JP3837475B2 - Automated shopping system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
  The present invention relates to an automated shopping system that automatically detects a product purchased by a customer from a product shelf.
[0002]
[Prior art]
  Conventionally, when a customer purchases a product in a supermarket or the like, the customer takes out the product from a product shelf, puts it in a basket, and settles the price at a cash register. Since the barcode is written on the product, the clerk uses the barcode reader to read the product name code written in the barcode in the form of the code.DoAnd read the product price. The read product code and product price are input to the POS terminal. The POS terminal totals the commodity prices read for each commodity and displays them on the display of the POS terminal. When the customer pays the price corresponding to the total amount displayed, the store clerk instructs the POS terminal to issue a receipt. The POS terminal prints out the input product name, price, and total amount obtained by calculation. Further, the POS terminal transfers the sales information such as the product name, quantity, and product price purchased by the customer to the host device. The host device collects sales information sent from a plurality of POS terminals and uses it for materials such as management analysis.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
  As described above, the conventional payment method for merchandise requires a store clerk to read the bar code written on the merchandise. It will take. For this reason, the prior art has a problem to be solved that a customer queue is formed in front of the POS terminal (cash register).
[0004]
  In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide an automated shopping system that can shorten the time required for a customer to settle a payment.
[0005]
  Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an automated shopping system having added value in connection with shortening the time for payment.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
  In order to achieve such an object, the invention of claim 1The product shelf provided on the product shelf Article position sensor comprising a weight sensor for detecting weight and a communication device for transmitting the detected weight and a product shelf identification code at a fixed period; an article for detecting the weight of a car provided in a car accompanied by a customer An article position sensor comprising a position sensor and a communication device for transmitting the detected weight and car identification code; storage means for storing the weight and identification code of the article shelf from the article position sensor provided in the article shelf; The storage means for storing the weight and identification code of the car from the article position sensor provided in the car, the weight of the current product shelf from the article position sensor provided in the goods shelf and the storage means The difference from the previous product shelf weight is calculated and stored in the storage means and the current weight of the car from the article position sensor provided in the car. When the difference between the weight of the previous car is calculated and the difference is found to match, the product shelf weight difference is negative and the car weight difference is positive. It is equipped with an article movement identification device that identifies the movement of goods from the shelf to the car, and a customer information database that stores purchase information including the identification code, quantity, and price of the goods put into the car for each customer identification code. When the movement of the commodity from the commodity shelf to the car is identified by the article movement identification device, the purchase information stored in the customer information database is updated, and the current for each customer is updated based on the updated purchase information. Calculate the price up toIt is characterized by that.
[0007]
  The invention of claim 2 is the automated shopping system according to claim 1,The absolute value of the difference calculated by the article movement identification device is divided by the weight of a single product to calculate the number of products moved.
[0008]
  The invention of claim 3 is the automated shopping system according to claim 1,The purchase information is used for payment.
[0009]
  The invention of claim 4 is claimed in claim1In the automated shopping system described inBased on the customer position information detected by the customer detection means, a guidance display device close to the customer position is found, and the guidance information is displayed on the guidance display device.
[0010]
  The invention of claim 5 claims4In the automated shopping system described inPrepare a correspondence table between the communication address and the position of the guidance display device, calculate the distance between the customer position and the position of the guidance display device on the correspondence table, and the guidance display device with the shortest distance Detecting the communication address of.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the automated shopping system according to the fifth aspect, the guidance information is transmitted to the guidance display device using the detected communication address.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the automated shopping system according to the fourth aspect, attribute information indicating what kind of product has been put in the basket and guidance information corresponding to the personal information related to the customer are displayed on the guidance display device. It is characterized by making it.
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the automated shopping system according to the seventh aspect, personal information and guidance information are prepared in the form of a correspondence table in advance, and guidance information corresponding to the personal information is displayed on the guidance display device. It is characterized by that.
The invention of claim 9 is the automated shopping system according to claim 7, characterized in that the personal information is age, sex, or preference.
The invention according to claim 10 is the automated shopping system according to claim 1, wherein the inquiry information that the customer who is the inquirer or the customer inputs information is required by the customer information exchange device. Is displayed, and an answer message input by another customer who is an answerer is displayed on another customer information exchange apparatus connected to the customer information exchange apparatus via a communication network.
