponding to the cancellation of the cash settlement and provide the images to the user.

The proposed invention can process the information received from the sensor device and the camera and provide it to the user.

When the sensing information is received from the sensor device, the proposed invention can provide information to the user, such as when the motion of the object is detected in the image obtained from the camera, or when the motion is detected.

The effects of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned effects, and various effects can be included within the scope of what is well known to a person skilled in the art from the following description.

1 shows an overall configuration of a store management apparatus according to an embodiment.
2 shows a general flow of a store management method according to an embodiment.

The foregoing and further aspects are embodied through the embodiments described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood that the components of each embodiment are capable of various combinations within an embodiment as long as no other mention or mutual contradiction exists. Furthermore, the proposed invention may be embodied in many different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein.

In order to clearly illustrate the claimed invention, parts not related to the description are omitted, and like reference numerals are used for like parts throughout the specification. And, when a section is referred to as "including " an element, it does not exclude other elements unless specifically stated to the contrary.

1 shows an overall configuration of a store management apparatus according to an embodiment.

The store management device includes a communication unit 10, a memory 20, an event information receiving unit 110, an image receiving unit 120, and an image storage unit 130. [

In one embodiment, the communication unit 10 communicates with a point of sale (POS) terminal, a sensor device 200 and a user terminal 300, which will be described later. The communication unit 10 communicates with a communication method including at least one of ZigBee, WiFi, Bluetooth, near field communication (NFC), TCP / IP, and Ethernet.

In one embodiment, the memory 20 stores information received or generated by the store management device. The memory 20 may be a flash memory 20 or other small nonvolatile memory 20.

In one embodiment, the event information receiving unit 110 receives event information according to the occurrence of the event through the communication unit 10. The event information will be described later in detail.

In one embodiment, the image receiving unit 120 receives an image photographed at an event occurrence point at the time of occurrence of an event through the communication unit 10. [ The image receiving unit 120 receives an image from a device capable of transmitting and receiving a captured image, that is, a camera, such as a CCTV or an IP camera. The camera transmits an image for a time before and after the occurrence of the event to the event information receiving unit 110. [ The time before and after the occurrence of the event is a few seconds. As will be described later, the camera also receives event information from the POS terminal and the sensor device 200, like the store management device. Detects whether or not an event has occurred according to the reception of the event information, and transmits the image for the time before and after the reception of the event information to the store management device.

In one embodiment, the image storage unit 130 stores the received image in the memory 20, and stores the received image in the memory 20 for a predetermined period of time from the stored time. That is, the image storage unit 130 deletes an image after a predetermined time from the memory 20.

In one embodiment, the still cut generator 140 generates one or more still cuts from the received image, but still produces the still cuts combined with the event information. The still cut is a scene at any one of the images captured by the camera. The still cut generation unit 140 generates one or more still cuts from the received image. The still cut generation unit 140 generates a lot of still cuts or generates a small amount of still cuts from one image according to the event information. The still cut generation unit 140 generates more still cuts when the event information is purchase cancellation information, rather than when the event information is purchase information to be described later. The still cut generating unit 140 generates more still cuts when the event information is exchange information than when the event information is purchase information to be described later. The still cut generation unit 140 generates more still cuts when the event information is the purchase cancellation information rather than the exchange information to be described later. That is, the still-cut generation unit 140 may generate a lot of still-cuts or generate less still, depending on the importance of an event.

If the event information is purchase information, the purchase information includes information such as a purchased item, an amount, a purchase time, and a card number when the card is purchased. The still cut generation unit 140 generates a still cut by combining the above-described information and the still cut.

If the event information is the purchase cancellation information, the purchase cancellation information includes information such as a canceled article, a cancellation amount, a cancellation time, and a card number upon cancellation. The still cut generation unit 140 generates a still cut by combining the above-described information and the still cut.

