Shop system and reminding and attention method

Abstract

[Problem] In a store system, it is required that an abnormality can be detected when it is possible to have occurred with respect to a product container. [Solution] A store system (1) that provides a product (5) to a seat used by a visitor in a store, the store system (1) being provided with: a product container (10) that can accommodate the product (5) and has a lid (12) that can be opened and closed; a product transport device 900 that transports the product 5 housed in the product container 10 from the upstream side to the downstream side; a change detection unit that detects a change in the state of the product container (10) in one seat, the product container (10) being conveyed by the product conveying device (900); and an alarm unit that outputs alarm information indicating that an abnormality pertaining to the product container (10) is likely to have occurred when it is determined that a predetermined alarm condition is satisfied on the basis of the detection result of the change detection unit, by means of the store system (1), it is possible to alert the abnormality in a case where the abnormality pertaining to the product container (10) is likely to have occurred.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a store system and a method for calling attention to a problem, which are used in a store in which a product in a state of being contained in a product container can be conveyed to a user by a product conveying device. Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, for example, in restaurants that provide sushi and other products, a product transport device having a transport path laid out around a table where a visitor, i.e., a user, is waiting is used. In such a product transport device, the product can be arranged on the transport path and transported to the user, thereby providing the product to the user.

[0003] In a store that provides commodities using a commodity transporting device in this manner, commodities are sometimes transported by the commodity transporting device while being contained in an openable commodity container.

[0004] For example, Patent Document 1 listed below discloses a structure of a food management device for managing food that is contained in a food container placed on a conveyance path of a food product conveyance device and conveyed.

[0005] Furthermore, Patent Document 2 below discloses a configuration in which, for example, in a store such as a restaurant, a visitor, that is, a user, can place an order for merchandise at each seat using a portable information terminal or the like.

[0006] [Prior art literature]

[0007] [Patent Document]

[0008] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent No. 5722842

[0009] [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2021-015529 Summary of the invention

[0010] [Problems to be solved by the invention]

[0011] In addition, when an abnormality occurs in a commodity container containing commodities during transportation by a commodity transporting device, it is necessary to know that an abnormality may have occurred in order for relevant personnel such as store staff or visitors to the store to respond to the situation. However, generally speaking, since the transport path of the commodity transporting device is long, relevant personnel cannot always monitor whether an abnormality has occurred in reality.

[0012] An object of the present invention is to provide a store system and a method for alerting attention that can alert attention to an abnormality in a situation where an abnormality may have occurred with respect to a commodity container.

[0013] [Technical means to solve the problem]

[0014] The store system of the first invention provides goods to seats used by visitors in a store, and comprises: a product container that can accommodate goods and has a lid that can be opened and closed; a product conveying device that conveys the goods contained in the product container from the upstream side to the downstream side; a change detection unit that detects a change in the state of the product container being conveyed by the product conveying device in a seat; a judgment unit that judges whether a predetermined alarm condition is satisfied based on the detection result of the change detection unit; and an alarm unit that outputs alarm information indicating that an abnormality may have occurred with the product container when the judgment unit determines that the alarm condition is satisfied.

[0015] With this configuration, in a situation where an abnormality may have occurred with respect to a product container, attention can be drawn to the abnormality.

[0016] Furthermore, the store system of the second invention is relative to the first invention, and comprises: a seat-to-seat detection unit, which is arranged along the conveying path of the goods of the goods conveying device and includes a sensor for detecting the goods container, and the change detection unit has: a first detection unit, which detects information about the state of a goods container carried into a seat based on the detection result of the seat-to-seat detection unit; and a second detection unit, which detects information about the state of the goods container carried out from the seat based on the detection result of the seat-to-seat detection unit.

[0017] With this configuration, it is possible to detect a change in the state of a commodity container in response to the state of the commodity container being carried in or out of one seat.

[0018] Furthermore, in the store system of the third invention relative to the second invention, the first detection unit and the second detection unit are configured to detect the open and closed state of the lid of a commodity container, and the alarm condition includes the open and closed state of the lid of a commodity container carried into a seat, the open state is detected by the first detection unit and the closed state is detected by the second detection unit.

[0019] With this configuration, it is possible to output alarm information in response to changes in the open / closed state of the cover of the commodity container.

[0020] Furthermore, in the store system of the fourth invention, relative to the second or third invention, the seat-to-seat detection unit has a camera that can photograph the inside of the merchandise container when the lid of the merchandise container is opened, and the first detection unit and the second detection unit are respectively constructed to detect information about the state of the merchandise container based on the image captured by the camera of the seat-to-seat detection unit.

[0021] With this configuration, it is possible to output warning information based on the result of imaging the interior of the commodity container.

[0022] Furthermore, in the store system of the fifth invention relative to the fourth invention, the first detection unit and the second detection unit are respectively constructed to be able to detect information about the presence or absence of goods arranged in the goods container based on the image, and the alarm condition includes, for a goods container moved into a seat, detecting a state where there is no goods by the first detection unit and detecting a state where there is goods by the second detection unit.

[0023] With this configuration, it is possible to output alarm information in response to a change in the presence or absence of a commodity container.

[0024] Furthermore, in the store system of the sixth invention, relative to any one of the first to fifth inventions, the change detection unit is configured to detect at any time a change in the open / closed state of a lid of a commodity container being transported by a commodity transporting device at a seat, and the alarm condition includes detecting that the lid of the commodity container being transported at a seat changes from an open state to a closed state.

[0025] With this configuration, it is possible to output alarm information in response to a state change in which the lid of a commodity container conveyed in one seat changes from an open state to a closed state.

[0026] Furthermore, the store system of the seventh invention, relative to the sixth invention, comprises: an intermediate detection unit, which includes a camera capable of photographing an area through which a commodity container passes between being moved into a seat and being moved out of the seat, and a change detection unit configured to detect changes in the open and closed states of the lid of the commodity container based on an image photographed by the camera of the intermediate detection unit.

[0027] With this configuration, a change in the state of the lid of the commodity container being conveyed in one seat can be detected reliably.

[0028] Furthermore, the store system of the eighth invention is related to the sixth or seventh invention, wherein the merchandise container has a switch detection unit for detecting the open or closed state of the lid or its change, and the change detection unit is configured to obtain information indicating the detection result generated by the switch detection unit.

[0029] With this configuration, a change in the state of the lid of the commodity container being conveyed in one seat can be detected reliably.

[0030] Furthermore, in the store system of the ninth invention, relative to any one of the first to eighth inventions, the change detection unit is configured to determine and identify a container identifier of a commodity container that is a detection object, and the alarm unit is configured to output alarm information about the commodity container corresponding to the container identifier in an output state corresponding to the container identifier determined by the change detection unit.

[0031] With this configuration, it is possible to output alarm information in a manner corresponding to each commodity container.

[0032] Furthermore, in the store system according to the tenth invention, in the ninth invention, the alarm unit is configured to output alarm information including information corresponding to the container identifier specified by the change detection unit as alarm information on the commodity container corresponding to the container identifier.

[0033] With this configuration, it is possible to output alarm information including information corresponding to the commodity container.

[0034] Furthermore, in the store system according to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the ninth or tenth aspect of the present invention, the alarm unit is configured to output alarm information on the commodity container corresponding to the container identifier to an output destination corresponding to the container identifier specified by the change detection unit.

[0035] With this configuration, the alarm information can be output to an output destination corresponding to the commodity container.

[0036] Furthermore, the store system according to the twelfth invention is provided with a billing unit that bills the user corresponding to the seat based on the detection result of the change detection unit, in accordance with any one of the first to eleventh inventions.

[0037] With this configuration, the user can be charged according to the change in the state of the commodity container in one seat.

[0038] Furthermore, the reminder method of the thirteenth invention is used in a store system, wherein the store system includes: a commodity container that can accommodate commodities and whose lid can be opened and closed; a commodity conveying device that conveys the commodities contained in the commodity container from the upstream side to the downstream side; and a display device, wherein the reminder method includes: a change detection step for detecting a change in the state of the commodity container being conveyed by the commodity conveying device in a seat; a judgment step for judging whether a predetermined alarm condition is satisfied based on the detection result in the change detection step; and an alarm step for outputting alarm information indicating that an abnormality may have occurred with respect to the commodity container to the display device when the alarm condition is determined to be satisfied by the judgment step.

[0039] With this configuration, in a situation where an abnormality related to a product container may have occurred, it is possible to alert the user to the abnormality that may have occurred related to the product container.

[0040] [Effects of the invention]

[0041] According to the store system and the like of the present invention, when there is a possibility that an abnormality has occurred with respect to a commodity container, it is possible to call attention to the abnormality. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0042] Figure 1 This is a diagram for explaining an example of a product transport device in a store using the store system according to the present embodiment.

[0043] Figure 2 It is a top view showing an example of the same product transporting device.

[0044] Figure 3 This is a diagram showing the block structure of the same store system.

[0045] Figure 4 This is a diagram showing an example of user information using the same information processing device.

[0046] Figure 5 This is a diagram showing an example of detection results regarding state changes accumulated by the same information processing device.

[0047] Figure 6 This is a diagram for explaining an example of an alarm condition in the same information processing device.

[0048] Figure 7 This is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the information processing device.

[0049] Figure 8 This is a flowchart showing an example of change detection processing performed by the same information processing device.

[0050] Fig. 9 This is a diagram showing an example of a screen for notification based on alarm information in the notification device.

[0051] Fig.10 This is a diagram showing another example of a screen for providing notification based on alarm information in the notification device.

[0052] Fig.11 It is a diagram showing a block structure of a store system according to a modified example of the present embodiment.

[0053] Fig.12 This is a flowchart showing an example of change detection processing in the same modification example.

[0054] Fig.13 This is a side view showing a schematic structure of a commodity container used in a store system according to another modified example of the present embodiment.

[0055] Fig.14 This is a diagram showing the block structure of the same store system.

[0056] Fig.15 This is an overview diagram showing a computer system in the above-mentioned embodiment.

[0057] Fig.16 is a block diagram of the same computer system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0058] Hereinafter, embodiments of the store system, etc. will be described with reference to the drawings. In the embodiments, components denoted by the same reference numerals perform the same operations, and therefore, their re-description may be omitted.

[0059] In addition, the terms used below are generally defined as follows. In addition, the meaning of these terms should not always be interpreted as shown here, for example, in the case of individual descriptions below, they should also be interpreted according to the descriptions.

[0060] For a certain item, the so-called identifier is a word or symbol that uniquely represents the item. Although the identifier is, for example, an ID, it can be of any type as long as it is information that can identify the corresponding item. That is, the identifier can be a name representing the item itself, or it can be a combination of symbols in a unique corresponding manner.

[0061] The so-called acquisition may include acquiring items input by a user, etc., and may also include acquiring information stored in other devices. The so-called acquisition of information stored in other devices may include acquiring information stored in other devices through APIs, etc., and may also include acquiring by crawling the content of document files (including the content of web pages, etc.) provided by other devices. In addition, it may also include acquiring information by optically reading text from image files, etc., and acquiring information in a format different from the original information.

