JPS6319908Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to a shoplifting prevention system for preventing shoplifting of merchandise at stores such as supermarkets and department stores.

As an example of a conventional shoplifting prevention device, a transmitting antenna connected to a transmitter and a receiving antenna connected to a receiver are installed oppositely on both sides of a predetermined product monitoring area, such as the exit aisle of a supermarket. For example, when a shoplifter with a product to which a detected object having an L-C resonant circuit is attached enters the electromagnetic wave, the electromagnetic wave changes, and the receiver detects this change. There is a known system in which an alarm device connected to a receiver generates an alarm such as a buzzer sound or a lamp lighting display to notify a store clerk that a shoplifter is present within the monitored area.

However, the shoplifting prevention device with the above conventional configuration,
The configuration is only capable of detecting the presence of a shoplifter in the monitoring area, that is, between the transmitting and receiving antennas, and cannot even determine the location of the shoplifter in the monitoring area. For this reason, if multiple people enter the monitoring area at the same time and the alarm is activated, it is impossible to determine which location in the monitoring area is the shoplifter, and therefore the store staff teeth,
For fear of treating a customer who has legitimately purchased a product as a shoplifter, they have no choice but to let the shoplifter go, even though they know there is definitely a shoplifter within the surveillance area, making it impossible to reliably prevent shoplifting. There were flaws.

The present invention was devised to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks, and an object of the present invention is to provide a shoplifting prevention system that can determine the location of a shoplifter within a specific area and reliably prevent shoplifting. An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a detected object having, for example, an L-C resonant circuit 2. The detected object 1 is transformed into a display medium such as a tag or a price tag, and is used in stores such as supermarkets and department stores. They are attached to each product 3, respectively. The object to be detected 1 is structured so that once it is attached to the product 3, it cannot be easily removed from the product 3 unless the store clerk uses a special removal device to remove it. Then, for a customer who has legitimately purchased the product 3, the detected object 1 is removed from the product 3 by a store clerk at a place such as a register before the customer passes through a specific area to be described later. Therefore, such a customer passes through the specific area with the product 3 to which the detected object 1 is not attached.

However, a person who did not legitimately purchase the product 3, that is, a shoplifter, passes through the specific area with the product 3 to which the detected object 1 is attached.

Further, in Fig. 2, 4 is the entrance/exit of the store, and the area from one end of the entrance/exit 4 (left side in Fig. 2) to the other end is a place to monitor shoplifters who attempt to illegally take out the goods 3. It is designated as a designated area. This specific area is divided into three areas sequentially from one end of the entrance 4 to the other end, and is made up of three areas, respectively, a first area A, a second area B, and a third area C. .

At one end of the entrance/exit 4, there is a first area A among the specific areas.
A first shoplifting prevention device 5 whose monitoring area is only the product 3 is provided. The first shoplifting prevention device 5 includes a transmitting/receiving antenna 6 which has both transmitting and receiving functions and is installed upright at one end of the entrance/exit 4, and an input end is connected to the input/output end of the transmitting/receiving antenna 6 and excites the transmitting/receiving antenna 6. to transmit the prescribed electromagnetic waves to the entire area A of the specified area,
A transmitter 7 that generates signals across B and C, and a transmitter 7
and a coupling point 10 provided between the transmitting and receiving antenna 6
a receiver 8 having an input connected to the receiver 8 for detecting fluctuations in the energy level at the coupling point 10;
and an alarm device 9 whose input terminal is connected to the output terminal of An induced current flows through the resonant circuit 2 of the detected object 1, causing fluctuations in the electromagnetic waves, and the receiver 8, which detects this fluctuation as a fluctuation in the energy level at the coupling point 10, outputs a detection signal "H" from its output terminal 8a. The output is sent to the alarm device 9, and the alarm device 9 generates an alarm such as a buzzer sound and a lamp lighting display, and when the detected object 1 is brought into the second area B or the third area C, the receiver 8 outputs a signal "L" from its output terminal 8a without detecting a fluctuation in the energy level at the coupling point 10, and is configured so that the alarm 9 is not activated. That is, the first shoplifting prevention device 5 is configured to be activated only when the product 3 with the detected object 1 is brought into the first area A of the specific areas.

The specific configuration and operation of the transmitting/receiving antenna 6, transmitter 7, receiver 8, and alarm device 9 in the first shoplifting prevention device 5 are as shown in the conventionally known Japanese Patent Publication No. 45-40869. Because they are the same,
A detailed explanation thereof will be omitted.

