REGAL

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a shelf bracket with at least one load cell. The shelf bracket is suitable for mounting in a vertically arranged shelf rail. For this purpose, the shelf bracket has an anchoring device. The shelf bracket includes a support arm for carrying a shelf shelf. When the shelf bracket is mounted in a shelf rail, the support arm projects from the shelf rail in a substantially horizontal direction.

[0002] EP1319173B1 discloses a shelf in a small parts warehouse where the identification of the item being removed is automated. The shelf includes a weighing unit. The technical teaching of the patent deals with calculating the precise location of the removal of an item based on its weight measured by the scale. The specific implementation of the load cell in the shelf is not addressed.

[0003] CN110169685A shows a shelf containing a weighing unit. The weight of an item removed from the shelf is used to determine its value.

[0004] EP0251175A2 shows a device for measuring compressive, tensile, shear forces and torques.

[0005] US4655305 discloses a load cell for determining the weight placed on a platform. The design of the load cell allows it to be mounted laterally to a wall using horizontally oriented bolts.

[0006] US10121121B1 shows a shelf which determines information about items removed and added to a shelf.

[0007] The object of the invention is to create a shelf bracket and a shelf with integrated weighing functionality, wherein the load cell specifically takes into account the integration capability in a shelf bracket.

[0008] This problem is solved by a shelf according to claim 1.

[0009] The invention relates to a shelving unit comprising at least two vertically arranged shelf rails and at least two shelf brackets arranged at the same height in each shelf rail. The shelving unit further comprises at least one shelf resting on the two shelf brackets arranged at the same height. The shelf comprises two parallel struts, the ends of which are supported on the force application sections of two load cells each. The shelving unit includes an evaluation unit that, at periodic intervals or when the total weight detected by the four load cells on whose force application sections the shelf rests changes, determines new center of gravity coordinates from the load cell data. These center of gravity coordinates are transmitted to a control unit. Based on changes in the center of gravity coordinates, the control unit determines a shelf area on the shelf.The control unit determines the weight of the goods removed or added to the identified shelf area from the change in the total weight and updates the inventory stored in a memory for this shelf area.

[0010] According to the invention, a shelf bracket comprises two load cells. The shelf bracket includes an anchoring device suitable for securing the shelf bracket in a vertically arranged shelf rail. The shelf bracket includes a support arm for carrying a shelf shelf. A shelf shelf is, for example, a shelf board supported by at least two continuous or interrupted struts. Interrupted struts are understood to mean that the shelf board has two struts on each side, which, however, do not run continuously along the underside of the shelf shelf. A shelf shelf is also, for example, a wire mesh shelf supported by at least two continuous or interrupted struts. When the shelf bracket is secured in a shelf rail, the support arm projects from the shelf rail in a substantially horizontal direction.In one embodiment, the cantilever is formed by a vertically arranged frame structure or a vertically arranged sheet metal. For the purposes of this disclosure, this also includes a triangular cantilever whose upper or lower surface projects from the shelf rail in a substantially horizontal direction. For the purposes of this disclosure, this also includes a triangular cantilever whose axis projects from the shelf rail in a substantially horizontal direction. The cantilever comprises at least one mounting device for the at least one load cell. The at least one load cell has a monolithic measuring body comprising a force-absorbing section, a force-induction section, and a hinge section arranged between the force-absorbing section and the force-induction section. The force-absorbing section of the measuring body is attached laterally to the mounting device.The measuring body has at least one mounting hole by means of which it is attached to the mounting device with a screw running horizontally through the measuring body. In one embodiment, the load cell has a longitudinal axis between its force-induction axial end and its force-receiving axial end. The longitudinal axis of the load cell runs parallel to the horizontal direction in which the arm extends from the shelf rail.

[0011] In one embodiment, the longitudinal axis of the measuring body and the axis of the mounting hole are aligned at right angles. This means that the axis of the mounting hole and the longitudinal axis of the measuring body define horizontal directions and thus the position of the horizontal plane. In another embodiment, the articulated section forms a parallelogram linkage that is movable in the vertical direction, parallel to the vertically arranged frame structure or the vertically arranged sheet metal of the boom. The load cell comprises at least one strain gauge arranged on the upper or lower surface of the measuring body in the area of ​​the articulated section for detecting any tensile or compressive deformation of the measuring body. The strain gauge detects, in particular, the deformation of the articulated section. The at least one strain gauge is oriented in the horizontal direction.This has the advantage that the load cell can be screwed to the side of the mounting bracket. This type of mounting allows the force-absorbing section, and therefore the entire load cell and consequently the shelf bracket, to be designed in a particularly narrow shape.

[0012] According to the invention, the at least one load cell supports the shelf shelf at least partially with its force application section.

[0013] According to the invention, the shelf bracket comprises two mounting devices, each to which a load cell with its force-bearing section is attached. The force-induction sections of the two load cells each support a strut of the shelf. According to the invention, the support is moment-free, meaning that the strut is supported by the force-induction section of the load cells in such a way that no tension can occur. This is achieved in particular by the fact that the strut rests on the force-induction section and is not screwed in place. This is advantageous when several load cells support the shelf and a so-called multipoint measuring system is used. In one embodiment, the shelf is supported exclusively on the force-induction sections of the load cells and not on any other fixed part of the shelf bracket. This prevents force bypass and the resulting inaccurate weight measurement.

[0014] In one embodiment, the at least one strain gauge consists of a meandering, parallel resistive track that is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the measuring body and horizontally oriented.