[0062] Furthermore, the so-called machine learning techniques can also be used to obtain information. The use of machine learning techniques can be carried out, for example, as follows. That is, a learner (learning information) is constructed using machine learning techniques, and the learner takes a specific type of input information as input, and takes the type of output information to be obtained as output. For example, a combination of two or more sets of input information and output information is prepared in advance, and the two or more sets of information are handed over to a module for constituting a machine learning learner to constitute a learner, and the constructed learner is stored in a storage unit. In addition, the learner can also be called a classifier. In addition, machine learning techniques such as deep learning, random forest, SVM, etc. are not limited. In addition, in machine learning, for example, functions in various machine learning frameworks such as fastText, tinySVM, random forest, TensorFlow, or various existing program libraries can be used. Sometimes this use of a learner to obtain information is referred to as acquisition by machine learning.

[0063] Furthermore, the learner is not limited to those obtained by machine learning. For example, the learner may be a table representing the correspondence between an input vector based on input information and output information. In this case, the output information corresponding to the feature vector based on the input information can be obtained from the table, or two or more input vectors in the table and parameters such as weighting of each input vector can be used to generate a vector approximating the feature vector based on the input information, and the final output information is obtained using the output information and parameters corresponding to each input vector used for generation. Sometimes, this use of a learner to obtain information is referred to as obtaining the use of a correspondence. Furthermore, the learner may be, for example, a function representing the relationship between an input vector based on input information and information used to generate output information. In this case, for example, information corresponding to the feature vector based on the input information can be obtained by a function, and the output information can be obtained using the obtained information. Sometimes, this use of a learner to obtain information is referred to as obtaining the use of a function.

[0064] Output information refers to the following concepts: display on a display, projection using a projector, printing using a printer, sound output, transmission to an external device, storage in a recording medium, submission of processing results to other processing devices or other programs, etc. Specifically, it includes, for example, information that can be displayed on a web page, transmitted as an e-mail, etc., and output for printing.

[0065] The so-called acceptance of information includes the following concepts: acceptance of information input from input devices such as a keyboard, mouse or touch panel, reception of information transmitted from other devices through wired or wireless communication lines, and acceptance of information read from recording media such as optical disks, magnetic disks, semiconductor memories, etc.

[0066] With respect to various information stored in an information processing device or the like, updating is a concept including adding new information to the stored information, deleting part or all of the stored information, and the like, in addition to changing the stored information.

[0067] (Implementation Method)

[0068] The summary of this embodiment is as follows. The store system of this embodiment is configured to provide goods to seats used by customers in a store, and is configured to be able to transport goods contained in a commodity container by a commodity transport device. The store system includes: a change detection unit that detects a change in the state of the commodity container; and an alarm unit that outputs alarm information indicating that an abnormality may have occurred with respect to the commodity container based on the detection result of the change detection unit.

[0069] The change detection unit is preferably configured to detect information about the state of a commodity container carried into a seat and information about the state of a commodity container carried out from the seat. Furthermore, the change detection unit can detect the switch state of the commodity container, and preferably outputs alarm information when detecting a change from an open state to a closed state. The change detection unit can also detect information about the presence or absence of commodities in the commodity container based on an image of a camera that can capture the commodity container in an open state. In this case, for example, an alarm information can be output when detecting a change from a state without commodities to a state with commodities. Furthermore, the change detection unit can also be configured to detect a change in the state of the commodity container based on the photographic results of a camera that can capture a commodity container on the way to be transported corresponding to a seat or the detection results of a switch detection unit provided in the commodity container.

[0070] The alarm unit may also be configured to output alarm information in a notification mode corresponding to a container identifier that can identify a commodity container. For example, the alarm information of a determined container may be output to an output destination corresponding to the container.

[0071] Hereinafter, a configuration example of a store system configured in this manner, an information processing device using the store system, and the like will be described.

[0072] Figure 1 This is a diagram for explaining an example of a product transport device 900 of a store using the store system 1 according to the present embodiment. Figure 2 1 is a plan view showing an example of the product transporting device 900.

[0073] The store system 1 according to the present embodiment is used in a store such as a restaurant, for example. Figure 1 Indicates a part of an appliance, etc. Figure 2 9 shows an example of a commodity conveying device 900 in a store such as a restaurant. The restaurant is, for example, a so-called conveyor belt sushi restaurant. In addition, the store using the store system 1 may also be a restaurant of other business forms and types, or a store other than a restaurant. Furthermore, the commodities provided to the user are not limited to being charged or free.

[0074] In addition, in this embodiment, the so-called commodity is, for example, food and beverage such as sushi. For example, it can be food such as nigiri sushi and hand-rolled sushi, or it can be other food. In addition, food and beverage can also include beverages, snacks, food in containers, packaged food, etc. In addition, the commodity can also include valuable items other than food and beverage.

[0075] In this embodiment, the store system 1 allows the visitor, that is, the user, to place an order for the product at each seat. In addition, in the store system 1, the product can be transported to the user by the product transport device 900.

[0076] Here, the so-called seat is a concept, which means a seat or table used by a user who becomes the destination of the goods. A seat corresponds to a customer group of one or more users who purchase goods (the customer group includes more than one user, and can also be one user). For example, in a restaurant, that is, a store, in the case where a customer group composed of multiple users comes to the store, the customer group is guided to a table in the store, and the table is equivalent to a seat. And, for example, in a restaurant, that is, a store, in the case where a customer group of one user comes to the store, the customer group is guided to a bar seat in the store, and the bar seat is equivalent to a seat. In addition, the so-called seat is not limited to representing an actual seat or table. A seat can be a seat corresponding to a group composed of more than one user, and represents the buyer, orderer, destination, and other persons of the group's goods. Such a seat can be a real person or a virtual person. That is, the so-called seat is a concept, which represents a unit that becomes the destination of the goods and collects the consideration for the goods. In the following description, seats corresponding to such users (customer groups) may be simply referred to as users. In other words, providing products to seats corresponding to users (customer groups) may be simply referred to as providing products to users.

[0077] The store system 1 includes a commodity transport device 900, an information processing device 100, and a notification device 700. The notification device 700 is, for example, a reception terminal corresponding to each seat. One notification device 700 may be shared by two or more seats. Furthermore, two or more notification devices 700 may be used corresponding to one seat. Furthermore, the notification device 700 may be arranged in the kitchen 1b described later and may be used by staff in the store.

[0078] In this embodiment, the store system 1 can be interpreted as having, for example, a terminal device 600 that can communicate with the information processing device 100 via a network. The terminal device 600 is used by, for example, a user. That is, the store system 1 is configured so that a user, a customer of a restaurant or the like, can use and utilize the terminal device 600 or the like.

[0079] In this embodiment, a customer group can place an order for goods using a notification device 700 having a notification display device 761, which is provided to correspond to the seat they use and has a screen such as a touch panel. In addition, the customer group can also place an order for goods using one or more terminal devices 600 they have. In this case, for example, a store system configuration as described in the above-mentioned Patent Document 2 can be adopted.

[0080] In addition, Figure 1In the figure, for example, a portable information terminal device such as a so-called smart phone is displayed as the terminal device 600. The terminal device 600 has a screen such as a touch panel, that is, a terminal display device 661. In addition, a tablet-type information terminal device and a personal computer (PC) such as a laptop computer can also be used as the terminal device 600. In addition, although a tablet-type information terminal device is shown as the notification device 700, a portable information terminal device or a personal computer (PC) can also be used as the notification device 700.

[0081] In addition, the terminal device 600 can also be used by store staff such as a waiter. That is, the store staff can use the terminal device 600 to use the store system 1. For example, the store staff can also use the terminal device 600 to transmit information such as order content from each seat to the information processing device 100, etc., so that the order can be accepted.

[0082] In addition, in the store system 1, the devices that can communicate with each other can communicate with each other through a network such as a local area network or the Internet, but are not limited thereto. The number of devices included in the store system 1 is not limited, and other devices can also be included in the store system 1.

[0083] The commodity conveying device 900 is installed across the store 1a where users eat and drink and the kitchen 1b. In the store 1a, for example, a table 980 or seats 981 for users to eat and drink are provided. As the table 980, a bar table 980b where users can line up and eat and drink can also be used.

[0084] The product transport device 900 has a transport path 960, which carries a plate with a product 5 such as sushi. The transport path 960 is laid in the store 1a so as to transport the plate near each table 980. The transport path 960 is formed by using, for example, a crescent chain having a flat upper surface, but is not limited thereto. The transport path 960 is configured to transport the plate in a predetermined transport direction ( Figure 2 The conveying path 960 conveys the product 5, i.e., the plate of sushi, etc., from upstream to downstream. When viewed from a certain point on the conveying path 960, the so-called upstream is the side where the product 5 approaches, and the so-called downstream is the side where the product 5 moves away.

[0085] In the commodity conveying device 900, an upper unit 951 is arranged above the conveying path 960. The upper unit 951 is provided with a lighting means, and the lighting means is configured to irradiate light downward to illuminate the conveying path 960. The upper unit 951 is provided with a notification device 700. In the store system 1, the user of the corresponding seat can use the so-called electronic menu displayed by the notification device 700 to place an order for the commodity 5, etc. For example, an existing structure can be used for the structure for accepting the order of such commodity 5. For example, the information processing device 100 accepts the order of each seat based on the ordering operation performed by the user on the notification device 700 corresponding to each seat, and transmits the content of the order to the terminal (not shown) provided in the kitchen 1b, etc., so that the commodity 5 corresponding to the order can be provided.

[0086] In this embodiment, the notification device 700 and the terminal device 600 are configured to receive information output (transmitted) from the information processing device 100, and display information etc. on the notification display device 761 or the terminal display device 661 based on the received information. The notification device 700 and the terminal device 600 are configured to display information etc. based on the alarm information when outputting alarm information as described later to themselves. In addition, the notification device 700 and the terminal device 600 are configured to output sound or light etc., and may also be configured to output sound or light etc. based on the output alarm information.

[0087] Here, in this embodiment, the commodity 5 is provided to the user using the commodity container 10. The commodity container 10 is configured to be arranged on the conveying path 960. The commodity container 10 has: a placing table 11, which places a plate on which the commodity 5 is placed; and a cover 12, which is a cover body configured to cover the upper surface of the placing table 11. The plate on which the commodity 5 is placed is conveyed on the conveying path 960 in a state covered by the cover 12 in the commodity container 10. Each user can pick up the conveyed commodity 5 together with the plate by opening the cover 12 of the commodity container 10, and move it to the table 980 for eating. The commodity container 10 that has picked up the commodity 5 is in an open state with the cover 12 maintained open, and is conveyed to the kitchen 1b via the conveying path 960. The commodity container 10 may also be called a commodity container, a food container, or a commodity cover.

[0088] Such a product container 10 may have a configuration as described in Patent Document 1. In the present embodiment, two products 5 are provided together through the conveying path 960 as a connected body 500 formed by connecting two product containers 10 to each other, but the providing method is not limited thereto.

[0089] In this embodiment, the store system 1 is provided with an inter-seat detection unit 970 for detecting the commodity container 10 being transported on the transport path. In this embodiment, the commodity container 10 can be detected by using the inter-seat detection unit 970 to detect the commodity 5, but only the commodity container 10 can be detected.

