JP2003518689A - Charge card purchase - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] The structure for charge card purchase is when a charge card purchaser signs a physical charge card receipt (2; 40) with a nib (17) provided on the digital pen. And a digital pen (1; 1 ') configured to store the buyer's signature in digital form. The arrangement also stores a digital signature along with the digital purchase information for the purchase of the charge card by the physical charge card receipt, thereby generating a digital charge card receipt corresponding to the physical charge card receipt. A processing means (16; 33) is also provided. A method of handling charge card receipts and purchases of charge cards is further disclosed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a configuration for handling charge card purchases,
A method for handling charge card purchases and a charge card receipt.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In order to realize charge card purchase, it is usually necessary for a purchaser to present his / her charge card and to confirm the purchase by signing a charge card receipt containing information regarding the purchase. . What is purchasing information?
For example, the purchase price or charge card number.

The charge card receipt is a preprinted charge card receipt on which the seller manually writes information regarding purchase. Specific information such as a charge card number can be added by marking with a special device. When the buyer signs the charge card receipt, the buyer receives a copy of the receipt and the seller retains the original. The original is later sent to the seller's bank, where the information from the charge card receipt is entered into the computer, which transfers the cash from the buyer's account to the seller's account.

The handling of this charge card receipt has the disadvantage that it takes a lot of time and it takes time to physically handle the receipt because it is completely manually performed. For example, the seller may fill in the incorrect information on the receipt, or the bank may enter the incorrect information into the computer system.

Some vendors have a charge card reader connected to the cash register. The charge card reader enables a certain degree of simplification of handling. When the buyer wants to purchase the charge card, the seller moves the charge card on the charge card reader, the charge card reader reads the charge card information from the charge card and sends it to the cash register,
The cash register prints a charge card receipt that the buyer can sign. This significantly reduces the risk of mistakes regarding receipt issuance. In some cases, the buyer holds a copy of the signed receipt and the seller holds the original. In other cases, the seller holds a receipt signed by the buyer,
The purchaser receives another receipt indicating that the purchase was made with a charge card but without a copy of the purchaser's signature. In either case, information about charge card purchases can be sent to the bank in digital form.

[0006] However, the seller or the bank must keep the physical charge card receipt as evidence. That is, as evidence for the case where the purchaser later complains that he / she does not make purchases that have been settled by account.

In another modification, the purchaser confirms the purchase by entering his PIN code on the keyboard. In this case, all of the charge card receipt information is sent to the bank in digital form. However, finding the PIN code of the charge card is easier than forging the owner's signature, so it is not very secure.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems in whole or in part.

This object is achieved by the structure according to claim 1, the method according to claim 18, and the charge card receipt according to claim 22.

More specifically, the first aspect of the present invention provides a configuration for handling charge card purchases. This configuration is a portable device configured to record the signature in digital form when the charge card purchaser signs the purchaser's signature on the physical charge card receipt with the pen tip provided on the portable device. And storing the digital signature with digital purchasing information about the charge card purchase for the physical charge card receipt, to generate a digital charge card receipt corresponding to the physical charge card receipt. Signal processing means.

One advantage of this structure is that the purchaser can confirm the purchase by signing the physical charge card receipt, and the purchaser can hold the physical charge card receipt. , The seller does not have to carry out time-consuming handling of physical charge card receipts. Instead, a digital charge card receipt is generated. This digital charge card receipt contains the purchaser's signature and is therefore sufficiently comparable to and replaces the original physical charge card receipt. In particular, the digital charge card receipt contains all the information about the purchase that was manually and / or mechanically added to the physical charge card receipt.

A further advantage of the arrangement according to the invention is that it does not require any fundamental changes to the existing infrastructure for handling charge card receipts. The only change buyers will notice is that they must use a digital pen or other portable device instead of a regular pen. For banks, the change is that they no longer have to manually enter charge card purchase information as they receive the information in digital form. They no longer have to keep physical charge card receipts. The seller is also free from the physical handling of charge card receipts.

The handheld device is preferably provided by the seller and designed for use in the store. However, the mobile device may be owned by the purchaser.

The signal processing means can be integrated in the mobile device. that is,
It may have a software program executed by the processor. It is also an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or FPGA
It can also be realized by hardware using (Field Programmable Gate Array). The signal processing means can also be implemented partially or entirely as a unit separate from the mobile device.

The term charge card as used herein refers to a credit card, debit card, or any other card or physical unit used to carry out a purchase and which requires the signature of the owner to confirm the purchase. It is possible to The charge card purchase may be product-related or service-related.

The arrangement of the present invention can more preferably be used by a seller who has traditionally been entirely manual in handling charge card purchases with pre-printed physical charge card receipts. is there. In this case, the mobile device may be configured to record the additional information in digital form as the purchaser writes the additional information on the physical charge card receipt with the mobile device. This further information in digital form constitutes at least part of the digital purchasing information recorded in the signal processing unit.

The portable device can therefore be used to record all manually entered information on a pre-printed physical charge card receipt.
If necessary, the signal processing means may supplement manually entered information such as date and time, seller name, serial number of charge card receipt, pen identifier (pen ID), or similar information. May be.