[0015] In one embodiment, the joint section comprises at least one, in particular two, thin spots on an upper joint element and at least one, in particular two, thin spots on a lower joint element running parallel to the upper joint element.

[0016] In one embodiment, the load cell comprises a strain gauge arranged on the upper side of the upper joint element in the areas of the two thin sections of the upper joint element. In another embodiment, the load cell additionally comprises a strain gauge arranged on the underside of the lower joint element in the areas of the two thin sections of the lower joint element. The four strain gauges of the load cell are connected to form a Wheatstone bridge. In one embodiment, the connection of the two upper strain gauges and the two upper strain gauges are mounted on a strain gauge film. In another embodiment, the connection of the two lower strain gauges and the two lower strain gauges are mounted on a strain gauge film.

[0017] In one embodiment, the load cell comprises two strain gauges arranged on the upper side of the upper joint element in the areas of the two thin sections. The two strain gauges are aligned parallel to each other and positioned next to one another with respect to a narrow side of the load cell. The four strain gauges of the load cell are connected to form a Wheatstone bridge. In another embodiment, the strain gauge circuit and the strain gauges themselves are mounted on a strain gauge film. In other words, four strain gauges are connected to form a Wheatstone bridge. The strain gauges are all aligned in the same direction, namely parallel to the longitudinal axis of the load cell.The four strain gauges are arranged in pairs, with each pair positioned next to the other in terms of their orientation. Each pair of strain gauges is located on the top surface of the upper hinge element. A pair of adjacent strain gauges is situated in the region of each of the two thin sections of the upper hinge element of the measuring body.

[0018] In one embodiment, all thin areas have the same thickness. In another embodiment, all thin areas have the same shape.

[0019] In one embodiment, the force application section of the measuring body has a bore on its upper surface to which the object to be measured is screwed. In another embodiment, the force application section has a receptacle formed as a cut extending from the top of the measuring body and perpendicular to its longitudinal axis. In one embodiment, the cut of the receptacle extends across the entire width of the measuring body in the narrow direction. In another embodiment, the cut of the receptacle has a rounded contour on its side facing away from the top of the measuring body. This cut is formed during the manufacture of the measuring body, for example, by drilling a hole parallel to the narrow side of the measuring body. This hole is then milled out towards the top of the measuring body.In one embodiment, the load cell comprises an insert that fits snugly into the round contour of the receptacle, the insert having a rectangular contour on its side opposite the positive fit with the round contour for receiving a force transmission element. That is, the insert is essentially U-shaped.

[0020] In one embodiment, the force transmission element is designed to fit snugly within the rectangular contour of the insert. This means the force transmission element essentially has the shape of an inverted U. The force transmission element has a cutting edge for supporting a strut of a shelf. This prevents the strut from being rigidly connected to the measuring element, resulting in moment-free force absorption. In other words, the measuring element is not subjected to stress by a rigidly connected strut. Since the weighing of the shelf involves multipoint measurements, where the rigid shelf is weighed using several load cells, this moment-free support is particularly advantageous.

[0021] According to the invention, the measuring body is mirror-symmetrical to the horizontal plane that penetrates the measuring body at half its height. A receptacle for an insert is also formed on the underside of the measuring body. This side is not intended for introducing a force to be measured. However, the measuring body can serve as a measuring body for a load cell in a position rotated by 180°, so that the underside becomes the top. In this orientation, the force is then introduced via the formerly lower receptacle. This has the advantage that the measuring body can serve as a base for load cells that are attached to one or the other mounting device of the shelf bracket. If the shelf bracket is constructed such that both mounting devices are arranged horizontally near the center and not at the edges of the arm, then one measuring body is rotated by 180° relative to the other.Due to the symmetrical design, identical measuring bodies can serve as the basis for the two load cells rotated by 180°. The arrangement of the mounting devices near the center is advantageous because the force application sections are then located near the edges of the boom, and the shelf struts, which rest on the load cell force application sections, can then be mounted in the outer area of ​​the shelf, thus providing stable support for the shelf by the load cells. In one embodiment, the measuring body has a length along its longitudinal axis, a height from the top of the upper joint element to the bottom of the lower joint element, and a width in the dimension perpendicular to the length and height. The width of the measuring body is between 3 mm and 40 mm, particularly between 5 mm and 20 mm.The length of the measuring element is 15 to 25 times, and in particular 16 to 20 times, its width. The height of the measuring element is 5 to 10 times, and in particular 5 to 8 times, its width. Compared to load cells known from the prior art, the measuring element of the load cell according to the invention is very narrow and very tall. This has the advantage that the measuring elements can be ideally integrated into a shelf bracket, and the dimensions of the shelf bracket are only minimally affected. It is desirable to optimize the shelf bracket for a narrow width, which is possible with a load cell based on this measuring element. Due to the modified dimensions, the mechanical behavior of the measuring element under a force applied from above differs significantly from that of conventional load cells.This dimensioning has the particularly surprising advantage that, due to the shape of the measuring body, the thin sections do not need to be post-processed separately and, above all, individually. Because of the measuring body's dimensions, tolerances have less of an impact on metrological performance. Thus, all four thin sections can be identical, whereas in prior art measuring bodies, the thin sections at the upper and lower joint sections have different thicknesses and often require individual post-processing, i.e., adjustment, during manufacturing.

