JP7378075B2 - Sales equipment, sales system and sales method - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD This disclosure generally relates to vending systems and vending methods. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a sales system and method for selling items stored in a storage area.

Patent Document 1 describes a product management device for grasping what kind of product a product purchaser has picked up. This product management device outputs a list of products taken out from the product shelf based on changes in weight (changes in sensing state) on a scale attached to the product shelf.

Further, in this product management device, a plurality of RFID antennas that receive transmission signals from RFID tags attached to products are arranged on the ceiling of the store or on the product shelves. The RFID tag stores product identification information. RFID tags are used by product purchasers to identify physically moved products by picking them up.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2018-160042

In the product management device described in Patent Document 1, no measures are taken to improve the accuracy of reading product identification information (article information) of products (articles) from RFID tags (electronic tags). For this reason, the product management device described in Patent Document 1 has a problem in that depending on the situation, it is difficult to identify the product that a product purchaser (customer) wants to purchase using an RFID tag.

An object of the present disclosure is to provide a sales device, a sales system, and a sales method that can improve the accuracy of reading product information regarding products that a customer wants to purchase.

A sales device according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes a detection section, a reading section, an arithmetic processing section, and a user interface. The detection unit detects opening and closing of the partition. The partition partitions an external space from a storage area where articles are stored. The reading unit executes a reading process of reading article information given to the article. The arithmetic processing section controls the reading section according to the detection result of the detection section, and specifies the target article to be purchased by the customer based on the reading result of the reading section. The user interface is an interface for executing sales processing for the target article specified by the arithmetic processing unit . The arithmetic processing unit is configured to perform correction processing for shifting the list of target articles specified by the arithmetic processing unit to a correction mode in which input of a modification of the list of target articles by the customer is received in the sales process. An icon is displayed on the user interface.
A sales system according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes a detection unit, a reading unit, a calculation processing unit, and a user interface. The detection unit detects opening and closing of the partition. The partition partitions an external space from a storage area where articles are stored. The reading unit executes a reading process of reading article information given to the article. The arithmetic processing section controls the reading section according to the detection result of the detection section, and specifies the target article to be purchased by the customer based on the reading result of the reading section. The user interface is an interface for executing sales processing for the target article specified by the arithmetic processing unit. The arithmetic processing unit is configured to perform correction processing for shifting the list of target articles specified by the arithmetic processing unit to a correction mode in which input of a modification of the list of target articles by the customer is received in the sales process. An icon is displayed on the user interface.

A sales method according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes a step of detecting opening/closing of a partition. The partition partitions an external space from a storage area where articles are stored. This sales method includes the steps of reading article information of the article according to a detection result of opening/closing of the partition , and specifying a target article to be purchased by a customer based on the reading result of the article information. This sales method includes the step of executing sales processing for the specified target article. In this sales method, in the sales process, a correction icon is displayed on the user interface together with a list of the specified target goods to move to a correction mode that accepts correction input to the list of target goods by the customer. including the step of

The present disclosure has an advantage in that it is possible to improve the accuracy of reading article information regarding an article that a customer wants to purchase.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a sales system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing the appearance of the storage used in the above sales system. FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing the external appearance of the storage compartment with the door body opened. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a sales method using the same sales system. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing sales processing in the sales system described above. 6A to 6C are schematic perspective views showing usage examples of the above sales system. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of an image displayed on the display unit when the authentication process is successfully completed in the above sales system. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of an image displayed on the display section when the door body is open in the above sales system. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of an image representing a warning displayed on the display section when the door body is open in the sales system mentioned above. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of an image displayed on the display unit when there is no target article in the above sales system. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of an image including a purchase list displayed on the display unit in the above sales system. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of an image for correction of the target article displayed on the display unit in the sales system mentioned above. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an image representing a warning displayed on the display section when the door body is open in the sales system mentioned above. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of an image displayed on the display unit after approval is input in the above sales system. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of an image including a warning displayed on the display unit after approval is input in the above sales system.

(1) Overview The sales system 100 according to the present embodiment is a system used for selling articles 91 stored in the storage area Sp1 (see FIG. 1). "Sale" as used in this disclosure refers to an act (sales) in which the ownership of the article 91 is transferred from the seller to the buyer (customer 90 (see FIG. 6A)), and the buyer pays the consideration (price) to the seller. It means an action on the part of a person.

The storage area Sp1 is an area where articles 91 with electronic tags 92 are stored. In this embodiment, the storage area Sp1 is the internal space Sp1 of the storage 8. The "accommodation warehouse" in the present disclosure is a container that can accommodate one or more articles 91, and includes, for example, a refrigerator, a freezer, a heat-retaining warehouse, etc., which can shield the internal space Sp1 (see FIG. 3) from the outside. Or, it is a facility with a temperature control function such as a hot storage. However, the storage 8 does not need to have a temperature adjustment function. In this embodiment, the storage 8 includes a door body 83 as a partition 83 that partitions an internal space (storage area) Sp1 and an external space Sp2. Therefore, the internal space (storage area) Sp1 is open to the external space Sp2 when the door body 83 is open, and is shielded from the external space Sp2 when the door body 83 is closed.

As shown in FIG. 1, the sales system 100 includes a detection section 1, a reading section 2, a reading control section 31, an article specifying section 32, and a user interface 4.

The detection unit 1 detects whether the partition 83 is opened or closed. In other words, the detection unit 1 detects a state where the internal space (storage area) Sp1 is opened to the external space Sp2 when the door body (partition) 83 is opened, and a state where the internal space Sp1 is opened to the external space Sp1 when the door body 83 is closed. It is detected which state of being shielded from the space Sp2. Hereinafter, unless otherwise specified, the state in which the door body 83 is open will be referred to as an "open state," and the state in which the door body 83 is closed will be referred to as a "closed state."

The reading unit 2 performs a reading process of reading article information of the article 91 by performing wireless communication using radio waves as a medium with the electronic tag 92 located in the storage area Sp1. That is, the reading unit 2 does not read the article information directly from the article 91, but reads the article information from the electronic tag 92 attached to the article 91 in a non-contact manner.

"Product information" in the present disclosure is information for identifying the product 91, and is, for example, a product identification code such as a JAN (Japanese Article Number) code used in Japan. In addition to the JAN code, this type of product identification code includes the EPC (Electronic Product Code), the EAN (European Article Number) code used in Europe, and the UPC (Universal Product Code) used in the United States. etc. Furthermore, the article information is not limited to information that identifies the type (type) of the article 91, but may include information such as serial information that individually identifies articles 91 of the same type. Thereby, even if there are a plurality of articles 91 of the same type, each of the plurality of articles 91 of the same type can be specified using the article information.

Here, the article 91 whose article information is to be read by the reading unit 2 is the article 91 stored in the storage 8 . That is, the reading unit 2 reads article information from the electronic tag 92 attached to at least one article 91 stored in the storage warehouse 8 (that is, in the storage area Sp1). Therefore, if there are articles 91 both inside and outside the storage 8, the reading unit 2 basically reads the article information on the articles 91 inside the storage 8. conduct.

The reading control section 31 controls the reading section 2 according to the detection result of the detection section 1 . In the present embodiment, the reading control unit 31 causes the reading unit 2 to execute the reading process when the detection unit 1 detects the closed state. On the other hand, when the detection unit 1 detects the open state, the reading control unit 31 stops the reading process by the reading unit 2. In other words, the reading control unit 31 stops the reading process by the reading unit 2 at least while the detection unit 1 detects that the door body (partition) 83 is open.

The article specifying section 32 specifies a target article 93 (see FIG. 6C) that is a purchase target of the customer 90 based on the reading result of the reading section 2. In the present embodiment, the article specifying unit 32 specifies the target article 93 to be purchased by the customer 90 based on the increase or decrease of the articles 91 in the internal space (storage area) Sp1 of the storage warehouse 8. That is, when the customer 90 intends to purchase an article 91 in the storage 8, the customer 90 opens the door 83 and takes out the target article 93 to be purchased from the storage 8. Therefore, the article identifying unit 32 identifies the article 91 that has been taken out from among the one or more articles 91 stored in the storage 8 as the target article 93 .

The user interface 4 is an interface for executing sales processing for the target article 93 specified by the article specifying section 32. That is, after the customer 90 takes out the target article 93, which is the article 91 to be purchased, from the internal space (storage area) Sp1 of the storage warehouse 8, the customer 90 uses the user interface 4 to complete the sales process of purchasing the target article 93. . This embodiment includes a payment process for making payment for the target article 93 after the sales process is completed. Thereby, the customer 90 can purchase the target item 93 without the help of anyone other than himself (for example, a clerk at a store where the sales system 100 is installed).

As described above, in the present embodiment, the reading control unit 31 causes the reading unit 2 to perform the reading process based on the detection result of the detection unit 1, that is, based on the state of the internal space (storage area) Sp1 of the storage warehouse 8. run or stop. Therefore, in this embodiment, the accuracy of reading article information regarding the article 91 that the customer 90 intends to purchase is improved compared to the case where the reading process of the electronic tag 92 is continued regardless of the state of the storage area Sp1. It has the advantage of being able to achieve

(2) Details Hereinafter, the sales system 100 of this embodiment will be explained in detail. The sales system 100 is installed, for example, in an office (including a shared office), a factory, a station, a school, a retail store such as a convenience store or a supermarket, a welfare facility, a hospital, or a facility such as a gymnasium. Furthermore, the sales system 100 is not limited to being installed indoors, but may be installed outdoors. Sales system 100 is used to sell articles 91 to customers 90.

