WO2018110358A1

WO2018110358A1 - Heating cooking device and store system, and fee charging method using heating cooking device

Info

Publication number: WO2018110358A1
Application number: PCT/JP2017/043554
Authority: WO
Inventors: 幸田岡; 巌徹松井
Original assignee: パナソニックＩｐマネジメント株式会社
Priority date: 2016-12-15
Filing date: 2017-12-05
Publication date: 2018-06-21
Also published as: JPWO2018110358A1; JP6913857B2

Abstract

This heat cooking device is provided with: a heating chamber; a heating unit for heating a commodity in the heating chamber; a heating control unit (251) for controlling the heating unit; a commodity identification unit (220) for identifying the commodity placed in the heating chamber; and a fee charging processing unit (210) for performing fee charging. The fee charging processing unit (210) identifies the commodity to be heated by the heating unit by using the commodity identification unit (220), and performs fee charging processing on the basis of the identified result. This enables heating and checkout to be completed by putting a commodity in the heating chamber, when the commodity, such as a boxed lunch, which is arranged on a product shelf is purchased and heated.

Description

Heating cooker and store system, and billing method using heating cooker

The present disclosure relates to a cooking device that heats food selected from a product shelf, a store system in which the cooking device is installed, and a billing method using the cooking device.

A microwave oven, which is a typical cooking device, can heat foods in containers without using pans and pans. A store that sells lunch boxes and prepared dishes in containers and sells them on a product shelf may provide a service in which purchased food is heated using a microwave oven.

A typical example of such a store is a convenience store (hereinafter referred to as CVS). In recent years, in many CVS, a customer picks and selects a product such as a lunch box arranged in a product shelf. A service is provided in which a store clerk heats and provides a product received from a customer in a microwave oven at the back of the cash register at the checkout.

In recent years, due to a shortage of personnel in the service industry, CVS is also required to reduce the work time and labor of store clerk.

In recent years, the competition for customer acquisition between CVS and fast food has intensified. In CVS, while the staff of a store clerk is insufficient, improvement in the quality of service to customers, which is not found in vending machines, is demanded.

For example, in CVS, a style in which a customer purchases a product such as a lunch box arranged on a product shelf, warms it with a microwave oven, and eats at an eat-in corner is widespread.

Also, some customers buy desserts and drinks with their lunch boxes and take them home, or warm some products with a microwave and take them home to eat. As such, CVS offers a variety of meal styles, locations, and experience value.

Many customers who purchase food at CVS are customers who want to reduce the time and effort required to go to restaurants and to cook at home. Therefore, from entering a store to opening a store (for example, entering a store → product selection → checkout → heating → opening) and from entering a store to eat-in (for example, entering a store → selecting a product → checkout → heating → eat-in corner) It is demanded to reduce the total time.

As described above, in CVS, while maintaining and improving the quality of service, it is required to reduce the time and labor of the customer as well as the work hours and labor of the store clerk.

However, as before, when the store clerk heats the product received from the customer during checkout settlement, it takes time and labor for the store clerk, and a waiting time at the customer's cash register occurs.

As a conventional technology for shortening the customer's waiting time at the cash register, when heating the purchased product, the food information selected by the customer is notified to the cashier clerk, and the clerk pre-pays the food before paying the customer's cash register. There is a method of heating (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2002-298220 A

However, with the above-described conventional method, the customer needs twice the input to the food selection machine and the checkout. In addition, there is a problem that the work time (settlement, heating) per customer of the store clerk is not shortened, and the waiting time for the checkout of the customer is not shortened.

As a measure to shorten the work hours of the store clerk, a method is considered in which the heating in the microwave oven is made self and the customer himself / herself heats the product after the cash register is settled in the microwave oven installed in the store. ing.

However, self-heating in the microwave oven eliminates the need for the clerk to heat the product and reduces the work time for the clerk, but increases the heating time for the customer, resulting in a total from entering the store to opening the store. There is a problem that the time and the total time from entry to eat-in are not shortened.

