GB2249072A

GB2249072A - Point of sale arrangement

Info

Publication number: GB2249072A
Application number: GB9118876A
Authority: GB
Inventors: David Frank Simpson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1990-09-11
Filing date: 1991-09-04
Publication date: 1992-04-29
Anticipated expiration: 2011-09-04
Also published as: GB2249072B; GB9118876D0

Abstract

At a checkout counter 10, a conveyor 12 carries purchased items past a price reading station 24. When the items reach the end of the conveyor, they are delivered onto a carousel 30 which has radial arms 32 dividing the surface area into three different compartments. The carousel is motor driven and will be indexed through 120 DEG when a compartment is full or when one shopper's purchases are complete. The shopper can then pack up his or her purchases from one compartment whilst the next shopper's purchases are being loaded into the next compartment. <IMAGE>

Description

POINT OF SALE ARRANGEMENT This invention relates to arrangements for point of sale installations particularly as used in supermarkets for checking and totalling a customer's purchases.

It is well known that probably the least attractive part of supermarket shopping is the necessity to often wait in a queue at the checkout counter whilst others pay for and remove their purchases. There have been considerable advances in the nature of the equipment employed at checkout counters, notably the use of bar coding on practically all of the goods sold in supermarkets such that the bar coding on the goods can be read electronically to indicate the price of the goods to the checkout attendant.

This equipment is a major advance over previous systems where the checkout attendant had to key in the price of individual items, but with the speeding up of one part of the checkout operation, bottlenecks are formed at other parts. In particular, the length of time required for customers to pack up and remove their purchases from the end of the checkout counter causes delays and hold ups. It is known for supermarkets to employ staff to assist customers at this point, but this is an expensive solution.

It is an object of this invention to provide apparatus whereby the handling of paid-for goods at the checkout counter can be speeded up.

According to the invention, there is provided a carousel for facilitating the collection and packing of items from a checkout counter, the carousel comprising a circular platform mounted on a substantially vertical axis of rotation and having a series of equiangularly spaced arms defining a plurality of compartments, the compartments being arranged so that they can be sequentially lined up with an output station of an item price reader, the carousel also including means for rotating the arms to present an empty compartment to the output station and to move the items received in another compartment to a position where they can be off-loaded.

In a preferred embodiment, the carousel has three arms spaced 120 apart.

The output station may be the end of a conveyor which is used to transport items past a price reader. Alternatively the output station may be a position where a checkout operative can place items after the item price has been read.

The means for rotating the arms preferably comprises an electric motor which drives a spindle at the centre of the carousel. The motor may be sensitive to the pressure of items arriving in the compartment at the end of the conveyor, and means can be provided to trigger an indexing movement automatically as soon as one compartment between two arms of the carousel becomes full.

Each radial arm preferably has an arcuate or a chord-like extension arm which forms a wall to the respective compartment, and all the extension arms preferably extend in the same sense from the respective radial arms.

The surface of the platform may be arranged so that items can slide freely over the surface.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a checkout counter comprising a linear conveyor for conveying items past a price reading station, and a carousel as claimed in any preceding claim located at the delivery end of the conveyor so as to receive items from the conveyor.

The invention will now be further described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a point of sale arrangement in accordance with the invention; and Figure 2 is a plan view of a carousel which forms part of an arrangement in accordance with the invention.

The arrangement shown in Figure 1 represents a checkout counter for use in a supermarket. The checkout counter has an upper surface 10, part of which is formed by a conveyor belt 12. The belt 12 runs in the direction indicated by the arrow 14 and carries items from an entry end 16 to a discharge end generally indicated at 18.

Items to be purchased are unloaded from a shopping trolley onto the left hand end of the conveyor 12, behind two fences 20, 22 which are set so as to provide a funnel-shaped opening through which items have to pass to reach the discharge end 18. The fences 20, 22 may be resiliently mounted in order that they can only permit one item at a time to pass through the funnel. As a result, the left hand end of the conveyor will carry a steady stream of items, one item deep.

Positioned opposite a part of the right hand end of the conveyor 12 is a bar code reader 24 which forms part of a payment unit 25. As the items pass the code reader 24, the codes on the items are read and data regarding each item is obtained and stored.

At the right hand end of the conveyor, the checked items will be fed onto the surface 10 and contained within two arms 26, 28 of a carousel 30. The carousel shown in fact has three radial arms 26, 28 and 32 and each arm has a chord-like extension 34. The carousel is supported on a central spindle 36 and this spindle can be indexed through 120' so that when the compartment formed by the arms 26 and 28 is full, then the carousel can turn through 120' so the filled compartment is moved round to a position where somebody standing at the right hand end of the counter can remove items from the counter and pack them for transport away from the supermarket.

It is desirable that items be able to slide smoothly over the surface 38 of the carousel. To enable this to happen, the surface 38 can be a smooth surface, possibly treated with a low friction coating. Alternatively the surface may be studded with free-running balls mounted below the surface so that items can easily move over the surface.

The motor which drives the spindle may be sensitive to the pressure of items arriving in the compartment at the end of the conveyor, such that an indexing movement takes place automatically as soon as one compartment between two arms of the carousel becomes full.

Figure 2 shows a carousel in plan view. It can be seen that the arm extensions 34a in this embodiment are arcuate and follow the perimeter of the carousel.

Claims

1. A carousel for facilitating the collection and packing of items from a checkout counter, the carousel comprising a circular platform mounted on a substantially vertical axis of rotation and having a series of equiangularly spaced arms defining a plurality of compartments, the compartments being arranged so that they can be sequentially lined up with an output station of an item price reader, the carousel also including means for rotating the arms to present an empty compartment to the output station and to move the items received in another compartment to a position where they can be off-loaded.

2. A carousel as claimed in Claim 1, which has three arms spaced 120 apart.

3. A carousel as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the means for rotating the arms comprises an electric motor which drives a spindle at the centre of the carousel.

4. A carousel as claimed in Claim 3, wherein the motor which drives the spindle is sensitive to the pressure of items arriving in the compartment at the end of the conveyor, and means are provided to trigger an indexing movement automatically as soon as one compartment between two arms of the carousel becomes full.

5. A carousel as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein each radial arm has a chord-like extension which forms a wall to the respective compartment.

6. A carousel as claimed in Claim 5, wherein all the chord-like extensions extend in the same sense from the respective radial arms.

7. A carousel as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the surface of the carousel is arranged so that items can slide freely over the surface.

8. A carousel substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

9. A checkout counter comprising a linear conveyor for conveying items-past a price reading station, and a carousel as claimed in any preceding claim located at the delivery end of the conveyor so as to receive items from the conveyor.

10. A checkout counter substantially as herein described with reference to the Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings.