WO2001069553A1

WO2001069553A1 - Automatic vending system and method

Info

Publication number: WO2001069553A1
Application number: PCT/KR2000/000845
Authority: WO
Inventors: Young Woo Rhee
Original assignee: Midas Korea Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2000-03-15
Filing date: 2000-08-02
Publication date: 2001-09-20
Also published as: AU6187800A; WO2001069554A1; KR100375126B1; KR20010091853A; WO2001069552A1; AU6187700A; KR100439254B1; KR100334613B1; KR20010091845A; KR20010091846A; AU6736800A

Abstract

An automatic vending system having at least more than one product discharging unit to automatically sell a variety of goods, the system including: a card issuing unit for automatically issuing a personal ID card to distinguish one purchaser from another; an order inputting unit having a product ordering window to enable the purchaser to input his or her list of ordering goods and a first card scanner to read out the ID information stored on the ID card and simultaneously save his or her list of ordering items input at the product ordering window; a charge estimating unit having a second card scanner to read the ID card, a product displaying unit to list up the selected and ordered goods after the ID card has been successfully read by the second card scanner and a payment approving window to make sure of the charge estimated on the finally selected goods by using the displaying unit; and a product sales controlling unit constructed with a data base of ID card's ID information and product' ID data to be used in the process of orders and sales for controlling to discharge out the ordered goods through a product discharging outlet of the product discharging unit.

Description

TITLE OF THE INVENTION

AUTOMATIC VENDING SYSTEM AND METHOD

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an automatic vending system and method and more particularly to an automatic vending system and method capable of automatically selling a variety of neither regulated nor uniformly shaped groceries or industrial products.

DESCRI PTION OF THE RELATED ART

In general, an automatic vending machine is identified as an apparatus for automatically selling specific products without a sales person in charge. However, such a conventional automatic vending machine has a certain limitation in the type of goods to sell, in other words, only to be restπctively used for a small number of regulated products like cupped beverages, canned drinks or packed cigarettes. Therefore, there is a problem in the conventional automatic vending machine in that the vending machine can not be used for selling not-uniformly shaped or packed products like vegetables, fruits and so on.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, the present invention is disclosed to solve the aforementioned problems and it is an object of the invention to provide an automatic vending system and method to sell neither regulated nor uniformly shaped products without any sales person present on the spot.

In order to accomplish the aforementioned object of the present invention, there is provided an automatic vending system having at least more than one product discharging unit to automatically sell a variety of goods, the system including: a card issuing unit for automatically issuing a personal ID card to distinguish one purchaser from another; an order inputting unit having a product ordering window to enable the purchaser to input his or her list of ordering goods and a first card scanner to read out the unique I D data stored on the I D card and simultaneously save his or her list of ordering items inputted at the product ordering window; a charge estimating unit having a second card scanner to read out the ID card, a product displaying unit to list up the selected and ordered goods after the

I D card has been successfully read by the second card scanner and a payment approving window to make sure of the charge estimated on the final ly selected goods by using the displaying unit; and a product sales controlling unit constructed with a data base of ID card holders' information and products' ID data to be used in the process of orders and sales for controlling to discharge out the ordered goods through a product discharging outlet of the product discharging unit.

Also, it is preferable that the product sales controlling unit of the automatic vending system should control the release of the ordered goods through the product discharging outlet after the ID card has been returned to the card holder through a card returning slot formed at the front panel of the product discharging unit

In order to accomplish the aforementioned object of the present invention, there is also provided a method for automatically selling products with the automatic vending system having a product discharging unit to supply a variety of products, the method including the steps of: automatically issuing an I D card to a purchaser for identification; letting the purchaser input a list of the purchaser's ordering goods; reading out the I D card's unique ID information and save the list of the purchaser's ordering goods at the same time; reading out the ID card again to display and finalize the list of ordered goods; estimating and approving the total payment for the ordered goods; letting the ID card returned from the purchaser; discharging out the ordered products to the purchaser after making sure of that the ID card has been returned.

