U.S. patent application number 11/907925 was filed with the patent office on 2008-02-28 for information administering system for an eating house.
Invention is credited to Satoru Goto, Takao Miyazaki, Kazuo Okoyama, Keizo Uchioke.
Application Number | 20080052174 11/907925 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 19066770 |
Filed Date | 2008-02-28 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080052174 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Miyazaki; Takao ; et
al. |
February 28, 2008 |
Information administering system for an eating house
Abstract
A customer of an eating house orders refreshments by pressing a
first touch panel provided at a customer's seat, watching a
liquid-crystal monitor on which a menu of the refreshment and an
average cooking time thereof are displayed. A cook inputs
cooking-state information with a second touch panel provided in a
kitchen when cooking is started and is completed. The cooking-state
information is displayed on the liquid-crystal monitor so that it
is possible to confirm a cooking state of the ordered refreshment.
When the ordered refreshment is untouched, the customer can cancel
or urge the refreshment by pressing the first touch panel. Upon
instructing a check with the first touch panel, the check is
printed out from a printer. The customer can order, cancel and urge
the refreshments without calling a waitperson.
Inventors: |
Miyazaki; Takao; (Saitama,
JP) ; Uchioke; Keizo; (Saitama, JP) ; Goto;
Satoru; (Saitama, JP) ; Okoyama; Kazuo;
(Saitama, JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BIRCH STEWART KOLASCH & BIRCH
PO BOX 747
FALLS CHURCH
VA
22040-0747
US
|
Family ID: |
19066770 |
Appl. No.: |
11/907925 |
Filed: |
October 18, 2007 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
10209920 |
Aug 2, 2002 |
|
|
|
11907925 |
Oct 18, 2007 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
705/15 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 20/20 20130101;
G06Q 30/06 20130101; G06Q 50/12 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/015 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 30/00 20060101
G06Q030/00; G06Q 50/00 20060101 G06Q050/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Aug 2, 2001 |
JP |
2001-235303 |
Claims
1. A system for managing information for restaurant operations,
comprising: a first terminal unit associated with a customer, the
first terminal further comprising an input module which accepts
instruction information supplied by the customer, and a display
which provides guidance information to the customer, wherein the
guidance information includes information associated with a
plurality of cooking states; and a second terminal unit associated
with a staff member and communicatively coupled to the first
terminal unit, the second terminal unit further comprising an input
module which accepts the cooking state information, and a display
module which provides the instruction information for preparing
refreshments for the customer.
2. The system according to claim 1, further comprising: a
restaurant computer communicatively coupled to the first terminal
unit and the second terminal unit, the restaurant computer further
comprising a storage device containing a plurality of databases
having information used by at least one of the first terminal and
the second terminal.
3. The system according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of
databases further comprise at least one of menu database, a food
value database, a price database, a cooking-time database, an order
information database, and a cooking state information database.
4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the first terminal unit
further comprises: a touch panel which provides an input interface
to the customer; a liquid crystal monitor which provides output
information to the customer; a processor which receives information
from the touch panel and provides information to the liquid crystal
monitor; a printer operatively coupled to the processor; and a
communication interface operatively coupled to the processor and a
network.
5. The system according to claim 1, wherein the second terminal
unit further comprises: a touch panel which provides an input
interface to the staff; a liquid crystal monitor which provides
output information to the staff; a processor which receives
information from the touch panel and provides information to the
liquid crystal monitor; a printer operatively coupled to the
processor; and a communication interface operatively coupled to the
processor and a network.
6. The system according to claim 1, wherein the instruction
information comprises at least one of a selection of a refreshment,
a quantity of a refreshment, cancellation of a selected
refreshment, and a reminder for a selected refreshment.
7. The system according to claim 1, wherein the guidance
information further comprises at least one of price information of
refreshments, menu information of refreshments, food value
information, and average cooking time information.
8. The system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of
cooking states comprises a served state, an undertaken state, and
an untouched state.