If the event information is exchange information, the exchange information includes information such as the item before exchange, the item exchanged, the amount of the item before exchange, the amount of money exchanged, the exchange time, and the card number used in exchange. The still cut generation unit 140 generates a still cut by combining the above-described information and the still cut.

When the event information is the sensing information to be described later, the sensing information includes information such as a sensing point of time when the sensor device 200 senses a specific object. The still cut generation unit 140 generates a still cut by combining the above-described information and the still cut.

In one embodiment, the still cut transmission unit 150 transmits the still cut generated through the communication unit 10 to the user terminal 300. The details of the still cut have been described above. The user terminal 300 is a device capable of transmitting and receiving information through a wireless network such as a computer, a mobile phone PDA, and the like. The still cut transmission unit can transmit the still cut to the control center apparatus 400 that wirelessly communicates with the store management apparatus. The steel cut transmission unit can transmit not only the steel cut itself but also the processed steel cut processed by the steel cut to the user terminal 300 and the control center apparatus 400. [

In one embodiment, the event information receiving unit 110 receives event information from the POS terminal. A POS terminal can be defined as a POS program and a user computer used in a POS system, that is, a point-of-sale information management system, And a program for intensively managing sales information.

In one embodiment, the event information is payment information including at least one of purchase information, purchase cancellation information, and exchange information. The customer visits the store, considers purchase of the item, cancellation of purchase, exchange of goods, etc. as one event, and when the above-described event occurs, the POS terminal transmits event information to the store management device.

In one embodiment, when the event information receiving unit 110 receives the event information, which is the purchase cancellation information, the still cut transmission unit 150 transmits the still cancellation information, which is combined with the cancellation information generated by the still cut creating unit 140, To the user terminal 300, and simultaneously transmits the still cut combined with the purchase information corresponding to the purchase cancellation information. In the present invention, when a purchase cancellation occurs after purchasing, it is recognized that the possibility of fraud is high. It is necessary to judge whether the customer at the time of purchase matches the customer at the time of canceling the purchase. The still cut transmission unit 150 transmits the still cut combined with the still cut and purchase cancellation information combined with the purchase cancellation information and the corresponding purchase information to the user terminal 300. The user can compare the two still cuts to determine whether or not the malfunction has occurred.

The still cut generating unit 140 may enlarge the still cut associated with the purchase cancellation information to regenerate the still cut. The still cut generating unit 140 may regenerate the still cut by enlarging the still cut associated with the purchase cancellation information and the corresponding purchase information. The still cut transmission unit 150 can transmit the above-described enlarged still cut to the user terminal 300. [

Since the purchase management canceling information includes the article information, the store management apparatus can retrieve purchase information corresponding to the purchase cancellation information from the article information.

In one embodiment, the store management apparatus further includes a person determination unit 160. [

In one embodiment, when the event information receiving unit 110 receives the event information as the purchase cancellation information, the person determining unit 160 determines whether the event information received by the event information receiving unit 110 includes the still cut combined with the purchase cancellation information generated by the still- It is determined whether the person included in the still cut combined with the purchase information corresponding to the purchase cancellation information is the same person. The person determination unit 160 determines whether the person is the same person based on the person recognition algorithm. The character determination unit 160 detects the character of the person in the still-cut character combined with the purchase information, and detects and compares the character of the person in the still-cut character combined with the purchase cancellation information. If the degree of similarity of the characteristics of the person is equal to or more than the reference value, the person determination unit 160 determines that the two persons are the same person.

In one embodiment, the event information receiving unit 110 receives event information from the sensor device 200. [ The sensor device 200 may be an unmanned security device, for example, installed at the entrance of a store.

In one embodiment, the event information includes detection information. The event information is the sensing information generated by the sensor device 200. When the object appears near the sensor device 200, the sensor device 200 generates sensing information. The detection information includes information such as a detection point.

