WO2024236647A1 - Food ordering device and food ordering system - Google Patents

Abstract

This food ordering device comprises: an encoding unit that encodes meal information of a user and generates encoded meal information; a barcode generation unit that generates a barcode that indicates the encoded meal information that is generated by the encoding unit; and a barcode output unit that outputs the barcode that is generated by the barcode generation unit.

Description

Meal ordering device, meal ordering system

The present invention relates to technology for ordering meals for patients and other users from meal ordering facilities in hospitals and other facilities.

　Conventionally, an information processing device installed at a school lunch ordering facility that orders school lunches and an information processing device installed at a school lunch supply facility that receives and prepares the school lunches are connected via a network, and a system has been proposed in which school lunches are ordered from the school lunch supply facility via a network.

JP 2019-113973 A

In the above-mentioned system, the information processing device installed at the school lunch ordering facility and the information processing device installed at the school lunch supply facility are connected via a network, so there is a possibility of network attacks from outside, and it is difficult to say that the system is secure.
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and has an object to reduce erroneous ordering of school lunches while maintaining network security.

The meal ordering device according to the present invention includes an encoding unit that encodes a user's meal information to generate encoded meal information, a barcode generating unit that generates a barcode indicating the encoded meal information generated by the encoding unit, and a barcode output unit that outputs the barcode generated by the barcode generating unit.

This allows the school meal ordering device to encode and compress the meal information to be included in the barcode, making it possible to make the barcode itself larger. In addition, because the school meal ordering device transmits meal information to the school meal company via the barcode, it is possible to keep the local network of the facility in which the school meal ordering device is installed secure.

The present invention reduces erroneous ordering of school lunches while maintaining the security of the network.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a school meal ordering system. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a meal ordering device. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a food service management device. 1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating meal information and a method for encoding the meal information. 1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating meal information and a method for encoding the meal information. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a purchase order.

The following describes an embodiment. Note that each configuration described below is merely one example for realizing the present invention. Therefore, various modifications can be made depending on the design, etc., as long as they do not deviate from the technical concept of the present invention. Furthermore, to avoid duplication, the same reference numerals may be used for configurations that have already been described, and a repeated description may be omitted.

<1. Overview of the school meal ordering system>
Fig. 1 is a diagram explaining a school meal ordering system 1. As shown in Fig. 1, the school meal ordering system 1 is a system for ordering school meals from a school meal ordering facility 2, such as a hospital, which is the source of the school meal order, to a school meal supply facility 3, which prepares the school meals.

In this embodiment, the meal ordering facility 2 is a hospital. The meal ordering facility 2 is equipped with an electronic medical record server 11, an electronic medical record terminal device 12, a meal ordering device 13, a printer 14, and a fax transmission device 15.

The electronic medical record server 11 stores the electronic medical records of patients who are hospitalized or outpatients at the meal ordering facility 2. The electronic medical records store information about the patient, such as the patient's name, age, sex, address, etc., information about the patient's illness, such as the patient's medical history, history of surgery, etc., and information about meals (food) for hospitalized patients.

One or more electronic medical record terminal devices 12 can be connected to the electronic medical record server 11 via a local network. The electronic medical record terminal device 12 is a computer including a CPU (Central Processing Unit), ROM (Read Only Memory), RAM (Random Access Memory), etc. The electronic medical record terminal device 12 is used by staff 16 at the meal ordering facility 2. The staff 16 at the meal ordering facility 2 are expected to be doctors, nurses, etc.

The electronic medical record terminal device 12 reads out the electronic medical records recorded in the electronic medical record server 11 in response to operations by the staff member 16 and displays them on the display unit, and updates the electronic medical records recorded in the electronic medical record server 11 in response to operations by the staff member 16.

The meal ordering device 13 is not connected online (through a local network) to the electronic medical record server 11 and the electronic medical record terminal device 12, and is offline. In other words, the meal ordering device 13 is a so-called stand-alone device.

