WO2019125120A1 - Mechatronic system for controlling product and/or substance consumption inventories - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to mechatronic systems for automated control of product and/or substance consumption inventories, made up of: at least one location module (1) for locating the substance or product to be inventoried (8); a control center (3) communicating with the location module (1), via any communication means; at least one mobile or stationary communication device (4) for communicating with the control center (3), in order to monitor remotely the control of the product and/or substance inventories (8); and an RFID chip (24) provided in the substance or product (8), for communicating information to identify said substance or product (8) to the location unit (2a and/or 2b) of the location module (1).

Description

 MECHATRONIC SYSTEM FOR THE CONTROL OF INVENTORIES OF CONSUMPTION OF PRODUCTS AND / OR SUBSTANCES

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the fields of Mechatronics, Electrical and Control of inventories of products and substances; because it refers to electronic mechanisms to monitor the consumption of substances and / or products; to independent and dependent units, for the location of substances and / or products; to modules for the location of substances and / or products; and to mechatronic systems for the automated control of inventories of the consumption of products and / or substances; where such products or substances may be, liquid, solid, semi-liquid, semi-solid; Among the liquids can be food drinks, alcoholic beverages, non-alcoholic beverages, among others.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Inventory control is a fundamental tool in modern management, since it allows companies and organizations to know the existing quantities of products available for sale, in a specific place and time, as well as storage conditions applicable in the industries (Orlando Espinoza, 2011. The efficient administration of inventories Editorial Ensenada, 1st edition, Madrid).

However, keeping track of inventories of frequent consumption of products or substances has been difficult to implement. For example in the restaurant industry and bars, this type of control still remains a headache for the owners of such businesses; more specifically, it has been to control the consumption of beverage bottles, because it is difficult to keep an adequate control in the preparation of beverages, the quantity served, the number of drinks that must be obtained for each bottle, and the most difficult is control that the staff does not misuse the drinks, whether offering courtesies, taking them or in some cases to sell them on their own.

Usually the employee (bartender) is instructed to have a certain number of drinks per bottle, but the only thing that is achieved is that they lower the quantity and / or quality of the drink that they serve to the customer, trying to increase the number of drinks per bottle; Generating discontented customers and possibly not coming back no more for feeling cheated. Currently, electronic technologies have already been developed for the control of alcoholic beverages, mainly, as for example patent document US2011 / 0166699 describes a system of census and liquid reporting for bartenders; said system has a liquid level sensor in wireless communication with a remote computer that has algorithms in a computer program to calculate and report volume. The sensor is in the form of a liquor bottle nozzle, and includes means for measuring the height of the liquid level within the bottle, counting the inversion of the outlet of the nozzle, and sending information via wireless to a receiver that is in communication with the computer, which calculates the volumes of the liquor based on the difference in the level of the liquid inside the bottle before and after being served. The computer program extrapolates this information to produce a variety of beverage consumption reports at the time, including erroneous reports caused by a poor dosing of the liquid. One of the drawbacks of this system is that you have to open and violate the bottle to introduce the census system into it, in addition this system has contact with the liquid (liquor) and if the system is not sanitized, it can contaminate the content of the bottle. In addition, the system has no easy-to-see indicator signals to know when the liquid is about to end, but this must be known until the information is analyzed on the computer or fixed directly on the bottle.

Therefore, the main problems presented by the systems or means of controlling the consumption of current substances are: they are not accurate, they are manipulabies by employees, reports are manual and obsolete, need constant supervision, difficult to reconcile against commands, loss of time when performing inventories and cuts by tumo, not performed as often as indicated, can not be viewed in real time , much less on a mobile device, among others.

That is why a mechatronic system has been developed for the automated control of inventories of products and / or substances consumption, which is the ideal solution to control the consumption of your bottles on an individual level in real time. This mechatronic system is networked, so it can be monitored on mobile devices, such as cell phones, tablets and, of course, on a local computer.

The characteristic details of said system of the present invention are clearly shown in the description of some of its embodiments, for which it is supported by some examples and figures that are accompanied by way of example, wherein:

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the mechatronic system for the automated control of inventories of consumption of products and / or substances, in a modality of a location module of the substances and / or products, to control their consumption.

Figure 2 is an explosive view of an independent location unit, of the substances and / or products to control their consumption.

Figure 3 is an explosive view of a mechanism that monitors the consumption of the substance and / or product.

Figure 4 is a bottom plan view of the mechanism that monitors the consumption of the substance and / or product.