In this disclosure, in a CVS store where products such as lunch boxes arranged on product shelves are purchased and heated, the work time and labor of the clerk are reduced, and the total time from entry to opening of the customer In addition, at least one of the total time from entering the store to eat-in and the time and effort can be reduced.

The cooking device of the present disclosure includes a heating chamber, a heating unit that heats a product in the heating chamber, a heating control unit that controls the heating unit, a product identification unit that identifies a product placed in the heating chamber, A billing processing unit that performs billing. Then, the charging processing unit identifies the product heated by the heating unit using the product identifying unit, and performs the charging process based on the identified result.

The store system of the present disclosure includes the above-described cooking device.

Further, the store system of the present disclosure is a store system including the above-described heating cooker, cash register, and history management server. Then, the history management server stores the information on the product charged by the heating cooker, the first purchase history including the customer information, the information on the product settled at the cash register, and the customer information. A second purchase history is received.

The charging method according to the present disclosure is a charging method using a heating cooker including a heating chamber, a heating unit that heats a product in the heating chamber, and a heating control unit that controls the heating unit. And it is the method of identifying the said goods put in the heating chamber, and charging based on the identified result.

With the above configuration and method, in the scene where products such as lunch boxes arranged on the product shelf are purchased and heated, the product can be heated and settled by placing the product in a heating cabinet. As a result, the work time of the store clerk can be shortened, and at least one of the total time from entry to opening of the customer and the total time from entry to eat-in can be reduced.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an appearance of a microwave oven as a typical cooking device in the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a microwave oven and a store system in which the microwave oven is installed in the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of product information attached to a product in the first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the microwave oven in the present embodiment. FIG. 5A is a diagram illustrating a flow of operations performed by a customer A and a store clerk when a microwave oven is installed behind a conventional cash register and the store clerk operates the microwave oven to perform heating. FIG. 5B shows a case where the microwave oven does not include a billing processing unit, and the customer A performs heating by operating the microwave oven (hereinafter referred to as a self-range) placed in an operable place. It is a figure which shows the flow of the operation | movement which A and a shop assistant perform. FIG. 5C is a diagram illustrating a flow of operations performed by the customer A and the store clerk when the microwave oven according to the present embodiment is used.

(Examples of aspects that the present disclosure can take)
A first aspect of the present disclosure includes a heating chamber, a heating unit that heats a product in the heating chamber, a heating control unit that controls the heating unit, and a product identification unit that identifies a product placed in the heating chamber. And a charging processing unit that performs charging. The billing processing unit identifies the product to be heated by the heating unit using the product identification unit, and performs billing processing based on the identified result.

This makes it possible to complete the payment by placing the product in the heating cabinet in the scene of purchasing and heating the product such as a lunch box arranged on the product shelf. Therefore, it is possible to shorten the work time of the store clerk and to reduce at least one of the total time from entry to opening of the customer and the total time from entry to eat-in.

The second aspect is the cooking device according to the first aspect, and further includes a customer identification unit for identifying a customer. The billing processing unit performs billing processing for the customer identified by the customer identifying unit.

This allows customers to complete payment using customer information by placing products in the heating cabinet. In addition, the work hours of the store clerk can be shortened, and at least one of the total time from entry to opening of the customer and the total time from entry to eat-in can be reduced.

A 3rd aspect is a heating cooker of a 1st aspect or a 2nd aspect, Comprising: A goods identification part analyzes the image image | photographed with the imaging | photography part which image | photographs the inside of a heating chamber, and is heated, An image analysis unit for identifying a product placed in the warehouse.

Thus, by placing the product in the heating chamber, the product information of the product can be read by the photographing unit and payment can be completed.

A 4th aspect is a heating cooker of a 2nd aspect, Comprising: A card | curd identification which a customer identification part specifies a customer using the card | curd reading part which reads card | curd information, and the card | curd information read by the card | curd reading part. Part.

Thus, the customer can be identified by reading the ID card held by the customer, and the settlement using the customer information can be completed.

A fifth aspect is the heating cooker disclosed in any one of the first aspect to the fourth aspect, wherein the charging processing unit is heated by the heating unit from when the product is put into the heating chamber. The billing process is performed until the process ends.

