JP2526286B2 - Product data reader - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a product data reading device.

[Prior Art] In supermarkets and mass retailers, for the purpose of improving work efficiency, a registration unit (mainly a scanner) that registers data of individual products and a settlement unit (mainly a scanner) that exchanges money for sales amount. Electronic cash register)
A so-called two-person system in which an operator is assigned to each is adopted.

In the two-person system, the operator of the registration department takes out the unregistered products one by one from the shopping basket when the customer brings the shopping basket containing the unregistered products to the registration department, After the attached barcode is read by the scanner, it is stored in the empty shopping cart used by the previous customer. After registration of all unregistered products is completed,
The shopping cart containing the registered merchandise is moved to the previous settlement section, and the empty shopping cart is moved to the rear of the scanner in preparation for the next customer.

On the other hand, the operator of the settlement unit presses the subtotal key when the shopping cart containing the registered merchandise is moved to the settlement unit. Then, the merchandise data registered in the previous registration unit is read and printed out from the printer, and the total amount is displayed on the display. Therefore, money is exchanged.

Therefore, in the two-person system, as described above, the amount of work in the registration unit is much larger than the amount of work in the adjustment unit, so if the registration unit and the adjustment unit are made to correspond in a 1: 1 ratio,
Since the operator of the registration unit is busy while the operator of the settlement unit is idle, there arises a problem that the overall efficiency is low.

Therefore, we reduced the number of settlement departments relative to the number of registration departments so that customers who have completed product registration at any of the registration departments can perform settlement at any payment department, usually the most expensive payment department. A system has been proposed.

In such a system, the operator of the registration unit presses the closing key after registering all the products. Then, the registered merchandise data is transmitted to the file controller together with the customer number, and the number tag on which the customer number is printed is issued from the printer.

The customer goes to an arbitrary settlement department with a number tag together with a shopping basket containing registered products.

The operator of the settlement unit receives the number tag from the customer and inputs the customer number of the number tag from the keyboard. Then
Since the product data corresponding to the customer number is transferred from the file controller, the settlement is performed based on the product data.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The conventional system has the following problems.

Since it is necessary to issue a number tag on which the customer number is printed, the registration unit must be equipped with a printer.

Since the customer has to carry the number tag passed by the registration section to the settlement section, it is troublesome and may be lost on the way.

Moreover, when receiving the number tag, if one hand holds the other, the other hand must hold a heavy shopping basket containing the registered products, so it may not be possible to hold the number tag. is there. In such a case, the number tag may be put in the shopping basket containing the registered merchandise. However, if the number tag is put in the shopping basket, it may be difficult for the settlement section to take out the number tag.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a product data reading apparatus which has been made in view of such conventional drawbacks and which enables efficient work without burdening the customer.

[Means for Solving the Problem] Normally, when a product is registered, an unregistered product is passed through the reading unit and stored in an empty shopping basket used by a previous customer. After all unregistered products have been registered, the customer goes to the settlement department with the shopping basket containing the registered products, that is, the shopping basket brought by the previous customer to the registration department.

The present invention focuses on such a flow of the shopping basket, attaches an identification code unique to the shopping basket to the shopping basket, and stores the identification code of the shopping basket used by the previous customer before registering the product. After registering the product code corresponding to the identification code, the product data is output to the storage means together with the identification code number by the closing operation.

Specifically, in the process of taking out unregistered products in the second shopping basket one by one and sequentially storing them in the first shopping basket used by the customer, the product data attached to the unregistered products Is stored in the reading storage unit by the reading unit,
In a product data reading device for outputting product data stored in the storage unit to a storage unit in response to a tightening operation, an identification code unique to the shopping basket is attached to the shopping basket, and the storage unit stores the first code in the storage unit. The first product data registration area for storing the identification code of the shopping cart and the second
And a second product data registration area for storing the identification code of the shopping basket, and the first product data is provided on condition that the identification code is stored in the first product data registration area. Means for storing the product data read by the reading unit in the registration area;
A means for storing the identification code of the second shopping basket in the second product data registration area when the identification code is input; and a means for storing the identification code in the second product data registration area when the tightening operation is performed. After outputting the identification code of the first product data registration area and the product data to the storage means on condition that the identification code is stored, the identification code of the second product data registration area is set to the first code. And a control means having a means for transferring to the product data registration area.

[Operation] When the customer brings the second shopping basket containing unregistered products to the registration section, the operator takes out the unregistered products one by one from the shopping basket and attaches them to the unregistered products. After the product data is read by the reading unit, it is stored in the first shopping basket used by the previous customer. Then the first
The product data read by the reading unit is sequentially registered in the first product data registration area on condition that the identification code of the first shopping basket used by the previous customer is stored in the product data registration area of To go.

