KR19990009668A - How to provide product information from the cash register - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a method for providing product information of a cash register that enables a customer to provide information about the product by using a communication function of the cash register when a customer requests information about a certain product. There is a purpose.

Product information providing method of the cash register of the present invention for achieving the above object is connected to the mutual communication means in the cash register that can communicate with other terminals, receive information about the product in the program mode and store in the corresponding memory Doing; Reading information of a product desired to be provided from the memory when a product information providing command is received; Determining whether a communication connection with the terminal to receive the read information is established; And if the communication connection is successful, transmitting the information to the terminal.

Description

How to provide product information from the cash register

The present invention relates to a method for providing product information of a cash register, and more particularly, when a customer requests information about a product, the information on the product is provided to the customer's computer or fax using a communication function of the cash register. The present invention relates to a method of providing product information of a cash register.

In general, a cash register refers to a device used to facilitate information management by processing various data accompanying product sales and informing a user of a result. And point of sales (POS) systems that can comprehensively manage the distribution economy, such as inventory and inventory research. Hereinafter, in the present specification, the term ECR (Electronic Cash Register), which means an electronic cash register controlled by a microprocessor, is used as a broad concept including a low-end cash register to a POS terminal.

In a store equipped with a cash register as described above, a customer may request information on a certain product using a communication medium. In this case, a clerk makes a document and provides it by mail or fax. Therefore, it is time-consuming and complicated procedure because it is necessary to investigate and directly prepare the documents.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and when the customer requests information about a certain product, it is possible to provide information about the product to the customer's computer or fax using the communication function of the cash register. The purpose is to provide a product information providing method of the cash register.

Product information providing method of the cash register of the present invention for achieving the above object is connected to the mutual communication means in the cash register that can communicate with other terminals, receive information about the product in the program mode and store in the corresponding memory Doing; Reading information of a product desired to be provided from the memory when a product information providing command is received; Determining whether a communication connection with the terminal to receive the read information is established; And if the communication connection is successful, transmitting the information to the terminal.

1 is a system block diagram of a cash register to which the method of the present invention is applied;

2 is a key configuration diagram illustrating an example of a key input unit in FIG. 1;

3 is a flowchart for explaining a product information providing method of the cash register of the present invention;

4 is an exemplary diagram of a product information table stored in a memory after the product information input process of FIG. 3 operates.

*** Explanation of symbols for main parts of drawing ***

20. key input, 23. function key group,

23a. Enter product information key, 23b. Product information key,

23c. 50. RS-232C controller

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail the product information providing method of the cash register according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

1 is a system block diagram of a cash register to which the method of the present invention is applied. As shown in the figure, the ECR system to which the method of the present invention is applied receives and key-scans the key input unit 20 and the key input unit 20 for generating a mode designation signal and various key codes for money registration of the system. It designates the mode of the ECR according to the key code, and stores various data including the central processing unit 10 for performing various functions in the designated mode, the ROM 30 in which the system operation program is embedded, and the deposit and withdrawal details. RAM 40, RS-232C (communication protocol adopted by IBM PC to operate data communication in an efficient way), control unit 50, central processing unit 10 Under a control of the display unit 60 and the central processing unit 10 to display various information related to money transactions, etc. The power supply unit supplies power to the printer 70, the buzzer circuit unit 80 that alarms an error condition, and the entire system, and supplies power by a backup battery in case of a power failure to preserve data stored in the RAM 40 ( 90).

FIG. 2 is a key configuration diagram illustrating an example of a key input unit in FIG. 1. As shown in the figure, the key configuration of the key input unit 20 of the ECR to which the method of the present invention is applied is variously provided in the mode switch 21 and the ECR used to designate a desired operation mode among various operations of the ECR. Among the functions, a function key group 23 used to execute a desired function, an item key group 25 used to designate a desired item, and a numeric key group used to input a price or a corresponding numeric code of various items (27) ) The function key group 23 described above uses the 'product information input' key 23a used to receive the corresponding information for each item, the 'product information inquiry' key 23b and the product information used to search the product information. It may be configured to include a 'provide product information' key 23c used to provide to the customer.