As a result, product heating and payment can be performed in parallel, reducing the work hours of the store clerk, and at least the total time from entry to opening of the customer and the total time from entry to eat-in. Either can be reduced.

The sixth aspect is the heating cooker according to the fifth aspect, and the heating control unit starts heating by the heating unit after the charging processing unit starts the charging process.

As a result, product heating and payment can be performed in parallel, reducing the work hours of the store clerk, and at least the total time from entry to opening of the customer and the total time from entry to eat-in. Either can be reduced. Moreover, once the product is heated, the product cannot be sold to other customers, and it is possible to prevent the product that has not been settled from being heated.

The seventh aspect is the heating cooker according to the fifth aspect, wherein the billing processing unit starts billing processing after the product is put into the heating chamber, and the heating control unit is billed by the billing processing unit. When fails, heating of the product by the heating unit is not started.

This makes it possible to prevent products that have not been settled from being heated.

The eighth aspect is a heating cooker according to any one of the second aspect to the seventh aspect, and further includes a communication unit that communicates with an external device. The communication unit transmits the purchase history including the product information and customer information charged by the charging processing unit to the history management server.

This allows the history management server to manage the product and customer information that has been settled with the heating cooker.

The ninth aspect is the cooking device of the eighth aspect, further comprising a display unit for displaying information and a display control unit for controlling the display unit. The display control unit should provide the customer based on the product identified by the product identification unit and the purchase history information of the customer identified by the customer identification unit acquired from the history management server using the communication unit. Information is specified and information is displayed on the display unit.

This makes it possible to reduce the stress of customers waiting time during heating.

The tenth aspect is a store system including the heating cooker according to any aspect from the first aspect to the ninth aspect.

As a result, the product can be settled by placing the product in the heating chamber, shortening the work time of the store clerk, and the total time from entry to opening of the customer and the total time from entry to eat-in. At least one of them can be reduced.

The eleventh aspect is a store system composed of the heating cooker, cash register, and history management server of the eighth aspect or the ninth aspect. The history management server includes a first purchase history including product information charged by the heating cooker and customer information, and a second purchase history including product information and customer information settled at the cash register. Receive.

Thus, the history management server can centrally manage the product and customer information settled by the heating cooker together with the product and customer information settled by the cash register or the like.

A charging method according to a twelfth aspect of the present disclosure is a charging method using a heating cooker that includes a heating chamber, a heating unit that heats a product in the heating chamber, and a heating control unit that controls the heating unit. . And it is the method of identifying the said goods put in the heating chamber, and charging based on the identified result.

This makes it possible to complete the payment by placing the product in a heating cabinet in a scene where a product such as a bento box is purchased and heated on the product shelf. Therefore, it is possible to shorten the work time of the store clerk and reduce at least one of the total time from the customer entering the store to the store and the total time from entering the store to the eat-in.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings as appropriate. However, more detailed explanation than necessary may be omitted. For example, detailed descriptions of already well-known matters and overlapping descriptions for substantially the same configuration may be omitted. This is to avoid the following description from becoming unnecessarily redundant and to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

It should be noted that the accompanying drawings and the following description are provided for those skilled in the art to fully understand the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the claimed subject matter.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an appearance of a microwave oven 100 which is a typical cooking device in the first embodiment.

1, a microwave oven 100 includes a housing 102 and a door 103 that is pivotally supported by the housing 102 so as to be opened and closed.

The door 103 has a transparent glass window 104 so that the customer can see the inside of the housing 102. Furthermore, the door 103 also has a handle 105 so that the customer can easily grasp the door 103.

Next to the door 103, an operation display unit 106 is arranged. The operation display unit 106 includes a liquid crystal display 107, a time setting button group 108, a heating start button 109, a cancel button 110, and a pause button 111.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the microwave oven 100 and the store system 280 in which the microwave oven 100 is installed in the present embodiment.

In FIG. 2, the store system 280 includes a microwave oven 100. The store system 280 further includes a cash register 270 for the store clerk to check out the product.

The store system 280 is connected to the history management server 290.