In one embodiment, the store management apparatus further includes a motion detection section 170. [

In one embodiment, when the event information receiving unit 110 receives event information, which is sensing information, the motion detecting unit 170 detects a motion of a person on the received image. The event information includes purchase information, purchase cancellation information, exchange information, and detection information. The motion detecting unit 170 determines that there is a motion of a person when a portion where a change occurs in the image is detected. That is, the motion is detected as a part where the change occurs in the image. The motion includes, for example, movement of a specific object, disappearance of a specific object, and the like. The still cut generation unit 140 also combines the detection information and the motion information generated by the motion detection unit 170 with the still cut to generate a still cut. The still cut transmission unit 150 transmits the generated still cut to at least one of the user terminal 300 and the control center device 400. When the message is transmitted to the user terminal 300, the message can be transmitted in the form of a push message on an SMS or an application installed in the user terminal 300. If the detection information is received but no motion is detected, the sensor device 200 can determine the error.

In one embodiment, the store management device 100 further includes a data retrieval unit 180. [ The data retrieving unit 180 requests the necessary data from the equipment communicating with the store management apparatus 100. Equipment communicating with the store management apparatus 100 is a user terminal 300, a control center apparatus 400, and the like. The store management apparatus requests data collected or generated by the user terminal 300 and the control center apparatus 400, for example.

2 shows a general flow of a store management method according to an embodiment. The order of each step is not limited to the order shown in FIG. 2, and each step may be changed or some steps may be omitted according to the embodiment.

In one aspect, the store management method includes a communication unit, a memory, an event information receiving step (S610), a video receiving step (S620), and an image storing step (S630).

In one embodiment, the communication unit 10 communicates with a point of sale (POS) terminal, a sensor device 200 and a user terminal 300, which will be described later. The communication unit 10 communicates with a communication method including at least one of ZigBee, WiFi, Bluetooth, near field communication (NFC), TCP / IP, and Ethernet.

In one embodiment, the memory stores information received or generated by the store management method. The memory can be a flash memory or other small nonvolatile memory.

In one embodiment, the event information receiving step S610 receives event information according to the occurrence of the event through the communication unit. The event information will be described later in detail.

In one embodiment, the image receiving step S620 receives an image photographed at an event occurrence point at the time of occurrence of an event through the communication unit. The image receiving step S620 receives an image from a device capable of transmitting and receiving a video image captured through a wired / wireless network such as a CCTV or an IP camera, that is, a camera. The camera transmits an image for a time before and after the occurrence of the event to the event information receiving step S610. The time before and after the occurrence of the event is a few seconds. As will be described later, the camera also receives event information from the POS terminal and the sensor device 200 as in the store management method. Detects whether or not an event has occurred according to the reception of the event information, and transmits the image for the time before and after the reception of the event information through the store management method.

In one embodiment, the image storage step S630 stores the received image in the memory, and stores the image in the memory only for a predetermined period of time from the storage time. That is, in the image storage step S630, an image after a predetermined time is deleted from the memory.

In one embodiment, the still cut generation step (S640) generates one or more still cuts from the received image, wherein the still cuts are combined with the event information. The still cut is a scene at any one of the images captured by the camera. The still cut generation step S640 generates one or more still cuts from the received image. In the still cut generation step S640, a lot of still cuts are generated or generated in one image according to the event information. The still cut generation step S640 generates more still cuts when the event information is the purchase cancellation information than when the event information is purchase information to be described later. The still cut generation step S640 generates more still cuts when the event information is exchange information than when the event information is purchase information to be described later. The still cut generation step S640 generates more still cuts when the event information is purchase cancellation information rather than exchange information to be described later. That is, depending on the importance of an event, the still cut generation step (S640) may generate a lot of still cuts or generate less still images even at the same time.

If the event information is purchase information, the purchase information includes information such as a purchased item, an amount, a purchase time, and a card number when the card is purchased. The still cut generation step (S640) generates a still cut by combining the above-described information and the still cut.

