Goods shelf system and method of monitoring items thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11308443-B2
Application number	US-201816336707-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 30, 2018
Priority date	Oct 19, 2017
Publication date	Apr 19, 2022
Grant date	Apr 19, 2022

Abstract

Embodiments of this disclosure provide a goods shelf system and a method of monitoring items of the goods shelf system. The goods shelf system comprises: a goods shelf comprising a bearing body for bearing an item; a signal transmitting unit located on a side of the bearing body; a plurality of signal receiving units, located on the bearing body, for receiving a signal transmitted by the signal transmitting unit; and a processing unit, electrically connected with the signal receiving unit, for acquiring a storage state of the item on the bearing body according to an signal outputted by the signal receiving unit, wherein one or more of the plurality of signal receiving units shielded by the items are not able to receive the signal transmitted by the signal transmitting unit.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A goods shelf system comprising:
a goods shelf comprising a bearing body for bearing items;
a signal transmitting unit located on a side of the bearing body;
a plurality of signal receiving units, located on the bearing body, for receiving a signal transmitted by the signal transmitting unit, wherein the signal receiving units output a first magnitude when the signal receiving units receive the signal transmitted by the signal transmitting unit, and output a second magnitude when the signal transmitted by the signal transmitting unit is shielded by the items on the bearing body; and
a processing unit, electrically connected with the signal receiving units, for acquiring a storage state of the items on the bearing body according to a signal outputted by the signal receiving units,
wherein the processing unit is configured to determine whether or not a tally action occurs by:
acquiring the first magnitude or the second magnitude outputted by the signal receiving units in a preset area range on the bearing body near an entrance of the goods shelf, and summing the first magnitude or the second magnitude to obtain a total magnitude, the first magnitude outputted by the signal receiving units in the preset area range indicates that a tally device is not sensed in the goods shelf, and the second magnitude outputted by the signal receiving units in the preset area range indicates that a tally device enters the goods shelf;
determining whether or not a tally action occurs according to a result of comparison between the total magnitude and an initial total magnitude; and
calculating the quantity of the items stored on the bearing body according to the signal outputted by the signal receiving units when the processing unit determines that a tally action occurs.

2. The goods shelf system according to claim 1 , wherein the signal transmitting unit comprises a signal transmitting plate, the signal transmitting plate is disposed opposite to the bearing body.

3. The goods shelf system according to claim 2 , wherein the signal receiving units is a photosensitive element; the signal transmitting unit is an optical signal transmitting unit.

4. The goods shelf system according to claim 3 , wherein the signal transmitting plate is a light guide plate; the signal transmitting unit further comprises a light source disposed on a side of the light guide plate.

5. The goods shelf system according to claim 1 , further comprising an alarm module electrically connected with the processing unit, and the alarm module is configured to generate alarm information when a quantity of the items stored is less than a predetermined threshold.

6. The goods shelf system according to claim 5 , wherein the goods shelf system further comprises a communication module for sending the alarm information to a mobile terminal.

7. The goods shelf system according to claim 6 , wherein the communication module is further used for sending identification information identifying the goods shelf and the quantity of the items stored on the goods shelf to the mobile terminal.

8. The goods shelf system according to claim 2 , wherein the goods shelf further comprises a bracket disposed between the bearing body and the signal transmitting plate, the bearing body and the signal transmitting plate are fixed by the bracket.

9. The goods shelf system according to claim 2 , wherein the bearing body comprises a support and a circuit board;
the signal receiving units are disposed on the circuit board, and the circuit board is disposed on a side of the support away from the signal transmitting plate.

10. The goods shelf system according to claim 1 , wherein there are a plurality of signal receiving units arranged on the bearing body in an array.

11. The goods shelf system according to claim 1 , wherein the bearing body is a plate-shaped bearing body or a mesh-shaped bearing body.

12. A method of monitoring items of a goods shelf system comprising: a goods shelf comprising a bearing body for bearing items; a signal transmitting unit located on a side of the bearing body; a plurality of signal receiving units, located on the bearing body, for receiving a signal transmitted by the signal transmitting unit; and a processing unit, electrically connected with the signal receiving units, for acquiring a storage state of the item on the bearing body according to a signal outputted by the signal receiving units,
the method comprises:
outputting a first magnitude to the processing unit when the signal receiving units receive the signal transmitted by the signal transmitting unit, and outputting a second magnitude to the processing unit when the signal transmitted by the signal transmitting unit is shielded by the items on the bearing body; and
acquiring, by the processing unit, the storage state of the item on the bearing body of the goods shelf according to the signal outputted by the signal receiving units,
wherein acquiring, by the processing unit, the storage state of the item on the bearing body of the goods shelf according to the signal outputted by the signal receiving units comprises:
after the processing unit determines that a tally action occurs, calculating the quantity of the items stored on the bearing body according to the signal outputted by the signal receiving units,
determining whether or not a tally action occurs comprises:
acquiring the first magnitude or the second magnitude outputted by the signal receiving units in a preset area range on the bearing body near an entrance of the goods shelf, the first magnitude outputted by the signal receiving units in the preset area range indicates that a tally device is not sensed in the goods shelf, and the second magnitude outputted by the signal receiving units in the preset area range indicates that a tally device enters the goods shelf;
summing the first magnitude or the second magnitude to obtain a total magnitude; and
determining whether or not a tally action occurs according to a result of comparison between the total magnitude and an initial total magnitude.

13. The method according to claim 12 , wherein the goods shelf system further comprises an alarm module electrically connected with the processing unit; the method further comprising: when a quantity of the items stored is less than a predetermined threshold, generating, by the alarm module, alarm information.

14. The method according to claim 12 , further comprising:
acquiring, before the tally action, the first magnitude outputted by the signal receiving units in the preset area range on the bearing body near the entrance of the goods shelf, to obtain the initial total magnitude.

15. The method according to claim 12 , wherein acquiring, by the processing unit, the storage state of the item on the bearing body of the goods shelf according to the signal outputted by the signal receiving units comprises:
after the processing unit determines that a tally action occurs, calculating a quantity of the items stored on the bearing body according to the signal outputted by the signal receiving units; and
determining whether or not a tally action occurs comprises:
determining whether or not a tally action occurs according to a change trajectory of the signal receiving units that output the second magnitude on the bearing body.

16. The method according to claim 12 , further comprising calculating a quantity of the items stored on the bearing body comprises:
acquiring a quantity n t of the signal receiving units that output the first magnitude on the bearing body;
calculating the quantity m t of the item stored on the

Assignees

• Boe Technology Group Co Ltd

Inventors

• Deng Wei
• Cao Shijie
• Pei Hongyan
• Yu Huawei

Classifications

• G06M1/10

  by electric or magnetic means · CPC title

• H04B10/1141

  One-way transmission · CPC title

• A47F11/10

  Arrangements of light sources · CPC title

• G08B21/182

  Level alarms, e.g. alarms responsive to variables exceeding a threshold · CPC title

• A47F2010/025

  using stock management systems · CPC title