In order to accomplish the aforementioned object of the present invention, there is also provided another method for automatical ly selling products in the automatic vending system having a product discharging unit to supply a variety of products, the method including the steps of: getting a list of ordering goods input by a purchaser; reading out the I D card's unique I D information and save the purchaser's l ist of ordering goods at the same time; reading out the I D card again to display and finalize the l ist of ordered goods; estimating and approving the total cost for the ordered goods; and discharging out the ordered goods to the purchaser.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a conceptual block diagram of an automatic vending system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram for illustrating the relationship between a product ordering window and an order controlling unit shown in FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 3a is a perspective view for illustrating a product discharging unit of an automatic vending system in the present invention; FIG. 3b is a perspective view for illustrating an E-type display column of the product discharging unit shown in FIG. 3a;

FIG. 4 is a conceptual block diagram for illustrating a network of display columns of product discharging unit, conveyers, auto-packing unit and host computer 1;

FIG 5 is a timing chart for illustrating the sequence of discharging, transporting and packing goods in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG 6 is a flow chart for illustrating the whole sequence of ordering through packing goods in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a block diagram for illustrating the network between product ordering/ charge estimating units and host computer in accordance with the other embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRI PTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Now, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual block diagram for illustrating an automatic vending system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention The system includes a host computer forms a network with client computers 10a, 10b, 10c, lOd for a card issuing unit 16, an order inputting unit 17, a payment approving unit 18 and a product discharging unit 19 The host computer 1 forms a local area network (LAN) along with the client computers 10a, 10b, 10c, lOd through hubs. On the other hand, client computers 10a, 10b, 10c, lOd, hubs and the host computer 1 are made into a group of product sales controlling units Also, the total networking system constructed in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention includes TCP/IP communication protocol under an ethernet base. However, it should be noted that, even if this specific architecture is constructed with an ethernet-based network, those skilled in the art recognize that the invention can be practiced with modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

The host computer 1 is constructed with a data base which sequentially stores up purchasers' RF-IC card numbers, selling goods and other shopping related data like shopping time. The host computer 1 transmits and receives control signals through the client computers 10a, 10b, 10c, lOd connected with card issuing unit 16, order inputting unit 17, payment approving unit 18 and product discharging unit 19. In the drawings, it can be noted that the client computers 10a, 10b, 10c, lOd are connected at every parts of the system for convenient descriptions of the invention, but the card issuing unit 16 and the charge estimating unit may be connected to a single client computer Besides, even if the order inputting unit 17 is shown to have four product ordering windows, the number of the product ordering windows may be even greater At this time, the client computer 10b can be additionally connected with the order inputting unit 17.

The card issuing unit 16 is a machine to make an identification card to each client when he or she visits to a shopping area where an automatic vending system is installed. In the embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a RF-IC card issuing unit. On the other hand, members or non members can be differentiated, and the members can purchase goods with the personally available RF-IC cards. Thus, the card holding purchasers do not need to get their membership RF-IC cards issued over again by the card issuing unit 16 The RF-IC card is non-contact type retaining its own memory capacity of 1 KB Also, the RF-IC card is passive type, not requiring any battery, but usable about 100,000 times and, characteristically, recognizable at both directions The RF IC card is preferably designed to have a sensing distance of less than 10cm, assign a unique ID to each purchaser and control his or her personal purchases under the RF-IC card. In other words, a purchaser is differentiated with the RF IC card issued by the card issuing unit, making an order of goods and approving his or her payment for the purchased goods. On the other hand, the card issuing unit 16 is constructed with a card issuing button 16a and a card releasing opening 16b In other words, the card issuing unit 16 is made to release out an RF- IC card to a purchaser when he or she pushes the card issuing button 16a In order to directly control the operations of issuing cards, there is also a card issuance controlling unit 12 having an ethernet module which communicates with the cl ient computer 10a On the other hand, the controlling unit 12 is mounted at a predetermined position of the card issuing unit 16.

