JPH11134391A - Assisting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to purchase articles according to a user's menu and to guide a menu which can be prepared with articles that the user purchases by providing a selecting means for selecting the menu, an output means which displays or prints the contents of foods deficient when the selected menu is prepared. SOLUTION: When a card C is held up to an R/W antenna 12 and data begin to be sent to and received from a main body (a), data on the constitution contents of a family, the stock contents of foods, past menu contents, etc., which are stored on the card C are inputted to the main body (a). On a touch panel 13, a button for selecting time before or after a purchase is displayed, so the user presses the time before the purchase to make a choice. A CPU 11 calculates menu contents of future several times on the basis of the inputted data to display the menu and the deficient amounts, prices, etc., of foods for preparing the menu and also print them out on a printer 14.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a support apparatus that can be used when a user performs shopping at a store such as a supermarket.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a user such as a housewife shopping at a store such as a supermarket, what materials are currently stored in a home refrigerator or the like and what materials (products) are purchased. If you can cook the prescribed dish,
Moreover, the merchandise is purchased in consideration of various circumstances such as whether or not the dish is similar to recent dishes.

[0003]

As described above, when a user purchases a food product, many considerations have to be taken into account, and there is no support device to assist the user.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to meet the above-mentioned demands, and an object of the present invention is to provide a menu which can be purchased in accordance with the menu of a user or which can be made with the product purchased by the user. An object of the present invention is to provide a support device that can provide guidance.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, a support apparatus according to the present invention provides information such as inventory contents of foodstuffs stored in an information recording medium possessed by a user and past menu contents. Reading means for reading data, storage means for storing a plurality of menu contents, selecting means for selecting a menu from the stored contents by referring to past menus, etc., and Output means for displaying or printing the content of the missing foodstuff.

[0006] In order to achieve the above object, a support device according to the present invention has a writing means for writing the contents of a purchased foodstuff on an information recording medium possessed by a user, and an information recording medium possessed by the user. Reading means for reading data such as stock contents of food and past menu contents stored in the storage unit, storage means for storing a plurality of menu contents, and referring to past menus and the like from the stored contents. Means for selecting a menu
Output means for displaying or printing the selected menu. The information storage medium may be an IC capable of contactlessly communicating with a main body of the support device.
It is characterized by being a card.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a support device according to an embodiment.

[0008] An information recording medium possessed by a user (hereinafter, referred to as an information recording medium)
A “card” C is read / written (R / R) between the home personal computer (home personal computer) 1 and the home personal computer 1.
W) It is configured to be able to communicate in a non-contact manner through an R / W antenna 12 via an antenna (transmitter) 2 and a main body (hereinafter, referred to as a “main body”) a of a support device to be described later. Non-contact IC with wireless communication function
Consists of cards.

The card C may be a contact type IC card which exchanges data by connecting to the connection terminal provided on the home personal computer 1 or the main body a. But,
When a non-contact card is used, the operation can be simplified.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 3 denotes a printer connected to the home personal computer 1;
Although not shown, an input device such as a keyboard is connected, and the contents of the family, the type and amount of foodstuffs currently stored in the refrigerator at home, the contents of past menus at home, and It is structured so that all data that can be used as reference for future menus, such as menu items, menu items in the employee cafeteria at the workplace of the family, and when family members are restricted from eating, etc. The input data is configured to be stored in a memory (not shown) of the card C. Then, the contents of the memory can be printed via the printer 3 as necessary,
Alternatively, it is configured to be able to be displayed on a display screen (not shown).

The input of the food data to the card C is not directly input to the home personal computer. For example, when the card C also serves as electronic money, it is based on the data at the time of purchase. Alternatively, when a purchased product has a product ID, the ID can be read and input.

The main unit a is installed in a store such as a supermarket, and is a central processing unit for performing arithmetic processing using data such as a system program stored in the memory m1 of the memory 10 and menu data stored in the memory m2. (CPU) 11.

The CPU 11 has an R / W antenna 12 for exchanging data with the card C, a main body a, and a user (shopper).
A touch panel 13 for responding to the command and a printer 14 are connected.

In the memory m2, various menus such as a Japanese menu, a Western menu, a Chinese menu, etc., menus for various diseases such as high blood pressure, menus for each meal, and the like, are provided. Is stored in advance.