The mobile device can be of various types. For example, the mobile device may include an acceleration sensor or a gyro sensor in order to record the movement of the mobile device when the purchaser fills in the mobile device. In a preferred embodiment, however, the mobile device has an optical sensor for recording an image on the physical charge card receipt when the purchaser signs with the mobile device. Therefore, there is no need for moving parts or complicated sensors.

A record of what the purchaser has entered is available in International Patent Application WO 99/6.
As described in 0467, it is realized by recording a plurality of images whose content partially overlaps and determining the relative positions of the images. The international patent application is incorporated herein by reference.

However, in this configuration, when the image is recorded, the position-coding pattern of the image is identified, and the position-coding pattern of each image is converted into the position coordinate of the portable device on the physical charge card receipt. It is convenient to provide a means for doing so. Therefore, what the purchaser has written on the physical charge card receipt can be stored in the memory as a sequence of coordinates sent from the signal processing means.

In this case, the charge card receipt therefore has an absolute position coding pattern which codes the coordinates of a plurality of absolute positions on the charge card receipt, which the purchaser has written on the charge card receipt. Objects can be recorded by continuously reading the position-coding pattern. The signature entered on the charge card receipt is therefore recorded in an image-playable manner, for example on a computer screen. Furthermore, it becomes possible to determine where the signature is written on the charge card receipt by the arrangement of the coordinates forming the signature. Due to this feature, the comparison between the digital charge card receipt and the original physical charge card receipt is about the same as the conventional comparison method (a copy of the customer's charge card receipt is compared with the original physical charge card receipt). To be safe.

The means for identifying the position-coding pattern and converting it into coordinates can be realized by a processor provided in the portable device and software suitable for it. Alternatively, this means can be formed as part of the signal processing means. The signal processing means may be integrated with the mobile device or physically separate from the mobile device. In the latter case, the portable device records only the image sent to the signal processing means for processing.

In one embodiment, the arrangement comprises a stock of physical charge card receipts, preprinted and having a position-coding pattern on at least its surface.

These pre-printed physical charge card receipts are very similar to conventional pre-printed physical charge card receipts, the difference being
It has a position-encoding code on at least a part of the surface. At least a portion of this surface is one or more portions that are written using a digital pen. A further difference is that no copy is required and a single receipt is sufficient. These pre-printed charge card receipts are used in the same manner as normal pre-printed charge card receipts, except that the required purchasing information is filled in with a digital pen or other portable device.

Instead of the pre-printed physical charge card receipt, a charge card receipt printed at the time of purchase can be used. To this end, the signal processing means may be arranged to cause a receipt printer to print the physical charge card receipt. This printed physical charge card receipt contains information such as price, details of purchased products and services, or charge card number.

The arrangement may comprise a stock of paper (eg sheet or reel) having a position-coding pattern over its surface. These sheets or reels are used to print physical charge card receipts. in this case,
The position-coding pattern is printed on the paper in advance, and only the purchase information is added later.

However, in an advantageous embodiment, the signal processing means are arranged to cause the receipt printer to print a position-coding pattern on at least part of the physical charge card receipt.

The advantage of this embodiment is that ordinary monochromatic paper can be used for printing receipts. The position-coding pattern is at least printed on the part signed by the purchaser. If further information is entered by the buyer or seller, the position-coding pattern will of course be printed on the part where that information is entered. This printing is performed in two operations. Once is the printing of the position coding pattern, and once is the printing of other information.

More preferably, this configuration can be connected to a charge card reader to receive the charge card number from the charge card reader. The charge card number constitutes a part of the digital purchase information.
The signal processing means therefore sends the charge card number or other information recorded on the charge card from the charge card reader and adds this information to the digital charge card receipt. Alternatively, the charge card reader may form part of this configuration. The connection may be wire or wireless.

In an advantageous embodiment, the arrangement is connected to and receives digital purchasing information from the cash register. In this embodiment, all purchase information other than the charge card number is obtained from the cash register and that information is printed on the charge card receipt. Alternatively, the cash register may form part of this configuration. Again, the connection may be wire or wireless.

This configuration can be more conveniently configured to send the digital charge card receipt to an external unit, such as a bank. By doing this, all handling of the charge card receipt will be performed automatically.

The position-coding pattern described above is used in the international patent application WO 00/7.
It is preferably of the type described in 3983, PCT / SE00 / 01895, PCT / SE00 / 01897 and PCT / SE00 / 01898. These documents are incorporated herein by reference.

According to a second aspect, the present invention relates to a method of handling charge card purchases. The method comprises presenting a physical charge card receipt to a purchaser and allowing the purchaser to use a portable device to record the written signature in digital form to sign the physical charge card receipt. And generating a digital charge card receipt containing the digital signature and digital purchase information.

According to a third aspect, the invention relates to a charge card receipt with at least one entry area for a purchaser's signature. The charge card receipt comprises at least one entry area (21) provided for the purchaser's signature and extends over the entry area,
It is provided with a position-coding pattern that enables digital recording of the signature.

