GB2119988A

GB2119988A - Shop furnishings

Info

Publication number: GB2119988A
Application number: GB08312988A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Jan Westlund
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1982-05-12
Filing date: 1983-05-11
Publication date: 1983-11-23
Also published as: SE8202970L; JPS58213395A; IT8321045A0; ES522660A0; FR2526651A1; GB8312988D0; IT1163345B; ES8505529A1; IT8321045A1; DE3317271A1

Abstract

A store furnishing includes a cash-register unit for recording items of goods selected for purchase and for receiving payment for the goods selected, the cash- register unit being divided into at least one recording unit (11) and a payment unit (16) which is separate from the recording unit (11). The recording unit (11) is arranged to record different part transactions relating to the goods selected, to total-up the part transactions, to produce a reference number, and to transfer the totalling result and reference number to the payment unit (16), which dispenses the totalling result and/or reference number when one of these pieces of data is fed into the unit. Recording is effected manually or automatically. The payment unit (16) is provided with means for erasing information recorded in the register (161) when this information is fed out from the register, means for producing a warning signal when the reference number presented by a customer has no correspondence in the register (161) or when recorded information has not been fed-out within a given period of time, and a weighing unit for simultaneously weighing all of the items of goods selected by a customer. In large store complexes, the number of recording units should exceed the number of payment units by at least one, and should preferably be at least twice as great. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Shop furnishings The present invention relates to shop or store furnishings, and more specifically to furnishings of the kind which incluses a cash register for registering and receiving payment made by customers for goods selected thereby.

Large and medium-size stores for the every day purchase of foodstuffs are normally selfservice stores and have one or more cashregister operated pay-in desks, where goods which have been taken from shelves in the store and packed into baskets or trolleys, and removed from the trolleys or baskets and packed into bags or boxes, after the cashier has registered the items selected for purchase, their respective prices, and possibly other information, into the cash-register.

When the cashier has registered all of the items selected for purchase, the customer is asked to pay the sum displayed on the cashregister, and hence must cease packing away the items purchased, and take out cash or write a cheque, and then continue packing the purchased items into his or her shopping bag.

As these procedures take place, it is probable that a long queue of customers will form at the pay-in desk, causing irritation and stress to both the cashier and the customers, which can readily give rise to errors being made.

The object of the present invention is to eliminate these disadvantages, and also to provide the basis for a number of advantages such as; more accurate registration of the goods purchased, speedy packing-away of the goods purchased, less stress, a reduction in the number of recording units required, quicker relief of cashiers, improved monitoring possibilities, and in addition more accurate and quicker payment routines, higher security against robbery, quicker cashing-up procedures, safer transport of money, and improved working environments.

Seen in greater perspective, the combined positive effect can be characterized with the words; low direct and indirect personal costs, lower investment levels, more time available for cash payments, better and more concentrated customer information, and less customer stress, making the customers more satisfied.

The present invention provides a store furnishing including a cash-register unit for recording items of goods selected by a customer and for receiving payment for said goods, characterized in that the cash-register unit is divided into at least one recording unit and at least one payment unit arranged separate from the recording unit, the recording unit being arranged for recording selected items of goods and the payment unit being arranged for receiving payment for previously recorded selected items, in dependance upon recordings made in the recording unit.

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying schematic drawings in which: Figure 1 illustrates a store furnishing according to the invention comprising a plurality of registering units and a payment unit, Figure 2 illustrates a plurality of registering means and a register, Figure 3 illustrates a registering unit with belt conveyor and counting and control means, Figure 4 illustrates a belt conveyor with registering and read-out means, Figure 5 illustrates a registering unit having two belt conveyors, and Figure 6 illustrates a registering means having a random generator.

The apparatus illustrated in Fig. 1 includes a cash-register unit which is divided into a plurality of recording units 11, 12, 1 3 ... 1 5 and a payment unit 1 6 which is separate from the recording units. Each of the recording units comprises respective means 111, 121, 131 . 151 for registering different par; transactions relating to items selected for purchase, for totalling all said part transactions, and for rendering a reference number in connection with each totalling operation.The payment unit 16 includes a register 161, which is connected to the recording units and which is arranged to continuously register the result of said totalling operations and reference numbers, and to dispense receipts for or displaying on a screen at least each of the totalling results or the reference number when presenting each corresponding reference number or totalling result in the payment unit. The illustrated payment unit is intended for two cashiers, and has consequently two registers 161 and 162, both of which are connected to all of the recording units.

As will be understood, it is also possible to provide a single, common register available to each of the cashiers through keyboards.

As will be seen from Fig. 1, the number of recording units 11, 1 5 included in the illustrated embodiment is much greater than the number of payment units 1 6. Furthermore, the space between the recording units and the payment unit (s) is completely enclosed, and thus separated from the remainder of the store. Arranged in this space is a number of desks 171, 172, 173 . . . 176, intended for the customers. This enables the customer to relieve himself or herself of his or her baskets etc., and quietly take out money, write cheques etc.

