JP2002236976A - Card processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a card processor, which is a handy and small device, does not require a large-scale modification on an existing POS(point of sales) system, is economical, has good operability, and can collect detailed customer information. SOLUTION: The card processor is provided with a card information reading means reading the customer ID and cumulative applied point number of a customer card, an applied point number arithmetic means adding or subtracting the applied point number corresponding to commodities or services sold or offered to the customer to or from the read cumulative applied point number, a card information writing means writing the added or subtracted result on the customer card as a new cumulative applied point number, a transaction information input means capable of recognizing by machine the transaction contents of the commodities or services sold or offered to the customer, a transaction information collecting means collecting the transaction amounts of money and/or applied point numbers corresponding to the contents of dealt commodities or services for each customer ID, and a transaction information storage means cumulatively storing the transaction information including the transaction amount of money and/or applied point number collected for each customer ID.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a card processing apparatus for assigning points to goods or services sold or provided to customers and recording the points assigned to customer cards.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, many companies have introduced point cards as an effective means of collecting customer information as well as a sales promotion tool for customers. There are two types of point card processing devices, a stand-alone type and a POS cash register interlocking type. The former stand-alone type is configured to function as a single card processing device, and can be constructed at a relatively low cost in a short period of time. On the other hand, the latter POS cash register linked type connects a card processing device to a POS cash register, and collects customer code recorded on the card and detailed transaction information such as product code, quantity, and amount entered at the POS cash register. Is possible.

[0003] In recent years, new products and new brands have been launched at stores affiliated with manufacturers and campaigns to commemorate the opening of new stores at mass merchandisers such as electric appliances and automobile supplies. or carried out the verification of whether they really selling, needs such as want to collection and analysis of customer information in the region which was opening new stores have become stronger, these, even in such a limited time campaign, the needs of the point card use Is getting stronger. As a similar system, there is a system using a customer card called a mileage card or a service card.

[0004]

By the way, in a conventional point card processing device, particularly in a stand-alone type, the amount of goods sold to a customer and the type of service provided to the customer are operated by operating a keyboard provided in the card processing device. I was typing. However, key input operations are easy to make mistakes and are troublesome. In addition, unauthorized operations are easily performed, for example, an increase in the number of points given to a specific customer.

Further, in the case of the conventional stand-alone type, it is possible to collect simple information such as a customer code of a card user and a given number of points, but it is not possible to collect detailed information of goods and services sold or provided to the customer. .

On the other hand, in the case of the POS cash register interlocking type,
It is necessary to newly develop system software such as a cash register and a store controller, the introduction cost is relatively high, and the time required for system construction is long.

Accordingly, the present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and does not require much cost and time for system introduction. Provided is a card processing device that is a small-sized device, does not require major modification of an existing POS system, is economical, has good operability, and can collect detailed transaction information.

[0008]

A card processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises: card information reading means for reading a customer ID and a total number of points assigned to a customer card; A card processing device comprising: a point calculation unit for adding or subtracting points to be provided corresponding to provided goods or services; and card information writing means for writing the result of addition or subtraction to a customer card as a new cumulative points. A transaction information input means capable of mechanically recognizing the transaction contents of goods or services sold or provided to the customer, and a transaction ID and / or a number of points corresponding to the contents of the traded goods or services are entered into the customer ID. Transaction information totaling means for totalizing transaction information, and transactions for storing and storing transaction information including transaction amount and / or assigned points totalized for each customer ID And a distribution storage means.

Therefore, the transaction contents of goods or services sold or provided to the customer are mechanically input to the card processing device, and the corresponding transaction amounts and / or points are totaled to obtain the transaction contents and the corresponding transaction amounts. And / or store and store transaction information including the assigned points.

Further, the card processing device of the present invention includes, as transaction information input means, for example, an optical code recognition device such as a bar code reader or a character reader, or a non-contact IC tag reader. By using the transaction information input means, the transaction contents of goods and services sold or provided to customers are automatically and accurately input to the card processing device.

[0011] The transaction information input means is not limited to a bar code reader, a character reader, or a non-contact IC tag reader, but may be a POS register provided with the reader. The contents of the transaction may be input to the card processing device via the POS register.

Further, the card processing apparatus of the present invention provides merchandise information relating to merchandise or services to be handled, that is,
Merchandise information storage means for storing an identification code indicating the type of product or service, and a corresponding transaction amount and / or assigned point; transaction content input to the card processing device from the merchandise information storage means; That is, the transaction amount corresponding to the identification code indicating the type of the product or service and / or
Or product information search means for reading out the assigned points,
Automatically search for transaction amount and / or award points corresponding to transaction details.

