JPH0699962A - Device for identifying commodity - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To identify rapidly and easily a commodity placed on a tray. CONSTITUTION:A tray master 31 is searched from detection data of a tray to determine the tray No. and commodities which possibly correspond to the tray No. are displayed on a display. That is, the tray No. determined by the tray master 31 is retrieved from a commodity master 32 so that the commodity Nos. and names of commodities in which the tray No. is registered are displayed. When the operator views the display and commodities and selects a commodity by means of a key operation unit, a commodity is identified and its name and commodity No. with unit price are displayed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a product specifying device for specifying a product placed on a tray in a pack center or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a pack center for products for supermarkets, the size of the tray on which the product is placed is detected and the product is packaged together with the tray in a film. A packaging pricing system has been adopted in which, for example, a label is printed on a label, and a pricing process for attaching the label to the packaging material of the product is automatically and continuously performed. In order to issue a label in such a packaging pricing system, it is necessary to specify a product.

As a method of specifying a product, first, a method in which an operator stores a product number and inputs the product number can be considered. However, this method requires the operator to be familiar with the product, and is not possible when there are a huge number of products.

As another specifying method, the product name is changed to the product N.
There is a method to create a product name-product number comparison table that allows you to search o. and have the operator search the product number from the product name. However, it is difficult and troublesome for a worker to accurately know the product name of a huge number of products and to find the product number from only the product name, and if the product type is added, the comparison table must be revised. Not after all, it is troublesome.

On the other hand, the product name and the product number are associated with each other and registered in the microcomputer, and the registered product is displayed on the CRT.
It is also displayed by the operator to check the product number. However, this method is rarely used because it is necessary to switch the screen many times when there are many kinds of products and the work is actually troublesome.

[0006] It is also possible to classify products in advance when registering the products, display the products on a CRT by relying on the classification name, and check the product number. However, the work of inputting the classification name increases, and the classification name must be remembered, so that the burden on the worker cannot be reduced sufficiently.

The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional drawbacks, and an object of the present invention is to provide a product specifying device which can easily specify a product.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises a storage means, a tray information detection means, a tray identification means and a product search means. The storage means stores the product name of each product, the product number, information for identifying the tray on which the product is placed, and the content of the product in association with each other. The tray information detecting means detects information on the tray on which the product is placed. The tray specifying means specifies the tray by comparing the tray information from the tray information detecting means with the information for specifying the tray stored in the storage means. The product search unit searches the storage unit for one or more corresponding products based on the specified tray type and displays the product name of the product.

[0009]

The principle of the present invention will be described prior to the description of the embodiments. As shown in the product master 32 of FIG.
The type of tray (tray No.) on which a product is placed is predetermined, and therefore the product is limited to some extent by detecting the tray and specifying the tray. Therefore, by identifying the tray from the tray information and displaying one or more products as shown in FIG. 5D according to the identified tray type, the worker selects the product from the screen display. be able to.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6 (c), one product N
There are cases where multiple trays are used for o. In this case, even if the product number is known, the product cannot be specified without knowing the tray number. However, according to this invention,
Since the tray can be specified from the tray information, the product can be specified immediately.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.
Follow the instructions below. This embodiment is applied to a packaging pricing device, and as shown in FIG.
The feeding conveyor 42 is provided at the center of the front of the body 41 of the packaging machine 40.
have. The feeding conveyor 42 has a weight detecting means 49 such as the load cell shown in FIG.
The weight of the product M placed on is measured. This infeed conveyor 4
A lifter 43 that receives the weighed products M and pushes them up to the upper weighing station S is provided on the rear side B of the unit 2. A packaging mechanism 50 is provided above the lifter 43. The packaging mechanism 50 packages the product M together with the tray T in the packaging station S with the film F. At the front Fo of the packaging station S, a sealing device 51 is arranged. The sealing device 51 heat seals the film F folded on the bottom surface side of the tray T.
The pusher 52 moves the packed product M from the rear B to the front F.
The product M is pushed onto the sealing device 51 and discharged.

On the upper surface of the main body 41 of the packaging machine 40 shown in FIG.
A console box 53 is provided. The console box 53 has a display unit 2 and a key operation unit 3, and internally has a microcomputer 3 described later.
5 (see FIG. 4).

On the side of the console box 53,
A pricing device 60 is arranged. The pricing device 60 is shown in FIG.
The label L indicating the price of the product M is attached to the packaging of the product M for pricing, and includes a label printer 4 and a label sticking device 61. The label printer 4 prints and issues the weight and price of the product M on the label L based on a signal from the microcomputer 35 (FIG. 4). The label sticking device 61 is the label printer 4
The label L issued by is attached to the packaged product M at the packaging station S.

