Apparatus and method for detecting stock-out of articles on rack and rack

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2019282001-A1
Application number	US-201816136177-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 19, 2018
Priority date	Mar 16, 2018
Publication date	Sep 19, 2019
Grant date	—

Abstract

The present application proposes an apparatus and method for detecting stock-out of articles on a rack and a rack. The apparatus includes: a distance detector configured to detect a distance between the article farthest from a first end and one of the first end and a second end; and a controlling and processing unit communicatively connected to the distance detector and configured to determine whether the articles are out of stock based on the distance.

First claim

I/We claim:

1 . An apparatus for detecting stock-out of articles on a rack, the rack comprising a first end and a second end opposite to each other and being capable of accommodating the articles arranged from the first end towards the second end, the apparatus comprising:
a distance detector, configured to detect a distance between an article farthest from the first end and one of the first end and the second end; and a controlling and processing unit, communicatively connected to the distance detector and configured to determine whether the articles are out of stock based on the distance.

2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the distance is between the article farthest from the first end and the second end, and the distance detector comprises:
a distance detection sensor, capable of being mounted at the second end of the rack and transmitting a probe wave to the articles at the second end and receiving a reflected wave of the probe wave; wherein the controlling and processing unit is further configured to calculate the distance between the article farthest from the first end and the second end based on a time difference between a transmitting time of the probe wave and a receiving time of the reflected wave.

3 . The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the probe wave is an ultrasonic wave or an infrared ray.

4 . The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the controlling and processing unit is configured to:
compare the distance with a first distance threshold, and determine that the articles are out of stock if the distance is greater than the first distance threshold.

5 . The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the controlling and processing unit is configured to:
determine a number of remaining articles based on the distance between the article farthest from the first end and the second end, a distance from the first end to the second end, and a thickness of a single article in the arrangement direction; compare the number of the remaining articles to a number threshold; and determine that the articles are out of stock if the number of the remaining articles is less than the number threshold.

6 . The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the controlling and processing unit is further configured to:
determine whether the distance between the article farthest from the first end and the second end has increased, and determine whether the articles are out of stock, only on the condition that the distance between the article farthest from the first end and the second end has increased.

7 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the distance detector comprises:
an elastic tape having a fixing end fixed to the first end and a winding end being retractable such that the elastic tape may extend and retract in the direction from the first end to the second end, wherein the material of the elastic tape comprises resistive material; a housing, configured to accommodate the winding end of the elastic tape and being capable of moving with the winding end as the elastic tape extends and retracts, wherein the housing has an opening through which the elastic tape passes to be wound up in the housing; and two electrode sheets, one of which being configured to be electrically connected to the fixing end of the elastic tape and the other being configured to be electrically connected to a portion of the elastic tape at the opening of the housing, the two electrode sheets being configured to measure resistance between the fixing end of the elastic tape and the portion of the elastic tape at the opening of the housing; wherein the controlling and processing unit is further configured to calculate the distance between the article farthest from the first end and the first end based on the resistance.

8 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the controlling and processing unit is configured to compare the distance with a second distance threshold, and determine that the articles are out of stock if the distance is less than the second distance threshold.

9 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the controlling and processing unit is configured to:
determine a number of remaining articles based on the distance and a thickness of a single article in the arrangement direction; compare the number of the remaining articles to a number threshold; and determine that the articles are out of stock if the number of the remaining articles is less than the number threshold.

10 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the controlling and processing unit is further configured to:
determine whether the distance has decreased, and determine whether the articles are out of stock only on the condition that the distance has decreased.

11 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a presenting unit communicatively connected to the controlling and processing unit, wherein
the presenting unit is configured to present information about the inventory status of the articles.

12 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the information about the inventory status of the articles comprises at least one of the number of the remaining articles, a status indicating whether or not the articles are out of stock, and stock-out warning information.

13 . A method for detecting stock-out of articles on a rack, the rack comprising a first end and a second end opposite to each other and being capable of accommodating the articles arranged from the first end towards the second end, the method comprising steps of:
detecting a distance between an article farthest from the first end and one of the first end and the second end; and determining whether the articles are out of stock based on the distance.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the step of determining whether the articles are out of stock based on the distance comprises:
comparing the distance to a distance threshold, and determining whether the articles are out of stock based on the comparison result.

15 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the step of determining whether the articles are out of stock based on the distance comprises:
determining the number of the remaining articles based on the distance and at least one of a distance from the first end to the second end or a thickness of a single article in the arrangement direction; comparing the number of the remaining articles to a number threshold; and determining that the articles are out of stock if the number of the remaining articles is less than the number threshold.

16 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
determining whether the distance has changed; determining whether the articles are out of stock on the condition that the distance has changed.

17 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
presenting stock-out warning information if it is determined that the articles are out of stock.

18 . A rack comprising the apparatus of claim 1 .

19 . The rack of claim 18 , wherein the distance is between the article farthest from the first end and the second end, and the distance detector comprises:
a distance detection sensor, capable of being mounted at the second end of the rack and transmitting a probe wave to the articles at the second end and receiving a reflected wave of the probe wave; wherein the controlling and processing unit is further configured to calculate the distance between the article farthest from the first end and the second end based on a time difference between a transmitting time of the probe wave and a receiving time of the reflected wave.

20 . The rack of claim 18 , wherein t

Assignees

• Boe Technology Group Co Ltd

Inventors

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

Classifications

• A47F5/0018

  Display racks with shelves or receptables (racks per se A47B; storage devices for warehouses B65G1/02) · CPC title

• A47F10/02 Primary

  for self-service type systems, e.g. supermarkets (A47F10/06 takes precedence; hand-carts B62B; baskets B65D) · CPC title

• G01C3/12

  with monocular observation at a single point, e.g. coincidence type (G01C3/20 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A47F2010/025

  using stock management systems · CPC title

• G01S15/08 Primary

  Systems for measuring distance only (indirect measurement G01S15/46) · CPC title