On the other hand, the transaction information storage means of the card processing device stores transaction information such as transaction date and time, transaction place, transaction member, transaction details, and details of the products and services that have been transacted, and provides detailed information for each customer. Transaction information can be collected.

[0014] The transaction information storage means for storing and storing the transaction information is a storage medium which is detachably mounted. By recovering the storage medium from the card processing device,
Transaction information for each customer can be collected in another information processing device. Further, the transaction information stored in the transaction information storage means may be transmitted to an external information processing device via the communication means.

Further, in the card processing apparatus of the present invention, a magnetic card, an IC card, an optical card, or a composite card thereof, which can machine-read a customer identification code (customer ID), is used as the customer card. This customer card has a variable information display unit, and the variable information visualization unit provided in the card information writing unit displays the total assigned points on the variable information display unit of the customer card.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the embodiment of the present apparatus. Also,
FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an example of a front side of a customer card used in the present apparatus. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an example of the back side of the customer card used in the present apparatus. FIG. 4 shows an example of the information structure of a customer card used in the present apparatus.

(Configuration of Card Processing Apparatus) First, an embodiment of the card processing apparatus will be described. In FIG. 1, 1
0 indicates a card processing device. The card processing device 10 includes a card reader / writer (hereinafter abbreviated as a reader / writer) 11, a control device 12, an operation device 13, a display device 14, a transaction information input device 15, a communication device 16, and a product information storage device 1.
7. It is composed of the transaction information storage device 18 and the like. Note that 30
Is a customer card, and 40 is a product purchased by the customer.

In the present apparatus, the reader / writer 11 transmits a customer identification code (customer ID) recorded on the customer card 30.
D) and card information reading means for reading a point given to a payment price of a product purchased or a service provided by a customer in the past, a so-called cumulative value of points,
A card information book in which a result obtained by adding or subtracting a point assigned to a product newly purchased or a service received by a customer to or from a cumulative point read from the customer card 30 as a new cumulative point is written in the customer card 30. Insertion means.

As the reader / writer 11, for example,
When the customer card 30 is a magnetic card, the card information reading means and the card information writing means are constituted by a magnetic data reading / writing device. When the customer card 30 is an IC card, the card information reading means and the card information The information writing means is constituted by an IC data reading / writing device.

Alternatively, when the customer card 30 is an optical card, the card information reading means and the card information writing means are constituted by an optical data reading / writing device, and the customer card 30 is a magnetic medium, an IC medium, or In the case where the information recording medium is composed of a plurality of types of information recording media such as an optical medium, the card information reading unit and the card information writing unit use a data reading / writing device suitable for the plurality of types of information recording media.

When the customer card 30 is provided with a variable information display section, the reader / writer 11 serves as a card information writing means for displaying the total assigned points on the variable information display section of the customer card 30. Be prepared.

(Exemplary Configuration of Customer Card) Here, an example of a customer card used in the present apparatus will be described. 2 and 3 show the front side and the back side of the customer card 30, respectively. The customer card is as shown in FIG.
On the front side, a variable information display section 3 displays a store name logo indicating the card issuer and a card name indicating the card type.
1 is provided.

The variable information display section 31 displays, for example, a heat-sensitive material layer (liquid crystal, unsaturated fatty acid) having a property of becoming cloudy or transparent depending on a heating temperature, or a different hue depending on the direction of an applied magnetic field. It can be formed by using a microcapsulated magnetic sensitive particle layer that can be exposed.

For the variable information display section 31 formed of the heat-sensitive material layer, a heating mechanism, such as a line thermal head, in which fine heating elements capable of controlling the heating temperature are arranged in a row, is provided with the above-described reader. By preparing for the writer 11,
Characters and figures can be freely displayed on the variable information display unit 31. For the variable information display section 31 formed using the magnetically sensitive particle layer, the reader / writer 11 is provided with a magnetizing mechanism in which fine magnetic field generating elements capable of controlling the direction of the magnetic field are arranged in rows. This allows characters and graphics to be displayed freely.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, a customer identification code (customer ID) for identifying a customer who owns the card or a card number (let customer ID be a customer ID) is provided on the back side of the customer card. The information is printed so as to be visible, and the information is recorded in, for example, a magnetic recording layer of the machine-readable information recording unit 32. Therefore, by inserting the card 30 into the reader / writer 11 and reading the customer ID (card number) recorded in the machine readable information recording unit 32 with a magnetic head or the like, it is possible to identify the card holder. it can.

