JP2006185035A - Vending machine and its program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem wherein there is no guarantee that accurate stock information is acquired, for example when two or more articles are provided at once due to a mechanical trouble, because stock quantity of the articles is not counted directly by a method of estimating the stock quantity based on the sold quantity. <P>SOLUTION: This vending machine comprises shelves 6a and 6b for disposing the articles, reading means 2a and 2b that are installed every shelf and read information of radio IC tags 11a and 11b attached to the articles, and a control means 3 for receiving the information from the reading means and performing analysis and control. The stock quantity and the sold quantity are determined based on the information of the radio IC tags that can be read by the reading means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a vending machine using a wireless IC tag and a program thereof.

Vending machines are installed throughout the city, and vending machines that can grasp the number of stocks have been devised (see, for example, Patent Document 1). On the other hand, wireless IC tags are being attached to commodities with the aim of a distribution revolution, and it is approaching the situation that wireless IC tags are attached to commodities.
JP-A-11-353541

  However, since the number of stocks is estimated from the number sold in conventional vending machines, the number of products in stock itself is not directly counted, so two or more products were provided at a time due to mechanical trouble. In such cases, there was no guarantee that accurate inventory information could be obtained. In addition, information on product brands could not be acquired.

  Therefore, in order to solve the above-described problem, the vending machine of the present invention and the program thereof store information on the shelf on which the product is arranged and the wireless IC tag attached to the product, installed on each shelf. A reading means for reading and a control means for receiving and analyzing and controlling information from the reading means are provided, and the number of stocks is obtained from the information of the wireless IC tag read by the reading means. Furthermore, the product brand is acquired from the information of the wireless IC tag.

  As a result, since the inventory number of the product itself is directly counted, accurate inventory information can be easily obtained without contact with the product, and the sales number can be obtained by subtracting the current inventory number from the past inventory number. Furthermore, since information related to product brands can be obtained, for example, inventory information and product brand information can be associated with each other.

  1st invention is a vending machine, the shelf which arranges goods, the reading means which is installed for every shelf, and reads the information of the wireless IC tag attached to goods, and receives and analyzes information from the reading means And control means for performing control, and the number of inventory or the number of sales is obtained from the information of the wireless IC tag read by the reading means.

  As a result, the inventory quantity is not directly estimated from the number sold like a conventional vending machine, but the inventory quantity of the product itself is directly counted, so two or more products are provided at a time due to mechanical trouble. Even in the event of a stalemate, it can be expected that accurate inventory information will be obtained. Further, the number of sales can be obtained by subtracting the current inventory number from the past inventory quantity.

  In the second invention, particularly in the vending machine according to the first invention, the information including the stock quantity / sales number is displayed on the display means, or the stock management number is included in the sales management terminal via the network. I tried to convey information.

  As a result, inventory information and sales information can be obtained by looking at the display of the vending machine. In addition, it is possible to easily check the inventory and sales status of a large number of vending machines scattered in remote locations at a sales management terminal on the network. Can be expected.

  In the third invention, particularly in the vending machine according to the first or second invention, the information on the product brand of the product is included in the information of the wireless IC tag attached to the product.

  As a result, not only quantitative confirmation of the inventory status but also the product brands of the products that are subject to inventory management can be acquired at the same time, which increases convenience.

  In the fourth invention, particularly in the vending machine according to the first or second invention, the control means stores the second information stored in the information server via the network based on the information of the wireless IC tag attached to the product. Acquired, and the second information includes information on the product brand.

  As a result, even if information about the product brand is not included in the information of the wireless IC tag and only information such as a code number is included, the information server on the network is accessed based on this information (code number). And since the 2nd information containing the information regarding a product brand is acquired, the same effect as the 3rd invention can be acquired.

  In the fifth aspect of the invention, particularly in the vending machine according to the third or fourth aspect of the invention, the control means includes a storage means, and the information relating to the acquired product brand is stored in the storage means.

  As a result, when the wireless IC tag that can be read by no goods of a certain shelf are all no longer exist, since the memory means or had entered in advance what kind of commodity stocks of goods on the shelves are stored, how You can know if the product brand is out of stock.