3 is a flowchart for explaining a product information providing method of the cash register of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the method of the present invention is a product information input process consisting of steps S100 to S106, a product information inquiry process consisting of steps S110 to S114, and steps S120 to It is made of a product information providing process consisting of a step (S134).

First, referring to the product information input process, in step S100 it is determined whether the operation mode of the ECR is switched to the program mode that is a mode for inputting the product information. If the operation mode of the ECR is not the program mode in step S100, the process proceeds to step S101 to perform a function of the corresponding mode. If the operation mode of the ECR is the program mode, the flow proceeds to step S102. It is determined whether there is an input of the 'product information input' key 23a for switching to the product information input program mode for inputting information on the. If there is an input of the 'product information input' key 23a as a result of the determination in step S102, the flow proceeds to step S104 where the product number or key code value is input and information on the received product, for example, a product Price, color, size, weight, manufacturer… After receiving the input to proceed to step S106 to store the information about the product received in step S104 in the memory. In this way, the corresponding information is received for all items and stored in the corresponding memory.

Subsequently, a description will be given of a product information inquiry process in which a user can inquire information on a product received in the product information input process. First, in step S110, it is determined whether there is an input of the 'product information inquiry' key 23b for the product information inquiry. As a result of the determination in step S110, if there is an input of the 'information information inquiry' key 23b, the process proceeds to step S112, in which the user receives the product number or key code value of the product to be viewed and receives the product information on the received product. Read from the memory. In the next step S114, the product information read in the step S112 is displayed or printed and shown to the user.

When a request for providing product information is received from a customer, the product information is provided to the customer. After that, the process of providing product information will be described. First, in step S120, it is determined whether there is an input of the 'product information provision' key 23c for the product information provision. If there is no input of the 'provide product information' key 23c as a result of the determination in step S120, the process proceeds to step S121 and performs a corresponding function, and if there is an input of the 'provide product information' key 23c. In step S122, the customer inputs a desired product number or key code value and reads product information on the input product from the corresponding memory. In the next step (S124) to display or print the product information read in the step (S122) to the user to confirm the information, proceed to step (S126) to provide the product information when the input of the receiving party's access telephone number is It is determined whether it is within a predetermined period of time. As a result of the determination in step S126, if there is no input of the access telephone number to be received within a certain period, the process proceeds to step S127 to output an error occurrence, and if there is an input of the access telephone number to be received within a predetermined period, the step ( The process proceeds to S128 and the access telephone number of the receiver side received in step S126 is exported to the communication port. In the next step S130, the received data, that is, the connection attempt result data in step S128 is read from the communication buffer. In step S132, the received data read in step S130 is 'ACK (ACKnowledge character: transmission control character sent as a positive response from the receiver to the transmitter when it is ready to receive a message from the transmitter)' Judge the perception. If the reception data is not 'ACK' as a result of the determination in step S132, that is, when the connection is failed because the terminal of the client who attempts to connect is not ready for data transmission and reception, the flow proceeds to step S133 and the communication fails. Inform the user by printing a message. At this time, an alarm sound may be generated. If the received data is 'ACK' as a result of the determination in step S132, the connection is successfully established. In this case, the process proceeds to step S134 and the information of the corresponding product is sent to the communication pod.

Furthermore, the product information inquiry process and the product information process may be operated in other modes such as a registration mode.

4 is an exemplary diagram of a product information table stored in a memory after the product information input process of FIG. 3 operates. As shown in this figure, the product information table includes information on the product, for example, the price, color, size, weight, manufacturer of the product. Is stored.

The method for providing topform information of the cash register of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be modified in various ways within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention.

According to the method for providing product information of the cash register according to the present invention as described above, when a customer requests information about a product, the information about the product is provided to the customer's computer or fax using the communication function of the cash register. By making it possible, information can be communicated quickly and the procedure is simplified.

Claims (1)

In the cash register which is connected by mutual communication means and can communicate with other terminals, Receiving information about a product in a program mode and storing the received information in a corresponding memory; Reading information of a product desired to be provided from the memory when a product information providing command is received; Determining whether a communication connection with the terminal to receive the read information is established; And And if the communication connection is successful, transmitting the information to the terminal.