The order inputting unit 17 is constructed with product ordering windows 17a respectively having the first card scanners 17b to which all the relevant information on a purchaser's RF-IC card and his or her ordered products can be inputted The purchaser, who has taken a RF-IC card issued from the card issuing unit 16, selects his or her desired goods on the product ordering windows 17a by one-touch screen method. After the purchaser selects desired goods at the product ordering windows 17a, the RF-IC card may be scanned by the first card scanners 17b The data regarding a purchaser's ID information and his or her ordered goods inputted as described above wi ll be transmitted to the host computer 1 , which continuously stores up all the information related to purchaser's ID and a list of ordered goods at the ordering data base

FIG. 2 is a block diagram for illustrating the relationship between the product ordering windows 17 and the order controlling unit 13, which controls functions of displaying goods on sales at the product ordering windows 17, scanning RF- IC cards and operating the touch screens. As shown in FIG 2, the order control ling unit 13 is constructed with a display controll ing part 201 , a COM l port 204 to read out the RF-IC card 202 and a COM2 port 203 to control the touch screen function and the ethernet module 204 to communicate with the client computer 10b. On the other hand, the control unit 13 is mounted at a predetermined position of the product ordering window 17. The charge estimating unit 18 is means for approving charges of all the ordered goods. As shown in FIG. 1 , a second card scanner 18b is formed at the front side of the charge estimating unit 18 to read out the RF-IC card When a purchaser allows his or her RF-IC card to be scanned by the second card scanner 18b, the host computer 1 outputs the information on the purchaser, the card holder of the RF-IC card and data relating to a list of the ordered goods, and transmits them to the client computer 10c connected with the charge estimating unit 18 Then, the client computer 10c displays all the aforementioned information and data on the displaying screen 18a of the charge estimating unit 18 On the other hand, a canceling button is also provided on the charge estimating unit 18 for canceling out any undesired goods Whenever the canceling button is pressed, all the changes of the data will be transmitted to the ordering data base to directly update information on purchaser's orders

In addition, a payment approving window 18c is provided in the front side of the charge estimating unit 18, so that it is possible to prove all the charges on the ordered goods through the payment approving window 18c. The payment approving window 18c includes not only the conventional coin and bill inputting slots, but also a credit card approving system in which payment may be made with any personal credit card.

On the other hand, the charge estimating unit 18 is constructed with an additional function of providing a quick service, with which a purchaser can directly purchase goods without going through the steps associated with the order inputting unit 17. In other words, a unique ID is imposed to each goods to be sold by the automatic vending system. A handbook may be provided for purchasers with a list of goods labeled with unique I D numbers and relevant information ahead of time Consequently, purchasers can directly input the ID numbers of their desired goods to the charge estimating unit 18 to make a quick order. At this time, a simple type key board or touch screen can be used as inputting means.

Besides, there is also a purchase statement slot (not shown) formed for discharging out a sheet of purchase statement on which a list of ordered goods and their prices will be printed. In order to allow a purchaser to receive his or her ordered goods, it is necessary to let the purchaser know which outlets of a product discharging unit 19 will be utilized to discharge out the ordered goods Therefore, information on a position of the product discharging unit 19, through which the ordered goods will be discharged out, will be notified by the purchase statement slot and the displaying screen 18a.

On the other hand, the charge estimating unit 18 also includes a charge estimation controlling unit 14 installed at its predetermined position for controlling some functions, such as displaying a list of ordered goods and relevant price on the displaying screen 18a, reading the RF-IC card and approving the payment of all ordered goods. The charge estimation controlling unit 14 communicates with a client computer via an internally installed ethernet module.

The product discharging unit 19 is constructed with a pair of product discharging outlets 19a on its front panel and card returning slots 19b next to the product discharging outlets 19a. Before completing the purchase of ordered goods, the RF-IC card should be returned through a card returning slot 19b. Only after the RF-IC card is returned through the card returning slot 19b, the system is designed to start all the functions of selecting, transporting and discharging out the goods.

On the other hand, an apparatus of differentiating each card holder's I D of the RF-IC card is provided at the card returning slot 19b, so that the ID data of a member's card will be identified and the member's card is out by the card returning slot 19b. In addition to the card returning slot 19b, there may be an exclusive membership card scanner installed at a predetermined position close to the product discharging outlet, so that a member purchaser can scan his or her membership card at the exclusive membership card scanner to allow the ordered goods to start to be selected, transported and discharged out A product supply controlling unit 15 is also installed at a predetermined position of the product discharging unit 19 for controlling the start of functions of selecting, transporting and discharging out the ordered goods and returning the membership card. On the other hand, the product supply control unit 15 also communicates with a client computer via an internal ethernet module.

