Non-invasive physical shelf inventory display method and system

Abstract

The present application relates to inventory management, printing technology, wireless communication and information display technical field, especially to a kind of non-intrusive physical shelf inventory display method and system, method includes the following steps: by listener program, the operation system layer printing event triggered by native printing operation executed by user in software with printing function is listened to, and after the printing event is captured, the printing content to be output is obtained;Inventory data is identified from the printing content, and the inventory data includes but is not limited to product identification, quantity and location information;The identified inventory data is sent to the electronic display device corresponding to the location;The electronic display device receives and presents the inventory data.The system includes non-intrusive acquisition module, data identification module, mapping module, push module and electronic display device.The present application does not need to call business software API or modify source code, non-intrusive adaptation old system, realizes inventory account and physical shelf synchronization visual, supports daily difference real-time tracing, effectively improves warehousing management efficiency.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the fields of inventory management, printing technology, wireless communication and information display technology, and in particular to a non-intrusive physical shelf inventory display method and system. Background Technology

[0002] In enterprise warehouse management, the accuracy and reliability of inventory data directly impact procurement, production, and sales decisions. Enterprises typically use information systems such as ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and WMS (Warehouse Management System) to maintain inventory records. However, there is a natural spatial separation between the inventory data generated by these systems and the physical shelves: the data is stored on computers or servers, requiring warehouse personnel to physically access inventory reports at computers or print out paper documents before physically verifying the items on the shelves. This "separation of records and physical inventory" management model leads to the following prominent problems: First, there is information lag. After inventory data is updated in the system, warehouse personnel cannot immediately see it on the shelves; they must return to their computers to check or wait for the next time the documents are printed, resulting in a delay in information transmission. In scenarios with frequent inbound and outbound operations, this delay can lead to problems such as duplicate work, incorrect or missed shipments.

[0003] Second, reliance on paper documents. Many companies still rely on printed documents as the basis for on-site operations. Paper documents are easily lost or damaged, and once printed, they are permanently fixed and cannot reflect subsequent inventory changes. When multiple batches of operations are combined, different versions of documents become mixed, which can easily cause confusion.

[0004] Third, operational efficiency is low. Warehouse staff spend a significant amount of time moving between shelves and computers, checking documents, and operating the system. This is especially true in warehouse environments with numerous storage locations and a wide variety of goods, where information acquisition costs increase significantly.

[0005] Fourth, upgrading outdated systems lacking APIs, source code, and original manufacturer maintenance is difficult. Many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are still using outdated information systems that lack APIs, source code, and original manufacturer maintenance. These systems lack open interfaces, and the vendors have either stopped maintaining them or exited the market. Digital upgrades often require replacing the entire system, which is costly, time-consuming, and carries a high risk of business interruption, making it difficult for businesses to afford.

[0006] In recent years, some electronic shelf label systems have emerged in the market. By installing electronic screens on shelves to display information such as prices and inventory, they have alleviated the problem of information separation from physical goods to some extent. However, these systems generally have the following limitations: First, they require data acquisition through API integration with information systems or direct database connections, which is an intrusive solution. This requires software vendors to provide interfaces or grant database access, making them unsuitable for older systems. Second, some solutions rely on manual data entry or batch import to update the displayed content, which carries the risk of human error and untimely updates. Third, most electronic shelf label systems primarily display prices, which falls short of the reliability and accuracy requirements of inventory management, failing to achieve the effect of "synchronous visibility of inventory records and physical goods on the shelf."

[0007] Therefore, there is an urgent need for a non-intrusive physical shelf inventory display method and system to solve the above problems. Summary of the Invention

[0008] In order to overcome the above-mentioned defects of the prior art, the present invention provides a non-intrusive physical shelf inventory display method and system to solve the problems existing in the background art.

[0009] The present invention provides the following technical solution: a non-intrusive physical shelf inventory display method, comprising the following steps: listening to operating system layer printing events triggered by a user performing native printing operations in software with printing function through an independently running non-intrusive listening program, and obtaining the print content to be output after capturing the printing event; Inventory data is identified from the printed content, including but not limited to product identification, quantity, and storage location information; The identified inventory data is sent via communication to an electronic display device that is fixedly bound to and corresponds one-to-one with the storage location. The electronic display device receives and presents the inventory data. The device is fixedly installed at the corresponding physical storage location and is only used to display the inventory information of that storage location, without switching to display the inventory information of other storage locations.

