Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
  • G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
  • G07F7/00—Mechanisms actuated by objects other than coins to free or to actuate vending, hiring, coin or paper currency dispensing or refunding apparatus
  • G07F7/02—Mechanisms actuated by objects other than coins to free or to actuate vending, hiring, coin or paper currency dispensing or refunding apparatus by keys or other credit registering devices
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47F—SPECIAL FURNITURE, FITTINGS, OR ACCESSORIES FOR SHOPS, STOREHOUSES, BARS, RESTAURANTS OR THE LIKE; PAYING COUNTERS
  • A47F10/00—Furniture or installations specially adapted to particular types of service systems, not otherwise provided for
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
  • G06Q20/30—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols characterised by the use of specific devices or networks
  • G06Q20/34—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols characterised by the use of specific devices or networks using cards, e.g. integrated circuit [IC] cards or magnetic cards
  • G06Q20/343—Cards including a counter
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q30/00—Commerce
  • G06Q30/02—Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
  • G07G—REGISTERING THE RECEIPT OF CASH, VALUABLES, OR TOKENS
  • G07G1/00—Cash registers
  • G07G1/0036—Checkout procedures
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
  • G07G—REGISTERING THE RECEIPT OF CASH, VALUABLES, OR TOKENS
  • G07G1/00—Cash registers
  • G07G1/0036—Checkout procedures
  • G07G1/0045—Checkout procedures with a code reader for reading of an identifying code of the article to be registered, e.g. barcode reader or radio-frequency identity [RFID] reader
  • G07G1/0081—Checkout procedures with a code reader for reading of an identifying code of the article to be registered, e.g. barcode reader or radio-frequency identity [RFID] reader the reader being a portable scanner or data reader
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
  • G07G—REGISTERING THE RECEIPT OF CASH, VALUABLES, OR TOKENS
  • G07G3/00—Alarm indicators, e.g. bells

Definitions

• the present invention relates generally to monitoring the behavior of consumers within the confines of a sales store such as a supermarket or hypermarket.
• This solution is however extremely cumbersome in that it requires heavy and complicated wiring in the store.
• reception by the antennas can be largely affected by the metal shelving of the store.
• this solution may require a reorganization of all or part of the antenna layout when the layout of the store itself is changed.
• this solution allows only an imprecise vision of the location of the carts, which limits the usability of the tracking data that derives from it.
• the present invention aims to overcome these drawbacks of the state of the art and to propose a system for monitoring consumers in a store which is reliable, which has all the required precision and which is easier to implement.
• a system for monitoring consumers on the site of a store such as a supermarket or hypermarket or of a commercial area
• a plurality of information media that can be read remotely and each having a code 'identification
• a plurality of reading devices placed on a plurality of carts able to circulate on the site and able, when the cart is in the vicinity of an information medium, to read its identification code
• means for deducing from the different identification codes read from the path information of the carriages characterized in that: the readable information carriers are distributed at the store floor level, and the reading devices are placed in a part of the carriages located near the ground.
• each reading device comprises an excitation and interrogation device comprising:
• transmission / reception means suitable, when the carriage is in the vicinity of a transponder, to cause the transmission by the latter of its identification code and to collect said code, * a clock,
• each reading device comprises: * an optical reader capable, when the carriage is in the vicinity of a bar code, of transmitting a beam then receiving the reflected radiation containing the barcode identification code,
• the system further comprises: at least one writing activation device placed in at least one determined place in or outside the site and capable of activating the writing means of each carriage before the carriage begins to move on the site, at least one transfer device placed in a determined location in where outside the site and capable of transferring to a processing unit at least part of the data contained in the memory of an excitation and interrogation located in its vicinity, and at least one writing deactivation device placed in a determined location in or outside the site and capable of deactivating the writing means of an excitation and interrogation device located in its vicinity .
• the implementation of the transfer device and the deactivation device is triggered by a common event.
