JP2006003942A - Article sales data processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To avoid contact of a drawer of a drawer device with a hand of an operator when the drawer is opened if an external keyboard capable of executing totaling processing on the basis of a totaling operation is employed. <P>SOLUTION: When the totaling operation is performed by an external keyboard 30, an article sales data processing device notifies the fact that a drawer device 20 will be opened to the operator by notifying the fact by a notifying means after the totaling processing and by opening a drawer 21 of the drawer device 20 after the elapse of a specified time and avoids the contact of the drawer 21 with the hand of the operator when the drawer 21 of the drawer device 20 is opened. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a merchandise sales data processing apparatus such as an ECR (Electronic Cash Register) or a POS (Point of Sales) terminal.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a drawer device that stores money exchanged in transactions is connected to a merchandise sales data processing device such as an ECR or POS terminal used in a store or the like. An example of such a merchandise sales data processing apparatus and a drawer apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 8 is a perspective view schematically showing a system including an ECR 100, a drawer device 300, and a code scanner 400 as an example of a conventional product sales data processing device. The ECR 100 including the keyboard 101 is placed on a drawer device 300 that stores money exchanged in transactions. The drawer device 300 is provided with a drawer 200 for taking out and storing money and the like, and this drawer 200 is usually stored in the drawer device 300. The ECR 100 is connected to a code scanner 400 that optically reads a product code or the like.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the flow of the merchandise sales process. In the merchandise sales process, first, the process waits for merchandise information to be input to the ECR 100 from an input unit such as the keyboard 101 of the ECR 100 or the code scanner 400 (S100). If it is determined that product information has been input (Y in S100), product sales processing is executed in step S101. The processing from step S100 to step S101 is repeated until, for example, a deposit / cash key on the keyboard 101 is pressed and it is determined that the closing is declared (Y in S102).

  If it is determined that tightening has been declared (Y in S102), tightening processing is executed in step S103. The tightening process includes instructing the drawer device 300 to open the drawer 200, and in accordance with this instruction, a force from a spring or the like (not shown) built in the drawer device 300 is included. In response, the drawer 200 is opened. In this way, when the tightening key is pressed, the drawer 200 is released without any delay.

  As a technique for notifying the opening of the drawer, there is proposed an ECR that notifies the drawer with a melody when the drawer of the drawer device is opened (see, for example, Patent Document 1). .

Japanese Patent Publication No. 1-28355

  A keyboard provided in an ECR or POS terminal often includes a key for designating a product in addition to a key used for various command instructions such as a deposit / cash key. On the other hand, for example, in stores and restaurants where ECR and POS terminals are currently used, there can be seen an example in which the number of items for sale or menus is increasing than before. In addition, for example, information input for sales management may vary widely. For this reason, there are cases where the amount of information to be input cannot be accommodated only by the number of keys on the keyboard originally provided in the ECR or POS terminal.

  In order to cope with such a situation, in addition to the existing input device, for example, by separately connecting an input device to an ECR or POS terminal externally, the number of keys is increased and various inputs are performed. Is actually being done.

  When merchandise sales processing is performed using such an external input device (for example, an external keyboard), it is also conceivable to use the external keyboard placed before the drawer device is pulled out. In this case, when the drawer key is suddenly opened without any warning when the tightening key is pressed, the drawer comes into contact with the operator's hand placed on the external keyboard.

  An object of the present invention is to avoid the drawer of the drawer device coming into contact with an operator's hand when the drawer is opened when an external keyboard capable of performing a tightening process based on a tightening operation is used.

  The present invention provides a merchandise sales data processing apparatus for performing merchandise sales processing based on inputted merchandise information, a housing for housing each part, a separate product from the housing, and a merchandise information input function and a fastening operation function An external input device having an external input device, and performing a tightening process accompanied by output of a drawer opening signal to the drawer device according to the tightening operation at the external input device, and opening the drawer of the drawer device according to the tightening operation. And the output of the drawer opening signal is delayed until a predetermined time elapses after the notification by the notification means.

  According to the present invention, even if an external keyboard that can instruct execution of a tightening process based on a tightening operation is used before the drawer device is pulled out, the drawer is not pulled out until a predetermined time elapses after notification. Since the opening is delayed, it is possible to avoid the drawer from coming into contact with the operator's hand.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. This embodiment is applied to, for example, ECR as a product sales data processing apparatus.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing the entire merchandise sales processing system including the ECR 1 of the present embodiment. The ECR 1 is placed on a drawer device 20 that is a device for storing securities such as money and checks received from customers. A drawer 21 is provided inside the drawer device 20 and is withdrawn to the front during the tightening process, and stores money received from the customer therein. The ECR 1 is connected to an external keyboard 30 for inputting product information and performing product sales processing. This external keyboard 30 can be placed in front of the drawer 21 of the drawer device 20, for example. The ECR 1 is connected to a code scanner 40 that optically reads a product code or the like.