The machine readable information recording unit 32 includes:
Various information, such as the customer ID described above, is specifically recorded as shown in FIG. Here, the system identification code and the card type shown in FIG. 4 are identification codes for specifying a card processing device that can use the card, and are collated with an identification code set and registered in the card processing device in advance.

The company identification code, the store identification code, and the device identification code are identification codes for specifying the issuer of the card. Like the system identification code and the card type, the card that can use this card is used. This is an identification code for specifying the processing device, and is collated with an identification code set and registered in the card processing device in advance.

Further, the card issuance date / time, member type, and member number are recorded in the machine readable information recording unit 32. These pieces of information indicate when and to whom the card was issued, that is, information used in the card processing device as a customer ID that can identify the card holder.

The date and time of card use, expiration date, total number of times of use, and card use points, total points, exchange points, and the like are tabulated on products purchased by the customer and services provided to the customer using this card. Information, the date and time of the most recent use of the card, the expiration date of use of this card, the total number of card uses,
The machine-readable information recording unit 32 records the subtracted exchange points and the like according to the accumulated points and the service received using the points. It should be noted that these pieces of total information are information updated by the card processing apparatus each time a point providing service is received using a card.

On the back side of the card, a notice such as 33 shown in FIG. 3 is printed on the back side of the customer card 30 as a guide for using the card, in relation to the contents displayed on the variable information display section 31 on the front side. It is desirable to keep. Of course, the text of the usage guidance is not limited to the text shown in FIG. 3, and it is preferable to print appropriate texts on the issuer of the card and how to use the card.

(Details of Card Processing Apparatus) Next, the configuration of the present apparatus will be described in more detail. First, the control device 12 shown in FIG. 1 is provided for controlling the above-described reader / writer 11 and each device described below, which constitute the card processing device,
So-called CPU (microprocessor), ROM, R
It is composed of a memory such as an AM and hardware such as an interface with each connected device. In addition,
In terms of software, it includes an arithmetic control unit 20, an input processing unit 21, a search processing unit 22, a storage processing unit 23, an output processing unit 24, and the like.

On the other hand, the operating device 13 is a keyboard switch for manually controlling the operation of the present device. The display device 14 is provided so that the operation state of the present device can be visually checked, and can be constituted by a liquid crystal display device, a fluorescent display tube, or a display device using a plasma display or a semiconductor LED. The operation device 13 and the display device 14 may use a display device with a transparent touch panel in which they are integrated.

The transaction information input device 15 shown in FIG. 1 is a device for mechanically reading an identification code of a product or service sold or provided to a customer, a so-called product code, such as a bar code or OCR (optical character recognition). An optical code recognition device such as a bar code reader (bar code reader) or an OCR wand reader (character recognition device) for reading an optical code such as an optical code is used.

That is, the transaction information input device 15 used here is directly printed on the package of the product 40.
Alternatively, it is necessary to provide an input device adapted to the type of the optical code indicating the product code or the product price, which is printed on the label attached to the product 40. For example, if it is a barcode, JAN, NW-7, CODE39, Inte
related2of5, standard2of5,
An input device corresponding to Code 93, Code 128, or the like is provided.

If the character recognition device is an OCR-
A device corresponding to a typeface such as A, OCR-B, or OCR-Kana is provided. When a wireless information medium using electromagnetic waves, such as a non-contact IC tag, is attached to the target product 40, a data reading device for the non-contact IC tag should be used as the transaction information input device 15. become.

The communication device 16 shown in FIG. 1 is a device for communicating with an external information processing device. For example, a modem or a LAN adapter can be used for data communication by wire, and it can be wireless. When communicating, use a mobile phone or P
HS or wireless LAN unit or Bluetooth
h units can be used. The card processing device may be configured to perform data communication directly with an external information processing device, for example, a portable personal computer.

The product information storage device 17 shown in FIG. 1 comprises a semiconductor memory, preferably a memory card detachably mounted on the device, a micro magnetic disk, or the like. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the data stored in the product information storage device 17 includes a product code indicating the type of a product or service handled by the card processing device, a product name of the product, a unit price, and a given score. And stored in a searchable table format in advance.

Similarly, the transaction information storage device 18 shown in FIG.
Is composed of a semiconductor memory, preferably a memory card detachably mounted on the apparatus, or a micro magnetic disk. The data stored in the transaction information storage device 18 collectively stores transaction date and time, transaction place, transaction member, transaction details, transaction details, and the like for each transaction unit, as illustrated in FIG.