As described above, the controlling units 12, 13, 14, 15 are networked with the host computer 1 by client computers 10a, 10b, 10c, lOd, which have played a role as connections. However, client computers and control units are respectively constructed as unified embedded systems to make into controlling client modules and respectively mounted over all units 16, 17, 18, 19 Therefore, it is preferable that the embedded systems should be directly networked with the host computer 1 through the hub. The embedded systems are small, but useful for not only communications, but also all other general functions as computers.

Next, a product discharging part, one internal component of the product discharging unit 19 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3a and 3b. The product discharging part is constructed with product storage rack 31 , auxiliary conveyer 34, main conveyers 32a, 32b and auto-packing units 36a, 36b. As shown in FIGS. 3a and 3b, the product storage rack 31 consists of combined columns 35 respectively having a number of display columns 33 differently shaped by what kind of products are to be displayed and horizontally arranged with a predetermined gap. On the other hand, the auxiliary conveyer 34 is installed close to the lower edge of the combined columns 35, while the main conveyers 32a, 32b are longitudinally and closely extended to both ends of the auxiliary conveyer 34. The auto-packing units 36a, 36b are installed at a predetermined distance apart from outlets of product discharging unit for automatically packing and transporting goods. The auto-packing units 36a, 36b have been disclosed in the prior art. Even if the mam conveyers 32a, 32b are arranged at both sides of the product storage rack in the drawings, there may be only one main conveyer at either side of the product storage rack.

An A-type display column is adequate for displaying products difficult to display inconsistent, changeable shapes of products such as vinyl bags of cookies or light, thin, inseparable products such as stockings or chewing gums A B-type display column is good for circular products such as PET bottled beverages as canned drinks in the conventional vending machine. A C-type display column is proper for such trapezoid products, hard to be accumulated due to a lid, or comp catedly shaped or fragile ones like a sprayer as shown in the conventional cupped quick noodle vending machine. Finally, a D-type display column is suitable for such boxed cookies as shown in the conventional cigarette vending machine. Also, there may be other differently shaped display columns as well as the ones described above. For instance, an E-type display column is good for heavy or not uniformly shaped goods like packed rice, other packed crops and packed vegetables. FIG. 3b is a perspective view for illustrating the E type display column Goods are deposited on plates 305, 307 of the E-type display column and supported by supporting rods 301. A thin long hole 309 is formed to get the supporting rods 301 inserted at the center of the part where the plates

305, 307 are supported with the supporting rods 301. On the other hand, the belt 315 is rotated by a driving part 313 for a vertical movement of the plates 305, 307 At this time, the plate 305 positioned at the bottom is tilted forwards to discharge out a goods, sliding down with itself being inserted at holes 31 la, 311b for collection.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual block diagram for illustrating a networking system of display columns, conveyers, auto-packing units, product supplying outlet, card returning slot and host computer 1. A display column is the smallest unit of a product storage unit for a large combined body of display columns, having relevant control addresses and driving units for release of goods when the driving units are operated by the controlling units. In the embodiment of the present invention, a controlling unit is made up of a single chip microprocessor (hereinafter referred to as MIC). In addition, the auxiliary conveyers, main conveyers, auto-packing units, product discharging outlets and card returning slots also have their own driving and controlling units At this time, each controlling unit is made up of a MIC.

The MICs are connected with product supply controlling units 15 In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the controlling unit 15 is an embedded system of a distributed input/output type device, a protocol converter In consequence, the MICs are connected with the client computer lOd via the protocol converter 15. The protocol converter 15 allows a plurality of MICs to be connected with a pair of electric wires by a field bus interface, thereby significantly reducing cost to set up the controlling system. In addition, the protocol converter 15 plays a function of connecting a lower level of RS-485 communication with an upper level of TCP/IP communication. On the other hand, the protocol converter 15 plays a function of a switch or router, a port being constructed with RS-485 communication system to form a multi-drop type of a network. The field port of the protocol converter 15 has 4 ~8 field ports, each port being constructed with 32 field points. As a result, one protocol converter can includes a maximum of 256 control points. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, one protocol converter 15 can include 256 MICs of control points. At this time, the MIC can directly control a maximum of 4 display columns, so that one protocol converter 15 can control a maximum of 1024 display columns. Thus, if there are more display columns than the maximum of 1024 display columns, a plurality of protocol converters can be constructed in a LAN system through hubs, thereby realizing the control of thousands of display columns.

