Inventory system for the prevention of tobacco product theft

Abstract

A tobacco product display for monitoring inventory and aiding in theft prevention. A position sensor tracks the quantity of products on the display. A scanner, such as a barcode reader, tracks the identification of products removed from the display. A proximity and identity sensor detects authorized removal of products from the display and identifies persons removing the products. An alarm is triggered in the case of unauthorized product removal. Product inventory information is printed, sent to a network, computing device, smart phone, or similar device to alert authorized personnel of inventory reports and alarms.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61 / 682,439 filed on Aug. 13, 2012 titled “Point of Sale and Inventory System and Apparatus for the Prevention of Item Theft,” which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to the product vending and, more particularly, to an inventory and dispensation system for the prevention of tobacco product theft.BACKGROUND[0003]Cigarettes, chewing tobacco, and other tobacco products are popular items often offered for sale by convenience stores, grocery stores, and other retail outlets. Although tobacco products provide a large source of revenue to retail outlets, they are also a popular theft target due to their relatively high price and small size. Additionally, since the nicotine found in tobacco products is addictive, a strong desire to acquire such products may also promote theft. Being that tobac...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention is an article display device designed to display tobacco products. The device includes a shelf with a pair of laterally spaced dividers that define an article-receptive channel for holding cigarette packs. A slot in the shelf is in communication with the channel and a pressure bearing surface travels along the slot. A scanner at the first end of the channel detects the identification of the cigarette packs placed within the channel. A display terminal with the device displays the quantity of cigarette packs in the channel. A position sensor in communication with the pressure bearing surface detects the position of the pressure bearing surface within the channel. An identification sensor detects a person near the display device. A memory records the identification of the cigarette packs removed from the channel. An alarm triggers when a cigarette pack is removed in the absence of a proximate RFID tag. The invention also includes a computing device that records a log of each time a cigarette pack is removed from the channel. The technical effects of the invention include improved display and management of tobacco products.

Problems solved by technology

Although tobacco products provide a large source of revenue to retail outlets, they are also a popular theft target due to their relatively high price and small size.

Additionally, since the nicotine found in tobacco products is addictive, a strong desire to acquire such products may also promote theft.

Being that tobacco products are common objects of theft, the risk of lost revenue to tobacco retailers is great.

This creates a potentially large liability for store owners.

Therefore, the ever-present task of theft prevention is a burden shared by tobacco retailers.

It is estimated that up to 40% of convenience store theft is partly attributable to loss of small, yet potentially valuable, items such as tobacco products and cigarette packs.

Since packs are typically stored behind the check-out counter, away from the reach of the typical shopper, it is accepted that employee theft accounts for much of these losses.

However, when a store has thousands of individual packs of varying brands to track, the task of manually maintaining inventory from employee shift to employee shift becomes an almost insurmountable task.

Even with a relatively efficient system in place, a manual count of such a large inventory typically takes 15 to 30 minutes to complete.

With multiple employees and multiple shifts in a day, the cost incurred to pay wages attributable to inventory tracking is substantial, and may even exceed the cost of the loss prevented by such manual accounting practices.

Typical point of sale (POS) systems utilize electronic methods of inventory tracking based on information input into the POS system, but there are typically no physical measures in place that appreciably reduce theft.

Manually keeping a physical inventory is costly, time consuming, and prone to inaccuracy, yet not well suited to prevent employee theft, as tobacco displays are typically unsecured shelving units that are easily accessible by any employee.

A fully automated system, such as a vending machine, is not an appropriate solution to such a problem since the nature of tobacco products is subject to regulations regarding the age of the purchaser.

Additionally, such systems often do not give customers cash change, or at least can not provide large amounts of cash change.

Also, cigarette vending machines are illegal in some jurisdictions.

Lastly, vending machines are bulky—typically being too large for on-counter or behind-the-counter placement.

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