FIG. 7 shows an example of the external appearance of a card processing device incorporating the above-described devices. In the figure, 10 is a card processing device, 11 is a card insertion slot of a reader / writer, 13 is a keyboard switch as an operation device, 14 is a display device, 1
A bar code reader 5 is one of the transaction information input devices, and is connected to the main body of the card processing device 10 by a cable. Reference numeral 40 denotes a product purchased by the customer,
A product code indicating the type of the product is printed and displayed as a bar code on the exterior of the product.

When using the present apparatus, first, the card presented by the customer is inserted into the card insertion slot of the main body, and the card information such as the customer ID recorded on the card is read. Next, the barcode of the product 40 purchased by the customer is read using the transaction information input device 15 such as a barcode reader. In general, the barcode displayed on the product 40 is a product identification code (product code) indicating the type of the product, and based on the product code, the product name, unit price, and / or assigned points of the product are shown in FIG. Is read from the product information storage device 17 shown in FIG.

The quantity of goods purchased by the customer is shown in FIG.
Is input using an information input sheet as shown in FIG. In the example of the figure, the transaction information input device 15 can input a quantity of 1 to 99 using nine types of barcodes 1 to 9 and 10 to 90. Further, the type of service provided to the customer may be input using a similar information input sheet.

The product code and quantity input using the transaction information input device 15 and the product name, unit price and / or assigned points read from the product information storage device 17 based on the product code are input to the operation device 13. When the key is pressed or when the bar code indicating the completion of the input of the information input sheet shown in FIG. 8 is read, the transaction information is stored in the unit of the customer ID read from the card.
Is stored. After that, card usage information such as awarded points is recorded on the customer card inserted in the apparatus, and then the card is ejected.

(Product Information Registration Process) As described above,
In the present embodiment, the transaction information, that is, the type of the product 40 purchased by the customer or the type of the service provided to the customer and the quantity thereof are input using the transaction information input device 15 such as a barcode reader. The transaction amount and the number of points are totaled and stored. Therefore, in this device, it is necessary to store in advance in the product information storage device 17 the product information such as the type of the product or service, that is, the transaction amount or the number of points assigned to the product code.

Product information such as a product code, a product name, a transaction amount, and a given point can be registered in the apparatus by various methods. For example, using the operation device 13 such as a keyboard switch provided in the present device, the item may be registered manually one item at a time, or a product information list may be created in another information processing device and the communication device may be registered. 16, they can be transferred to the product information storage device 17 collectively. further,
When the product information storage device 17 is configured to be detachable from the present device like a memory card, a method of registering the product information in the memory card in advance by another information processing device and mounting the product information in the present device may also be used. Good.

Next, the operation of the card processing apparatus will be described. This card processing device
Installed at the store's payment counter or service counter, it gives a fixed percentage of points for payment for goods purchased by customers or services provided to customers, and points set in advance for product types and services This is a device that performs special services according to the points and provides transaction information such as products purchased by the customer and services provided to the customer for each customer.

In the present apparatus, first, the card presented by the customer is inserted into the card processing device, and the recorded card information is read. As shown in FIG. 9, in the present apparatus, in step S1, whether or not a card is inserted is constantly monitored. When the card is inserted, the card information reading process and the verification operation in step S2 and subsequent steps are performed. Start. These processes are performed by the reader / writer 11 and the control device 12 shown in FIG.

In the card reading process in step S2, the card information (see FIG. 4) recorded on the inserted customer card is read by the reader / writer 11, and the card information is temporarily stored in the RAM memory of the card processing device. Is stored. Next, in the data verification process in step S3, the card information recorded on the customer card is compared with various identification codes set in the card processing device in advance, and transaction information is input for a card having valid card information. Processing is allowed.

When the input of the transaction information is permitted in step S4, a storage area for the transaction information is generated in the RAM memory of the control device 12 in step S5, and the transaction information is stored in the transaction information storage device 18. Also, a duplicate storage area for such information is set.

In the transaction information storage area, transaction date and time and transaction location information as shown in FIG. 6 are stored based on a clock function (not shown) of the card processing device 10 or an identification code set in advance for each card processing device. Stored and also
The member type and member number read from the customer card are stored in a predetermined area.

In the transaction information shown in FIG. 6, transaction contents such as transaction type, transaction amount, transaction points, and total points, and individual transaction details such as transacted products and services are shown in FIG.
This is information set in the processing after step S6 shown in FIG.