The invention of claim 11 is the automated shopping system according to claim 10, wherein the customer information exchange device near the inquirer is based on the customer location information detected by the customer detection means. The answer message is displayed only on the screen.
The invention according to claim 12 is the automated shopping system according to claim 10, wherein the position information of the respondent is added to the reply message of the respondent based on the position information of the customer detected by the customer detecting means. The inquiry message is notified to the inquirer via the customer information exchange device.
A thirteenth aspect of the present invention is the automated shopping system according to the first aspect, characterized in that customer location information detected by customer detection means is stored in the customer information database.
A fourteenth aspect of the invention is the automated shopping system according to the first aspect, wherein the storage stores the customer membership card information, the identification code of the car with which the customer is associated, and the identification code of the wireless transmitter delivered to the customer. A device is further provided.
[0011]
  Claim15The automated shopping system according to claim 1, further comprising means (billing means 6) for instructing the end of payment settlement,Customer information databaseStores the time, and even if a certain time has elapsed since the time,BasketAnd a warning means (theft prevention device 11) for generating a warning when the instruction means does not indicate that the payment for the goods stored in the product has been made.
[0012]
  The above () shows corresponding parts of the embodiment for easy understanding of the invention, and the present invention is not limited to the embodiment.
[0013]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[0014]
  FIG. 1 shows a functional configuration of an automated shopping system. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an article position sensor, which includes a weight sensor and a communication device. The article position sensor 1 is provided at a plurality of merchandise shelves and an inner bottom portion of a car in which a customer puts merchandise. The weight detected by the weight sensor of the article position sensor 1 is notified to the article movement identification apparatus 2 (described later) through a communication device at regular intervals..
[0015]
  Reference numeral 3 denotes a customer position sensor that detects the position of the customer. As a method of detecting the position of a customer, it is used in various position detections such as position detection by a laser, position detection by an image taken by a video camera, position detection using a position tag such as a radio transmitter held by a customer. Well-known position detecting devices can be used. In the present embodiment, the identification number transmitted by the wireless transmitter is received by the wireless receiver, and the position of the customer is detected.
[0016]
  Reference numeral 2 denotes an article movement identification device, which identifies that the product has moved and the positions of the movement source and the movement destination based on the weight detected by the plurality of article position sensors 1 and the change in the weight detected so far. Further, the position information detected by the customer position sensor 3, the position information of the identified product, and other related information (for example, calendar information such as date and time when information is stored) are stored in an article information database 4 and a customer information database, which will be described later. 5 is stored.
[0017]
  Reference numeral 4 denotes an article information database which stores inventory information including a product shelf name (or position information), a product name placed, the number of products placed, and a weight per piece. In the article information database 4, when the article movement identification device 2 detects the movement of the article from the merchandise shelf, the placement number information and the like are updated.
[0018]
  Reference numeral 5 denotes a customer information database, which stores a customer's name, address, telephone number, customer identification code, credit card information, and the like in advance. The customer information database 5 is provided with a storage area for each customer identification code. In this storage area, position information indicating the position where the customer has moved in shopping, the product name, the number of items, the price, The information related to the holding article such as is written. This storage area is called a purchase information storage area, and information stored in the purchase storage information storage area is collectively called purchase information. The information stored in the purchase storage information storage area is stored in the history information storage area after payment (instruction for termination of the charging process by the charging device 6), and the information in the purchase information storage area is erased (cleared). The In the history information storage area, the reader is restricted and the confidentiality of information is protected.
[0019]
  Information exchange is performed between the article position sensor 1 and the article information database 4.Change machineFor example, when the product placed on the product shelf on which the article position sensor 1 is installed changes and the product name information held by the article position sensor 1 changes, the article information database4The product position sensor 1 and the product information database 4 may be configured so that the product name placed on the product shelf changes.
[0020]
  Similarly, an information exchange function may be provided between the customer position sensor 3 and the customer information database 5.
