JP7226754B2 - Processing device, processing method and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a processing device, processing method and program.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-100002 discloses a display device for displaying an image, an input device for inputting information about a product, and an image that provides guidance on how to pack the product in a container corresponding to the information input by the input device. and guidance means for displaying.

JP 2013-149009 A

Various containers such as baskets and bags are used for storing products. In order to maintain the quality of products, it is desired to store them appropriately according to the attributes of the container. However, as the number of variations of containers increases and the number of variations in how to store them increases, it becomes difficult to grasp them and store them appropriately. An object of the present invention is to assist storage of products.

According to the invention,
discrimination means for discriminating the type of container containing the purchased product;
Product identification information acquisition means for acquiring product identification information for identifying a product to be purchased;
recommended information obtaining means for obtaining recommended information indicating a recommended housing method for housing the product for which the product identification information has been obtained in the container of the type determined by the determining means;
output means for outputting the recommended information ;
has
The recommendation information obtaining means is configured to provide the recommendation indicating that the first product, which is one of the products to be purchased, is placed on top of the second product, which is another one of the products to be purchased. A processing device is provided for obtaining information .

Moreover, according to the present invention,
the computer
a determination step of determining the type of container containing the purchased product;
a product identification information obtaining step of obtaining product identification information identifying a product to be purchased;
a recommended information acquiring step of acquiring recommended information indicating a recommended housing method for housing the product for which the product identification information has been acquired in the container of the type determined in the determining step;
an output step of outputting the recommended information ;
has
In the recommended information obtaining step, the recommendation indicating that the first product, which is one of the products to be purchased, is placed on top of the second product, which is another one of the products to be purchased. A processing method for obtaining information is provided.

Moreover, according to the present invention,
the computer,
discrimination means for discriminating the type of container containing the purchased product;
Product identification information acquiring means for acquiring product identification information for identifying a product to be purchased;
recommended information acquiring means for acquiring recommended information indicating a recommended accommodation method for storing the product for which the product identification information has been acquired in the container of the type determined by the determining means;
output means for outputting the recommended information ;
function as
The recommendation information obtaining means is configured to provide the recommendation indicating that the first product, which is one of the products to be purchased, is placed on top of the second product, which is another one of the products to be purchased. A program is provided to obtain the information .

Advantageous Effects of Invention According to the present invention, it is possible to assist accommodation of products.

It is a figure which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of the processing apparatus of this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the functional block diagram of the processing apparatus of this embodiment. It is a figure which shows typically an example of the information output by the processing apparatus of this embodiment. It is a flow chart which shows an example of the flow of processing of a processor of this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the functional block diagram of the processing apparatus of this embodiment. It is a figure which shows typically an example of the information which the processing apparatus of this embodiment processes. It is a figure which shows typically an example of the information which the processing apparatus of this embodiment processes. It is a figure which shows typically an example of the information output by the processing apparatus of this embodiment. It is a flow chart which shows an example of the flow of processing of a processor of this embodiment.

<First embodiment>
First, the outline of the processing apparatus of this embodiment will be described. The processing device discriminates the type of container (hereinafter referred to as "commodity storage container") that stores the purchased commodity, and outputs a commodity storage method according to the discriminated commodity storage container type.

Such a processing device is installed, for example, at a checkout counter. Then, for workers (hereinafter referred to as “workers”) who register product identification information for identifying products to be purchased and store the registered products in product storage containers, instructions on how to store the products are provided. Output. The processing device is, for example, a POS (point of sales) register, tablet terminal, smart phone, or other dedicated terminal. A worker is, for example, a store clerk or a customer. By referring to the information output by the processing device, the worker can store the products in an appropriate storage method according to the type of the product storage container.

Next, the configuration of the processing apparatus of this embodiment will be described in detail. First, an example of the hardware configuration of the processing device will be described. The functions provided by the processing device include the CPU (Central Processing Unit) of any computer, memory, programs loaded into the memory, storage units such as hard disks that store the programs (programs stored in advance from the stage of shipping the device). In addition, it can store programs downloaded from a storage medium such as a CD (Compact Disc) or a server on the Internet), and is realized by any combination of hardware and software centering on a network connection interface. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that there are various modifications to the implementation method and apparatus.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of a processing device. As shown in FIG. 1, the processing device has a processor 1A, a memory 2A, an input/output interface 3A, a peripheral circuit 4A and a bus 5A. The peripheral circuit 4A includes various modules. Note that the peripheral circuit 4A may not be provided.

