DE29616261U1 - Device for portable network cash registers - Google Patents

Description

Description:

Title:

1. Device for portable network cash registers that continue to work independently and without a central unit even if the network connection is interrupted, as they can contain all the functions and data of a cash register and the option of dispensing quantity accounting.

State of the art with sources:

Normally, orders are first written down on a notepad and then typed into a cash register or a personal computer that takes up a lot of space. The problem here is that the data has to be entered twice, once by hand and secondly by computer. Therefore, there have recently been several inventions for cash register terminals, mobile radio cash registers and cash register systems (see: DE9415615, DE3215035, DE4301824, DE4117345, EP90-115313, DE9001193, DE3741704, DE8716S22, DE3736550, DE3619344, DE3712083, DE3408594, DE3331495, DE3331233, DE8033840, DE3040554).

Problem:

Most of the portable cash registers that have been in use up to now work as radio or infrared terminals, i.e. they receive data from a base station, show it on an LCD display and send the keypad entries back to the base station. This creates the problem that these terminals can no longer work with all functions if the data transmission channel is disrupted, which is currently preventing them from being marketed successfully.

Subproblem 1;

The radio terminals are very popular with operators because they can be used to work directly with customers, all the data is recorded and forwarded immediately. However, the waiters often despair of these devices, namely when they are in a radio shadow, e.g. a reinforced concrete wall, or a device that is not very powerful. The waiters only have to endure the embarrassing situation in front of the guests with a cell phone that does not want to work in the radio shadow a few times before they give up on the radio terminals forever.

Sub-problem 2:

The radio terminals known to date always require a central unit with a radio station. This results in very high entry costs for such a system, which most interested parties are unwilling to bear.

Uoteroproblem 3;

The orders that are common in the catering industry have to be broken down into different preparation and kitchen receipts and printed on different printers, depending on who sent them. Until now, this always required a central unit with high initial costs for print distribution.

Subproblem 4:

Central units not only generate costs but also still carry the risk of failure.

Experience has shown that failure of the central unit in networks based on central units or in

Terminals that are controlled by a central unit lead to a standstill of the connected terminals. In the network according to the invention there is no central unit. At most individual participants can fail, which means that only the failed participant comes to a standstill and the other network participants can access the old data that was read shortly before the participant failed via the virtual server. Therefore, the device according to the invention is considerably more reliable than known devices with comparable performance.

Two groups can be distinguished among the radio terminals known to date:

The first consists of simple terminals that receive characters or data blocks one-to-one and display them after a parity check. Keyboard entries are packed into a data format and sent directly to the base station (see DE4135496, DE33314951).

The second generation can load data, work with it and then transfer the input data to a base station at the push of a button (see DE4326756C1). However, even with second generation devices, the big problem still exists that if the base station fails, work can no longer continue effectively, but only data can be entered into the cash register, but this cannot be settled until the evening accounting. Printing out receipts is also no longer possible, as the print distribution is controlled from the base station.

The patent DE37365S0 also describes data redundancy in terminals such as the one I use, whereby the same data, ..., is sent from a data transmission device or a control computer simultaneously and in total to several terminals (...). However, a data transmission control device or a control computer is still necessary here to process a management table and repeatedly send the data to several terminals and accept the subsequent acknowledgement response. Therefore, the terminals described there cannot continue to work autonomously in the event of a fault.

Even with the patent DE3331233, not every terminal can work autonomously, but there is a main system.

The latter patent also does not provide for any mobile parts.

Solution:

These problems can be solved by not using the cash registers as a terminal, but as an independent portable cash register. A normal cash register is not set up as a stand-alone device, but as a handheld device. A portable cash register in the format of a cell phone that can be put in your pocket. This allows you to take orders directly at the table, search for all transactions, and print receipts or orders to any printer. At closing time, all cash registers can then carry out accounting individually and automatically, or one cash register can carry out accounting for itself, other cash registers, or all cash registers via the network. During the evening, the operating data of each individual cash register or all cash registers can be queried via the network. This means that all the functions of a cash register are available on the handheld device, but in a portable way.

The cash register is independent of a central unit and can work with or without one.
A secure printout is achieved via a directed, short-range infrared interface in the cash register and charging cradle. This local output channel is always retained as a fail-safe for the network, even if the radio/IR network function is completely disrupted.

In order for each individual cash register to be self-sufficient and completely independent of the operational readiness* of a base station, it must itself take on all the functions of a server. The advantages of the invention are based, among other things, on the fact that all participants temporarily available in the network keep their data locally and their entire shared data association represents a virtual server. If there are temporary participants in a network association, the data of the other participants T[I... n-1] represents the virtual server for each individual participant T[n]. The connections to the virtual server can be established via a hard-wired network, IR (infrared) interfaces or radio connections. The connections are not established as a data transmission channel as in known data networks such as Ethernet, Arcnet, Profibus, Interbus-S, GSM, DECT, ISDN. Rather, the network of the mobile part according to the invention is a communication channel-oriented broadcast network in which the data blocks are arbitrated based on a type and message-specific channel number in the header and logically assigned to one or more devices based on a type device number in the header.