  The ECR 1 includes a housing 2. Each part is accommodated in the housing 2, while each part is exposed to the outside of the housing 2. On the upper surface of the housing 2, a keyboard 3, an operator display 4, a customer display 5, and a receipt issuing port 6 are arranged. When viewed from the operator, the operator display 4 is arranged in the front, the keyboard 3 is arranged below it, and the receipt issuing port 6 is arranged on the left side thereof, so that the operator can easily input product information and the like. ing. Further, the customer display 5 is provided at a position higher than the operator display 4 and is arranged so as to be easily seen by the customer.

  Inside the housing 2, a printer 6a (see FIG. 2) for printing a receipt is provided, and in addition, an audio output unit 7 such as a speaker is provided. As one of the functions, the audio output unit 7 informs the operator that the drawer 21 is opened before the drawer 21 of the drawer device 20 is opened.

  Next, the electrical connection of each part provided in the ECR 1 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the ECR 1 includes a CPU (Centoral Processing Unit) 11a that executes various operations and control of each unit, a ROM (Read On Memory) 11b that stores computer programs, and a RAM that stores various data in a rewritable manner. (Random Access Memory) The control part 11 comprised by 11c etc. is provided. The RAM 11c functions as various work areas by using a function of storing variable data in a rewritable manner.

  The control unit 11 is connected to the above-described keyboard 3, operator display 4, customer display 5, printer 6 a, audio output unit 7, external electronic equipment such as a host computer (not shown) via the bus line 12. A communication interface 13, a drawer device 20, an external keyboard 30, a code scanner 40, and the like are connected to execute data communication between them. An HDD (Hard Disc Drive) 14 in which a control program for operating the control unit 11 and a product master file are stored is also connected.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart schematically showing the merchandise sales process executed by the control unit 11 of the ECR 1. The merchandise sales process will be described with reference to FIG.

  In the merchandise sales process, firstly, input of merchandise information such as a merchandise code and a sales quantity from the input means such as the external keyboard 30 and the code scanner 40 is waited (S1). If it is determined that product information has been input from the input means (Y in S1), product sales processing is executed. In this merchandise sales process, a merchandise master file in the RAM 11c is searched based on the input merchandise code (S2), and sales data including the merchandise name, unit price, department code, etc. obtained by this search is stored in the RAM 11c. It is stored in the work area (S3). Transaction information such as unit price stored in the work area of the RAM 11c is displayed on the operator display 4 and the customer display 5 (S4).

  The processing from step S1 to step S4 is repeated until it is determined that the closing is declared by pressing, for example, a deposit / cash key of the input means (Y in S5). For example, when it is determined that the deposit / cash key has been pressed and the closing has been declared (Y in S5), the closing process is executed in step S6 and stored in the sales buffer. When this tightening process is executed, the merchandise sales process ends.

  Next, details of the tightening process will be described with reference to FIG. In the closing process, print data including sales data stored in the sales buffer, a consumption tax amount calculated based on the sales data, a total sales amount, and the like is generated and stored in the print buffer (S6-1). . This print data is printed by the printer 6a and issued as a receipt from the receipt issuing port 6 (S6-2). The sales data stored in the sales buffer is also used for calculating, for example, the sales amount, the sales volume for each product, the number of buyers, etc., and the calculation result is stored in the sales file of the HDD 14 (S6- 3).

  Next, it is determined whether the tightening process has been performed by the external keyboard 30 (S6-4). If it is determined that the tightening process has been performed by the external keyboard 30 (Y in S6-4), the notifying means is instructed to notify the operator of a warning before opening the drawer 21 of the drawer device 20 ( S6-5). Upon receiving this instruction, the notifying means warns the operator that the drawer 21 of the drawer device 20 is opened (S6-6). Then, after a predetermined time has elapsed, a drawer open signal is output to the drawer device 20 so as to open the drawer 21 (S6-7), and the drawer 21 is opened accordingly.

On the other hand, if it is determined that the tightening process is performed by the existing keyboard 3 in the ECR 1 and not by the external keyboard 30 (N in S6-4), the drawer 21 is opened to the drawer device 20. The drawer opening signal is output (S6-7), and the drawer 21 is opened accordingly. As described above, in the ECR 1 of the present embodiment, the drawer key 20 is pressed after the tightening key of the external keyboard 30 is pressed. A warning is notified to the operator until the drawer 21 is opened. Therefore, since the drawer 21 does not open immediately after the tightening key is pressed, the operator can evacuate the hand placed in front of the drawer 21 in the meantime, and contact with the drawer 21 can be avoided.

  Next, warning notification will be described in detail with reference to one of the embodiments. FIG. 5 is a flowchart when, for example, a part of the operator display 4 is used as a notification device.