  In a sixth aspect of the invention, in particular, in the vending machines of the first to fifth aspects of the invention, the shelf is made of an electromagnetic wave shielding material.

  Thereby, since it can electromagnetically isolate | separate for every shelf, the trouble that the reading means reads the information of the radio | wireless IC tag attached to the different goods from the adjacent shelf, for example can be avoided.

  In the seventh invention, particularly in the vending machines according to the first to fifth inventions, the reading means that does not reach other shelves with a close communication distance is installed.

  As a result, the wireless IC tag of another product placed on the adjacent shelf is not erroneously read without taking any special electromagnetic wave shielding measures, and the configuration is simple.

  An eighth invention is a program for causing a computer to execute at least one function in the vending machine according to any one of the first to fifth inventions, and is an electric machine including a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, a storage device, an I / O, and the like. A part or all of the vending machine of the present invention can be easily realized as a program by cooperating hardware resources such as an information device and a computer. Also, by distributing the program on a recording medium or using a communication line, program distribution can be realized very easily compared to other means.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a vending machine according to the present invention.

  The vending machine 1 includes shelves 6a and 6b, and the products 10a, 10aa, and 10aaa are set on the upper shelf 6a, and the products 10b, 10bb, and 10bbb are set on the lower shelf 6b. Each product is attached with a wireless IC tag 11a, 11aa, 11aaa, 11b, 11bb, 11bbb. These wireless IC tags contain information about the product brand and information including a unique ID code (for example, a serial number). have.

  Information is read from the reading means 2a for reading the information of the wireless IC tags 11a, 11aa, 11aaa existing on the upper shelf 6a and the reading means 2b for reading the information of the wireless IC tags 11b, 11bb, 11bbb existing on the lower shelf 6b. The vending machine 1 is provided with a control means 3 for performing analysis and overall control in response to this, and display means 5a and 5b for displaying an out-of-stock condition and transmitting it to the customer.

  The shelves 6a and 6b are made of a material that blocks electromagnetic waves (for example, metal). For convenience, the shelves 6a and 6b are described as being divided into an upper shelf 6a and a lower shelf 6b, but this is an example. The shelves may be divided in any arrangement, but it is desirable that the shelves are made of an electromagnetic wave shielding material and are electromagnetically isolated from each other.

  Also in FIG. 1, the material that partitions the upper shelf 6a and the lower shelf 6b is made of a material that blocks electromagnetic waves, and the upper shelf 6a and the lower shelf 6b are electromagnetically partitioned, respectively. Reading means 2a, 2b are attached to the shelf.

  Thus, since the reading means 2a and the reading means 2b are electromagnetically completely isolated, the wireless IC tags attached to the products existing on the respective shelves are read out separately without interfering with each other. I can do it. That is, in the upper shelf 6a in FIG. 1, the wireless IC tags 11a, 11aa, and 11aaa attached to the product 10a are read only by the reading unit 2a and are not read from the reading unit 2b. Conversely, the wireless IC tags 11b, 11bb, 11bbb attached to the product 10b are read only by the reading unit 2b and are not read from the reading unit 2a.

  The information of the wireless IC tag 11a read by the reading unit 2a includes the product brand and serial number of the product 10a attached with the wireless IC tag 11a. The serial number does not become the same number even for the same product, and is preferably unique. The same applies to other wireless IC tags such as the wireless IC tag 11aa. The reason will be described later.

  On the other hand, the control means 3 is provided with a plurality of input interfaces in order to distinguish between the reading means 2a and the reading means 2b, and information on the reading means 2a or the reading means 2b is individually received from each input interface. I received it. In this way, the control means 3 can determine which information has arrived from which reading means 2a or reading means 2b.

  Hereinafter, the overall operation of the upper shelf 6a will be described in detail.