The effects of the method and the charge card receipt are apparent from the discussion of construction. What has been described regarding the configuration is also applicable to the method and the charge card receipt, to the extent that the application is appropriate. The present invention is described below using preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying figures.

[0036]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The configuration for handling a charge card receipt shown in FIG. 1 has a portable device in the shape of a digital pen 1 and a preprinted charge card receipt 2.

The digital pen 1 comprises a case 11 approximately in the shape of a pen. There is an opening 12 on the short side of the case.

The case essentially contains the optical components, the electronic components and the power supply.

The optical parts include at least one IR light emitting diode 13 for illuminating the surface to be reproduced and a CCD or CMOS for recording a two-dimensional image.
And a photosensitive area sensor 14 such as a sensor. The pen may also include a lens system (not shown). IR light is absorbed by the position-coding pattern, thereby visualizing the position-coding pattern.

The power for this pen is supplied by a battery 15 mounted in a separate compartment of the case.

The electronic components include the processor 16 and its memory. The processor is programmed to implement the functions described below.

The digital pen 1 also has a pen tip 17. When the user makes a normal pigment-based entry with the pen tip 17, the entry is simultaneously digitally recorded with a digital pen.

The digital pen 1 also comprises buttons 18 for operating and controlling the unit. Finally, the digital pen 1 comprises a transceiver 19 for wireless short-range communication with external devices, for example by IR light or radio waves.

The charge card receipt 2 is a preprinted charge card receipt. This charge card receipt 2 has many entry areas 20. These are for the seller to write the purchase information over various items such as the charge card number, the details of the purchased item, and the price. The charge card receipt 2 also has an entry area 21 for the purchaser to sign.

The position-coding pattern 5 is printed over the entire surface of the charge card receipt. In this position-coding pattern 5, when an arbitrary portion of a given minimum size pattern is recorded, the position in the position-coding pattern is uniquely determined, and therefore the position on the charge card receipt is uniquely determined. It has the property of being determined.

This position-coding pattern 5 is described in US Pat. No. 5,852,434.
, Each position may be encoded by a particular symbol.

However, this position-coding pattern is more preferably
Each position is encoded by a plurality of symbols as described in the above-mentioned international patent application,
This is a type in which each symbol contributes to the encoding of a plurality of positions.

The position coding pattern is composed of a small number of types of symbols. One example is where large dots represent "1" and small dots represent "0", as disclosed in International Patent Application PCT / SE00 / 01085. Another example is to encode four different values with four different displacements of the dot from the raster point, as disclosed in PCT / SE00 / 01895. This position-coding pattern will be described in detail below.

FIG. 1 shows a position-coding pattern composed of symbols having the form of large dots 5a and small dots 5b. For clarity, this pattern is shown only on a small portion of the charge card receipt, and on a larger scale.

The position-coding pattern on the charge card receipt can constitute a subset of the large position-coding pattern. The subset encodes the coordinates of points in a particular coordinate area that is part of a virtual large coordinate area. The virtual large coordinate area corresponds to all points whose coordinates can be encoded by the large position encoding pattern. A subset of charge card receipts can be reserved for a particular seller and only the seller can use the subset. Other subsets of large position-coding patterns can be reserved for other vendors. Yet another subset of large position-coding patterns can be reserved for applications other than digital charge card receipts.

If a digital charge card receipt is reserved for a particular seller or its business, the coordinates representing the digital signature are analyzed so that the digital signature is the digital charge card of the seller. It can be confirmed later that it is from the receipt. Further, the exact position where the signature is made on the digital charge card receipt can be confirmed.

All charge card receipts from a particular vendor can have the same position-coding pattern. Alternatively, the receipt from the seller may have a unique position-coding pattern that belongs to a particular subset of large position-coding patterns.

If the digital pen's unique identifier is included in the digital charge card receipt, it will be possible to later confirm which digital pen the signature was written on.

The structure shown in FIG. 1 is used as follows. When purchasing a charge card, the seller picks up the pre-printed charge card receipt 2 and writes the charge card number of the purchaser, what the purchase is, and the total in the entry area 20 with the digital pen 1. Write. While the seller fills in, the optical sensor 14 turns the position coding pattern 5 on the surface of the charge card receipt.
A continuous image of the portion of the optical sensor 14 located within the field of view is recorded.

The processor 16 records the images from the sensor 14 one at a time, identifies the symbol in the image, determines the two coordinates (pair of coordinates) that the symbol encodes, and the determined coordinates. To memory. This processing device 16
Also analyzes the stored pairs of coordinates and converts them into polygon trains that describe how the pen moves in the writing areas 20, 21 of the charge card receipt.

When the seller fills in the purchase information on the charge card receipt, the purchaser must confirm the purchase by signing the entry area 21. This signature is also made with a digital pen, whereby the signature is recorded in digital form as a series of coordinates. The buyer then receives the physical charge card receipt as a receipt for the purchase.