[0010] Furthermore, methods for identifying inventory data from the printed content include, but are not limited to: extracting key fields after OCR text recognition, matching formatted data through regular expressions, locating fixed areas of documents using preset templates to extract corresponding information, and performing semantic analysis on the printed content through machine learning models.

[0011] Furthermore, the fixed binding and one-to-one correspondence between the electronic display device and the storage location means that each physical storage location or physical storage area is equipped with a dedicated electronic display device, which is fixedly installed in a prominent position of the corresponding storage location, serves only that storage location, and does not undertake the display task of other storage locations; the physical storage location or physical storage area includes, but is not limited to, the predefined structured location code in the information system, the user-defined simplified location identifier, and the physical space where the goods are actually stacked; when the information system does not have an explicit location field, equivalent binding is achieved through the preset mapping relationship between goods and physical storage areas.

[0012] Furthermore, when the electronic display device presents inventory data, the displayed content is either a location code or product information; the fixed binding relationship between the electronic display device and the physical location does not change due to the specific form of the displayed content.

[0013] Furthermore, the method also includes: warehouse personnel comparing the inventory quantity displayed on the electronic display device with the actual quantity of goods during daily operations; when a discrepancy is found, a discrepancy traceability is triggered, and the system retrieves the inventory change record corresponding to the storage location to locate the cause of the discrepancy.

[0014] Furthermore, the communication methods include wireless communication and / or wired communication; the wireless communication methods include, but are not limited to, WiFi, Bluetooth, LoRa, ZigBee, NFC, 4G / 5G; the wired communication methods include, but are not limited to, Ethernet, LAN, WAN, HDMI cable, USB cable; the display devices include, but are not limited to, e-ink screens, LCD screens, LED screens, OLED screens, tablet computers, video walls, and smart TVs.

[0015] Furthermore, the term "fixed installation" refers to the electronic display device being installed in a prominent position on the shelf using screws, brackets, or clips, and cannot be moved by hand.

[0016] A non-intrusive physical shelf inventory display system, characterized in that it includes: A non-intrusive acquisition module is used to listen to printing events at the operating system layer and acquire the print content to be output. The printing events are triggered by native printing operations performed by the user in software with printing functionality. The data recognition module is used to identify inventory data from the printed content, including but not limited to product identification, quantity, and storage location information; The mapping module is used to maintain a fixed, one-to-one correspondence between storage locations and electronic display devices; The push module is used to send the identified inventory data to the electronic display device in the corresponding storage location; An electronic display device is fixedly installed at the corresponding physical storage location to receive and display the inventory information of that location, without switching to display the inventory information of other storage locations.

[0017] Furthermore, the binding relationship maintained by the mapping module is a preset fixed binding relationship that does not change due to changes in the goods stored in the storage location; the binding between the electronic display device and the physical storage location is achieved through a one-to-one correspondence between the device hardware identifier and the physical location identifier; the non-intrusive acquisition module, data identification module, mapping module, and push module are deployed on the same computing device or distributed across different computing devices connected via a network.

[0018] A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the method as described in any one of the above descriptions.

[0019] The technical effects and advantages of this invention are as follows: This invention captures inventory data from native printing operations using an independent monitoring program, eliminating the need to call software APIs or modify source code, thus enabling implementation even in systems without physical storage. Inventory data is then sent to electronic displays corresponding to physical storage locations, allowing warehouse personnel to easily view current inventory levels, completely transforming the traditional "separation of accounting and physical inventory" management model. By flexibly defining physical storage locations (including structured coding, custom identifiers, and actual stacking space), it is compatible with all scenarios, regardless of whether location fields are present. It explicitly states that whether direct location binding or indirect product-area mapping is used, as long as the screen is fixedly installed at the storage location and displays the corresponding inventory data, it falls within the protection scope. Simultaneously, it provides reverse inventory counting capabilities, enabling real-time detection of inventory discrepancies and tracing of causes during daily operations, transforming passive large-scale inventory checks into proactive, real-time verification, reducing inventory counting costs. The entire process is automated. Attached Figure Description

[0020] Figure 1 This is a flowchart of a non-intrusive physical shelf inventory display method according to the present invention.