In the transaction contents, the transaction type is input from the operating device 13 of the card processing device 10, such as a normal point assignment process or a point exchange process, or a point clearing process by returning a product purchased by a customer. This is a transaction processing type code.

FIG. 10 shows a general flow of transaction processing executed when the customer card inserted into the card processing device is valid. First, the transaction information input processing shown in steps S6 to S12 is performed. Done. Here, step S6 is a state of waiting for data input from the transaction information input device 15 shown in FIG. 1, and the control device 12 monitors that a bar code reader performs an operation of reading a commodity code or a quantity code. ing.

Step S7 determines whether the input data from the transaction information input device 15 is a product code. Step S10 determines whether the input data from the transaction information input device 15 is a quantity code. Determine. Similarly, a step S12 decides whether or not the input data from the transaction information input device 15 is an input completion code. These determination processes are performed by the input processing unit 21 of the control device 12 shown in FIG.

If the input data from the transaction information input device 15 is a product code, a product information search process in step S8 and a product information registration process in step S9 are performed. The search process of the product information in step S8 is a process performed by the search processing unit 22 of the control device 12 on the product information storage unit 17. The product information registration process in step S9 is a process performed by the storage processing unit 22 of the control device 12 on the transaction information storage device 18.

If the input data from the transaction information input device 15 is a quantity code, a quantity registration process in step S11 is performed. This processing is performed by the storage processing unit 2 of the control device 12.
2 is a process performed on the transaction information storage unit 18. If the input data from the transaction information input device 15 is an input completion code, the process proceeds to the counting process from step S13.

In the present card processing apparatus, when entering transaction information, first, the bar code printed and displayed on the product 40 is read using the transaction information input device 15 such as a bar code reader, and the product code is input. I do. When the product code is input from the transaction information input device 15, the product code is temporarily stored in the RAM memory of the control device 12, and then stored in step S8.
The search processing unit 22 searches for the product information in the form of a table in the product information storage device 17 and reads out the product name, transaction amount, and / or assigned point corresponding to the product code.

The read product name, transaction amount, and / or assigned points are temporarily stored in the RAM memory of the control device 12 in association with the product code. Thereafter, these data are transmitted to the display device 14 by the arithmetic and control unit 20, and the display device 14 displays the product information corresponding to the input product code, and proceeds to step S9 to perform the registration process of the product information. It is.

The merchandise information registration process is a process performed by the storage processing unit 23 of the control device 12 shown in FIG. 1 for the transaction information storage device 18, and the transaction details of the transaction information shown in FIG. This is a process for storing and storing the product code in a predetermined storage area.

In the merchandise information search process in step S8, if the corresponding merchandise code is not registered in the merchandise information storage device 17, the registration process in step S9 is not executed and an alarm sound is generated by an alarm device (not shown). At the same time, the display device 14 displays that the product information of the corresponding product has not been registered.

When the input process of the product code is completed, the input process of the quantity code is performed. In the present embodiment, the input processing of the quantity code is performed using the information input sheet shown in FIG. 8 using a barcode reader which is a transaction information input device. The quantity may be input by operating a keyboard switch of the operation device 13 or a method of inputting the product code printed and displayed on the product 40 a plurality of times for the quantity.

When the quantity code is input from the transaction information input device 15, the quantity information is temporarily stored in the RAM memory of the control device 12 in association with the commodity code. Thereafter, the quantity information is transmitted to the display device 14 by the arithmetic and control unit 20, and is displayed on the display device 14 as product information along with the product name, and at step S
Proceeding to step S11, registration processing of the quantity information is performed. This processing is performed by the storage processing unit 23 of the control device 12 by the transaction information storage device 1.
8 is a process of storing the quantity information of the transaction details in the transaction information shown in FIG. 6 in a predetermined storage area.

The transaction information input processing in steps S6 to S11 described above is repeatedly performed for all the products and services purchased by the customer, and the above processing is repeated each time. When the transaction information input processing for all the goods and services is completed, the user operates the keyboard switch of the operation device 13 or displays the bar code on the information input sheet indicating the completion of the input on the bar of the transaction information input device 15. Operate the code reader to input.

When this input completion code is input to the control device 12, the present device goes through the determination processing of step S12,
Transaction aggregation processing of step S13 and step S14
The process proceeds to the point assignment process. The transaction totalizing process and the point giving process are processes performed by the arithmetic and control unit 20 of the control device 12.