  When it is determined that the tightening process has been performed by the external keyboard 30 (S6-4), an instruction to notify the operator of a warning before opening the drawer 21 of the drawer device 20 is sent from the CPU 11a to the operator as a notification device. Is displayed on the display 4 (S6-5). The operator display 4 performs a countdown by inverting a part of the dot display (S60-1). This countdown is performed using a clock function in the CPU 11a.

  As the countdown progresses, the inversion of the dot display of the operator display 4 proceeds toward the right, and the countdown display is made (S60-2). The countdown display is sequentially displayed corresponding to a predetermined count time, and is continuously executed until the CPU 11a determines that the time necessary for notification has elapsed (S60-3Y). When the time necessary for notification has elapsed (Y in S60-3), the CPU 11a ends the notification (S60-4), and outputs a drawer opening signal to the drawer device 20 so as to open the drawer 21. (S6-7). With this signal, the drawer 21 of the drawer device 20 is opened.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing step-by-step notification display to the operator using the above-described inversion of dot display. In this case, the operator display 4 plays a role as notification means. That is, as shown in FIGS. 6 (a) to 6 (c), the upper part of the display of the operator display 4 is a notification display part 3a for notifying the operator of the warning, and the lower part is a unit price or the like. An information display portion 3b for displaying information is provided.

  FIG. 6A shows a state in which the countdown of the time until the drawer 21 is opened is started. In this case, only the dot display at the left end of the notification display portion 3a is reversed, and it can be seen that the countdown has just started. In FIG. 6B, as the predetermined count time elapses, the inversion of the dot display proceeds to the right side from the start, and the time until the drawer 21 is opened is displayed in a form visible to the operator. Yes. Further, in FIG. 6C, the inversion of the dot display reaches the right end of the notification display portion 3a, and the drawer 21 is opened when such a state is reached.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining a warning notification means using voice, which is another embodiment of the notification means to the operator. Note that this embodiment is different from the above-described embodiment only in the notification means and the notification method, and redundant description is omitted.

  In the present embodiment, the audio output unit 7 serves as a notification device. The audio output unit 7 is a speaker, for example, and can be provided inside the ECR 1.

  CPU11a performs countdown of the time set as time until drawer 21 of drawer device 20 is opened (S61-1). For example, the audio output unit 7 outputs a buzzer sound intermittently as the countdown progresses, or adopts a notification method that gradually shortens the output interval of the buzzer sound to the operator. Is notified (S61-2).

  The notification by voice is continuously executed until the CPU 11a determines that the time necessary for notification has elapsed (S61-3Y). When the time necessary for notification has elapsed (Y in S61-3), the CPU 11a ends the notification (S61-4) and outputs a drawer opening signal to the drawer device 20 so as to open the drawer 21. (S6-7). With this signal, the drawer 21 of the drawer device 20 is opened.

  The audio output unit 7 is used only as a notification device, or originally provided for other purposes, but serves as a notification device. May be.

  The sound output from the sound output unit 7 may be, for example, a synthesized sound, a chime, a melody, or the like in addition to the buzzer sound described above.

  Further, as a warning notification method for the operator, the warning may be notified to the operator by combining the above-described dot display and voice display.

It is the schematic perspective view which showed the whole goods sales processing system containing ECR of this embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the electrical connection of each part with which ECR is equipped. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a goods sales process. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a fastening process. It is a flowchart at the time of utilizing a part of display for operators as an alerting | reporting apparatus. It is the figure which showed the alerting | reporting display of the indicator for operators in steps. It is a flowchart at the time of utilizing an audio | voice output apparatus as an alerting | reporting apparatus. It is the schematic perspective view which showed the system for the conventional merchandise data processing. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the merchandise sales process performed conventionally.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... ECR, 2 ... Keyboard, 3 ... Display for operator, 6 ... Notification means, 11 ... Control part, 21 ... Drawer, 20 ... Drawer apparatus, 30 ... External keyboard

Claims (5)

In the product sales data processing apparatus that performs product sales processing based on the input product information,
Means for performing a tightening process with output of a drawer opening signal to the drawer device in accordance with a tightening operation;
The informing means informs that the drawer of the drawer device is opened before the drawer of the drawer is opened in accordance with the tightening operation;
A product sales data processing device comprising:   The merchandise sales data processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the drawer of the drawer device is opened after a predetermined time has elapsed after the start of notification by the notification means. In the product sales data processing apparatus that performs product sales processing based on the input product information,
A housing for storing each part;
An external input device provided separately from the housing and having a product information input function and a tightening operation function;
Means for performing a tightening process with output of a drawer opening signal to the drawer device in accordance with a tightening operation;
Informing means for informing that the drawer of the drawer device is opened in response to a tightening operation in the external input device;
Means for delaying the output of the drawer opening signal until a predetermined time has elapsed after the start of notification by the notification means;
A product sales data processing device comprising:   The merchandise sales data processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the notifying unit notifies by display. The merchandise sales data processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the notifying unit notifies by voice.

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