[0021]
  A charging device 6 is installed at a cash register (cash settlement office) and can use a POS terminal. The billing device 6 charges the product price paid by the customer based on the purchase information stored in the purchase information storage area of the customer information database 5 when the customer passes nearby. The charging method may be a conventionally known method, for example, a charging method such as a credit card, prepaid card, or electronic cash. Of course, it is possible to perform cash settlement. When the billing device 6 finishes billing (cash settlement), an instruction to that effect is sent to the customer information database 5.
[0022]
  A personal information database 7 stores various information related to the customer, such as the customer's name, address, telephone number, and credit card information. Information in the personal information database 7 is downloaded to the customer information database 5 as necessary.
[0023]
  The article information providing device 8 can use a terminal such as a general-purpose computer and is installed in a plurality of product shelves. The article information providing device 8 detects a customer near the customer based on the customer position information in the purchase information in the customer information database 5 and uses the display device of the article information providing device 8 to determine what kind of product. Guidance information corresponding to the attribute information indicating whether the product has been purchased, that is, whether the product has been put in the car or the personal information stored in the personal information database 7 is provided. For example, personal information such as age, gender, and preference and information to be guided are prepared in advance in the form of a correspondence table, and guidance (should) information corresponding to the personal information of nearby customers is displayed on the display device. .
[0024]
  9 is a customer information exchange device,clientInformation exchange device9Is installed at any location in the store. pluralclientInformation exchange device9Are connected by a communication network,clientInformation exchange device9Exchange messages between and exchange messagesclientInformation exchange device9Displayed on the display device. In addition, a server is set up and a bulletin board is installed in the serverclientInformation exchange device9Register messages on the bulletin board from otherclientInformation exchange device9May display a message registered on the bulletin board.
[0025]
  For example, if a customer needs information about dock food,clientInformation exchange device9Enter a message to that effect. Inquiry message to otherclientInformation exchange device9Other customers who saw in otherclientInformation exchange device9Enter the answer at.
[0026]
  (Modification)
  In the present embodiment, since the position of the customer is detected, when an answerer appears, the location near the customer who made the inquiryclientInformation exchange device9The reply message of the respondent may be displayed only on the screen. In addition, for respondents' reply messages, the respondent's location information is automaticallyclientInformation exchange device9To add the response message and the current location of the respondent.clientInformation exchange device9The inquirer may be notified through the display.
[0027]
  Reference numeral 10 denotes a sales information collecting device, which includes a plurality of customer position information stored in the customer information database 5, that is, customer movement trajectory, product information purchased by the customer (information stored in the purchase information storage area), and so far. Collect information necessary for marketing analysis from the purchase history, etc. Further, the sales information collection device 10 also collects information necessary for inventory and logistics management / planning.
[0028]
  Reference numeral 11 denotes an anti-theft device that monitors purchase information stored in the purchase information storage area of the customer information database 5 and information write time, and warns if the payment is not settled after a certain time. Is generated. Whether the price has been settled within a predetermined time is calculated by calculating the difference between the current time and the writing time associated with the product name information in the purchase information storage area in the customer information database 5, and the difference is predetermined. What is necessary is just to determine whether it is within time. In addition, it is determined whether or not the information in the purchase information storage area has been deleted. If the information has been deleted, it can be determined that the payment has been completed.
[0029]
  The warning may be displayed from the display device of the antitheft device, or the antitheft device and a plurality of terminals may be connected and displayed on the display device of the terminal. The terminal may be installed at a cash register or guardman's station.
[0030]
  An example of a specific configuration for realizing the system described above is shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 100 denotes a server. The server 100 includes a CPU 101, a system memory 102, an input device 103, a display device 104, communication interfaces 108 to 110, and a mass storage device 111.
[0031]
  The CPU 101 executes a program loaded in the system memory and executes information processing related to shopping. The system memory 102 temporarily stores data processed by the CPU 101 and information processing results. Further, a boot program at the time of starting up the CPU 101 is also stored and stored in the system memory 102.
[0032]
  The input device 103 has a pointing device such as a keyboard and a mouse, and inputs information to the CPU 101. The display device 104 displays input information for the CPU 101 and information processing results of the CPU 101.