Next, each of the above components will be described in detail. The feeding conveyor 42 is supported by the weight detecting means 49 shown in FIG. 3, and a large number of drive belts 45 wound between a pair of pulleys 44 are rotationally driven by a motor 47. A slide plate 46 is provided between each of the drive belts 45, and a feed claw 45a fixed to the drive belt 45 presses the end portion of the tray T to lift the lifter 43.
Send the product M to the side.

The lifter 43 shown in FIG. 2 is arranged immediately below the packaging station S and can be moved up and down by an elevating means (not shown). This lifter 43
When the product M is carried in from the infeed conveyor 42, the product M rises to lift the product M and press the product M against the lower surface of the film F held in the packaging station S.

On the other hand, the film F is preliminarily supplied to the packaging station S in a state of being sandwiched by the film transport belts 56, 56, and when the product M is pushed up by the lifter 43, the film F becomes the product M. Stick to the top surface. In this state, the packaging mechanism 50 wraps the product M by folding the front, rear, left, and right side edges of the film F into the bottom surface of the tray T, as described below.

The packaging mechanism 50 includes a pair of left and right folding plates 5.
7, 57 (only one shown in FIG. 2) and the rear folding plate 5
8 and a round bar-shaped front folding member 59. The left and right folding plates 57 and the rear folding plate 58 are used to store the film F in the tray T.
Fold it into the bottom side of. The front folding member 59 is the rear folding plate 58.
Pusher 52 driven at a predetermined timing synchronized with
When the product M is ejected by the
The side edge of o is folded into the bottom side of the tray T.

Inside the label printer 4, a roll R of a label sheet Ls, which is formed by releasably adhering a large number of labels L on a strip-shaped mount, is arranged. This roll R
The label sheet Ls pulled out from the print head 4a
While passing between the platen roller 4b and the platen roller 4b, the weight and price of the product M are printed on the label L on the label sheet Ls. The label L is discharged from the tip side while being peeled off by a peeling bar (not shown). Labeling device 61
Is a suction pad 62 that sucks the label L by negative pressure,
The label L is attached to the packaged product M by descending from the position indicated by the solid line to the position indicated by the chain double-dashed line. The suction pad 6
2 moves up and down by the forward and reverse rotation of the pad drive motor 63.

In FIG. 3, a distance sensor 10 is provided above the feeding conveyor 42. The distance sensor 10 is slidably mounted on a rail 11,
The forward / reverse rotation of a scanning motor (not shown) moves the tray T in the long side direction L21 via the timing belt 13. The distance sensor 10 detects the distance to the tray T by generating an ultrasonic wave from the upper Z (FIG. 2) toward the tray T and receiving the reflected wave.

A reflection type photodetector 14 and a reflection plate (not shown) are provided near the feeding conveyor 42. The photodetector 14 is for detecting the short side dimension L1 of the tray T.

The distance sensor 10 and the photodetector 14 described above.
Constitutes the tray information detecting means 1. The tray information detecting means 1 is provided with the long side / short side / height calculating means (tray information detecting means) 21 of FIG. 4 which performs arithmetic processing based on the detection values of the distance sensor 10 and the photodetector 14. It detects the information on the tray on which the product is placed.

Next, an apparatus for identifying a tray and a product, which is an essential part of the present invention, will be described. The long side / short side / height calculation means 21 is configured to calculate the long side, short side,
The height is calculated, and is contained in the microcomputer 35 together with the tray specifying means 30 and the like. A storage means 33 having a tray master 31 and a product master 32 is built in the microcomputer 35. The storage means 33 stores the product name of each product, the product number, the information for specifying the tray on which the product is placed, and the content of the product in association with each other. For example, the tray master 31 is, as shown in FIG.
For each tray, the long side / short side / corresponding to the tray No.
I remember the height. On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
The product master 32 stores a product number, a product name, a tray number, and a price for each product. Each product may be placed on one to three types of trays, and the number and unit price of the products differ depending on the size (type) of the tray to be placed.

The tray specifying means 30 shown in FIG.
The length signal c, the product height signal hm and the length signal d from the short side / height calculation means 21 are input, and the tray information is used as information for identifying the tray stored in the tray master 31. Compare and identify the tray number. That is, the tray specifying means 30 searches the tray master 31 shown in FIG. 5B based on the detection data shown in FIG. 5A and specifies the tray number. The tray identifying means 30 shown in FIG.
Outputs the specified tray No. to the product search means 34 as a tray signal t.

