LT5659B - Method for efficiency estimation of service place and for forming a queue - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to signaling, personal calling, indicating of engaged places. Method for estimation efficiency of a service place and for forming a queue, when an automatic controller accept information from a sensor, and processes and transmits to dates supply device and/or to device for storing and processing dates. A controller measures an efficiency of market place. Sensors calculate customers in a queue at a till and/or purchasable goods at/or on a conveyer. Date displaying device forms a queue and informs customers about an efficiency of service.

Description

Technical field

The invention relates to the field of signaling, personal calling, permanent indication of occupied positions.

State of the art

Nowadays, queuing and management systems are popular on the market, where you need to queue and print a queue ticket to get to a service point. Most often these systems are used in the financial services and public sector eg. in customer service halls of banks and telecommunication companies, public service offices, health care centers, libraries, etc. The principle behind these systems is to transfer the live queue to the queue for

to the point of service, the person of interest is immediately directed to it according to his or her serial number. These systems also allow you to diversify the flow of interested people, for example by passing some customers without waiting. An important feature of these systems is that it is managed by service personnel, i.e. they decide when to notify the system that the service point is vacant.

Patent application US6059184, "Method and device for serial number systems". This application describes a method and device comprising at least one distribution device that provides a customer with a service order number. Distributed numbers are registered and, when the order number arrives, the customer is served by calling the information system. This gives priority to more important customers.

The use of this system at point of sale is not possible for the following reasons:

- waiting areas must be provided so that queued customers can have a place to wait;

- merchants would lose a large part of the profits from the shelves at the checkout counter, since in the absence of a live queue at the checkout much less buyers would be tempted by the trivia on these shelves;

- supermarket staff could abuse their right to state the fact of a checkout;

- you can't count how many goods you have with the buyer.

A similar method of signaling busy places is known. It is usually used where interesting services are provided in a closed room, separated from the waiting room, eg. health centers, government agencies, as well as car parks, conference centers. The operation of the method is based on the fact that there may be only one interesting one at a time at the service point (not so much for service, but physically indoors, in a parking space, in a chair, etc.).

Such a method is described in US 6,917,307 B2 - "Parking Lot Management System and Method". This system consists of one parking sensor for one parking space, which detects the presence of an object (machine) in the parking area, a computer that collects data from all sensors located above the parking areas and shows the empty spaces at the parking entrance so that drivers can know where vacancies are and their numbers. This makes it easier to find a blank space.

This technique is inefficient in trade halls.

Most of the retail outlets are equipped with a large number of customer service points. These checkouts are arranged in a single line. Above the cash registers are the shelves of tobacco products, and near the cash registers the shelves of small goods. These shelves cover the cash registers and even from a short distance it is difficult to see if the cash register is working and how many people are on it. The present invention is intended to show, over a great distance, which pancreas are operational and which are less loaded than others. By seeing this information from a distance, the customer can more easily choose the cashier to pay. He no longer has to go through all the cash registers until he finds one where he is comfortable paying. At the same time, there is much greater efficiency in the work of box office staff, since even distribution of customers across the box office will reduce queues, reduce the workload gap between popular and unpopular box office staff, and reduce staffing levels without compromising service quality.

The essence of the invention

Provides a method of measuring and queuing for point-of-sale service, where an autonomous controller receives, transmits and processes information from a transducer to a data display device and / or data acquisition and processing device, and uses a controller to measure point-of-sale counters, queues at checkout numbers and / or the items they buy near or at the counter (conveyor belt), and the queue is formed by a data display device, informing shoppers of current box office availability

The control unit generates appropriate signals for transmitters or sensors for their initiation and reads the sensors' states. According to the results obtained, they shall be submitted to at least one external rendering system.

Sensors can be optical, scales, mechanical and mounted above, at or near the cash register, so that the number of items, the number of people, or the number of items in the trolleys can be determined.

Since the control unit is freely programmable, we can display the results not only with the help of LEDs, but also display them on LCD, TV screens, displays. Also, this feature allows to connect different types of sensors, video cameras.

Several such systems can be connected to each other or to a computer via USB, RS232 connections.