[0090] The seat detection unit 970 is provided, for example, along the conveying path 960, and has a sensor for detecting the commodity container 10. The sensor is, for example, a camera for acquiring an image, a contact sensor, a non-contact sensor such as a photoelectric sensor or a proximity sensor, or a reader capable of reading an RF tag (IC tag), but is not limited thereto, and two or more of these sensors may be used in combination. The sensor may also be a sensor such as LiDAR capable of acquiring a distance image. The seat detection unit 970 may be a sensor provided on the conveying path 960 that functions together with the information processing device 100 or other devices such as a computer, or may be a device configured to process the information obtained by the sensor without cooperating with the information processing device 100 and output it to the information processing device 100, etc.

[0091] The seat detection unit 970 is configured to detect each of the two or more commodity containers 10 transported on the conveying path 960. In the present embodiment, the seat detection unit 970 is arranged at a position corresponding to the seats adjacent to each other (between the tables 980 and the seats 981 of the bar table 980b). The seat detection unit 970 can be said to be arranged at a position corresponding to the end of at least one side of each seat for each seat. The conveying path 960 can be said to be configured in a manner divided into a plurality of sections corresponding to each seat, and the seat detection unit 970 is set to detect the commodity container 10 near the boundary of the adjacent sections.

[0092] In this embodiment, based on the detection result generated by the sensor of the inter-seat detection unit 970, it is configured to detect the state of the lid 12 for the commodity container 10 that has arrived at the boundary between seats. That is, the inter-seat detection unit 970 detects whether the section (area) corresponding to which seat in the conveying path 960 the commodity container 10 has become open. Generally, the commodity container 10 becoming open means that the commodity 5 has been picked up from the conveying path 960. Therefore, as described later, the price of the commodity 5 is charged to the corresponding seat in accordance with the change in the open and close state of the commodity container 10.

[0093] In the present embodiment, the seat detection unit 970 is configured to shoot the conveying path 960 by a camera. That is, in the store system 1, it is configured to detect the switch state of the commodity container 10 that has arrived at the location between each seat using the image shot by the seat detection unit 970. For example, it is possible to detect whether the cover 12 of the commodity container 10 is in an open state or a closed state. In the seat detection unit 970 that performs detection at one place, two or more cameras may also be provided. In addition, the detection of the switch state using the image can be performed by obtaining information indicating whether it is in an open state or a closed state based on the image shot, using a learner such as machine learning, or performing other existing image recognition. In addition, in the present embodiment, the store system 1 can also be configured to obtain attribute values ​​such as the category of the commodity 5 based on the image of the commodity container 10 shot by the seat detection unit 970. In this case, for example, it can also be configured to attach a two-dimensional barcode representing an identifier to the commodity container 10, and use the reading result of the two-dimensional barcode to perform detection on the commodity 5.

[0094] The detection using the image captured by the seat detection unit 970 may be performed by the seat detection unit 970. In this case, the detection result generated by the seat detection unit 970 may be output from the seat detection unit 970 to the information processing device 100. In addition, the detection using the image captured by the seat detection unit 970 may be performed by the processing unit 140 of the information processing device 100 described later. In this case, the image captured by the seat detection unit 970 or information based on the image may be output from the seat detection unit 970 to the information processing device 100.

[0095] The seat detection unit 970 may also include at least one camera capable of photographing the inside of the commodity container 10. In the present embodiment, the seat detection unit 970 has a camera capable of photographing the inside of the commodity container 10 when the lid of the commodity container 10 is opened. Then, as described later, the store system 1 can use the image obtained by photographing the conveying path 960 using the camera of the seat detection unit 970 to detect the state of the commodity container 10 that has arrived at the location between each seat. This detection can be performed by obtaining information indicating whether it is in an open state or a closed state based on the captured image using, for example, a machine learning learner, or by performing other existing image recognition. This detection process can be configured to be performed in the seat detection unit 970 itself as described above, or can be configured to be performed in the information processing device 100, etc.

[0096] In addition, the seat detection unit 970 is not limited to the one using such a camera. For example, the seat detection unit 970 may also be a structure using a switch detector and a reader as described in the above-mentioned patent document 1. In this case, for example, a unique RF tag or the like may be provided on the commodity container 10, and the information of the tag read by the reader may be used as identification of each commodity 5. In addition, the switch detector may be used to detect the state of the switch of the commodity container 10.

[0097] Furthermore, the detection result of the seat-to-seat detection unit 970 may be used to detect the commodity container 10 as described above, thereby detecting the commodity 5. This detection can be performed, for example, using information that associates the identifier of each commodity container 10 with information about the commodity 5 contained in the commodity container 10. As the information about the commodity 5, information about the identification of the commodity 5, information about the state of the commodity 5, etc. can be obtained.

[0098] Information on the identification of the commodity 5 is, for example, an attribute value for identifying each commodity 5, an attribute value for determining a category (a menu name, a category to which the commodity 5 belongs, etc.). Such attribute values ​​may include identifiers for identifying each plate or commodity container 10 used for providing the commodity 5, identification results of the predetermined form when the commodity 5 is provided, information based on an image obtained by photographing the commodity 5 (which may be the image itself or a feature value that can be obtained from the image, etc.). That is, the detection of the commodity 5 may also be referred to as the identification of the commodity 5.

[0099] The information on the status of the commodity 5 is, for example, information indicating the status of the commodity 5 or information for understanding the status of the commodity 5. The status of the commodity 5 is, for example, the position of the commodity 5, the presence or absence of the commodity 5, the time elapsed after the commodity 5 was provided on the conveying path 960, etc., but is not limited thereto.

[0100] The position of the commodity 5 may be, for example, a relative position on the transport path 960, or an absolute position of the commodity 5 in the store, that is, the position of the commodity 5 relative to each user. In the case where the relative position on the transport path 960 (the position of the commodity 5 from the starting point on the transport path 960) can be grasped, the relative position may be detected as information for grasping the state of the commodity 5. That is, the absolute position of the commodity 5 can be grasped based on the relative position and the position of the transport path 960. In addition, the position of the commodity 5 mentioned here may also be referred to as the position of the commodity container 10.

[0101] Figure 3 It is a diagram showing the block structure of the same store system 1.

[0102] As shown in the figure, the information processing device 100 includes a storage unit 110 , a receiving unit 120 , an accepting unit 130 , a processing unit 140 , and a transmitting unit 170 .

[0103] The storage unit 110 includes a container information storage unit 112 and a user information storage unit 115 .

[0104] The storage unit 110 is preferably a non-volatile recording medium, but may also be implemented as a volatile recording medium. The information etc. obtained in each device is stored in these media respectively, but the process of storing information etc. is not limited thereto. For example, information etc. may be stored through a recording medium, information transmitted through a communication line etc. may be stored, or information input through an input device etc. may be stored.

[0105] The container information storage unit 112 stores, for example, detection results regarding the state of the commodity container 10 generated by the inter-seat detection unit 970. In the following description, the detection results may be referred to as container information.

[0106] In this embodiment, the container information is various attribute values ​​about a commodity container 10. For example, it is a container identifier that can identify each commodity container 10, information about the state of the commodity container 10 detected by the seat detection unit 970, etc. The detected information may be, for example, information indicating whether the cover 12 of the commodity container 10 is in an open state or a closed state, information indicating the presence or absence of the commodity 5 in the commodity container 10, information indicating the presence or absence of other foreign matter, etc., but the present invention is not limited thereto. The container information may be, for example, information obtained based on information about the state of the commodity container 10 detected by the seat detection unit 970. That is, it may also include information such as the judgment result of the alarm condition and the billing condition described later obtained based on the result of detecting the state of the commodity container 10 by the seat detection unit 970.

[0107] The user information storage unit 115 stores user information about users who use the store system 1. In the present embodiment, the user information is information corresponding to a user identifier, which is an identifier for identifying a user who uses the store system 1, and information about the user. The user information can include various information. The user information is received by the receiving unit 120, accepted by the accepting unit 130, or obtained as a result of information processing performed by the processing unit 140, and is stored in the user information storage unit 115.

[0108] In the present embodiment, user information may also be referred to as information about the seat corresponding to the user. That is, in the present embodiment, user information based on information transmitted from a user-operable terminal such as a terminal device 600 or a notification device 700 during the user's current dining opportunity may also be stored in correspondence with seat identification information such as a seat identifier for identifying a seat and a terminal identifier for identifying the terminal device 600. In addition, the user information may include predetermined attribute values ​​regarding the state of the user coming to the restaurant. The so-called predetermined attribute values ​​include, for example, information such as the number of users, i.e., the customer group, the time of arrival at the store (or the time elapsed after the arrival at the store), but are not limited thereto. Information such as the number of adults and children included in the customer group may also be included. Furthermore, for the seat used by the user, an identifier for identifying the responsible staff responsible for various service businesses may also be included.

[0109] Furthermore, the user information may include information such as the purchase history of the product 5. For example, the user information may include order information indicating the acceptance status of orders placed by each seat and consumption information indicating the consumption status of the product 5 by each seat.

[0110] The order information is, for example, information about the order of the product, and is information having seat identification information for identifying the seat. The order information is, for example, a product identifier that can uniquely identify the product. The order information is, for example, a product identifier and the number of items ordered. In addition, the order information may also be, for example, a product identifier and an amount. The order information may also be information indicating that a plate carrying the product 5 has been delivered (provided) to the customer group. In other words, the order information may also be information after the order is placed.

[0111] The consumption information is information about the amount or quantity of the commodity 5 consumed by the user. In the present embodiment, the consumption information is, for example, the amount of the commodity 5 consumed by the user, but is not limited thereto. The quantity of the commodity 5 consumed by the user may also be used as the consumption information. In the present embodiment, the commodity 5 is arranged on a plate in a predetermined unit and provided to the user. In this case, the number of plates of the commodity 5 consumed by the user may also be used as the consumption information.

[0112] In addition, as information about purchase records such as order information and consumption information, information about the user's purchase record in this dining opportunity (this purchase record) can also be included in the user information. Based on the information about the purchase record, the user can be charged for the use of the store. In addition, the information about the purchase record can also be recorded for each user belonging to the customer group, for example.

[0113] The receiving unit 120 receives information transmitted from other devices. The receiving unit 120 is generally implemented by wireless or wired communication means, but can also be implemented by receiving broadcast means.

[0114] The receiving unit 120 stores the received information in, for example, the storage unit 110. In the present embodiment, the user inputs information using, for example, the terminal device 600, and can transmit it to the information processing device 100. The receiving unit 120 can associate each transmitted information with a terminal identifier and a seat identifier and store it in the storage unit 110. In the present embodiment, the receiving unit 120 can receive order information transmitted from each terminal device 600 and the notification device 700, associate it with the terminal identifier or the seat identifier, and store it in the storage unit 110. In addition, when the receiving unit 120 receives information from the notification device 700, it can determine the seat identifier based on the transmitted information, and the seat identifier determines the seat corresponding to the notification device 700 involved in the transmission. In addition, when the receiving unit 120 receives information from the terminal device 600, it can determine the terminal identifier involved in the transmission based on the transmitted information.

[0115] The receiving unit 130 receives information inputted using an input means (not shown) connected to the information processing device 100. The receiving unit 130 stores the received information in, for example, the storage unit 110. In addition, the input means may be any one of a numeric keypad, a keyboard, a mouse, a menu screen, etc. The receiving unit 130 may be implemented by a device driver for an input means such as a numeric keypad and a keyboard, a control software for a menu screen, etc. The receiving unit 130 may also receive information inputted by an input operation (for example, also including information read by the device) using a reading device (for example, a barcode reader, etc.) connected to the information processing device 100.