• each reading device also comprises specific means for transferring the content of its memory.
• the reading device is capable of transferring the content of the memory of said device.
• the or each writing activation device consists of at least one readable writing activation information medium located in an access passage to the site and has an activation code.
• a network of information supports for writing activation is provided in each access passage to the site. - all the writing activation information media located in the same passage all have the same code.
• a write deactivation device is provided at each checkout point in the store.
• each write deactivation device and each associated transfer device react to at least one readable deactivation information medium.
• a network of information media covering at least some of the aisle's surface is provided in at least certain aisles of the store.
• time data are absolute time data.
• Means are provided for resynchronizing the clocks of the various interrogation devices.
• said time data are relative time data.
• time data are derived from the value of a counter at the time when an identification code is collected.
• the system includes means . to associate said data transferred to the processing unit with purchasing data relating to the goods contained in the associated cart.
• the information carriers are located at joints between floor covering tiles.
• Figure 1 is a schematic side elevational view partially in section illustrating the basic principle of a monitoring system according to the invention
• Figure 2 is a block diagram of the architecture of a device excitation and interrogation shown in Figure 1
• Figure 3 is a schematic perspective representation of a store entrance airlock equipped according to the present invention
• Figure 4 is a schematic representation of part of the region of boxes of a store equipped according to the present invention
• FIG. 1 is a schematic side elevational view partially in section illustrating the basic principle of a monitoring system according to the invention
• Figure 2 is a block diagram of the architecture of a device excitation and interrogation shown in Figure 1
• Figure 3 is a schematic perspective representation of a store entrance airlock equipped according to the present invention
• Figure 4 is a schematic representation of part of the region of boxes of a store equipped according to the present invention
• FIG. 5 is a top view illustrating a first possible installation of transponders in the store
• Figure 6 is a top view illustrating a second possible implantation of the transponders
• Figure 7 is a top view illustrating a store partially equipped with the implantation of transponder as shown in Figure 6
• Figures 8 to 11 illustrate different possible representations, on a display screen or on a printer, of tracking information derived from the tracking data generated by the system of the present invention.
• the present invention advantageously uses the techniques of excitation and interrogation of transponders as described in document FR-A-2 756 957, to which reference will be made for all the necessary details.
• the floor SO of a store has been represented, at determined locations which are buried with a plurality of readable information carriers, here in the form of transponders TRi, TRi + i, etc.
• transponders TRi, TRi + i are either embedded in the surface of the cement screed supporting the floor of the store (or flush with the surface of the screed), or incorporated into the joints between the different paving slabs.
• Each TRi transponder is capable, when energized, of transmitting its own identification code COi.
• carriage CHj such as a "Caddy” (registered trademark), in the lower region of which is mounted, in a housing
• an excitation device and interrogation DEIj capable, when the carriage CHj is in the vicinity of a transponder TRi, to cause the transmission by the latter of its identification code COi and to collect said code.
• the DEI excitation and interrogation device is described in more detail with reference to FIG. 2. It comprises a central processing unit 10 such as a microcontroller, capable of accessing a memory 12 and communicating with the outside by input / output circuits 14. To the input / output circuit are connected:
• a clock circuit 16 capable of delivering to the central unit 10 time data, absolute or relative
• a circuit 18 for communication with the transponders connected to a coil 20 and capable of periodically exciting the coil to cause, at a TRe transponder exposed to the field thereof, the sending of its identification code , received by the same coil; it will also be noted here that the power supply to the transponders TR is preferably carried out by recovering part of the energy of the flux emitted by the coil 20, so that the transponders do not require any battery;
• the entire DEI device is powered by an appropriate battery.
• the central unit 10 of the DEI device is capable, during the movements of a carriage CH on the ground SO, of successively collecting the identification codes of the transponders above which the carriage is past, and successively write these codes in the memory 12.
• each of the stored identification codes is associated with a time datum, supplied by the clock 16, which is representative of the instant at which this code was received by the DEI device.