[0022] In one embodiment, the length of the force application section along the longitudinal axis of the measuring body is between 15% and 25%, in particular 20%, of the length of the measuring body. The length of the joint section along the longitudinal axis of the measuring body is between 20% and 30%, in particular 25%, of the length of the measuring body. The length of the force reception section along the longitudinal axis of the measuring body is between 65% and 45%, in particular 55%, of the length of the measuring body. In one embodiment, the measuring body comprises at least three, in particular four, mounting holes, which are designed as bores and extend horizontally through the measuring body, and wherein, in particular, the bores contain countersinks on one side designed to receive countersunk screw heads. The force reception section is relatively large compared to known load cells.This allows the screws for attaching the measuring body to be arranged in a direction perpendicular to the direction of deformation. The axes of the mounting screws are thus aligned parallel to the width of the measuring body, i.e., along its smallest dimension. The large surface area of ​​the force-bearing section enables stable mounting of the measuring body to the mounting device without any significant mechanical stresses occurring in the area of ​​the mounting holes due to force application at the force-bearing section. Therefore, the mounting holes do not affect the measurement accuracy.

[0023] In one embodiment, the measuring body has a recess along its longitudinal axis from a part of the force-absorbing section near the joint section to the joint section, which is designed to at least partially accommodate a printed circuit board with electronics arranged on it, in particular an analog-to-digital converter for processing at least one output signal of the at least one strain gauge.

[0024] In one embodiment, the shelf bracket comprises two mounting devices on each side of the vertically arranged frame structure or on each side of the vertically arranged sheet metal. Each of the four mounting devices supports a load cell. The two load cells located on the same side of the frame structure or the vertical sheet metal each support one end of a shelf support strut. Such a shelf bracket can be used as a central shelf bracket in a shelving unit, so that shelf compartments are formed on both sides of the shelf bracket.

[0025] In one embodiment, when the total weight changes, the evaluation unit calculates a vector between the previous and new center of gravity coordinates. The control unit then determines the shelf area from this vector and the total weight.

[0026] In one embodiment, the evaluation unit periodically and simultaneously tares all load cells. The center of gravity coordinates generated from the load cell data represent the center of gravity at which something was removed from or added to the shelf. In another embodiment, to determine the new center of gravity coordinates for each load cell, the evaluation unit calculates the difference between a new weight value and a previous weight value. This means that when a product is removed from or added to the shelf, the weight change at each load cell is determined separately. The new center of gravity coordinates are then calculated from the four difference values, i.e., from the weight change at each load cell. Both embodiments ensure that the measured weight values ​​of the four load cells are considered separately, rather than calculating a vector that requires scaling.Therefore, these two designs are less sensitive to tolerances in the weight value determination by the load cells.

[0027] Some embodiments of the invention are shown by way of example in the drawings and described below. They show, each in schematic representation: Fig. 1 a shelf bracket according to the invention with two load cells in a side view, Fig. 2 a shelf bracket according to the invention with two load cells in an isometric view, Fig. 3 a section of a shelf bracket according to the invention with a mounting device for a load cell in a first side view, Fig. 4 a measuring element for a shelf bracket according to the invention in a side view, Fig. 5 a measuring element for a shelf bracket according to the invention in a second side view, Fig. 6 a load cell for a shelf bracket according to the invention in a second side view, Fig. 7 a load cell for a shelf bracket according to the invention in an isometric view, Fig. 8 the force introduction section with insert and force transmission element of a load cell in a first side view, Fig. 9 the force introduction section with insert and force transmission element and shelf strut in an exploded view, Fig.Fig. 10 a measuring element of a load cell of a shelf bracket according to the invention with two strain gauges on the upper joint element in an isometric view, Fig. 11 a measuring element of a load cell of a shelf bracket according to the invention with four strain gauges on the upper joint element in an isometric view, Fig. 12 a shelf shelf, Fig. 13 a block diagram of a shelf according to the invention, Fig. 14 a method for operating a shelf, Fig. 15 a first method for determining a location on the shelf shelf from which a product has been removed or added, Fig. 16 a second method for determining a location on the shelf shelf from which a product has been removed or added, and Fig. 17 a third method for determining a location on the shelf shelf from which a product has been removed or added.

[0028] Fig. 1 shows a shelf console 100 in a side view, which is in Fig. 2 The bracket 100 is shown in an isometric front view. It consists of a vertical arm 106 formed from a vertically arranged sheet metal piece. To increase stability and to protect load cells 102, 104 attached to the bracket 100, the arm 106 has a flange 110 on its upper and lower surfaces. At one axial end of the arm 106, the bracket 100 includes an anchoring device 108 in the form of two hooks, which allows the bracket to be attached to a shelf rail. Shelf rails are often designed as vertically mounted rails with slots arranged one above the other, allowing the brackets to be attached to the rail at different heights. Two brackets 100, attached to two spaced-apart shelf rails at the same height, support a shelf shelf and thus form a shelf compartment.The cantilever 106 is triangular in shape, meaning that in the area of ​​the anchoring device 108, the height of the cantilever is greater than at the opposite axial end, which corresponds to the front area of ​​the shelf compartment. The upper flange 110 includes an opening 112 for each load cell 102, 104, through which a strut of a shelf can pass when the shelf, with the strut, rests on a force application section of the load cell 102, 104. The two load cells 102, 104 are each attached to a [missing information] by four countersunk screws 48. Fig. 1 und Fig. 2 The load cells 102 and 104 are screwed to a fastening device not shown. An optional cover, which is attached to the upper and lower flanges 110 and runs parallel to the cantilever 106 on the opposite side of the load cells 102 and 104 to provide mechanical protection for the load cells 102 and 104, is not shown. The optional cover also has an opening in an area corresponding to the area of ​​the openings 112 of the flange 110, to allow the struts of the shelf to rest on the force application sections of the load cells 102 and 104. The load cells 102 and 104 are symmetrically arranged so that their force-absorbing sections are mounted towards the center of the cantilever 106, and their force application sections are arranged towards the axial ends of the cantilever 106. The load cells 102 and 104 support the shelf in the area of ​​its corners.