Before performing the closing operation, the identification code of the second shopping basket is stored in the second product data registration area, and the closing operation is performed on condition that registration of all unregistered products is completed. Then, the identification code of the first product data registration area and the product data are output to the storage means, and the identification code of the second product data registration area is transferred to the first product data registration area. As a result, for the next customer, the identification code of the first shopping basket used by the previous customer is stored in the first product data registration area.

Therefore, after the registration is completed, the identification code of the shopping cart taken away by the customer and the product data of the registered products stored in the shopping cart are stored in the storage means in a corresponding state. It is possible to read the product data corresponding to the identification code of the shopping cart from the storage means based on the identification code of. Therefore, as in the past,
Since the customer does not have to carry a number tag with him, there is no burden on the customer.

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the system according to the present embodiment has a plurality of registration units A1 to An arranged at regular intervals and a plurality of registration units A1 to An arranged at regular intervals at the customer's flow direction position. It is configured to include a plurality of arranged settlement units B1 to Bn-1. Here, the number of settlement units B1 to Bn-1 is reduced by one with respect to the number of registration units A1 to An. This helps to equalize the workload.

Each of the registration units A1 to An has a second shopping basket 100A containing unregistered products and an empty first shopping basket 10 used by a previous customer.
Soccer table with space for placing 0B 10 _1-10
n and the scanner 11 ₁ fixed to the center position of the upper surface of the soccer stand 10 ₁ to 10 _n , that is, the intermediate position between the shopping baskets 100A and 100B.
It consists of ~ 11 _n . In addition, each settlement unit B1 to Bn−
1 is a soccer table 30 ₁ to 30 _n-1 having a space for placing a shopping basket 100C containing registered products whose products have been registered in any one of the registration sections A1 to An, and each of these soccer tables. The electronic cash registers 31 _{1 to} 31 _n-1 are installed at positions on one side of 30 ₁ to 30 _n-1 .

Here, in the shopping baskets 100A, B, C of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, the ID number cards 101 are integrally formed at the upper positions of the outer surfaces of both long side walls forming the rectangular peripheral wall. It is attached. On each ID number card 101, an ID number, which is an identification code unique to the shopping cart, is displayed as a bar code.

In addition, the scanners 11 _{1 to} 11 _n in the registration units A1 to _An and the electronic cash registers 31 ₁ in the settlement units B1 to Bn-1.
.About.31 _n-1 are alternately connected via the closed loop transmission circuit 8 as shown in FIG. A file controller 1 forming a storage means is connected in the middle of the closed loop transmission line 8. In the file controller 1,
A host computer 9 is connected.

FIG. 3 shows the circuit configuration of the file controller 1. In the figure, 2 is a CPU. CPU2 has
The scanners 11 _{1 to} 11 _n through the ROM 4 and the RAM 5, the transmission control circuit 6 for performing data transmission with the host computer 9 and the transmission line 8 via the address / data bus 3.
Further, the electronic cash registers 31 _{1 to} 31 _n-1 are connected to the transmission control circuit 7 for performing data transmission.

Here, the CPU 2 stores the product data including the ID number transmitted from any one of the scanners 11 _{1 to} 11 _{n in the} RAM 5 in accordance with the program stored in the ROM 4, while classifying the product data for each ID number. When there is a request to send product data containing an ID number from any of the electronic cash registers 31 _{1 to} 31 _n-1 , the product data corresponding to that ID number is read from RAM5 and the request to send that product data is sent. It has a function of transmitting to the existing electronic cash registers 31 _{1 to} 31 _n-1 .

FIG. 4 shows a circuit configuration of each of the scanners 11 _{1 to} 11 _n . In the figure, 12 is a CPU. The CPU 12 is connected to the ROM 14 via the address / data bus 13 and R as a storage unit.
AM15, reader control circuit 16, display control circuit 17, keyboard control circuit 19, transmission control circuit 20 for performing data transmission with the file controller 1 through the transmission line 8.
Are connected respectively.

The RAM 15 has a first product data registration area for storing the ID number of the first shopping cart used by the previous customer.
15A and a second product data registration area 15B for storing the ID number of the second shopping basket in which unregistered products to be registered are stored are provided. Each product data registration area 15A, 15B can store the product data of the barcode attached to the product together with the ID numbers of the shopping baskets 100A, B read by the reading unit 21.