• the DEI device is capable of memorizing the journeys made by a trolley in the store, with an accuracy which depends essentially on the geographical distribution of the TR transponders.
• this memorization incorporating temporal data it is also capable of revealing any period of immobility of the carriage, the place of this immobility and its duration.
• Figure 3 illustrates the area of a store entrance airlock. Before a carriage CHj has passed this airlock, the device DEIj of this carriage is inactive in terms of memorizing identification codes. The excitation of the coil 20 however occurs periodically.
• a plurality of TRe transponders are buried in the ground, preferably in one or more rows tightened to make their reading more reliable, which advantageously all have the same identification code designating that they occupy the store entrance area.
• its device DEIj collects the identification code COe emitted by at least one of the transponders TRe, and the unit central unit 10 of the device then determines that it must enter an active mode, that is to say, from this moment, memorize the identification codes COi of the different transponders TRi encountered on the route, with time data associated, as previously explained.
• FIG. 4 illustrates the equipment of the store at the checkout counters.
• Two cash registers CAk and CAk + 1 have thus been represented, each having a point of sale terminal TPVk and TPVk + 1 respectively, or other intelligent cash register.
• All the point of sale terminals in a manner known per se, are connected to the central unit of the store by an appropriate computer network.
• the passage for customers associated with the CAk cash register has, buried in the ground, a series of TRsk transponders, arranged in one or more tight rows to make their reading more reliable, which preferably all have the same identification code COsk which indicates on the one hand that these transponders are located in an exit zone of the store, and on the other hand that they are associated with box n ° K.
• the device DEIj of a trolley CHj crossing this passage collects the identification code transmitted by at least one of the TRsk transponders, its central processing unit 10 then detects that it is an end of journey.
• This same central unit via the transmission circuit 22 and the antenna 24, then transfers the content of its memory 12 to an appropriate receiver circuit REk (for example radio or infrared) placed at the level of the cash register CAk
• REk for example radio or infrared
• the device DEIj - then goes into an inactive state, until the next crossing of an entry airlock as described above.
• each point of sale terminal of the store to establish a correspondence between the data discharged from a trolley during checkout and the purchase data prepared by the point of sale terminal itself (typically the list of purchases made, identified for example by their standardized barcode, and where appropriate the identity of the customer, especially when the customer has a loyalty card read at the cash register).
• the detection of a carriage in the cash register as described above is preferably carried out at the end of the cash register on the output side, so as to be able to deduce from the content of the memory 12 not only the waiting time at the cash register , but also the time required for the cashier to record all purchases.
• this data can be either an absolute time or a relative time.
• all the DEI devices of the carriages have an absolute time clock, and that the clock of each carriage is if necessary resynchronized for example during the checkout, using a protocol suitable between the DEI device and the REk receiver, which must then be able to function also as a transmitter.
• a communication between the device DEIj of the trolley considered CHj and the central unit of the store can be established, via appropriate radio transmitter / receiver means, so that to indicate that the trolley n ° j entered the store, in which case the central unit of the store notes, using its own clock, the instant of entry of this trolley.
• the device ' DEI of the trolley can work in relative time data, the simplest implementation then being to use, in this device, a clock in the form of binary counter of imposed cadence, the associated time data to the identified identification codes then being the values of the account at the instants considered.
• this central unit is capable of reconstructing the absolute instants associated with the different identified identification codes.
• the DEI device is activated not when entering the store, but when the consumer releases the cart from a row of cart, using a mechanism conventional coin release.
• an appropriate switch provided at this mechanism can be connected to the DEI device of the trolley. This makes it possible to follow the trolley not only in the store itself, but also in the whole of a commercial area, including the parking areas.
• each DEI device excites its coil 20 for a relatively long period while the device is in the inactive state, this period being however short enough to allow safe detection at the entry airlock, as described above, and for a shorter period while the device is in the active state, the value of this shorter period being chosen mainly according to the no TR transponders in the ground and the assumed maximum speed of a cart.