[0021] Figure 2 This is a system architecture diagram of a non-intrusive physical shelf inventory display system according to the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0022] The technical solution of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. These embodiments are only used to explain the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0023] In the basic embodiment of this invention, the entire process from print triggering to the display of inventory data on the storage location screen is fully demonstrated. The implementer deploys a non-intrusive monitoring program on the warehouse management computer, which runs independently as a system service or daemon. Taking Windows as an example, the monitoring program registers to listen for print pool service events by calling the FindFirstPrinterChangeNotification function of the Print Spooler API, or it can detect newly generated print files by monitoring the output directory of a specified print port (using file system monitoring APIs such as ReadDirectoryChangesW). Taking Linux as an example, the monitoring program subscribes to print task events by calling the cupsCreateSubscription interface through CUPS's subscription mechanism, or monitors changes to task files in the CUPS print queue directory. When warehouse personnel perform native printing operations on inbound or outbound slips in a third-party ERP system (such as clicking the "Print" button or using the shortcut Ctrl+P), the operating system generates a corresponding print task or print event. The monitoring program captures this event and obtains the data to be printed. The acquisition methods include: if the listener monitors the print port output directory, it directly reads the print files output by the port (usually in EMF, XPS, PS, or PCL format); if the listener is mounted on the print driver layer, it intercepts the raw print commands from the print data stream and reassembles them into complete print content data. This listener has no code coupling with the third-party ERP system, does not call the ERP system's API, does not modify any of its code, and the ERP system itself is unaware of the program's existence.

[0024] After acquiring the printed content, the data recognition module processes it to identify inventory data. Taking an inbound order as an example, the printed content typically includes structured or semi-structured information such as product code, product name, quantity, and target storage location. Several recognition methods are available. The first method uses an OCR engine (such as Tesseract) to recognize the text content in the printed document, then matches key fields using preset regular expression rules—for example, matching the alphanumeric string after "product code," the numerical value after "quantity," and the shelf location code after "storage location." The second method locates fixed areas of the document using preset templates: if the inbound order format is fixed, the coordinate areas of each field on the page can be pre-marked in the system, and the text is directly extracted from the corresponding areas and converted into structured data during recognition. The third method uses a machine learning model to perform semantic analysis on the printed content: using a pre-trained named entity recognition model, product identification, quantity, and location information are automatically identified from the printed text. The recognition result is a set of structured data records, each containing at least one of the following: product identification, quantity, and storage location information.

[0025] The mapping module pre-maintains a binding relationship table, which records the one-to-one correspondence between each physical storage location identifier and its dedicated electronic display device hardware identifier (such as MAC address or device ID). For example, storage location "A-01-02" is bound to screen ID "SCREEN_A0102", and storage location "A-01-03" is bound to screen ID "SCREEN_A0103". This binding relationship is a preset fixed binding and does not change due to changes in the goods stored in the storage location. When the data recognition module identifies storage location "A-01-02" in the inventory data, the mapping module looks up the binding relationship table and determines the target screen as "SCREEN_A0102". The "physical storage location" described here has a flexible definition: when the information system has a structured location field (such as "area-shelf-location" coding), the location code recorded by the system is directly bound to the screen; when the information system only has product information and no location field, the administrator can preset the mapping relationship between products and physical storage areas through the configuration interface, for example, associating "television" with "home appliance area," with "home appliance area" corresponding to screen A, thus achieving equivalent binding; when the system has no concept of location at all, the physical space where the products are actually stacked can be regarded as the location, and the screen is bound to that space. This flexible design ensures that the solution can cover all scenarios from refined storage location management to simple area management.

[0026] The push module sends the identified inventory data to the electronic display device at the corresponding storage location via communication. In this embodiment, WiFi wireless communication is used. The push module encapsulates the inventory data into a JSON format message (e.g., {"sku":"ABC-123","name":"Product X","qty":100}) and sends it to the built-in web service of the target screen via an HTTP POST request. Besides WiFi, other communication methods include Bluetooth BLE (transmitted via GATT feature value packetization), LoRa (suitable for long-distance, low-power scenarios), ZigBee, or 4G / 5G cellular networks. In wired environments, data transmission can also be achieved via Ethernet, USB cable, or serial port. TLS encryption can be used during transmission to ensure data security.

[0027] The electronic display device receives and presents inventory data. In this embodiment, a 7.5-inch e-ink screen is used, which is fixedly installed with screws in a prominent position on the shelf beam of storage location A-01-02 and cannot be moved by hand. This device is only used to display the inventory information of this storage location and does not switch to display the inventory information of other storage locations. After receiving the data, the screen calls the rendering engine to display the text and graphics on the screen. Warehouse personnel can see the inventory simply by looking up when they walk to this storage location, without any operation. In an alternative embodiment, the electronic display device can also be an LCD screen, LED screen, OLED screen, tablet computer, video wall, or smart TV, as long as it has communication receiving capability and basic rendering capability. The display device is installed using fasteners such as screws, brackets, or clips to ensure a fixed spatial correspondence with the physical storage location.