Since a connection interruption or a fault is considered a normal state in the network according to the invention, an index number is added to the header of each data packet. Using this index number, the packets can be sorted into the correct order in the receiver and it can be determined whether the data transmission is already complete or has just been interrupted, since the data transmission is object-oriented and the size of the objects, i.e. the number of packets required for transmission, is known from the type of objects, or if not, then either transmitted in the first packet or indicated by an index pointer from NULL to the next packet index.

If a data transfer is interrupted within a tenth of a second, a completely new transfer of all packets of an object is started. If several transfers are unsuccessful within a second, the old data is used. The data transfer will be explained in more detail later using an example, the transfer of print data to a printer box.

The printer boxes according to the invention also make it possible to move away from central print distribution. Each mobile part contains its own table in which the necessary print distributions are listed. The mobile parts contain a queue for each printer. If a print job is started on an upper layer of the OSI model, it is first broken down into the queues assigned to the various printers using the print distribution table in the mobile part and then temporarily stored. As soon as a radio or network connection to one of the printer boxes concerned is established, the print data in the network according to the invention is transferred from the mobile part to the printer box, as described later. By dividing the print in the transmitter and double buffering in the mobile part and in the printer boxes assigned to the printers, centralized print distribution can be dispensed with.

Cash register systems, dispensing control systems, dispensing systems and dispensing systems with cash register functions are known. Well-known catering networks concentrate the dispensing and cash register data and then exchange them via an interface between the two technology worlds. Problems on this interface or with the concentrators lead to a failure of the entire system. In the patented network, each hardware component, e.g. cash register, flow measuring turbine, doser, portioner, etc., is represented by a data set in a virtual hardware database of the virtual server. This means that every cash register, including the mobile units, can access the dispensing control units via any network access, read them, compare them in terms of quantity and compare them. This means that the cash register network and the dispensing control network are no longer two

••••&bgr;* · ·

separate worlds that must be connected. Both systems are represented by virtual databases in a virtual server. The virtual server can never fail due to its non-material nature. The failure of a server component therefore only results in its data fields in the virtual database remaining at their last value before the failure. Otherwise the entire system continues to run without any disruptions.

In order not to lose the advantages of the known radio terminals and central data storage, the cash registers can be equipped with at least one radio or infrared interface. However, this radio or infrared interface, here called a remote data interface, does not work as a point-to-point connection as is known, and is also not a station-based network. The remote data interface according to the invention works as a communication channel-oriented broadcast network as described above.

Benefits achieved:

• With this network, all operating data from cash registers can be stored and managed decentrally without a central unit or base station.

• The data is always kept locally by the person or device to which it logically belongs. This means that the owner of the data always has secure access to it. Other participants can access this data via the virtual server, just like server data, with the problems of a network.

• The possibility of dispensing with a central unit or base station offers significant price advantages compared to the known networks. In addition to the radio terminal, known systems require a receiving station and a PC with management software and thus their entry price is around 10 TDM higher than the invention presented here.

• With these inventions, portable cash registers the size of a mobile phone can be produced, which allow the user to continue working as usual even if there are communication disruptions.

• The virtual server can be expanded to include a virtual database with dispensing consumption values by integrating dispensing control systems. This means that with these inventions, a portable cash register without a central unit can create a quantitative and monetary comparison between items on receipt, the revenue and items actually consumed in a joint invoice.

Further embodiment of the invention:

The invention is represented by the features of the main claim. Advantageous embodiments are the subject of subordinate claims. The invention is explained in more detail below using an embodiment illustrated by figures. It shows

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a preferred embodiment of the handset;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the handset;

Fig. 3 is a block diagram of the handset;

Fig. 4 a state and flow diagram of the functional sequence in the handset;

Fig. 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of an ordering and billing system according to the invention. The mobile parts 1 are preferably made of plastic and are characterized by a keyboard 3 and a display 4. The

The keyboard 3 is designed as a membrane keyboard so that it does not get stuck with food. The display 4 is a backlit LCD display, which ensures good legibility in a wide range of lighting conditions. On the right-hand side there is a slot 5 for chip cards. On the top of the handset there is an antenna / IR interface 6 (available as an option for an additional charge), so that data can also be transmitted wirelessly as undirected remote data and thus an exchange of network data can take place, at least for a short time.