In this embodiment, as an example, it is assumed that the sales system 100 is introduced into an office. Here, the articles 91 stored in the storage 8 (that is, the storage area Sp1) of the sales system 100 are "products" to be sold to the customers 90. The reading unit 2 of the sales system 100 reads article information from an electronic tag 92 attached to an article 91, which is a product. In other words, the article information regarding the article (product) 91 is "product information."

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, a case will be described as an example in which the storage 8 is a facility having a temperature control function, particularly a refrigerator (including a refrigerated showcase) having a refrigeration function. Therefore, the articles 91 stored in the storage 8 are refrigerated within the storage 8. In the following, food and beverages such as plastic bottled drinks and canned drinks will be assumed as an example of the articles 91 stored in the storage 8.

(2.1) Storage warehouse (storage area)
First, the storage 8 (storage area Sp1) in which the articles 91 sold by the sales system 100 of this embodiment are stored will be explained using FIGS. 2 and 3.

As described above, the storage 8 is a refrigerator (including a refrigerated showcase) that has a refrigeration function and can accommodate a plurality of articles 91 such as plastic bottled drinks. The storage 8 as a whole has a height larger than its width and depth, that is, a rectangular parallelepiped shape that is long in the vertical direction. In this embodiment, the storage 8 includes one or more mounting tables 81, a housing 82, and a door (partition) 83.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the housing 82 includes a base portion 821, a roof portion 822, and wall portions 823a, 823b, and 823c. The casing 82 as a whole is formed in a box shape with an opening at the front, and the internal space Sp1 of the storage 8 can be accessed from the front of the casing 82.

The base portion 821 and the roof portion 822 each have a rectangular shape in plan view, and are formed in a shape with a height smaller than width and depth, that is, a rectangular parallelepiped shape that is short in the vertical direction. The base portion 821 constitutes the lower end portion of the housing 82 and is located below the internal space Sp1 of the storage 8. The roof portion 822 constitutes the upper end portion of the housing 82 and is located above the internal space Sp1 of the storage 8.

The wall portions 823a, 823b, and 823c are arranged between the base portion 821 and the roof portion 822 so as to surround the internal space Sp1 of the storage 8 from three sides. Specifically, the wall portion 823a and the wall portion 823b are arranged to face each other in the left-right direction. When viewing the storage 8 from the front, a wall portion 823a is located on the left side of the internal space Sp1, and a wall portion 823b is located on the right side of the internal space Sp1. The wall portion 823c is configured to connect the rear end portions of the wall portions 823a and 823b. The wall portion 823c is located at the back of the internal space Sp1 when viewing the storage 8 from the front.

The door body 83 is a member that closes the front surface of the casing 82, which is the opening surface of the casing 82. The door body 83 is configured to be openable and closable. Here, the door body 83 has light transmittance. Furthermore, the door body 83 has radio wave shielding properties. In other words, the door body 83 does not always close the front surface of the casing 82, but is movable between a "closed position" in which it closes the front surface of the casing 82 and an "open position" in which the front surface of the casing 82 is opened. (can be opened and closed). In this embodiment, the door body 83 is a swing door that opens to the right, that is, to the right, as shown in FIG. In other words, the door body 83 opens and closes by rotating relative to the housing 82 with the right end of the front surface of the housing 82 as the rotation axis. As already mentioned, the door body 83 is a partition 83 that partitions the internal space (storage area) Sp1 and the external space Sp2.

As an example, the door body 83 includes a frame and a glass plate fitted into the frame. The door body 83 has a shielding sheet having radio wave shielding properties affixed to at least one of the front surface (the surface facing the outside of the housing 8) and the back surface (the surface facing the inside of the housing 8) of the glass plate. The system adopts a new configuration. Both the glass plate and the shielding sheet have light transmittance. Therefore, even when the door body 83 is in a closed state, the customer 90 can see the inside of the storage room 8 through both the glass plate and the shielding sheet in the door body 83. Therefore, for example, the customer 90 can check the inventory status of the articles 91 stored in the storage warehouse 8, that is, the articles 91, with the door body 83 closed. Further, if a price tag is attached to the article 91 stored in the storage warehouse 8, information such as the price of the article 91 can be presented to the customer 90 with the door body 83 closed.

Here, since the storage 8 has a refrigeration function, the casing 82 and the door body 83 surrounding the internal space Sp1 have heat insulation properties. In the storage 8, an electrical device such as a compressor that also serves as a heat source is housed in a base portion 821 or a roof portion 822.

One or more mounting tables 81 function as tables on which articles 91 are placed in the internal space Sp1. The mounting table 81 is formed into a rectangular plate shape, and constitutes a shelf board for dividing the internal space Sp1 of the storage 8 into a plurality of regions in the vertical direction. The mounting table 81 is attached to the housing 82. The mounting table 81 is made of metal, for example, but is not limited to this example, and may be made of resin, for example. The mounting table 81 is not limited to a plate-like member, and may be, for example, a grid-like, ladder-like, or net-like member (including a wire mesh).

In particular, in this embodiment, the internal space Sp1 of the storage 8 is formed in a shape that is larger in height than its width and depth, that is, in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped that is long in the vertical direction. In order to efficiently store the articles 91 in such an internal space Sp1, the storage 8 has a plurality of mounting tables 81 as shelf boards, and these mounting tables 81 allow the storage of the articles 91 to be placed vertically. Multiple stages are formed in the direction. In this embodiment, the storage 8 includes five mounting tables 81. Therefore, the plurality of articles 91 can be housed in the internal space Sp1 in five stages in the vertical direction. In this way, these mounting tables 81 vertically divide the internal space Sp1 of the storage 8 into a plurality of regions. In this embodiment, the storage 8 adopts a system similar to a storage shelf called a flexible shelf or a movable shelf, and the position of the mounting table 81 can be changed in steps in the vertical direction.

Since the position of the mounting table 81 is variable in the vertical direction in this way, it is possible to change the position of the mounting table 81 according to the height of the article 91, for example. That is, if the height of the article 91 placed on the mounting table 81 increases, the loading table 81 may be moved downward by that amount; For example, the mounting table 81 can be moved upward by that amount.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the number of mounting tables 81 attached to the housing 82 can also be changed. That is, in the present embodiment, there are five mounting tables 81 as shown in FIGS. It is also possible to remove four or less mounting tables 81.

(2.2) Sales System Next, the configuration of the sales system 100 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

As shown in FIG. 1, the sales system 100 includes a detection unit 1, a reading unit 2, a main computer 3, a user interface 4, an acquisition unit 5, a locking mechanism 6, and an antenna system 10. There is. In this embodiment, the antenna system 10 is included as a component of the sales system 100, but the antenna system 10 does not need to be included as a component of the sales system 100.

The detection unit 1 detects whether the door body (partition) 83 is opened or closed. That is, the detection unit 1 can detect that the door body 83 is opened (being in the "open state") and that the door body 83 is closed (being in the "closed state"). The detection unit 1 is realized by, for example, a non-contact type sensor such as a reed switch or an optical sensor, or a contact type sensor such as a limit switch.

The reading unit 2 is a device that executes a reading process of reading article information by performing wireless communication using radio waves with an electronic tag 92 attached to at least one article 91 stored in the storage warehouse 8. . The reading unit 2 uses an antenna included in the antenna module 101 to perform wireless communication with the electronic tag 92 .

In this embodiment, the reading unit 2 is a reader that constitutes an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) system. That is, the reading unit 2 acquires article information stored in the electronic tag 92 by performing wireless communication with the electronic tag 92 in the RFID system.

The electronic tag 92 is, for example, a passive RF (Radio Frequency) tag, and has a memory that stores at least article information. Here, a plurality of electronic tags 92 are associated with a plurality of articles 91 on a one-to-one basis. The electronic tag 92 stores article information about the corresponding article 91, and the electronic tag 92 is attached to the corresponding article 91.

The electronic tag 92 only needs to be attached to the article 91 in a state that it can be handled integrally with the article 91, and there are various ways in which the electronic tag 92 can be attached to the article 91. In this embodiment, as an example, the electronic tag 92 is in the form of a sticker and is attached to the article 91. In addition, for example, the electronic tag 92 may be connected to the article 91 with a string or the like, may be integrated into the packaging material of the article 91, may be embedded in the article 91, or may be embedded in the article 91. may be incorporated into. Further, the electronic tag 92 may be formed directly on the surface of the article 91 itself or the packaging material of the article 91 by printing, for example, by using a coating type semiconductor technique or the like.

The reading unit 2 transmits radio waves from the antenna of the antenna module 101 to the electronic tag 92, and performs wireless communication with the electronic tag 92 activated by the radio waves using radio waves as a communication medium. In the present embodiment, since the reading unit 2 acquires article information from the electronic tag 92, the reading unit 2 receives information including at least article information from the electronic tag 92 when wireless communication with the electronic tag 92 is established.

In this embodiment, the reading section 2 is arranged on the upper surface of the housing 82 (the upper surface of the roof section 822) together with the main computer 3. Here, in the storage 8, an electrical device such as a compressor that also serves as a heat source is housed in the base section 821 or the roof section 822, so the reading section 2 and the main computer 3 are protected from the influence of heat from the heat source. It is preferable that the arrangement or structure is such that it is not easily affected. Further, on the upper surface of the housing 82 (the upper surface of the roof section 822), devices other than the reading section 2 and the main computer 3, such as a power supply device and communication equipment, can also be appropriately arranged.

The main computer 3 is a computer system mainly composed of one or more processors and memory as hardware. In the main computer 3, various functions are realized by executing programs recorded in the memory using one or more processors. The program may be pre-recorded in the memory of the main computer 3, or may be provided via a telecommunications line, or may be provided by being recorded on a non-transitory recording medium readable by the computer system, such as an optical disk or a hard disk drive. It's okay.