• a row of transponders is provided at each end of the aisle, TRx and TRy respectively.
• Each transponder in the same row delivers the same identification code, COx and COy respectively.
• FIG. 7 illustrates the whole of a store, part of which is equipped with an arrangement of transponders of the type described with reference to FIG. 6.
• transponders of the type described with reference to FIG. 6.
• the analysis of the data supplied by the DEI devices to the central processing unit UC of the store thanks to the present invention can take many forms:
• FIG. 8 represents the carriage route given in a store; as illustrated, a special symbol can designate the places where the carriage has stopped for a period of time above a threshold, for example from 10 to 30 seconds; different symbols can also be used depending on the duration of the fixed assets;
• a distribution of the carriages can be determined, in relative percentages, between the various entry airlocks and the various aisles of the store, so as to observe the respective flows, as illustrated in FIG. 9; we can also study these flows from any point of origin in the store; the “hot” and “cold” areas of the store can be identified, that is to say respectively the high traffic areas and the low traffic areas, as illustrated in FIG. 10; one can determine the time spent by a consumer in the store, and from there establish all kinds of average values;
• the present invention is in no way limited to the embodiments described and shown, but those skilled in the art will be able to make numerous variants and modifications to it.
• the transfer of the content of the memory 12 from a DEI device to a remote receiver can be carried out by the circuit 18 and the same coil 20, the associated receivers being in this case placed at ground level near each checkout. It is understood that in this case the transmission circuit 22 and the antenna 24 can be omitted, which makes DEI devices simpler and less expensive.
• the materials chosen for the transponders and the excitation and interrogation devices are advantageously of the type (known per se) for managing conflicts and collisions, in particular in the case where:
• an excitation and interrogation device receives simultaneously, or with recovery over time, two identification codes from two different transponders;
• the same transponder is excited with time overlap by two excitation and interrogation devices belonging to two different carriages.
• the REk receivers associated with the boxes are designed to avoid receiving information from two different carts with overlap over time (for example by limiting their range).
• the readable information carriers may be bar codes capable of being read by the reading device then comprising an optical reader.
• the optical reader is capable of emitting a beam over a defined wavelength and then of receiving the reflected radiation containing the information of the bar code, during the passage of the carriage near said bar code.
• the wavelength is outside the spectrum visible to the naked eye, in particular the infrared spectrum.
• Each barcode is preferably unique on the site.
• the device is located in the carriage region near the floor.
• the truck is fitted with an autonomous on-board system comprising a computer system coupled to a direction-finding system.
• the direction-finding system makes it possible to measure the direction in which at least three radio transmitters are located, in relation to the carriage, in a fixed position around the possible displacement surface of the carriage.
• the computer system triggers the direction measurements, and calculates the angles between each of the directions measured. The values of time-stamped angles are memorized then transmitted by the on-board system, towards a computer system recipient of the collected information.
• the recipient computer system will calculate the position of the mobile in its travel surface and over time.
• the position of the mobile is deduced by knowing, on the one hand, the position of the radio transmitters in fixed position around the possible displacement surface of the trolley, and on the other hand, the angle measurements made by the on-board system of the trolley .

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• Marketing (AREA)
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• Game Theory and Decision Science (AREA)
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• Time Recorders, Dirve Recorders, Access Control (AREA)
• Investigating, Analyzing Materials By Fluorescence Or Luminescence (AREA)

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• 1999
  • 1999-11-10 FR FR9914263A patent/FR2800943B1/fr not_active Expired - Lifetime
• 2000
  • 2000-11-10 WO PCT/FR2000/003155 patent/WO2001035330A1/fr not_active Ceased
  • 2000-11-10 AU AU20137/01A patent/AU2013701A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2000-11-10 EP EP00983371A patent/EP1236167A1/de not_active Withdrawn

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