Fig. 2 Four infrared receivers 11,13, IS, 17 and four infrared transmitters 12, 14, 16, 18 are installed on the back of the handset as a directional short-distance data interface. Of these, pair 11, 12 is used as a network interface, pair 13,14 as an RS232 interface. Pairs IS, 16 and 17,18 are used for communication between the handset and the charging cradle, ie for information on charging and drawer opening. Two charging contacts 19 transfer the energy required to charge the rechargeable batteries installed in the handset.

Fig. 3 Shows the block diagram of a mobile unit. The charging circuit 39 and the switching power supply 37 are supplied with energy via the two charging contacts 19. The charging circuit 39 is designed as a quick-charger circuit with 2C to 4C so that the battery 38 can be sufficiently recharged even if it is only spent in the charging cradle 40 for a short time. The fluctuating voltage on the battery 38 is stabilized by a switching power supply 37 to a constant voltage required by the CPU 31. The CPU 31 forms a complete microcomputer with ROM 32 and RAM 33, the RAM 33 of which is battery-buffered via a connection to the battery 38. The keyboard 34, LCD display 35 and chip card reader 36 are I/O modules of the mobile unit that enable the mobile cash register to operate independently.

The handset also has a serial printer interface 42, which can be used to dock to a charging cradle 40 with a directly connected printer via the IR diodes 13 and 14. The handset also has a serial network interface 43, which can be used to dock to a charging cradle 40 with an integrated network driver via the IR diodes 11 and 12.
Optionally, the handset can be equipped with a remote data interface 41 using IR or HF technology. Without the remote data interface 41, the handsets can only print in the charging cradles and carry out network functions. If the remote data interface 41 is present, each handset attempts to establish a connection to a local network at regular intervals. Such a local network is not necessarily wired or fixed to a specific location. A local network can be formed from one or more handsets, including mobile ones.

With the patented network, in which all data does not have to be processed immediately but is first stored in queues until the next transmission opportunity, serverless wireless networks can be set up:

If there is no connection to a network, queues are created in the RAM 33 of each handset, which hold data to be exchanged for different recipients. The staff moves around the room statistically and at some point comes into the radio range of a local network. All participants in this network are then identified by the handset. All queues are then searched for each identified participant. If a queue contains data for this

subscriber, the data is transmitted to the subscriber as long as a radio connection is possible. Only the data that has been transmitted and confirmed is deleted from the queue. The remaining data remains in the queue until a connection to the lost subscriber is found again and data transmission can continue. The data management described works automatically in the background of the handset and ensures the earliest possible data exchange. In this network, print data, order position data, item master data, receipts, personal data and other data are exchanged.

The great advantage of this network compared to the networks known from normal time-critical radio terminals is that the main program Fig. 4 works with its own data, which can be updated relatively quickly, generates relatively quick data such as print receipts, inventory bookings, cash register data and exchanges these at least partially when passing through the range of the remote data interface. A secure connection to the network is made possible in the charging cradle at the latest. Normal radio terminals also transmit the characters or data using secure protocols, but up to now the user had to look for new connection options and establish them after the radio connection was lost, e.g. due to reinforced concrete walls and polling the transmission data. In this network, background processes on the handset take over this task.

Fig. 4 shows a state diagram in which a preferred main program of a mobile device is described. The main program described as preferred has underlying operating system processes which temporarily store the data generated by the main program in queues (FIFO buffers) in order to distribute them to the respective peripheral devices and remote data interfaces (networks) in the manner described above.

Depending on the level at which the handset was switched off, it is in ZO, Z2 or IA after the operating voltage is switched on. After the start of the day, the device is in the basic state ZO, which is also the starting point here. If a stored chip card is inserted into the handset as an operating key, you can go from ZO to Z1 immediately to Z3. Otherwise, the user must identify themselves in Z2 by entering a valid operating number and thus reach 13. In Z3, the date is re-entered if necessary and you reach IA.

Z4 is a central basic state to which the system always returns. If a radio contact or a charging cradle contact to a network is detected in this state and there are still open queues, e.g. for receipts or orders, the receipts are printed out using states Z14 to Z16 or the orders are printed out using states Z17 to Z19.

By entering a table number, you can get from Z4 to the open order Z5. In Z5, the open items are listed, which you can browse and search using Z7. By entering an article PLU number, a new article is added to the order and thus also to the handset's internal database. Other tables can be displayed using ZS. An order is completed using the RECEIPT key, the new items are marked as to be printed in Z9 and entered into the relevant queues. You then return to Z4.