In the drawing, description of the figures

Figure 1 shows a general view of the system using an optical sensor and a light source data display device. The drawing shows a cash register conveyor (1) with optical sensors (2) mounted on its edges. infrared. Next to the cash register (3), a controller (4) is mounted at the cashier's access point, housing a power button (5) and a duplicate light source (6) of the data display device. Above the cash register hangs an elongated 'stick' (7) with light sources (8). When the product has crossed the IR beam (9) onto the conveyor, the controller will extinguish or illuminate the required light source.

In the drawing, FIG. Figure 2 shows the logic diagram of the device operation. It shows how the device works, i.e. the first sensor is initially checked, if there is no direct line of sight between the receiver and the transmitter, the next sensor is checked, and so on.

Description of Embodiment of the Invention

After the sensor has recorded the goods, the buyers are informed. By choosing the least busy checkout each time and avoiding heavily loaded checkouts, shoppers will greatly improve their efficiency and service quality.

The system described consists of three main parts - a programmable control unit (controller), a measuring sensor and a data display device.

A programmable control unit is an electronic circuit with a programmable controller, digital and analog inputs and outputs. The circuit is powered by a 9V 300mA power supply. The circuit is usually mounted in a plastic box suitable for mounting on a DIN rail in electrical panels or directly on any plane. There is a switch on the box which activates the control unit. There are also connectors on the box that connect external controlled devices - sensors for displaying and measuring data. The control unit is provided with a wireless communication system (depending on the circumstances may be optical, radio, bluetooh, wireless, etc.), which allows wireless connection to the measuring sensors and data display devices. The control unit is adapted to connect to any other device via various connectors eg. COM, USB, LAN and more. The control unit is a freely programmable device and, depending on the circumstances and the devices to which it is connected, can be properly programmed to receive or send any information.

The operation of the installed three-part system is based on the fact that, when the measuring sensor captures an item or a buyer, the signal is wired or wirelessly transmitted to the control unit, which, after processing, sends a signal to the data display device. The circuitry of the device is electrical, and the reception and transmission of electrical signals is controlled by a freely programmable controller.

FIG. 1 shows a system that is assembled at a conveyor belt comprising five optical sensors, a control unit and a light source data display device.

Infrared sensors are located directly above the conveyor. The transducer consists of an IR transmitter and a receiver. The transmitter and receiver mounted on opposite sides of the conveyor are facing each other and form an angle of usually 45 to 90 degrees to the edge of the conveyor. The control unit is installed at the cash desk in a convenient location for the cashier. The data display device hangs from the ceiling at the checkout points.

In the event that no one limits the IR beam, the control unit will illuminate the corresponding number of green LEDs - as many beams as there are unlimited goods.

When the cashier opens the cash register and the control unit is turned on, the green LED lights up to indicate that the cash register is working. Since there is no product on the conveyor, all the green LEDs on the data display device are lit. Buyers are informed that this cash register is ready for use and has no buyers. When the buyer arrives and places the goods on the conveyor, they cover part of the IR beam. Proportionally covered part of the rays extinguishes part of the green LEDs and other preachers are informed that the pancreas is partially overloaded.

When the cashier closes the cash register and the control unit is turned off, a red LED lights up, which informs the buyers that the cashier is not currently considering the customer.

Claims (10)

Definition of the Invention 1. A method of measuring and queuing a point of service, whereby an autonomously operating controller receives information from a sensor, processes it and transmits it to a data reporting device and / or data acquisition and processing device, other than measuring the point of sale to the point of sale. the queue of shoppers and / or the goods they purchase are located near or on the counter (conveyor belt), and the queue is formed by a data display device, informing shoppers of the current availability of the box office. 2. A method as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the sensors are installed at or near the cash desk. 3. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one pressure transducer is installed underneath the counter and / or under the floor near the counter. 4. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that a measuring transducer which is at least one optical transducer is mounted above and / or adjacent to the counter on the passage therethrough. 5. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the measuring transducer is at least one mechanical pressing device installed in and / or adjacent to the counter. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the measuring sensor is at least one video camera mounted above the counter. 7. A method as claimed in any of claims 3 to 6, wherein the data display device displays data with the aid of a light source by igniting or extinguishing at least one light source. 8. The method of claims 3 to 6, wherein the data display device displays data on a video display. 9. The method of claims 3-6, wherein the data display device transmits data by audio signals. 10. A method as claimed in any of claims 3 to 6, wherein the data delivery device provides data in a mechanized motion.