JP2001023042A - Commodity sales registered data processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To attain the automatic switching to set the angle of visibility of a liquid crystal display constructing a display device facing customer in a wide range when a commercial message screen, etc., is displayed and in a small range when the personal information on a customer is displayed respectively. SOLUTION: A contrast control part 20 can switch the angle of visibility of a liquid crystal display constructing a display device facing customer 6 from a 1st angle of visibility where the display contents can be recognized at the front side of a screen to a 2nd angle of visibility that is turned to an upper side higher than the 1st angle of visibility. A POS(point of sales) control part 11 performs the control to validate or invalidate the switching of angles of visibility by a command and according to the contents of the data which are displayed on the display device 6.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a TN (Twisted Ne
matic) method or STN (Super Twisted Nemati)
The present invention relates to a merchandise sales registration data processing device such as a POS (Point Of Sales) terminal and an electronic cash register using a liquid crystal display of the c) type as a customer surface display.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional merchandise sales registration data processing device such as a POS terminal, an STN system is used as a customer surface display for displaying a product name, price, etc. of a merchandise registered for sale to a customer who purchases the merchandise. A color liquid crystal display was developed to display commercial message images, such as recommended products and special sales guidance, when information on products registered for sale was not displayed. ing. By using such a merchandise sales registration data processing device, there is an advantage that the customer display can be effectively used as an advertising medium.

[0003] In general, the screen of a liquid crystal display does not always look the same in any direction, but looks good in a certain range in a certain direction. Therefore, there is a property that display contents are difficult to see. Here, the range in which the display contents can be seen well is referred to as a viewing angle. In a TN or STN liquid crystal display, the viewing angle in the vertical direction toward the screen can be adjusted by increasing or decreasing the voltage that changes the contrast of the screen. Therefore, conventionally, a contrast voltage has been set so that the viewing angle of a liquid crystal display used as a customer display is wide, so that the function as an advertising medium is not impaired.

[0004]

However, among the information displayed on the liquid crystal display used as the customer display, information (address, In the past, such personal information could be viewed from a wide range like a commercial message image, so privacy could not be protected and the customer's trust might be lost. Was.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and in the case of using a liquid crystal display as a customer display, the viewing angle of the liquid crystal display can be widened when displaying a commercial message image or the like. It is an object of the present invention to provide a merchandise sales registration data processing device capable of automatically switching to a narrow range when displaying personal information of a customer.

[0006]

The invention according to claim 1 of the present application provides a merchandise sales registration data using a liquid crystal display as a customer surface display for displaying information on the purchased merchandise to a customer who purchases the merchandise. A viewing angle switching means for switching a viewing angle of the liquid crystal display from a first viewing angle at which the display contents can be recognized on the front side of the screen to a second viewing angle which is directed upward from the processing device; Viewing angle control means for controlling whether the viewing angle switching means is enabled or disabled according to the content of data displayed on the display. And in this invention,
It is preferable that the view angle control means is means for making the view angle switching means effective when the data displayed on the liquid crystal display is information on an individual customer who purchases a product.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a merchandise sales registration data processing apparatus using a liquid crystal display as a customer surface display. A reference voltage generating means for generating a voltage that provides a contrast which is a viewing angle of 1, a command output means for outputting a command for changing a viewing angle of the liquid crystal display in accordance with data displayed on the liquid crystal display, and a command output means Voltage switching means for switching the voltage generated by the reference voltage generating means in response to the command output by the control circuit to a voltage at which a contrast is obtained such that the viewing angle of the liquid crystal display is a second viewing angle above the first viewing angle. It is provided with. In the present invention, the command output means outputs a command for changing the viewing angle of the liquid crystal display when the data displayed on the liquid crystal display is information relating to a customer who purchases a product. Preferably, it is a means.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, a case will be described in which the present invention is applied to a POS terminal using an STN-type liquid crystal display (a specification in which the elevation angle of a viewing angle becomes upward due to an increase in contrast voltage) as a customer surface display. .

FIG. 1 is an external view of a POS terminal 1 according to the present embodiment.
The drawer 2 is placed on the drawer 2, and the drawer 2a of the drawer 2 is automatically opened to the near side. Although not shown, it is connected to a host computer as a host device via a communication line such as a LAN (Local Area Network) so as to be freely communicable with each other.