The processing device 16 has software for realizing signal processing means for generating a digital charge card receipt. Alternatively, the signal processing means can be realized by a signal processing unit physically separated from the digital pen and to which the digital pen is connected. The signal processing unit edits the purchase information entered in the entry area of the charge card receipt and generates a digital charge card receipt containing the digital signature of the purchaser and optionally the pen ID. This information does not have to be entered in a special way so that the signal processing means can identify which of the information is what. Instead, the signal processing means uses coordinates to identify in which writing area the information was written.
The signal processing means may include ICR (Intelligent Character Recgnition) software for decoding handwritten characters and storing them in a character-code format (for example, ASCII format).

The signal processing means can store a plurality of digital charge card receipts. These are later transferred via transceiver 19 to an external unit, such as a computer or cell phone, stored in a dedicated area of the seller, and / or
Or sent to the seller's bank.

In the above-described embodiment, the digital pen is provided by the seller. It is also possible to purchase with a digital pen owned by the purchaser. In this case, the digitally recorded signature and purchase information are sent to the signal processing means of the seller for processing and storage.

The information may be transferred online at the same time as the entry or after a delay, or may be stored in the memory of the signal processing means and then transferred when a connection with a recipient such as a bank is established. May be.

The configuration shown in FIG. 2 is a somewhat developed version of the configuration shown in FIG. 1 and is used for fully automatic handling of charge card purchases.
This configuration includes a digital pen 1 ′, a cash register 30, a charge card radar 31, a receipt printer 32, and a signal processing unit 33. The digital pen 1 ′, the cash register 30, the charge card reader 31, and the receipt printer 32 are all connected to the signal processing device 33 by wire or wireless.

The digital pen 1'is constructed and functions similarly to the digital pen 1 shown in FIG. 1, except that the signal processing means is realized at least partially as a separate unit.

The cash register 30 is an ordinary cash register. When the user indicates that the purchase information input to the cash register is a card purchase, the cash register sends the purchase information to the signal processing unit 33.
Send to.

The charge card reader is a normal charge card reader. When the purchaser moves the charge card on the reader, the reader reads the information written on the card and sends the charge card information to the signal processing unit. This charge card information includes at least the charge card number.

The signal processing unit 33 comprises a processing unit programmed to carry out the functions described below. The signal processing device is a cash register 3
When the purchase information about the purchase of the charge card is received from 0 and the charge card number is received from the charge card reader 31, the information is stored in a file and the receipt printer 32 is instructed to print the physical charge card receipt 40. . The charge card receipt is printed on white paper. This charge card printer prints the purchase information and the charge card number, and also prints the position-coding pattern 5 over a part of the receipt 40 (the part where the purchaser signs). This position-coding pattern is of the same type as described for FIG.

This printing can be performed once so that the pattern and the charge card receipt are printed at the same time. As a modification, the charge card receipt may be printed on the paper on which the pattern is already formed. As another modified example, first, the pattern may be printed with an ink that absorbs IR light, and then the charge card receipt may be printed with another ink that does not absorb IR light but absorbs visible light. . Alternatively, the reverse is also possible. According to this method, the ink used for forming the receipt does not interfere with the pattern detection by IR.

When the charge card receipt 40 is printed, the purchaser confirms the purchase by signing a predetermined place with the digital pen 1 '. The signature is recorded on the digital pen as an array of coordinate pairs in the same manner as described for FIG. This array of coordinates is transferred from the digital pen 1'to the signal processing unit 33. The signal processing unit 33 stores the array of coordinates in the above file together with the card number and purchase information. The unique pen identification number (identifier) may be transferred from the digital pen and stored in a file. This pen identification number can later be used to check which pen was used to sign the charge card receipt. Information items stored together in a file form a digital charge card receipt.

When the purchaser signs the physical charge card receipt, the purchaser can keep the physical charge card receipt. The digital charge card receipt is sent to the seller's bank, either directly or later, where the information is processed in the same manner as a normal charge card system. The digital charge card receipt is also preferably stored by the seller.

Although the two embodiments of the configuration according to the present invention and the two modified examples of the charge card receipt according to the present invention have been described above, other configurations and charge card receipts are possible within the scope of the claims. Is. For example, this configuration need not include all of the units described in FIG. 2, but a digital pen and signal processing means will suffice. There, one or more other units in FIG. 2 can be added. The units shown in FIG. 2 need not be physically separate units, but two or more units may be integrated with each other. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the digital pen is provided by the seller, but a configuration in which the purchaser provides the digital pen may be used. In this case, the purchaser's digital pen can communicate with the signal processing unit 33 and send the signature and purchase information from the digital pen to the signal processing unit 33 in digital form.

A natural behavior when filling out a charge card receipt is to fill in and / or check all the items on the receipt. The receipt is signed when everything is gathered and cannot be changed after that. This action can also be used in the current situation. Therefore, every stroke of the first pen on the receipt is registered, stored in memory and time stamped. When the receipt is signed, the pen waits for a few seconds to edit all the pen strokes of the receipt in the file. The file is closed and no further changes can be made, just like a physical receipt. Furthermore, the completion of the signature is a signal for the pen to connect to the network and send the information to the receiver in order to transfer the file to a bank, for example as described above. A few seconds (eg 2 seconds)
During this period, if there is no new pen stroke in the signature field, the completion of the signature may be displayed and the transmission may be started. Another variation instructing execution of the send operation when the purchaser's pen is used is as follows. If there is no new pen stroke in the signature field within a period of time (eg 3 seconds), the software that certifies the pen's signature will ask if the signature proves to be the owner of the pen. to decide. If the determination is affirmative, the file is edited and closed, and the transmission operation is started. Other combinations of these procedures are possible. For example, the file may be edited and closed with proof of signature, but the send operation may be initiated in other ways, such as by pressing a button or checking a send box. If a unique pattern is used for each receipt, the physical receipt and the data receipt should be verified after signing the receipt when there is a debate about whether the bank or purchaser has fulfilled its obligations. You can do it at any time. If a physical receipt or digital receipt is tampered with, the tampering will be easily discovered because the two copies will not match.