[0033]
  Reference numeral 105 denotes a sensor group including a plurality of article position sensors 1 and customer position sensors 3 described with reference to FIG. The sensor group 105 is connected to the communication interface 108 by radio or infrared.
[0034]
  Reference numeral 106 denotes a terminal group. A POS terminal is used as part of the terminal group. Terminals used for exchanging customer information are installed in cafeterias and rest areas. The terminal group 106 is connected to the communication interface 109 by wire.
[0035]
  Reference numeral 107 denotes a guidance display device group having a communication function. The guidance display device group 107 is installed at a predetermined location in the store according to the product shelf and the guidance purpose. The guidance display device group 107 is connected to the communication interface 110 by wire.
[0036]
  The communication interfaces 108 to 110 transfer information between the connected device and the CPU 101.
[0037]
  The mass storage device (hard disk) 111 has functions as the article movement identification device 2, the billing device 6, the article information providing device 8, the customer information exchange device 9, the sales information collecting device 10 and the antitheft device 11 shown in FIG. And a program for system control, for example, a program for OS and communication, and a program for reading and writing data with respect to the article information database 4, the customer information database 5, and the personal information database 7. In addition, the article information database 4, the customer information database 5, and the personal information database 7 are also constructed on the mass storage device 111.
[0038]
  Processing executed in such a system configuration will be described next. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the article position sensor 1 detects the weight, the car into which the customer puts the product is provided in the shopping cart, and the article position sensor 1 (weight sensor and communication device) is installed in the car. The communication device of the article position sensor 1 is installed at a fixed cycle.(It is assumed that an identification code indicating a car or a product shelf) and a weight value detected by the weight sensor are transmitted to the communication interface 108 by radio (or infrared). In order to detect the position of the customer, a small wireless transmitter is used, and the identification code and position of the small wireless transmitter held by the customer are detected by receiving devices provided in a plurality of locations in the store.
[0039]
  When the customer enters the store, the customer presents, for example, a membership card for shopping and receives a shopping cart and a wireless transmitter. At this time, the store clerk uses a card reader connected to the terminal (106) to obtain card information (user ID (customer identification code), name, birthday, etc.).)Read from membership card. In addition, the identification number of the shopping cart delivered to the customer is entered from the keyboard of the terminal. The read member card information, the input car identification code, and the wireless transmitter identification code are sent from the terminal to the CPU 101.
[0040]
  CPU 101 is a mass storage device by interrupt processing.111Shopping card information, a car identification code and a small wireless transmitter identification code are stored in a correspondence table storage area (hereinafter abbreviated as a correspondence table). Thereby, the customer and the radio transmitter are associated with each other.
[0041]
  FIG. 3 shows an outline of processing executed by the CPU 101. The processing procedure shown in FIG. 3 is installed in the large-capacity storage device 111 in the form of a plurality of programs in a program language that can be executed by the CPU 101, and a predetermined program is loaded into the system memory 102 according to the processing content and is executed by the CPU 101. Executed. The processing procedure of FIG. 3 is repeatedly executed with a very short cycle of 1 second or less.
[0042]
  In FIG. 3, the CPU 101 inputs a detection signal from the sensor group 105. From the sensor that detects movement from the product shelf,Inputs weight value and product shelf identification code as detection signalIsThe A weight value and a car identification code are input from a sensor installed in the car. Customer location sensor3The position of the wireless transmitter, that is, the position of the customer and the identification number are input from. The CPU 101 stores a weight value, an identification code, and the like in a storage area on the system memory 102 corresponding to each sensor (step S100).
[0043]
  The CPU 101 uses the weight value and the identification code stored in the system memory 102 to identify the article in which movement has occurred, its number, and the movement destination. This process will be described later in detail with reference to FIG.
[0044]
  Next, the CPU 101 acquires a customer identification code based on the car identification number and the correspondence table. Furthermore, the customer in the large-capacity storage device 111 takes the identification code of the identified article, the movement source (product shelf or basket), the identification code indicating the movement destination (product shelf or basket), the quantity, and the current time as one record. Information database5Stored in the purchase information storage area.