The main computer 3 is connected to a detection section 1 , a reading section 2 , a user interface 4 , an acquisition section 5 , and a locking mechanism 6 . Furthermore, the main computer 3 is configured to be able to communicate with the payment system 7. The payment system 7 is a system that performs payment for goods 91 purchased by a customer 90. "Settlement" in this disclosure refers to the payment on the buyer's side that is necessary for the act (sales) of transferring the ownership of the item 91 from the seller to the buyer (customer 90) and paying the consideration (price) for this to the seller. means.

In the present disclosure, "communicatable" means that information can be exchanged directly by an appropriate communication method such as wired communication or wireless communication, or indirectly via a network, a repeater, or the like. That is, the main computer 3 of the sales system 100 and the settlement system 7 can exchange information with each other. In this embodiment, the settlement system 7 is not included in the components of the sales system 100, but the settlement system 7 may be included in the components of the sales system 100.

Thereby, the main computer 3 executes predetermined processing, such as a transmission process for transmitting information necessary for the payment process in the payment system 7 to the payment system 7, based on the article information read by the reading unit 2. Furthermore, the main computer 3 controls the reading unit 2 based on the detection signal generated by the detection unit 1, and sends the authentication information acquired by the acquisition unit 5 to the authentication server to perform authentication processing on the authentication server. It is possible to execute it. The "authentication server" here is an external server that can communicate with the sales system 100.

The main computer 3 includes a reading control section 31 and an article specifying section 32. Specifically, the main computer 3 realizes the functions of the reading control section 31 and the article specifying section 32 by executing a predetermined program using one or more processors.

The reading control unit 31 controls the reading unit 2 to cause the reading unit 2 to execute a reading process or to stop the reading process by the reading unit 2. The reading control section 31 controls the reading section 2 according to the detection result of the detection section 1, that is, according to the opening/closing of the door body (partition) 83. Basically, the reading control unit 31 causes the reading unit 2 to execute the reading process when the door body 83 is in the closed state, and causes the reading unit 2 to stop the reading process when the door body 83 is in the open state. That is, if the internal space (storage area) Sp1 is shielded from the external space Sp2, the reading control unit 31 causes the reading unit 2 to execute the reading process.

In this embodiment, the reading control unit 31 periodically causes the reading unit 2 to execute the reading process while the sales process is not being executed and the door body (partition) 83 is closed. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the reading control unit 31 stops the reading process by the reading unit 2 before the locking mechanism 6 (described later) switches from the prohibited state to the permitted state. In other words, the reading control unit 31 stops the reading process by the reading unit 2 before the door body 83 switches from the closed state to the open state. As a result, the reading unit 2 does not perform the reading process while the internal space (storage area) Sp1 is open to the external space Sp2.

The article specifying section 32 specifies a target article 93 to be purchased by the customer 90 based on the reading result of the reading section 2 . Specifically, the article identifying unit 32 identifies the article 91 that the customer 90 has taken out of the internal space (storage area) Sp1 of the storage warehouse 8 as the target article 93. In the present embodiment, the article specifying section 32 specifies the target article 93 by comparing the reading results of the reading section 2 before and after the door body (partition) 83 is opened and closed. That is, before the customer 90 opens the door body 83, the article specifying section 32 acquires the list of article information read by the reading section 2 from the reading section 2 as the first list. Further, the article specifying section 32 acquires the list of article information read by the reading section 2 from the reading section 2 as a second list at a time after the customer 90 closes the door body 83. Then, the article identification unit 32 determines the difference between the acquired first list and second list, that is, the article information included in the first list and not included in the second list, and determines the article that the customer 90 has taken out. 91 is specified as the target article 93. In other words, the article specifying unit 32 selects the article 91 for which the first list includes the article information but the second list does not include the article information, which the customer 90 has taken out of the storage warehouse 8 to purchase. It is specified that it is article 93.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the article identifying unit 32 identifies the target article 93 every time the door body (partition) 83 is opened or closed from the start to the end of the sales process. In other words, after the customer 90 takes out the items 91 to be purchased from the storage 8, it is assumed that the customer 90 returns some of the items 91 to the storage 8 or takes out new items 91 from the storage 8. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the article identifying unit 32 repeats the process of identifying the target article 93 every time the door body 83 is opened or closed until the sales process ends. In this embodiment, the sales process ends when an approval input for payment processing is received from the customer 90, as will be described later. That is, in this embodiment, the payment process is performed after the sales process ends, and the sales process does not need to end with the completion of the payment process. Of course, the sales process may end when the payment process is completed.

For example, the user interface 4 inputs information by accepting operations from the customer 90, and outputs information by displaying various types of information toward the customer 90. In this embodiment, the user interface 4 includes a touch panel display as the display unit 41, and receives operations by the customer 90 and displays information to the customer 90 using the touch panel display. In this embodiment, the display section 41 displays a list of target articles 93 specified by the article specifying section 32 as an example of information to be presented to the customer 90 (see FIG. 11). By looking at the display unit 41, the customer 90 can check whether the target item 93 that he or she wants to purchase is listed as a target for payment processing.

The user interface 4 also includes a modification section 42 . The modification unit 42 modifies at least one of the type and quantity of the target article 93 specified by the article identification unit 32 by receiving an operation input from the customer 90. In this embodiment, the correction unit 42 is configured to receive correction input from the customer 90 on a touch panel display as the display unit 41.

The modification unit 42 is used when the following situation occurs. That is, it is assumed that two articles 91 named "A" and one article 91 each named "B" and "C" are stored in the internal space (storage area) Sp1 of the storage warehouse 8. In this case, the article specifying unit 32 acquires article information of two "A," one "B," and one "C" as a first list. Then, when the customer 90 takes out “A” and “B” from the storage 8, the article identification unit 32 stores the article information of one “A” and one “C” remaining in the storage 8 as a second item. Get it as a list. Therefore, the article identifying unit 32 identifies "A" and "B" taken out by the customer 90 as the target articles 93 by determining the difference between the acquired first list and second list.

Here, depending on the accuracy of the reading process by the reading unit 2, a situation may arise in which the article information of some of the articles 91 remaining in the storage 8 cannot be read. Here, as an example, it is assumed that the reading unit 2 could not read the article information of "C" among "A" and "C" remaining in the storage warehouse 8. In this case, in order to acquire the article information of one "A" as the second list, the article specifying unit 32 selects "C" as the target article 93 in addition to "A" and "B" retrieved by the customer 90. will be specified.

In such a case, the customer 90 can modify at least one of the type and quantity of the target article 93 specified by the article specifying section 32 by making a correction input on the user interface 4. Here, the customer 90 performs a correction input to exclude "C" from the target article 93. Then, the correction unit 42 corrects the target article 93 specified by the article specifying unit 32, so that the target article 93 specified by the article specifying unit 32 becomes the target article 93 that the customer 90 actually intends to purchase. be done.

In the present embodiment, the correction unit 42 selects the type and quantity of the target article 93 within the range of the type and quantity of the article 91 that has been read by the reading unit 2 to exist in the internal space (storage area) Sp1 of the storage 8. Accept correction input for at least one of the quantities. As an example, assume that three articles 91 named "A" are stored in the storage 8 before the customer 90 takes out the target article 93. In this case, the modification unit 42 does not accept an input by the customer 90 to modify the target article 93 to four or more "A"s, or prevents the customer 90 from inputting a modification to four or more "A"s in the first place. . This makes it easier to avoid a situation where the customer 90 erroneously corrects the type and quantity of the target article 93 to be purchased more than necessary. In addition, the modification unit 42 may accept an input for modifying at least one of the type and quantity of the target article 93 within the range of the type and quantity of the target article 93 specified by the article specifying unit 32.

In this embodiment, the user interface 4 is fixed to the door 83 of the storage 8 together with the acquisition unit 5. Specifically, the user interface 4 and the acquisition unit 5 are configured as shown in FIG. As shown, it is fixed to the front surface of the door body 83.

Further, the user interface 4 may include, for example, a human sensor (for example, a pyroelectric sensor or a radio wave sensor) that detects the approach of a person (customer 90), an image sensor (camera), and the like. As an example, the user interface 4 can estimate the age, gender, facial expression, etc. of the customer 90 by capturing an image of the customer's 90 face with an image sensor.

The acquisition unit 5 is a device that acquires authentication information for executing authentication processing for the customer 90. The acquisition unit 5 acquires fingerprint information of the customer 90 for authenticating the customer 90 by fingerprint authentication, for example. The acquisition unit 5 may acquire biometric information of the customer 90 for performing biometric authentication such as face authentication, vein authentication, iris authentication, or voiceprint authentication instead of or in addition to fingerprint authentication. . Further, the acquisition unit 5 may acquire the authentication information of the customer 90 not only by biometric authentication but also by reading a mobile information terminal (such as a smartphone) or a credit card owned by the customer 90, for example. In this embodiment, the authentication information acquired by the acquisition unit 5 is transmitted to the authentication server. Then, the authentication server executes authentication processing using the authentication information.

The lock mechanism 6 is, for example, an electromagnetic lock type door switch. The lock mechanism 6 switches between a permissible state in which opening and closing of the door body (partition) 83 is permitted and a prohibited state in which opening and closing of the door body 83 is prohibited based on the authentication result of the authentication process. In this embodiment, the lock mechanism 6 is in a prohibited state until the authentication process is successfully completed. That is, the locking mechanism 6 locks the door body 83 in a closed state until the authentication process is successfully completed. Furthermore, when the authentication process is successfully completed, the lock mechanism 6 switches from the prohibited state to the permitted state. That is, the lock mechanism 6 releases the locked state of the door body 83 when the authentication process is successfully completed.