As described above, the digital charge card receipt is transmitted to the bank or its equivalent recipient by the signal processing means. The digital charge card receipt can also be recorded by the signal processing means so that the seller can later confirm whether the receipt has been sent to the bank. Alternatively, or in addition, the bank may return a copy of the digital charge card receipt to acknowledge receipt of the receipt.

In the above embodiment, the digital recording of the signature is performed using the position coding pattern. As mentioned at the beginning, recording can also be performed using the form of an in-pen sensor that detects movement of the pen. In this case, a normal physical charge card receipt can also be used.

Finally, a preferred embodiment of the absolute position coding pattern will be described. For simplicity, one sheet of paper will be described. This is PCT / SE00
This corresponds to the absolute position coding pattern described in / 01895.
It is called a position-coding pattern because the surface to which the position code is given shows a pattern having a slight pattern.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a part of the sheet having the position-coding pattern 105 on the surface 102. The sheet has an x coordinate axis and ay coordinate axis.

The position-coding pattern is a virtual raster which is invisible to the human eye and cannot be detected directly by the device for determining the position on the surface, and the four values "1 to 4" each of which is described below. With a plurality of symbols that can assume one of

The position coding pattern is arranged so that the symbols on the partial surface of the paper sheet code the absolute coordinates on the virtual plane. First and second partial surface 1
25a and 125b are shown in phantom in FIG. The relevant portion of the position-coding pattern (in this case 4 × 4 symbols) found on the first partial surface 125a is
The coordinates of the first point are coded, and the relevant part of the position coding pattern found on the second partial surface 125b codes the coordinates of the second point on the sheet. Therefore, the position-coding pattern is partially shared by the adjoining first and second points. Such a position-coding pattern is referred to as "floating" in this specification.

FIGS. 4a-4d show one embodiment of the symbols used in the position-coding pattern. The symbol comprises a virtual raster point 130 represented by the intersection of the raster lines and a marking 106 in the shape of a point. The value of the symbol depends on where the marking is placed. In the example of FIG. 4, four types of positions are possible, each on a respective raster line extended from the raster point. The deviations from the raster points are all the same. The symbols in FIG. 4a have the value 1, the value 2 in FIG. 4b, the value 3 in FIG. 4c, and the value 4 in FIG. 4d as follows: In other words, there are four types of symbols that are different from each other.

Of course, each point may have a different shape.

Therefore, each symbol can represent four values "1 to 4". This means that the position coding pattern can be divided into a first position code for the X coordinate and a second position code for the Y coordinate. This division is as follows.

[0080]

[Table 1]

In this way, each symbol value is converted into a first number (in this case bits) for the X code and a second number (in this case bits) for the Y code.
In this way two completely independent bit patterns are obtained. This bit pattern can be integrated into the overall pattern which is graphically encoded by the symbols according to FIG.

The coordinates of each point are coded using a plurality of symbols. In this example, in order to encode the position of two dimensions, that is, the X and Y coordinates, 4 × 4
Use the symbol.

The position code is composed of a numerical sequence of 1s and 0s, and the numerical sequence has a characteristic that the same 4-bit sequence appears only once in the numerical sequence. The sequence of numbers is cyclic, and the same applies to the case where the end of the sequence of numbers is joined to the beginning of the sequence of numbers. Therefore, the 4-bit array always has a uniquely fixed position in the number string.

If the number sequence has the characteristics described above for a 4 bit sequence, then the number sequence can be up to 16 bits long. However, in this example, a 7-bit long digit string is used as follows. "0001010"

This number sequence contains seven unique 4-bit sequences that encode positions within the number sequence:

[0086]

[Table 2]

In X-coordinate encoding, a sequence of numbers is written in columns in sequence over the entire surface to be encoded. The encoding is based on the difference in the numbers between adjacent columns, ie the displacement of the positions. The magnitude of the difference depends on the position within the starting column number sequence (ie, which sequence is used). In particular, a 4-bit sequence in the first column with a more encoded number (and therefore can have the values 0-6).
And the corresponding number (adjacent "level" sequence) in adjacent columns is modulo 7, the result will be the same regardless of the position in the two columns being compared. Become. Therefore, the difference between two columns can be used to encode an X coordinate that is constant for all Y coordinates.