In the present apparatus, first, in step S13,
Performs transaction information aggregation processing. In this aggregation process, every time a product code is input, the transaction amount of the product read from the product information storage device 17 is totaled for all the products based on the product code, and the total transaction amount is calculated. At the same time, it is processing for determining the transaction amount set in the transaction content of the transaction information storage area.

Next, in step S14, a point assignment process is performed. In this point assignment processing, points are assigned at a predetermined ratio to the total transaction amount calculated in step S13, or set for each product read from the product information recording device 17. The number of points to be awarded may be totaled, or any method may be used, or a method in which both are mixed may be used. As an example of the mixing method, there is a method of giving a special premium point to a purchaser of a specific product.

In the normal purchase processing, the points added to the newly purchased merchandise and the provided services, which have been counted here, are not counted until the last use of the card read from the customer card. Addition processing is performed on the accumulated points that have been added, and new accumulated points are obtained.

On the other hand, in the merchandise return processing, the points given to the merchandise processed this time are subtracted from the total points recorded on the card. In addition, in the case of performing the exchange processing for a gift certificate or the like using the accumulated points of the card, similarly, the point applied to the price of the gift certificate is subtracted from the accumulated points of the card.

The transaction amount obtained by the totaling process, the awarded points, that is, the transaction points, and the cumulative points obtained by the addition process or the subtraction process are stored and stored in a predetermined area of the transaction information storage area. 1
The transaction information is stored in the transaction information storage device 18 by the second storage processing unit 23.

When the processing of summing up the transaction amount and the transaction points is completed, the flow proceeds to the card writing processing shown in steps S15 to S17. First, step S15 and step S16
, The card information is updated for the customer card. The card information updating process includes the card use date and time, the updated expiration date, the total number of times of use, the number of card usage points generated in the current process, and the updated total number of points and exchange points shown in FIG.

These card processes are performed by the reader / writer 11 and the control device 12 shown in FIG. 1. When the writing process to the card is completed normally by the above-mentioned card information updating process, finally, Step S17
Performs a card ejection process.

Through the above series of processing, the present card processing apparatus performs the point assignment processing for the merchandise purchased by the customer and the service provided to the customer, and receives the customer ID read from the customer card and the input from the transaction information input device. Based on the product identification code and the quantity code, detailed transaction information about who purchased what and how many is stored and stored in the card processing device, and the result of the transaction is recorded on the customer card.

(Collecting Transaction Information) The transaction information stored and stored in the memory built into the main body of the card processing apparatus or the memory card mounted on the main body must be collected in an external information processing apparatus. When the transaction information is stored in the main unit memory, it is transmitted to the host computer via a communication device such as a modem, and when the transaction information is stored in a removable memory card, the memory card itself is By collecting, transaction information of each customer can be collected and aggregated.

The collected transaction information is used for totalizing and analyzing customer data, creating reports, supporting the construction of a customer database, utilizing information by making full use of data mining techniques, and planning sales and advertising strategies. Can be

(Other Functions) The present card processing device includes:
Various card processing functions can be added together with the point giving processing described in detail above. For example, a customer card issuance process for a new customer, a card reissue process when a customer loses a card, a card replacement process when a card is obsolete, and a card regeneration process by initializing a used card for recycling. Alternatively, it is preferable to provide a function of performing a reader / writer cleaning process for maintaining the performance of the card processing device and a print test on the variable information display section of the card.

Further, a function for summarizing daily or monthly transaction information is provided so that the total transaction amount of the sales amount and the return amount handled by each card processing device, the number of points given, the number of exchange points,
Prints the total number of points such as returned items, the number of points given, the number of points exchanged, the number of transactions such as the number of returns, and the number of card processing such as the number of new cards issued and the number of card exchanges on a specially created aggregation record card Or a function of transmitting the information to another information processing apparatus.

(Other Embodiment) Next, another embodiment of the present card processing apparatus will be described. FIG. 11 is an apparatus configuration diagram showing another embodiment of the present apparatus. In the figure, 10
Is a main body of the card processing device. The main body of the card processing device 10 includes a card reader 11 for reading and writing card information of the customer card 30, an operation device 13 such as a keyboard switch, and a display device 14. Further, a transaction information storage device 18 is built in the card processing device main body.

In the present embodiment, the card processing device main body is connected to a POS register 60 of an existing POS system, and the POS register 60 is used as the transaction information input device 15 described above. .

The POS system is built around a host computer generally called a store controller.
As shown in the figure, the store controller 61 includes a product information storage device 62 for storing and storing product information, and a sales information storage device 63 for storing and storing sales information from each POS register connected to the store controller 61. I have.
However, the sales information storage device 63 is not configured to store detailed transaction information for each customer.