In addition, the MIC practically controls display columns and has a function of field bus communication. In general, one MIC has an input/output port of over 8 bits, so that one MIC can control more than two display columns simultaneously to thereby reduce cost for construction of the whole networking system. In utilizing a CPU embedded with a universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter transceiver, the communication function of the M IC can be added by simply attaching RS-485. An external UART is attached for a highspeed data transmission of over 19200bps.

On the other hand, as described with reference to FIG 1 , instead of the protocol converter 15 connected to the client computer lOd, the networking system can also be constructed by directly connecting the protocol converter 15 with the host computer 1 through the hub.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart for illustrating the sequential processes of picking, transporting and discharging out goods to a purchaser through a product supplying outlet in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention. At this time, when a purchaser makes an order of goods, the driving units of a display column showing the ordered goods, auxiliary conveyer, right side main conveyer and right side auto-packing unit are driven according to the selection signal of the ordered goods (PI, ScR, McR, Pr). Then the ordered goods is picked out of the display column through the auxiliary conveyer, mam conveyer and auto-packing unit, and finally discharged out through the product supplying outlet. At this time, the selection time PI is the time taken for all the ordered goods of a 1st purchaser to be picked. Even if the auxiliary conveyer is designed to transport goods to any of the two directions, in this embodiment the goods ordered by the first purchaser is to be transported to the right side auxiliary conveyer (ScR). All the goods ordered by the first purchaser are to be transported to the right side main conveyer, so as to be differentiated from those ordered by a second purchaser. When all the goods ordered by the first purchaser have been transported by the right mam conveyer, the auxiliary conveyer starts rotations to the left ScL. At the same time, all the goods ordered by the second purchaser starts to be selected P2 and discharged through the auxiliary conveyer, the left main conveyer and the left auto-packing unit to the second purchaser. Other purchasers repeat all the same processes of selecting, transporting and dishargmg out goods as those described for the first and second purchasers. On the other hand, a variety of control processes besides those described above may be applied to the embodiment of the present invention

FIG 6 is a flow chart for illustrating all the processes, from ordering various goods through discharging out the ordered goods in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention. First, a purchaser receives a RF-IC card issued from a card issuing unit 16 (601). A variety of goods is input and ordered by using a first card scanner and an order inputting unit (602) Payment is approved by a second card scanner and a payment approving window of a charge estimating unit 18 (603). The purchaser confirms the summary of approved purchase at a displaying screen of the payment approving window and with a statement from the statement discharging slot and the position of a product discharging outlet through which goods will be provided (604). When the RF-IC card is returned through a card returning slot of the product discharging outlet (605), the product discharging unit 19 selects, transports, auto-packs and discharges out the ordered goods through the product discharging outlet (606)

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. At this time, an order inputting unit 17 and a charge estimating unit 18 are combined into a single unit. Other components will be the same as those described in the first embodiment of the present invention.

In order to avoid any predictable confusion that may occur in order- making and payment-approving processes at the same time, the order inputting unit 17 and the charge estimating unit 18 have been separately arranged as described above If the possible confusion can be avoided, it is preferable that those two components should be conveniently made into a single module FIG 7 is a block diagram for illustrating a networking system between an ordering/payment approving unit 72 combining an order inputting unit 17, a charge estimating unit 18 and a host computer 1. As described above, a card scanner 703 and a payment approving window 705 are provided in each product ordering window 701. At this time the payment approving window 705 may include at least a payment approving system with a credit card. On the other hand, whenever a purchaser inputs and orders goods, the ordered goods can be additionally displayed at a predetermined part of the product ordering window 701 to enable the purchaser to confirm a list of the ordered goods When an order of various goods is made in the way described above, the purchaser scans the RF-IC card with the card scanner 703. When the payment is approved by the payment approving window 705, the product ordering window 701 shows the position of the product discharging outlet through which ordered and payment approved goods will be delivered. In addition, each product ordering window 701 has a statement discharging slot 707 for discharging out a statement slip printed with the position of the product discharging outlet and a list of payment approved goods.