[0029] Fig. 3 Figure 1 shows a section of a shelf bracket with the anchoring device 108 and part of the arm 106. A mounting device 114, attached to the arm 106 and suitable for receiving a load cell with its force-absorbing section, is shown. The mounting device 114 includes four bores 116 that receive screws for fastening the load cell. The mounting device 114 further includes a receptacle 118 in which a circuit board of the load cell is at least partially received.

[0030] In Fig. 1 bis 3 A shelf bracket 100 is shown, which, viewed from the front, forms the left shelf bracket of a shelf compartment. Likewise, a shelf compartment must include a right shelf bracket, so that the shelf on the left side is supported by the left shelf bracket and on the right side by the right shelf bracket. The right shelf bracket is not shown. The right shelf bracket is a mirror image of the left shelf bracket. For shelving units in which several shelves are arranged side by side in a row, there are shelf brackets that support the corners of each shelf compartment to the left and right of the shelf bracket. Such a shelf bracket includes four load cells, with reference to Fig. 2 Two additional load cells are arranged symmetrically to the front load cells 102, 104 behind the boom 106.

[0031] Fig. 4 Figure 10 schematically shows a measuring body 10 in a first side view (front view) for a load cell 102, 104 of a shelf bracket 100. The measuring body 10 serves as a deformation body, from whose deformation the weight force acting on the measuring body 10 is inferred. The measuring body 10 has a force application section 24, a joint section 22, and a force receiving section 20. A weight force to be measured is applied to the force application section 24. The measuring body 10 is attached to a mounting device 114 of a shelf bracket 100 by its force receiving section 20. The measuring body 10 has a longitudinal axis 12 between its force-receiving axial end and its force application axial end. Along its longitudinal axis 12, the measuring body has a longitudinal extent of length 14. Perpendicular to the extent along the longitudinal axis 12, the measuring body has a vertical extent of height 16. Fig. 4 The measuring object did not show an extension in a third dimension, in Fig. 1 to the rear, a width of 18 (see Fig. 7 For example, a measuring body 10 has a width 18 of 10 mm, a height 16 of 65 mm, and a length 14 of 180 mm. Along the longitudinal axis 12, the force application section 24 occupies approximately 20%, the joint section 22 approximately 25%, and the force absorption section 20 approximately 55% of the length 14 of the measuring body 10. In the view of Fig. 4 The measuring body 10 is symmetrical along a horizontal plane that bisects it vertically. A receptacle 32 is provided in the force application section 24, which completely penetrates the measuring body 10 in the direction of its width 18. The receptacle 32 is designed as a bore located on the upper surface of the measuring body, with the bore milled towards the upper surface of the measuring body 10. Accordingly, the receptacle 32 has a round contour on the measuring body 10. A receptacle is also provided on the underside of the measuring body 10 in the force application section. In the joint section, the measuring body 10 is penetrated by a round opening over a large portion of its height. Two smaller round openings are provided at the top and bottom of this penetration, which also completely penetrate the measuring body 10.The measuring body 10 comprises an upper joint element 26, which has two thin sections 30, and a lower joint element 28, which also has two thin sections 30. The thin sections 30 cause the joint element 22 to deform when force is applied to the force application section 24. The joint element 22 is a parallelogram linkage. Four mounting holes 36 are provided in the force-absorbing section 20 of the measuring body 10, which also penetrate the measuring body 10 in the direction of its width 18. The mounting holes 36 are provided with countersinks 38, so that the measuring body 10 can be screwed to the mounting device 114 of a shelf bracket 100 using countersunk screws 48. Furthermore, bores 24 for mounting a circuit board are provided in the force-absorbing section 20 of the measuring body 10.

[0032] Fig. 5 shows a measuring body 10 after Fig. 4 in a second side view (rear view). Of the measuring body Fig. 4 The diagram is shown rotated along a vertical axis. In the area of ​​the force-absorbing section 20, there is a recess 40 that extends to the joint section 22. The recess 40 does not penetrate the measuring body 10. The recess 40 does not introduce any additional deformability into the measuring body 10. The bores 24 for mounting a printed circuit board are located within the recess 40. The recess 40 is designed to at least partially accommodate a printed circuit board, on which electronics are arranged, in particular an analog-to-digital converter for processing at least one output signal from at least one strain gauge.

[0033] Fig. 6 The figure shows the load cell in a rear view. The measuring element 10 is the same as in Fig. 5 The load cell, with its force-absorbing section 20, is aligned. Screws 48 are shown in the mounting holes 36; these screws are used to fasten the load cell to a mounting device 114. The circuit board 42 is screwed into the recess 40 of the measuring body 10 in the bores 34 for the circuit board 42 using screws 50. A conductive foil 44, which serves to contact the strain gauges, is connected to the circuit board 42. A temperature sensor 46, used for temperature adjustment, is attached to the conductive foil 44. When screwed to a mounting device 114 of a shelf bracket 100, the circuit board 42 or the electronics mounted on the circuit board 42 protrudes into the receptacle 118 of the mounting device 114. The mounting device 114 also serves as a spacer between the load cell 102, 104 and the arm 106, so that the circuit board 42 fits within this distance.