When a customer has placed all the items which he wishes to purchase in a basket or trolley, he approaches one of the recording units 11, 15, where a store assistant registers all of the items, one at a time, for example, by means of a keyboard. Subsequent to record ing the items, the respective prices are auto matically totalled up, and the customer receives a receipt showing the total payment required, and possibly also a record of each part transaction. As the items are being recorded, the customer places those items already recorded into a basket or carrier bag, and when the cost of the items has been totalled up, the totalling result, together with the reference number, is sent to register 161.

The customer then firstly approaches one of the desks 1 71-176, where he or she can quietly take out the money etc. required, and then approaches the payment unit 16, where the customer presents the receipt and pays.

The cashier then enters the sum on the keyboard, whereupon the cashier receives from the register 161 a corresponding reference number, which can be checked against the reference number on the receipt. The receipt (or optionally another receipt) is then returned to the customer, who leaves the store together with his goods. As the cashier receives a reference number from the register 161, this recording is erased from the register. It can also be arranged for the customer to receive at the recording unit a receipt with both the sum to be paid and the reference number at the payment unit, and himself enters the sum and the number on a keyboard and then makes payment into an automatic pay-in apparatus.

In both instances it is arranged that a warning signal is given-off should the register not contain the entered combination of totalling result-reference number.

As an alternative to registering the totalling result together with reference number, solely the totalling result or the reference number can be recorded, in which case the aforementioned warning signal will naturally not be used.

As will be seen from Fig. 2, the recording means 111,121 . . . 151 of the recording units 11, 1 2 . . 1 5 are all connected to the register 161.

In addition to comprising the recording means 111 with keyboard 31, the recording unit illustrated in Fig. 3 also incorporates a control means 33, a belt conveyor 32, a counter 321 arranged along said conveyor 32, and a weighing unit 34. The right-hand end of the belt conveyor 32 is the input end of said conveyor and is intended for receiving goods which have already been recorded (which has been effected by a cashier through the keyboard 31). As the goods are conveyed to the left by the belt 32, they successively pass the counter 321, which sends counting pulses to the control means 33. Information concerning the number of part transactions recorded in the recording means 111 is also sent to the control means 33.In the event of any discrepancy between these two pieces of information concerning the number of items purchased by a customer at one and the same moment in time will cause the control means 33 to give-out a signal. The recording unit also includes a weighing unit 34, which is arranged to automatically weigh selected goods (taring for any trolley used) and for sending to the recording means 111 a signal containing information concerning the result of the weighing result, this signal being sent further to the register 1 61 together with the totalling result (sum in Swedish crowns) and reference number.

When the items or goods selected are also marked with a code relating to weight data, this data can be entered into the register of the payment unit, together with data relating to price. In this case, it is not necessary to weigh the goods at the recording unit, except in the case of certain goods, such as vegetables, fruit for example. A check on the weight of the goods can then be made automatically at the payment unit, i.e. at the moment when the customer is about to leave the store.

Recording of the goods can be effected automatically, thus without keyboard, reading pencil or the like. This is indicated in Fig. 4, which illustrates a belt conveyor 42, a reading means 421 positioned along the conveyor 42, and a recording means 111 to which the reading means 431 is connected.

In this instance, the goods are presumed to be marked with a code concerning the price of the goods, this information thus being automatically fed to the register 1 61 of the payment unit 1 6.

The recording unit illustrated in Fig. 5 is a further development of the apparatus shown in Fig. 4. Arranged along the belt conveyor 42, at a distance from the reading means 421 is a check means 51 which is controlled from the reading means 421 in a manner such that when an item passes the reading means 421, the reading means will normally send a signal and prevent the check means 51 from sending, for example, a light signal across the belt 42 in a "rejection zone" of the belt. If, for some reason or other, the reading means 421 is not actuated by passage of an item of goods, (said item of goods), said item will interrupt the signal from the check means 51 in the rejection zone. This, in turn, causes the belt 42 to be stopped, a scraper 53 to move across the belt in the direction of the arrow shown in the Figure, thereby transferring the said item from the belt 42 to a belt 52, and the belt 52 to be started in a direction opposite to the direction of movement of the belt 42, thereby conveying said item of goods back to the immediate vicinity of the input end of the belt 42. As soon as said item of goods has left the belt 42, said belt is restarted for further transport of subsequent goods.

In the aforegoing it has been mentioned that, in the case of certain embodiments, the totalling result and reference number are entered into the register 1 61. This reference number can be produced in different ways. In Fig. 6 there is illustrated an arrangement which includes a random generator 61 in the recording means 111. When a signal arrives from the reading means 421 (caused by the passage of an item of goods), this signal will cause in the recording means 111 a price signal which is utilized for adding to previously generated price signals, and a reference signal which is later transferred, together with the totalling signal, to the register 1 61 in the payment unit 16.

The register 1 61 in the payment unit 1 6 is so arranged that when the totalling signal or reference number is dispensed this recording is erased from the register. If a previously registered totalling result and reference number have not been the subject for erasure within a given period of time calculated from the time at which said information was recorded, for example 20 minutes, the register will initiate a warning signal. Alternatively, items of goods selected and for which payment has not been made within a given period of time can be automatically listed for analysis and guarding action may be taken.