[0116] Furthermore, the receiving unit 130 can be said to receive the information received by the receiving unit 120 as information input to the information processing device 100. In other words, the input of information to the information processing device 100 can also be interpreted as meaning that the user indirectly inputs the information to the information processing device 100 through the notification device 700, the terminal device 600, etc.

[0117] In addition, the receiving unit 120 and the accepting unit 130 can also receive or accept information sent or input by store staff.

[0118] The processing unit 140 performs various processing. The so-called various processing refers to, for example, processing performed by each unit of the processing unit 140 as follows. The processing unit 140 can generally be implemented by an MPU or a memory. The processing program of the processing unit 140 is generally implemented by software, and the software is recorded in a recording medium such as a ROM. However, it can also be implemented by hardware (dedicated line).

[0119] In the present embodiment, the processing unit 140 is configured to output alarm information indicating that an abnormality may have occurred with respect to the commodity container 10 when it is determined that a predetermined alarm condition is satisfied in response to the detection result of the change in the state of the commodity container 10 being conveyed on the conveying path 960. This alarm function is realized by the user information acquisition unit 141, the change detection unit 145, the determination unit 151, and the alarm unit 161 provided in the processing unit 140. In addition, the processing unit 140 includes a billing unit 165. Each of these units of the processing unit 140 can perform the following processing.

[0120] The user information acquisition unit 141 acquires user information, which is information about a user who uses the store, that is, a target user. The user information acquisition unit 141 acquires user information corresponding to an identifier for identifying a target user or seat from the user information storage unit 115, for example, when outputting alarm information or performing billing, which will be described later. By acquiring the user information, the terminal device 600 or the notification device 700 corresponding to the user or seat can be identified.

[0121] In addition, an example of the user information used in this embodiment is as follows.

[0122] Figure 4 This is a diagram showing an example of information about users who use the same information processing device 100 .

[0123] In the example shown in the figure, as user information, attribute values ​​such as seat identification information, store visit time, and the person-in-charge identifier (person-in-charge ID) of the person-in-charge of the service business of the seat used by the user are recorded in correspondence with the user identifier (user ID) that identifies the user information. For example, as seat identification information, seat identifiers such as the table number that can identify the table 980 used by the user and the seat number that can identify the seat 981 of the user using the bar table 980b can be included.

[0124] When the identifier of the responsible staff member corresponding to the seat is included in the user information as described above, the terminal device 600 used by the responsible staff member corresponding to the user or the seat can be specified based on the user information of each user.

[0125] In addition, the user information may include information other than these, and any information (such as a person in charge identifier, etc.) may be stored as information different from the user information. That is, information that can be stored in the storage unit 110 in association with the user identifier or the seat identifier, or information that can be obtained in association with the user identifier or the seat identifier can be grasped as the user information.

[0126] return Figure 3, the change detection unit 145 is configured to detect a state change of a commodity container 10 being transported by the commodity transport device 900 in one seat. In the present embodiment, the change detection unit 145 can detect a state change of a commodity container 10 being transported in a range corresponding to each seat in the store. The change detection unit 145 is configured to determine a container identifier for identifying the commodity container 10 to be detected. Information for performing detection on each commodity container 10 (for example, the detection result of the inter-seat detection unit 970 described later), the detection result of the state change, etc. are stored in the container information storage unit 112, for example, in correspondence with the container identifier of the commodity container 10, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0127] In the present embodiment, the change detection unit 145 is configured to detect the state change of the commodity container 10 based on the detection result of the inter-seat detection unit 970. That is, the change detection unit 145 is configured to detect the state change of each commodity container 10 passing through the corresponding section (referred to as the corresponding section) in response to the detection result of each inter-seat detection unit 970 on the upstream side and the downstream side of the section of the transport path 960 corresponding to the seat in one seat.

[0128] In the case of focusing on one seat, it can also be explained that the detection of the change in the switch state can be performed by the change detection unit 145 as described below. That is, in this embodiment, the change detection unit 145 has a first detection unit 146 and a second detection unit 147, and it can be said that the change in the state of the commodity container 10 is detected based on the detection result of the first detection unit 146 and the detection result of the second detection unit 147. Here, the first detection unit 146 detects information about the state of one commodity container 10 carried into the seat based on the detection result of the inter-seat detection unit 970 (for convenience, sometimes referred to as the first inter-seat detection unit 970) located on the upstream side of the seat. The second detection unit 147 detects information about the state of one commodity container 10 carried out from the seat based on the detection result of the inter-seat detection unit 970 (for convenience, sometimes referred to as the second inter-seat detection unit 970) located on the downstream side of the seat. The first seat detection unit 970 is located at a position corresponding to the boundary between the seat and the seat on the upstream side thereof, and the second seat detection unit 970 is located at a position corresponding to the boundary between the seat and the seat on the downstream side thereof, etc. In addition, the first detection unit 146 may include the first seat detection unit 970 to grasp the configuration of the store system 1, and the second detection unit 147 may include the second seat detection unit 970 to grasp the configuration of the store system 1.

[0129] In the present embodiment, the change detection unit 145 detects, for example, a change in the open / closed state of the lid 12 of the commodity container 10 (an example of a state change). That is, the change detection unit 145 is configured to detect a change in the open / closed state of each commodity container 10 passing through the corresponding section in response to the detection results of each seat-to-seat detection unit 970 on the upstream side and the downstream side in the corresponding section in one seat. In other words, the first detection unit 146 and the second detection unit 147 are configured to detect the open / closed state of the lid 12 of the commodity container 10, whereby it can be said that the change detection unit 145 can detect a change in the open / closed state of the lid 12. In addition, the first detection unit 146 and the second detection unit 147 may be configured to detect the open / closed state based on the detection results generated by the sensors of the seat-to-seat detection units 970, or the first detection unit 146 and the second detection unit 147 may be configured to obtain the detection results of the open / closed state generated by the seat-to-seat detection units 970. In the latter case, it can also be said that the first detection unit 146 and the second detection unit 147 detect the open / closed state.

[0130] Furthermore, the change detection unit 145 detects, for example, a change in the state of the presence or absence of the commodity 5 in the commodity container 10 (an example of a state change). This detection can be performed using an image captured by a camera of the inter-seat detection unit 970 that can capture the inside of the commodity container 10. That is, the change detection unit 145 obtains an image of the inside of the commodity container 10 captured by the cameras of the inter-seat detection units 970 on the upstream and downstream sides of the corresponding section in one seat. Then, it is configured to detect a change in the state of the presence or absence of the commodity 5 in each commodity container 10 passing through the corresponding section based on the image. In other words, the first detection unit 146 and the second detection unit 147 can detect the state of the presence or absence of the commodity 5 in the commodity container 10 based on the image captured by the camera in the commodity container 10, and thus, it can be said that the change detection unit 145 can detect a change in the state of the presence or absence of the commodity 5. Furthermore, the first detection unit 146 and the second detection unit 147 may be configured to detect the state of the presence or absence of the commodity 5 based on the image captured by the detection unit 970 between each seat, or the first detection unit 146 and the second detection unit 147 may be configured to obtain the detection result of the state of the presence or absence of the commodity 5 generated by the detection unit 970 between each seat. In the latter case, it can also be said that the first detection unit 146 and the second detection unit 147 detect the state of the presence or absence of the commodity 5.

[0131] In addition, in the present embodiment, the first detection unit 146 and the second detection unit 147 are configured to detect the state of the presence or absence of the commodity 5 based on the image captured by the change detection unit 145 when the lid 12 of the commodity container 10 is in an open state. In this way, the state of the presence or absence of the commodity 5 can be easily and reliably detected. In addition, the present invention is not limited to this, and the state of the presence or absence of the commodity 5 can also be detected based on the captured image when the lid 12 of the commodity container 10 is in a closed state. For example, when the lid 12 is made of a light-transmitting material, the state of the presence or absence of the commodity 5 can be detected based on the image captured when the lid 12 of the commodity container 10 is in a closed state.

[0132] Furthermore, the first detection unit 146 and the second detection unit 147 may also be configured to detect other information about the state of the commodity container 10 in addition to or instead of the state of the presence or absence of the commodity 5 based on the image captured by the camera of the seat detection unit 970 capable of capturing the inside of the commodity container 10. For example, information about the presence or absence of an object other than the commodity 5 (also referred to as a foreign object), information about the state of the commodity 5 (whether it is a normal state or an abnormal state), etc. may be used as other information, but the present invention is not limited thereto. That is, as long as the first detection unit 146 and the second detection unit 147 are configured to detect any information about the state of the commodity container 10 using the image captured by the camera of the seat detection unit 970 capable of capturing the inside of the commodity container 10, the change detection unit 145 may detect the change in the state of the commodity container 10 by means of the detection result.

[0133] In addition, only the plate can be detected as the commodity 5, or can be detected as a foreign object, for example. In the case where the commodity 5 is generally provided on the plate, the plate and the object placed on the plate can be detected as the commodity 5 as a whole, or the plate can be distinguished from the commodity to be placed on the plate for detection.

[0134] The determination unit 151 determines whether a predetermined alarm condition is satisfied based on the detection result of the change detection unit 145. The alarm condition can be said to include a condition regarding the state change of the commodity container 10. The alarm condition can be a single condition or a combination of multiple conditions.

[0135] In this embodiment, the judgment on the alarm condition is performed for each seat. Furthermore, the judgment on the alarm condition is performed for each commodity container 10. That is, the judgment unit 151 judges whether the alarm condition is satisfied for each commodity container 10 passing through the corresponding section of each seat on the conveying path 960 in each seat. In addition, the judgment unit 151 may also be configured to judge whether the alarm condition is satisfied for every two or more seats (for example, each block in which the store is divided into a plurality of seats). It is also possible to judge whether the alarm condition is satisfied without distinguishing between seats.

[0136] In this embodiment, the alarm condition includes a sign indicating that the commodity container 10 or the commodity 5 may have an abnormality during the period of being transported to the corresponding section of each seat, which is manifested as a change in the state of the commodity container 10 (referred to as a state change condition). As such a state change condition, for example, the following condition is set.

[0137] That is, the state change condition may be, for example, the open state of the lid 12 of a commodity container 10 carried into a seat, where the first detection unit 146 detects the open state and the second detection unit 147 detects the closed state. Generally, the commodity container 10 is configured to maintain the state once it becomes the open state. In the case where the commodity container 10 is carried into the corresponding section in the open state, generally speaking, the commodity container 10 should be carried out of the corresponding section in the original state. In the case where the commodity container 10 carried into the corresponding section in the open state becomes the closed state when being carried out from the corresponding section, in the corresponding section, an abnormality may have occurred, such as someone operating the commodity container 10 and turning it into the closed state. Therefore, such a condition can be set as the state change condition.

[0138] Furthermore, the state change condition may be, for example, that, for a commodity container 10 carried into a seat, the first detection unit 146 detects a state in which there is no commodity 5, and the second detection unit 147 detects a state in which there is commodity 5. Generally, if the commodity 5 is taken out of the commodity container 10 to the outside, no other commodity 5 will be contained in the commodity container 10. In the case where the commodity container 10 carried into the corresponding section without commodity 5 contains commodity 5 when it is carried out, an abnormality may have occurred in the corresponding section, such as someone putting the commodity 5 back into the commodity container 10. Therefore, such a condition can be set as the state change condition.