In the POS terminal 1, when the sale of a product is registered by the product registration unit, the sales data of the product is registered in the storage unit and displayed on the display unit, and registration of one transaction is completed by the registration closing unit. When declared, the "registration" task of displaying the total price, change amount, etc. of the products registered in the one transaction on the display unit and printing and issuing a receipt, and summing up the sales data of each product registered in the storage unit Performs various tasks such as "Inspection" to output a report, and "Totaling" to clear sales data for each product in the storage unit after summarizing sales data for each product registered in the storage unit and outputting a report. A keyboard 3 on the front side of which various keys functioning as merchandise registration means and registration fastening means are arranged;
A mode switch 4 for selecting a task to be executed from various tasks such as “inspection” and “payment” and a front display 5 functioning as a display unit for an operator are provided.
A customer surface display 6 functioning as a display unit for shoppers is provided. Further, a printer 7 for performing receipt printing or the like is built in, and the receipt printed by the printer 7 is discharged from a receipt issuing port 8 formed on the front side of the POS terminal 1 to issue a receipt. . Further, the scanner 9 for optically reading a bar code such as a product code is connected to the communication interface cable 1.
0 is connected.

The front display 5 and the customer display 6 are S
It is composed of a TN type liquid crystal display, and has contrast control volumes 5a and 6a on the right side of the screen.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a main part of the POS terminal 1. The POS control unit 11 includes a CPU (Centra
l Processing Unit) mainly composed of ROM (Read Only Memory) storing programs and the like, RAM (Random Access Memory) forming a work area, I / O ports for inputting and outputting various signals, timers, etc. The POS
It is responsible for the control center of terminal 1. The POS control unit 11 stores the drawer 2, the keyboard 3,
Mode switch 4, front display 5, customer display 6, printer 7 and scanner 9 are connected. Also,
A communication interface 12 for controlling data communication with the host computer is connected to a storage unit 13 for registering sales data of each product.

When data is input from the keyboard 3 and the input device of the scanner 9, the POS control unit 11 executes data processing of the business mode selected by the mode switch 4 and, if necessary, The drawer 2 of the drawer 2 is automatically opened, print data is sent to the printer 7, and display data is sent to the front display 5 and the customer display 6. When a command from the host computer is received via the communication interface 12, processing according to the command is executed.

Further, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5, the POS control unit 11 constantly monitors the state of the command flag F stored in the built-in RAM. A command output means for outputting a command X for changing the viewing angle of the liquid crystal display to the contrast control unit 20 of the liquid crystal display constituting the surface display 6 is provided.

The contrast control section 20 includes an A / D converter 21 for converting an analog voltage set by the contrast adjustment volume 6a into a digital value V1, and a digital signal converted by the A / D converter 21. An adder 22 for adding the decoded value V2 of the command X input from the POS control unit 11 to the value V1; and converting the digital value (V1 + V2) output from the adder 22 into an analog voltage to convert the contrast of the liquid crystal display. It comprises a D / A converter 23 which supplies the voltage to the customer surface display 6.

Here, ST constituting the customer surface display 6 is described.
In an N-type liquid crystal display, the vertical viewing angle is determined by the level of the contrast voltage. That is, when the contrast voltage rises, the elevation angle of the viewing angle rises and turns upward, and when the contrast voltage falls, the elevation angle of the viewing angle falls and turns downward. Therefore, in the present embodiment, a period during which the command X is not output from the POS control unit 11 (at time t0 in FIG. 6).
And after time t1), that is, during a period in which the contrast voltage is equal to the voltage V1 set by the contrast adjustment volume 6a, the viewing angle of the liquid crystal display constituting the customer surface display 6 is in the range shown by the solid line in FIG. That is, the contrast adjustment volume 6 is set so as to have the first viewing angle A at which the display contents can be recognized on the front side of the screen.
a is manually set in advance. In this way, all the shoppers C1, C2, and C3 standing in the area shown by the solid line in FIG. 4 can check the display contents of the customer level display 6.

On the other hand, the period during which the command X is output from the POS control unit 11 (time points t0 to t1 in FIG. 6), that is, the contrast voltage is set to the contrast adjustment volume 6a.
In the period in which the voltage (V1 + V2) is obtained by adding the decode value V2 of the command X to the voltage V1 set by the above, the viewing angle of the liquid crystal display constituting the customer surface display 6 is in the range shown by the broken line in FIG. First viewing angle A
The command X is set in advance by software so that the second viewing angle B is directed upward. By doing so, only the first shopper C1 standing in the area shown by the broken line in FIG. 4, that is, the shopper who is processing at the POS terminal 1, can confirm the display content of the customer surface display 6.

Here, the contrast adjustment volume 6
Reference numeral a denotes a reference voltage generating means for generating a voltage V1 that provides a contrast in which a viewing angle of a liquid crystal display constituting the customer surface display 6 is a first viewing angle A at which display contents can be recognized on the front side of the screen. Function as Further, the contrast control unit 20 configures the customer surface display 6 with a voltage generated by the reference voltage generation unit (contrast adjustment volume 6a) in response to a command output by the command output unit of the POS control unit 11. The liquid crystal display functions as voltage switching means for switching to a voltage at which a contrast is obtained such that the viewing angle of the liquid crystal display becomes a second viewing angle B above the first viewing angle A.