Here, in this embodiment, the lock mechanism 6 switches from the prohibited state to the permitted state after the reading process by the reading unit 2 is completed. That is, if the reading process by the reading unit 2 is in progress at the time when the authentication process is successfully completed, the locking mechanism 6 waits for the completion of the reading process and then switches from the prohibited state to the permitted state. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the article specifying unit 32 acquires the first list while the reading process by the reading unit 2 is insufficient.
The lock mechanism 6 may be integrated with the detection section 1.

The antenna system 10 includes at least one antenna module 101. The antenna module 101 includes an antenna that receives radio waves (radio waves used as a medium for wireless communication between the reading unit 2 and the electronic tag 92). In this embodiment, the antenna is used not only for receiving radio waves but also for transmitting radio waves. The antenna may be either circularly polarized or linearly polarized, but in this embodiment, as an example, it is configured with a circularly polarized antenna. An example of the antenna is a microstrip antenna (patch antenna) in which a conductive path is formed on a printed wiring board.

In this embodiment, the antenna module 101 is arranged in the internal space Sp1 of the storage 8. Here, as an example, three antenna modules 101 are provided for each mounting table 81. For example, three antenna modules 101 are attached above the first stage mounting table 81. Three antenna modules 101 are also attached between the first stage mounting table 81 and the second stage mounting table 81.

In the following, when distinguishing each of the plurality of antenna modules 101 arranged in the vertical direction, the antenna modules 101 in the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth tiers are used in order from the top. I may call you. In other words, the first stage antenna module 101 is arranged above the first stage mounting table 81, and the second stage antenna module 101 is arranged above the first stage mounting stage 81 and the second stage mounting stage 81. placed between. The first-stage antenna module 101 is an antenna module 101 mainly for reading article information of the article 91 placed on the first-stage mounting table 81. The second-stage antenna module 101 is an antenna module 101 mainly for reading article information of the article 91 placed on the second-stage mounting table 81.

Three antenna modules 101 corresponding to one mounting table 81, that is, three antenna modules 101 lined up in the horizontal direction, are arranged so as to surround the article 91 on the mounting table 81 from three sides. Specifically, the two antenna modules 101 are arranged to face each other in the left-right direction. The remaining one antenna module 101 is located at the back of the internal space Sp1 when viewing the housing 8 from the front.

(3) Usage example of sales system Next, usage examples of the sales system 100 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 15. Here, it is assumed that the customer 90 takes out and purchases one or more desired articles 91 from the storage 8 in which a plurality of articles 91 are stored. That is, the customer 90 selects and purchases one or more articles 91 from among the plurality of articles 91 stored in the storage warehouse 8 in advance. Furthermore, here, it is assumed that the customer's 90 information, including payment information specific to credit cards, electronic money, prepaid cards, etc., is registered in advance in the payment system 7.

In addition, here, the goods 91 in the storage 8 include not only drinks in plastic bottles and canned drinks, but also food and drinks such as drinks in paper packs, seasonings in plastic bottles, sweets in boxes, and sweets in bags. Assume that it is contained. Note that the article 91 is not limited to food and drink, but may be daily necessities such as ink cartridges for printers, or other articles.

First, a series of steps up to the transition to sales processing by the sales system 100 will be explained mainly using FIG. 4. Before the authentication process is started (S102: No), the reading control unit 31 periodically causes the reading unit 2 to execute the reading process (S100). Thereby, the article specifying section 32 periodically acquires the article information list read by the reading section 2 from the reading section 2 as a first list (S101). Further, before the authentication process is started, the door body (partition) 83 is locked in a closed state by the lock mechanism 6. Since the opening/closing state of the door body 83 is detected by the detection unit 1, while the detection unit 1 is outputting a detection signal indicating that the door body 83 is in the closed state, the reading control unit 31 periodically Specifically, the reading section 2 is caused to execute the reading process.

Here, when the reading unit 2 executes the reading process, the plurality of antenna modules 101 included in the antenna system 10 are not used simultaneously, but the antenna modules 101 are used one by one in sequence. preferable. As an example, the reading unit 2 performs wireless communication with the electronic tag 92 by using the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth antenna modules 101 in this order. Further, the reading unit 2 performs wireless communication with the electronic tag 92 by sequentially using, for example, three antenna modules 101 on the same stage.

Next, the customer 90 comes to the storage warehouse 8 and accesses the acquisition unit 5, thereby starting the authentication process (S102: Yes) (see FIG. 6A). Then, if the customer 90 has been registered and the authentication process for the customer 90 is successfully completed, that is, the authentication is successful (S103: Yes), the reading control unit 31 stops the reading process by the reading unit 2 (S104). . The reading control unit 31 stops the reading process by the reading unit 2 while the detection unit 1 outputs a detection signal indicating that the door body 83 is in the open state. Then, the lock mechanism 6 unlocks the door body 83 (S105).

At this time, the main computer 3 causes the display unit 41 of the user interface 4 to display a first image P1 urging the customer 90 to open the door body 83 (see FIG. 7). The first image P1 includes a message P11 urging the customer 90 to open the door body 83 and take the product (article) 91, and a pictogram P12 that visually assists the content expressed by the message P11.

Thereafter, the customer 90 opens the door 83 and takes out the desired article 91 from the internal space (storage area) Sp1 of the storage 8 (see FIG. 6B). At this time, the customer 90 may take out only one article 91, or may take out two or more articles 91. Furthermore, if the desired article 91 is not available, the customer 90 does not have to take out the article 91.

When the door body 83 is open, the main computer 3 causes the display unit 41 to display a second image P2 urging the customer 90 to close the door body 83 and proceed to checkout (see FIG. 8). The second image P2 includes a message P21 indicating that closing the door body 83 will proceed to checkout, and an image P22 indicating the total number of target items 93 at the moment, the total amount required to purchase the target items 93, etc. ,including.

Here, if a certain period of time (for example, several minutes) has passed since the door body 83 was opened without the door body 83 being closed, the main computer 3 displays a message on the display unit 41 asking the customer to close the door body 83. A third image P3 including a warning prompting the user is displayed (see FIG. 9). The third image P3 includes a message P31 representing a warning urging the customer 90 to close the door body 83, and a pictogram P32 that visually assists the content expressed by the message P31.

Thereafter, the customer 90 closes the door body 83 while holding the removed article 91 in his hand (see FIG. 6C). The retrieved article 91 corresponds to the target article 93 that the customer 90 intends to purchase. When the detection unit 1 outputs a detection signal indicating that the door body 83 has been closed and the state has shifted from the open state to the closed state (S106: Yes), the reading control unit 31 causes the reading unit 2 to perform the reading process. It is executed (S107). Then, the article specifying section 32 acquires the article information list read by the reading section 2 from the reading section 2 as a second list (S108). At this time, the reading control unit 31 may cause the reading unit 2 to execute the reading process multiple times (for example, twice) after closing the door body 83. In this case, the article specifying unit 32 obtains the second list by calculating the logical sum of the results of the reading process performed a plurality of times by the reading unit 2.

Then, the article specifying unit 32 determines the difference between the acquired first list and second list, that is, the inside of the storage 8 at the time before and after the customer 90 opens the door body 83 and accesses the internal space Sp1 of the storage 8. The difference between the items 91 existing in . Thereby, the article identifying unit 32 identifies the article 91 to be purchased, which the customer 90 has taken out from the storage warehouse 8, as the target article 93 (S109). Thereafter, the main computer 3 shifts to a mode for executing sales processing using the user interface 4 (S200).

Here, if the target article 93 is not specified by the article specifying section 32, the main computer 3 causes the display section 41 to display a fourth image P4 indicating that the target article 93 has not been specified (see FIG. 10). Such a situation may occur, for example, when the customer 90 closes the door 83 without taking out the article 91 from the storage warehouse 8, or because the reading process in the reading section 2 is insufficient. This can occur when there is no difference between the first list and the second list. The fourth image P4 includes a message P41 indicating that the product 91 taken out from the storage warehouse 8 does not exist and prompting the door body 83 to be opened/closed again, the total number of target products 93 at present, and the number of target products 93 purchased. An image P42 representing the total amount required to do so.

Next, a series of sales processing flows performed by the sales system 100 will be explained using mainly FIG. 5. When the target article 93 is specified, the main computer 3 causes the display unit 41 to display a confirmation screen (fifth image P5) including a purchase list that is a list of the target article 93 (S201) (see FIG. 11). In this embodiment, the reading control unit 31 causes the reading unit 2 to execute the reading process at predetermined intervals even while the sales process is being executed. Therefore, even if there is article information that cannot be read in the first reading process after closing the door body 83, there is a high possibility that it will be able to be read in the next and subsequent reading processes. In this case, the main computer 3 updates the list of target articles 93 if there is a change in the target articles 93 specified by the article specifying section 32.

The fifth image P5 includes a confirmation image P51 showing a list of the specified target items 93, an image P52 showing the total number of target items 93 at the present time, the total amount required to purchase the target items 93, etc. including. In the confirmation image P51, an icon representing the target item 93, a price of the target item 93, a score of the target item 93, and a total amount of the target item 93 are displayed for each target item 93. The image P52 displays a correction icon P521 that accepts a correction input from the customer 90, and an approval icon P522 that accepts a payment process approval input from the customer 90.

When the customer 90 operates the modification icon P521, the main computer 3 shifts to a modification mode in which modification input from the customer 90 is accepted. Furthermore, when the customer 90 operates the approval icon P522 (S210: Yes), the main computer 3 executes the payment process (S211). Specifically, the main computer 3 transmits the article information of the target article 93 to the payment system 7. Since the customer 90 has been identified in the authentication process, the payment system 7 uses the customer's 90 payment information to execute the payment process for the target item 93. The main computer 3 also causes the display unit 41 to display the sixth image P6 (see FIG. 14). The sixth image P6 includes a message P61 expressing gratitude for the purchase of the target article 93 by the customer 90, and an image P62 representing the total number and total price of the target article 93.