9. A method for placing restaurant orders, comprising: providing
guidance information to a customer; accepting instruction
information for at least one refreshment item from the customer;
transmitting the instruction information to a terminal associated
with a staff member; and receiving guidance information from the
terminal associated with a staff member, wherein the guidance
information includes information associated with a plurality of
cooking states.
10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the instruction
information comprises at least one of a selection of a refreshment,
a quantity of a refreshment, cancellation of a selected
refreshment, and a reminder for a selected refreshment.
11. The method according to claim 9, wherein the guidance
information further comprises at least one of price information of
refreshments, menu information of refreshments, food value
information, and average cooking time information.
12. The method according to claim 9, wherein the plurality of
cooking states comprises a served state, an undertaken state, and
an untouched state.
13. A method for fulfilling restaurant orders, comprising:
receiving instruction information from a terminal associated with a
customer; accepting guidance information from a staff member,
wherein the guidance information includes information associated
with a plurality of cooking states; and transmitting the guidance
information to the terminal associated with the customer.
14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the instruction
information comprises at least one of a selection of a refreshment,
a quantity of a refreshment, cancellation of a selected
refreshment, and a reminder for a selected refreshment.
15. The method according to claim 13, wherein the guidance
information further comprises at least one of price information of
refreshments, menu information of refreshments, food value
information, and average cooking time information.
16. The system according to claim 13, wherein the plurality of
cooking states comprises a served state, an undertaken state, and
an untouched state.
Description
[0001] This application is a Divisional of co-pending application
Ser. No. 10/209,920 filed on Aug. 2, 2002, and for which priority
is claimed under 35 U.S.C. .sctn.120; and this application claims
priority of Application No. 2001-235303 filed in Japan on Aug. 2,
2001 under 35 U.S.C. .sctn.119; the entire contents of all are
hereby incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to an information
administering system for an eating house of a restaurant or the
like.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] Conventionally, in eating houses of a restaurant or the
like, information administering systems of the POS (point-of-sale)
system and so forth are used for the purposes of shortening a
preparation time of ordered refreshments, saving labor for totaling
up sales, and efficiently managing a menu of the refreshments, for
instance. As to this kind of the information administering system
for the eating house, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No.
9-44569 teaches a system for reducing a labor and a time of a
waitperson caused by acceptance of an order and calculation of a
check. In this system, customers themselves order the refreshments
with an information terminal-unit (self POS). Further, the
customers calculate prices of the ordered refreshments by
themselves with the information terminal-unit. In the meantime,
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2000-105786 teaches
another information administering system in which it is possible to
grasp the refreshments, of which the preparation time exceeds a
predetermined value, as a delay refreshment menu. Incidentally, the
preparation time means a time spent for serving the refreshments.
In this system, a waitperson inputs data into an information
terminal-unit of a handy terminal and so forth. The data includes
order information of the refreshments ordered by a customer, and
order-receipt time data. Further, the data includes supply time
data of the ordered refreshments. The preparation time is
calculated from the order-receipt time data and the supply time
data of the ordered refreshments.
[0006] However, the above information administering systems for the
eating house do not grant an advantage to the customer, since the
purposes of the system are to save the labor of the eating house
and to improve the efficiency thereof. For example, when there are
inquiries about a cooking time of the refreshment to be ordered, a
serving time of the ordered refreshment, cancellation of the
ordered refreshment, and reminder of the ordered refreshment, there
arises a problem in that the waitperson is called at each time for
confirmation and commission.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] In view of the foregoing, it is a primary object of the
present invention to provide an information administering system
for an eating house, in which a customer can easily confirm cooking
times of refreshments to be ordered without calling a waitperson of
the eating house.
[0008] It is a second object of the present invention to provide an
information administering system for an eating house, in which a
customer can easily confirm cooking states of ordered refreshments
without calling a waitperson of the eating house.
[0009] It is a third object of the present invention to provide an
information administering system for an eating house, in which a
customer can easily cancel or urge ordered refreshments without
calling a waitperson of the eating house.
[0010] In order to achieve the above and other objects, the
information administering system according to the present invention
comprises a first information terminal-unit disposed at a
customer's seat, and a second information terminal-unit disposed at
a kitchen.