The meal ordering device 13 is a computer equipped with a CPU, RAM, ROM, etc. The meal ordering device 13 is a device that generates an order form 17 for ordering meals for patients from the meal supply facility 3. A printer 14 is connected to the meal ordering device 13, and the printer 14 prints the order form 17, which is a paper medium, based on the control of the meal ordering device 13. One or more barcodes are printed on the order form 17 (see FIG. 6).
Details of the meal ordering device 13 will be described later.

The fax transmission device 15 reads the purchase order 17, generates fax data (still image data), and transmits the generated fax data by fax to the food supply facility 3.

The school meal supply facility 3 is equipped with a fax receiving device 21, a barcode reader 22, a school meal management device 23, and a school meal management server 24.

The fax receiving device 21 receives fax data sent from the food ordering facility 2 (fax transmitting device 15) and prints an order form 25 on paper based on the received fax data.

The food service management device 23 is a computer equipped with a CPU, RAM, ROM, etc., and is connected to a barcode reader 22. The food service management device 23 reads the barcode printed on the order form 25 with the barcode reader 22, and thereby obtains the food service information indicated by the barcode.
A meal management server 24 is connected to the meal management device 23 via a local network.

The school lunch management server 24 is a computer equipped with a CPU, RAM, ROM, etc. The school lunch management server 24 stores the school lunch information acquired by the school lunch management device 23.

At the school meal supply facility 3, meals are prepared based on the meal information stored in the school meal management server 24. Then, the school meal supply facility 3 provides the prepared meals to the school meal ordering facility 2.

2. Configuration of the meal ordering device 13
Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the meal ordering device 13. As shown in Fig. 2, the meal ordering device 13 includes a CPU 31, a ROM 32, a RAM 33, a storage unit 34, a display unit 35, an operation unit 36, and an interface unit 37. The respective units of the meal ordering device 13 are connected to each other via a bus 38.

The CPU 31 executes various processes according to the programs stored in the ROM 32 or the storage unit 34. The RAM 33 appropriately stores data and the like required for the CPU 31 to execute various processes.

In this embodiment, the CPU 31 functions as an encoding unit 41 , a barcode generating unit 42 , and a barcode output unit 43 .
The encoding unit 41 encodes the meal information input by the staff member 16 to obtain encoded meal information.
The barcode generation unit 42 generates a barcode based on the encoded meal information obtained by the encoding unit 41 .
The barcode output unit 43 causes the printer 14 to print the order sheet 17 showing the barcode generated by the barcode generation unit 42 .
The processes performed by the encoding unit 41, the barcode generating unit 42, and the barcode output unit 43 will be described in detail later.

The storage unit 34 is composed of a storage medium such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SSD). The storage unit 34 can store, for example, various types of information. The storage unit 34 can also be used to store program data for the CPU 31 to execute various processes.

The display unit 35 is a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, or the like, and displays various images based on the control of the CPU 31. For example, the display unit 35 displays meal information input by the staff member 16.

The operation unit 36 consists of a keyboard, mouse, touch panel, etc., and accepts input operations by the staff member 16.

The interface unit 37 is an input/output port for connecting external devices including the printer 14 .

3. Configuration of the food service management device 23
Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the school lunch management device 23. As shown in Fig. 3, the school lunch management device 23 includes a CPU 51, a ROM 52, a RAM 53, a storage unit 54, a display unit 55, an operation unit 56, a communication unit 57, and an interface unit 58. The respective units of the school lunch management device 23 are connected to each other via a bus 59.

The CPU 51 executes various processes according to programs stored in the ROM 52 or the storage unit 54. The RAM 53 appropriately stores data and the like required for the CPU 51 to execute various processes.

In this embodiment, the CPU 51 functions as an acquisition unit 61 and a decoding unit 62 .
The acquisition unit 61 acquires encoded meal information obtained by reading the barcode written on the order form 25 with the barcode reader 22 .
The decoding unit 62 obtains meal information by decoding the encoded meal information acquired by the acquisition unit 61 .
The processes performed by the acquisition unit 61 and the decryption unit 62 will be described in detail later.