Here, if the payment system 7 does not complete the payment process normally, the payment system 7 outputs a notification signal to the main computer 3 indicating that the payment process is not completed. In this case, upon receiving the notification signal, the main computer 3 causes the display unit 41 to display a sixth image P6 including a message P63 indicating that the payment process for the target item 93 is not completed (see FIG. 15). In this case, although the payment process for the target item 93 has not been completed, the customer 90 can take the target item 93 home. However, in this case, the customer 90 will need to take measures regarding the incomplete payment processing with the vendor providing the payment system 7 at a later date.

When shifting to the correction mode, the main computer 3 causes the display unit 41 to display correction buttons P511 and P512 together with the confirmation image P51 (see FIG. 12). The correction buttons P511 and P512 are both displayed for each target article 93. The correction unit 42 of the user interface 4 calculates the number of target articles 93 recognized by the sales system 100 (that is, specified by the article identification unit 32) each time the customer 90 operates the correction button P511. decrease. Further, the modification unit 42 increases the number of target articles 93 recognized in the sales system 100 each time the modification button P511 is operated by the customer 90. In this way, when the modification input from the customer 90 is received (S202: Yes), the modification unit 42 updates the list (purchase list) of the target products 93 identified by the product identification unit 32 (S203). When the modification unit 42 modifies the target article 93, the main computer 3 displays the modified part in a different color from the normal color on the display unit 41 to make it easier to identify the modified part. good.

Here, after the customer 90 takes out the target articles 93 from the storage 8, in order to return some of the target articles 93 to the storage 8 or to take out a new article 91 from the storage 8, sales processing is performed. A situation may occur in which the door body 83 is opened during the process. When the detection unit 1 outputs a detection signal indicating that the door body 83 has moved from the closed state to the open state (S204: Yes), the reading control unit 31 controls the reading process by the reading unit 2. It is stopped (S205). At this time, the article identifying section 32 may update the article information list read by the reading section 2 immediately before the door body 83 is opened as the first list.

Thereafter, the customer 90 returns the target article 93 to the storage 8 or takes out a new article 91 from the storage 8, and then closes the door 83 again. When the detection unit 1 outputs a detection signal indicating the transition from the open state to the closed state by closing the door body 83 (S206: Yes), the reading control unit 31 causes the reading unit 2 to perform the reading process. It is executed (S207). Then, the article specifying section 32 updates the second list by acquiring the article information list read by the reading section 2 from the reading section 2 as a second list (S208). Then, the article specifying unit 32 refers to the updated second list and updates the list (purchase list) of target articles 93 (S209).

Here, if a certain period of time (for example, several minutes) has passed since the door body 83 was opened again without being closed, the main computer 3 displays the third image P3 and the third image P3 on the display unit 41. 5 images P5 are displayed together (see FIG. 13). That is, the user interface 4 causes the display unit 41 to display a list of target articles 93 (confirmation image P51 of the fifth image P5) and warning information for the customer 90 (third image P3). At this time, the main computer 3 causes the display section 41 to display the third image P3, superimposed on the semi-transparent fifth image P5. In this case, the customer 90 can confirm the target article 93 to be purchased by viewing the fifth image P5 displayed in a semi-transparent manner. Note that the main computer 3 may display the list of target articles 93 and the warning information on the display unit 41 side by side so that they do not overlap with each other.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the reading control unit 31 causes the reading unit 2 to perform the reading process based on the detection result of the detection unit 1, that is, based on the state of the internal space (storage area) Sp1 of the storage warehouse 8. run or stop. Therefore, in this embodiment, the accuracy of reading article information regarding the article 91 that the customer 90 intends to purchase is improved compared to the case where the reading process of the electronic tag 92 is continued regardless of the state of the storage area Sp1. It has the advantage of being able to achieve

That is, in the present embodiment, the reading unit 2 executes the reading process only when the internal space Sp1 of the storage warehouse 8 is shielded from the external space Sp2, and performs the reading process only when the internal space Sp1 is open to the external space Sp2. No processing is performed. Therefore, in this embodiment, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the reading unit 2 reads the article information of the electronic tag 92 existing in the external space Sp2, and reads only the article information of the electronic tag 92 existing in the internal space Sp1. Possibilities can be improved. As a result, this embodiment has the advantage that it is possible to improve the accuracy of reading the article information regarding the article 91 existing in the interior space Sp1, that is, the article 91 (target article 93) to be purchased by the customer 90. .

(Modified example)
The embodiment described above is only one of various embodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiments described above can be modified in various ways depending on the design, etc., as long as the objective of the present disclosure can be achieved. Further, functions similar to those of the sales system 100 may be realized by a sales method, a (computer) program, a non-temporary recording medium on which the program is recorded, or the like.

The sales method according to one embodiment includes a step of detecting opening/closing of the partition 83. The partition 83 partitions a storage area Sp1 in which articles 91 with electronic tags 92 are stored from an external space Sp2. This sales method includes a step of reading the article information of the article 91 by performing wireless communication using radio waves with the electronic tag 92 in the storage area Sp1 according to the detection result of the opening/closing of the partition 83. This sales method includes a step of specifying a target article 93 to be purchased by the customer 90 based on the read result of the article information. This sales method includes a step of executing sales processing for the specified target article 93.

Modifications of the above embodiment will be listed below. The modified examples described below can be applied in combination as appropriate.

The sales system 100 according to the present disclosure includes a computer system, for example, in the main computer 3 or the like. A computer system mainly consists of a processor and a memory as hardware. The functions of the sales system 100 in the present disclosure are realized by a processor executing a program recorded in the memory of the computer system. The program may be pre-recorded in the memory of the computer system, may be provided through a telecommunications line, or may be recorded on a non-transitory storage medium readable by the computer system, such as a memory card, optical disc, hard disk drive, etc. may be provided. A processor in a computer system is comprised of one or more electronic circuits including semiconductor integrated circuits (ICs) or large scale integrated circuits (LSIs). The integrated circuits such as IC or LSI referred to herein have different names depending on the degree of integration, and include integrated circuits called system LSI, VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration), or ULSI (Ultra Large Scale Integration). Furthermore, an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), which is programmed after the LSI is manufactured, or a logic device that can reconfigure the connections inside the LSI or reconfigure the circuit sections inside the LSI, may also be used as a processor. I can do it. The plurality of electronic circuits may be integrated into one chip, or may be provided in a distributed manner over a plurality of chips. A plurality of chips may be integrated into one device, or may be distributed and provided in a plurality of devices. The computer system herein includes a microcontroller having one or more processors and one or more memories. Therefore, the microcontroller is also composed of one or more electronic circuits including semiconductor integrated circuits or large-scale integrated circuits.

Further, it is not an essential configuration of the sales system 100 that a plurality of functions in the sales system 100 are integrated into one housing. The components of the sales system 100 may be distributed and provided in a plurality of housings. Furthermore, at least some of the functions of the sales system 100 may be realized by, for example, a server device, a cloud (cloud computing), or the like. On the contrary, in the embodiments described above, at least some of the functions of the sales system 100 that are distributed among a plurality of devices may be integrated into one housing.

Further, when the detection unit 1 detects that the door body (partition) 83 is closed, the reading control unit 31 causes the reading unit 2 to start the reading process, and also determines the timing for starting the reading process and the continuation of the reading process. At least one of the times may be variable. Here, depending on the specifications of the electronic tag 92, the next communication may not be possible until a predetermined time has elapsed after communication with the reading unit 2 is performed. If a predetermined period of time has not passed by the time the door body 83 is closed, a situation may arise in which communication with the electronic tag 92 cannot be performed even if the reading section 2 starts the reading process from this point. In contrast, in this aspect, at least one of the timing for starting the reading process and the duration of the reading process can be changed depending on the situation, so that the reading unit 2 can communicate with the electronic tag 92. This makes it easier to avoid situations where there is no such thing. As a result, this aspect has the advantage that the accuracy of reading the article information on the article 91 can be improved.

Further, for example, the reading control unit 31 may vary the duration of the reading process depending on the number of articles 91 in the internal space (storage area) Sp1 of the storage 8. Here, the time required to read the article information becomes shorter as the number of articles 91 in the inner space Sp1 is smaller, and becomes longer as the number of articles 91 in the inner space Sp1 is larger. Therefore, by making the reading control section 31 variable the duration of the reading process depending on the number of articles 91 in the internal space Sp1, there is an advantage that it becomes easier to set the optimum duration.

As an example, if the number of electronic tags 92 for which article information has been successfully read in the reading process is small, the reading control unit 31 assumes that the number of electronic tags 92 in the internal space Sp1 is small, and the reading process continues for a long time. shorten. On the other hand, if the number of electronic tags 92 whose article information has been successfully read in the reading process is large, it is assumed that the number of electronic tags 92 in the internal space Sp1 is large, and the duration of the reading process is lengthened.

Note that the means for estimating the number of electronic tags 92 in the internal space Sp1 is not limited to the above. For example, the number of articles 91 and the number of electronic tags 92 affixed to articles 91 may be estimated by processing an image of the interior space Sp1 captured by a camera. Further, for example, the number of articles 91 and the number of electronic tags 92 affixed to articles 91 may be estimated based on the detection results of a weight sensor installed in storage 8.

By the way, in this aspect, there is a situation where the time from closing the door body 83 to presenting the list of target articles 93 becomes longer due to a delay in the timing of starting the reading process or a longer duration of the reading process. can occur. If such a situation occurs, the main computer 3 may, for example, cause the display unit 41 to display an advertisement announcing the start of sales of a new product, or cause the display unit 41 to display a screen indicating that the advertisement is being read. You may. This aspect has the advantage that the customer 90 can easily understand that no abnormality has occurred in the reading section 2.