On the other hand, the product search means 34 searches the storage means 33 for one or more corresponding products according to the type of tray specified by the tray signal t, and displays the product name of the product on the display 2. Let That is, the product search means 34 searches the product master 32 of FIG. 5C based on the specified tray No. of FIG.
As described above, the product number and product name of one or more applicable products are displayed on the screen of the display unit. Further, the product search means 34 of FIG. 4 receives the tray signal t and the product signal m specifying the product number or product name from the key operation unit 3 as an input and searches for a product from the product master 32 to search for the product. Identify. That is, the merchandise search means 34 uses the product No. or the product name and the specified tray No. of FIG.
Search for the product master 32 in (c) and find the applicable product number.
The product name and the like are displayed on the screen of the display device 2 of FIG. 5E, and the label printer 4 of FIG.

Next, a method of specifying a product, that is, a method of specifying the content of a label to be attached will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In FIG. 7, when starting at step S1, the process proceeds to step S2, each size of the tray is detected, and the process proceeds to step S3. In step S3, the tray master 31 shown in FIG. 5B or 6B is based on the detection data shown in FIG. 5A or 6A.
Search for and specify the tray number. Subsequently, the process proceeds to step S4 of FIG. 7, and the product search means 34 of FIG. 4 determines whether or not the product number has already been input from the key operation unit 3, and if not input, the step of FIG. Proceed to S5, and if already input, proceed to step S7.

In step S5, the merchandise retrieval means 34 shown in FIG. That is, the tray master 31 of FIG.
The tray No. specified in step 5 is the product master 32 in Fig. 5 (c).
Search for the product from the product number for which the tray number is registered.
And the product name is displayed as shown in FIG. When the operator looks at this display and the product and selects the product from the key operation unit 3 (FIG. 4) in step S6 of FIG. 7, the process proceeds to step S7 and the product search means 34 of FIG. 4 identifies the product. Subsequently, the process proceeds to step S8 in FIG. 7, and the product name and the product number are displayed together with the unit price as shown in FIG. 5 (e). On the other hand, when the product number has already been input in step S4 of FIG. 7, the product number and tray number are specified from the product master 32 of FIG. 6 (c), and as shown in FIG. 6 (d). , Product name and product number are displayed immediately along with the unit price. The display content is printed on the label.

Here, for example, assuming that there are 200 types of products and 20 types of trays, and 3 types of trays are equally registered for one product, conventionally one product is selected from 200 types of products. It was necessary to select and call the product, and to specify one tray from the three types of trays. On the other hand, in the method of specifying the tray and searching for the product later, (200 products × 3 trays) / 20 trays = 3
Since the number of products is 0, and therefore the products are limited, the product can be easily and quickly identified.

On the other hand, the tray No. is known although the product No. is known.
If it is not known, the product is automatically specified as in the flow of FIG. 6, so that the product can be specified easily and quickly.

As a method of selecting a product in step S6 of FIG. 7, a method of inputting a product number and pressing a call key may be used, or a product may be directly selected using a touch panel. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to the packaging pricing device is explained, but the present invention can also be applied to other devices such as a label issuing machine.

In the above embodiment, the distance sensor 10 and the photodetector 1 shown in FIG. 3 are used as a method for detecting the information on the tray.
Although 4 is used, the size of the tray may be detected by, for example, three photodetectors, or the tray may be imaged and detected by a television camera. Further, as a method of identifying the tray, it is possible to detect the color and material in addition to the size of the tray and identify the tray by these.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention, the tray is specified, and depending on the kind of the specified tray,
Since one or more corresponding products are searched from the storage means, the types of the applicable products are limited to some extent, so that the products can be identified easily and quickly.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a packaging pricing device including a tray size detection device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of the same.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a feeding conveyor.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of a product identification device.

FIG. 5 is a process diagram showing a flow of product specific operation.

FIG. 6 is a process diagram showing an operation flow of product identification.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for identifying a product.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Tray information detecting means, 2 ... Indicator, 30 ... Tray specifying means, 33 ... Storage means, 34 ... Commodity search means, M ... Commodity, T ... Tray.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A storage unit for storing a product name of each product, a product No., information for specifying a tray on which the product is placed, and contents of the product in association with each other, and a tray for detecting information on the tray on which the product is placed. Information detecting means, tray identifying means for comparing the tray information from the tray information detecting means with information for identifying the tray stored in the storage means, and tray identifying means for identifying the tray. A product identification device comprising: a product search unit that searches the storage unit for one or more corresponding products based on the type and displays the product name of the product on a display.