The bus 5A is a data transmission path for mutually transmitting and receiving data between the processor 1A, memory 2A, peripheral circuit 4A and input/output interface 3A. The processor 1A is an arithmetic processing device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). The memory 2A is, for example, a RAM (Random Access Memory) or a ROM (Read Only Memory). The input/output interface 3A is an interface for acquiring information from input devices (eg, keyboard, mouse, microphone, etc.), external devices, external servers, external sensors, etc., and output devices (eg, displays, speakers, printers, mailers, etc.). etc.), an interface for outputting information to an external device, an external server, and the like. The processor 1A can issue commands to each module and perform calculations based on the calculation results thereof.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a functional block diagram of the processing device 10. As shown in FIG. As illustrated, the processing device 10 has a determination section 11 and an output section 12 .

The discrimination unit 11 discriminates the type of product container. For example, an operator may input the type of product container into the processing device 10 . Then, the determination unit 11 may determine the type of product storage container based on the input content of the worker. In addition, a camera for photographing the position where the product container is placed may be provided. Then, the determination unit 11 may determine the type of product storage container by analyzing the image file generated by the camera.

A basket and a bag are exemplified as the types of storage containers. The baskets and bags may be classified into a plurality of types according to their shapes and sizes.

The output unit 12 outputs a product accommodation method according to the product container type determined by the determination unit 11 . The storage means may store in advance information indicating how to store the product for each type of product storage container. Then, the output unit 12 may extract from the storage unit and output the storage method corresponding to the type of product storage container determined by the determination unit 11 .

Examples of the output method include display on a display, projection to an arbitrary position using a projection device, and the like, but are not limited to these. The processing device 10 may have the storage means, or an external device configured to be communicable with the processing device 10 may have the storage means.

FIG. 3 shows an example of information output by the output unit 12. As shown in FIG. In the illustrated example, a screen for displaying information related to the work of registering product identification information for identifying the product to be purchased (hereinafter referred to as "registration work") displays information corresponding to the type of product storage container determined by the determination unit 11. Containment method is displayed.

On this screen, as information related to the registration work, a list of product details (product name, unit price, quantity, total amount) registered for purchase, various operation buttons (cancel button, checkout button), various calculation results (deposit amount , change, tax amount, total) are shown. Information indicating the type of product storage container determined by the determination unit 11 and the corresponding storage method are displayed in the upper part of the screen.

Note that the accommodation method may be displayed on a screen different from the screen that displays the information on the registration work.

Next, an example of the processing flow of the processing device 10 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, the discrimination unit 11 discriminates the type of product storage container that stores the purchased product (S10). After that, the output unit 12 outputs a product accommodation method corresponding to the product container type determined in S10 (S11).

According to the processing apparatus 10 described above, it is possible to output to the operator the method of storing the product according to the type of the product storage container. By referring to the information output by the processing device 10, the worker can store the products in an appropriate storage method according to the type of the product storage container.

<Second embodiment>
The processing device 10 of the present embodiment identifies a product container, specifies a product for which product identification information is registered, and outputs a method for storing the product in the product container to the operator. According to the processing device 10 of the present embodiment, information to be output can be narrowed down to necessary information.

The hardware configuration of the processing device 10 of this embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a functional block diagram of the processing device 10 of this embodiment. As illustrated, the processing device 10 has a determination unit 11 , an output unit 12 , a product identification information acquisition unit 13 and a recommendation information acquisition unit 14 . The functional configuration of the determination unit 11 is the same as that of the first embodiment.

The product identification information acquisition unit 13 acquires product identification information for identifying a product to be purchased. Workers read product identification information attached to products with a reader (e.g. bar code), and perform input operations on physical buttons and touch panel displays to obtain product identification information that identifies products to be purchased. Register with the POS register. The product identification information acquisition unit 13 acquires product identification information registered in the POS register. The product identification information acquisition unit 13 can acquire the registered product identification information each time the product identification information is registered in the POS register.

The recommended information acquiring unit 14 acquires recommended information indicating a recommended accommodation method for storing the product for which the product identification information has been acquired (hereinafter referred to as “registered product”) in the product container of the type determined by the determining unit 11. get.

