This application claims the benefit of Hong Kong short-term patent application No. 14111408.7 filed on Nov. 11, 2014; the contents of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
The present patent application generally relates to inventory management technologies and more specifically to a system and a method for inventory counting that involve recording and calculating content proportion remaining in a container regardless of its shape or size.
A convention procedure of counting inventory items with partial content (non-whole units), such as a half-poured bottle of liquor or wine, in establishments that carry such products, such as a bar or restaurant, requires that a user “eyeballs” (estimate by looking) the level of the content remaining in the container to the tune of a tenth of a unit (e.g. 0.1, 0.2, etc. out of 1 full bottle). This value is then written down on a piece of paper with a pen or pencil. This process is repeated for the same item in each of locations where it is stored (e.g. storage, main bar, side bar). The values are then added up to give a total stock count value for that item in the establishment. This process is repeated for every item, which typically ranges from a couple hundred items in a small establishment to the high hundreds in a larger establishment.
Another method of partial counting currently employed by some establishments involves the weighing of items. A scale is zero-calibrated to the weight of an empty container of the item to be counted, and the partially consumed item is put on the scale to calculate the weight of the remaining liquid in that container. This weight value is divided by the weight value of the liquid in a full container of that item to get the remaining proportion value of that partially consumed item. This process is again repeated for that item in each of the locations it is in. The count values in each location have to be added up manually to obtain a total count of that item in the entire establishment. This process is again repeated for every item in the establishment.
There are a few other methods currently employed for partial counting. One such method involves the use of a specially designed ruler with clear markings tailored to different shaped bottles to allow stock takers to more accurately pinpoint the content level instead of just “eyeballing” it. Other methods involve the use of specially designed hardware that has to be bought separately. Some connect to measuring apparatus like a scale to reduce manual data entry, while another involves the use of a stylus to pinpoint the content level line on a screen of a custom hardware.
It is desired, however, to have a system and a method for inventory counting that provide a solution that is fast, efficient, accurate, easily-accessible, and affordable enough.
The present patent application is directed to a method for inventory counting. In one aspect, the method includes: representing a container by an image of the container displayed on a display; setting up a full level of a content on the image corresponding to the content being considered full in the container by making a first haptic gesture to the display; setting up an empty level of the content on the image corresponding to the container being considered empty of the content by making a second haptic gesture to the display; determining a current level of the content remaining in the container on the image and marking the current level by making a third haptic gesture to the display; calculating a proportion of the content remaining in the container based on the current level, the full level and the empty level on the image; and recording the calculated proportion of the content remaining in the container.
The first, second, and third haptic gestures may include a tapping gesture or a dragging gesture. Coordinates of the current level, the full level and the empty level on the image in a depth direction of the container may be used in calculating the proportion of the content remaining in the container.
The method may further include switching to processing another image representing another container based on a swiping gesture. The method may further include determining whether to switch to the other image based on whether absolute value of a haptic displacement associated with the swiping gesture is greater than a predetermined threshold; and determining whether to switch to a left image or switch to a right image based on whether the haptic displacement is positive or negative.
In another aspect, the method for inventory counting includes: representing a container by a virtual object displayed on a display; setting up a full level of a content on the virtual object corresponding to the content being considered full in the container by making a first haptic gesture to the display; determining a current level of the content remaining in the container on the virtual object and marking the current level by making a second haptic gesture to the display; and calculating and recording a proportion of the content remaining in the container based on the current level and the full level on the virtual object.
The virtual object may be an image of the container or a row in an item list. The method may further include adjusting width of a colored translucent box that overlays the row by a user with a haptic gesture, wherein width of the row represents the full level of the content in the container, while the width of the box represents the current level of the content remaining in the container. The row may be divided into a predetermined number of intervals, while the box may only overlay one or a plurality of the intervals within the row.
The method for inventory counting may further include updating a total amount of the content remaining in different containers in a list of items based on the amount of content remaining in each container in the list.
The method may further include setting up an empty level of the content on the virtual object corresponding to the container being considered empty of the content by making a third haptic gesture to the display, wherein coordinates of the current level, the full level and the empty level in a depth direction of the virtual object are used in calculating the proportion of the content remaining in the container.
The current level may be determined to be equal to the full level if a coordinate associated with the second haptic gesture is greater than the coordinate of the full level. The current level may be determined to be equal to the empty level if the coordinate associated with the second haptic gesture is smaller than the coordinate of the empty level.
The method may further include defining an outline on an outline layer over the virtual object when the content in the container is at the full level, filling the outline with colored pixels, and counting the number of colored pixels. The method may further include counting number of pixels below the current level within the outline. The first and second haptic gestures may include a tapping gesture or a dragging gesture.
In yet another aspect, the present patent application provides a system for inventory counting. The system includes: a display; a touch controller; a processor in communication with the touch controller; and a main controller in communication with the processor regarding haptic signals applied to the display and recorded by the touch controller. The processor is configured to represent a container by an image of the container and display the image on a display; set up a full level of a content on the image corresponding to the content being considered full in the container by a haptic gesture from a user; set up an empty level of the content on the image corresponding to the container being considered empty of the content by a haptic gesture from the user; determine a current level of the content remaining in the container on the image indicated by a haptic gesture from the user; calculate a proportion of the content remaining in the container based on the current level, the full level and the empty level on the image; and record the calculated proportion of the content remaining in the container.
The first, second, and third haptic gestures may include a tapping gesture or a dragging gesture. The processor may be configured to calculate the proportion of the content remaining in the container based on coordinates of the current level, the full level and the empty level on the image in a depth direction of the container.