[0011] The first information terminal-unit comprises an
instruction-information inputting member by which a customer sends
instruction information to the eating house. The first information
terminal-unit also comprises a guidance displaying member by which
the eating house supplies guidance information to the customer.
[0012] The second information terminal-unit comprises an
instruction-information displaying member by which the instruction
information is displayed in the kitchen. The second information
terminal-unit also comprises a cooking-information inputting member
by which a cook inputs cooking-state information of the ordered
refreshments.
[0013] The instruction information is preferable to include at
least one of order information representing the ordered refreshment
and quantity thereof, cancellation information for canceling the
ordered refreshment, reminder information for urging the ordered
refreshment, and check information for instructing a check. In a
preferred embodiment, the first information terminal-unit has a
printer for printing out the check in response to the check
information.
[0014] The guidance information is preferable to include at least
one of menu information of the refreshments, price information
thereof, average-cooking-time information thereof, image
information thereof, food-value information thereof, and
cooking-state information thereof.
[0015] According to the present invention, it is possible to avoid
an idle waiting time so that a comfortable mealtime may be
supplied.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] The above objects and advantages of the present invention
will become apparent from the following detailed description of the
preferred embodiments of the invention when read in conjunction
with the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0017] FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing an
information administering system according to the present
invention;
[0018] FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an information terminal-unit
of a customer's seat;
[0019] FIGS. 3A and 3B are plan views respectively showing a
liquid-crystal monitor and a touch panel;
[0020] FIG. 4 is a flow chart explaining an operation of the
information administering system; and
[0021] FIG. 5 is a block diagram schematically showing an
information administering system of a second embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)
[0022] FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing an
information administering system 10 according to the present
invention. The information administering system 10 is constituted
of a seat-side information terminal-unit 11 disposed at a
customer's seat, a kitchen-side information terminal-unit 12
disposed at a kitchen, a restaurant computer 13, a register 14 and
so forth, which are connected via a network 15.
[0023] The seat-side information terminal-unit 11 includes a CPU
20, a touch panel 21, a liquid-crystal monitor 22, a printer 23, a
communication I/F 24. The touch panel 21, the liquid-crystal
monitor 22 and the printer 23 are unified (see FIG. 2). As shown in
FIGS. 3A and 3B, the liquid-crystal monitor 22 displays guidance
information supplied from an eating house to a customer. The
guidance information is inputted from the restaurant computer 13
via the network 15 connected to the communication I/F 24. The
guidance information includes price information 25 of refreshments,
menu information 26 thereof, food-value information 27,
cooking-state information 28, and average-cooking-time information
29.
[0024] The customer inputs instruction information by pressing any
of an order-button area 31, a withdrawal-button area 32, a
decision-button area 33, a cancel-button area 34, a reminder-button
area 35, an additional-order-button area 36, and a check-button
area 37, which are displayed on the touch panel 21 in accordance
with the guidance information. The inputted instruction information
is transferred to the restaurant computer 13 via the network
15.
[0025] In the drawings, the sole terminal unit 11 is merely shown.
However, the terminal unit 11 is disposed at each seat one by one.
A proper number of the terminal units 11 are arranged in accordance
with a seat number of the eating house.
[0026] In FIG. 1, the kitchen-side information terminal-unit 12
includes a CPU 40, a touch panel 41, a liquid-crystal monitor 42,
and a communication I/F 44. The touch panel 41 and the
liquid-crystal monitor 42 are unified. The liquid-crystal monitor
42 displays order information and reminder information, which are
inputted from the restaurant computer 13 and are described later. A
cook prepares the refreshments on the basis of the order
information displayed on the liquid-crystal monitor 42. At this
time, the cook inputs cooking start information with the touch
panel 41 when starting the preparation of the refreshments.
Further, the cook inputs cooking completion information with the
touch panel 41 when completing the preparation of the refreshments.
The above information are respectively transferred to the
restaurant computer 13 via the network 15 connected to the
communication I/F 44.