[0034] Fig. 7 Figure 1 shows an isometric view of a load cell with a measuring body 10. In this view, it is clearly visible that the width 18 of the measuring body 10 is very narrow in relation to its height 16 and its length 14. Furthermore, in Fig. 7 The circuit board 42 is visible through the opening in the joint section 22 in the recess 40 of the measuring body 10. An insert 52 and a force transmission element 58 are shown in the upper recess 32 of the measuring body 10, which are described in more detail below. Due to the narrow width 18 of the load cell, it is ideally suited for mounting on a shelf bracket 100, since a shelf bracket 100 is preferably long and tall in the direction of its extension along the shelf compartment, and very narrow perpendicular to it. Because of the small width 18 of the load cell, this dimensioning of the shelf bracket does not need to be significantly altered when integrating a load cell 102, 104. A narrow load cell is of fundamental advantage for integration into a shelf bracket 100 and into a shelf.

[0035] Fig. 8 Figure 1 shows the force application section 24 of a measuring body 10 with an insert 52, which fits snugly in the round contour of the receptacle 32 of the measuring body. The insert 52 holds a force transmission element 58. To illustrate the interaction of receptacle 32, insert 52 and force transmission element 58, Figure 2 shows the force application section 24 of a measuring body 10 with an insert 52, which fits snugly in the round contour of the receptacle 32 of the measuring body. The insert 52 holds a force transmission element 58. Fig. 9 An exploded view of the measuring body 10, the insert 52, the force transmission element 58, and a strut 206 of a shelf is shown in isometric view. The insert 52 is inserted into the receptacle 32, with the round contour 54 on the underside of the insert 32 engaging the round contour 72 of the receptacle 32 of the measuring body 10 in a form-fitting manner. The insert 52 is essentially U-shaped and has a rectangular contour on its inner surface. The width of the insert 52 corresponds to the width 18 of the measuring body 10. The force transmission element 58 is also essentially U-shaped, but rotated 90° about a vertical axis relative to the insert 52. Furthermore, the force transmission element 58 is rotated 180° about a horizontal axis relative to the insert 52.The force transmission element 58 has a rectangular contour on its inner side, designed to rest on the rectangular contour of the insert 52. The force transmission element 58 is arranged such that its flanks 66 extend over the insert 52 and partially project beyond the measuring body 10, so that the U-shaped structure of the force transmission element 58 prevents the insert 52 from slipping out of the receptacle 32 and the force transmission element 58 itself from slipping relative to the measuring body 10. On its upper side, the force transmission element 58 has a cutting edge 62, that is, a tapered contact axis for the support strut of a shelf. When the insert 52 and the force transmission element 58 are assembled, the cutting edge 62 of the force transmission element 58 is aligned parallel to the longitudinal axis 12 of the measuring body 10.The flanks 64 of the insert 52 project beyond the cutting edge 62 of the force transmission element 58, thus forming a boundary for the cutting edge along the longitudinal axis 12 of the measuring body 10. The flanks 64 of the insert 52 also form a boundary for the strut 206 of the shelf. The strut 206, which rests on the cutting edge 62 of the force transmission element 58 via a recess 208 and is weighed, is prevented by the flanks 64 of the insert 52 from sliding over the cutting edge 62 of the force transmission element 58 in the direction of the longitudinal axis 12 of the measuring body 10. The strut 206 rests without moment on the force application section 24 of the load cell 102, 104, which is particularly necessary because the rigid shelf with its struts 206 rests on four load cells 102, 104 and the force application sections 24 of the four load cells 102, 104 must not be mutually braced by the rigid shelf.

[0036] Fig. 10 Figure 1 shows an isometric top view of the joint section 20 of the measuring body 10 of the load cell 102, 104. A strain gauge film 68 with two strain gauges 70 is attached to the thin sections 30 of the upper joint element 26. For clarity, the wiring of the strain gauges 70 on the film and the contacting of the strain gauge film are not shown. The two strain gauges 70 are connected to two further strain gauges, which are attached to the underside of the lower joint element 28, to form a Wheatstone bridge (bridge circuit).

[0037] The strain gauges 70 are connected to the conductive foil 44 and thus to the circuit board 42 of the load cell via a contact connection. Fig. 11 Figure 1 shows an isometric top view of the joint section of the measuring body 10 of a second variant of the load cell. A strain gauge film 68 with four strain gauges 70 is attached to the thin sections 30 of the upper joint element 26. The four strain gauges 70 are connected on the strain gauge film to form a Wheatstone bridge and are electrically connected to the circuit board 42 via the conductive film 44. The orientation of the meandering resistive tracks of the strain gauges 70 on the upper joint element 26 or on the upper and lower joint elements 26, 28 is always in the direction of the longitudinal axis 12 of the measuring body 10. The strain gauges 70 are each oriented in a horizontal direction.This means that the surface formed by the meanderingly arranged resistive tracks of the strain gauge 70 is horizontal, so that the strain gauges 70 are arranged on the upper side of the upper joint element 26 or on the underside of the lower joint element 28. The orientation of this surface in a Cartesian coordinate system corresponds to the orientation of the narrow long side of the measuring body 10.