Hereinafter, the control operation of the main body a will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the operation of the main body a in supporting what menu the user should do and what kind of shopping should be done for that purpose will be described.

When the card C is held over the R / W antenna 12 and data transfer between the main body a and the card C is started (Yes at step 100; hereinafter, the steps are referred to as "S"). Is stored in the main unit a (S102).

Since a button for selecting between before shopping and after shopping is displayed on the touch panel 13, the user presses down and selects before shopping (No at S104). This selection may be made such that the pre-shopping is automatically selected when the card C has the electronic money function and the merchandise is not yet purchased at the store where the main body a is installed. .

The CPU 11 calculates the contents of the menu several times in the future (or one time) based on the data taken from the card C, displays it on the touch panel 13, and creates a menu of the menu and the menu. The required amount and price of the groceries that are in short supply are displayed (S106).

At the time of displaying the menu contents, the user may be generally requested to select, for example, meat dishes, fish dishes, Japanese dishes or Western dishes.

When the menu is determined by the contents displayed on the touch panel 13, the user presses the confirmation button (S10).
8 affirmative), the menu of the menu and the groceries to be purchased are printed out (S110). In this printout, if the points (knacks) of the dishes are printed for reference, the convenience of the user can be further improved. Of course, in the case where the budget exceeds the guided menu contents, the menu guidance of the next candidate is performed (No in S108).

Therefore, the user can purchase and cook a product (insufficient groceries) in accordance with the printed contents.

Next, a case will be described in which the main body a guides the user about what menu to make after shopping.

When the user makes a purchase, if the card C has an electronic money function, the purchased item and its quantity are entered in the card C. In addition, card C
If there is no electronic money function, the main body a is selected in the input mode, and the purchased item or quantity is input via the touch panel 13.

The card C stores the merchandise (foodstuffs) purchased this time and the foodstuffs that are present in stock, so that the CPU 11 uses the materials stored in the card C and further stores the past An optimal menu that does not overlap with the menu is calculated, displayed on the touch panel 13 and printed out (Yes at S104, S112). Therefore, even after purchasing the product, the user can obtain a menu guide using the purchased product from the main body a.

In the above description, an example is shown in which the main unit a is installed in a store such as a supermarket.
2 data stored in the home PC 1
May also be provided at home or the like to receive food items or menu guidance that are insufficient for menu.

[0026]

The support device according to the present invention has a reading means for reading data such as food stock contents and past menu contents stored in a card carried by a user, and a plurality of menu contents stored therein. Storage means, and selection means for selecting a menu by referring to past menus and the like from stored contents,
Since the output means displays or prints the contents of the food items that are insufficient for making the selected menu, the food items that are insufficient for the menu can be purchased effectively.

[0027] The support device according to the present invention comprises: a writing means for writing the contents of the purchased groceries on a card possessed by the user;
Reading means for reading data such as food stock contents and past menu contents stored in a card possessed by the user;
It comprises a storage means for storing a plurality of menu contents, a selection means for selecting a menu by referring to past menus and the like from the stored contents, and an output means for displaying or printing the selected menu. Therefore, a menu guide using the purchased food can be obtained.

When the card is an IC card which can communicate with the main body in a non-contact manner, the usability can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a support device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a control operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Home personal computer (home personal computer) 2,12 R / W antenna 3,14 Printer 10 Memory 11 CPU 13 Touch panel

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Akiko Uchida 1-13-8 Kamikizaki, Urawa-shi, Saitama Japan Signaling Co., Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. Reading means for reading data such as stock contents of food and past menu contents stored in an information recording medium possessed by a user; storage means for storing a plurality of menu contents; Selection means for selecting a menu by referring to past menus or the like from stored contents, and output means for displaying or printing the contents of foodstuffs that are insufficient to make the selected menu. A featured support device. 2. A writing means for writing the contents of a purchased food product on an information recording medium possessed by a user, a stock content of a food product stored on the information recording medium possessed by the user, and past menu items. Reading means for reading data such as contents, storage means for storing a plurality of menu contents, selecting means for selecting a menu from stored contents by referring to past menus, etc., and selecting the selected menu. A support device, comprising: output means for displaying or printing. 3. The support device according to claim 1, wherein the information storage medium is an IC card capable of contactlessly communicating with a main body of the support device.