[0027] The restaurant computer 13 totally controls the whole of the
information administering system 10, and is constituted of a CPU
50, a storage device 51, a timer section 52, a communication I/F 54
and so forth. In the storage device 51, are constructed a menu
database 55, a food-value database 56, a price database 57, a
cooking-time database 58, an order information database 59, and a
cooking-state information database 60.
[0028] The menu database 55 stores the menu information 26
including image pictures of the respective refreshments. The price
database 57 stores the price information of the respective
refreshments. The CPU 50 transmits the menu information 26 and the
price information to the seat-side information terminal-unit 11 via
the network 15 when the customer selects the refreshments. The
food-value database 56 stores the food-value information 27 of the
respective refreshments. The CPU 50 transmits the food-value
information 27 of the selected refreshment to the seat-side
information terminal-unit 11 via the network 15.
[0029] The cooking-time database 58 stores the cooking time of the
respective refreshments. The cooking time is measured by the timer
section 52 on the basis of a cooking start signal and a cooking
completion signal, which are inputted from the kitchen-side
information terminal-unit 12. The measured cooking time is
accumulated in the cooking-time database 58 one after another. From
measured values of the cooking time of each refreshment, the CPU 50
calculates the average cooking time of the refreshment selected by
the customer. The calculated average cooking time is transmitted to
the seat-side information terminal-unit 11 via the network 15 as
the average-cooking-time information 29.
[0030] The order information database 59 stores the ordered
refreshments, quantities thereof and so forth as the order
information of the respective terminal units 11. The CPU 50
transmits the order information to the kitchen-side information
terminal-unit 12 via the network 15.
[0031] The cooking-state information database 60 stores the
cooking-state information 28 representing the cooking state of the
ordered refreshment. Concretely, the cooking-state information 28
represents any of "served (cooked)" state, "undertaken (in
cooking)" state, and "untouched" state. The cooking state of the
refreshment is determined by judging whether the cooking start
information and the cooking completion information are inputted or
not from the kitchen-side information terminal-unit 12. The CPU 50
transmits the cooking-state information 28 to the seat-side
information terminal-units 11.
[0032] As shown in FIG. 3B, the liquid-crystal monitor 22 of the
seat-side information terminal-unit 11 notifies any state of the
refreshment, which is one of the "served" state, the "undertaken"
state, and the "untouched" state, to the customer by marking one of
indication regions 28a to 28c in accordance with the cooking-state
information 28. When the refreshment is in the "untouched" state,
the cancel-button area 34 and the reminder-button area 35 are
displayed on the touch panel 21 so that it is possible to input the
instruction information for cancelling or urging the
refreshment.
[0033] Upon pressing the cancel-button area 34, the instruction
information of cancellation is transmitted to the restaurant
computer 13. In response to this, the CPU 50 sends the order
information representing that the refreshment is canceled, to the
kitchen-side information terminal-unit 12. At the same time, the
CPU 50 deletes the refreshment data from the order information
database 59 and the cooking-state information database 60.
Meanwhile, upon pressing the reminder-button area 35, the
instruction information of reminder is transmitted to the
restaurant computer 13. In response to this, the CPU 50 sends the
reminder information representing that the refreshment is urged, to
the kitchen-side information terminal-unit 12.
[0034] Upon pressing the check-button area 37, the instruction
information of a check is transmitted to the restaurant computer
13. In response to this, the CPU 50 makes up print data of the
check on the basis of the order information stored in the order
information database 59. The print data is transmitted to the
seat-side information terminal-unit 11. In accordance with the
print data, the seat-side information terminal-unit 11 prints out
the check from the printer 23. The customer brings the check to the
register 14 to pay it. After the customer completes the payment at
the register 14, the CPU 50 deletes the order information and the
cooking-state information of the refreshments, which are ordered
from the seat-side information terminal-unit 11 used by the
customer having paid the check, from the order information database
59 and the cooking-state information database 60.
[0035] Successively, an operation of the above structure is
described below, referring to a flow chart shown in FIG. 4. At the
outset, the customer selects the refreshment from the menu
displayed on the seat-side information terminal-unit 11. Upon
selection of the refreshment, the liquid-crystal monitor 22
displays the menu information 26 of the selected refreshment, the
food-value information 27 thereof, and the average-cooking-time
information 29 thereof (see FIG. 3A).