The history management server 290 stores history information (at least product and customer information) of products purchased by the customer. The history management server 290 is connected to the microwave oven 100 and the cash register 270 via a network. The history management server 290 collects information on billing processes performed in the microwave oven 100 and the cash register 270, respectively.

In the present embodiment, the history management server 290 is installed outside the store system 280, but the history management server 290 may be installed inside the store system 280.

Furthermore, the history management server 290 may have a function of managing history information provided in the microwave oven 100.

The microwave oven 100 is installed in the store system 280, and performs heating and billing processing of the product put in the heating cabinet for the product in the store. Items in the store are settled at the microwave oven 100 or the cash register 270 in the store.

The microwave oven 100 includes a billing processing unit 210, a product identification unit 220, a customer identification unit 230, a display unit 240, a display control unit 241, a magnetron 250, a heating control unit 251, and a communication unit 260.

The microwave oven 100 identifies the product placed in the heating chamber by the product identification unit 220 and recognizes the customer by the customer identification unit 230. Then, the charging processing unit 210 of the microwave oven 100 charges the product identified by the product identifying unit 220 to the customer recognized by the customer identifying unit 230.

In this embodiment, a mode in which the microwave oven 100 is installed in a store will be described. However, in the present disclosure, the installation location of the microwave oven 100 is not limited to the store. For example, even if the microwave oven 100 is installed in an office and the microwave oven 100 performs heating and billing processing of products sold for office employees, the present invention can be implemented.

The billing processing unit 210 performs billing processing for the product put in the heating chamber for the identified customer. Here, the customer identification unit 230 performs customer identification, and the product identification unit 220 identifies the product put into the heating chamber.

The billing processing unit 210 further transmits purchase history information in which customer identification information and product identification information are linked to the history management server 290 via the communication unit 260 at the time of billing. Then, the history management server 290 stores purchase history information.

The billing processing unit 210 is based on information such as a credit card or a point card with a settlement function held by the customer identified by the customer identifying unit 230 as billing processing (specifically, billing request processing). Using the communication unit 260, the customer identification information and the product identification information are transmitted to a server such as a card company to request charging. Based on the request, the card company server charges the customer. Note that the billing processing unit 210 may charge on the microwave oven 100 side by reading the prepaid card held by the customer and subtracting the product price from the remaining amount. Further, the billing target may be a virtual currency such as a cryptocurrency in addition to the currency and points.

In addition, the billing processing unit 210 may perform billing processing based on information of an IC card with a settlement function held by a customer (including those built in electronic devices such as mobile phones).

The product identification unit 220 identifies products (items, etc.) that have been put into the heating chamber. The product identification unit 220 includes a camera 221 (an example of a photographing unit) and an image analysis unit 222. The camera 221 captures an image of the inside of the heating chamber. The camera 221 includes an optical member such as a lens and an image sensor such as a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) or a CCD (Charge Coupled Device). The image analysis unit 222 analyzes at least one of the product image and the barcode information in the image taken by the camera 221 to identify the product.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of product information 300 attached to a product in the first embodiment of the present disclosure.

The image analysis unit 222 extracts the product information 300 shown in FIG. 3 from the product image taken by the camera 221.

The product information 300 includes, for example, a product item 310, heating control information 320, a product price 330, a barcode 340, and the like.

The image analysis unit 222 identifies the product item by at least one of character analysis of the product item 310 and bar code 340 analysis.

The image analysis unit 222 identifies the product price by at least one of character analysis of the product price 330 and analysis of the barcode 340. The image analysis unit 222 reads the heating control information 320, delivers the heating control information to the heating control unit 251, and gives a heating instruction.

In this embodiment, a mode in which the inside of the heating chamber is photographed by the camera 221 and a product is identified based on the image information will be described. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this example.

For example, the product may be identified by providing a barcode reader in the microwave oven 100 and causing the barcode reader to read a portion corresponding to the barcode 340 of the product information 300 attached to the product. The product identification unit 220 may use any method as long as it can identify the product to be heated.

The customer identification unit 230 identifies a customer who purchases and heats a product. The customer identification unit 230 includes a card reading unit 231 and a card identification unit 232.