For example, products for which the same accommodation method is recommended may be grouped, and recommended accommodation methods in various product containers may be stored in advance for each group. Then, the recommended information acquisition unit 14 acquires from the storage unit the type of product storage container determined by the determination unit 11 and the recommended storage method corresponding to the product identification information acquired by the product identification information acquisition unit 13. good too. The processing device 10 may have the storage means, or an external device configured to be communicable with the processing device 10 may have the storage means.

For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the storage means may store information in which product identification information and group numbers are associated with each other. In addition, the storage means may store recommended information indicating a recommended storage method for each group and product storage container type, as shown in FIG. 7, for example. The recommended information acquisition unit 14 can determine to which group each product belongs by referring to the information shown in FIG. Then, the recommended information acquisition unit 14 can acquire recommended information corresponding to a predetermined group and a predetermined product container type by referring to the information shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 7, the recommendation information may indicate the order in which the products are stored. The order in which the products of the first group are stored in the first container may be different from the order in which the products of the first group are stored in the second container. Also, the recommended information may indicate how to stack the products.

For example, the products in the first group may be products that are undesirable to be "tilted" or "collapsed" (eg, box lunches, side dishes, cakes, etc.). Then, the recommended information when storing such products in the bag may be, as shown in the figure, "Put first, put lighter items on top." On the other hand, the recommended information when storing such products in the basket may be, as shown in the figure, "Put last, place on non-deformable object".

In the case of bags, piles of stacked products may collapse. Products placed on the top of the pile may tilt as the pile of products collapses. For this reason, in the case of bags, items that should not be tilted should be placed first and placed at the bottom of the pile. This avoids the inconvenience of the product being tilted. By placing a light object on the product, the inconvenience of the product being crushed can be avoided.

On the other hand, since the shape of the basket is fixed, it is held by the basket, and there is little possibility that the pile of products will collapse. For this reason, in the case of baskets, items that should not be tilted should be placed last and positioned at the top of the pile. This avoids the inconvenience of the product being crushed. By placing the product on an object that does not deform, the inconvenience of the product tilting can be avoided. Objects that do not deform include relatively heavy objects such as a set of six beverage cans. According to the recommended information, such relatively heavy products can be accommodated in the basket.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 7, the recommended information may indicate the upper limit of the number of products that can be accommodated. The upper limit of the number of products of the second group that can be accommodated in the first container and the upper limit of the number of products of the second group that can be accommodated in the second container may be different. Baskets are generally stronger than bags. For this reason, the basket can accommodate a larger total weight than the bag. Note that product groups may be provided for each product type with different weights, such as 350 ml cans, 500 ml cans, 350 ml cans x 6 sets, 500 ml cans x 6 sets, and the like.

In addition, although not shown, as recommended information for a group of hot products, it may be indicated that the products should be stored separately from the cold products, and that the warm products should be stored together. In addition, as recommended information for a group of cold products, it may be indicated that cold products should be stored separately from warm products and cold products should be stored together. Also, as a recommendation for a group of fragile items, it may be shown to be put in last. Also, it may be indicated that the soft product group should be put in last as recommended information. Also, it may be indicated that the soft product group should be put in last as recommended information.

A plurality of group numbers may be registered corresponding to one product identification information. That is, there may be products belonging to multiple groups.

Also, all products may belong to any group, or there may be products that do not belong to any group. For example, a product for which no special attention is paid to how it is stored does not belong to any group.

Returning to FIG. 5 , the output unit 12 outputs the recommended information acquired by the recommended information acquisition unit 14 . Examples of the output method include display on a display, projection to an arbitrary position using a projection device, and the like, but are not limited to these.

FIG. 8 shows an example of information output by the output unit 12. As shown in FIG. In the illustrated example, the type of product storage container determined by the determination unit 11 and the A storage method corresponding to the acquired product identification information is displayed.

The figure shows two pieces of recommended information (recommended information A and B). Each piece of recommended information is displayed corresponding to each registered product. In the illustrated example, the number on the upper left of the recommended information corresponds to the item number. That is, the recommended information A is the recommended information corresponding to the banana, and the recommended information B is the recommended information corresponding to the hamburger bento.

As shown, multiple recommendations may be displayed simultaneously. A plurality of pieces of recommended information may be individually deleted from the screen according to user operations. For example, the recommended information may be deleted from the screen in response to a predetermined operation on one piece of recommended information (eg, an operation of touching one piece of recommended information). In such a case, each piece of recommended information is displayed on the screen until the timing desired by the operator. For example, it is possible to leave the recommendation information of the product that is recommended to be inserted last until the end.