The storage unit 54 is composed of a storage medium such as an HDD or SSD. The storage unit 54 can store, for example, various types of information. The storage unit 54 can also be used to store program data for the CPU 51 to execute various processes.

The display unit 55 is a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, or the like, and displays various images based on the control of the CPU 51. For example, the display unit 55 displays meal information decoded by the decoding unit 62.

The operation unit 56 is made up of a keyboard, mouse, touch panel, etc., and accepts input operations by staff 16 at the school lunch supply facility 3.

The communication unit 57 communicates with the school lunch management server 24 via wired or wireless communication.

The interface unit 58 is an input/output port for connecting external devices including the barcode reader 22 .

<4. School lunch ordering process>
Next, the meal ordering process by the meal ordering device 13 and the meal order receiving process by the meal management device 23 will be described.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are diagrams explaining the meal information and the method of encoding the meal information. As will be described in detail later, the meal information illustrated in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 will be shown in different barcodes. Therefore, the facility ID and patient ID are illustrated in both.

In the meal ordering device 13, staff 16 inputs meal information for ordering meals from the meal supply facility 3. Meal information is input for each patient.

As shown in Figures 4 and 5, the meal information includes a facility ID, a patient ID (identification information), the patient's last name, first name, sex, date of birth, type of meal, action, application date, and room. Note that the meal information is an example, and some of this information may not be included, and other information may also be included.

4, a facility ID is assigned as a unique value to each meal ordering facility 2. The facility ID is a three-digit value represented by BASE58.
Here, BASE58 is an encoding method that converts data into 58 kinds of alphanumeric characters. BASE58 uses the following alphanumeric characters: 123456789ABCDEFGHJKLMNPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijkmnopqrstuvwxyz. These alphanumeric characters exclude characters that are difficult to distinguish (for example, the number 0 and the capital letter O, the capital letter I and the lowercase letter l).
By using BASE58, it is possible to reduce erroneous determinations when a person reads or when OCR is performed.

The patient ID is assigned to each patient as a unique value and is a three-digit value represented by BASE58.
Therefore, the facility ID and patient ID are assigned values between 3364 (211 in BASE58) and 195111 (zzz in BASE58).

The patient's surname and first name can each be entered up to five characters long, although they may each be six characters or longer.
The patient's gender can be entered as male or female.
The patient's date of birth can be entered using two digits for the year and two digits for the month and day.

As shown in Figure 5, the food type indicates the type of school lunch and can be selected from several types set by the school lunch ordering facility 2 or the school lunch supply facility 3, such as regular meal 1, regular meal 2, 5-minute meal, liquid meal, diabetic meal, low-fat meal, etc.
The food type includes various information about meals such as the type of staple food, the portion size of the staple food, and the type of side dish.

The action indicates the type of procedure related to the patient's meal, such as start, change, or end.
The effective date indicates the date of the change in the meal format, i.e., the date from which the ordered meal will be applied, and in addition to the date, the meal timing can be entered. The meal timing is time information expressed as non-numerical values such as morning, afternoon, and evening.
The room is the floor and room number of the room in which the patient is admitted.

When this meal information is input by staff member 16 via operation unit 36, encoding unit 41 encodes the input meal information using the BASE58 encoding method to generate encoded meal information.

The encoding unit 41 encodes the facility ID using the BASE 58 encoding method. As shown in Fig. 4, if the facility ID is, for example, 12345 (10), the encoding unit 41 encodes it to 4fr (58).
In addition, the number in parentheses following a number or alphanumeric character indicates the base of that number or alphanumeric character. The same applies below.

The encoding unit 41 encodes the patient ID using the BASE 58 encoding method. For example, if the patient ID is 7481 (10), the encoding unit 41 encodes it into 2Cz (58).
In this way, the facility ID and the patient ID can be expressed as three-digit alphanumeric characters in base 58, and therefore have a fixed length.