The card reading unit 231 reads the card information by holding the ID card held by the customer or passing the ID card. The card reading unit 231 corresponds to at least one of magnetic reading and near field communication, and is configured by hardware that reads information on the card.

The card identification unit 232 identifies the customer based on the card information read by the card reading unit 231. In the present embodiment, a mode in which the card identification unit 232 is provided in the microwave oven 100 will be described, but the present disclosure is not limited to this example. For example, the customer may be specified by providing the card identification unit 232 in an external server and exchanging information between the server and the microwave oven 100.

In the present embodiment, a method in which the card reading unit 231 reads an ID card held by a customer and identifies the customer will be described. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this example.

The customer identification unit 230 may use any method as long as it can uniquely identify a customer. For example, a customer's voice is registered in advance, a method for identifying a customer by voice recognition in a dialogue with the customer, a method for identifying a customer by communication with a customer's smartphone, and the outside of the microwave oven 100 A method of identifying a customer from a photographed image by a camera or the like can be used.

The heating control unit 251 controls the magnetron 250 (an example of a heating unit) according to the heating control information from the product identification unit 220.

Note that the control method performed by the heating control unit 251 is not limited to the method of performing control according to the heating control information instructed from the product identification unit 220. For example, the heating control unit 251 may perform control according to the heating control information input by the customer using the time setting button group 108 of the microwave oven 100.

The magnetron 250 outputs a high frequency in the heating chamber to heat products such as food.

Display unit 240 displays information based on at least one of product information and customer information among purchase history information. The display unit 240 is a liquid crystal display, for example. The display unit 240 is described as the liquid crystal display 107 as an example in FIG.

The display control unit 241 uses the product information obtained from the product identification unit 220, the customer information obtained from the customer identification unit 230, and the customer purchase history acquired from the history management server 290 via the communication unit 260. Display on the display unit 240. The display control unit 241 generates food information, calorie information, and advertising information based on customer preferences analyzed from the purchase history, and displays the information on the display unit 240. .

The communication unit 260 is configured by hardware corresponding to at least one of a wired LAN, a wireless LAN (Wi-Fi), and a carrier line (3G, 4G, LTE, etc.).

The microwave oven 100 includes a peripheral circuit such as a microcomputer and a memory (not shown). The billing processing unit 210, the image analysis unit 222, the card identification unit 232, the display control unit 241 and the heating control unit 251 are realized by a microcomputer, software operating on the microcomputer, a memory, and the like.

It should be noted that the microcomputer and the peripheral circuit may be in any form as long as they perform control described later. The billing processing unit 210, the image analysis unit 222, the card identification unit 232, the display control unit 241 and the heating control unit 251 may be configured by an arithmetic processing unit and a storage unit that stores a control program. Examples of the arithmetic processing unit include an MPU (Micro Processing Unit) and a CPU (Central Processing Unit). A memory is exemplified as the storage unit. The control program recorded in the storage unit is executed by the arithmetic processing unit.

Further, the control unit may be configured by hard logic. Constructing the control unit with hardware logic is effective in improving the processing speed. The control unit may be composed of one semiconductor chip or physically composed of a plurality of semiconductor chips. When configured by a plurality of semiconductor chips, each control described later can be realized by a separate semiconductor chip.

The history management server 290 collects and stores customer purchase history information in at least one of the other billing locations such as the microwave oven 100 and the cash register 270. Here, as the number of billing locations from which customer purchase history information is collected increases, information based on customer preferences can be presented more. For example, by collecting purchase history information in the microwave oven 100, it is possible to analyze the preference based on the product heated by the customer, but all billing locations (for example, the microwave oven 100 and the cash register 270) in the store system 280 are possible. If the purchase history information is collected, preference analysis based not only on products heated by the customer but also on all products purchased in the store system 280 can be performed.

The purchase history information in the microwave oven 100 is information in which the customer information identified by the customer identifying unit 230 and the product information identified by the product identifying unit 220 are linked.

Here, both the customer information and the product information are information described according to a format defined in the store system 280 of the present embodiment.