The situation may arise where a customer, subsequent to the goods selected being recorded in (or at) a recording unit, finds that he has insufficient funds, or wishes to select one or more further items of goods etc. It shall then be possible to cancel the previous recordings made of the totalling result and/or reference number, so that the customer is set to zero and later, after returning goods and/or selecting further goods, again passes through the same routine, i.e. is treated as a new customer. This cancellation is suitably effected by the store personnel, in conjunction with retrieving a previously issued receipt, either fully or partially.In accordance with a slightly modified store furnishing, the recording units may be designed so that when recording the goods selected by a customer there is received, for example, a yellow receipt comprising a part on which the totalling result is recorded and a part on which there is recorded a list of part transactions for the items of goods selected. This receipt is presented by the customer in a payment unit, where part of the totalling result is separated and replaced, for example, with a red receipt-portion containing the totalling result.

In this way, the client is able to keep a receipt containing information of the amount paid and of the goods bought, while eliminating, at the same time, the risk of unauthorized manipulation of different receipts.

By dividing the cash-register unit into at least one recording unit and at least one payment unit separate from the recording unit, the disadvantages recited in the introduction are in many cases avoided. Practical study has shown that in large store complexes, the number of recording units should be at least one unit higher than the number of payment units, and should preferably be more than twice as large as the number of payment units.

Claims

1. A store furnishing including a cashregister unit for recording items of goods selected by a customer and for receiving payment for said goods, characterized in that the cash-register unit is divided into at least one recording unit and at least one payment unit arranged separate from the recording unit, the recording unit being arranged for recording selected items of goods and the payment unit being arranged for receiving payment for previously recorded selected items, in dependance upon recordings made in the recording unit.

2. A store furnishing according to Claim 1, characterized in that the number of recording units is at least one more than the number of payment units.

3. A store furnishing according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, characterized in that each recording unit includes means for recording different part transactions for items of goods selected, for totalling all said part transactions, and for providing a reference number in connection with each totalling operation; and in that each payment unit includes a register which is connected to available recording units and which is intended for continuously recording the totalling result and reference number and for dispensing at least each reference number or totalling result upon presentation in the payment unit of each totalling result or reference number.

4. A store furnishing according to Claim 3, characterized in that the recording means of each said recording unit is manually actuable by means of a keyboard, a reading pencil or the like.

5. A store furnishing according to Claim 3, characterized in that the recording means of each recording unit is automatically actuable by relative movement between respective items of goods and said means.

6. A store furnishing according to Claim 4, characterized in that the recording unit includes a conveyor the input end of which is intended for receiving items of goods already recorded, and the output end of which is intended for delivering previously registered and received items of goods and along which there is arranged a counter means for counting the number of passing items, and further includes a check means for comparing the number of recorded part transactions with the number of passing items counted by the counter means and for sending a signal in the event of any discrepancy between the two numbers.

7. A store furnishing according to Claim 5, characterized in that the recording unit includes a conveyor the input end of which is intended for receiving items of goods, and the output end of which is intended for dispensing previously received goods, and along which is arranged a reading means which is associated with said recording means and which is intended for reading information on items of goods, as a basis for said recording of part transactions.

8. A store furnishing according to Claim 5, characterized in that it includes a check means arranged, when no signal is sent from the reading means immediately after an item of goods has passed said reading means, to automatically conduct the item in question back to the immediate vicinity of the input end of said belt.

9. A store furnishing according to any one of the preceding Claims, characterised in that the number of recording units is much greater than the number of payment units.

10. A store furnishing according to Claim 9, wherein the number of recording units is at least twice the number of payment units.

11. A store furnishing according to any one of the preceding Claims, characterized in that the space between the recording units and the payment units is fully enclosed, and thus separate from the remainder of the store.

1 2. A Store furnishing according to Claim 3, or any one of Claims 4 to 11 when dependant upon Claim 3, characterized in that the means for dispensing reference numbers includes a random generator arranged to automatically produce a randomly selected number in connection with each summation of part transactions.

1 3. A store furnishing according to Claim 3, or any one of Claims 4 to 1 2 when dependant upon Claim 3, characterized in that said register is arranged to erase, in conjunction with dispensing previously recorded totalling results or reference numbers, said totalling result and reference number from the register.

14. A store furnishing according to any one of Claims 3 to 13, characterized in that the recording unit also includes a weighing unit arranged to automatically weigh selected items of goods and to send the result of such weighing operations to the recording means; and in that the register in the payment unit is arranged to record and later dispense likewise weighing results.

1 5. A store furnishing according to Claim 13, characterized in that the register is arranged to automatically produce a warning signal when previously registered totalling results and reference numbers have not been the subject for erasure within a given period of time, calculated from the time of recording said totalling result and reference number.

1 6. A store furnishing substantially as herein described with reference to any one of Figs. 1 to 6 of the accompanying drawings.