In this embodiment having such a configuration,
It is assumed that an application program for customer surface display control executed by the POS control unit 11 is configured as shown in, for example, a flowchart of FIG. That is, first, the command flag F is reset to “0” as ST (step) 1. Next, as ST2, the job selected by the mode switch 4 is determined. If the “registration” operation is selected, a commercial message screen downloaded from, for example, a host computer is displayed on the customer display 6 in ST3. In this state, the process waits for product registration to be performed as ST4.

When the merchandise to be purchased is registered in ST4 by key input of the keyboard 3 or scanning input of the scanner 9, it is determined in ST5 whether or not one item to be purchased by the customer is registered. If one item is to be registered, the command flag F is set to "1" in ST6. In the case of registration of two or more items, the command flag F has already been set to "1".
Is not performed.

Next, in step ST7, data such as the name and price of the registered customer purchase product is displayed on the customer surface display 6. Thereafter, in ST8, it is determined whether or not the registration end of the product purchased by one customer has been declared. Here, if the registration end is not declared and the next customer purchase product is registered, data such as the product name and price of the registered customer purchase product is displayed on the customer display 6. Repeat the process.

If it is confirmed in ST8 that the end of registration has been declared by inputting the closing key, transaction closing data such as the total amount and change amount is displayed on the customer surface display 6 in ST9. Also, as ST10, drawer 2 drawer 2
a is automatically opened. Then drawer 2 drawer 2a
When the sensor detects that the drawer 2a has been closed, the process returns to ST1 to reset the command flag F to "0".

By implementing such an application program for customer face display control, a commercial message screen is continuously displayed on the customer face display 6 during non-registration of a customer purchased commodity. At this time, since the contrast voltage applied to the liquid crystal display constituting the customer surface display 6 is the voltage V1 set by the contrast adjustment volume 6a, the viewing angle becomes the first viewing angle A. As a result, the display contents of the customer surface display 6 can be confirmed from a wide range, and many shoppers in the store can see the commercial message screen, so that the customer surface display 6 can be effectively used as an advertising medium. .

On the other hand, the shopper C1 setstles the purchase
When the operator offers to the operator of the S terminal 1 and registers the first point of the customer-purchased product by operating the keyboard 3 or the scanner 9, the name and price of the customer-purchased product are displayed on the customer display 6. . At this time, since the command flag F is set to “1”, the command X is output from the POS control unit 11 to the contrast control unit 20.
As a result, the contrast voltage applied to the liquid crystal display constituting the customer surface display 6 is a voltage (V1 + V2) obtained by adding the decode value V2 of the command X to the voltage V1 set by the contrast adjustment volume 6a. Is directed upward from the first viewing angle A and the second viewing angle B
Becomes As a result, only the shopper C1 who stands immediately before the customer surface display 6 can check the display content of the customer surface display 6, so that there is no risk that information on the registered merchandise can be seen by another person, and privacy can be protected.

When the shopper C1 completes the registration of the merchandise to be purchased and inputs the closing key, the customer's face display 6 displays the total amount, the change amount, and the like. Also at this time, the viewing angle is the second viewing angle B, so that only the shopper C1 can see the total amount and change amount. Therefore, there is no possibility that information about the customer, such as the total amount of the registered merchandise and the change amount, can be seen by others, and privacy can be protected. After that, the payment of the shopper C1 is completed and the drawer 2
Is closed, the screen of the customer display 6 returns to the commercial message screen. At this time, the viewing angle decreases from the second viewing angle B to the first viewing angle A, so that the commercial message screen of the customer display 6 can be viewed from a wide range, and effectively functions as an advertisement medium.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the viewing angle of the liquid crystal display constituting the customer surface display 6 is made wide when displaying a commercial message image or the like, and the personal information of the customer is displayed. In such a case, the switching to the narrow range can be automatically performed. As a result, the customer surface display 6 can be effectively used as an advertising medium,
When displaying customer's personal information, it can be protected from being seen by others and privacy can be protected.

In the above-described embodiment, the registration information and the total information of the products purchased by the customer are exemplified as the personal information of the customer, but it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to this. Any modifications can be made by the control application program.

For example, a POS terminal used in a convenience store or the like that mediates a home delivery service registers and manages the address, telephone number, destination address, telephone number, and the like of the customer applying for the home delivery service and manages the data. It has a flight registration service. In this home delivery service registration business, the customer surface display 6
Since the phone number and address registered in are displayed, privacy protection is required.