If the event information is the purchase cancellation information, the purchase cancellation information includes information such as a canceled article, a cancellation amount, a cancellation time, and a card number upon cancellation. The still cut generation step (S640) generates a still cut by combining the above-described information and the still cut.

If the event information is exchange information, the exchange information includes information such as the item before exchange, the item exchanged, the amount of the item before exchange, the amount of money exchanged, the exchange time, and the card number used in exchange. The still cut generation step (S640) generates a still cut by combining the above-described information and the still cut.

When the event information is the sensing information to be described later, the sensing information includes information such as a sensing point of time when the sensor device 200 senses a specific object. The still cut generation step (S640) generates a still cut by combining the above-described information and the still cut.

In one embodiment, the still cut transmission step (S670) transmits the still cut generated through the communication unit to the user terminal (300). The details of the still cut have been described above. The user terminal 300 is a device capable of transmitting and receiving information through a wireless network such as a computer, a mobile phone PDA, and the like. The still cut transmission step S670 may transmit the still cut to the control center apparatus 400 that is in wireless communication with the store management apparatus. The steel cut transmission unit can transmit not only the steel cut itself but also the processed steel cut processed by the steel cut to the user terminal 300 and the control center apparatus 400. [

In one embodiment, the event information receiving step (S610) receives event information from the force terminal. A POS terminal can be defined as a POS program and a user computer used in a POS system, that is, a point-of-sale information management system, And a program for intensively managing sales information.

The event information is payment information including at least one of purchase information, purchase cancellation information, and exchange information. The customer visits the store, regards the purchase of the item, the cancellation of the purchase, the exchange of the goods as one event, and when the above-mentioned event occurs, the POS terminal transmits the event information by the store management method.

In one embodiment, when the event information receiving step S610 receives the event information, which is the purchase cancellation information, the still cut transmission step S670 is a step of combining the purchase cancellation information generated by the still cut creating step S640 Transmits the still cut to the user terminal 300, and simultaneously transmits the still cut combined with the purchase information corresponding to the purchase cancellation information. In the present invention, when a purchase cancellation occurs after purchasing, it is recognized that the possibility of fraud is high. It is necessary to judge whether the customer at the time of purchase matches the customer at the time of canceling the purchase. The still cut transmission step S670 transmits the still cut combined with the still cut and purchase cancellation information combined with the purchase cancellation information and the corresponding purchase information to the user terminal 300. [ The user can compare the two still cuts to determine whether or not the malfunction has occurred.

The still cut creation step (S640) may enlarge the still cut combined with the purchase cancellation information to regenerate the still cut. The still cut creation step S640 may re-create the still cut by enlarging the still cut associated with the purchase cancellation information and the corresponding purchase information. The still cut transmission step (S670) may transmit the enlarged still cut described above to the user terminal (300).

Since the purchase cancellation information includes the article information, the store management method can retrieve the purchase information corresponding to the purchase cancellation information from the article information.

In one embodiment, the store management method further comprises a person determination step (S650).

In one embodiment, in the event determination step S650, when the event information receiving step S610 receives the event information as the purchase cancellation information, the person determining step S650 determines whether the still cut, which is combined with the purchase cancellation information generated by the still- And the person included in the still cut combined with the purchase information corresponding to the purchase cancellation information are the same person. The person determination step S650 determines whether the person is the same person based on the person recognition algorithm. In the character determination step S650, the feature of the person is detected in the still-cut person combined with the purchase information, and the character of the person is detected and compared with the still-cut person associated with the purchase cancellation information. The person determination step S650 determines that the two persons are the same person if the degree of similarity of the characteristics of the person is equal to or more than the reference according to a predetermined criterion.

In one embodiment, the event information receiving step S610 receives event information from the sensor device 200. [ The sensor device 200 may, for example, be installed at the entrance of the store.

In one embodiment, the event information includes detection information. The event information is the sensing information generated by the sensor device 200. When the object appears near the sensor device 200, the sensor device 200 generates sensing information. The detection information includes information such as a detection point.

