EP2483874A1

EP2483874A1 - System for a self-service product detection station and method for said system

Info

Publication number: EP2483874A1
Application number: EP10765945A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Gordon Klein; Bernd Kruse
Original assignee: Wincor Nixdorf International GmbH
Current assignee: Wincor Nixdorf International GmbH
Priority date: 2009-10-01
Filing date: 2010-09-21
Publication date: 2012-08-08
Also published as: US20120179560A1; DE102009044156A1; DE102009044156B4; WO2011038849A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a system for detecting products at a self-service product detection station containing a reading device for detecting a number of products, wherein the detected products are each allocated identification data and wherein the reading device is operated by a customer him/herself; a registration device, in which the identification data of the products provided by the reading device are allocated price data, such that, on completion of product detection, registration information about the products detected by means of the reading device can be output, and a payment device for transacting a payment process on the basis of the registration information, wherein an optical control detection device is provided for detecting a number of products smaller than the total number of products presented for the purchasing procedure, wherein products detected by the control detection device are each assigned identification data, and a verification device is provided, by means of which the identification data of the products detected by means of the control detection device are checked for consistency with the identification data of the products detected with the reading device, so that, depending on the comparison result, an acknowledgment signal continuing the purchasing procedure or a correction signal interrupting the purchasing procedure is generated.

Description

System for a self-serviced goods recording station and method therefor

Description :

The invention relates to a system for detecting goods at a self-operated goods detection station comprising a reading device for detecting a number of goods, wherein the detected goods are each assigned identification data and wherein the reading device is operated by a customer, a registration device in which the of the Identification data provided the goods price data are assigned, so that after completion of the goods registration registration information on the goods detected by the reading device can be output, and a payment device for processing a payment transaction on the basis of registration information.

Further, the invention relates to a method for detecting goods at a self-operated goods detection station, where each customer a predetermined number of goods provided for purchase are provided in a storage area, then the goods are detected by operating a reader by the customer, being goods specific Identification data of the recorded goods are further processed to output registration information, so that then the customer pays the purchase price contained in the registration information for the recorded goods.

DE 20 2004 021 433 U1 discloses a self-operated goods detection station, to which the customer himself and completely carry out the goods and subsequently pay for them. The self-operated goods detection station therefore has a corresponding reading device for detecting a predetermined number of goods, wherein the reading device can be designed, for example, as an infrared scanner. After reading in, for example

Barcodes of goods, these goods-specific identification data by means of the reading device of a registration provided, are generated in the registration information or the recorded goods associated price data so that they are displayed in a display unit, such as a touch-sensitive screen, and the customer for payment a total amount is requested. For this purpose, the self-operated goods detection station has a payment device, so that the customer can then autonomously carry out the payment process, wherein the payment device can have a card reader for cashless payment. After payment of the collected goods, the customer then receives a registration ticket (receipt) via an issue slot, which identifies the individual goods with their prices and the total amount in the usual way. In order to be able to check that all goods provided by the customer at the goods detection station are detected by the reading device, a weighing device is provided, each with a floor scales arranged on both sides of the reading device. At each Einscannvorgang the goods, a weight comparison of the two each a shopping cart receiving floor scales. If the weight increase of one floor scale corresponds to the weight loss of the other floor scale, it is assumed that the scanning process has been carried out correctly by the customer, so that the customer is asked acoustically or visually to scan in another product. Especially with improper use, this leads Weight control to disorders that requires the intervention of a supervisor.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to specify a system and a method for detecting goods at a self-serviced goods recording station, that the checking of a purchase process with regard to the completeness of the goods detected by the customer can be made easier and faster.

To achieve this object, the invention in connection with the preamble of claim 1, characterized in that an optical control detecting means for detecting a number of goods, which is smaller than the total number of goods provided for the purchase process, wherein in goods detected by the control detecting device respectively Identification data are assigned, and a verification device, by means of which the identification data of the detected by the control detection device goods are checked for conformity with the identification data of the detected with the reading device, so that depending on the comparison result, a purchase process continuing confirmation signal or a purchase interrupting the correction signal is produced.

The particular advantage of the invention is that the use of an optical control detection device, which detects a number of goods provided for purchase at the goods detection point, simplifies the check for any discrepancies in the goods detection process by the customer or the purchase process can be accelerated. The use of the optical control detection device makes it possible to detect or scan the goods without having to carry out the measurements carried out by the customer. steps, such as scanning and paying for the goods. The fact that a weighing step is omitted in the purchase process, as a rule, the purchase process can be accelerated.