Although not shown, the recommended information corresponding to each product may be displayed on the screen in the order in which the products are registered. Then, the displayed recommended information may be deleted from the screen after a certain period of time has passed.

Next, an example of the processing flow of the processing device 10 will be described using the flowchart of FIG.

First, the discriminating unit 11 discriminates the type of product container that stores the purchased product (S20). After that, when the product identification information is acquired by the product identification information acquisition unit 13 (S21), the recommended information acquisition unit 14 acquires the type of product container determined in S22 and the product identification information acquired in S21. Recommended information indicating the corresponding recommended accommodation method is acquired (S22). Then, the output unit 12 outputs the recommended information acquired in S22 (S23).

When the product identification information is registered in the POS register, the product identification information acquisition unit 13 can acquire the product identification information, and the output unit 12 can output recommended information corresponding to the product identification information. That is, when one piece of product identification information is registered, recommended information corresponding to that product identification information may be output at that timing.

Thereafter, while there is no input to end the process of outputting the recommended information (No in S24), the process is repeated.

The input for ending the process of outputting the recommended information is, for example, an input to stop, an input to proceed to the settlement process, or the like. If there is an input to cancel, the product identification information registered so far is cleared. If there is an input to proceed to settlement processing, the total payment amount is calculated and output.

According to the processing apparatus 10 described above, the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be achieved. Further, according to the processing apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, it is possible to output information by narrowing down the storage method for storing the registered product in the product storage container of the discriminated type. If a large amount of information is output at one time, the operator may skip it without checking it. By narrowing down the information to be output to the information necessary at that time as in the present embodiment, it is possible to increase the possibility of the operator confirming the information.

<Third Embodiment>
There is a semi-self-type POS system in which a registration device for registering product identification information and a settlement device for settlement are separately provided. In general, a store clerk operates a registration device to perform registration work. Then, when the registration work is completed, the payment information (total payment amount, registered commodity identification information, etc.) is transmitted from the registration device to the settlement device. After that, the customer operates the settlement device to make a payment.

The processing device 10 of the present embodiment is a settlement device in the semi-self-type POS system. That is, the settlement device outputs the recommended information described in the first and second embodiments.

The hardware configuration of the processing device 10 of this embodiment is the same as that of the first and second embodiments.

An example of a functional block diagram of the processing device 10 of this embodiment is shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. That is, the processing device 10 has a discrimination section 11 and an output section 12 . The processing device 10 may further include a product identification information acquisition section 13 and a recommendation information acquisition section 14 .

The determination unit 11 may determine the type of container based on user input. For example, the customer may enter the container type into the checkout device (processing device 10). Alternatively, the store clerk may input the type of container to the registration device. The registration device may then transmit information indicating the input type of container to the processing device 10 . Other configurations of the determination unit 11 are the same as in the first and second embodiments.

The product identification information acquisition unit 13 may acquire product identification information for identifying the product to be purchased from the payment information received from the registration device. Other configurations of the product identification information acquisition unit 13 are the same as those of the second embodiment.

The recommended information acquisition unit 14 acquires recommended information in the same manner as in the second embodiment. Note that the recommended information acquisition unit 14 may determine the order in which each product is stored based on the product to be purchased and the recommended information of each product. Information indicating the accommodation order may be included in the recommendation information. For example, an item that is desired to be placed first will be placed before an item that is desired to be placed last. The recommended information acquisition unit 14 may generate, for example, recommended information such as "After putting in products A, B, and C, put in products C, D, and E."

In addition, the recommended information acquisition unit 14 may determine the stacking order of each product based on the product to be purchased and the recommended information of each product. Information indicating the stacking order may be included in the recommended information. For example, if there is a product that you would like to place a light object on top of, you can place a product that weighs less than the standard value on top of that product. You may decide to laminate. The recommended information acquisition unit 14 may generate, for example, recommended information such as "Place product B on product A." In this case, information indicating the weight of each product is registered in advance in the server, and the processing device 10 may use the information to determine the stacking order.

In addition, if there is a product that is desired to be placed on a non-deformable item among the products to be purchased, it is decided to stack the product on top of the non-deformable product among the products to be purchased. You may The recommended information acquisition unit 14 may generate, for example, recommended information such as "Place product C on product D." In this case, information indicating which product corresponds to the "non-deformable product" is registered in the server in advance, and the processing device 10 may use the information to determine the stacking order.