[0028] Regarding the presentation of the displayed content, the screen can display location codes (such as "A-01-02: Product X 100 units") or only product information (such as "Product X: 100 units"). Regardless of the specific form of the displayed content, as long as the screen is fixedly installed at a certain location and the displayed information comes from the inventory data corresponding to that location, it satisfies the characteristic of a fixed and one-to-one correspondence between the screen and the location. Others may not claim that it is not within the scope of protection on the grounds that "it displays product information rather than location information".

[0029] In an extended embodiment, the system also features reverse inventory counting functionality. Warehouse staff can directly compare the inventory quantity displayed on the screen with the actual quantity on the shelves during daily operations. If the screen displays "Item X: 100 units" but the actual count shows only 95 units, the staff can trigger discrepancy tracing through the system interface. The system automatically retrieves recent inventory change records for that location (including inbound and outbound slips, inventory count records, and transfer records), listing all change details for that location in reverse chronological order. Based on this, staff can quickly pinpoint the cause of the discrepancy—for example, discovering an outbound slip that wasn't entered into the system in time; after the slip is entered, the screen automatically updates to 95 units. The entire process eliminates the need to wait for year-end or month-end inventory checks, allowing for immediate discovery, tracing of causes, and correction during daily operations, significantly reducing inventory counting costs and the impact on normal operations.

[0030] In terms of system deployment, in this embodiment, the non-intrusive acquisition module, data recognition module, mapping module, and push module are deployed on the same warehouse management computer. The non-intrusive acquisition module runs as a system service, internally including a print pool event listening submodule and a port file monitoring submodule; the data recognition module calls the OCR engine and regular expression matching engine; the mapping module maintains a local database table recording the binding relationship between storage locations and screens; the push module has a built-in HTTP client function, sending data to each electronic display device via LAN WiFi. In another distributed deployment embodiment, the non-intrusive acquisition module and data recognition module are deployed on the warehouse office computer, while the mapping module and push module are deployed on the central server. After the office computer completes the acquisition of print content and the recognition of inventory data, it sends the data to the central server via the LAN. The central server uniformly maintains the binding relationship and pushes the data to the electronic display devices of each storage location. The modules work collaboratively through network connections, suitable for centralized management scenarios with multiple users and multiple screens.

[0031] The method described in this invention can also be implemented as a computer program. The program code is compiled into an executable file and stored in a computer-readable storage medium, including but not limited to a computer's internal hard drive, solid-state drive, USB flash drive, SD memory card, optical disc, or network storage device. In this embodiment, the program is pre-installed on the solid-state drive of the warehouse management computer. The program is automatically loaded after the computer starts up. When the program is executed by the processor, it implements all the above method steps. It can be configured to start automatically upon boot to ensure stable and continuous operation of the system in an unattended environment.

[0032] The above are merely specific embodiments of this application. The specific parameters and device models used in the embodiments are merely illustrative examples and are not intended to limit the scope of this invention. The scope of protection of this invention is not limited thereto. Equivalent variations or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the scope of the technical concept disclosed in this application should all be included within the scope of protection of this invention.

[0033] It is particularly important to clarify that regardless of whether OCR text recognition, regular expression matching, template positioning, or machine learning semantic analysis is used to identify inventory data from printed content, and regardless of whether the data has undergone format conversion, field reorganization, numerical calibration, or other processing after recognition, as long as the inventory information ultimately presented on the electronic display device originates from printed content obtained by monitoring printing events at the operating system layer, it falls within the protection scope of this invention. Others may not claim that they have not infringed on the grounds that "different recognition algorithms were used" or "additional data processing was performed".

[0034] The terms "electronic display device" and "fixed binding relationship" mentioned in this invention should be understood to refer broadly to any display terminal that establishes a spatial correspondence with a physical storage location or area. Regardless of whether the displayed content is a location code or product information, and regardless of whether the binding relationship is achieved through direct matching of system location fields or indirect mapping of products to areas, as long as the screen is fixedly installed in a specific location and serves only that location without switching to display inventory information for other locations, it satisfies the core characteristics of "fixed binding and one-to-one correspondence." Any attempt to circumvent the scope of protection of this invention by simply changing the terms "displaying product information instead of location information," "using area management instead of precise location management," or "the binding relationship can be dynamically modified" will not affect the determination of infringement.