Purchase history information at other billing locations such as cash register 270 also follows this format. The purchase history information is information registered at the time of billing and can be referred to in the store system 280.

The operation of the microwave oven 100 and the store system 280 configured as described above will be described.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the microwave oven 100 in the present embodiment.

First, the customer performs an operation such as passing the reading portion of the ID card through the card reading portion 231 or holding the reading portion over the card reading portion 231.

The card reading unit 231 reads customer information from the customer ID card. The card identification unit 232 identifies the customer based on the information read by the card reading unit 231. The customer identifying unit 230 outputs the identified customer information to the billing processing unit 210 (S401).

Customer opens the door 103 of the microwave oven 100, places the product in the heating chamber, and then closes the door 103.

The product identification unit 220 detects that the door 103 is closed, and uses the camera 221 to capture an image in the heating chamber. The image analysis unit 222 analyzes at least one of the product image and the barcode information in the image captured by the camera 221 and identifies information about the product such as the product item and the product price. Then, the merchandise item identification unit 220 outputs the identified merchandise item, merchandise price, and the like to the billing processing unit 210 (S402).

In this embodiment, after the customer identification process in step S401 is performed, the product identification process in step S402 is performed. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this example. For example, after the product identification process in step S402 is performed, the customer identification process in step S401 may be performed, or the customer identification process in step S401 and the product identification process in S402 may be performed in parallel. .

The billing processing unit 210 performs billing processing (billing request processing) for the product identified by the product identifying unit 220 for the customer identified by the customer identifying unit 230 (S403).

The billing processing unit 210 responds that the billing process has failed, for example, that the customer's credit card is unavailable or the remaining amount of the prepaid card is less than the product price, that is, the billing cannot be performed. Is received from the server or the like (S404, NO), the display unit 240 displays that the charging process has failed and the cause of the failure, and the process ends (S405).

On the other hand, when the charging processing unit 210 succeeds in the charging process (S404, YES), the heating control unit 251 receives the heating control information extracted by the product identification unit 220 and outputs it to the display control unit 241. The display control unit 241 displays the heating control information on the display unit 240 (S406).

In addition, when the customer changes the heating time using the time setting button group 108 after performing the heating display on the display unit 240, the heating control unit 251 displays the changed heating time on the display unit 240.

Note that the heating display displayed on the display unit 240 is not limited to the heating time. For example, other information may be used as long as the customer can determine at least one of the heating method and the heating result of the product, such as the finishing temperature.

After the heating information is displayed, when the customer presses the heating start button 109, the heating control unit 251 starts heating (S407). When the customer presses the heating start button 109 after the display unit 240 performs heating display, heating is started based on the heating control information.

In this embodiment, after the billing process in step S403 is performed, the heating time display in step S406 and the heating start in step S407 are performed. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this example, and the charging process in step S403 and the heating time display in step S406 and the heating start process in step S407 may be performed in parallel.

By performing the charging process in step S403 prior to the heating time display in step S406 and the heating start in step S407, if heating is performed by a customer who cannot be charged, and a product that cannot be charged has been put into the warehouse. Since charging fails in at least one of the cases, heating is not necessary.

Specifically, when the charging process fails (S404, NO), the charging processing unit 210 ends the process without performing the heating process on the product thereafter. The display (S405) at this time may or may not be performed. As a result, once the product is heated, the product cannot be sold to other customers, and it is possible to prevent the product that has not been settled from being heated.

During the heating of the product, the display control unit 241 acquires product information from the product identification unit 220, customer information from the customer identification unit 230, billing information from the billing processing unit 210, and the history management server 290 via the communication unit 260. Acquire each customer's purchase history. Then, the display control unit 241 uses the acquired information to display, for example, advertisement information based on customer preferences analyzed from food information, calorie information, billing information, and purchase history of the products put in the heating chamber. Generated and displayed on the display unit 240 (S408).

Thus, the microwave oven 100 according to the present embodiment displays various information based on the purchase history and the like during the heating waiting time. Thereby, the stress of a customer's waiting time can be reduced.