Further, the reading section control circuit 16 is connected to a reading section 21 for optically reading a bar code by scanning light.
A display 22 is connected to the display control circuit 17. A keyboard having an end key or the like in the keyboard control circuit 19
24 are connected. These reading section 21, display 22 and keyboard 24 are arranged as shown in FIG. That is, the reading unit 21 is arranged on the front surface of the main body 25, the display 22 is arranged on one side of the upper portion of the main body 25, and the keyboard 24 is arranged on the upper portion of the main body 25, that is, above the reading unit 21. Reading unit 21, when passing through the front of the reading unit 21 along the upper surface of the checkout counter 10 ₁ to 10n shopping basket 100A, the shopping basket 100A
The ID number card 101 is mounted at a position where it can be read.

Further, the CPU 12 executes the processing of the flowchart shown in FIG. 9 according to the program stored in the ROM 14. Note that these processes will be described in detail in the section of action. Here, from the CPU 12 and the ROM 14, if the ID number of the first shopping basket used by the previous customer is stored in the first product data registration area 15A, the first product data registration area A means for storing the product data read by the reading unit 21 in the 15A, and the ID number of the second shopping basket storing the unregistered products to be registered when the reading unit 21 reads the ID number The means for storing in the second product data registration area 15B, the ID number of the second shopping cart being stored in the second product data registration area 15B when the closing operation based on the operation of the end key is performed. 1st product data registration area on condition
After transmitting the ID number of 15A and the product data to the file controller 1, I of the second product data registration area 15B is displayed.
It constitutes a control means having means for transferring the D number to the first product data registration area 15A.

FIG. 6 shows a circuit configuration of each of the electronic cash registers 31 _{1 to} 31 _n-1 . In the figure, 32 is a CPU. ROM to CPU32 via address / data bus 33
34, RAM35, keyboard control circuit 36, display control circuit 3
7, a printer control circuit 38, a drawer control circuit 39, a reading section control circuit 40, and a transmission control circuit 42 for performing data transmission with the file controller 1 through the transmission line 8.

A keyboard 51 having a subtotal key and a current total key is connected to the keyboard control circuit 36. A display 52 is connected to the display control circuit 37. A printer 53 is connected to the printer control circuit 38. A drawer 54 is connected to the drawer control circuit 39. Reader control circuit
A reading unit 55 that optically reads a bar code by scanning light is connected to 40. The keyboard 51, the display 52, the printer 53, the drawer 54 and the reading unit 55 are
They are arranged as shown. That is, the keyboard 51, the display unit 52, and the printer 53 are arranged in front of the housing 56, and the drawer 54 is arranged in the lower portion of the housing 56.
A reading unit 55 is arranged below the drawer 54. In the reading unit 55, the shopping basket 100C containing registered products is a soccer stand.
When the ID number card 101 of the shopping basket 100C is read when it is moved to the position of the reading unit 55 along the upper surface of 30 ₁ to 30 _n-1 , it is detachably attached.

Further, the CPU 32 executes the processing of the flowchart shown in FIG. 10 according to the program stored in the ROM 34. Note that these processes will be described in detail in the section of action.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 9 and 10.

First, as shown in FIG. 5, when a customer puts a second shopping basket 100A containing unregistered products on a soccer table 10 ₁ to 1 _n of _one of the registration units A ₁ to _An , the registration unit The operators A1 to An take out the unregistered products one by one from the shopping basket 100A, and pass the bar code attached to the unregistered product toward the reading unit 21 to read the product data of the bar code. After being read by the section 21, the paper is stored in the empty first shopping basket 100B used by the previous customer. Before performing the closing operation, the shopping cart 100A that had unregistered products at the time of registration
Is moved to the reading unit 21 and the ID number of the shopping basket 100A is read by the reading unit 21, and then the closing operation, that is, the end key is pressed on condition that the registration of all unregistered products is completed.

Then, the CPU 12 of each of the scanners 11 _{1 to} 11 _n executes the process according to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, in step (hereinafter abbreviated as ST) 1, the ID of an empty shopping cart used by the previous customer in the first product data registration area 15A.
Determine if there is a number. Here, I of the empty shopping cart used by the previous customer in the first product data registration area 15A
If the product data is input after judging ST2 and ST3 on condition that there is a D number, that is, the input data is recognized in ST2, and the input data is not the ID number in ST3. If it recognizes that, in ST4, after registering the product data in the first product data registration area 15A, the condition is that the end key is not pressed in ST5.
Return to T2.

Therefore, on condition that the ID number used by the previous customer is registered in the first product data registration area 15A,
As the barcodes of unregistered products are sequentially read by the reading unit 21, those product data are sequentially registered in the first product data registration area 15A.