All the order making and payment approving processes described above are controlled by an order controlling unit 709 installed at a predetermined position of each product ordering window 701. The order controlling unit 709 can be readily constructed with reference to the order controlling unit 20 shown The product discharging unit 19 will not be restricted in the structure described in the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and any other product discharging unit having a least number of components to ensure storage, transportation and discharge of goods will not be departed from the scope of the invention For instance, even if there are two mam conveyers set up at both sides of the product storage rack, there may be only a single mam conveyer at a side of the product storage rack in actuality Even such a structure will not be departed from the spirit of the invention in that the conveyer plays a role to transport goods.

As described above, there is an advantage in the automatic vending system of the present invention in that all the goods, neither uniformly shaped nor sized, can also be automatically sold without any designated sales person in charge, regardless of time or place.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1 An automatic vending system having at least more than one product discharging unit to automatically sell a variety of goods, the system including- a card issuing unit for automatically issuing a personal I D card to distinguish one purchaser from another; an order inputting unit having a product ordering window to enable the purchaser to input his or her list of ordering goods and a first card scanner to read out the unique ID information stored on the ID card and simultaneously save his or her list of ordering items inputting at the product ordering window; a charge estimating unit having a second card scanner to read out the ID card, a product displaying unit to list up the selected and ordered goods after the ID card has been successfully read by the second card scanner and a payment approving window to make sure of the charge estimated on the finally selected goods by using the displaying unit; and a product sales controlling unit constructed with a data base of ID card's

ID information and products' ID data to be used in the process of orders and sales for controlling to discharge out the ordered goods through a product discharging outlet of the product discharging unit

2 The system, as defined in claim 1 , wherein the ID card is a RF IC card

3 The system, as defined in claim 1 , wherein the product ordering window is made by a touch screen method.

4 The system, as defined in claim 1 , wherein the payment approving window includes at least one payment approving system with a credit card

5 The system, as defined in claim 5, wherein the product sales controlling unit includes a host computer which forms a network with all the client computers for a card issuing unit, an order inputting unit, a payment approving unit and a product discharging unit, especially memory device of the host computer being constructed with a data base related to making an order.

6. The system, as defined in claim 1 , wherein the product discharging unit is constructed with product storage rack having horizontal rows of combined display columns respectively arranged at a predetermined interval, the display columns being differently shaped by what kinds of products are to be displayed for selection and product transporting means for transporting the goods selected out of the display columns to the product discharging outlet, the display columns and transporting means including driving units and controlling units which are connected with control clients, which operate the driving units of the display columns and product transporting means through a protocol converter to thereby discharge out the ordered goods through the product discharging outlet

7. The system, as defined in claim 1 , wherein the product sales control unit controls to discharge out the ordered goods through the product discharging outlet after the ID card is returned through a card returning slot provided at the front panel of the product discharging unit

8. A method for automatically selling products with the automatic vending system having a product discharging unit to supply a variety of products, the method including the steps of: automatically issuing an ID card to a purchaser for identification; letting the purchaser input a list of the purchaser's ordering goods; reading out the ID card's information and save the list of the purchaser's ordering goods at the same time; reading out the ID card again to display and finalize the list of ordered goods; estimating and approving the total payment for the ordered goods; letting the ID card returned from the purchaser; discharging out the ordered products to the purchaser after making sure of that the ID card has been returned.

9. A method for automatically selling products in the automatic vending system having a product discharging unit to supply a variety of products, the method including the steps of: getting a list of ordering goods input by a purchaser; reading out the ID card's information and save the purchaser's list of ordering goods at the same time; reading out the I D card again to display and finalize the list of ordered goods; estimating and approving the total cost for the ordered goods; and discharging out the ordered goods to the purchaser.