The processor may be configured to switch to processing another image representing another container based on a swiping gesture. The processor may be configured to determine whether to switch to the other image based on whether absolute value of a haptic displacement associated with the swiping gesture is greater than a predetermined threshold; and to determine whether to switch to a left image or switch to a right image based on whether the haptic displacement is positive or negative.
Reference will now be made in detail to a preferred embodiment of the system and the method for inventory counting disclosed in the present patent application, examples of which are also provided in the following description. Exemplary embodiments of the system and the method for inventory counting disclosed in the present patent application are described in detail, although it will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art that some features that are not particularly important to an understanding of the system and the method for inventory counting may not be shown for the sake of clarity.
Furthermore, it should be understood that the system and the method for inventory counting disclosed in the present patent application is not limited to the precise embodiments described below and that various changes and modifications thereof may be effected by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit or scope of the protection. For example, elements and/or features of different illustrative embodiments may be combined with each other and/or substituted for each other within the scope of this disclosure.
The main controller 104 communicates with the processor 102 regarding haptic signals applied to the display 112, which are recorded by the touch controller 114. The main controller 104 includes executable instructions executed by the processor to present different elements on the display 112 based upon the processing of haptic signals.
The electronic system 100 may also include other components commonly associated with a smartphone, such as an image sensor 110, a wireless signal processor 116 and a power control circuit 118.
Two methods are provided for calculating the proportion of content remaining in a container regardless of its shape or size through the use of an electronic system. The methods are referred to as the Linear Method and the Area Method. Each method includes 2 processes: a setup process and a recording and calculating process.
The Linear Method requires that the y-coordinates of the full and empty level of the content within the container of an item be defined relative to an image of it in order to calculate its proportion.
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
The CLIL is bounded by the Full Level Value and the Empty Level Value. So when the point of contact is above and below these levels respectively (step 314), lineY will equate to these points, and CLIL will render exactly at these levels. That is, if touchY is above the Full Level Value, lineY will be set to the Full Level Value (step 324), and if touchY is below the Empty Level Value, lineY will be set to the Empty Level Value (step 326).
The Partial Count Value (proportion value of the remaining content) is obtained by taking the updated lineY and subtracting that by the Empty Level Value and dividing that by the height of the content level (Full Level Value−Empty Level Value) (step 318). The equation is as follows:
Partial Count Value=(lineY−Empty Level Value)/(Full Level Value−Empty Level Value)
At the full level, the Partial Count Value is equal to 1, while at the empty level, it is equal to 0. It is understood that the above calculation is executed by the processor 102 in
The Area Method requires that the area of the content within the container of the item at its full level be defined relative to an image of it in order to calculate its proportion.
Referring to
In the recording and calculating process of the Area Method, just like in the Linear Method, the user is presented with an image of the item. The Outline Layer saved earlier from the setup process is also retrieved from the storage 108.
Partial Count Value=Remaining Content Value/Full Content Value
The present patent application further provides embodiments of three methods of recording the count data from the user, namely the Tap and Swipe Method, the Hold and Drag Method, and the Slide Bar Method.
According to an embodiment, the Tap and Swipe Method introduces a highly efficient way of counting items. The method includes three 3 key mechanisms:
Ordering Items
The Tap & Swipe Method enables different sections to be created, wherein each section, items can be ordered the same way they are arranged in the establishment. An example of a section is the Top Shelf of the Main Bar or the Back Fridge in the Storage. Once items are ordered, they are primed for quick and efficient stock counting.
Tap (or Drag)
One gesture is all that is needed to record and calculate the Partial Count Value of an item. All the user needs to do is “tap” on the image of the item where the remaining level of the content is 814, referring to
In certain instances, referring to
Swipe
One gesture is all that is needed to move to the next item to count. Compared to conventional methods of searching through a list of items on a piece of paper or typing in an item name and searching for it on an electronic system, where multiple gestures or keystrokes are required, this method is a lot more efficient.
Swiping left will transition to the next item on the right (850 in
Since the items are ordered, all a user needs to do is stand in front of the line of items, look at the content level, tap on an image of it and swipe to the next item. This is one of the fastest ways to do serial counting of items.
Another embodiment of the present patent application allows easy inputting of not just partial counts, but also whole counts. Referring to
Referring to
The Hold and Drag method of recording the proportion of content remaining in a container is illustrated in
The Slide Bar Method offers a way to count items partially inline a List View. The aim is to improve the speed of partial counting by eliminating the need to tap into an item before doing the counting and doing as few gestures as possible.
One embodiment of this recording method includes dividing the width of the colored box by the width of the row to generate the Partial Count Value, as follows:
Partial Count Value=Colored Overlay Box Width/Row Width
The Partial Count Value is immediately added up to the Whole Count Value and the Total Count Value 1008 is updated in real-time (step 622). In other words, a total amount of the content remaining in different containers in a list of items is updated based on the amount of content remaining in each container in the list. It is understood that each row described above is a virtual object representing a container.
Another embodiment allows for 10 different values for the width of the colored box: 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9 and 1. As the finger is dragged across a row (step 604), the “right” position, and therefore the width of the box changes with the haptic contact signal, but in a way that “snaps” to the nearest interval value. In other words, the row is divided into a predetermined number (10 in this embodiment) of intervals, while the box only overlays one or a plurality of the intervals within the row. The Total Count Value 1008 also updates on each “snap”. Limiting the box's width to only 10 variations has the benefit of keeping things simpler. While this method of recording still depends on the “eyeballing” technique to judge content proportion (when it comes to counting bottles of liquid), anything more precise than a tenth of a unit is not going to be accurate anyway with this technique.
While the present patent application has been shown and described with particular references to a number of embodiments thereof, it should be noted that various other changes or modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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14111408.7 | Nov 2014 | HK | national |