When the ID number of the shopping basket is recognized in ST3 in the process of registering the unregistered products or when all the unregistered products are registered, that is, the unregistered products are included at the time of registration before the closing operation. The ID number of the shopping basket 100A is the reading section
When it is read in 21, it proceeds to ST6 and determines whether or not there is an ID number in the second product data registration area 15B. If there is an ID number in the second product data registration area 15B, it is processed as an error. If there is no ID number in the second product data registration area 15B, the ID number is registered in the second product data registration area 15B and the process proceeds to ST5.

In ST5, when it is recognized that the end key is pressed in the process of these processes, the process proceeds to ST8, and it is determined whether or not the second product data registration area 15B has an ID number. If there is no ID number in the second product data registration area 15B, it is processed as an error. If the second product data registration area 15B has an ID number, the process proceeds to ST9 and the first product data registration area 15A
Data, that is, product data including an ID number is transmitted to the file controller 1. As a result, the file controller 1 receives the product data including the ID number and stores it in the RAM5.
Store product data by dividing by ID number.

Then, proceed to ST10, the first product data registration area 15A
After clearing the data of, the process proceeds to ST11, the ID number of the second product data registration area 15B is transferred to the first product data registration area 15A, and then at ST12, the ID number of the second product data registration area 15B. To clear. As a result, the ID number of the empty shopping basket 100A used by the previous customer is registered in the first product data registration area 15A for the next customer.

This completes the product registration for one customer. Then
The customer carries the shopping basket 100B containing the registered merchandise and goes to an arbitrary settlement section B1 to Bn-1. On the other hand, the operators of the registration units A1 to An move the empty shopping cart 100A used by the previous customer to the position of the previous shopping cart 100B in preparation for the next customer, and wait for the next customer. If the next customer brings a shopping cart containing unregistered products, perform the same operation. In this case, since the ID number of the empty shopping basket 100A used by the previous customer has already been registered in the first product data registration area 15A, it is possible to proceed to the processing from ST2 onward through ST1.

Since the ID number is not registered in the first product data registration area 15A at the start of the registration operation, the reading unit 21 first reads the ID number of the empty shopping cart. Then
First product data registration area 15A in ST15 through ST13, ST14
Since the ID number is registered in, it is possible to proceed to the processing after ST2.

On the other hand, when the customer brings the shopping basket 100C containing the registered merchandise, the cashiers of the settlement units B1 to Bn-1 first move the shopping basket 100C to the reading unit 55, or remove the reading unit 55. Then, the reading unit 55 reads the ID number card 101 of the shopping basket 100C, and subsequently, after pressing the subtotal key, the current total key is pressed.

Then, the electronic cash register 31 _{1 to} 31 _n-1 CPU 32
Executes the process according to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, in ST21, it is recognized that there is input data, and then in ST22, when the input data is recognized as an ID number, the ID number is registered.

On the other hand, if the input data is not the ID number in ST2, it is sequentially determined in ST24 whether the subtotal key or not is the current total key. When ST24 recognizes that the key is a subtotal key, it proceeds to ST25 and determines whether the ID number is registered. If the ID number is registered, the process proceeds to ST26, and a data transmission request including the ID number is transmitted to the file controller 1, and in ST27, the product data transmitted from the file controller 1 is received in response to the transmission request. Then, after the product data received in ST28 is printed by the printer 53, the total amount of money is displayed on the display 52 in ST29. When the key is the current total key in ST30, the process proceeds to ST31 and the closing process is performed.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, in each of the registration units A1 to An, the ID number of the shopping basket used by the previous customer is registered, and the product data registered together with the ID number is transmitted to the file controller 1. , With file controller 1
File the product data for each ID number, and when there is a request to send product data including the ID number based on the ID number of the shopping basket at any settlement unit B1 to Bn-1, the ID is sent from the file controller 1. Since the product data corresponding to the number is transmitted to the settlement section B1 to Bn-1 that requested the transmission, the customer must carry the shopping cart containing the registered merchandise, that is, the shopping cart used by the previous customer. Arbitrary settlement section B1-Bn-
All you have to do is go to 1. This means that the customer does not have to have a number tag in addition to the shopping cart as in the past, so there is no burden on the customer and there is no loss of the number tag. It can be carried out.

The height at each registration unit Al-An, shopping basket 100A is when passing through the front of the reading unit 21 along the upper surface of the checkout counter 10 ₁ to 10 _n, which read the ID number card 101 of the shopping basket 100A since the reading unit 21 is disposed in a position, in the shopping basket only move along the upper surface of the checkout counter 10 ₁ to 10 _n, can read the ID number of the shopping cart. Moreover, in the shopping basket
The ID number can be read when all the unregistered products in the shopping basket are registered and emptied, and it is easy to move the shopping basket.