The identification data of the detected goods provided by the optical control detection device are made available to a checking device in which a comparison is made with identification data of the goods detected by the customer. If a non-conformity is detected, it is to be assumed that the customer has not personally scanned the goods in question, either by mistake or fraudulently. In this case, a corresponding correction signal is emitted by means of a reporting device, so that, for example, a supervisor can influence the purchase process in such a way that the goods not covered by the customer are subsequently registered.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, a checking device acts on the optical control detecting device such that only a part of the goods provided is detected. As a result of this random sampling of the goods provided, the amount of information collected during the detection can be kept small so that almost 100% goods identification is possible. Due to the fact that the goods made available for purchase are only randomly recorded by the control detection device, a secure check can be carried out before the end of the purchase process by the customer, without false alarms due to incorrect goods recognition.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the optical control detection device has a Bildfas- tion device, in particular a digital camera, so that with suitable object recognition software, a recognition of goods with relatively high identification security (100%) is possible. Preferably, the image acquisition device is programmed by means of the object recognition software such that as far as possible all goods are at least partially detected. By presetting a sample size of 30% of all goods collected or provided, the image data of those goods that have been uniquely identified are processed further.

According to a development of the invention, the control acquisition device has such a number and arrangement of image acquisition devices that a predetermined storage area in which the goods to be detected by the customers are located is detected by the control detection device. This ensures that a large number of goods with high identification security can be detected.

To solve the problem, the inventive method in conjunction with the preamble of claim 8 is characterized in that during the detection of the goods by at least one customer in addition to a random number of arranged in the storage area goods is detected, in accordance with the by at least a customer detected goods is checked and that a confirmation signal or a correction signal is generated depending on the conformity check.

The particular advantage of the method according to the invention is that a check for discrepancy regarding the detection of the purchase provided for the purchase Goods can be done quickly and safely by the customer. The fact that the goods provided for the purchase are recorded only on a random basis, on the one hand, the review can be completed within the specified by the customer purchase. On the other hand, a relatively high degree of identification security (almost 100%) can thereby be achieved when identifying the goods, since only unique identification data of the detected goods are used for the random sampling. Due to the fact that the check according to the invention takes place in parallel to the customer's acquisition and, if applicable, purchase process, the regular purchase process can be accelerated overall since the otherwise required intermediate step of checkweighing is eliminated. The sample may relate to the buying process of each individual customer or refer to a group of customers, so that in this case the goods registration is not checked by each customer.

According to a development of the invention, the check is made for compliance of the goods covered by the customer with the samples recorded by check sampling after completion of the recording process by the customer. This can be done immediately after completion of the capture process by the customer, in which case all the customer's scanned identification data of the goods are available. By comparing the corresponding identification data, a verification result can then be achieved relatively quickly. In this case, the goods-specific identification data of the goods sampled at random by a control detection device can be automatically forwarded to a checking device in which the comparison takes place. Alternatively, image data detected by the optical control detection device can also be visualized in a monitor, so that random samples of a control person individual goods is identified and then by selecting a corresponding control program, a check is made whether the identified goods with one of the goods covered by the customer matches. The check is made on the basis of a registration list provided for the payment procedure, so that in the case of faulty goods registration by the customer a correction of the purchase process can usually only be made after the start of the payment process.

According to a development of the invention, only less than half of all goods provided for the purchase process, preferably 30% of the goods provided for the purchase process, are completely recorded and passed to a conformity check. This ensures that a high degree of identification security of the goods is given.

Further advantages of the invention will become apparent from the further subclaims.

Embodiments of the invention will be explained in more detail with reference to FIGS.

Show it:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic side view of a self-serviced goods detection station;

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a self-serviced goods detection station according to a first embodiment and FIG FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a self-serviced goods detection station according to a second embodiment.

A self-operated goods registration point 1 is used for the collection of goods or articles by the customer himself, without the need to use a cashier.

The self-operated goods detection station 1 has a terminal 2, in which a reading device 3 for detecting goods 4 is integrated. The reading device 3 is preferably designed as a conventional bar code reader.