[0045]
  Customer position sensor stored in system memory 1023The customer code is acquired from the correspondence table based on the identification code indicated by the detection signal. Above customer position sensor3The position information indicated by the detection signal is stored in a position storage area in the purchase information storage area corresponding to the customer code. The position information is stored in the position storage area even when there is no movement of the product.
[0046]
  In addition to the above-described movement from the commodity shelf to the shopping cart basket, the movement of the commodity includes a movement from the commodity shelf to another commodity shelf and a movement from the basket to the original commodity shelf or another commodity shelf. However, these movements are also detected by the article identification process. Article information database in the mass storage device 111 when movement of the product shelf is detected from the product shelf4Inventory information for is updated. Specifically, the number of goods stock in the source product shelf is reduced by the number of movements, and the number of stocks in the destination product shelf (the number of products placed on the product shelf) is increased by the number of movements.
[0047]
  If a product shelf movement is detected from the basket, the article information database4Increase the stock quantity of the corresponding product shelves by the number of moves, and the customer information database5The corresponding article-related information already stored in the purchase information storage area corresponding to the customer (code) is deleted. The above is the outline of the identification process performed in step S110.
[0048]
  Next, CPU101 is stepSIn 120, the theft presence / absence determination and prevention processing are performed.
[0049]
  CPU 101 is a customer information database5By comparing the time information of the purchase information of all the customers and the current time, the purchase information that is wary of the predetermined time is detected. Customer purchase information database with customer code of detected purchase information5The personal information such as the name stored in is notified to the related terminal.
[0050]
  CPU101 is stepSThe article information providing process is performed at 130.
[0051]
  Close to customer location based on customer location information stored in system memory 102Information displayFind the device. For this,Information displayPrepare a correspondence table between the device's communication address and location, and place it on the customer's location and correspondence table.Information displayCalculate the distance to the position of the device, the distance is the shortestInformation displayFind the communication address of the device.
[0052]
  The CPU 101 uses the detected communication addressInformation displayGuidance information is transmitted to the apparatus and displayed. For example, guidance information corresponding to customer information stored in the personal information database 7 is provided. Guidance information corresponding to personal information such as age, sex, and preference is extracted from the guidance information file in the mass storage device 111 and displayed.
[0053]
  Next, CPU101 is stepS14When 0, customer information exchange processing is performed. The communication address of a terminal for exchanging customer information is predetermined. The CPU 101 performs message exchange processing between terminals using a conventionally known bulletin board processing or message exchange processing technique.
[0054]
  CPU101 is stepSAt 150, sales information collection processing is performed.
[0055]
  Marketing analysis based on a plurality of customer location information stored in the customer information database 5, that is, the movement trajectory of the customer, product information purchased by the customer (information stored in the purchase information storage area), purchase history so far, etc. The system memory 102 collects information necessary for this. Further, the sales collection device 10 also collects information necessary for inventory and logistics management / planning.
[0056]
  The collected information is stored in a market information storage area in the large-capacity storage device 111, and then displayed and output on a manager's terminal or printed out by a printer.
[0057]
  CPU 101 performs step S1.6When 0, information processing other than the above is executed. The process executed in this step includes a counting process. Customer information database5Each purchase information storage area includes an identification code, a quantity, and a product price of an article (product) put into the car by the customer. Therefore, the CPU 101 performs stepSBased on the customer information collected in 150, the price up to the present time for each customer is calculated.
[0058]
  The calculated price up to now is the customer information database5Are stored in the purchase information storage area of each customer. This processing may be performed when the load on the CPU 101 is light. Further, when there is an instruction for price settlement from the POS terminal, price settlement is performed using the purchase information stored in the purchase information storage area.
[0059]
  The payment method may be the same as the conventional method, and detailed description will not be required.
[0060]
  Next, the movement of the article and the detection of the movement destination will be described with reference to FIG.
[0061]
  In order to facilitate understanding of the contents, an example between the product shelves A, B, C, D and the car will be described.
[0062]
  The destination to which the product moves is one of the product shelves B, C, D, and the car.
[0063]
  When the product A having the weight WW moves from the product shelf, the total weight of the product shelf changes from WA1 to WA1-WW. Meanwhile, the goods have movedPreviousThe total weight changes to WX + WW. Therefore, if the total product weight of each product shelf and the weight of the product put in the basket are measured in a very short cycle and updated and stored in the memory, the weight measurement result and the weight value stored in the memory are compared. To detect that the product has moved.Rube able to.