Figure 5 is a conventional perspective view of the mechanism that monitors the consumption of the substance and / or product, without a lid.

Figure 6 is a top plan view of the mechanism that monitors the consumption of the substance and / or product. Figure 7 is a conventional perspective view of the mechanism that monitors the consumption of the substance and / or product, with lid.

Figure 8 is a conventional perspective view of an independent location unit, in an assembled condition, with the substance and / or product included.

 Figure 9 is an explosive view of a module for locating substances and / or products, which is part of the mechatronic system of the present invention.

 Figure 10 is a conventional perspective view of the module for locating substances and / or products, of the previous figure, in an assembled condition.

 Figure 11 is a bottom plan view of the module for locating substances and / or products, of the previous figure, but without base; where the arrangement and interconnection of the units of location of substances and / or products is observed.

 Figure 12 is a top plan view of the module for locating substances and / or products, of the previous figure, but without base or covers; where the interconnection of the location units of substances and / or products is observed.

Figure 13 is an electrical diagram of the mechanism that monitors the consumption of the substance and / or product of a unit of independent location.

 Figure 14 is an electrical diagram of the mechanism that monitors the consumption of the substance and / or product, a unit of dependent location.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

One of the objects of the present invention is an electronic mechanism (20) for monitoring the consumption of substances and / or products (8), which consists of the following components: i) a support card (10); ii) a load cell (9) is provided on the underside of the support card (10), to detect the weight of the substance and / or product (8), whenever there is a consumption;

 iii) a first damping piece (23) which is fixed on the upper part of one of the ends of the load cell (9) to join it with the support card (10);

 iv) a second connecting piece (23 ') is fixed in the lower part of the other end of the load cell (9) to join it with a base (7);

 v) an electronic card with RFID circuit (11) is provided on the support card (10), which serves as a sensor for detecting the radiofrequency of a chip (24) located in the lower part of the container that contains the substance or product ( 8);

vi) a micro-controller (12) is placed on the support card (10), to detect the weight sensor of the load cell (9), and to identify the radiofrequency of the chip (24); said micro-controller (12) comprises an input (12 ^* ) for the connection of a communication path;

 vii) a voltage amplifying card (13) is also provided on the support card (10), to amplify the voltage of the load cell weight sensor (9) and can be read by the micro-controller (12); viii) a blue LED (15) that emits blue light, to indicate a correct functioning state, is connected to the electronic card with RFID circuit (11); Y

 ix) LEDs that indicate the level of existence or consumption of the substance and / or product (8), are placed on the upper face of the support card (10).

It should be noted that the color of the LED's can be different, which will depend on the colors that the user wants. Therefore, all possible combinations or sets of colors of the LED's fall within the scope of the present invention.

One embodiment of the mechanism of the present invention is that said mechanism may further comprise: a wifi module (14) located on the support card (10), to communicate with a control center (3); Y

 a speaker (19) is provided on the support card (10), to emit warning sounds when it has not detected or there is no wifi signal; and when the substance or product (8) is placed in a wrong position unit (2a and 2b).

A preferred embodiment of the electronic mechanism in question is when the LEDs indicating the level of existence or consumption of the substance and / or product (8) are: a green LED (16) emits green light, to indicate that the substance or product (8) is in a sufficient quantity; an amber LED (17) emits amber light, to alert that the quantity of the substance or product (8) is about to end; and a red LED (18) emits red light, to indicate that the substance or product (8) has run out.

Another object of the present invention is a dependent unit (2b) for the location of substances and / or product (8), which is monitored their consumption, where said dependent unit (2b) of location is structured with the following parts: i ) a base (7) on which it is placed;

 ii) an electronic mechanism (20) that monitors the consumption of the substance and / or product (8), by measuring the weight of said substance and / or product (8); wherein said electronic mechanism (20) has the same characteristics as the electronic mechanism (20) of the present invention;

 iii) a piece (21) is made to surround and expose, to the components that are on the upper face of the electronic mechanism (20), where said piece (21) serves as a support means to hold one;

V) transparent cover (22) to protect the electrical components of the mechanism (20) and support the substance and / or product (8). A further object of this invention is an independent unit (2a) for the location of substances and / or product (8), which is monitored their consumption, where said unit independent of location (2b) has the same configuration to the dependent unit (2b), with the difference that the electronic mechanism (20) has: i) a wifi module (14) located on the support card (10). to communicate with a control center (3); Y

 ii) a speaker (19) is provided on the support card (10), to emit warning sounds when it has not detected or there is no wifi signal; and when the substance or product (8) is placed in a wrong position unit (2a and 2b)

A variant of the location units (2a and 2b), where the part (21) is replaced by a housing to contain only the set of electronic cards of the electronic mechanism (20).

