JP2009289222A - Pos terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To confirm that a customer has appropriately performed bar code registration operation by monitoring the bar code registration of merchandise by an image captured by a camera. <P>SOLUTION: There is provided a POS terminal 10 for self check-out having an operation screen 2; a camera 1; a scanner 3 for reading the bar code attached to the merchandise, a unregistered merchandise placing table 4 arranged on one side of a scanning position 5 of the scanner 3 for placing the unregistered merchandise; a registered merchandise placing table 6 arranged on the other side of the scanning position 5 for placing the registered merchandise with the bar code read by the scanner 3; and a control part 7 for confirming that the bar code of the unregistered merchandise is appropriately scanned by processing the image captured by the camera 1 which shows that the unregistered merchandise placed on the unregistered merchandise placing table 4 has passed through the scanning position 5 and is placed on the registered merchandise placing table 6. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a POS terminal for self-checkout for distribution industry.

  A conventional POS terminal will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a first conventional POS terminal.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the POS terminal 100 includes an operation screen 101, a scanner 102, a scan position 103, a scaled product placing table 104, a scaled registered product placing table 105, and a control unit 106. Under such a configuration, each time the product is scanned, the control unit 106 looks at whether the decrease in the weight of the scaled product placing table 104 is the same as the weight increment of the scaled registered product placing table 105, When the weight is moved from the scaled product placing table 104 to the scaled registered product placing table 105 even though it has not been scanned by the scanner 102, it is detected that the product has not been registered and is displayed on the operation screen 101, and the customer is prompted again. Urged operation.

  Moreover, FIG. 11 is a figure which shows the POS terminal of the 2nd prior art.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the POS terminal 110 includes an operation screen 111, a scanner 112, a scan position 113, a product placing table 114, a registered product placing table with a scale, and a control unit 116. Under such a configuration, the control unit 116 detects the weight of the corresponding product in the weight database associated with the barcode of the product registered by scanning the barcode with the scanner 112, and the weight increment of the registered product placing table 115 with a scale. If the weight is increased in the registered product placing table 115 with a scale that is unregistered by the scanner 112, whether the product is unregistered is detected and the fact is displayed on the operation screen 111 to inform the customer. Urged re-operation. In addition, when the weight is insufficient, the customer is prompted to perform the operation again.

  As described above, in the first and second prior arts, since the movement of the product is monitored using the scale, it is necessary to measure from a very light product of about 1 g to a very heavy product of about 30 kg. An expensive balance was required and the accuracy was unstable. In addition, there is a problem that the self-checkout POS becomes large in order to mount the scale.

  Related arts related to this include, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-027427 (Patent Document 1) and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-208149 (Patent Document 2).

  Patent document 1 detects fraud such as pasting the barcode label of the A product on the B product by detecting the feature matching on the overview of the read barcode and the corresponding product defined by the barcode. It is a deterrent.

  Further, Patent Document 2 prepares another sensor when scanning with a scanner, and reproduces a past image on the screen when a barcode cannot be read by the scanner even though the product passes by the scanner. Encourage re-operation.

JP 2008-027427 A JP-A-10-208149

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. The purpose of the present invention is to appropriately monitor the barcode registration of a customer by monitoring the barcode registration of a product with an image from a camera. It is to confirm what has been done.

In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention,
A POS terminal for self-checkout,
Operation screen,
At least one camera,
A scanner for reading the barcode attached to the product;
An unregistered product stand for placing unregistered products provided on one side of the scanning position of the scanner;
A registered product stand for placing a registered product that is provided on the other side of the scan position and whose barcode is read by a scanner;
By processing the image captured by the camera that the unregistered product placed on the unregistered product table has passed the scan position and placed on the registered product table, the barcode of the unregistered product is scanned appropriately. And a control unit for confirming that the operation has been performed.

  According to the present invention, since barcode registration is monitored by an image from a camera, it can be confirmed that a customer's barcode registration operation has been performed appropriately. As a result, a small, inexpensive and self-checkout POS terminal capable of stable operation can be provided.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
First, the configuration of a POS terminal for self-checkout according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 1 is an overview of a POS terminal for self-checkout according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the POS terminal 10 for self-checkout includes a camera 1, an operation screen 2, a scanner 3, an unregistered product table 4, a scan position 5, a registered product table 6 and a control unit 7. Has been.

  The camera 1 is provided in the upper part of the operation screen 2 and images the entire unregistered product table 4, the scan position 3, and the registered product table 6. The scanner 3 is provided at the lower part of the operation screen 2 and reads a barcode attached to a product. The unregistered product placement table 4 is for placing unregistered products, and is provided on one side of the scanning position 5 of the scanner 3 (right side in FIG. 1).

  The registered product placing table 6 is for placing the registered product whose barcode is read by the scanner 3, and is provided on the other side of the scanning position 5 (left side in FIG. 1).

  The control unit 7 processes an image taken by the camera 1 that the unregistered product placed on the unregistered product placement table 4 has passed the scan position 5 and placed on the registered product placement table 6, and is unregistered. Make sure the product barcode is scanned properly.