In this example, since each position on the surface is coded using 4 × 4 symbols, as described above, the three differences (having values 0 to 6) are the X coordinates. It can be used for encoding. Then, the encoding is performed so that the three differences have one value that is always 1 or 2 and the other two values that are in the range of 3 to 6. As a result, zero differences are not allowed in the X code. In other words, the difference between the X codes is (3-6) (3-6) (1-2) (3-6) (3-6) (1-2) (3-6) (3-6). ) (1-2) ... Therefore, each X coordinate is encoded using two numbers between 3 and 6, followed by one number, 1 or 2. Subtracting 3 from the larger number and 1 from the smaller number gives the mixed radix number, which gives the position directly in the X direction. From this position, the X coordinate can then be determined directly, as shown in the example below.

According to the above-mentioned principle, X coordinates 0, 1, 2. ． ． Can be encoded using numbers representing the three differences. These differences are encoded using a bit pattern based on the above digit sequence. The bit pattern is finally graphically encoded using the symbols of FIG.

In many cases, when reading a 4.times.4 symbol, it is not possible to make a complete number that encodes the X coordinate, even if some of the two numbers can be made. However, the lowest part of these numbers is always 1 or 2, so the complete number can be easily reconstructed.

The Y coordinate is encoded according to the same principles used for the X coordinate. The circular digit sequence is written repeatedly in a horizontal row across the surface encoding the position. Just as for the X coordinate, this row can start at a different position within the digit sequence, ie, using a different sequence. However, it does not use the difference for the Y coordinate, but encodes the coordinate using a number based on the starting position of that number column in each row. After the X coordinate of the 4x4 symbol is determined, 4x
One can actually determine the starting position in the digit sequence of the row contained in the Y code in the 4 symbol. In the Y code, the most significant digit is determined by making it the only number with a value within the specified range. In this example, one of the four rows starts at position 0-1 in the digit string and then the other three rows to indicate that the row is associated with the least significant digit of the Y coordinate. Rows start at positions 2-6 in the digit column. Therefore, in the Y direction, (2 to 6) (2 to 6) (2 to 6) (0 to 1) (2 to 6) (2 to 6) (2 to 6) (0 to 1) (2 to 6) ) ... There is a sequence of numbers. Therefore, each Y coordinate is encoded using three numbers between 2 and 6, followed by a number between 0 and 1.

By subtracting 0 from the small number and subtracting 2 from the large number, the position in the Y direction can be obtained in the same manner as in the X direction, and the Y coordinate of the mixed radix can be directly determined from this position.

The above method can be used to encode 4 × 4 × 2 = 32 positions in the X direction. Each such position corresponds to 3 differences, 3 × 3
2 = 96 positions are given. Furthermore, 5 × 5 × 5 × 2 = 250 positions can be encoded in the Y direction. Each such position corresponds to 4 rows, 4 × 250 = 10
Give 00 positions. Thus, a total of 96000 positions can be encoded. However, since the encoding of X is based on the difference, it is possible to choose the position where the first digit sequence starts. Considering that this first sequence of digits can start at 7 different positions, 7 × 96000 = 672000 positions can be encoded. When the X coordinate is determined, the starting position of the first number sequence in the first column can be calculated. First
The above-mentioned seven different starting positions of the sequence of numbers make it possible to encode writing surfaces on different papers or products.

Furthermore, in order to show the role played by the position coding pattern,
3 illustrates a special example based on the embodiment of the position code described above.

FIG. 5 shows an example of an image containing 4 × 4 symbols read by a position determining device.

These 4 × 4 symbols have the following values:     Four four four two     3 2 3 4     Four four two four     1 3 2 4

These values represent the following binary X code and Y code. X code: Y code: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0

The vertical X sequence encodes positions 2 0 4 6 in the number sequence. The difference between the columns is -42, and the remainder modulo 7 is 542. This is a mixed radix of (5-3) × 8 + (4-3) × 2 + (2-1) = 16.
The position of + 2 + 1 = 19 is encoded. Since the position of the first coded X is position 0, it is in the range of 1-2 and this difference seen in a 4x4 symbol is 20
Will be the second difference. Furthermore, since there is a sum of three columns for each such difference and there is a starting column, the rightmost vertical alignment of the 4x4 X code is the 61st (3x3) X code. 20 + 1 = 61), and the leftmost vertical array belongs to the 58th column.

The horizontal Y sequence encodes positions 0 4 1 3 in the digit sequence. These numbers start at the 58th column, so the starting position for the row is the remainder of these numbers minus 57 modulo 7 with a starting position of 6 30
It becomes 2. Converted to mixed radix numbers, this is 6-2, 3-2, 0-0, 2-2
= 4 1 0 0. Here, the third digit is the lowest digit in the number of interest. Then, the fourth digit is the most significant digit in the next digit. In this case it must be the same as in the number of interest (an exception is raised if the number of interest consists of the largest possible number of positions). In that case, it can be seen that the start of the next number is one greater than the start of the number of interest).

Next, the position of the four-digit number is the mixed radix, 0 × 50 + 4 × 10.
+ 1 × 2 + 0 × 1 = 42.

Therefore, the third line of the Y code becomes the 43rd line, which is 0
There is a starting position of 1 or 1, and there are a total of 4 rows for each such row, so the third row is 43 × 4 = 172.