On the other hand, the POS register 60 is generally provided with a bar code scanner 65 for reading a product code of a product purchased by a customer, reads a bar code printed and displayed on the product 40, and reads the bar code of the bar code. Based on the product code, the product information stored in the product information storage device 62 of the store controller is searched, and the POS register 60 acquires the product name information and the price information of the product.

In this embodiment, the bar code scanner 65
The product code read by the POS register 60 and the product name information and price information obtained from the store controller 61 by the POS register 60 are input as transaction information to the main body of the card processing device via the POS register 60. The transaction information for each customer is accumulated and stored in combination with the card information of the customer card 30 read by the main body of the customer card, and a point grant service for the transaction amount is provided to the holder of the customer card.

In the above configuration, the card processing apparatus 10 has a built-in merchandise information storage device for registering and storing merchandise information of the merchandise so as to provide a point giving service only to a specific merchandise. You may comprise. Conversely, a product information list of the excluded product is incorporated so that the point providing service is not performed for the specific product, and the point providing process is not performed when the product code is input. Can also.

[0082]

As described in detail above, the card processing apparatus of the present invention is a card information reading means for reading the customer ID of the customer card and the total assigned points, and a new card information reading means for the read total assigned points. The system includes: a point calculation unit for adding or subtracting points given to goods or services sold or provided to a customer; and card information writing means for writing the result of addition or subtraction into a customer card as a new cumulative point. A card processing device, which is a transaction information input means capable of mechanically recognizing the details of a product or service sold or provided to a customer, and a transaction amount and / or a point corresponding to the content of the traded product or service. To
Transaction information totaling means for totaling for each customer ID, and customer ID
Transaction information storage means for accumulating and storing transaction information including transaction amounts and / or awarded points totalized in units.

Therefore, the transaction contents of the goods or services sold or provided to the customer are mechanically input to the card processing device, so that the input operation can be performed accurately and easily, and the unauthorized operation can be prevented. . Further, the transaction amount and / or the number of points to be provided are totaled for each customer ID read by the card information reading means, and transaction information including the transaction contents and the corresponding transaction amount and / or the number of points can be accumulated and stored. Detailed transaction information can be collected for each.

Further, the card processing device of the present invention includes, as transaction information input means, an optical code recognition device such as a bar code reader or a character reader, or a non-contact IC tag reader, and By using the information input means, it is possible to automatically and accurately input the details of transactions of goods and services sold or provided to customers into the card processing device, and to collect detailed transaction information for each customer simply, quickly and accurately. it can.

Further, the card processing apparatus of the present invention provides merchandise information on merchandise or services to be handled, that is,
Merchandise information storage means for storing an identification code indicating the type of product or service, and a corresponding transaction amount and / or assigned point; transaction content input to the card processing device from the merchandise information storage means; That is, the transaction amount corresponding to the identification code indicating the type of the product or service and / or
Or product information search means for reading out the assigned points,
Since the transaction amount and / or the assigned point corresponding to the transaction content are automatically searched, input errors can be prevented and accurate transaction information can be collected.

As the transaction information input means, a POS register equipped with a bar code reader, a character reader, or a non-contact IC tag reader is used, and the transaction contents are transmitted to the card processing device via the POS register. If input is configured, it is possible to construct a system that collects transaction information for each customer at low cost and in a short period of time without extensively modifying an existing POS system.

On the other hand, the transaction information storage means of the card processing device stores transaction information such as transaction date and time, transaction place, transaction member, transaction details, and details of products and services that have been transacted. Transaction information can be collected.

The transaction information storage means for storing and storing the transaction information is a storage medium which is detachably mounted, and the storage medium is collected from the card processing apparatus.
Transaction information for each customer can be collected in another data processing device. Further, the transaction information accumulated and stored in the transaction information storage unit may be sent to an external data processing device via the communication unit, and the transaction information may be aggregated in the data processing device.

Further, in the card processing apparatus of the present invention, a magnetic card, an IC card, an optical card, or a composite card thereof, which can machine-read a customer identification code (customer ID), is used as the customer card. And can support various card media. Further, when the customer card has a variable information display section, the variable information visualization means provided in the card information writing means can display the total assigned points on the variable information display section of the customer card. Become.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example of an embodiment of the present apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an example of a front surface of a card used in the present apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an example of a back surface of a card used in the present apparatus.

FIG. 4 is an information configuration example of a card used in the present apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a data configuration example of a product information storage device.