[0035] Furthermore, in infringement determination, factors such as whether the third-party software itself has an API, whether its source code has been modified, whether its manufacturer has provided technical support, and whether the third-party integrator has called its API, do not constitute valid defenses against infringement. The sole criterion for infringement determination is whether the printing operation triggered by the user is a native printing operation executed within the third-party software. As long as this condition is met, and the identified inventory data is ultimately sent to the corresponding electronic display device for presentation, it falls within the protection scope of this invention.

[0036] The terms "electronic display device" and "correspondence" mentioned in this invention should be understood to refer broadly to any display terminal that establishes a spatial correspondence with a physical location or storage area. Whether the correspondence is established directly through a location identifier and a display device hardware identifier, or indirectly through a preset mapping between a product identifier and a physical area identifier, and regardless of whether the displayed content is a location code or product information, as long as the screen is fixedly installed at a specific location and only serves that location without switching to display inventory information for other locations, it satisfies the core characteristic of "correspondence." Any attempt to circumvent the scope of protection of this invention by simply changing the terms "indirect product mapping rather than direct location binding," "displaying product information rather than location information," "using area management rather than precise location management," or "the binding relationship can be dynamically modified" will not affect the determination of infringement.

[0037] In summary, the scope of protection of this application shall be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A non-intrusive physical shelf inventory display method, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: The monitoring program listens for operating system-level printing events triggered by users performing native printing operations in software with printing capabilities, and obtains the print content to be output after capturing the printing events. Inventory data is identified from the printed content, including but not limited to product identification, quantity, and storage location information; The identified inventory data is sent to the electronic display device corresponding to the storage location via communication. The electronic display device receives and presents the inventory data.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: Methods for identifying inventory data from the printed content include, but are not limited to: extracting key fields after OCR text recognition, matching formatted data through regular expressions, locating fixed areas of documents using preset templates to extract corresponding information, and performing semantic analysis on the printed content using machine learning models.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The correspondence includes direct correspondence, indirect correspondence, and entity-associated correspondence. Entity-associated correspondence uses a fixed binding relationship between location and screen, combined with the last entity assigned to that location in the business system or a manually maintained location-entity correspondence, to obtain a mapping from entity to screen. Direct correspondence refers to each physical location or storage area being equipped with a dedicated electronic display device, which is fixedly installed in a prominent position of the corresponding location and serves only that location, without undertaking display tasks for other locations. Indirect correspondence refers to achieving equivalent binding through a preset mapping relationship between goods and physical storage areas when the information system does not have an explicit location field. The physical location or storage area includes, but is not limited to, predefined structured location codes in the information system, user-defined simplified location identifiers, and the physical space where goods are actually stacked.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: When the electronic display device presents inventory data, the displayed content is either a location code or product information; the correspondence between the electronic display device and the physical location does not change due to the specific form of the displayed content.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The method also includes: warehouse personnel comparing the inventory quantity displayed on the electronic display device with the actual quantity of goods during daily operations; when a discrepancy is found, a discrepancy traceability is triggered, and the system retrieves the inventory change record corresponding to the storage location to locate the cause of the discrepancy.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The communication methods include wireless communication and / or wired communication; the wireless communication methods include, but are not limited to, WiFi, Bluetooth, LoRa, ZigBee, NFC, 4G / 5G; the wired communication methods include, but are not limited to, Ethernet, LAN, WAN, HDMI cable, USB cable; the display devices include, but are not limited to, e-ink screens, LCD screens, LED screens, OLED screens, tablet computers, splicing screens, and smart TVs.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The electronic display device is fixedly installed in a prominent position on the shelf.

8. A non-intrusive physical shelf inventory display system, characterized in that, include: A non-intrusive acquisition module is used to listen to printing events at the operating system layer and acquire the print content to be output. The printing events are triggered by native printing operations performed by the user in software with printing functionality. The data recognition module is used to identify inventory data from the printed content, including but not limited to product identification, quantity, and storage location information; The mapping module is used to maintain the correspondence between storage locations and electronic display devices; The push module is used to send the identified inventory data to the electronic display device in the corresponding storage location; An electronic display device is fixedly installed at the corresponding physical storage location to receive and display the inventory information of that location, without switching to display the inventory information of other storage locations.

9. The system according to claim 8, characterized in that: The mapping module maintains a preset fixed correspondence that does not change due to changes in the goods stored in the storage location. The correspondence is achieved by directly mapping the device hardware identifier to the physical location identifier, or indirectly by the preset mapping between the product identifier and the physical area identifier. The non-intrusive acquisition module, data identification module, mapping module, and push module are deployed on the same computing device, or distributed across different computing devices connected via a network.

10. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that, When the computer program is executed by a processor, it implements the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 7.

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