The output unit 12 outputs the recommended information generated by the recommended information acquisition unit 14 as described above. The output unit 12 may output recommended information similar to that of the first and second embodiments.

According to the processing apparatus 10 described above, the same effects as those of the first and second embodiments can be achieved. In addition, the processing device 10 of this embodiment can also be applied to a semi-self-type POS system.

In addition, in the case of the present embodiment, the recommendation information is output after the registration of the product to be purchased is finished, so that it is possible to further output the recommendation information different from that in the first and second embodiments. For example, since all products to be stored are determined before outputting the recommended information, it is possible to determine the order of storage and stacking and output. As a result, a more specific accommodation method can be provided.

Examples of reference forms are added below.
1. discrimination means for discriminating the type of container containing the purchased product;
an output means for outputting a product accommodation method corresponding to the type of container determined by the determination means;
A processing device having
2. 1. In the processing device according to 1,
Product identification information acquisition means for acquiring product identification information for identifying a product to be purchased;
recommended information obtaining means for obtaining recommended information indicating a recommended housing method for housing the product for which the product identification information has been obtained in the container of the type determined by the determining means;
further having
The output means is a processing device that outputs the recommended information.
3. In the processing device according to 1 or 2,
A processing apparatus in which the order in which the first products are placed in the first container is different from the order in which the first products are placed in the second container.
4. 4. In the processing device according to any one of 1 to 3,
A processing apparatus in which the upper limit of the number of second products that can be stored in the first container and the upper limit of the number of the second products that can be stored in the second container are different.
5. In the processing device according to any one of 1 to 4,
The discrimination means is a processing device that discriminates between a basket and a bag as the types of the containers.
6. the computer
a determination step of determining the type of container containing the purchased product;
an output step of outputting a product accommodation method according to the type of container determined in the determination step;
The processing method to perform.
7. the computer,
discrimination means for discriminating the type of container containing the purchased product;
output means for outputting a product accommodation method according to the container type determined by the determination means;
A program that acts as a

1A processor 2A memory 3A input/output I/F
4A Peripheral circuit 5A Bus 10 Processing device 11 Determination unit 12 Output unit 13 Product identification information acquisition unit 14 Recommended information acquisition unit

Claims (6)

discrimination means for discriminating the type of container containing the purchased product;
Product identification information acquisition means for acquiring product identification information for identifying a product to be purchased;
recommended information obtaining means for obtaining recommended information indicating a recommended housing method for housing the product for which the product identification information has been obtained in the container of the type determined by the determining means;
output means for outputting the recommended information ;
has
The recommendation information obtaining means is configured to provide the recommendation indicating that the first product, which is one of the products to be purchased, is placed on top of the second product, which is another one of the products to be purchased. A processor that obtains information . The processing apparatus of claim 1,
The recommended information indicates the order in which the products are contained, and the order in which the third products are contained in the first container indicated by the recommended information is different from the order in which the third products are contained in the second container. Device. In the processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 ,
The recommended information indicates the upper limit of the number of products to be accommodated, the upper limit of the number of products to be accommodated in the first container indicated by the recommended information, and the upper limit of the number of products to be accommodated in the second container. Processing equipment different from the upper limit of the number. In the processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3 ,
The discrimination means is a processing device that discriminates between a basket and a bag as the types of the containers. the computer
a determination step of determining the type of container containing the purchased product;
a product identification information obtaining step of obtaining product identification information identifying a product to be purchased;
a recommended information acquiring step of acquiring recommended information indicating a recommended housing method for housing the product for which the product identification information has been acquired in the container of the type determined in the determining step;
an output step of outputting the recommended information ;
has
In the recommended information acquiring step, the recommendation indicating that the first product, which is one of the products to be purchased, is placed on top of the second product, which is another one of the products to be purchased. The processing method that retrieves the information . the computer,
discrimination means for discriminating the type of container containing the purchased product;
Product identification information acquiring means for acquiring product identification information for identifying a product to be purchased;
recommended information acquiring means for acquiring recommended information indicating a recommended accommodation method for storing the product for which the product identification information has been acquired in the container of the type determined by the determining means;
output means for outputting the recommended information ;
function as
The recommendation information obtaining means is configured to provide the recommendation indicating that the first product, which is one of the products to be purchased, is placed on top of the second product, which is another one of the products to be purchased. A program that retrieves information .

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