The encoding unit 41 encodes the UTF-8 character code value representing the patient's first and last names using the BASE 58 encoding method. For example, if the last name is Sugano, the encoding unit 41 encodes the UTF-8 character code value representing Sugano, E88F85 E9878E (16), into 2zotUWbtZ (58).
Furthermore, if the given name is, for example, Takahiro, the encoding unit 41 encodes the UTF-8 character code value E882B4 E79A93 (16) representing Takahiro into 2znScGamG (58).

The encoding unit 41 converts the patient's gender into either 1 (10) if male or 2 (10) if female, and encodes the converted value using the BASE58 encoding method. Here, the encoding unit 41 encodes into 1 (58) if male and 2 (58) if female. Note that gender is a fixed length, as it is represented by a single digit.

The encoding unit 41 calculates the number of days elapsed from the predetermined reference date to the patient's date of birth by subtracting the predetermined reference date from the patient's date of birth. The encoding unit 41 then encodes the calculated number of days elapsed using the BASE58 encoding method.
For example, assume that the reference date is January 1, 1900, and the patient's date of birth is February 1, 2023. In this case, the encoding unit 41 subtracts January 1, 1900 from February 1, 2023 to obtain 44956 (10), which is the number of days that have passed. The encoding unit 41 then encodes 44956 (10) into EN7 (58).
Here, when the number of days elapsed is encoded using the BASE58 encoding method, approximately 500 years can be expressed as a three-digit base 58 number, so the date of birth can be treated as a fixed length of three digits.

The encoding unit 41 converts the food type into a value that is determined in advance for each type of input food type, and adds a predetermined fixed value to the converted value.
For example, the number is preset to 1 (10) for regular meal 1, 2 (10) for regular meal 2, 3 (58) for liquid meal, and 4 (10) for 5-minute meal. In addition, the fixed value is 3364 (10) so that the encoded alphanumeric characters will be three digits.

The encoding unit 41 encodes the value to which the fixed value has been added using the BASE58 encoding method.
For example, when the food type is regular food 1 (10), the encoding unit 41 adds 3364 (10) to 1 (10) to obtain 3365 (10), and converts the result into 212 (58).
Here, since multiple food types may be provided, it is conceivable that the number of food types may exceed 58. If the number of food types exceeds 58, the number of digits will not fit into one digit when encoding using the BASE58 encoding method, and the length will become variable. Therefore, here, 3364 (10) is added as a fixed value so that even if the number of food types increases, they will always be expressed as three-digit alphanumeric characters. Therefore, food types can be treated as having a fixed length.

The encoding unit 41 converts the action into a value that is predetermined for each type of input action, and encodes the converted value using the BASE58 encoding method. For example, the encoding unit 41 converts the value into 1 (58) if it is a start, 2 (58) if it is a change, and 3 (58) if it is an end. Note that the action is represented by a single digit, so it has a fixed length.

The encoding unit 41 calculates the number of days elapsed from the predetermined reference date to the date of change in the eating pattern by subtracting the predetermined reference date from the date of change in the eating pattern for the application date. Note that the reference date here may be the same as the reference date for the date of birth, or may be different.
The encoding unit 41 then triples the calculated number of days that have passed, and adds a predetermined value to the meal timing (morning, noon, evening). Here, 0 (10) is added if it is morning, 1 (10) is added if it is noon, and 2 (10) is added if it is evening.
By doing this, the added value divided by 3 becomes the number of days that have passed, and the remainder becomes the value assigned to the meal timing (morning, afternoon, evening), making it possible to treat the information obtained by adding the meal timing (morning, afternoon, evening) to the date as a single value.