[0038] Fig. 12 Figure 1 shows a shelf 200 designed as a wire mesh shelf. The shelf 200 comprises a rigid wire mesh structure 202 onto which objects in the shelf can be placed. The wire mesh structure 202 is supported by at least two struts 206, which run transversely along the shelf 200 and are located at the front and rear of the shelf 200. The struts 206 each have a recess 208 at their ends, by which the struts can be supported without moment on a cutting edge 62 of a force transmission element 58. Thus, the shelf can be supported on force transmission elements 58 by four load cells 102, 104.

[0039] Fig. 13 The diagram schematically shows three shelf areas 211, 213, 215 on a shelf 200 and corresponding components for inventory monitoring. The shelf area 211, 213, 215 from which a product was removed or added to shelf 200 is determined by calculating the center of gravity of shelf 200.

[0040] The shelf 200 is suspended by the four load cells 261, 262, 263, 264. These are load cells 102, 104, which are integrated into the shelf brackets 100. A shelf bracket 100 to the left of the shelf 200 and another shelf bracket 100 to the right of the shelf 200 support the shelf 200. Load cells 261, 262, 263, and 264 support the shelf 200 at the ends of its struts 206 with their force application sections 24. The load cells 261, 262, 263, and 264 independently determine an acting weight force, which is generated by the shelf 200 and the products stored in the shelf areas 211, 213, and 215. Each load cell 261, 262, 263, and 264 experiences a weight force proportional to the total weight. The data from the load cells 261, 262, 263, 264 are transmitted to an evaluation unit 265.The evaluation unit determines the center of gravity coordinates of shelf 200 from the individual weight data of load cells 261, 262, 263, 264. The coordinates in the shelf area 211, 213, 215 begin in a corner at load cell 263 with the coordinates (0, 0) and extend horizontally in the X direction and vertically in the Y direction.

[0041] To illustrate the determination of the center of gravity, load cells 261, 262, 263, 264 are connected as shown in Fig. 13 The corresponding weight data W261, W262, W263, W264 are shown.

[0042] The formation of the center of gravity in the X direction is determined as follows: W 261 + W 262 / W 261 + W 262 + W 263 + W 264

[0043] The formation of the center of gravity in the Y direction is determined as follows: W 261 + W 264 / W 261 + W 262 + W 263 + W 264

[0044] Using a suitable normalization factor that takes into account the size of shelf 200, coordinates can be determined in shelf area 211, 213, 215 that correspond to the center of gravity coordinates of shelf 200. These coordinates are determined in the evaluation unit 265 based on the data from load cells 261, 262, 263, 264. Furthermore, the evaluation unit 265 calculates a total weight W261 + W262 + W263 + W264. The center of gravity coordinates and the total weight are transmitted from the evaluation unit 265 to a control unit 241. The rack includes a memory 244 in which an assignment between center of gravity coordinates and shelf areas 211, 213, 215 is stored. Furthermore, in storage 244, the average weight of a piece of a product in each shelf area 211, 213, 215 is stored.Memory 244 stores the current stock level for each shelf area 211, 213, 215, meaning the current number of items / units in that shelf area 211, 213, 215. With this arrangement, in addition to the items in... Fig. 13 In addition to the shelf areas 211, 213, 215 shown, which are arranged next to each other in the X direction, to also identify shelf areas that are arranged in rows and columns in the X and Y directions, i.e. in a matrix.

[0045] Fig. 14 Figure 230 describes a method for inventory monitoring in a shelf, executed by a control unit 241. In step 230, shelf sections 211, 213, and 215 of shelf 200 are stocked with goods. In memory 244, the goods are assigned to each shelf section 211, 213, and 215, and a weight per unit is stored. This weight represents the average weight per unit, as the weight of items such as baked goods can vary slightly. However, these variations are within a range and are statistically distributed in such a way that they are irrelevant to the method. Furthermore, memory 244 stores the number of goods on shelf 200 for each shelf section 211, 213, and 215 after the shelf has been stocked. Memory 244 also stores the X and Y coordinates of each shelf section 211, 213, and 215. These do not need to be re-entered every time the data is filled, as they do not change.However, if the size and arrangement of shelf areas 211, 213, and 215 are changed by rearranging the partitions, the mapping between X and Y coordinates and shelf areas 211, 213, and 215 must be updated in memory 244. Thus, memory 244 stores the X and Y coordinates over which each shelf area 211, 213, and 215 extends. Furthermore, memory 244 contains a threshold value for each shelf area 211, 213, and 215. If this threshold is breached, the shelf should issue a message indicating that new goods need to be replenished in that shelf area. In step 231, an evaluation unit 265 is used to determine, from the weight values ​​of the load cells 261, 262, 263, 264, a location where goods were removed or added and the total weight of the removed or added goods. The determination in step 231 can be carried out using three alternative methods, which are related to... Fig. 15 bis Fig. 17 The following steps are described below. In step 232, the control unit 241 determines the corresponding shelf area 211, 213, 215 based on the coordinates of the location where something was removed or added, and using information from memory 244 about the arrangement of shelf areas 211, 213, 215. In step 233, the number of items removed from or added to shelf area 211, 213, 215 is determined from the total weight of the removed goods and the weight value for each item assigned to shelf area 211, 213, 215 in memory 244. Thus, the number of items removed is determined. In step 234, the current stock level assigned to shelf area 211, 213, 215 is reduced by the number of removed items, or increased if necessary. The process then continues with step 231, which involves the removal or addition of another item.If a stock level threshold stored in memory 244 for shelf area 211, 213, 215 is undershot, the process sends a message to an operator in step 235, informing them that the stock level has reached a low level and needs to be replenished. In step 236, the operator enters new stock information after restocking shelf area 211, 213, 215. The stock information in memory 244 for this shelf area 211, 213, 215 is then updated accordingly, triggered by the operator's input.