[0064]
  When the product does not move, the difference between the measured value and the stored value in the memory is zero.
[0065]
  If movement occurs, the difference is the weight of the moved product. When the difference is negative, it indicates movement to another, and when the difference is positive, it indicates that a product has come from another. When the weight of a single product is known, dividing the absolute value of the difference by the weight of the single product yields the number of products moved. The total weight of the product for which movement to another is detected, in this case, WW and the information of the movement source (product shelf A) are stored in the memory.
[0066]
  Stored in memoryweightThe value is updated to the measurement result. Repeat the above process,Product is a product shelfAndWhile moving to the basket, the stored value of the product memory of each product shelfAnd measurementAlthough the difference between the fixed results is zero, it is detected that the total weight of the products in the car has increased by + WW when the products are put into the car. WW value stored in memory and nowRound tripBy comparing the values of the issued WW, it is possible to identify the car as the destination of the goods when it is found that they match.
[0067]
  The processing procedure shown in FIG. 4 is performed for all shelves and all the cars.
[0068]
  In step S200, the measurement result of the total weight of all the shelves (sensor output) and the measurement result of the total weight of the products in the basket are stored in the first work area of the system memory 102. The previous measurement result is stored in the second work area.
[0069]
  In step S210, a shelf to be monitored is set. In the next step S220, the above identification process is executed. The total weight of the set shelf is compared with the total weight measured last time. If the current measurement result is smaller than the previous measurement result, the difference is calculated and the identification number of the shelf is stored in the +/- signed difference value memory. The article code and time are stored in the storage area of the memory. When the current measurement result is larger than the previous measurement result, a data set having a matching difference value is found in the storage area. The database is updated using the shelf identification number, the article code, the time, and the movement destination shelf identification code (the shelf identification code set in step S210) in the found data set.
[0070]
  Customer information database if the goods are moved to a basket5Update purchase information for. In addition, if the goods are moved to other product shelves, the goods information database4Update. The above processing is repeated for all the shelves and baskets (steps S210 to S250 loop processing).
[0071]
  When the difference between the previous measurement result and the current measurement result is zero, there is no change in the weight of the shelf subject to monitoring, so the shelf subject to monitoring is changed to the next shelf (step S220 → S250 →S210).
[0072]
  In addition to the above-described embodiment, the following embodiment can be implemented.
1) In the above-described embodiment, the movement destination of various items is detected by measuring the weight of the product (article) placed on the shelf. However, the item information database and the customer information database are detected using other position measurement techniques. May be updated.
2) In the system example of FIG. 2, the functions of the article moving device, the billing device, the article information providing device, etc. are realized by a single computer. A function may be realized.
3) In the above-described embodiment, the position of the customer is detected, but detection of the position of the customer is not essential. In a large-scale store or the like, since there are many customers, movement of two types of products may occur simultaneously in different places. In this case, the customer's location information may be referred to so as not to mistake the customer who has moved the product. In this case, since the position of the customer who moved the product and the source and destination of the product are within a predetermined distance range, this property can be used to identify the customer and the moving product. When associating the customer with the moving product using the information, the destination of the product and the source information, it is not necessary to associate the car identification number with the customer identification number.
4) The appliance for storing the product to be purchased by the customer may be a single car or other storage appliances.
[0073]
【The invention's effect】
  As described above, according to the present invention, the movement of the commodity from the commodity shelf to the container with which the customer is accompanied is automatically detected, and the type and number of the commodity moved are stored in the storage means. Thereby, since the price is determined based on the information stored in the storage means, it is not necessary for a person at the store to read the barcode of the purchased product at a cash register or the like as in the past.
[0074]
  Further, by updating the inventory information of the product shelf in relation to the movement of the product, it is not necessary to check the inventory by a human.