When the heating time described in the heating control information has elapsed, the heating control unit 251 controls the magnetron 250 to end the heating (S409).

The billing processing unit 210 sends the customer purchase history information to the history management server 290 via the communication unit 260 for storage (S410).

It should be noted that even when the billing process cannot be performed in step S404, at least one of the customer information and the product information may be stored in the history management server 290. Thereby, even when there is a similar heating request again, it can be determined that charging cannot be performed quickly.

As described above, the microwave oven 100 in this embodiment and the store system 280 in which the microwave oven 100 is installed can complete heating and settlement by placing products in the heating cabinet. As a result, the work time of the store clerk can be shortened, and at least one of the total time from entry to opening of the customer and the total time from entry to eat-in can be reduced.

For example, in a scene where a product such as a lunch box arranged on a product shelf is purchased and heated, the customer does not need to wait at the cash register after selecting a product such as a lunch box arranged on the product shelf by hand. The customer can complete the heating while placing the product in the microwave oven 100 while checking information such as the settlement and the production area of the food. Therefore, the customer can carry the product and eat in the eat-in space in a short time after entering the store, without waiting time stress.

Furthermore, the microwave oven 100 can display information based on the purchase history during the heating waiting time. Thereby, the effect which reduces the stress of a customer's waiting time and the effect which leads to sales can be acquired.

In the above-described example, the charging processing unit 210 transmits the product identification information and the customer identification information to a server such as an external card company. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this example. For example, when charging processing is performed using a customer's prepaid card, customer identification information is not necessarily required, and it is possible to charge by sending product identification information.

FIGS. 5A to 5C are schematic diagrams showing the effect of reducing the total time from customer entry to store opening in the store system 280 by introducing the microwave oven 100 of the present embodiment.

FIG. 5A is a diagram showing a flow of operations performed by the customer A and the store clerk when a microwave oven is installed behind the conventional cash register and the store clerk operates the microwave oven to perform heating.

FIG. 5B shows a case where the microwave oven does not include a billing processing unit, and the customer A performs heating by operating the microwave oven (hereinafter referred to as a self-range) placed in an operable place. It is a figure which shows the flow of the operation | movement which A and a shop assistant perform.

FIG. 5C is a diagram illustrating a flow of operations performed by the customer A and the store clerk when the microwave oven 100 according to the present embodiment is used.

5A to 5C, the upper part shows the flow of the operation performed by the customer A, and the lower part shows the flow of the operation performed by the store clerk.

In FIG. 5A, after entering the store, customer A selects a product, arranges it at the cash register, performs payment, asks the store clerk to warm the product, waits for the warming to complete, receives the product, and opens the store. Get out. The store clerk needs to respond from customer A's check-out to receipt, and since it is necessary to sequentially heat the products of multiple customers who requested the warming, it takes time to respond (FIG. 5A also shows an example of customer B) Since the store clerk is free while customer A's product is warmed, the customer clears the next customer B. When customer B asks the store clerk to warm, the store clerk, Pass the product to customer A and start warming the product of customer B).

In FIG. 5B, after entering the store, customer A selects a product, arranges it at a cash register, pays it, receives the product, places it in the self-range, and warms the product (range entry, range setting, warming). This includes pressing the start button, waiting for heating, and removing items from the range).

In this case, since the customer A uses the self-range to warm itself, additional time and labor are generated as compared to the case of FIG. 5A (the range input, range input, range setting, warming start button is pressed). , And operation to take out the product from the range). On the other hand, since the store clerk does not need to perform the warming work, the work time for one customer can be shortened, and more customers can be handled (FIG. 5B shows customer A, customer B, and customer). C shows an example in which the store clerk responds sequentially).

In FIG. 5C, after entering the store, customer A selects a product, places the product in the microwave oven 100 of the present embodiment, puts the product into the microwave oven 100, reads the ID card, and starts heating. When heating is completed, the customer takes out the product from the microwave oven 100 and opens a store. Thereby, since heating and payment can be performed in parallel, it is possible to save time and labor for payment alongside the cash register. Therefore, the total time from entering the store to opening the store can be reduced.