[0139] In addition, the first detection unit 146 and the second detection unit 147 can detect the presence of foreign objects, and can also set the state change condition that foreign objects that were not present when moving into the corresponding interval are detected when moving out. In addition, the first detection unit 146 and the second detection unit 147 can distinguish between the presence of a plate and the presence of the commodity 5 placed on the plate, and can also set the state change condition that objects that were not present when moving into the corresponding interval are detected when moving out. In addition, the first detection unit 146 and the second detection unit 147 can detect the state of the commodity 5 (such as the position, quantity, posture, color, etc. of the configuration), and can also set the state change condition that the state is different when moving into the corresponding interval and when moving out.

[0140] Furthermore, the alarm condition may include conditions different from the state change condition. For example, conditions regarding the number of seat users, time zone, store crowding level, number of staff, type of product container 10, etc. may be used. In this case, it may be determined that the alarm condition is satisfied when both such conditions and the state change condition are satisfied.

[0141] The alarm unit 161 outputs alarm information when the alarm condition is determined to be satisfied by the determination unit 151. The alarm information is information indicating that an abnormality may have occurred with respect to the commodity container 10. In other words, when the alarm unit 161 determines that a predetermined alarm condition is satisfied based on the detection result of the change detection unit 145, the alarm unit 161 outputs alarm information indicating that an abnormality may have occurred with respect to the commodity container 10.

[0142] The so-called output alarm information can, for example, transmit information for display in other devices, wherein the display indicates that an event may have occurred regarding the product container 10, or output the information to a display unit provided in the information processing device 100, or transmit information containing instructions for executing a predetermined action in other devices.

[0143] In the present embodiment, the alarm unit 161 is configured to output alarm information about the commodity container 10 corresponding to the container identifier in an output pattern corresponding to the container identifier determined by the change detection unit 145, when the commodity container 10 transported in the corresponding section of one seat is determined by the determination unit 151 to satisfy the alarm condition. The alarm information is output in an output pattern corresponding to the container identifier, for example, by configuring the alarm information to output the content displayed by the alarm information as the content corresponding to the container identifier, or by using the alarm information configured to output the information obtained based on the container identifier, or both.

[0144] Specifically, for example, the alarm unit 161 may be configured to output alarm information including information corresponding to the container identifier determined by the change detection unit 145 as alarm information about the commodity container 10 corresponding to the container identifier. For example, the alarm information may include information for identifying the commodity container 10 determined to satisfy the alarm condition. The information for identifying the commodity container 10 may be the container identifier itself, and may be information related to the container identifier, such as information indicating the type of the commodity 5 or the location of the commodity container 10. As the information indicating the location of the commodity container 10, information about the seat to which the commodity container 10 is currently or in the future transported, information identifying the staff member in charge corresponding to the seat, etc. may be used. As the information indicating the location of the commodity container 10, information identifying the seat that becomes the trigger for determining that the alarm condition is satisfied or information corresponding to the seat may be used.

[0145] By doing so, for example, based on the output of the alarm information, the information processing device 100 or other devices can display or output a message that an abnormality may have occurred in a product container 10 with a specific number, a message that an abnormality may have occurred in a product container 10 that should contain products 5 of a specific menu, a message that an abnormality may have occurred in a product container 10 currently being transported at a specific location, a message that an abnormality may have occurred in a product container 10 currently being transported within the responsibility area of ​​a specific responsible staff member, a message that an abnormality may have occurred at a specific table, etc.

[0146] Furthermore, for example, the alarm unit 161 may be configured to output the alarm information about the commodity container 10 corresponding to the container identifier to the output destination corresponding to the container identifier determined by the change detection unit 145. For example, the alarm unit 161 may obtain the output destination information that can be obtained based on the container identifier, and output the alarm information using the output destination information. As the output destination information, for example, information indicating the position of the commodity container 10, output destination information that corresponds to the container identifier in advance, etc. may be used. As the information indicating the position of the commodity container 10, information about the seat to which the commodity container 10 is transported now or in the future, information identifying the responsible staff member corresponding to the seat, etc. may be used. As the information indicating the position of the commodity container 10, information that determines the seat that becomes the opportunity for judging that the alarm condition is satisfied or information corresponding to the seat may be used.

[0147] By doing so, for example, the alarm information can be transmitted to the notification device 700 or the terminal device 600 associated with the seat to which the product container 10 is being transported now or in the future, and the alarm information can be output, or the alarm information can be transmitted to the notification device 700 of the kitchen corresponding to the product container 10, and the alarm information can be output. In addition, the alarm information can be transmitted to the notification device 700 or the terminal device 600 associated with the seat that becomes the opportunity for judging that the alarm condition is satisfied, and the alarm information can be output. In this case, the alarm unit 161 can also be configured to output information including content that warns against the conduct that causes such abnormality as information indicating that an abnormality may have occurred with respect to the product container 10 as the alarm information.

[0148] In addition, the commodity container 10 may also have an output unit that can communicate with the information processing device 100 and output alarm information in response to the communication result. As the output unit, for example, a lamp that indicates alarm information by a predetermined lighting state, a display unit that can display text, etc. may be provided. In this case, the alarm unit 161 only needs to be configured to output the alarm information using the information used for communication with the commodity container 10 as the output destination information that is pre-associated with the container identifier.

[0149] Furthermore, the so-called output of alarm information may also be recording the occurrence information about the alarm condition being satisfied in the storage unit 110. The occurrence information may be, for example, information such as the fact that the alarm condition has been satisfied, the time when the alarm condition has been determined, etc., but is not limited thereto. In this case, for example, the information may be recorded in a manner corresponding to the container identifier determined by the change detection unit 145. For example, the occurrence information may be recorded in correspondence with the container identifier, or the occurrence information may be recorded in correspondence with the seat identifier corresponding to the container identifier.

[0150] The billing unit 165 charges the user corresponding to the seat based on the detection result of the change detection unit 145. For example, the billing unit 165 may charge the user of the corresponding seat when it is determined that a predetermined billing condition is satisfied based on the detection result of the change detection unit 145. The determination may be made by the determination unit 151, for example.

[0151] The charging conditions may include, for example, a general charging condition for charging as the price of the product 5. When the general charging condition is satisfied, the charging unit 165 charges the user of the seat an amount specified as the price of the product 5.

[0152] The general charging condition is, for example, that the opening and closing state of the lid 12 of a commodity container 10 carried into a seat is detected as a closed state by the first detection unit 146 and an open state by the second detection unit 147. When the commodity container 10 carried into the corresponding section in a closed state becomes an open state when being carried out from the corresponding section, it can be regarded as someone taking out the commodity 5 from the commodity container 10 in the corresponding section. In addition, in this case, other conditions, such as the condition of the detection result of the presence or absence of the commodity, can also be combined. For example, it can also be configured that in the case where the closed state is detected by the first detection unit 146 and the open state is detected by the second detection unit 147, no charging is performed in the case where the state of the commodity 5 is detected by the second detection unit 147. In addition, it can also be charged in the case where the commodity 5 is detected by the second detection unit 147 and the case where the commodity 5 is detected.

[0153] The charging conditions may include special charging conditions for charging an amount that is not the price of the product 5. When the special charging conditions are satisfied, the charging unit 165 may charge the seat user a predetermined amount, for example.

[0154] The special charging condition may be the same as the alarm condition, or one of the alarm conditions may be set as the special charging condition. For example, the detection of the open state by the first detection unit 146 and the detection of the closed state by the second detection unit 147 may be set as the special charging condition. Furthermore, the detection of the absence of the commodity 5 by the first detection unit 146 and the detection of the presence of the commodity 5 by the second detection unit 147 may be set as the special charging condition.

[0155] By performing billing based on such special billing conditions, situations in which visitors, etc. are judged to have a potential for abnormality can be effectively suppressed.

[0156] The transmission unit 170 transmits information to other devices via a network, etc. The transmission unit 170 transmits information to, for example, the notification device 700 and the terminal device 600. In other words, the transmission unit 170 outputs information to, for example, the notification device 700 and the terminal device 600.

[0157] In addition, the transmission unit 170 is generally implemented by wireless or wired communication means, but can also be implemented by broadcasting means.

[0158] In the present embodiment, when the alarm unit 161 outputs the alarm information, the alarm information is transmitted to the notification device 700 or terminal device 600 used by the user of the corresponding seat, or the notification device 700 or terminal device 600 used by the staff, for example, by the transmission unit 170. In this way, the notification device 700 or terminal device 600 displays the display based on the alarm information on the notification display device 761 or terminal display device 661. In this way, the user, staff, etc. can recognize the display based on the alarm information and take necessary measures.

[0159] In addition, an example of the recorded content of the detection result of the state change of the commodity container 10 used in the present embodiment is as follows.

[0160] Figure 5 This is a diagram showing an example of the detection result regarding the state change accumulated by the same information processing device 100.

[0161] In the example shown in the figure, as the detection result about the state change of the commodity container 10, the detection result about the state of the commodity container 10 obtained by using the detection unit 970 between each seat is recorded in sequence. The detection result about the state of the commodity container 10 can be associated with the container identifier of the commodity container 10 and accumulated in, for example, the container information storage unit 112. It can be said that the detection result about the state change of each commodity container 10 in one seat is obtained by the detection result about the state of the commodity container 10 obtained by using the detection unit 970 between each seat.

[0162] That is, in the figure, the information corresponding to the container identifier (container ID) and recording the detection time, the information identifying the seat-to-seat detection unit 970 used for detection, that is, the information indicating the detection position (detection position), the information about the detection result of the switch state of the commodity container 10 (switch state), and the information about the detection result of the presence or absence of the commodity 5 in the commodity container 10 (commodity presence or absence). In this example, the presence or absence of the commodity is detected only when the lid 12 is in the open state. As the detection position, for example, information indicating the seat that is determined to be the destination of the commodity container 10 to be carried in close to the position is provided, but it is not limited to this. For example, when the detection position becomes "3A", it means that the detection is performed at the position where the seat numbered 3 will be carried in next. This can also be regarded as the detection at the position where the seat numbered 2 located on the upstream side is carried out.

[0163] An example of the state change of the commodity container 10 that uses and grasps such information is described below. If the record of the commodity container 10 with the container identifier "0214" is focused on, it is detected that the seat numbered 3 is in a closed state when it is moved in (S11), and is in an open state with no commodity when it is moved out (S12). In this case, it is understood that the commodity 5 contained in the commodity container 10 has been taken out of the seat identified by the seat number 3 determined by the detection position. In the case where the general billing conditions are set in a manner that satisfies this state change as described above, the seat can be charged.

[0164] On the other hand, if the record of the commodity container 10 with the container identifier "1932" is focused on, it is detected that the seat with the seat number 11 is in the open state and no commodity is present when the seat is moved in (S21), and it is detected that the seat changes to the closed state when the seat is moved out (S22). This situation can be regarded as a situation where an abnormality may have occurred in the seat identified by the seat number 11 determined by the detection position. In the case where the alarm condition is set in a manner to satisfy the state change as described above, the judgment unit 151 judges that the alarm condition is satisfied. In this way, for example, the alarm unit 161 outputs the alarm information in the output state corresponding to the commodity container 10.