A further object of the present invention is a location module (1) of substances and / or products to be inventoried (8), which is constituted of an independent unit of location (2a) of substances and / or products (8), in accordance with the present invention.

One embodiment of said location module (1) is when in addition to the location-independent unit (2a), it also comprises at least one dependent location unit (2b) of substances and / or products, in accordance with the present invention .

That is, the location module (1) of the substance and / or product to be inventoried (8), can be formed only from an independent location unit (2a); or a combination of: a unit of independent location (2a) and, at least, a unit of dependent location (2b). The present invention also aims at a mechatronic system for the automated control of inventories of products and / or substances consumption, which is constructed of: at least one location module (1) of the substance or product to be inventoried ( 8), consisting of an independent unit of location (2a) of substances and / or products (8);

 a control center (3) communicates with the location module (1), by any means of communication, wired and / or wireless; wherein said control center (3) contains the computer programs for the automated control of the system, and the databases and information regarding the status of the consumption of the products and / or substances (8);

 at least one communication device, mobile or fixed (4) for communication with the control center (3), by any means of communication, wired and / or wireless, to remotely monitor the control of inventories of the products and / or substances (8); Y

 a radio frequency chip (24) is provided in the substance or product (8), to communicate an identity information of said substance or product (8) to the location unit (2a and / or 2b) of the location module (one).

One embodiment of the mechatronic system of the present invention is when the control center (3) is: a desktop or laptop computer, a computer network, the virtual cloud, among others, and / or a combination thereof.

Another modality of the mechatronic system in question is when the communication device (4) is: a mobile phone, a "tablef," ipad ", laptop, computer, to name a few examples.

A preferred embodiment of the mechatronic system according to the present invention is when optionally it can comprise i) at least one identification bracelet (5) for use by a user using the mechatronic system; Y

 ii) at least one bracelet identification module (6) to identify at least one identification bracelet (5) owned by the user.

Another preferred embodiment of the mechatronic system for the automated control of inventories of products and / or substances consumption, according to the present invention is when it comprises, at least, a location module (1) of the substance or product to be inventoried (8). ); which in turn, in addition to the location-independent unit (2a), also comprises at least one dependent location unit (2b) of substances and / or products, according to the present invention.

EXAMPLES

The following example gives testimony of one of the embodiments of the present invention, so that said example should not be considered as limiting for the scope of protection of the present invention. A mechatronic system was constructed for the automated control of inventories of products and / or substances consumption, according to the present invention, for which the following components were combined: i) a location module (1) of the substance or product to inventory (8); which in turn comprised: a unit of independent location (2a) and three units of dependent location (2b), of the substance or product to be inventoried (8);

ii) a desktop computer (3) communicated the location module (1), by means of wireless communication, in this control center (3) the computer programs for the automated control of the system are contained, as well as the bases of data and information regarding the status of consumption of products and / or substances (8); two mobile telephones (4) for wireless communication with the computer (3), to remotely monitor the control of inventories of products and / or substances (8), through the computer (3);

 a radio frequency chip (24) is provided on the external bottom of the bottles containing an alcoholic beverage (8), for communicating identity information of said beverage (8) to the location unit (2a and / or 2b) );

 an identification bracelet (5) to be worn by a user who used the mechatronic system; Y

 a bracelet identification module (6) for identifying at least one identification bracelet (5) that the user owns was connected to the entrance (12 ').

The unit of independent location (2a) was made up of: i) a base (7) on which it was placed;

 ii) an electronic mechanism (20) that monitors the consumption of the substance and / or product (8), by measuring the weight of said substance and / or product (8);

 iii) a piece (21) was made to surround and expose, to the components that are on the upper face of the electronic mechanism (20), where said piece (21) serves as a support means to hold one;

 iv) transparent cover (22) to protect the electrical components of the mechanism (20) and support the substance and / or product (8).