Therefore, in this example, the upper left corner position for the 4 × 4 symbol group is (58,170).

Since the X alignment of the 4 × 4 group begins on row 170, the X column of all patterns is at the position of the digit sequence ((2 0 4 6) -169) mod 7 = 1 6
It starts from 35. Numbers 0 to 1 between the last start position (5) and the first start position
9 is encoded in mixed radix and by summing the representation of the numbers 0 to 19 in mixed radix we get the total difference between these columns. A simple algorithm to do this would generate these 20 numbers and sum those numbers directly. The sum of the results is called s. Thus, the paper or writing surface is obtained with (5-s) mod 7.

In the above example, one embodiment is described, in which each position is 4 ×.
It was coded using 4 symbols and a 7-bit digit sequence was used. Of course, this is just one example. Positions can be encoded using a greater or lesser number of symbols. The number of symbols need not be the same in both directions. The number strings may have different lengths, other than binary numbers, or may be based on other bases. Different digit sequences can be used for X-direction encoding and Y-direction encoding. Symbols can have numbers with different values. As is clear from the above,
Encoding using 6x6 symbols is currently preferred, in which case
Each symbol can assume four values. A person skilled in the art can easily generalize the above example for such encoding.

In the above example, the markings are dots, but of course other shapes are possible. For example, the markings may consist of dashes or some other indicator that starts at a virtual raster point and extends into place from it. As another variation, the markings can be rectangular, square, triangular, or any other easily detectable shape. The marking may be solid or hollow.

In the above example, the symbols on the square partial surface are used for position coding. The partial surfaces can also have another shape, for example a hexagon. The symbols do not have to be arranged along rows and columns of 90 degrees to each other, they may be arranged at another angle (eg 60 degrees), or they may be arranged in another way. The symbol may encode the position of polar coordinates or the coordinates of another coordinate system.

In order to detect the position code, a virtual raster has to be determined. This is done by examining the distance between different markings. Two
The shortest distance between two markings must be derived from two (horizontal) adjacent symbols with the values 1 and 3 and two (vertical) adjacent symbols with the values 2 and 4. This places the markings on one raster line between the two raster points. When such a set of markings is detected,
The relevant raster points can be determined using knowledge of the distance between the raster points and the amount of marking deviation from the raster points. Once the two raster points have been placed, the next raster point can be determined from the measured distance to the other marking and the knowledge of the distance between the raster points.

In the preferred embodiment, the nominal spacing between dots is 0.3 m.
m. Every part of the position-coding pattern containing 6 × 6 dots defines the absolute coordinates of a point on the virtual plane. Therefore, every point on the virtual plane is 1.
It is defined by a subset of 8 mm x 1.8 mm. By determining the position of the 6 × 6 symbol on the sensor in the recording device used to read the position code, the position can be calculated with a resolution of 0.03 mm. Since each position is coded using a 6x6 symbol, where each symbol is set to one of four values, 2 ⁷² positions can be coded, giving a nominal space between the symbols above. When used, it corresponds to a surface size of 4.6 million km ² .

The absolute position coding pattern is made up of various pieces of paper and other about 600 dpi.
Can be printed on materials with a resolution of The size and shape of the paper may be any size and shape according to the intended use. The pattern can be printed by standard offset printing. It is preferred to use conventional black carbon based printing inks or other printing inks that absorb infrared light. This means that other inks, including black inks based on non-carbon, can be used on top of the position code, overlaid with other prints, without interfering with reading from it.

A surface having a pattern printed with the above-mentioned carbon-based black printing ink has a surface with a slightly grayish hue to human eyes (darkness 1-3).
%), Is user-friendly, and does not spoil aesthetics.

It goes without saying that fewer or more symbols than described above can be used for determining positions on the virtual plane, and distances between larger or smaller points can be used in the pattern. The above example is used only to show how the pattern is considered to be suitable at the present time.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 schematically shows a first embodiment of the arrangement according to the invention.

FIG. 2 schematically shows a second embodiment of the configuration according to the present invention, which is for printing a physical charge card receipt at the time of purchase.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of an enlarged portion of a piece of paper with a position-coding pattern.

FIG. 4 schematically shows how the symbols included in the position-coding pattern are arranged.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an example of 4 × 4 symbols used to encode a position.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (81) Designated countries EP (AT, BE, CH, CY, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, IE, I T, LU, MC, NL, PT, SE, TR), OA (BF , BJ, CF, CG, CI, CM, GA, GN, GW, ML, MR, NE, SN, TD, TG), AP (GH, G M, KE, LS, MW, MZ, SD, SL, SZ, TZ , UG, ZW), EA (AM, AZ, BY, KG, KZ, MD, RU, TJ, TM), AE, AG, AL, AM, AT, AU, AZ, BA, BB, BG, BR, BY, B Z, CA, CH, CN, CR, CU, CZ, DE, DK , DM, DZ, EE, ES, FI, GB, GD, GE, GH, GM, HR, HU, ID, IL, IN, IS, J P, KE, KG, KP, KR, KZ, LC, LK, LR , LS, LT, LU, LV, MA, MD, MG, MK, MN, MW, MX, MZ, NO, NZ, PL, PT, R O, RU, SD, SE, SG, SI, SK, SL, TJ , TM, TR, TT, TZ, UA, UG, US, UZ, VN, YU, ZA, ZW (72) Inventor Christopher Skanze             Sweden S-222 29 Lund               Jutahas Gartan 6 F-term (reference) 5B021 AA01 AA14 LG00                 5B035 AA00 BB03 BB12 BC00                 5B068 AA36 BB18 BD02 BD09 BD17                       BE06 BE12 CC06 CC13 CC19