[0165] Furthermore, for the commodity container 10 whose container identifier is "0214" previously, it is detected that it is in an open state and has no commodities when it is carried into the seat numbered 11 located on the downstream side (S31), and it is detected that it is in an open state and has commodities when it is carried out (S32). This situation can be regarded as a situation where an abnormality may have occurred in the seat identified by the seat number 11 determined by the detection position. In the case where the alarm condition is set in a manner to satisfy the state change as described above, the judgment unit 151 judges that the alarm condition is satisfied. In this way, for example, the alarm unit 161 outputs the alarm information in an output state corresponding to the commodity container 10.

[0166] In one aspect of the present embodiment described above, the detection results of the state change obtained by the change detection unit 145 in one seat can be organized as follows (including no state change). In this case, as an example, the alarm conditions can be set as follows for each detection result.

[0167] Figure 6 This is a diagram for explaining an example of an alarm condition in the information processing device 100 .

[0168] In the figure, the detection results of the state change obtained by the change detection unit 145, that is, the combination of the detection results of the first detection unit 146 and the detection results of the second detection unit 147, whether the alarm condition is satisfied in the case (the unsatisfied case is indicated by a hyphen), and whether the billing condition is satisfied. Whether the billing condition is satisfied can also be referred to as whether billing is performed.

[0169] As shown in the figure, the alarm condition can be judged to be satisfied in the case where the first detection unit 146 detects that the lid 12 is in an open state and there is no commodity 5 and the second detection unit 147 detects that the lid 12 is in a closed state, the case where the first detection unit 146 detects that the lid 12 is in an open state and there is no commodity 5 and the second detection unit 147 detects that the lid 12 is in an open state and there is commodity 5, and the case where the first detection unit 146 detects that the lid 12 is in an open state and there is commodity 5 and the second detection unit 147 detects that the lid 12 is in a closed state. That is, in this case, the alarm condition can be said to be that the lid 12 that was in an open state when being carried in in the corresponding section of one seat is detected to be in a closed state when being carried out, or that the commodity container 10 that did not have commodity 5 when being carried in in the corresponding section of one seat has commodity 5 when being carried out.

[0170] Furthermore, for example, regardless of whether the second detection unit 147 detects the presence of the commodity 5 or the absence of the commodity 5, the charging is performed when the first detection unit 146 detects that the cover 12 is in the closed state and the second detection unit 147 detects that the cover 12 is in the open state. In addition, the present invention is not limited thereto, and for example, when the cover 12 is changed to the open state, the charging is performed only when the second detection unit 147 detects that there is no commodity 5. Furthermore, when the special charging condition as described above is set, for example, the charging may be performed when the alarm condition is satisfied.

[0171] In the present embodiment, the information processing device 100 is configured to realize the alarm function by performing various operations as follows, for example. These operations are performed by the processing unit 140 executing control operations while using each unit.

[0172] Figure 7This is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the information processing device 100 .

[0173] For example, the processing shown in the figure is performed regularly. In addition, it is not limited to this, and other predetermined execution conditions (such as the arrival of a predetermined time point, the detection of predetermined information) etc. can also be satisfied as an opportunity to perform.

[0174] (Step S101) The processing unit 140 performs a change detection process. The change detection process is, for example, the process described below.

[0175] Figure 8 This is a flowchart showing an example of change detection processing performed by the information processing device 100.

[0176] (Step S121) The processing unit 140 determines whether there is a new detection result generated by the seat-to-seat detection unit 970. This process is repeated until it is determined that there is a new detection result. If it is determined that there is a new detection result, the process proceeds to the next step.

[0177] (Step S122) The processing unit 140 obtains the detection result of this time for the newly detected commodity container 10. That is, the detection result obtained by using the inter-seat detection unit 970 for the commodity container 10 carried out from one seat is obtained. It can be said that the detection is performed by the second detection unit 147 in the above description.

[0178] (Step S123) The processing unit 140 obtains the previous detection result for the newly detected commodity container 10. That is, for the commodity container 10 carried out of a seat, the detection result of the commodity container 10 being carried into the seat is obtained. It can be said that the detection is performed by the first detection unit 146 in the above description.

[0179] (Step S124 ) The processing unit 140 determines whether the alarm condition is satisfied based on the acquired detection result. The processing unit 140 records the determination result in the storage unit 110 as a flag corresponding to the container identifier of the commodity container 10 , for example.

[0180] (Step S125) The processing unit 140 determines whether the charging condition is satisfied based on the obtained detection result. The processing unit 140 records the determination result in the storage unit 110 as a flag corresponding to the seat identifier or user identifier corresponding to the seat-to-seat detection unit 970 that performed the detection. Then, the process returns to the upper processing.

[0181] (Step S102) The processing unit 140 determines whether the detected commodity container 10 satisfies the alarm condition. The determination is made, for example, based on the presence or content of a flag recorded in the storage unit 110, and if the determination is made based on the presence of a flag, the flag is cleared thereafter. This process can also be considered to be the same as the process of step S124. If the alarm condition is determined to be satisfied, the process proceeds to step S103, and if not, the process proceeds to step S105.

[0182] (Step S103) The processing unit 140 acquires alarm information in response to determining that the alarm condition is satisfied for the detected commodity container 10. The alarm information may be configured in response to the container identifier of the detected commodity container 10, for example, as described above.

[0183] (Step S104) The processing unit 140 outputs the acquired alarm information. The alarm information may be output to an output destination determined according to the container identifier of the detected commodity container 10, for example, as described above.

[0184] (Step S105) Next, the processing unit 140 determines whether the detected commodity container 10 satisfies the charging conditions. The determination is made, for example, based on the presence or content of a flag recorded in the storage unit 110, and if the determination is made based on the presence of a flag, the flag is cleared thereafter. This process can also be considered to be the same as the process of step S125. If it is determined that the charging conditions are satisfied, the process proceeds to step S106, and if not, the series of processes ends.

[0185] (Step S106) The processing unit 140 performs charging in response to determining that the charging condition is satisfied. For example, charging information including information such as the confirmed amount and the product 5 is stored in the user information storage unit 115 in correspondence with the seat or the user, thereby performing charging. In addition, the charging method is not limited to this, and various methods can be used. Then, a series of processing is terminated.

[0186] In this embodiment, when the alarm information is output by the alarm function, the notification device 700 or the like that is the output destination may display a notification screen such as the following to perform notification (alarm) based on the alarm information. In addition, in this example, as the alarm information, it is assumed that information for displaying the alarm screen is output.

[0187] Fig. 9 1 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for performing notification based on alarm information in the notification device 700.

[0188] As shown in the figure, in the present embodiment, when the notification device 700 makes a notification based on the alarm information, the notification display device 761 of the notification device 700 displays an alarm screen 81. In the example shown in the figure, an example of the alarm screen 81 displayed to the staff by the notification device 700 arranged in the backyard of the kitchen, for example, is shown. In the alarm screen 81, for example, information indicating the seat that caused the abnormality and information indicating that a predetermined state change satisfying the alarm condition was detected are displayed, such as "the lid was detected from open to closed at table No. 11". In addition, in the present embodiment, for example, information about the commodity container 10 that is the object of detection is displayed in combination, such as "sushi lid No. 1932 (tuna)", so that the staff and the like can easily find the commodity container 10. The alarm screen 81 includes a confirmation button 812, and is configured to be able to transfer from the alarm screen 81 to other screens by operating the confirmation button 812.

[0189] By outputting such an alarm screen 81 , a staff member or the like who sees the alarm screen 81 can easily confirm information that an abnormality may have occurred and identify the location (seat) and the target commodity container 10 .

[0190] As described above, in this embodiment, a method for reminding attention using an alarm function can be performed in the store system 1. The method for reminding attention can be said to include the following steps: a step of detecting a state change of a commodity container 10 being transported by the commodity transport device 900 in one seat; a step of judging whether a predetermined alarm condition is satisfied based on the detection result of the state change; and a step of outputting alarm information indicating that an abnormality may have occurred with respect to the commodity container 10 to a display device such as a notification device 700 or a terminal device 600 when the alarm condition is judged to be satisfied.

[0191] By means of this alarm function, alarm information is outputted when an abnormality may have occurred with respect to the commodity container 10, so that the user or staff can be alerted to the possibility of the abnormality. Furthermore, by informing the user in the store that the alarm function is functioning, the user or the like can be restrained from performing actions that may be detected as abnormality with respect to the commodity container 10.

[0192] In this embodiment, the seat detection unit 970 that can be used to charge the price of the commodity 5 to the user of each seat can be used to determine whether an abnormality may have occurred with respect to the commodity container 10. That is, by using the seat detection unit 970 for efficient billing also for the alarm function, it is not necessary to add hardware in the store or the like for realizing the alarm function, and the alarm function can be realized at a low cost.

[0193] The seat-to-seat detection unit 970 disposed between seats can reliably detect the change in the state of the commodity container 10 in each corresponding section. Therefore, it is possible to accurately determine whether the alarm condition is satisfied, and to reliably output alarm information when necessary.

[0194] In this embodiment, the alarm information can be output for each commodity container 10 in a corresponding state. Therefore, the alarm information can be accurately output according to the purpose of outputting the alarm information, and the effect can be obtained. For example, in the case where the alarm function is used for the purpose of confirming the commodity container 10 that may have an abnormality for the staff, the alarm information can be output to the notification device 700 of the kitchen, etc., the terminal device 600 used by the responsible staff according to the container identifier of the commodity container 10, or the alarm information containing information for easily identifying the commodity container 10 associated with the abnormality is output, so that it becomes easy to achieve the purpose. In addition, in the case where the alarm function is used for the purpose of notifying the user that the commodity container 10 that may have an abnormality may be being transported, the alarm information can be output to the notification device 700 corresponding to the seat of the area where the commodity container 10 is currently or will be transported according to the container identifier of the commodity container 10, or the alarm information is used as information for identifying the commodity container 10 with the abnormality, so that the purpose can be achieved and the object to be notified can be limited.

[0195] Furthermore, when the alarm information is output for the purpose of notifying the user that a product container 10 that may have an abnormality may be conveyed, the alarm screen 82 based on the alarm information may be displayed as follows, for example.

[0196] Fig.10 1 is a diagram showing another example of a screen for performing notification based on alarm information in the notification device 700.

[0197] Here, for example, an example of an alarm screen 82 based on the alarm information displayed on the notification display device 761 of the notification device 700 installed at the user's seat is shown. In the alarm screen 82, for example, information about the commodity container 10 that is the object of detection, such as "Sushi cover No. 1932 (Tuna)", is displayed together with the content that the use of the commodity container 10 should be prohibited because there is a possibility that an abnormality has occurred. In addition, the alarm screen 82 includes a confirmation button 822, and is configured to be able to shift from the alarm screen 82 to another screen such as a general screen for placing an order by operating the confirmation button 822.

[0198] By outputting such an alarm screen 82, a user or the like who sees the alarm screen 82 can easily confirm that an abnormality may have occurred and identify information of the commodity container 10 related to the abnormality.

[0199] (Description of Modification Example)

[0200] In the case of performing the alarm function as described above, for example, a detection means different from the inter-seat detection unit 970 may be used, and the change in the state of the commodity container 10 being transported by one seat may be detected in the middle of the corresponding section. This configuration (for convenience, referred to as the intermediate detection configuration) may be used in combination with a configuration (for convenience, referred to as the two-end detection configuration) that determines whether the alarm condition is satisfied by using the detection results of the state of the commodity container 10 at both ends of the corresponding section obtained by using the inter-seat detection unit 970, the first detection unit 146, and the second detection unit 147 as described above, or may be used instead of the two-end detection configuration. In the following description, the description is made for the case of using both the two-end detection configuration and the intermediate detection configuration as described above.