Therefore, an application program for customer surface display control executed by the POS control unit 11 is configured as shown in the flowchart of FIG. That is, first, the command flag F is reset to "0" as ST1. Next, S
The task selected by the mode switch 4 is determined as T2. If the "registration" operation is selected, a commercial message screen downloaded from, for example, a host computer is displayed on the customer display 6 in ST3. In this state, it waits for the declaration of home delivery registration to be made as ST4.

Here, when the home delivery key is entered by inputting the home delivery key on the keyboard 3, the command flag F is set to "1" in ST5. ST6
Is displayed on the customer surface display 6 as a home delivery data input screen. In this state, when data of items such as an address and a telephone number necessary for home delivery registration is input by key input of the keyboard 3 or scanning input of the scanner 9 in ST7, the input item data is displayed in a customer display in ST8. 6
Is displayed on the home delivery data input screen. Then, ST9
When the end of the home delivery registration is declared by inputting the closing key, the home delivery data input screen of the customer display 6 is erased, and the process returns to ST1 to reset the command flag F to "0".

By installing such an application program for controlling the display of the customer surface, the command flag F is set to "1" in response to the input of the courier key, and the PO flag is set.
Command X from S control unit 11 to contrast control unit 20
Is output, information about the customer, such as the address and telephone number entered in the courier service registration, is displayed on the customer surface display 6.
Is displayed, the viewing angle of the liquid crystal display constituting the customer surface display 6 is automatically switched from the first viewing angle A to the second viewing angle B. Therefore, information relating to the individual customer can be confirmed only by the customer standing immediately before the customer surface display 6, and privacy is protected.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where a liquid crystal display having a specification in which the elevation angle of the viewing angle is upward due to the increase in the contrast voltage is used as the customer surface display 6 is described. When using a liquid crystal display with a specification in which the angle of elevation is upward,
This can be easily handled by changing the adder 22 of the contrast control unit 20 to a subtractor. In addition, the liquid crystal display is not limited to the STN type, and the present invention can be similarly applied to, for example, a TN type.

[0033]

As described in detail above, according to each of the first to fourth aspects of the present invention, when displaying an advertisement image on a customer display device, personal information is displayed so as to be visible from a wide range. Product sales registration that can automatically change the viewing angle of the liquid crystal display that composes the customer surface display so that only the customer can be seen, and that can effectively use the customer surface display as an advertising medium while protecting privacy A data processing device can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a POS terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a main part of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view used for explaining the viewing angle of the liquid crystal display constituting the customer surface display of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view from above used for explaining the viewing angle of the liquid crystal display constituting the customer surface display of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing contrast control processing executed by a POS control unit in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a waveform chart used for describing the operation of the contrast control unit according to the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of a customer side display control process executed by a POS control unit in the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing another example of the customer side display control process executed by the POS control unit in the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... POS terminal 6 ... Customer display 6a ... Contrast adjustment volume 11 ... POS control part 20 ... Contrast control part 21 ... A / D converter 22 ... Adder 23 ... D / A converter A ... First field of view Angle B: second viewing angle

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A merchandise sales registration data processing device using a liquid crystal display as a customer surface display for displaying information on the purchased merchandise to a customer who purchases the merchandise. Viewing angle switching means for switching from a first viewing angle at which display contents can be recognized on the front side to a second viewing angle facing upward from the first viewing angle;
A merchandise sales registration data processing device comprising: a viewing angle control unit that controls whether the viewing angle switching unit is enabled or disabled according to the content of data displayed on the liquid crystal display. 2. The view angle control means, wherein the view angle switching means is effective when the data displayed on the liquid crystal display is information on an individual customer who purchases a product. Product sales registration data processing device. 3. A merchandise sales registration data processing device using a liquid crystal display as a customer surface display for displaying information on the purchased merchandise to a customer who purchases the merchandise, wherein the viewing angle of the liquid crystal display is A reference voltage generating means for generating a voltage that provides a first viewing angle at which a display content can be recognized on the front side, and a viewing angle of the liquid crystal display that is changed according to data displayed on the liquid crystal display; Command output means for outputting a command; and a voltage generated by the reference voltage generation means in response to the command output by the command output means. Voltage switching means for switching to a voltage that provides a contrast that provides a viewing angle of 2. That commodity sales registration data processing apparatus. 4. The command output means for outputting a command to change the viewing angle of the liquid crystal display when the data to be displayed on the liquid crystal display is information on an individual who purchases a product. Item 3. A product sales registration data processing device according to item 3.