[0046] Fig. 15 Figure 271 schematically shows a first procedure for determining the location on shelf 200 where an item has been added or removed. In step 271, all load cells 261, 262, 263, and 264 are tared; that is, shelf 200 and all items placed on it are treated as if they were a preload for load cells 261, 262, 263, and 264 and set to zero. In step 272, a new weight value is measured by at least one load cell 261, 262, 263, or 264 and received by the evaluation unit 265. In step 273, the evaluation unit 265 calculates the center of gravity coordinates based on the current weight data from load cells 261, 262, 263, and 264. These center of gravity coordinates do not reflect the center of gravity of shelf 200, but rather the center of gravity of the weight change in the coordinate system of shelf 200. This is the location where goods were removed from or added to shelf 200.In step 274, this location and the change in weight are passed on to the control unit 241.

[0047] Fig. 16 Figure 281 schematically shows a second method for determining the location on shelf 200 where an item has been added or removed. In step 281, center of gravity coordinates are determined from the current center of gravity of shelf 200, including all items placed on it. This is the true center of gravity. Shelf 200, or at least the items placed on it, are not tared. In step 282, a new weight value is measured by at least one load cell (261, 262, 263, 264) and received by the evaluation unit (265). In step 283, new center of gravity coordinates are determined by the evaluation unit (265) from the new data from load cells 261, 262, 263, 264. In step 284, a vector is generated from the previous center of gravity coordinates and the new center of gravity coordinates, reflecting the shift of the center of gravity coordinates.Starting from the previous center of gravity, the vector, if not scaled, leads to the new center of gravity. Then, in step 285, the vector is scaled using the total weight of the shelf and the change in that weight. The location where a product was removed from or placed on shelf 200 is determined in step 286 by adding the scaled vector to the previous center of gravity coordinates. In step 287, this location and the change in weight are transmitted to the control unit 241.

[0048] Fig. 17Figure 291 schematically shows a third method for determining the location on shelf 200 where an item has been added or removed. In step 291, a weight value is determined by each of load cells 261, 262, 263, and 264; this is the previous weight value. In step 292, a new weight value is measured by at least one load cell 261, 262, 263, or 264 and received by the evaluation unit 265. In step 293, the evaluation unit 265 calculates the change in weight value for each load cell 261, 262, 263, or 264 separately; that is, the evaluation unit calculates the difference between the new weight value and the previous weight value. In step 294, the evaluation unit 265 calculates the center of gravity coordinates of the difference values ​​of the four load cells 261, 262, 263, 264. These center of gravity coordinates do not reflect the center of gravity of the shelf 200, but rather the center of gravity of the weight change in the coordinate system of the shelf 200.This is the location where an item was removed from or added to shelf 200. In step 295, this location and the change in weight are transmitted to control unit 241.

[0049] The functions of various elements shown in the drawings, including the function blocks, can be implemented by dedicated hardware or by generic hardware capable of executing software in conjunction with the appropriate software. If the functions are provided by a processor, they can be provided by a single dedicated processor, a single shared processor, or multiple generic processors, which may themselves be shared. The functions can be provided, without limitation, by a digital signal processor (DSP), network processor, application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), field-programmable gate array (FPGA), read-only memory (ROM) with stored software, random-access memory (RAM), and non-volatile memory.

Claims

1. Rack consisting of at least two vertically arranged rack rails and at least two rack supports (100) arranged at the same height in each rack rail and at least one shelf (200) placed on the two rack supports (100) arranged at the same height, wherein each rack support comprises an anchoring device (108) for fastening in one of the vertically arranged rack rails and a boom (106) for supporting the shelf, wherein each rack support comprises two load cells (102, 104), wherein the booms of the rack supports protrude from the rack rails in a substantially horizontal direction and each boom is formed in particular by a vertically arranged frame construction or a vertically arranged metal sheet, wherein each boom (106) comprises fastening devices (114) for the two load cells (102, 104), wherein each load cell (102, 104) has a monolithic measuring body (10) which comprises a force-absorbing section (20), a force-introducing section (24) and a joint section (22) arranged between the force-absorbing section (20) and the force-introducing section (24), and wherein the shelf (200) comprises two parallel struts (206), and wherein the force-introducing sections (24) of the two load cells (102, 104) of a rack support each support a strut (206) of the shelf (200), characterized in that the measuring body (10) is mirror-symmetrical to the horizontal plane and the force-absorbing section (20) of the measuring body (10) is attached laterally to the fastening device (114), wherein the measuring body (10) has at least one fastening hole (36), by means of which it is attached to the fastening device (114) by a screw (48) running horizontally through the measuring body (10), and wherein the rack comprises an evaluation unit (265) which, at periodic intervals or in the event of a change in the total weight which is detected by the four load cells on the force-introducing sections of which the shelf (200) rests, ascertains new centroid coordinates from the data from the load cells (261, 262, 263, 264) and transmits these centroid coordinates to a control unit (241), wherein the control unit (241) ascertains a rack region (211, 213, 215) based on changes in the centroid coordinates, wherein the control unit (41) determines, from the change in the total weight, the weight of the goods removed from or added to the ascertained rack region (211, 213, 215) and updates the inventory, stored in a memory (244), for this rack region (211, 213, 215).