In one embodiment, the store management method further comprises a motion detection step (S660).

In one embodiment, the motion detection step S660 detects the motion of the person on the received image when the event information receiving step S610 receives the event information as the sensing information. The motion detection step (S660) determines that there is a motion of a person when a portion where a change occurs in the image is detected. That is, the motion is detected as a part where the change occurs in the image. The motion includes, for example, movement of a specific object, disappearance of a specific object, and the like. The still cut generation step S640 also combines the detection information and the motion information generated by the motion detection step S660 with the still cut to generate a still cut. The still cut transmission step (S670) transmits the generated still cut to at least one of the user terminal (300) and the control center device (400). When the message is transmitted to the user terminal 300, the message can be transmitted in the form of a push message on an SMS or an application installed in the user terminal 300. The still cut transmission step (S670) transmits the generated still cut to the user terminal (300). If the detection information is received but no motion is detected, the sensor device 200 can determine the error.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is clearly understood that the same is by way of illustration and example only and is not to be taken by way of limitation and that those skilled in the art will recognize that various modifications and equivalent arrangements may be made therein. It will be possible. Accordingly, the true scope of protection of the present invention should be determined only by the appended claims.

As used herein, the term " block " refers to a block of hardware or software configured to be changed or pluggable, i.e., a unit or block that performs a specific function in hardware or software.

10:
20: Memory
100: store management device
110: Event information receiving unit
120:
130:
140: Steel cut generation unit
150: Steel cut transmission part
160:
170:
180: Data retrieval unit
200: Sensor device
300: user terminal
400: Control center device

Claims (4)

A communication unit;
Memory;
An event information receiving unit for receiving event information according to the occurrence of an event through the communication unit;
An image receiving unit that receives an image photographed at an event occurrence point at an event occurrence time through the communication unit;
An image storage unit for storing the received image in a memory, and storing the received image in a memory only for a predetermined period of time from the stored time;
A still cut generating unit for generating a still cut associated with the event information from the received image and generating at least one still cut by varying the number of still cuts according to the importance of the event information; And
A still cut transmission unit for transmitting the still cut to the user terminal through the communication unit;
Lt; / RTI >
The event information includes:
Payment information including at least one of purchase information, purchase cancellation information, and exchange information,
The still cut transmission unit includes:
Wherein when the event information receiving unit receives the event information as the purchase cancellation information, the still cut unit combines the purchase cut information generated by the still cut creating unit with the purchase information corresponding to the purchase cancellation information, And the still cut is transmitted at the same time.
The method according to claim 1,
When the event information receiving unit receives the event information which is the purchase cancellation information, the still cut combined with the purchase cancellation information generated by the still cut creating unit and the person included in the still cut combined with the purchase information corresponding to the purchase cancellation information, And a person judging unit for judging whether or not the person is in charge of the store.
A method for managing a store by a store management device,
An event information receiving step of receiving event information according to the occurrence of an event from the POS terminal through a communication unit;
A video receiving step of receiving an image photographed at an event occurrence point at an event occurrence time through a communication unit;
Storing the received image in a memory, and storing the received image in a memory only for a predetermined period of time from the stored time;
A still cut generation step of generating a still cut from the received image combined with the event information, and generating at least one still cut by varying the number of still cuts according to the importance of the event information; And
A still cut transmission step of transmitting the still cut to a user terminal through a communication unit;
Lt; / RTI >

The event information includes:
Payment information including at least one of purchase information, purchase cancellation information, and exchange information,
Wherein when the event information is received in the event information receiving step, the still cut associated with the purchase cancellation information is transmitted to the user terminal in the still cut transmission step, And the still cut is transmitted at the same time.
The method of claim 3,
The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of, when receiving the event information as the purchase cancellation information in the event information receiving step, adding the still cut combined with the purchase cancellation information generated in the still cut creating step and the still cut combined with the purchase information corresponding to the purchase cancellation information And determining whether the included person is the same person.

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