[0201] Fig.11 It is a diagram showing a block structure of a store system 1 according to a modified example of the present embodiment.

[0202] In this embodiment, the store system 1 includes an intermediate detection unit 975. In addition, in the information processing device 100, the change detection unit 145 of the processing unit 140 includes a third detection unit 148 that performs processing on the intermediate detection unit 975 in addition to the first detection unit 146 and the second detection unit 147. The basic configuration other than this is the same as that in the above-mentioned embodiment.

[0203] The intermediate detection unit 975 is provided at each seat, for example. The intermediate detection unit 975 includes, for example, a camera, which is configured and arranged in a manner that is included in the visual angle of the commodity container 10 transported in the corresponding section of each seat. That is, the intermediate detection unit 975 is configured to obtain an image of the commodity container 10 transported in the corresponding section of each seat. That is, the intermediate detection unit 975 can be said to include a camera that can photograph the area through which the commodity container 10 passes after being transported into a seat until being transported out of the seat. The camera of the intermediate detection unit 975 can be provided, for example, above the table 980 of each seat, or on a partition between seats, or on the upper unit 951, but is not limited thereto. The intermediate detection unit 975 for detection in one seat may also be provided with two or more cameras. In addition, the camera may be provided in a manner that does not include the commodity container 10 in a part of the corresponding section. That is, the camera may be installed so that the commodity container 10 being transported is included in the field of view in the continuous or discontinuous predetermined area in the corresponding section. The camera may be a sensor such as LiDAR, and may be configured to acquire a distance image.

[0204] The intermediate detection unit 975 is configured to detect each of the two or more commodity containers 10 conveyed on the conveying path 960 at any time. In this modified example, it is configured to detect the state of the opening and closing of the cover 12 of the commodity container 10 located in the corresponding section at any time based on the detection result generated by the camera of the intermediate detection unit 975. The so-called detection at any time also includes the concept of detection at a predetermined time interval. For example, the intermediate detection unit 975 can detect whether the cover 12 of the commodity container 10 is in an open state or a closed state. In addition, the detection of the open and closed state using an image can be performed by obtaining information indicating whether it is in an open state or a closed state based on the captured image, for example, by using a learner using machine learning, or by performing other existing image recognition. The detection using the image captured by the intermediate detection unit 975 can also be configured to be performed by the intermediate detection unit 975. In this case, it is sufficient as long as the detection result generated by the intermediate detection unit 975 is configured to be output from the intermediate detection unit 975 to the information processing device 100, etc. Furthermore, detection using the image captured by the intermediate detection unit 975 may also be performed by the processing unit 140 of the information processing device 100 described later. In this case, the image captured by the intermediate detection unit 975 or information based on the image may be output from the intermediate detection unit 975 to the information processing device 100.

[0205] In addition, in this modified example, the container identifier for identifying each commodity container 10 photographed by the intermediate detection unit 975 can also be obtained based on the image photographed by the intermediate detection unit 975. In addition, for example, the determination of the container identifier by the seat-to-seat detection unit 970 on the upstream side or the downstream side and the detection of the commodity container 10 by the intermediate detection unit 975 can be performed simultaneously, thereby determining the container identifier of each commodity container 10 photographed by the intermediate detection unit 975.

[0206] In this modification, the change detection unit 145 is configured to detect changes in the open / closed state of the lid 12 of the commodity container 10 conveyed in the corresponding section at any time using the third detection unit 148. The so-called detection at any time is the same as described above, for example, including the concept of detection at predetermined time intervals. In this modification, the third detection unit 148 is configured to detect the open / closed state of the lid 12 of the commodity container 10 based on the image captured by the camera of the intermediate detection unit 975. For the same commodity container 10, when the detection result of the open / closed state detected by the third detection unit 148 changes within the corresponding section, the change detection unit 145 is configured to detect the change. In addition, the third detection unit 148 may be configured to detect the open / closed state based on the detection result generated by the camera of each intermediate detection unit 975, or the third detection unit 148 may be configured to obtain the detection result of the open / closed state generated by each seat detection unit 970. In the latter case, it can also be said that the third detection unit 148 detects the open / closed state. Similarly, the configuration may be such that the detection unit 970 between seats can detect a change in the switch state, and based on the detection result, the third detection unit 148, that is, the change detection unit 145 detects a change in the switch state.

[0207] In this modification, as an alarm condition, in addition to or instead of the above-mentioned embodiment, a state change condition as follows is set. That is, the detection of the lid 12 of the commodity container 10 transported in one seat changing from an open state to a closed state can be set as a state change condition. By setting such an alarm condition, the judgment unit 151 can judge that the alarm condition is satisfied when the change detection unit 145 detects that the commodity container 10 located in the corresponding section changes from an open state to a closed state.

[0208] Fig.12 This is a flowchart showing an example of change detection processing in the same modification example.

[0209] (Step S221) As shown in the figure, in this variation, the processing unit 140 first determines whether there is a new detection result generated by the seat-to-seat detection unit 970. If it is determined that there is a new detection result, the process proceeds to step S222, and if not, the process proceeds to step S226.

[0210] The processing from step S222 to step S225 is the same as the processing from step S122 to step S125 in the above-mentioned embodiment. When step S225 is finished, the process returns to the upper processing.

[0211] (Step S226) The processing unit 140 uses the intermediate detection unit 975 to determine whether the alarm condition is satisfied. For example, the processing unit 140 determines whether a change from a closed state to an open state is detected for any commodity container 10. If it is determined that the alarm condition is satisfied, the process proceeds to step S227, and if not, the process returns to step S221.

[0212] (Step S227) The processing unit 140 records the result of determination that the alarm condition is satisfied in the storage unit 110 as, for example, a flag corresponding to the container identifier of the commodity container 10. Then, the process returns to the upper processing.

[0213] In this modification, since the intermediate detection unit 975 can be used to detect changes in the open and close states of the commodity containers 10 in the corresponding section at any time and output alarm information, the alarm information can be output more quickly.

[0214] In addition, in this modified example, as the alarm condition, a condition regarding a combination of the detection result generated by the first detection unit 146 and the detection result generated by the third detection unit 148, and a condition regarding a combination of the detection result generated by the third detection unit 148 and the detection result generated by the second detection unit 147 may be included. For example, the alarm condition may include the detection of the closed state by the third detection unit 148 for the commodity container 10 detected as open by the first detection unit 146. In this case, the alarm information can be output more quickly. In addition, for example, the detection of the closed state by the second detection unit 147 for the commodity container 10 detected as open by the third detection unit 148 may be included in the alarm condition. In this case, for example, the alarm condition may include the detection of the closed state by the second detection unit 147 for the commodity container 10 detected as open by the third detection unit 148. In this case, for example, the alarm information can be output when the commodity container 10 detected as closed by the first detection unit 146 once becomes open in the middle of the corresponding section and then becomes closed again. In addition, the latter condition can be said to be a type of condition corresponding to the detection of the change of the lid 12 of the commodity container 10 transported in one seat from the open state to the closed state.

[0215] Furthermore, in this variation, the intermediate detection unit 975 may also include a camera capable of photographing the inside of the commodity container 10, similarly to the seat-to-seat detection unit 970. The camera may also be a camera capable of photographing the inside of the commodity container 10 when the lid of the commodity container 10 is opened. The store system 1 may also use the image obtained by the camera of the intermediate detection unit 975 to detect the state of the commodity container 10 at any time. This detection can be performed based on the captured image, for example, by obtaining information indicating whether it is in an open state or a closed state by a learner using machine learning, or by performing other existing image recognition. This detection process may be configured to be performed by the intermediate detection unit 975 itself, similarly to the above, or may be configured to be performed by the information processing device 100, etc.

[0216] In this case, the change detection unit 145 can use the third detection unit 148 to detect changes in the presence or absence of a commodity in a commodity container 10 in the corresponding section at any time. As an alarm condition, for example, a condition equivalent to a change such as detection of the presence of a commodity 5 is set for a commodity container 10 detected without a commodity 5 in the middle area of ​​the corresponding section. This allows rapid output of alarm information in the case where an abnormality such as the return of a commodity 5 to a commodity container 10 may have occurred, similarly to the above-mentioned embodiment.

[0217] Furthermore, as another variation (sometimes referred to as the second variation), unlike the above-mentioned embodiment, by using a commodity container 10B having a switch structure capable of detecting the cover 12, an alarm function as described above can also be realized. It can be configured so that by being able to detect the switch state with the commodity container 10B itself, the change in the state of the commodity container 10B being transported in one seat can also be detected in the middle part of the corresponding section. This structure (for convenience, referred to as a container detection structure) can also be used in combination with the above-mentioned two-end detection structure, or can be used instead of the two-end detection structure. Furthermore, the container detection structure can also be used in combination with the middle detection structure as described in the above-mentioned variation. In the following description, the case of using both the two-end detection structure and the container detection structure is described. In addition, in the case where the two-end detection structure and the middle detection structure are not used, it is sufficient to be configured so that the position of each commodity container 10B on the transport path 960 can be determined at any time. As an example, the positional relationship between each seat in the store and each commodity container 10B can be determined using relative position information indicating the position of each commodity container 10B starting from a predetermined position on the transport path 960 and information indicating the absolute position of the predetermined position on the transport path 960.

[0218] Fig.13 It is a side view showing a schematic structure of a commodity container 10B used in the store system 1 according to another modified example of the present embodiment. Fig.14 It is a diagram showing the block structure of the same store system 1.

[0219] The commodity container 10B, for example, has a switch detection unit 14 and a switch transmission unit 15. The switch detection unit 14 detects the switch state of the cover 12 of the commodity container 10B or its change. Then, the switch detection unit 14 is configured to output a switch signal indicating the detection result of the switch state of the cover 12 or its change. The switch transmission unit 15 is configured to be able to perform wireless communication with the information processing device 100, other devices of the store system 1, etc., and is configured to transmit the switch signal output by the switch detection unit 14 to the information processing device 100. Although the switch transmission unit 15 can be configured by an existing communication module capable of wireless communication, its power supply, etc., the communication method, etc. can be appropriately selected. In addition, the switch signal can be a signal indicating at least one of the open state and the closed state, and can also be a signal indicating that the open state and the closed state have changed. In addition, the switch signal can also be a signal that only transmits a change from the open state to the closed state.

[0220] The switch detection unit 14 is, for example, a device that is arranged across the mounting platform 11 and the cover 12 and can output a signal in response to the detection result of whether one is close to or away from the other, but is not limited to this. It can also be a switch that is arranged on one of the mounting platform 11 and the cover 12, and outputs a different signal in response to the switch state of the cover 12 and the displacement of a part of the component. In addition, it can also be a switch that is arranged to output a different signal in response to the rotation angle of the cover 12 relative to the mounting platform 11. In addition, it can also be a sensor that measures the acceleration of the cover 12 at a predetermined position and outputs a signal indicating the measurement result or the processing result. The switch detection unit 14 can be arranged, for example, at the hinge portion where the mounting platform 11 and the cover 12 are connected to each other, or it can be arranged at a position separated from the hinge portion. In addition, as the switch detection unit 14, or in addition to the above, a switch that can output a signal in response to the presence or absence of the product 5 to be accommodated can also be used.