Further, the user interface 4 may determine whether the number of correction inputs in the correction unit 42 in the sales process exceeds a predetermined number of times. In this aspect, if the customer 90 repeatedly modifies the type or quantity of the target article 93 during one sales process (in other words, sales process for each customer 90), the reading unit 2 It is possible to determine that there is a high possibility that the reading process is not being performed normally. Further, in this aspect, it is possible to determine that, for example, there is a high possibility that the customer 90 has made an unauthorized correction input such as reducing the quantity of the target article 93 from the quantity of the article 91 that the customer actually intends to purchase. It is possible.

Here, the user interface 4 causes the main computer 3 to switch the door body (partition) 83 from the permissible state to the prohibited state when the number of correction inputs in the correction unit 42 during sales processing exceeds a predetermined number of times. The locking mechanism 6 may be controlled via the locking mechanism 6. That is, in one sales process (in other words, sales process for each customer 90), if the number of correction inputs by the customer 90 exceeds a predetermined number, the door body 83 is locked in a closed state, and from then on, the customer 90 becomes unable to take out the article 91 from the storage 8. This aspect has the advantage that if the customer 90 has made the above-mentioned unauthorized correction input, it is possible to prevent the article 91 from being taken out and taken away from the storage 8. In addition, in this aspect, it is assumed that the reading process in the reading unit 2 is not being performed normally, that is, there is a high possibility that the reading unit 2 is out of order, and the sales system 100 is used from then on until maintenance is performed. It has the advantage that it can be disabled.

Further, the user interface 4 may notify when the number of correction inputs in the correction unit 42 for each sales process tends to increase. For example, assume that the number of correction inputs in the first sales process was one, and that the number of correction inputs thereafter tended to increase, such as two or three times each time the sales process was executed. In this case, the user interface 4 considers that the reading process in the reading unit 2 is not being performed normally, that is, there is a high possibility that the reading unit 2 is out of order, and issues a notification. The notification is performed, for example, by displaying a warning message on the display unit 41 of the user interface 4 or by sounding a warning message from a speaker included in the user interface 4. This aspect has the advantage that the administrator of the sales system 100 can understand that there is a high possibility that the reading unit 2 is out of order, and can perform maintenance as appropriate.

Further, the reading control unit 31 may cause the reading unit 2 to start the reading process when the acquisition unit 5 acquires the authentication information. This aspect has the advantage that it is easy to obtain the latest article information of the articles 91 in the internal space (storage area) Sp1 of the storage warehouse 8 immediately before the door body (partition) 83 is opened. Furthermore, in this aspect, if the reading process by the reading unit 2 can be completed while the authentication process is being executed, the article specifying unit 32 can acquire the first list while the authentication process is being executed. In this case, there is an advantage that the reading section 2 does not need to periodically execute the reading process before the acquisition section 5 acquires the authentication information.

Further, in the authentication process, the personal information of the customer 90 included in the authentication information may be referred to. Personal information is information unique to each customer 90. The personal information may include information such as the customer's 90 age, religious affiliation, allergies, etc., for example. For example, assume that the customer 90 is a minor and all the items 91 stored in the storage 8 are alcoholic beverages. In this case, the sales system 100 can prevent the door body (partition) 83 from being opened, in other words, prevent the customer 90 from taking out the article 91 from the storage warehouse 8 based on the personal information. Further, it is assumed that the customer 90 is a minor and that some of the articles 91 stored in the storage 8 contain alcohol. In this case, when alcohol is identified as the target item 93 by the item identification unit 32, the sales system 100 can prevent payment processing from proceeding unless the alcohol is returned to the storage 8, based on the personal information. It is possible. In addition, it is assumed that the articles 91 stored in the storage 8 include specific foods such as foods that are religiously prohibited or foods that may cause allergies. In this case, when the specified food item is specified as the target item 93 by the item identification unit 32, the sales system 100 prevents payment processing from proceeding unless the specified food item is returned to the storage warehouse 8 based on the personal information. Is possible. That is, the acquisition unit 5 may acquire information regarding the article 91 that can be sold to the authenticated customer 90 or the article 91 that is prohibited from being sold to the authenticated customer 90 through the authentication process.

Further, when the payment destination specified by the authentication process includes both an individual and a corporation, the user interface 4 selects either one of the individual or the corporation as the payment destination according to the operation input of the customer 90. Good too. For example, assume that the customer 90 is an employee of a corporation and that the purchase cost of the target article 93 is allowed to be recorded as an expense of the corporation. In this case, the customer 90 does not have to pay the purchase cost of the target item 93 by inputting an operation that specifies the payment destination as a corporation. In other words, this aspect has the advantage that it is possible to make a payment for the purchase of the target article 93 according to the needs of the customer 90.

Furthermore, if a predetermined condition is satisfied after the target article 93 is identified by the article specifying unit 32, the user interface 4 may automatically execute the payment process for the payment destination specified by the authentication process. The "predetermined condition" here may include, for example, that a predetermined time (for example, several minutes) has elapsed since the target article 93 was identified. Further, the "predetermined condition" may include that the next customer 90 performs an operation (hereinafter referred to as "return operation") to return to the initial screen (authentication screen) of the user interface 4. This aspect has the advantage that even if the customer 90 forgets to pay for the purchase of the target item 93, the payment process can be completed.

Here, for example, a situation may arise in which the customer 90 forgets to operate the approval icon P522 (see FIG. 12), that is, leaves the storage warehouse 8 without making payment for the purchase of the target item 93. In such a situation, the image requesting approval input (see FIG. 12) remains displayed on the display section 41 of the user interface 4, so there is a possibility that the next customer 90 will not be able to access the acquisition section 5. be. In contrast, in this aspect, for example, when a predetermined period of time has elapsed after the target item 93 was identified, payment processing for the previous customer 90 is automatically executed. Therefore, the sales system 100 can return to a state in which the acquisition unit 5 can be accessed by the time the next customer 90 visits the storage warehouse 8. Furthermore, in this aspect, when the next customer 90 performs a return operation, the payment process for the previous customer 90 is automatically executed. Therefore, the sales system 100 can return to a state where the acquisition unit 5 can be accessed.

When the next customer 90 performs a return operation, the user interface 4 changes the approval icon P522 to a return icon (for example, homepage icon). In this case, the next customer 90 is not aware that the previous customer 90 forgot to make a payment, and therefore can perform the return operation without hesitation.

Further, the reading control unit 31 may periodically cause the reading unit 2 to execute the reading process while changing the reading conditions for the article 91 in the reading process. The "reading conditions" here may include, for example, the frequency of radio waves used for communication between the reading unit 2 and the electronic tag 92. In this aspect, for example, by causing the reading section 2 to execute the reading process while switching the radio wave frequency, it is possible to search for the optimal radio wave frequency for the reading process. As a result, this aspect has the advantage that the accuracy of reading the article information of the article 91 in the internal space (storage area) Sp1 of the storage warehouse 8 can be further improved.

Further, the "reading conditions" may include, for example, the transmission output of the antenna. As an example, the transmission output of the antenna is weakened within a range where the number of electronic tags 92 whose article information can be read does not change. By bringing the output of the antenna close to the minimum output that allows reading the article information of the articles 91 in the internal space Sp1 of the storage 8, leakage of radio waves to the external space Sp2 of the storage 8 is reduced. be able to. Therefore, according to this aspect, the possibility of erroneously reading the article information of the article 91 in the external space Sp2 can be reduced.

Furthermore, the "reading conditions" may include, for example, the duration of the reading process. When the duration of the reading process is lengthened, the number of electronic tags 92 whose article information can be read in the reading process increases until a certain stage. However, when the duration of the reading process exceeds a certain threshold, even if the duration of the reading process is increased any further, the number of article information that can be read in the reading process will not increase. Therefore, it is preferable that the reading control unit 31 sets this threshold value as the duration of the reading process when the door body (partition) 83 is closed from the open state. With this aspect, the duration of the reading process can be shortened to the extent that article information can be sufficiently read from the electronic tag 92 in the internal space Sp1 of the storage 8.

Further, the reading control unit 31 causes the reading unit 2 to perform the reading process under the reading condition that the reading result of the reading process is good when the door body (partition) 83 is closed from the open state. Good too. Here, "the reading result is good" may include that the number of electronic tags 92 whose article information could be read in the reading process exceeds a threshold value. Moreover, "the reading result is good" can be determined based on the order, average value, or median value of the minimum value of the RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indication) value of the signal transmitted from the electronic tag 92 in the reading process. In addition, "the reading result is good" can be determined based on whether or not the article information on the electronic tag 92 located on the front side of the internal space (storage area) Sp1 of the storage warehouse 8 can be read in the reading process. In this aspect, regardless of whether the first list or the second list is acquired by the article specifying unit 32, it will be acquired under the reading conditions under which the reading result of the reading process was good. Therefore, this aspect has the advantage that the accuracy of reading the article information of the article 91 in the internal space Sp1 can be stabilized.

Furthermore, the sales system 100 may further include an auxiliary electronic tag. The auxiliary electronic tag is an electronic tag different from the electronic tag 92 attached to the article 91, and cannot communicate with the reading unit 2 when the door body (partition) 83 is closed. When the section is opened, it is placed in a position where it can communicate with the reading section 2. The auxiliary electronic tag is placed, for example, at the bottom of the storage 8.