Whereas the unit of dependent location (2b) had the same structural characteristics as the unit of independent location (2a), except that its electronic mechanism (20) that monitors the consumption of the substance and / or product (8), no Wi-Fi module (14) was added, since the communication was via wired from the unit of independent location (2a), to the other three dependent location units (2b), see figures 11 and 12. Nor was a horn (19). For this example, the electronic mechanism (20) that monitors the consumption of the substance and / or product (8), was made up of: i) a support card (10), where all the electronic cards and other required components were fixed;

 ii) a load cell (9) is fixed by the lower face of the support card (10), but without making contact with said support card (10), nor with the base (7); For this purpose, damping pieces (23 and 23 ') were used, which are placed between the support card (10), the load cell (9) and the base

(7); this cell (9) is responsible for detecting the weight of the substance and / or product (8), whenever there is a consumption of said substance (8);

 iii) an electronic card with RFID circuit (11) was provided on the upper face of the support card (10), which serves as a sensor for detecting the radiofrequency of the chips (24) located in the lower part of the bottle containing the alcoholic beverage (8);

 iv) a micro-controller (12) is placed on the underside of the support card (10) to detect the weight sensor of the load cell (9); and identifying the radiofrequency of the chip (24); said micro-controller (12) was added an input (12 ') for the connection of the bracelet identification module (6);

 v) a voltage amplifying card (13) was also provided in the lower part of the support card (10), to amplify the voltage of the weight sensor of the load cell (9) and could be read by the microcontroller (12);

 vi) in said support card (10) a wifi module (14) was also supported, to communicate with the computer (3);

 vii) a blue LED (15) that emits blue light to indicate the correct state of operation of the system, was provided on the electronic card with RFID circuit (11);

 viii) three LEDs that indicated the level of existence or consumption of the drink

(8), were placed on the upper face of the support card (10); where a green LED (16) that emits green light to indicate that the substance or product (8), is in a sufficient quantity; an amber LED (17) that emits amber light to warn that the quantity of the substance or product (8) is about to end; and a red LED (18) that emits red light to indicate that the substance or product (8) has run out; and ix) a horn (19) was provided on the underside of the support card

(10), to emit warning sounds when there was no detected or no wifi signal; and for when the substance or product (8) was placed in a wrong position unit (2a and 2b). This mechatronic system was also provided with an open source processor that performs the interface between the electrical control system and the database of the software solution. Some of the elements to develop this solution are: mechanical elements, database, electronics, software, networks, webservices, instrumentation, and JAVA interface.

With this system described, it was possible that the establishments selling beverages by copeo or portions; foods; etc., keep accurate, accurate and real-time control of our solution, with the following advantages: - Control of your drinks (bottles) in an accurate and real-time manner.

- High specific inventories per bottle (milliliters, ounces, or bottle)

 - Avoids physical disorder in bar, since each bottle has a specific location controlled by RFID (Radio frequency)

 - Report to validate the drinks served in the shift, and thus compare with the orders.

 - Minimum bar alerts to schedule the purchase or change of bottle before it is finished.

 - Closure of a tumo tied to the employee, reporting levels in bottles before and after his shift, therefore, it makes more efficient a tumo closure and cashier's cut.

- No more waste of time in making cuts and inventories at the end of the day. - Administrative report for trends in consumption by brand, model or type of beverage, as well as for review of purchases of new bottles in bars.

 - Reduce 30% of the waste of your bar

 - Real value in warehouse.

 - Integration to your point of sale.