FIG. 6 is a data configuration example of a transaction information storage device.

FIG. 7 is an external perspective view showing an example of the present apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing an example of an information input sheet used in the present apparatus.

FIG. 9 is a part of a flowchart showing the operation of the present apparatus.

FIG. 10 is a part of a flowchart showing the operation of the present apparatus.

FIG. 11 is an apparatus configuration diagram showing another embodiment of the present apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 card processing device 11 reader / writer 12 control device 13 operating device 14 display device 15 transaction information input device 16 communication device 17 product information storage device 18 transaction information storage device 20 arithmetic control unit 21 input processing unit 22 search processing unit 23 storage processing unit 24 Output processing unit 30 Customer card 31 Variable information display unit 32 Machine readable information recording unit 33 Usage guide display unit 40 Product 50 Quantity input sheet 60 POS register 61 Store controller 62 Product information storage device 63 Sales information storage device 65 Barcode scanner

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat II (reference) G06F 17/60 510 G06F 17/60 510 G06K 17/00 G06K 17/00 RF term (reference) 2C005 HA30 HB14 JA15 JA26 LB02 LB04 3E042 CA02 CC02 CC04 CD04 EA01 5B058 CA01 CA17 CA31 CA33 CA40 KA02 KA04 KA08 YA20

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. Card information reading means for reading a customer ID and a cumulative number of points of a customer card, and adding a number of points corresponding to a product or service newly sold or provided to a customer to the read cumulative number of points. A card processing device comprising: a point calculation unit for subtracting; and a card information writing unit for writing a result of addition or subtraction into a customer card as a new total point, the product or service sold or provided to a customer. Transaction information input means for mechanically recognizing the details of the transaction, transaction information totalizing means for totalizing the transaction amount and / or the number of points corresponding to the details of the traded goods and services in customer ID units, and customer ID units Transaction information storage means for accumulating and storing transaction information including the transaction amount and / or the number of points awarded. Processing apparatus. 2. The card processing device according to claim 1, wherein the transaction information input means capable of mechanically recognizing the transaction contents of goods and services is an optical code recognition device. 3. The card processing device according to claim 2, wherein the optical code recognition device is a bar code reader or a character recognition device. 4. The card processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transaction information input means capable of mechanically recognizing the transaction content of goods and services is a contactless IC tag reader. apparatus. 5. A card processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said card processing apparatus stores merchandise information relating to merchandise or services handled by said card processing apparatus; And a merchandise information retrieving means for reading out the transaction amount and / or the number of points corresponding to the transaction contents from the merchandise information storage means. 6. The card processing device according to claim 5, wherein the merchandise information storage means stores an identification code indicating a type of a merchandise or a service, and a corresponding transaction amount and / or a given point. A card processing device characterized by the above-mentioned. 7. The card processing device according to claim 1, wherein the transaction information input means capable of mechanically recognizing the transaction content of goods and services is a bar code reader, a character recognition device, or A card processing device comprising a POS register provided with a non-contact IC tag reader. 8. The card processing device according to claim 1, wherein the transaction information stored in the transaction information storage means includes a transaction date and time, a transaction location, a transaction member, and transaction details. A card processing device characterized by the above-mentioned. 9. The card processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transaction information stored in the transaction information storage unit includes a description of a traded product or service. Card processing equipment. 10. The card processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transaction information storage means for storing and storing the transaction information is a storage medium which is detachably mounted. apparatus. 11. The card processing device according to claim 1, wherein the transaction information stored in the transaction information storage means can be sent to an external device via a communication means. Processing equipment. 12. The card processing device according to claim 1, wherein the customer card is a magnetic card, and the card information reading means and the card information writing means are magnetic data reading / writing devices. Characterized card processing device. 13. The card processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the customer card is an IC card, and the card information reading means and the card information writing means are I card.
A card processing device, which is a C data reading / writing device. 14. The card processing device according to claim 1, wherein the customer card is an optical card,
A card processing device wherein the card information reading means and the card information writing means are optical data reading / writing devices. 15. The card processing device according to claim 1, wherein the customer card is a magnetic medium, an IC,
A plurality of types of information recording media, such as a medium and an optical medium, wherein the card information reading means and the card information writing means are data reading and writing devices adapted to the plurality of types of information recording media. Card processing device. 16. The card processing device according to claim 1, wherein the customer card has a variable information display unit, and the card information writing means displays the total assigned points on the variable information display unit of the customer card. A card processing device comprising a variable information visualization device for displaying.