2. Rack according to Claim 1, characterized in that the measuring body (10) has a longitudinal axis (12) between a force-receiving axial end and a force-introducing axial end, and in that the longitudinal axis (12) of the at least one load cell attached to a fastening device is configured in a horizontal direction, wherein the load cell comprises at least one strain gauge (70) arranged in the region of the joint section (24) on the top side or bottom side of the measuring body (10) for detecting a stretching or compressing deformation of the measuring body (10), wherein the at least one strain gauge (70) consists of a meandering parallel resistance track which is oriented parallel to the longitudinal axis (12) of the measuring body (10) and horizontally.

3. Rack according to either of Claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the joint section (22) has at least one thin point, in particular two thin points, (30) on an upper joint element (26) and at least one thin point, in particular two thin points, (30) on a lower joint element (28) running parallel to the upper joint element (26) .

4. Rack according to Claim 3, characterized in that the load cell comprises a strain gauge (70) arranged on the top side of the upper joint element (26) in each of the regions of the two thin points (39) of the upper joint element (26), and in that the load cell comprises a strain gauge (70) arranged on the bottom side of the lower joint element (28) in each of the regions of the two thin points (30) of the lower joint element (28), and wherein the four strain gauges (70) of the load cell are interconnected to form a Wheatstone measuring bridge, and wherein, in particular, the wiring of the two strain gauges (70) arranged on the top side and the two strain gauges (70) arranged on the top side are mounted on a strain gauge film (68), and wherein, in particular, the wiring of the two strain gauges (70) arranged on the bottom side and the two strain gauges (70) arranged on the bottom side are mounted on a strain gauge film (68).

5. Rack according to Claim 3, characterized in that the load cell comprises in each case two strain gauges (70) arranged on the top side of the upper joint element (26) in the regions of the two thin points (30) of the upper joint element (26), wherein the in each case two strain gauges (70) are oriented in parallel and arranged next to each other with respect to a narrow side (18) of the measuring body, and wherein the four strain gauges (70) of the load cell are interconnected to form a Wheatstone measuring bridge, and wherein, in particular, the wiring of the strain gauges (70) and the strain gauges (70) are mounted on a strain gauge film (68).

6. Rack according to any of Claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the force-introducing section (24) has a receptacle (32) which is configured as a notch extending from the top side of the measuring body (10) and running perpendicular to the longitudinal axis.

7. Rack according to Claim 6, characterized in that the notch in the receptacle (32) has, on its side facing away from the top side of the measuring body, a round contour and the load cell comprises an insert (52) which bears in a form-fitting manner in the round contour of the receptacle (32), and wherein the insert (52) has, on its side opposite the form-fitting connection with the round contour, a rectangular contour for receiving a force-transmitting element (58), and in that the force-transmitting element (58) is configured in such a way that it can be received in a form-fitting manner in the rectangular contour of the insert (52), and in that the force-transmitting element (58) has an edge (62) for supporting a strut (206) of the shelf (200).

8. Rack according to any of Claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the measuring body (10) has a length (14) along its longitudinal axis (12), a height (16) from the top side of the top-side joint element (26) to the bottom side of the bottom-side joint element (28), and a width (18) in the dimension perpendicular to the length and height, wherein the width (18) of the measuring body is between 3 mm and 40 mm, in particular between 5 mm and 20 mm, and wherein the length (14) of the measuring body is 15 to 25 times, in particular 16 to 20 times, the width (18), and the height (16) of the measuring body is 5 to 10 times, in particular 6 to 8 times, the width (18) of the measuring body, and in that the vertically arranged metal sheet is angled at the top and bottom and the angled parts cover or protrude beyond the width of the measuring body in the horizontal direction.

9. Rack according to any of Claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the measuring body (10) comprises at least three, in particular four, fastening holes (36) which are configured as bores and run in the horizontal direction through the measuring body (10) and with which the measuring body is firmly screwed to the fastening device (114), and wherein in particular the bores (36) contain, on one side, countersinks (38) which are configured for receiving countersunk heads of screws (48) .

10. Rack according to any of Claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the measuring body (10) has, along its longitudinal axis (12) from a part of the force-receiving section (20) close to the joint section to the joint section (22), a recess (40) which is configured for, at least partially, receiving a printed circuit board (42) with electronics, in particular of an analogue-digital converter for processing at least one output signal of the at least one strain gauge, arranged on it.

11. Rack according to any of Claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the rack support (100) comprises, on both sides of the vertically arranged frame construction or on both sides of the vertically arranged metal sheet, two fastening devices (114) in each case, the fastening devices each supporting a load cell (102, 104), wherein two load cells (102, 104) each support the struts of a shelf (200) on one side.

12. Rack according to any of Claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the evaluation unit (265) ascertains a vector between the previous centroid coordinates and the new centroid coordinates when the total weight changes, and in that the rack region (211, 213, 215) determined by the control unit (241) is ascertained by the control unit (241) from the vector and the total weight.

13. Rack according to any of Claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the evaluation unit (265) periodically and simultaneously tares all the load cells (61, 62, 63, 64).

14. Rack according to any of Claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the evaluation unit (265), for ascertaining the new centroid coordinates for each load cell (261, 262, 263, 264), calculates the difference between a new weight value and a previous weight value and ascertains the new centroid coordinates from the four difference values.