[0221] In the second variant, the change detection unit 145 of the information processing device 100 has a third detection unit 248. The change detection unit 145 is configured to detect changes in the open / closed state of the cover 12 of the commodity container 10 conveyed in the corresponding section at any time using the third detection unit 248. The so-called detection at any time also includes the concept of detection at predetermined time intervals, as described above. In the second variant, the third detection unit 248 is configured to detect changes in the open / closed state of the cover 12 of the commodity container 10 based on the switch signal transmitted from each commodity container 10B. It can be configured so that for the same commodity container 10, when the detection result of the open / closed state detected by the third detection unit 248 changes within the corresponding section, the change detection unit 145 detects the change.

[0222] In the second modification, the change detection unit 145 may acquire the container identifier for identifying each commodity container 10B by using, for example, the container identifier transmitted in response to the switch signal.

[0223] In the second variant, the alarm condition or change detection process may be the same as that described in the above-mentioned intermediate detection structure. Since the alarm information can be outputted by detecting the change of the switch state of the commodity container 10 in the corresponding section at any time using the information obtained from the commodity container 10B, the alarm information can be outputted more reliably.

[0224] In addition, the commodity container 10B does not necessarily need to be configured to be able to communicate with the information processing device 100. For example, the commodity container 10B may also be configured to have an information output unit, and the information output unit displays information or turns on a light in response to the switch signal output by the switch detection unit 14, thereby outputting information indicating the detection result generated by the switch detection unit 14. In this case, the third detection unit 248 can also detect the change in the switch state of the cover 12 of the commodity container 10B by using the output result of the information output unit obtained by a camera or the like.

[0225] (other)

[0226] Fig.15 This is an overview diagram of the computer system 800 in the above-mentioned embodiment. Fig.16 is a block diagram of the same computer system 800.

[0227] These drawings show configuration examples of computers such as the information processing device 100 that execute the programs described in this specification and implement the store system 1 of the above-described embodiment. The above-described embodiment can be implemented by computer hardware and a computer program executed thereon.

[0228] The computer system 800 includes a computer 801 including an optical disk drive, a keyboard 802 , a mouse 803 , and a monitor 804 .

[0229] In addition to the optical disk drive (ODD) 8012, the computer 801 also includes: MPU 8013; bus 8014, which is connected to the optical disk drive 8012, etc.; ROM 8015, which is used to store programs such as startup programs; RAM 8016, which is used to connect to the MPU 8013, temporarily store application commands and provide temporary memory space; and hard disk (HDD) 8017, which is used to store application programs, system programs and data. Although not shown here, the computer 801 may further include a network card that provides connection to a LAN.

[0230] The program that enables the computer system 800 to execute the functions of the information processing device and the like of the above-mentioned embodiment can be stored in the optical disk 8101, inserted into the optical disk drive 8012, and further transferred to the hard disk 8017. Alternatively, the program can also be transferred to the computer 801 via a network (not shown) and stored in the hard disk 8017. The program is loaded into the RAM 8016 when it is executed. The program can also be directly loaded from the optical disk 8101 or the network.

[0231] The program may not necessarily include an operating system (OS) or a third-party program that enables the computer 801 to execute the functions of the information processing device of the above-mentioned embodiment. The program only needs to call the appropriate function (module) in a controlled manner and only include the part of the command to obtain the desired result. How the computer system 800 operates is already known, and a detailed description is omitted.

[0232] Furthermore, in the above-mentioned program, the sending step of sending information, the receiving step of receiving information, etc., do not include processing performed by hardware, for example, processing performed by a modem and an adapter card in the sending step (processing performed only by hardware).

[0233] Furthermore, the computer that executes the above-mentioned program may be a single computer or a plurality of computers, that is, the program may be processed in a centralized manner or in a distributed manner.

[0234] Furthermore, in the above-described embodiments, two or more components present in one device may be physically realized using one medium.

[0235] In the above-mentioned embodiment, each component can be constituted by dedicated hardware, or, for a component that can be realized by software, it can be realized by executing a program. For example, a program execution unit of a CPU or the like reads and executes software / program recorded on a recording medium such as a hard disk or a semiconductor memory, thereby realizing each component. During the execution, the program execution unit can execute the program while accessing the memory unit and the recording medium. In addition, the program can also be executed by downloading from a server, etc., or by reading a program recorded on a predetermined recording medium (for example, an optical disk and a magnetic disk, a semiconductor memory, etc.). In addition, this program can also be used as a program constituting a program product. In addition, the computer that executes the program can be single or multiple. That is, centralized processing can be performed, or distributed processing can be performed.

[0236] Furthermore, in the above-mentioned embodiment, each process (each function) can be realized by performing centralized processing through a single device (system), or can be realized by performing distributed processing through multiple devices (in this case, the entire system composed of multiple devices performing distributed processing can be grasped as one "device").

[0237] Furthermore, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the handing over of information between the constituent elements, for example, when the two constituent elements performing the handing over of the information are physically different elements, can be performed by outputting the information of one constituent element and accepting the information of the other constituent element, or, when the two constituent elements performing the handing over of the information are physically the same elements, can be performed by transferring from the stage of processing corresponding to one constituent element to the stage of processing corresponding to the other constituent element.

[0238] Furthermore, in the above-mentioned embodiments, information related to the processing performed by each component, such as information accepted, acquired, selected, generated, transmitted, and received by each component, thresholds or mathematical formulas, addresses, and other information used by each component in the processing, etc., can be temporarily or permanently stored in a recording medium not shown in the figure, even if not clearly described in the above description. Furthermore, each component or an accumulation unit not shown in the figure can also accumulate information in the recording medium not shown in the figure. Furthermore, each component or a reading unit not shown in the figure can also read information from the recording medium not shown in the figure.

[0239] Furthermore, in the above-mentioned embodiments, in the case where information used by each component, such as threshold values ​​or addresses used by each component in processing, various set values, etc., can be changed by the user, even if it is not clearly stated in the above description, the user can appropriately change such information or not change it. In the case where the user can change such information, the change can be realized, for example, by an unillustrated receiving unit that receives a change instruction from the user and an unillustrated changing unit that changes the information in response to the change instruction. The acceptance of the change instruction by the unillustrated receiving unit can be, for example, acceptance from an input device, reception of information transmitted through a communication line, or acceptance of information read from a predetermined recording medium.

[0240] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made, and those modifications are also included in the scope of the present invention.

[0241] It is also possible to form an embodiment in which the constituent elements of the above-mentioned embodiments or modified examples are appropriately combined. For example, it is not limited to the configuration of the above-mentioned embodiments themselves, and each constituent element of the above-mentioned embodiments and modified examples can be appropriately replaced or combined with constituent elements of other embodiments, etc. In addition, some constituent elements and functions in the above-mentioned embodiments and modified examples can also be omitted.

[0242] [Industrial Applicability]

[0243] As described above, the store system of the present invention has the effect of alerting people to the possibility of an abnormality occurring in a product container when an abnormality occurring in a product container is likely to occur, and is useful as a store system or the like.

Claims

1. A store system, characterized in that: The store system provides goods to seats used by customers in the store, and the store system has: A commodity container, which is suitable for containing commodities and has a lid suitable for opening and closing; a commodity conveying device for conveying the commodities contained in the commodity containers from an upstream side to a downstream side; a change detection unit for detecting a change in the state of the commodity container being transported by the commodity transport device at one seat; a determination unit configured to determine whether a predetermined alarm condition is satisfied based on the detection result of the change detection unit; as well as An alarm unit outputs alarm information indicating that an abnormality may have occurred with respect to the commodity container when the determination unit determines that the alarm condition is satisfied.

2. The store system according to claim 1, characterized in that The shop system has: an inter-seat detection unit, which is provided along a conveying path of the commodity of the commodity conveying device and includes a sensor for detecting the commodity container; The change detection unit has: a first detection unit that detects information on a state of one of the commodity containers carried into the one seat based on a detection result of the inter-seat detection unit; as well as The second detection unit detects information on the state of the commodity container carried out from the seat based on the detection result of the inter-seat detection unit.

3. The store system according to claim 2, characterized in that: The first detection unit and the second detection unit are configured to detect the open / closed state of the cover of the commodity container. The alarm condition includes an open / closed state of a lid of one of the commodity containers carried into the one seat, the open state being detected by the first detection unit and the closed state being detected by the second detection unit.

4. The store system according to claim 2, characterized in that: The seat detection unit includes a camera adapted to photograph the inside of the commodity container when the lid of the commodity container is opened. The first detection unit and the second detection unit are respectively configured to detect information on the state of the commodity container based on an image captured by a camera of the inter-seat detection unit.

5. The store system according to claim 4, characterized in that: The first detection unit and the second detection unit are respectively configured to detect information on the presence or absence of the commodity arranged in the commodity container based on the image. The alarm condition includes a state where, for one of the commodity containers carried into the one seat, the first detection unit detects that there is no commodity and the second detection unit detects that there is commodity.

6. The store system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The change detection unit is configured to detect changes in the open / closed state of the lid of the commodity container being transported by the commodity transporting device at the one seat at any time. The alarm condition includes detecting that the lid of the commodity container conveyed in the one seat changes from an open state to a closed state.

7. The store system according to claim 6, characterized in that: The shop system has: an intermediate detection unit including a camera adapted to capture an area through which the commodity container passes between being carried into the one seat and being carried out from the seat, The change detection unit is configured to detect a change in the open / closed state of the cover of the commodity container based on an image captured by a camera of the intermediate detection unit.

8. The store system according to claim 6, characterized in that: The commodity container includes an open / closed state detection unit for detecting an open / closed state of the lid or a change thereof, and the change detection unit is configured to obtain information indicating a detection result generated by the open / closed state detection unit.

9. The store system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The change detection unit is configured to identify a container identifier of the commodity container to be detected. The alarm unit is configured to output the alarm information on the commodity container corresponding to the container identifier in an output pattern corresponding to the container identifier determined by the change detection unit.

10. The store system according to claim 9, characterized in that: The alarm unit is configured to output the alarm information including the information corresponding to the container identifier specified by the change detection unit as alarm information on the commodity container corresponding to the container identifier.

11. The store system according to claim 9, characterized in that: The alarm unit is configured to output the alarm information regarding the commodity container corresponding to the container identifier to an output destination corresponding to the container identifier specified by the change detection unit.

12. The store system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The shop system has: A billing unit bills a user corresponding to the seat based on the detection result of the change detection unit.

13. A method for reminding attention, characterized in that: The device is used in a store system, the store system comprising: a commodity container adapted to contain commodities and having a lid adapted to be opened and closed; a commodity conveying device adapted to convey the commodities contained in the commodity container from an upstream side to a downstream side; and a display device, wherein the reminder method comprises: a change detection step of detecting a change in the state of the commodity container being transported by the commodity transporting device in a seat; A determination step, determining whether a predetermined alarm condition is met based on the detection result in the change detection step; as well as An alarm step of outputting alarm information indicating that an abnormality may have occurred with respect to the commodity container to the display device when the alarm condition is determined to be satisfied by the determination step.

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