Here, for example, the locking mechanism 6 is provided at the upper part of the storage 8, but when the locking mechanism 6 prohibits opening of the door (partition) 83, the customer 90 tries to forcibly open the door 83. In this case, the door body 83 may be slightly distorted and the lower part of the door body 83 may open slightly. In such a case, since radio waves leak from the gap created at the bottom of the door body 83, there is a possibility that the article information of the article 91 in the external space Sp2 may be read in error. In contrast, in this aspect, when the reading unit 2 reads the information held by the auxiliary electronic tag, the reading control unit 31 determines that the door body 83 is open. Then, the reading control unit 31 discards the information read from the electronic tag 92 while the reading unit 2 is in a situation where the information held by the auxiliary electronic tag can be read. Therefore, in this aspect, there is an advantage that when a gap is generated at the lower part of the door body 83, the possibility of erroneously reading the article information of the article 91 in the external space Sp2 can be reduced.

Further, the number of auxiliary electronic tags included in the sales system 100 is not limited to one, and may be plural. In this aspect, the reading control unit 31 may discard the information read from the electronic tag 92 when the reading unit 2 reads information possessed by some of the auxiliary electronic tags. . For example, assume that three auxiliary electronic tags are placed at the bottom of storage 8 of sales system 100. In this case, the reading control unit 31 does not discard the information read from the electronic tag 92 when the reading unit 2 reads the information possessed by one or less auxiliary electronic tags, but reads the information possessed by two or more auxiliary electronic tags. Sometimes the information read from the electronic tag 92 is discarded.

Note that when the sales system 100 includes an auxiliary electronic tag, the detection unit 1 may be realized by the auxiliary electronic tag.

Further, the electrical devices such as the compressor in the storage warehouse 8 are not limited to being housed in the base portion 821 or the roof portion 822, and may be housed in a separate housing from the housing 82.

Further, the antenna used in the antenna module 101 is not limited to a microstrip antenna, but may be, for example, a monopole antenna, an inverted F-type antenna, a slot antenna, or the like. The antenna is not limited to circularly polarized waves, and may be an elliptically polarized or linearly polarized antenna, for example.

Further, the door body (partition) 83 is not limited to a swing door, but may be a sliding door, for example. Further, the door body 83 is not limited to being made of glass, and may be made of resin, for example. It is not essential for the antenna system 10 that the door body 83 has optical transparency, and the door body 83 does not need to have optical transparency.

Further, the user interface 4 is not limited to a touch panel display, and may include an input device such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a mechanical switch, or a gesture sensor. Furthermore, the user interface 4 may include a display device such as a projector that projects images using projection mapping technology, for example. Further, the user interface 4 may include an audio input/output section instead of or in addition to the touch panel display. In this case, the user interface 4 can present various types of information to the customer 90 using audio output from the speaker. Furthermore, the user interface 4 performs voice recognition and semantic analysis processing on the voice signal output from the microphone, thereby enabling the customer 90 to operate by voice (voice input).

Further, the reading unit 2 may be disposed outside the housing 8, and is not limited to the upper surface of the housing 82 (the upper surface of the roof portion 822). It's okay. Furthermore, the reading unit 2 may be arranged inside the storage 8 (internal space Sp1).

Further, the electronic tag 92 is not limited to a passive RF tag, but may be an active RF tag. The reading unit 2 may read article information by combining means such as image recognition with information read from the electronic tag 92.

Furthermore, the ability of the main computer 3 to communicate with the settlement system 7 is not an essential configuration for the sales system 100, and the main computer 3 does not need to be able to communicate with the settlement system 7. For example, the main computer 3 itself may have a function of performing payment processing for the article 91 based on article information.

Furthermore, it is not an essential configuration for the sales system 100 that the main computer 3 is able to communicate with the authentication server, and the main computer 3 does not need to be able to communicate with the authentication server. For example, the main computer 3 itself may have a function of performing authentication processing using authentication information.

Furthermore, the sales system 100 may further include a writing device that writes writing information to the electronic tag 92 attached to the article 91. Specifically, the reading unit 2, which is a reader/writer capable of reading and writing data (information) to the electronic tag 92, may also be used as a writing device. For example, the writing device writes information such as time limit management for the article 91 to which the electronic tag 92 is attached to the electronic tag 92.

Furthermore, the sales system 100 may have a function of issuing a receipt to the customer 90 when payment for the target item 93 is completed. In this case, the sales system 100 may include a printing device that prints and outputs the receipt. Furthermore, in this case, the sales system 100 may transmit data corresponding to the receipt to an information terminal (for example, a smartphone, etc.) owned by the customer 90 instead of printing the receipt using the printing device.

Furthermore, the sales system 100 may have a dashboard function for presenting information to the customers 90 and collecting requests from the customers 90. The dashboard is provided to the customer 90 by being displayed on the display unit 41 of the user interface 4, for example. Here, when the acquisition unit 5 acquires the personal information of the customer 90 as described above, the main computer 3 may display the recommendation linked to the customer 90 on the display unit 41 after the authentication process is completed.

Further, when the main computer 3 receives a specific operation on the user interface 4, the main computer 3 may shift to a vendor mode in which the main computer 3 functions as an interface for the supplier of the article 91. In the vendor mode, the supplier can unlock the door (partition) 83 by the locking mechanism 6 by inputting a password on the user interface 4, for example. When the supplier replenishes the storage 8 with articles 91 and then closes the door body 83, the article identification unit 32 determines whether the goods 91 have been replenished based on the reading results of the reading unit 2 before and after opening and closing the door body 83. Identify article 91. Then, the main computer 3 causes the display section 41 to display a list of the articles 91 specified by the article specifying section 32 and replenished by the supplier. In this aspect, by checking the product list, the supplier can understand whether or not the products have been replenished correctly.

At this time, the main computer 3 may cause the display unit 41 to display the RSSI value of the signal transmitted from the electronic tag 92 attached to the article 91 for each replenished article 91. In this case, the supplier can check for each article 91 whether the communication status between the article 91 stored in the storage warehouse 8 and the reading unit 2 is good or bad. If it is found that the communication status with the reading unit 2 is relatively poor for any of the articles 91, the supplier can take measures such as changing the arrangement of this article 91 in the storage 8. It is.

(summary)
As described above, the sales system (100) according to the first aspect includes a detection unit (1), a reading unit (2), a reading control unit (31), an article identification unit (32), and a user An interface (4). The detection unit (1) detects opening and closing of the partition (83). The partition (83) partitions an external space (Sp2) from a storage area (Sp1) where articles (91) attached with electronic tags (92) are stored. The reading unit (2) executes a reading process of reading article information of the article (91) by performing wireless communication using radio waves as a medium with the electronic tag (92) in the storage area (Sp1). The reading control section (31) controls the reading section (2) according to the detection result of the detection section (1). The article specifying section (32) specifies the target article (93) to be purchased by the customer (90) based on the reading result of the reading section (2). The user interface (4) is an interface for executing sales processing for the target article (93) specified by the article specifying section (32).

According to this aspect, there is an advantage that it is possible to improve the accuracy of reading the article information regarding the article (91) (that is, the target article (93)) that the customer (90) wants to purchase.

In the sales system (100) according to the second aspect, in the first aspect, the reading control unit (31) at least detects that the partition (83) is opened while the detection unit (1) detects that the partition (83) is opened. , stops the reading process by the reading unit (2).

According to this aspect, it becomes difficult for the reading unit (2) to read the article information of the article (91) in the external space (Sp2), so that the accuracy of reading the article information of the target article (93) can be further improved. It has the advantage of being able to

In the sales system (100) according to the third aspect, in the first or second aspect, when the reading control section (31) detects that the partition (83) is closed by the detection section (1), the reading control section (31) reads The reading process by the unit (2) is started. In addition, the reading control unit (31) makes at least one of the timing for starting the reading process and the duration of the reading process variable.

According to this aspect, it becomes easier to avoid a situation where the reading unit (2) cannot communicate with the electronic tag (92), and as a result, the accuracy of reading the article information of the article (91) can be improved. It has the advantage of being able to

In the sales system (100) according to the fourth aspect, in any one of the first to third aspects, the article identification section (32) reads the reading section (2) before and after the partition (83) is opened and closed. The target article (93) is identified by comparing the results.

According to this aspect, it is easier to identify the target article (93) than when the target article (93) is identified by referring to the reading result of the reading section (2) without depending on whether the partition (83) is opened or closed. , there is an advantage.

In the sales system (100) according to the fifth aspect, in the fourth aspect, the article identification unit (32) is configured to store the item every time the partition (83) is opened or closed from the start to the end of the sales process. The target article (93) is specified.

According to this aspect, even if there is a target item (93) that could not be identified at the beginning of the sales process, it becomes easier to identify it during the sales process, so that the payment for the target item (93) may be forgotten. It has the advantage of being less difficult.

The sales system (100) according to the sixth aspect further includes a correction section (42) in any one of the first to fifth aspects. The modification section (42) modifies at least one of the type and quantity of the target article (93) specified by the article identification section (32) by accepting an operation input from the customer (90).

According to this aspect, if the article identification unit (32) mistakenly identifies the article (91) as the target article (93), this article (91) can be excluded from the target articles (93). This has the advantage of making it easier to carry out correct sales processing.

In the sales system (100) according to the seventh aspect, in the sixth aspect, the modification unit (42) accepts a modification input for at least one of the type and quantity of the target article (93) within a predetermined range. . The predetermined range is a range of types and quantities of articles (91) that are read by the reading unit (2) to exist in the storage area (Sp1).

According to this aspect, there is an advantage that it is easy to prevent excessive modification of at least one of the type and quantity of the target article (93).

In the sales system (100) according to the eighth aspect, in the sixth or seventh aspect, the user interface (4) displays whether the number of correction inputs in the correction unit (42) in sales processing exceeds a predetermined number of times. Determine whether or not.

According to this aspect, it is easy to determine that there is a high possibility that the reading process by the reading unit (2) is not being performed normally, or that there is a high possibility that the customer (90) is making an incorrect input. , there is an advantage.