[0036] After selecting a quantity of the ordered refreshment with a
quantity selection region 31a, the customer presses the
order-button area 31 to determine the order. If there is the
refreshment to be additionally ordered, the above operation is
repeated. In this case, the food values of all of the ordered
refreshments are totaled up to display total-food-value information
at a lower portion of the picture. After completing the selection
of the refreshments to be ordered, the decision-button area 33 is
pressed.
[0037] When the decision-button area 33 is pressed, the instruction
information of the order is transmitted from the seat-side
information terminal-unit 11 to the restaurant computer 13. On the
basis of the instruction information of the order, the restaurant
computer 13 transmits the order information to the kitchen-side
information terminal-unit 12. At the same time, the restaurant
computer 13 transmits the cooking-state information to the
seat-side information terminal-unit 11. The liquid-crystal monitor
22 of the seat-side information terminal-unit 11 displays the
cooking-state information (see FIG. 3B). In this way, it is
possible to order the refreshments without calling a waitperson of
the eating house.
[0038] When the ordered refreshments are in the served state or in
the undertaken state, the liquid-crystal monitor 22 displays only
the additional-order-button area 36 and the check-button area 37.
If the additional-order-button area 36 is pressed, the menu of the
refreshments is displayed again on the liquid-crystal monitor 22 so
that it becomes possible to order the refreshment similarly to the
above. Meanwhile, when the ordered refreshments are in the
untouched state, the liquid-crystal monitor 22 displays the
cancel-button area 34 and the reminder-button area 35 as well.
[0039] When canceling the ordered refreshment, the cancel-button
area 34 is pressed. Owing to this, the instruction information of
the cancellation is transmitted to the restaurant computer 13 by
which the cancel information of the ordered refreshment is
transmitted to the kitchen-side information terminal-unit 12. At
the same time, the data corresponding to the canceled refreshment
is deleted from the order information database 59 and the
cooking-state information database 60.
[0040] The reminder-button area 35 is pressed when urging the
ordered refreshment. Upon this, the instruction information of
reminder is transmitted to the restaurant computer 13 by which the
reminder information that the ordered refreshment is urged is
transmitted to the kitchen-side information terminal-unit 12. In
this way, it is possible to cancel or urge the ordered refreshment
without calling the waitperson of the eating house.
[0041] When the customer presses the check-button area 37 after
having the meal, the instruction information of the check is
transmitted to the restaurant computer 13. On the basis of the
order information stored in the order information database 59, the
restaurant computer 13 makes up the print data of the check and
transfers it to the seat-side information-terminal unit 11. The
printer 23 of the seat-side information terminal-unit 11 prints out
the check on the basis of the print data.
[0042] The customer brings the check to the register 14 to make the
payment. After the payment has been completed, the order
information and the cooking-state information of the refreshments,
which are ordered from the seat-side information terminal-unit 11
used by the customer having paid the check, are deleted from the
order information database 59 and the cooking-state information
database 60. Even if the refreshments are additionally ordered, it
is prevented to issue plural checks so that a checking process is
simplified.
[0043] In the above embodiment, the refreshments are ordered from
the seat-side information terminal-unit disposed at the customer's
seat. However, as shown in FIG. 5, the information administering
system 10 may be connected to the Internet 66 via a provider 65. In
doing so, the instruction of the order and so forth is performed
with a cellular phone 67 via the Internet 66, instead of the
seat-side information terminal-unit. In addition, the guidance may
be given from the eating house to the customer via the Internet 66.
In this case, an operation key 68 of the cellular phone 67 is used
for inputting the instruction information. Besides the cellular
phone, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) and a personal computer
may be used if it is possible to connect these apparatuses to the
Internet 66.
[0044] Although the present invention has been fully described by
way of the preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the
accompanying drawings, various changes and modifications will be
apparent to those having skill in this field. Therefore, unless
otherwise these changes and modifications depart from the scope of
the present invention, they should be construed as included
therein.
* * * * *