The goods 4 provided for a purchase process are held either directly by a shopping basket or shopping cart of the customer or by a storage table 5 arranged adjacent to the terminal 2 on a scanning disk 6 of the reading device 3. By a corresponding beep, the correct detection of the corresponding product 4 is signaled. After the customer has scanned all goods 4 provided or intended for the purchase process, he can conclude this scanning process by pressing a designated area of a touch-sensitive screen 7. Subsequently, the payment process is initiated by request to pay the corresponding purchase amount by cash or by a card cashless in a payment device B. For paying with cash, the terminal 2 has an inlet 8 for coins and / or banknotes and an outlet 9 for change. For cashless payments, a card reader 10 protrudes from the terminal 2. A registration device 11 containing a data processing device is arranged in the terminal 2, so that the goods-specific identification data Ki detected by the reading device 3 can be processed and assigned to respective price data associated with the respective goods. In the registration device 11, corresponding registration information is generated, which essentially consists of a list of the goods 4 covered and the corresponding prices and the total amount. This registration information can then be displayed in the touch-sensitive screen 7 and printed after payment by means of a built-in terminal 2 printer in the form of a registration certificate, receipt. Alternatively, the registration ticket can also be printed out immediately after the scanning process, whereby the customer then has to scan it again before paying the purchase price.

The registration information can also be shown in the screen 7 with each scan of the individual goods 4 gradually, so that the customer has a visual check on the successful scanning of the product in question.

In order to check whether the customer has scanned all goods 4 provided for purchase, a control detection device 12 is provided which, in the present exemplary embodiment, has two optical image acquisition devices arranged above the delivery table 5 (storage area). These image acquisition devices 12 are each formed as a digital camera with a CCD sensor, wherein the one camera 12 'is arranged at such a height oriented to the tray table 5, that on the one side of the terminal 2 arranged tray table 5' abge - presented goods 4 can be detected. The other camera 12 "is arranged and aligned in such a way on a side opposite to the terminal 2, that the corresponding further below arranged further delivery table 5" is completely detected, so that corresponding image data of goods stored on the delivery table 5 "4 are generated can. The image data generated by the cameras 12 ', 12 "are transmitted to the registration device 11 as identification data K ₂ according to a first embodiment of the invention according to FIG. The registration device 11 has a checking device 13 in which the image data K ₂ provided by the control acquisition device 12 are processed. More specifically, the registration means by means of which image data K _2, only a portion of the corresponding to the total provided goods identification data 4 K ₂ a further check 11 can have a monitoring control program 14, are fed. This selection of the image data K ₂ can take place on a random basis, whereby less than half of the goods 4 detected by the controller detection device 12 and provided by the customer for the purchase process are supplied to a later check. In this way, in particular the identification security of the correspondingly detected goods 4 can be improved, so that a misrecognition can be excluded. For example, it is sufficient to submit a sample of a maximum of 30% of the goods 4 to a review.

This sample does not have to refer to the goods of a single customer. It may also be stipulated that the sample relates to goods belonging to a group of customers, so that occasionally the goods 4 provided by a customer may not at all be based on conformity. with the goods actually covered by the customer.

The checking device 13 furthermore has a comparison program 15, by means of which the coincidence of the goods 4 additionally detected by the control detecting device 12 with the goods 4 detected by the customer takes place. For this purpose, the correspondingly processed identification data Ki of the goods, which the customer has detected by means of the reading device 3, are compared with the identification data K ₂ which the control detection device 12 has detected.

As can be seen in particular from FIG. 3, by means of the comparison program 15 after sequential assignment of the identification data K ₂ to the identification data Ki according to step 16 in a further step 17, the identification data K _{2 of} the controlled goods 4 with the as a result of scanning the customer generated identification data K _x compared. If a match has been found, a confirmation signal 18 is generated, so that the identification data K _{2 of} the next goods 4 can be checked. If the match is negative, a correction signal 19 is generated, which is transmitted to a signaling device 20 for outputting an alarm signal. For example, the signaling device 20 may be formed by a red light emitting signal light that rises in a columnar form of the terminal 2. If such a correction signal 19 is generated, it can be assumed with great certainty that the customer has not scanned the product 4 sampled by the control detection device 12 so that the purchase process is interrupted and the corresponding scanning process for the relevant product 4 is repeated under the supervision of a supervisor can be. According to an alternative embodiment of the invention according to FIG. 3, in contrast to the aforementioned embodiment, the image data K ₂ captured by the control detection device 12 is transmitted to a monitor 21 of a control station 22 arranged at a remote location and displayed there in visualized form. The image data K ₂ can be composed of a label, for example a bar code of the goods 4 and / or a shape and / or a size and / or a graphic design of the goods 4. It is essential that the control person only provides image data K ₂ of such goods 4 for the verification, which are uniquely identified.