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Claims

An electronic mechanism (20) for monitoring the consumption of substances and / or products (8), characterized in that it comprises: i) a support card (10);  ii) a load cell (9) is provided on the underside of the support card (10), to detect the weight of the substance and / or product (8), whenever there is a consumption;  iii) a first damping piece (23) is fixed on the upper part of one of the ends of the load cell (9) to join it with the support card (10);  iv) a second connecting piece (23 ') is fixed in the lower part of the other end of the load cell (9) to join with a base (7);  v) an electronic card with RFID circuit (11) is provided on the support card (10), which serves as a sensor for detecting the radiofrequency of a chip (24) located in the lower part of the container that contains the substance or product ( 8);  vi) a micro-controller (12) is placed on the support card (10), to detect the weight sensor of the load cell (9), and to identify the radiofrequency of the chip (24); said micro-controller (12) comprises an input (12 ') for the connection of a communication path; vii) a voltage amplifying card (13) is also provided on the support card (10), to amplify the voltage of the load cell weight sensor (9) and can be read by the micro-controller (12); viii) a blue LED (15) that emits blue light, to indicate a correct functioning state, is connected to the electronic card with RFID circuit (11); Y  ix) LEDs that indicate the level of existence or consumption of the substance and / or product (8), are placed on the upper face of the support card (10). 2. The mechanism of the preceding claim, characterized in that it also comprises: i) a wifi module (14) located on the support card (10), to communicate with a control center (3); Y II) a speaker (19) is provided on the support card (10), to emit warning sounds when it has not detected or there is no wifi signal; and when the substance or product (8) is placed in a wrong position unit (2a and 2b). The mechanism of claim 1, wherein the LEDs indicating the level of existence or consumption of the substance and / or product (8) are: a green LED (16) emits green light, to indicate that the substance or product (8) it is in a sufficient quantity; an amber LED (17) emits amber light, to alert that the quantity of the substance or product (8) is about to end; and a red LED (18) emits red light, to indicate that the substance or product (8) has run out. A unit for the location of substances and / or product (8), which their consumption is monitored, characterized in that it comprises: i) a base (7) on which it is placed; ii) an electronic mechanism (20) that monitors the consumption of the substance and / or product (8), by measuring the weight of said substance and / or product (8); wherein said electronic mechanism (20) has the same characteristics as the electronic mechanism (20) of claims 1 and 3; iii) a piece (21) is made to surround and expose, to the components that are on the upper face of the electronic mechanism (20), where said piece (21) serves as a support means to hold one; iv) transparent cover (22) to protect the electrical components of the mechanism (20) and support the substance and / or product (8). 5. The unit of the preceding claim, where the electronic mechanism (20) has the same characteristics of the electronic mechanism (20) of claims 2 and 3; 6. The unit according to claims 4 and 5, wherein the piece (21) is replaced by a housing to contain only the set of electronic cards of the electronic mechanism (20). 7. A location module (1) of substances and / or products to be inventoried (8), characterized in that it comprises a unit for locating substances and / or products (8), in accordance with claims 5 and 6. The module of the preceding claim, characterized in that it also comprises, at least, a location unit for substances and / or products, according to claims 4 and 6. 9. A mechatronic system for the automated control of inventories of products and / or substances, characterized in that it comprises: i) at least one location module (1) of the substance or product to be inventoried (8); according to claim 7;  ii) a control center (3) communicates with the location module (1), by any means of communication, wired and / or wireless; wherein said control center (3) contains the computer programs for the automated control of the system, and the databases and information regarding the status of the consumption of the products and / or substances (8);  Ii) at least one communication device, mobile or fixed (4) for communication with the control center (3), by any means of communication, wired and / or wireless, to remotely monitor the control of the inventories of products and / or substances (8); Y iv) a radio frequency chip (24) is provided in the substance or product (8), to communicate an identity information of said substance or product (8) to the location unit (2a and / or 2b) of the module of location (1). The system of the preceding claim, wherein the control center (3) is: a desktop or laptop computer, a computer network, the virtual cloud, and / or a combination thereof. The system of claim 9, wherein the communication device (4) is: a mobile telephone, a "tablet", "ipad", laptop, and / or a computer. The system according to claim 9, characterized in that it further comprises: i) at least one identification bracelet (5) for use by a user using the mechatronic system; Y ii) at least one bracelet identification module (6) to identify at least one identification bracelet (5) owned by the user. A mechatronic system for the automated control of inventories of consumption of products and / or substances, characterized in that it comprises: i) at least one location module (1) of the substance or product to be inventoried (8); according to claim 8; ii) a control center (3) communicates with the location module (1), by any means of communication, wired and / or wireless; wherein said control center (3) contains the computer programs for the automated control of the system, and the databases and information regarding the status of the consumption of the products and / or substances (8); iii) at least one communication device, mobile or fixed (4) for communication with the control center (3), by any means communication, wired and / or wireless, to remotely monitor the control of inventories of products and / or substances (8); Y  v) a radio frequency chip (24) is provided in the substance or product (8), to communicate an identity information of said substance or product (8) to the location unit (2a and / or 2b) of the module of location (1). The system of the preceding claim, wherein the control center (3) is: a desktop or laptop computer, a computer network, the virtual cloud, and / or a combination thereof. The system of claim 13, wherein the communication device (4) is: a mobile telephone, a "tablef," ipad, "laptop, and / or a computer. The system according to claim 13, characterized in that it further comprises: i) at least one identification bracelet (5) for use by a user using the mechatronic system; Y  ii) at least one bracelet identification module (6) to identify at least one identification bracelet (5) owned by the user.