Next, the second shoplifting prevention device 11, which uses the entire area A, B, and C of the specific area as the product monitoring area, will be explained.

The second shoplifting prevention device 11 is the first shoplifting prevention device 5.
a transmitting/receiving antenna 6 used for the transmitting/receiving antenna 6; a receiving antenna 12 which is installed at the other end of the entrance/exit 4 so as to face the transmitting/receiving antenna 6 and receives a predetermined electromagnetic wave transmitted from the transmitting/receiving antenna 6; Receiver 13 whose input end is connected to the output end
and an alarm device 14 whose input end is connected to the output end 13a of the receiver 13. If the object is brought into one of the third areas C, an induced current flows through the resonant circuit 2 of the detected object 1 in the same way as above, and as a result, the receiver 13 detects the fluctuation in the energy level at the receiving antenna 12 and issues an alarm. The detection signal “H” is output to the alarm device 14, and the alarm device 14
is designed to generate alarms such as buzzer sounds and lamp lighting displays. Note that when the detected object 1 is not brought into any of the specific areas A, B, and C, the output of the receiver 13 is held at the signal "L",
Also, the alarm 14 is not activated. That is, the second shoplifting prevention device 11 is configured to be activated when the product 3 with the detected object 1 is brought into any of the first to third areas A, B, and C of the specific areas.

The specific configuration and operation of the receiving antenna 12, receiver 13, alarm device 14, etc. in the second shoplifting prevention device 11 is described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 48-77695,
Since it is publicly known in Japanese Patent Publication No. 53-3913 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 54-115099, detailed explanation thereof will be omitted.

Next, a description will be given of the third shoplifting prevention device 15 which uses only the third area C among the specific areas as a product monitoring area.

The third anti-shoplifting device 15 is a second anti-shoplifting device 1
The transmitting and receiving antenna 6 used in the first anti-shoplifting device 5 has substantially the same structure and function as the first anti-shoplifting device 1.
a receiving antenna 16 which is erected at the other end of the entrance 4 and faces the transmitting/receiving antenna 6 and is located near the receiving antenna 12 of the second shoplifting prevention device 11, and receives a predetermined electromagnetic wave transmitted from the transmitting/receiving antenna 6; a receiver 17 whose input end is connected to the output end of the receiving antenna 16;
The third anti-shoplifting device 15 is different from the second anti-shoplifting device 11 in that the third anti-shoplifting device 15 is
The dimensions of the receiving antenna 16 of the second anti-shoplifting device 11 are slightly smaller than those of the receiving antenna 12 of the second anti-shoplifting device 11, and the receiver 17 is configured to detect fluctuations in the energy level of the electromagnetic waves at the receiving antenna 16 and output a detection signal "H" from its output end 17a to the alarm 18 only when the detectable item 1 is brought into the third area C of the specific area, and to output a signal "L" instead of the detection signal "H" from its output end 17a when the detectable item 1 is brought into the first area A or the second area B. In other words, the third anti-shoplifting device 15 is configured to be activated only when the merchandise 3 with the detectable item 1 attached thereto is brought into the third area C of the specific area.

Next, the judgment circuit 19, which is the main part of the present invention, will be explained with reference to FIG. Judgment circuit 19
is three three-input AND circuits 20, 21, 22
and two inverters 23 and 24. The output terminal 8a of the receiver 8 of the first shoplifting prevention device 5 is connected to the first input terminal of the AND circuit 20, and is connected to the AND circuits 21 and 2 via the inverter 23.
2, respectively. The output end 13a of the receiver 13 of the second shoplifting prevention device 11 is
It is connected to each second input terminal of AND circuits 20, 21, and 22, respectively. The output terminal 17a of the receiver 17 of the third shoplifting prevention device 15 is connected to the third input terminal of the AND circuit 22, and the inverter 2
4 to third input terminals of AND circuits 20 and 21, respectively.

Next, each output terminal of the AND circuits 20, 21, and 22 is connected to a first display device 25, a second display device 26, and a second display device 26, respectively.
It is connected to a third display device 27. The first display device 25 includes a display drive circuit 25a whose input terminal is connected to the output terminal of the AND circuit 20, and a first area display 25b whose input terminal is connected to the output terminal of the display drive circuit 25a. The first area indicator 25b is configured to be lit by the output from the AND circuit 20.