In addition, the store clerk only needs to support the customer when operating the microwave oven 100, and the work time corresponding to the customer can be shortened compared to the example shown in FIG. 5A, and more customers can be handled.

As described above, according to the microwave oven 100 and the store system 280 in which the microwave oven 100 is installed in the present embodiment, heating and settlement can be completed by placing products in a heating cabinet. Therefore, it is possible to shorten the work time of the store clerk and to reduce at least one of the total time from the store entry to the store exit and the total time from the store entrance to the eat-in.

It should be noted that the above-described embodiment is for exemplifying the technique in the present disclosure, and various modifications, replacements, additions, omissions, and the like can be made within the scope of the claims or an equivalent scope thereof.

As described above, the heating cooker and the store system according to the present embodiment can complete the settlement together with the heating in the self-range where the customer himself / herself is heated in the microwave placed in the store. Therefore, at the same time as shortening the work time of the store clerk, it is possible to reduce at least one of the total time from entry to opening of the customer and the total time from entry to eat-in. Heating at convenience stores and offices, etc. Applicable to cookers and useful.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Microwave oven 102 Case 103 Door 104 Glass window 105 Handle 106 Operation display part 107 Liquid crystal display 108 Time setting button group 109 Heating start button 110 Cancel button 111 Pause button 210 Charge processing part 220 Product identification part 221 Camera 222 Image analysis Unit 230 customer identification unit 231 card reading unit 232 card identification unit 240 display unit 241 display control unit 250 magnetron 251 heating control unit 260 communication unit 270 cash register 280 store system 290 history management server

Claims

A heating cabinet;
A heating unit for heating the product in the heating chamber;
A heating control unit for controlling the heating unit;
A product identification unit for identifying the product placed in the heating chamber;
A billing processing unit that performs billing,
The charging processing unit is a heating cooker that identifies the product to be heated by the heating unit using the product identification unit and performs a charging process based on the identified result.
A customer identification unit for identifying the customer;
The cooking device according to claim 1, wherein the billing processing unit performs billing processing for the customer identified by the customer identifying unit.
The product identification unit includes: an imaging unit that images the inside of the heating chamber; and an image analysis unit that analyzes an image captured by the imaging unit and identifies the product placed in the heating chamber. The cooking device according to claim 1 or 2.
The customer identification unit
The cooking device according to claim 2, further comprising: a card reading unit that reads card information; and a card identification unit that identifies the customer using the card information read by the card reading unit.
5. The charge processing unit according to claim 1, wherein the billing processing unit performs billing processing from the time when the commodity is put into the heating chamber until the heating by the heating unit ends. The cooking device described.
The cooking device according to claim 5, wherein the heating control unit starts heating by the heating unit after the charging processing unit starts the charging process.
The billing processing unit starts billing processing after the product is put into the heating chamber,
The heating cooker according to claim 5, wherein the heating control unit does not start heating the product by the heating unit when the charging process by the charging processing unit fails.
A communication unit that communicates with an external device;
8. The communication unit according to claim 2, wherein the communication unit transmits, to a history management server, a purchase history including the product information and the customer information charged by the billing processing unit. 9. Cooking cooker.
A display unit for displaying information; and a display control unit for controlling the display unit,
The display control unit is based on the product identified by the product identification unit and the purchase history information of the customer identified by the customer identification unit, acquired from the history management server using the communication unit. The cooking device according to claim 8, wherein information to be provided to the customer is specified and the information is displayed on the display unit.
A store system comprising the heating cooker according to any one of claims 1 to 9.
A store system comprising the heating cooker according to claim 8 or claim 9, a cash register, and a history management server,
The history management server includes a first purchase history including information on the product charged by the heating cooker and information on the customer, information on the product that has been settled at the cash register, and information on the customer. The store system which receives the 2nd purchase history containing.
A billing method using a heating cooker comprising a heating chamber, a heating unit that heats a product in the heating chamber, and a heating control unit that controls the heating unit,
Identifying the product placed in the heating chamber;
A charging method using a heating cooker that charges based on the identified result.