For example, assume that the reference date is January 1, 2000, the date of change in meal pattern is February 1, 2023, and the change begins with lunch. In this case, the encoding unit 41 subtracts January 1, 2000 from February 1, 2023 to obtain the number of days that have passed, 8432 (10). The encoding unit 41 then multiplies the number of days that have passed, 8432 (10), by 3 and adds 1 (10) corresponding to lunch to obtain 25297 (10). The encoding unit 41 then encodes 25297 (10) into 8XA (58).
In this way, when the date of change in eating pattern plus the meal timing (morning, noon, evening) is encoded using the BASE58 encoding method, approximately 175 years can be expressed as a three-digit base 58 number depending on the setting of the base date, so the application date can be treated as a fixed length.

For the rooms, the encoding unit 41 encodes the floor using the BASE 58 encoding method, and also encodes the value obtained by adding a predetermined fixed value to the room number using the BASE 58 encoding method. As the fixed value, 3364 (10) is used so that the encoded value is a three-digit number.
For example, if the floor is the 15th floor and the room number is 1503, the encoding unit 41 converts 15 (10) into G (58). The encoding unit 41 also adds 3364 (10) to 1503 (10) to obtain 4867 (10). The encoding unit 41 then converts 4867 (10) into 2Sv (58).
As a result, the encoding unit 41 obtains G2Sv(58) as the encoded value of the room.
When the room number includes characters other than numbers, such as alphabets, a value consisting of numbers only may be associated with each room number.
In this way, a room can be expressed as a 58-base number consisting of a total of four digits, one digit indicating the floor and three digits indicating the room number, and therefore has a fixed length.

The barcode generation unit 42 generates a barcode indicating the encoded meal information encoded by the encoding unit 41. In this embodiment, the code format used is GS1-128, which can include alphanumeric characters.

The barcode generating unit 42 generates a GS1-128 barcode indicating the coded dietary information of the facility ID, patient ID, patient's surname, first name, sex, and date of birth shown in Fig. 4. At this time, the barcode generating unit 42 generates a barcode in which the coded dietary information of the facility ID, patient ID, patient's surname, first name, sex, and date of birth is arranged in order.
As described above, the encoded dietary information of the facility ID, patient ID, patient sex, and date of birth is of fixed length, whereas the patient's first and last names are of variable length, the length of which varies depending on the number of characters.
Therefore, for the coded dietary information of the patient's first and last name, which are variable length, a delimiter code of the GS1 standard may be inserted between them.

In addition, the coded dietary information of the patient's first and last name, which are variable length, may be generated as separate barcodes. In this case, the barcode generation unit 42 may generate a first barcode indicating the coded dietary information of the facility ID, patient ID, and patient's last name, a second barcode indicating the coded dietary information of the facility ID, patient ID, and patient's first name, and a third barcode indicating the coded dietary information of the facility ID, patient ID, patient's gender, and date of birth.

The barcode generating unit 42 generates a GS1-128 barcode indicating the facility ID, patient ID, food type, action, application date, and coded meal information of the room shown in Fig. 5. At this time, the barcode generating unit 42 generates a barcode in which the facility ID, patient ID, food type, action, application date, and coded meal information of the room are arranged in this order.
Furthermore, the facility ID, patient ID, food type, action, application date, and room can all be treated as fixed lengths, so even if they are arranged in order to generate a barcode, there will be no misalignment of digits when the barcode is read.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a purchase order. As shown in FIG. 6, the barcode output unit 43 causes the printer 14 to print the purchase order 17 containing the barcode generated by the barcode generation unit 42.

6, a plurality of barcodes are printed on the purchase order 17. The purchase order 17 is read by the FAX transmitter 15 and transmitted as FAX data. When the staff member 16 places the purchase order 17 in the FAX transmitter 15, or when the FAX transmitter 15 reads the purchase order 17, it is possible that the purchase order 17 will be read at an angle.
Furthermore, when the FAX receiving device 21 receives the data signal and prints it as the order sheet 25, the barcode may be distorted.

The inventor therefore verified whether the barcode on the purchase order 25 could be read by the barcode reader 22 when the FAX transmitter 15 reads the purchase order 17 without tilting it, and when the FAX transmitter 15 reads the purchase order 17 tilted by 10 degrees.