In ZS, the cursor position in display 4 can be changed using the arrow keys, thereby selecting a specific order item. Various attachments can be added to this item using ZIl

The selected items are marked for payment using the Pay button. If the Pay button is pressed on a position that has already been marked for payment, all marked items are combined into a receipt total in Z12. If ESC is not pressed, the amount is debited from a customer chip card inserted in the handset in Z20 or otherwise collected in cash in Z21. If the Receipt button was pressed when paying, a receipt is created in the queue in Z22

Printer boxes (local print servers) are an essential part of the network, as they eliminate the need for central storage of print data. Data to be printed is first printed on the mobile phone in a way that is transparent to the user. However, the printout is not immediately forwarded to the existing printers, but is first saved locally on the mobile phone. As soon as the mobile phone can establish a connection to the respective target printer boxes via a physical interface over the network, a printer queue is reserved for the mobile phone in the accessible printer boxes. The data from the mobile phone is then immediately stored in the target printer boxes that have been reached. The data is captured in printer queues in the target printer boxes and is appended to the printer buffer in the order in which the mobile phones complete the print job.

In a preferred design, printer boxes are installed in the network that can receive the print data of one or more network participants and store them in queues until they are ready to print. These differ from known print servers and network printers in that the print data packets are not transmitted between the printer box and the print job senders in a permanent or secure connection that is set up and cleared down, but according to the following scheme: A print job sender requests a queue from a printer box and, if successful, is assigned a queue under its network number. As long as the print job sender has contact with a printer box, data is transmitted. An interruption of the network connection due to radio interference, IR shading or other interference is a normal condition and results in the print job sender waiting to transmit further data until it can automatically establish a connection to the printer box in question again without a central unit in the background and automatically transmit data until the next interference occurs. After the data transfer is complete, the print requestor completes the print job with a command, thereby triggering the following process in the printer box: In the printer box, there are several queues that are assigned to the print requestors for the duration of a request by them, and a central print queue into which the print jobs completed by the print requestors are inserted in the order in which they were completed. If a print requestor completes a queue, it is appended to the print queue and printed after the previously completed print jobs have been printed.

If the cash register system is set up in a network with a dispensing control, the billing data of the dispensing control can be set up and compared with the associated cash balances or item quantities in a cash register statement, whereby a quantitative and monetary comparison can be made between the item quantities recorded, the amount of money received and the item quantity dispensed in a statement without a central unit.

Claims (12)

Expectations: la Device for an ordering and billing system with at least one mobile reading and output device (1) for portable recording, processing, storage, billing and network management of ordered services with
lb portable, networkable data input and processing device (1) with • a keyboard (3) for entering and editing data and commands, • a display (4) for the entered and edited data, • a computing unit (31) with, • an application-specific program, • a static data memory (33) that retains its data even in the event of a power failure, • one or more network interfaces (41), (43), • a rechargeable battery (38) for supplying power to the handset (1),
characterized in that • the device is similar to a cash register, but, as it is designed as a mobile device, it can be held in one hand • one or more handsets can work without a base station or central data storage, • both the charging cradle/charging cradle combination and the charging cradle/handset combination are equipped with interference-free data transmission devices and are connected to each other via them, so that the handset safely transmits the data to a fixed network when it is placed in a charging cradle or data transmission station, • for connecting data output devices such as printers, an interface is installed directly on the charging cradle or on one or more interface boxes in the network, so that no central server is necessary. the mobile units are equipped with a network interface so that peripheral devices of the mobile units such as other mobile units, cash registers, dispensing control systems or automation components can be reached and queried via the network, each cash register can operate independently even in the event of network disruptions, since the arithmetic unit (31) queries the interfaces (41), (42), (43), (44) to see whether a connection to other stand-alone cash registers, mobile cash registers or other billing or control systems can be established, if this is not possible, the cash register continues to have full functionality with the data from the data memory (33) and a fully integrated cash register program in the ROM (32). 2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that a remote transmission interface (41), preferably a radio transmitter/radio receiver, is integrated, which is designed by a broadcast protocol so that no uninterrupted remote data transmission connection has to be present, and thus only the passage through discrete radio areas is sufficient for network operation. 3. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the technology is not built into a hand-held housing, but into a housing for cash registers (cash registers), thus creating a network of mobile parts and cash registers with the advantages of claim 1. 4. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the device is equipped with a warehouse management program. 5. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that a chip card reader is integrated, which can serve as a waiter lock. 6. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that a chip card reader is integrated, which enables a club membership card system or a OnePointCash system or with which the cash register can process credit cards. 7. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that a central computer is added to the network, which cyclically queries the data of all network participants that are reachable at the time of the query and collects or saves it in an internal database. This computer can, in the event of a network query by a third party, make the data of the network participants that are not reachable at the time of the query available by replacing it with data that is not quite up to date. This means that the last state of all network data, including that of the participants that are normally not reachable at the moment, is always available to a third party. 8. Device according to claim 1 and claim 7, characterized in that a computer is connected to the network, which is equipped with a program that collects the network data of the individual network components, presents them as a virtual database and makes this database available to the network participants for query. 9. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the concept of the virtual server is used for data exchange 10. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the constructive network structure of the virtual server is also used with other devices or general computers and networks. 11. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that a dispensing control is integrated into the common network. 12. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that printer boxes are integrated into the network.