A control person sitting at the control station 22 can now identify one after the other according to a predetermined pattern or any goods and select these identified goods in a checking device 23. For this purpose, the checking device 23 may have, for example, a number of pictogram keys, which are each assigned to a specific category of goods or goods themselves. Alternatively, the control person can also enter a code corresponding to the detected goods in an input unit of the checking device 23.

In the checking device 23, as described above for the first exemplary embodiment, the random checking of the goods detected by the control detecting device 12 is carried out with the goods detected by the reading device 3.

According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, the provision according to the first embodiment and the second embodiment provided by the Control detection device 12 provided identification data K ₂ to the comparison program 15 are also superimposed. As a result, a redundancy or a higher control security is generated.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1 goods inventory

2 terminal

3 reading device

4 goods

5 storage table

6 scanning disc

7 screen

8 inlet

9 outlet

10 card reader

11 registration device

12 control detection device

13 checking device

14 control tax program

15 comparison program

16 step

17 step

18 confirmation signal

19 correction signal

20 signaling device

21 monitor

22 control place

23 Inspection device B Payment device

Claims

Claims:

A system for detecting goods at a self-contained goods detection station containing

a reading device for detecting a number of goods, wherein the detected goods are respectively associated with identification data and wherein the reading device is operated by a customer himself,

a registration device in which the identification data of the goods provided by the reading device are associated with price data, so that registration information about the goods detected by the reading device can be output after completion of the goods registration,

a payment facility for settling a payment transaction based on the registration information, characterized by

- An optical control detecting means (12) for detecting a number of goods (4), which is smaller than the total number of goods provided for the purchase (4), wherein in detected by the control detecting means (12) goods (4) each identification data (K ₂ ) are assigned, and

- a checking device (13, 23), by means of which the identification data (K ₂ ) of the detected by the control detecting means (12) goods (4) for conformity with the identification data (K _x ) of the reading device (3) detected goods (4) be checked, so that in dependence on the result of the comparison, the KaufVorgang continuing confirmation signal (18) or the purchase process interrupting correction signal (19) is generated.

2. System according to claim 1, characterized in that the checking device (13) has a control control program (14), by means of which in dependence on a degree of identification of the goods by the control lerfassungseinrichtung (12) identification data (K ₂ ) of a part of the goods provided (4) verification of conformity with identification data (Ki) of the goods

(4) are supplied.

3. System according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the optical control detection device (12) is designed as an image capture device, wherein a label and / or a shape and / or a size and / or a graphic design of the product (4) detectable is.

4. System according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the reading device (3) is designed as a bar code reader.

5. System according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the control detection device (12) has such a number and / or such an arrangement of digital cameras that a predetermined storage area (5, 5 ', 5' ') can be detected on which the goods provided for the purchase (4) are parked.

6. System according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the checking device (13, 23) has a data processing unit with a comparison program (15), by means of which the agreement of the by the control detection means (12) the goods (4) with the goods detected by the reading device (3) is verifiable.

7. System according to one of claims 1 to 6, that a signaling device (20) for output and / or the correction signal (19) at the goods detection station (1) is arranged.

8. A method for detecting goods at a self-operated goods registration point, where each customer a predetermined number of goods provided for purchase in a storage area are provided, then the goods are detected by operating a reader by the customer, with goods-specific identification data of the registered goods are further processed to output registration information, so that then the customer pays the purchase price contained in the registration information for the recorded goods, characterized in that during the collection of goods (4) by at least one customer in addition to a random number in the storage area (5) which is checked for conformity with the goods (4) detected by the at least one customer and that generates a confirmation signal (18) or a correction signal (19) depending on the conformity check (17) t will.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that the conformity check (17) takes place after complete completion of the detection process of the goods (4) by the customer.

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that the identification data (K ₂ ) of the sampled goods (4) are displayed as image data in a remote monitor (21), so identified by a control person individual goods (4) and then, by selecting a comparison program (15), a check is made as to whether the identified product (4) matches a product (4) detected by the customer.

11. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that less than half of all for a purchase process on the delivery table (5) provided goods (4) is checked for compliance with the goods detected by the customer.