Claims (26)

[Claims] 1. When a charge card purchaser signs the purchaser's signature on a physical charge card receipt (2; 40) with a pen tip (17) provided on the portable device, the signature is digitally formatted. Portable device (1; 1 configured to record at
') And storing the digital signature with digital purchasing information about the charge card purchase for the physical charge card receipt to generate a digital charge card receipt corresponding to the physical charge card receipt. A configuration for handling a charge card purchase, comprising: the configured signal processing means (16; 33). 2. The portable device (1; 1 ') is provided when the purchaser writes further information on the physical charge card receipt (2; 40) using the portable device. The configuration of claim 1, configured to record additional information in digital form, wherein the additional information in digital form constitutes at least a portion of the digital purchasing information stored in the signal processing unit. . 3. An optical sensor, wherein the portable device records an image of the surface of the physical charge card receipt when the purchaser fills in the physical charge card receipt using the portable device. 14) The structure according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: 4. The configuration identifies a position-coding pattern in the image when recording the image, and determines the position-coding pattern of each image in the position of the portable device on the physical charge card receipt. 4. Arrangement according to claim 3, comprising means (16) for converting to coordinates. 5. Arrangement according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising a stock of blank physical charge card receipts with a position-coding pattern (5) on at least the surface. 6. Arrangement according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the signal processing means are arranged to cause a receipt printer (32) to print the physical charge card receipt. 7. The signal processing means provides the receipt printer with a position-coding pattern (5) on at least a portion of the physical charge card receipt (40).
The arrangement of claim 6, wherein the arrangement is configured to print. 8. The arrangement of claim 6, wherein the arrangement comprises a stock of paper having a position-coding pattern over it, the stock of paper being used to print the physical charge card receipt. Constitution. 9. The preceding configuration, wherein the configuration is configured to connect to a charge card reader (31) to receive a charge card number from the charge card reader, the charge card number forming part of the digital purchasing information. Configuration according to any one of the claims. 10. Arrangement according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the arrangement is connected to a cash register (30) and is arranged to receive at least some of the digital purchasing information from the cash register. 11. Arrangement according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the arrangement is arranged to send the digital charge card receipt to an external unit. 12. The configuration according to claim 11, wherein transmission of the digital charge card receipt to an external unit is started when the purchaser completes a signature on the physical charge card receipt. 13. The signal processing means of claim 1, wherein the signal processing means is configured to generate the digital charge card receipt by editing the digital signature and the digital purchasing information in a file. The configuration described in. 14. The structure according to claim 13, wherein the file is closed so that the file cannot be changed after a predetermined period of time has passed since the purchaser completed filling in the physical charge card receipt. 15. The signal processing means is adapted to authenticate the signature by comparing the digital signature recorded on the mobile device with a previously recorded signature of the owner of the mobile device. Configuration according to any one of the preceding claims. 16. The configuration according to claim 11, wherein the authentication of the signature initiates transmission of the digital charge card receipt to the external unit. 17. Arrangement according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the portable device is a digital pen. 18. Presenting a physical charge card receipt to a purchaser and allowing the purchaser to sign the physical charge card receipt using a portable device that records the written signature in digital form. And a step of generating a digital charge card receipt including the signature and digital purchase information in digital form. 19. The method of handling charge card purchases of claim 18, further comprising the step of providing the physical charge card receipt. 20. The method of handling charge card purchases of claim 19, further comprising the step of providing a physical charge card receipt having a position-coding pattern. 21. The method further comprising the step of allowing the purchaser to enter further purchase information on the charge card receipt using the portable device, the portable device recording the additional information in digital form, 21. A method according to any one of claims 18 to 20, wherein this further information in digital form constitutes at least part of said digital purchasing information. 22. A charge card receipt comprising at least one entry area (21) provided for a purchaser's signature, extending over said entry area, enabling digital recording of said signature. A charge card receipt comprising a position-coding pattern. 23. The charge card receipt according to claim 22, wherein the position encoding pattern is an absolute position encoding pattern encoding a plurality of positions on the charge card receipt. 24. Entry area (2) for further purchase information, comprising said position-coding pattern enabling digital recording of said further purchase information.
The charge card receipt according to claim 22 or 23, further comprising 0). 25. The position coding pattern comprises a raster and a plurality of symbols, and the value of each symbol is determined by the relative position of the marking with respect to the raster point in the raster. The charge card receipt described in item 1. 26. A charge card receipt according to any one of claims 22 to 25, which is used in a structure for handling a charge card purchase according to any one of claims 1 to 17.