[0075]
  Furthermore, based on the time information, it is possible to determine whether or not the theft has occurred, and by giving a warning, it is possible to prevent theft in advance.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a specific system configuration according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a schematic processing procedure according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing details of identification processing according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Article position sensor
2 goods movement identification device
3 Customer position sensor
4 article information database
5 Customer information database
6 Billing device
7 Personal information database
8 Article information provision device
9 Customer information exchange device
10 Sales information collection device
11 Anti-theft device
100 servers
101 CPU
102 System memory
103 Input device
104 Display device
105 Sensor group
106 Terminal group
107 Display group for guidance
108-110 Communication interface
111 Mass storage device (hard disk)

Claims (15)

An article position sensor provided with a weight sensor for detecting the weight of the merchandise shelf, and a communication device for transmitting the detected weight and the identification code of the merchandise shelf at a constant cycle,
An article position sensor provided in a car with which the customer is accompanied, and comprising an article position sensor for detecting the weight of the car, and a communication device for transmitting the detected weight and the identification code of the car;
Storage means for storing the weight of the product shelf and the identification code from the article position sensor provided on the product shelf;
Storage means for storing the weight and identification code of the car from the article position sensor provided in the car;
Calculate the difference between the weight of the current product shelf from the product position sensor provided in the product shelf and the weight of the previous product shelf stored in the storage means, from the product position sensor provided in the car When the difference between the weight of the car of this time and the weight of the previous car stored in the storage means is calculated and the difference is found to match, the difference in the weight of the product shelf is negative, If the difference in the weight of the car is positive, the article movement identification device for identifying the movement of the goods from the goods shelf to the car, and
A customer information database that stores purchase information including the identification code, quantity, and price of the product placed in the car for each customer identification code
With
When the movement of the commodity from the commodity shelf to the car is identified by the article movement identification device, the purchase information stored in the customer information database is updated, and the current for each customer is updated based on the updated purchase information. An automated shopping system characterized by calculating the price of money . 2. The automated shopping system according to claim 1, wherein the number of moved products is calculated by dividing the absolute value of the difference calculated by the article movement identification device by the weight of a single product . 2. The automated shopping system according to claim 1, wherein the purchase information is used for payment . 2. The automated shopping according to claim 1, wherein a guidance display device close to the customer position is found based on the customer position information detected by the customer detection means, and the guidance information is displayed on the guidance display device. system. Prepare a correspondence table between the communication address and the position of the guidance display device, calculate the distance between the customer position and the position of the guidance display device on the correspondence table, and the guidance display device with the shortest distance The automated shopping system according to claim 4, wherein the communication address is detected . 6. The automated shopping system according to claim 5, wherein the guide information is transmitted to the guide display device using the detected communication address . 5. The automated shopping system according to claim 4, wherein guidance information corresponding to attribute information indicating what kind of product is put in the basket and personal information related to the customer is displayed on the guidance display device. 8. The automated shopping system according to claim 7, wherein personal information and guidance information are prepared in advance in the form of a correspondence table, and guidance information corresponding to the personal information is displayed on a guidance display device. 8. The automated shopping system according to claim 7, wherein the personal information is age, sex, or preference. In the customer information exchange device, an inquiry message indicating that the customer who is the inquirer or the customer needs information is displayed and another customer information exchange device connected to the customer information exchange device via a communication network. At the customer information exchange device, other respondents The automated shopping system according to claim 1, wherein an answer message input by a customer is displayed. 11. The automated shopping system according to claim 10, wherein the reply message is displayed only on the customer information exchange device near the inquirer based on the customer location information detected by the customer detection means. Based on the location information of the customer detected by the customer detection means, the location information of the respondent is added to the reply message of the respondent, and the location where the reply message and the respondent are currently located is passed through the customer information exchange device. The automated shopping system according to claim 10, wherein an inquirer is notified. 2. The automated shopping system according to claim 1, wherein the customer position information detected by the customer detection means is stored in the customer information database. 2. The automated shopping system according to claim 1, further comprising a storage device for storing customer membership card information, an identification code of a car accompanying the customer, and an identification code of a wireless transmitter delivered to the customer. . The customer information database further includes means for instructing the end of the settlement of the price, and the price of the product stored in the basket has been settled even after a certain time has elapsed from the time. 2. The automated shopping system according to claim 1, further comprising warning means for generating a warning when no instruction is given by the instruction means.

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