Note that the second display device 26 is connected to the display drive circuit 2.
6a and a second zone display 26b, and the third display device 27 consists of a display drive circuit 27a and a third zone display 27b. Since each configuration is the same as that of the first display device 25 described above, the reference numerals are given in the drawings and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Next, the operation of the shoplifting prevention system having the above configuration will be explained. Now, when a shoplifter carrying product 3 with detected object 1 on it enters the first area A of the specific areas,
The first and second shoplifting prevention devices 5, 11 whose product monitoring area is the first area A are activated, and the alarms 9, 14 are activated.
will issue an alarm. In addition, the third shoplifting prevention device 15
is not activated because the first area A is not set as the product monitoring area.

Thus, each output terminal 8a, 13 of the receiver 8, 13
A detection signal "H" is supplied to the judgment circuit 19 from the output terminal 17a of the receiver 17, and a signal "L" is supplied to the judgment circuit 19 from the output terminal 17a of the receiver 17, and the conditions for the three inputs of the AND circuit 20 are satisfied, and the AND circuit 21 , 22 are not satisfied. As a result, only the first area indicator 25b of the first display device 25 is lit, and the store clerk can know that the shoplifter is present in the first area A.

Next, when the shoplifter enters the second area B, the second shoplifting prevention device 11 uses the second area B as a product monitoring area.
is activated, the alarm device 14 issues an alarm. Note that the first and third shoplifting prevention devices 5 and 15 are not activated because the second area B is not a product monitoring area.

Therefore, the receiver 13 of the second shoplifting prevention device 11
The detection signal "H" is outputted only from the output terminal 13a of the circuit and is supplied to the judgment circuit 19. In the judgment circuit 19, the condition of three inputs is satisfied only in the AND circuit 21. As a result, the second area display 26b of the second display device 26 is lit, and the store clerk indicates that the shoplifter is in the second area B.
can be known to exist.

Furthermore, when a shoplifter enters the third area C, the second and third shoplifting prevention devices 11 and 15, which use the third area C as a product monitoring area, are activated, and the alarm devices 14 and 18 issue an alarm.

Note that the first shoplifting prevention device 5 is not activated because the third area C is not a product monitoring area. Thus, in the same manner as described above, the condition of three inputs is satisfied only in the AND circuit 22 in the judgment circuit 19, and the third area indicator 27b of the third display device 27 is lit.
As a result, the store clerk can know that the shoplifter is present in the third area C.

Note that in the above embodiment, the specific area was divided into three equal parts, and the first, second, and third areas A, B, and C were set, but the present invention is not limited to this, and can be divided into three areas depending on the width of the specific area. Then divide this into unequal areas, each area A,
B and C may be set, and the third shoplifting prevention device 1
Although the dimensions of the receiving antenna 16 of No. 5 are set slightly smaller than the dimensions of the receiving antenna 12 of the second shoplifting prevention device 11, the dimensions of the receiving antenna 16 are set to be the same as the dimensions of the receiving antenna 12 without being limited to this. By adjusting the sensitivity of the receiver 17, the product monitoring area of the third shoplifting prevention device 15 is changed to the third zone C.
In short, each shoplifting prevention device may have all or part of the specified area as the product monitoring area, and other configurations may also be provided within the scope of the gist of the present invention. It can be modified in various ways.

As mentioned above, the shoplifting prevention system of the present invention can determine the location of a shoplifter within a specific area, so if multiple people enter the specific area at the same time and the shoplifting prevention device is activated. The present invention also has the advantage of being able to identify which position the shoplifter is in, and of being able to more reliably prevent shoplifting than conventional shoplifting prevention devices.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the product to which the object to be detected is attached;
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the shoplifting prevention system installed in a specific area, and FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing the judgment circuit and display device. 5...First shoplifting prevention device, 11...Second shoplifting prevention device, 15...Third shoplifting prevention device, 19...Judgment circuit.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] In a shoplifting prevention device that prevents shoplifting by detecting a product with a detection object brought into a predetermined product monitoring area by a shoplifter where electromagnetic waves are present,
A judgment circuit that includes a plurality of shoplifting prevention devices whose product monitoring area is all or part of a specific area through which a shoplifter passes, and determines the location of a shoplifter within the specific area by combining the outputs of each shoplifting prevention device. A shoplifting prevention system featuring the following.