  Next, the operation of the POS terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 2 shows a state in which a product desired to be purchased is first placed on the POS terminal 10 for self-checkout when a customer makes a purchase (operation A).

  A product 8 and a product 9 that the customer desires to purchase are placed on the unregistered product placement table 4. Here, FIG. 6 shows an image 1 captured by the camera 1. The state of operation A in FIG. 2 is shown as an initial image (a) of image 1. In the first embodiment of the present invention, images are continuously captured.

  Next, the customer is guided to the operation screen 2 and starts a transaction. At this time, the unregistered product placement table 4, the scan position 5 and the registered product placement table 6 are imaged by the camera 1, and the feature points of the products at the respective positions are extracted by the control unit 7 and placed. Stores location information.

  The feature points of the image are stored sequentially in the specified cycle and for each operation event described below. For example, in the embodiment of the present invention, image feature points are stored every 3 seconds.

  Next, the barcode registration of the product desired to be purchased is performed by the scanner 3. FIG. 3 shows a state in which the product 8 is registered by the scanner 3 (operation B). Here, when the barcode is read by the scanner 3, the control unit 7 analyzes the image of the product 8 at the scan position 5 (scanned image (b) in the image 1 in FIG. 6) by the camera 1. Information obtained by extracting 8 feature points is obtained.

  Furthermore, starting from this point in time, the image captured by the camera 1 is traced to confirm that the corresponding product 8 is taken out from the unregistered product placing table 4 (initial image (a) in image 1 in FIG. 6). Then, it is confirmed that the barcode of the product 8 has been properly scanned.

  Further, when the product 8 cannot be confirmed up to the place where the product 8 is taken out from the unregistered product placement table 4, a warning such as re-operation is given to the customer.

  When the barcode of the product 8 is appropriately scanned, the image of the camera 1 is further continuously monitored (scanned image (b) in the image 1 of FIG. 6), and the product 8 is changed to the operation C of FIG. As shown, it is confirmed that the product is placed on the registered product stand 6 (registered image (c) in image 1 in FIG. 6), and the registration of the product 8 is completed. If it is not possible to confirm that the product is placed on the registered product table 6, a warning such as re-operation is given to the customer.

  Next, the same check operation as that for the product 8 is performed for the product 9, and it is confirmed that the product 9 is placed on the registered product placing table 6 as shown in operation D of FIG. Here, the image of the product 9 by the camera 1 is confirmed in the order of the initial image (a), the scanned image (b), and the registered image (c) of the image 2 in FIG.

  Next, a case where the barcode of the product 8 cannot be read will be described.

  As described above, the customer is guided to the operation screen 2 and tries to hold the product 8 over the scanner 3 in order to register the desired product 8 (operation B in FIG. 3). However, when the barcode of the product 8 cannot be read by the scanner 3, the customer misunderstands that the reading by the scanner 3 is completed and puts the product 8 on the registered product placing table 6. At this time, an image in which the product 8 is placed on the registered product placing stand 6 is picked up every 3 seconds, and feature points are extracted. As a result, the control unit 7 detects that the product 8 has been placed on the registered product placing stand 6 without being able to read the barcode of the product 8 by the scanner 3, and performs appropriate operation guidance for prompting the customer to re-operate.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

  First, since barcode registration is monitored by an image from the camera, it can be confirmed that the customer's barcode registration operation has been performed appropriately.

  Secondly, since the function conventionally realized by the scale is realized by using the camera image, the POS terminal can be configured at low cost.

  Thirdly, since the function that has been conventionally realized with a scale is realized by using a camera image, it is possible to solve the problem that accuracy is not required due to the large width of the measurement weight conventionally with a scale.

  Fourthly, conventionally, when a registered product is placed on a registered product stand with a scale due to customer operation with a scale, when a child or the like puts his / her weight on the scale, the weight increases abnormally and re-operation is necessary. However, according to the first embodiment of the present invention, since the camera image is used, the image is recognized and eliminated even when a child or the like touches it using a generally known image processing technique. Thus, the conventional re-operation becomes unnecessary.

(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 8 shows a POS terminal according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  In the first embodiment, the unregistered product placement table 4, the scan position 5, and the registered product placement table 6 are imaged by one camera 1. However, when the area to be imaged is large, the entire image cannot be captured, or the product image becomes small and image analysis is difficult.

  Therefore, in the POS terminal 80 according to the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, the images are synthesized using two cameras, the camera 1a and the camera 1b. In this case, the camera 1a and the camera 1b are installed in the upper right and upper left of the operation screen 2, respectively. Other configurations are the same as those of the POS terminal 10 according to the first embodiment shown in FIG.

  Further, image analysis is performed by the individual cameras 1a and 1b, and the unregistered product table 4 and the scan position 5 are imaged by the camera 1a, whereby the product is moved from the unregistered product table 4 to the scan position 5. The camera 1b images the scan position 5 and the registered product placing table 6 so that the movement of the product from the scan position 5 to the registered product placing table 6 is monitored.

(Third embodiment)
FIG. 9 shows a POS terminal according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

  In the first embodiment, the camera 1 images the unregistered product table 4, the scan position 5, and the registered product table 6.