This verification showed that if the length of the barcode per digit is 3.2 mm or more, the barcode reader 22 can accurately read the barcode even if the purchase order form 17 is tilted by 10 degrees.

The barcode output unit 43 should therefore print the purchase order 17 so that the length of the barcode per digit is 3.2 mm or more. This allows the barcode reader 22 to read the purchase order 17 accurately even if it is read at an angle.

The fax receiving device 21 that receives the fax data prints the purchase order 25 based on the fax data. The acquisition unit 61 reads the barcode written on the purchase order 25 via the barcode reader 22, and acquires the encoded meal information shown in the barcode.

The decoding unit 62 obtains meal information by decoding the acquired coded meal information. The decoding unit 62 associates the meal information obtained from the multiple barcodes with each identical patient ID based on the patient ID included in the obtained meal information, and stores the meal information in the meal management server 24.

5. Modifications
Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned specific examples and can adopt various configurations.
For example, in the above embodiment, the encoding unit 41 is configured to encode the meal information using the BASE 58 encoding method. However, the encoding unit 41 may be configured to encode the meal information using another encoding method.
However, since the number of characters that can be displayed in a barcode is limited, BASE58 is useful as an encoding method that can further compress the amount of information.

In the above embodiment, the barcode generation unit 42 uses GS1-128 to generate barcodes. However, the barcode generation unit 42 may generate barcodes using other methods.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the electronic medical record terminal device 12 and the meal ordering device 13 are provided as separate devices, but the electronic medical record terminal device 12 may also be provided as the meal ordering device 13. In other words, the electronic medical record terminal device 12 may generate and print the order form 17. Even in this case, the electronic medical record server 11 and the electronic medical record terminal device 12 do not need to be connected to other networks, so the local network within the meal ordering facility 2 can be kept secure.

In the above embodiment, the fax receiving device 21 prints the purchase order 25 based on the fax data, and the barcode on the purchase order 25 is read by the barcode reader 22. However, the fax receiving device 21 may generate digital image data (still image data) based on the fax data, and the acquisition unit 61 of the food service management device 23 may acquire the encoded meal information by performing image analysis on the image data.

In the above embodiment, the acquisition unit 61 acquires the encoded meal information by reading the barcode via the barcode reader 22. However, the acquisition unit 61 may improve the accuracy of reading the encoded meal information by reading the barcode with the barcode reader 22 and also reading the alphanumeric characters written below the barcode on the purchase order 25 using OCR or the like.

In the above embodiment, the meal information includes the type of food, but the type of staple food, the amount of the staple food, and the form of a side dish may be included instead of or in addition to the type of food.

<6. Summary>
The above-mentioned school meal ordering device 13 comprises an encoding unit 41 that encodes a user's meal information to generate encoded meal information, a barcode generation unit 42 that generates a barcode indicating the encoded meal information generated by the encoding unit 41, and a barcode output unit 43 that outputs the barcode generated by the barcode generation unit 42.
This allows the meal ordering device 13 to encode and compress the meal information to be included in the barcode. This makes it possible to lengthen (enlarge) the length of the barcode per digit output by the barcode generator 42. This makes it possible to reduce barcode reading errors in the meal supply facility 3.
In addition, since the meal ordering device 13 transmits meal information to the meal supply facility 3 via barcode, the local network within the meal ordering facility 2 (the network connected to the electronic medical record server 11 and the electronic medical record terminal device 12) can be kept secure.
Thus, the meal ordering device 13 can reduce erroneous meal ordering while maintaining network security.

The barcode output unit 43 prints a barcode on a paper medium.
As a result, the school lunch ordering facility 2 will fax the order form 25 using the fax transmitting device 15, but if the order form 25 is tilted at this time, there is a risk that the barcode will become unreadable or will be read incorrectly at the school lunch supply facility 3.
Even in such cases, the school lunch ordering device 13 can increase the barcode length per digit, thereby reducing barcode reading errors at the school lunch supply facility 3.