  First, the control means 3 receives information on the wireless IC tag 11a attached to the product 10a from the reading means 2a. This information includes information related to the product brand of the product 10a, and recognizes what product brand is installed on the shelf 6a. Furthermore, since there is not only one product 10a on the shelf 6a, but there are a plurality of products, for example, 10a, 10aa, 10aaa, etc., the reading means 2a sequentially receives the products from the wireless IC tags 11a, 11aa, 11aaa. The information on the brand is read and transmitted to the control means 3.

  The control means 3 counts how many (how many) unique IDs are read. After the reading operation is continued for a certain time, the read count value (number of IDs) is the number of stocks of the product brand. If there are a plurality of products with the same number, a count error occurs, so it is preferable that the number is unique.

  The control means 3 displays the stock quantity calculated in this way on the display means 5a. Alternatively, the information is transmitted to the sales management terminal 40 via the network 20.

  When the information including the number of stocks is transmitted to the display means 5a or to the sales management terminal 40, information regarding the product brand read in advance may be displayed or transmitted. When transmitting information to the sales management terminal 40, information on the installation location of the vending machine 1, and a unique number of the vending machine, such as an IP address of the vending machine and a telephone number, are sent together. Thus, the sales management terminal side 40 identifies where the vending machine is installed.

  As a result, the sales management terminal 40 remotely displays where the vending machines are installed and how many stocks of the product brands are in stock.

  The reading unit 2a periodically reads the information of the wireless IC tag (or the information of the wireless IC tag may be read when the vending machine is operated). If 2a cannot be acquired and no information is sent to the control means 3, it is determined that the wireless IC tag does not exist, that is, the product inventory is exhausted. At this time, since there is no wireless IC tag that can be read out, it can be easily determined that the product is out of stock, but it is not possible to know what product brand the product is.

  Therefore, it is desirable to store the brand information of the product acquired before the stock is out of stock in the storage means inside the control means 3 in advance. As a result, not only the situation that the product is out of stock, but also which product brand of the product is out of stock is acquired from the storage means.

  Further, the control means 3 may transmit inventory information including information on what product brand is out of stock to the sales management terminal 40 via the network 20. Or you may display what kind of goods brand is out of stock on the display means 5a which displays an out-of-stock state and conveys to a customer.

  Further, if the information on the number of stocks is periodically stored in the storage means (for example, every day) and the subtraction calculation process is performed, the number of sales during that period can be obtained. This may be displayed on the display means 5a, 5b, or transmitted to the sales management terminal 40. The subtraction calculation process may be performed by the control means 3 in the vending machine or may be performed by the sales management terminal side.

  Also, when replenishing a product, the information obtained from the wireless IC tag of the product in stock (or information stored in the storage means) is compared with the information obtained from the wireless IC tag of the product to be replenished Then, when the product brands are different, a notice (display / sound) of a caution / confirmation “whether the product is different” may be performed.

  Further, the information of the wireless IC tags 11a, 11aa, and 11aaa read by the reading unit 2a does not include information on the product brand of the product, but includes only a code number (unique code) such as an ID. In this case, it is necessary to obtain information on the product brand of the product based on the code number. That is, the control means 3 accesses the information server 30 connected to the network 20 via the network 20 based on the code number, and acquires information on the product brand of the product corresponding to the code number. Since the subsequent operation is the same as that described so far, the description thereof is omitted.

  The network 20 described here may be the Internet and the information server 30 may be external. The network 20 is a LAN or the like, and the information server 30 is also in a place or a store where vending machines are placed. Of course, everything including the network 20 may be present in the vending machine 1 and closed only by the vending machine. The control means 3 is not limited to accessing the information server 30, and other means may access it. Further, the information server 30 may be connected to the Internet, and the sales management terminal 40 may be connected to a telephone exchange network.

  Up to this point, the reading means 2a, the product 10a, and the like existing on the shelf 6a have been described. However, the same operation is performed on the shelf 6b, and the description thereof will be omitted.

  Currently available wireless IC tags and reading means include a long-distance type corresponding to a distance of several meters or more and a proximity type corresponding only to a distance of about several centimeters to several tens of centimeters. Especially when the proximity type is used, the distance between the shelves is set so that the electromagnetic waves leaking from the shelf do not reach the next shelf, so that no special countermeasures against electromagnetic wave leakage are taken. However, since the shelves can be electromagnetically cut off, it is preferable to use a proximity type. In this case, it is not always necessary to use a shelf made of an electromagnetic wave shielding material.

