Shopping Cart Display With Store Map and Recipe-Guided Item Finding

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Solution Overview

Problem

Customers often struggle to locate target commodities on unfamiliar store sales floors and may end up purchasing unnecessary items without a clear shopping list or store layout awareness.

Innovation Solution

A shopping cart equipped with a commodity registration apparatus that includes a display screen and control unit to display store maps, commodity locations, and suggested recipes, allowing customers to register items and view their positions and recipe ingredients.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Loss of information

If customers refer to a guide diagram or map of the sales floor, then they can locate commodities, but they cannot check the layout of commodities on the sales floor or create a list of commodities to purchase before arriving at the store

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvestore layout informationVSAvoidshopping process

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by pre-fetching and caching store layout data, commodity location information, and recipe data before the customer arrives at the store. The shopping list is created in advance based on recipes selected by the customer, so that when the customer arrives, the information is already prepared and readily available on the display device.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The display device mounted on the shopping cart serves as an intermediary between the customer and the store information system. It receives data from the information processing system (including store layout, commodity locations, and recipe information) and presents it to the customer in an accessible format, facilitating the shopping process.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Adaptability or versatility

If customers shop without first deciding which commodity to purchase, then they can browse freely, but they may purchase unnecessary commodities

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveshopping flexibilityVSAvoidunnecessary purchases

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSLoss of substance

Solution Approach 1:

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system provides feedback to the customer by displaying the shopping list, comparing it with items already purchased, and showing the location of remaining items on the store map. This feedback loop helps customers stay on track with their intended purchases and avoid buying unnecessary commodities.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

3Reliability

If a customer does not know where a target commodity is displayed on a sales floor of an unfamiliar store, then they can use a guide diagram, but they cannot efficiently locate items

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecommodity location accuracyVSAvoidshopping time

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system replaces the mechanical system of manually consulting static guide diagrams with an electronic information processing system. The display device mounted on the shopping cart provides dynamic, interactive access to store layout and commodity location data, allowing customers to quickly find items without physically searching through printed maps or asking staff for directions.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

Data Source

PatentUS12522269B2Shopping support apparatus, shopping cart, and method for shopping support

Publication Date: 2026.01.13 TOSHIBA TEC KK

AI summary

According to one embodiment, a shopping support apparatus for a retail store includes a display screen and a control unit. The control unit causes a store map to be displayed on the display screen and acquires a commodity code for a commodity for sale in the store to register the commodity corresponding to the acquired commodity code in a sales transaction. The sales transaction list is displayed on the display screen along with a button for requesting a recipe for a dish including the commodity. The control unit acquires recipes for dishes including the commodity for when the button is pressed, and then displays images associated with the acquired recipes on the display screen along with an ingredient list button for each. An ingredients list for a selected dish is shown for a dish when selected and a location of any unregistered ingredient is displayed on the store map.