In the sales system (100) according to the ninth aspect, in any one of the sixth to eighth aspects, the user interface (4) has a tendency that the number of correction inputs in the correction unit (42) for each sales process is increasing. If there is, it will be notified.

According to this aspect, there is an advantage that the administrator of the sales system (100) can easily understand that there is a high possibility that the reading unit (2) is out of order.

The sales system (100) according to the tenth aspect, in any one of the first to ninth aspects, further includes an acquisition section (5) and a lock mechanism (6). The acquisition unit (5) acquires authentication information for executing authentication processing to authenticate the customer (90). The lock mechanism (6) switches between a permissible state in which opening and closing of the partition (83) is permitted and a prohibited state in which opening and closing of the partition (83) is prohibited, based on the authentication result of the authentication process.

According to this aspect, there is an advantage that services using the sales system (100) can be provided only to customers (90) who are permitted to use the sales system (100).

In the sales system (100) according to the eleventh aspect, in the tenth aspect, when the acquisition unit (5) acquires the authentication information, the reading control unit (31) starts the reading process by the reading unit (2). let

According to this aspect, there is an advantage that it is easy to obtain the latest article information of the article (91) in the storage area (Sp1) immediately before the partition (83) is opened.

In the sales system (100) according to the twelfth aspect, in the tenth or eleventh aspect, the locking mechanism (6) switches from the prohibited state to the permitted state after the reading process by the reading unit (2) is completed.

According to this aspect, there is an advantage that it is possible to prevent the partition (83) from being opened in a state where the reading process by the reading unit (2) is not completed.

In the sales system (100) according to the thirteenth aspect, in any one of the tenth to twelfth aspects, the reading control unit (31), before being switched from the prohibited state to the permitted state by the lock mechanism (6), The reading process by the reading unit (2) is stopped.

According to this aspect, there is an advantage that it is possible to prevent the reading unit (2) from performing the reading process while the partition (83) is open.

In the sales system (100) according to the fourteenth aspect, in any one of the tenth to thirteenth aspects, the acquisition unit (5) acquires goods that can be sold to the authenticated customer (90) through authentication processing. (91) or obtain information regarding the product (91) whose sale is prohibited.

According to this aspect, there is an advantage that it becomes possible to provide an appropriate article (91) depending on the customer (90).

In the sales system (100) according to the fifteenth aspect, in any one of the tenth to fourteenth aspects, the user interface (4), in a predetermined case, displays information for individuals and corporations in response to operation input from the customer (90). Select one of them as the payment destination. A predetermined case is a case where the payment destination specified by the authentication process includes both individuals and corporations.

According to this aspect, there is an advantage that it becomes possible to make a payment for the purchase of the target item (93) according to the needs of the customer (90).

In the sales system (100) according to the sixteenth aspect, in any one of the tenth to fourteenth aspects, the user interface (4) automatically performs payment processing for the payment destination specified by the authentication processing in a predetermined case. have it executed. The predetermined case is a case where a predetermined condition is satisfied after the target article (93) is specified by the article specifying section (32).

According to this aspect, for example, even if the customer (90) forgets to pay for the purchase of the target item (93), there is an advantage that the payment process can be completed.

In the sales system (100) according to the seventeenth aspect, in any one of the first to sixteenth aspects, the reading control unit (31) determines that the sales process is not being executed and the partition (83) is closed. The reading unit (2) is caused to periodically execute reading processing while the reading unit (2) is being read.

According to this aspect, the accuracy of reading the article information of the article (91) in the storage area (Sp1) is improved compared to the case where the reading process is executed only once while the partition (83) is closed. It has the advantage of being able to achieve

In the sales system (100) according to the 18th aspect, in the 17th aspect, the reading control unit (31) periodically updates the reading unit (2) while changing the reading conditions for the article (91) in the reading process. performs the reading process.

According to this aspect, there is an advantage that the accuracy of reading the article information of the article (91) in the storage area (Sp1) can be further improved.

In the sales system (100) according to the nineteenth aspect, in the eighteenth aspect, when the partition (83) is closed from the open state, the reading control unit (31) obtains a good reading result of the reading process. The reading unit (2) is caused to perform the reading process under the reading conditions.

According to this aspect, there is an advantage that the accuracy of reading the article information of the article (91) in the storage area (Sp1) can be stabilized.

In the sales system (100) according to the twentieth aspect, in any one of the first to nineteenth aspects, the user interface (4) displays a list of target articles (93) specified by the article identification unit (32). It has a display section (41) that displays. The user interface (4) causes the display unit (41) to display a list of target items (93) and warning information for the customer (90).

According to this aspect, there is an advantage that the customer (90) can take measures in response to the warning while understanding the target article (93) that he or she is trying to purchase.

The sales system (100) according to the twenty-first aspect further includes an auxiliary electronic tag in any one of the first to twentieth aspects. The auxiliary electronic tag is an electronic tag different from the electronic tag (92) attached to the article (91), and cannot communicate with the reader (2) when the partition (83) is closed. 83) is placed in a position where it can communicate with the reading section (2) when at least a portion thereof is opened.

According to this aspect, the advantage is that when at least a portion of the partition (83) is opened, the possibility of erroneously reading the article information of the article (91) in the external space (Sp2) can be reduced. There is.

The sales method according to the twenty-second aspect includes the step of detecting opening and closing of the partition (83). The partition (83) partitions an external space (Sp2) from a storage area (Sp1) where articles (91) attached with electronic tags (92) are stored. This sales method uses radio waves to communicate with the electronic tag (92) in the storage area (Sp1) according to the detection results of the opening/closing of the partition (83), thereby obtaining the product information of the product (91). It includes the step of reading. This sales method includes a step of specifying a target article (93) to be purchased by a customer (90) based on the read result of article information. This sales method includes the step of executing sales processing for the specified target article (93).

According to this aspect, there is an advantage that it is possible to improve the accuracy of reading the article information regarding the article (91) (that is, the target article (93)) that the customer (90) wants to purchase.

The configurations according to the second to twenty-first aspects are not essential to the sales system (100) and can be omitted as appropriate.

By the way, the storage (8) used in the sales system (100) according to the first aspect may be used as a storage system for simply storing articles (91). In this case, the storage system does not need to include the article identification section (32) and the user interface (4) for executing the sales process. That is, the storage system according to the twenty-third aspect includes a detection section (1), a reading section (2), and a reading control section (31). The detection unit (1) detects opening and closing of the partition (83). The partition (83) partitions an external space (Sp2) from a storage area (Sp1) where articles (91) attached with electronic tags (92) are stored. The reading unit (2) executes a reading process of reading article information of the article (91) by performing wireless communication using radio waves as a medium with the electronic tag (92) in the storage area (Sp1). The reading control section (31) controls the reading section (2) according to the detection result of the detection section (1).

According to this aspect, there is an advantage that it is possible to improve the accuracy of reading the article information regarding the article (91) stored in the storage area (Sp1).

Further, the configurations according to the second and third aspects can be applied in combination with the storage system according to the twenty-third aspect.

1 Detection unit 2 Reading unit 31 Reading control unit 32 Article identification unit 4 User interface 41 Display unit 42 Correction unit 5 Acquisition unit 6 Lock mechanism 83 Door body (partition)
91 Article 92 Electronic tag 93 Target article 100 Sales system Sp1 Internal space (storage area)
Sp2 External space

Claims (7)

a detection unit that detects opening and closing of a partition that separates a storage area where items are stored and an external space;
a reading unit that executes a reading process for reading article information given to the article;
an arithmetic processing unit that controls the reading unit according to a detection result of the detection unit , and specifies a target article to be purchased by a customer based on the reading result of the reading unit;
a user interface for executing sales processing for the target article specified by the arithmetic processing unit ;
The arithmetic processing unit is configured to perform correction processing for shifting the list of target articles specified by the arithmetic processing unit to a correction mode in which input of a modification of the list of target articles by the customer is received in the sales process. displaying an icon on the user interface;
Sales equipment . In the sales processing, the calculation processing unit is configured to detect the target when the detection unit detects a transition from the closed state to the open state of the partition and then detects the transition to the closed state again. updating a list of goods and displaying it on the user interface;
The vending device according to claim 1. In the sales process, the arithmetic processing unit causes the user interface to display information including a warning to the customer and the list of target items together.
The vending device according to claim 1. The arithmetic processing unit causes the user interface to display warning information urging the customer to close the partition when a certain period of time has elapsed since the open state of the partition was detected by the detection unit.
The vending device according to claim 3. If the target article is not identified, the arithmetic processing unit causes the user interface to display information indicating that the target article has not been identified.
The vending device according to claim 1. a detection unit that detects opening and closing of a partition that separates a storage area where items are stored and an external space;
a reading unit that executes a reading process for reading article information given to the article;
an arithmetic processing unit that controls the reading unit according to a detection result of the detection unit, and specifies a target article to be purchased by a customer based on the reading result of the reading unit;
a user interface for executing sales processing for the target article specified by the arithmetic processing unit;
The arithmetic processing unit is configured to perform correction processing for shifting the list of target articles specified by the arithmetic processing unit to a correction mode in which input of a modification of the list of target articles by the customer is received in the sales process. displaying an icon on the user interface;
sales system. a step of detecting opening/closing of a partition separating an external space from a storage area where articles are stored;
reading article information of the article according to a detection result of opening/closing of the partition, and specifying a target article to be purchased by the customer based on the reading result of the article information;
executing a sales process for the identified target article;
In the sales process, displaying, on a user interface, a correction icon for transitioning to a correction mode that accepts a correction input to the list of target goods by the customer, together with the list of the specified target goods. include,
Sales method.

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