In each settlement unit Bl to Bn-1, when the shopping basket 100C containing the registered article is moved to a position of the reading unit 55 along the upper surface of the checkout counter 30 ₁ ~30 _n-1, the basket 100C
Since the reading unit 55 is arranged at a height position where the ID number card 101 of can be read, the ID number of the shopping basket 100C can be obtained simply by moving the shopping basket 100C along the upper surface of the soccer table 30 ₁ to 30 _n-1. Can be read. Moreover, since the reading unit 55 is detachable, when the shopping basket 100C is heavy, the reading unit 55 can be removed to read the ID number of the shopping basket 100C. That is, since it is not necessary to move the heavy shopping basket 100C, it is possible to reduce the burden on the operator.

In the above example, the ID number card 101 is used as the shopping cart 1
It is attached to 00A, B, C integrally, but as shown in FIG. 11, a pocket 102 is provided in the shopping basket 100A, B, C, and this pocket 102 is
The ID number card 101 may be inserted. However, if the ID number card 101 is still inserted in the pocket 102, it cannot be read by the reading unit 21 of the scanners 11 _{1 to} 11 _n. Read it with.

Further, as shown in FIG. 12, if the ID number is displayed as a bar code on the ID number card 101 and the ID number is also written as a number, the cashiers of the respective settlement units B1 to Bn-1 are displayed as a number. It is also possible to see the ID number and input the number from the keyboard 51.

Further, in the above embodiment, the ID number is displayed as a bar code on the ID number card 101, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the ID number may be written magnetically. In this case, each scanner 11 _{1 to} 11 _n and each electronic cash register 31 _{1 to} 31 _n-1 may be provided with a card reader for reading the ID number card magnetically written.

Further, in the above embodiment, the closed loop transmission line in which the scanners 11 _{1 to} 11 _n in each registration unit A1 to _An and the electronic cash registers 31 _{1 to} 31 _n-1 in each settlement unit B1 to Bn-1 are alternately connected. Although the file controller 1 forming the storage means is inserted in the middle of 8, the file controller 1 may be provided in each of the registration units A1 to An. In this case, when the ID numbers of the shopping carts are input in the respective settlement units B1 to Bn-1, the file controllers of the respective registration units A1 to An are sequentially read to check whether or not the corresponding ID numbers are present. The determination is made, and if there is, the product data of the corresponding ID number may be read from the file controller of the registration unit A1 to An.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the identification code of the first shopping cart used by the previous customer, that is, the shopping cart carried away by the customer after the registration is completed and the shopping cart is stored in the shopping cart. Since the product data of the registered product is stored in the storage means in a corresponding state, the product data corresponding to the identification code of the shopping cart is read from the storage means based on the identification code of the shopping basket in the settlement section, for example. Can be issued. Therefore, unlike the conventional case, the customer does not have to carry a number tag with him, so that the customer is not burdened.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 10 show an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the overall configuration, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing connections between a scanner, an electronic cash register, and a file controller, FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a file controller,
4 is a block diagram showing a scanner, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a registration unit, FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an electronic cash register, FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an integrating unit, and FIG. 8 is a shopping cart. FIG. 9 is a perspective view, FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation on the scanner side, and FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation on the electronic cash register side. FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a shopping basket showing another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 12 is a front view of an ID number card showing another embodiment of the present invention. 1 ... File controller, (storage unit), 12, 14 ... CPU and ROM (control unit) 15 ... RAM (storage unit), 15A ... First product data registration area, 15B ... Second product Data registration area, 21 …… reading section, 100A, B, C …… shopping basket, 101 …… ID number card.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. Product data attached to an unregistered product in the process of taking out unregistered products in the second shopping basket one by one and sequentially storing them in the first shopping basket used by the previous customer. In the product data reading device for storing the product data stored in the storage unit in response to a tightening operation, the product data reading device stores the product data stored in the storage unit in the storage unit. And a first product data registration area for storing the identification code of the first shopping basket and a second product data registration for storing the identification code of the second shopping basket in the storage unit. Areas are provided respectively, and are read by the reading unit in the first product data registration area on condition that the identification code is stored in the first product data registration area. Means for storing the product data, a means for storing the identification code of the second shopping basket in the second product data registration area when the identification code is input, and a means for storing the identification code when the tightening operation is performed. After outputting the identification code and the product data of the first product data registration area to the storage means on condition that the identification code is stored in the second product data registration area, the second product data A product data reading apparatus comprising: a control unit having a unit for transferring an identification code of a registration area to the first product data registration area.