  In addition, when using a long-distance type, not only the next shelf, but also a wireless IC tag attached to something other than the product, for example, a wireless IC tag attached with a cigarette in a worker's pocket Such a type is not necessarily suitable for this application because it is assumed that information of a wireless IC tag is not read. However, even in this case, reduce the electromagnetic wave intensity so that it does not reach any place other than the shelf, or change the antenna size to shorten the distance that can be read by adjusting the sensitivity, You may not read.

  As a reading method, batch reading is preferable. That is, for example, when the products 10a, 10aa, and 10aaa are set on the shelf, the information of the wireless IC tags 11a, 11aa, and 11aaa is read at once by the reading unit 2 provided in the vending machine 1. All of the wireless IC tags 11a, 11aa, 11aaa and the reading means 2a can be read in a batch when they all support collision detection (anti-collision). Therefore, it is desirable to support collision detection for this application.

  As described so far, the vending machine 1 sends information related to the inventory / sales of the product, out of stock, and information including the product brand of the product to the sales management terminal 40 on the network 20 set in advance. Or, conversely, it is also possible to connect to the control means 3 of the vending machine 1 periodically from the sales management terminal 40 and acquire the status regarding the inventory / sales of the vending machine 1 I do not care.

  In this way, the manager can check the state of the vending machine from a remote location through the sales management terminal 40 at all times or regularly, know information about the product inventory and brands, and deal with preparations for product replacement. .

  Moreover, although the description so far has been described assuming the use of a vending machine, there is no reason to limit to this, and it may be applied to a store shelf, an ice cream vending machine, etc. The network 20 may be a LAN in the store, and the sales management terminal 40 may also be in the store.

  Note that the means described in this embodiment causes hardware resources such as a CPU (or microcomputer), a RAM, a ROM, a storage / recording device, an electric / information device including an I / O, a computer, a server, and the like to cooperate. You may implement with the form of a program. In the form of a program, new functions can be easily distributed / updated and installed by recording them on a recording medium such as magnetic media or optical media, or distributing them using a communication line such as the Internet.

  As described above, the vending machine according to the present invention and the program thereof include a shelf on which a product is arranged, a reading unit that is installed for each shelf and reads information on a wireless IC tag attached to the product, And a control means for receiving and analyzing and controlling information from the reading means, and obtaining the number of stocks and the number of sales from the information of the wireless IC tag read by the reading means. In addition to vending machines, it can be used for store shelves and ice cream vending machines.

The figure which shows an example of a structure of the vending machine of Embodiment 1 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vending machine 2a, 2b Reading means 3 Control means 5a, 5b Display means 6a, 6b Shelf 10a, 10aa, 10aaa, 10b, 10bb, 10bb Product 11a, 11aa, 11aaa, 11b, 11bb, 11bbb Wireless IC tag 20 Network 30 Information server 40 Sales management terminal

Claims (8)

A shelf for placing a product, a reading unit that is installed for each shelf and reads information of a wireless IC tag attached to the product, and a control unit that receives and analyzes and controls information from the reading unit, A vending machine characterized in that the number of inventory or the number of sales is obtained from information of the wireless IC tag read by the reading means. 2. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein information including the number of stocks or the number of sales is displayed on a display unit, or information including the number of stocks or the number of sales is transmitted to a sales management terminal via a network. 3. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the information on the product brand of the product is included in the information of the wireless IC tag attached to the product. The control means acquires second information stored in the information server via the network based on information of the wireless IC tag attached to the product, and the second information includes information on the product brand. The vending machine according to claim 1 or 2. 5. The vending machine according to claim 3, wherein the control means comprises a storage means, and information relating to the acquired product brand is stored in the storage means. The vending machine according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the shelf is made of an electromagnetic wave shielding material. The vending machine according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a reading means that does not reach other shelves with a close communication distance is used. A program for causing a computer to execute at least one function in the vending machine according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

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