The barcode generating unit 42 generates a plurality of barcodes, each of which includes user identification information (patient ID).
This allows the meal ordering device 13 to split the meal information into multiple barcodes and output them, making it possible to make each barcode larger. In the meal supply facility 3, the meal information shown in the multiple barcodes is associated with each other based on the patient ID.
Thus, the meal ordering device 13 can increase the barcode length per digit to reduce erroneous orders.

The meal information includes a combination of information for distinguishing meal timing (morning, noon, evening) and date information.
This makes it possible to add not only the date but also whether it is morning, afternoon or evening to the meal information (encoded meal information) for the applicable date, so that the encoded meal information can be further compressed.

The encoding unit 41 adds a fixed value to predetermined meal information (food type) and then encodes it.
This allows the meal ordering device 13 to encode specific meal information in a fixed length, eliminating the need to divide the barcode into multiple parts or to insert a delimiter code into the barcode. This makes it possible to lengthen the barcode length per digit, further reducing erroneous orders.

The meal information is encoded using an encoding method that includes alphanumeric characters.
This allows the meal ordering device 13 to reduce the number of digits in the encoded meal information when encoding the meal information. Therefore, the meal ordering device 13 can increase the barcode length per digit, further reducing erroneous orders.

The barcode output unit 43 generates the barcode in which the length of one digit of the encoded meal information is 3.2 mm or more.
This allows the barcode to be read accurately at the food service facility 3 even when the order form 25 is tilted by 10 degrees and read by the FAX transmitter 15. Thus, the food service ordering device 13 can further reduce erroneous orders.

The school meal ordering system 1 comprises a school meal ordering device 13 and a school meal management device 23. The school meal ordering device 13 comprises an encoding unit 41 that encodes a user's meal information to generate encoded meal information, a barcode generation unit 42 that generates a barcode indicating the encoded meal information generated by the encoding unit 41, and a barcode output unit 43 that outputs the barcode generated by the barcode generation unit 42. The school meal management device 23 comprises an acquisition unit 61 that acquires the encoded meal information from the barcode, and a decoding unit 62 that decodes the encoded meal information acquired by the acquisition unit 61.
The school lunch ordering system 1 configured in this way can reduce erroneous school lunch ordering while maintaining network security.

1 Meal ordering system 13 Meal ordering device 23 Meal management device 41 Encoding unit 42 Barcode generation unit 43 Barcode output unit 61 Acquisition unit 62 Decoding unit

Claims (8)

an encoding unit that encodes the dietary information of a user to generate encoded dietary information;
a barcode generating unit that generates a barcode indicating the encoded meal information generated by the encoding unit;
a barcode output unit that outputs the barcode generated by the barcode generation unit;
A school lunch ordering device comprising: The meal ordering device according to claim 1 , wherein the barcode output unit prints the barcode on a paper medium. 3. The meal ordering device according to claim 1, wherein the barcode generating unit generates a plurality of barcodes each including the user's identification information. 3. The meal ordering device according to claim 1, wherein the meal information includes a combination of information for distinguishing meal timing and date information. The meal ordering device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the encoding unit adds a fixed value to the predetermined meal information before encoding it. 3. The meal ordering device according to claim 1, wherein the meal information is encoded using an encoding method including alphanumeric characters. The meal ordering device according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the barcode output unit generates the barcode in which the length of one digit of the encoded meal information is 3.2 mm or more. A meal ordering system including a meal ordering device and a meal management device,
The meal ordering device includes:
an encoding unit that encodes the dietary information of a user to generate encoded dietary information;
a barcode generating unit that generates a barcode indicating the encoded meal information generated by the encoding unit;
a barcode output unit that outputs the barcode generated by the barcode generation unit;
Equipped with
The food service management device includes:
an acquisition unit that acquires the encoded meal information from the barcode;
a decoding unit that decodes the encoded meal information acquired by the acquisition unit;
A school lunch ordering system equipped with the above.

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