  In the POS terminal 90 according to the third embodiment, the movement of the product is monitored only from the scan position 5 to the registered product placing table 6. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 9, the camera 1 c is used to monitor that the product whose barcode is scanned by the scanner 3 is appropriately placed on the registered product placing table 6. In this case, the camera 1c is installed at the upper left of the operation screen 2. As a result, an effect equivalent to that of the first embodiment of preventing a customer's operation error can be obtained. Other configurations are the same as those of the POS terminal 10 according to the second embodiment shown in FIG.

  As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, in the barcode scanning of the product used for the self-checkout POS for the distribution business, the image processing obtained by the camera as means for confirming that the product has been scanned properly It is characterized by having realized in.

  In this manner, in the embodiment of the present invention, the camera 1 monitors whether the purchased product is placed on the unregistered product placing table 4 and placed on the registered product placing table 6 after barcode registration in the scanner 3. is doing. As a result, it is possible to detect when the scanner 3 forgets to register or when the scanner 3 cannot read the barcode and cannot register it during the operation. When these states are detected, a message “Prompt to re-operate because the product has been moved without registration” is displayed on the operation screen 2 to prompt the customer to properly register the product. it can.

  Further, when the barcode cannot be read, the feature point of the product is extracted by the control unit 7 from the image obtained by the camera 1, the past state is saved and periodically checked, and the previous feature is detected. When the difference is detected, and the position where the product is simply changed at this time is recognized by the control unit 7, it is not considered that the barcode cannot be read here.

  Furthermore, when the image of the product registered by the scanner 3 is placed on the registered product placing table 6 and whether the corresponding product has been removed from the unregistered product placing table 4, it is impossible to confirm the relationship between them. Prompts the customer to re-operate or warns the store clerk.

  Note that the confirmation by the image in the embodiment of the present invention means that the feature point is extracted with respect to the commodity of the image captured by the camera 1 by the control unit 7 and the feature matches.

  Although the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the embodiments, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments and can be variously modified without departing from the gist thereof. Yes.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the POS terminal for self-checkout which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating operation | movement of the POS terminal which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention, and when a customer makes a purchase, the goods 8,9 which he wishes to purchase first to the POS terminal for self-checkout (Operation A). It is a figure for demonstrating operation | movement of the POS terminal which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention, and is a figure which shows the state which has registered the goods 8 with the scanner (operation B). It is a figure for demonstrating operation | movement of the POS terminal which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention, and is a figure which shows the state in which the goods 8 were put on the registration goods stand (operation C). It is a figure for demonstrating operation | movement of the POS terminal which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention, and is a figure which shows the state in which the goods 9 were put on the registration goods stand 6 (operation D). 1 shows an image 1 captured by a camera, where (a) shows an initial image, (b) shows a scanned image, and (c) shows a registered image. FIGS. 2A and 2B show an image 2 captured by a camera, where FIG. 2A shows an initial image, FIG. 2B shows a scanned image, and FIG. 2C shows a registered image. It is a figure which shows the structure of the POS terminal for self-checkout which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the POS terminal for self-checkout which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the POS terminal of the 1st prior art. It is a figure which shows the structure of the POS terminal of the 2nd prior art.

Explanation of symbols

1 Camera 2 Operation Screen 3 Scanner 4 Unregistered Product Place 5 Scan Position 6 Registered Product Place 7 Control Unit 8 Product 9 Product 10 POS Terminal

Claims (7)

A POS terminal for self-checkout,
Operation screen,
At least one camera,
A scanner for reading the barcode attached to the product;
An unregistered product stand for placing unregistered products provided on one side of the scanning position of the scanner;
A registered product stand for placing a registered product that is provided on the other side of the scan position and whose barcode is read by a scanner;
By processing the image captured by the camera that the unregistered product placed on the unregistered product table has passed the scan position and placed on the registered product table, the barcode of the unregistered product is scanned appropriately. And a control unit for confirming that the POS terminal has been confirmed.   2. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein when the control unit detects that the barcode of the unregistered product has not been properly scanned, a message prompting the user to operate again is displayed on the operation screen. POS terminal.   3. The POS terminal according to claim 1, wherein the processing of the image photographed by the camera is performed by extracting feature points of a product by the control unit.   4. The POS terminal according to claim 3, wherein the control unit extracts feature points of the product from an image photographed by the camera, stores the past state, and periodically checks the feature state.   The camera moves the product from the unregistered product table to the registered product table via the scan position by imaging the unregistered product table, the scan position, and the registered product table. The POS terminal according to claim 1, wherein the POS terminal is monitored.   The said camera monitors the movement of the goods from the said scan position to the said registered goods stand by imaging only the said scan position and the said registered goods stand. The POS terminal according to one. First and second cameras are provided at the top of the operation screen,
By monitoring the unregistered product placement table and the scan position with the first camera, the movement of the product from the unregistered product placement table to the scan position is monitored,
5. The movement of a product from the scan position to the registered product cradle is monitored by imaging the scan position and the registered product cradle with the second camera. 6. A POS terminal according to any one of the above.

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