JP2509340B2 - Checkout device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a checkout device for a customer to shop using a movable shopping cart. For example, it is suitable for use in large stores such as supermarkets and department stores.

[Prior Art] In large stores such as supermarkets and department stores, a checkout system using a movable shopping cart is adopted.

In the conventional checkout system, the customer sets the shopping cart 1 on the shopping cart 2 as shown in FIG. 12, and then moves the shopping cart 2 in the sales floor to purchase the desired products. Put it in the basket 1 and finally go to the front of the accounting machine. As shown in FIG. 13, the operator of the checkout machine takes out the commodities in the shopping cart 1 one by one, passes the commodities while directing the bar code of the commodities to the reading window 3A of the scanner 3, and the empty shopping cart 4 Put in.

However, in such a flow of goods, since the operator has to take out the goods once stored in the shopping cart 1 by the customer at the place of the checkout machine so that the operator can read the goods, time, labor cost, The number of scanners is large. Moreover, the customer cannot know how much the total amount will be until the registration of all the products is completed by the accounting machine.

Therefore, in order to improve the convenience of customers, JP-A-63-149791
The means found in the publication is proposed. This is provided with a bar code scanner, product data memory (memory that stores the product name and unit price corresponding to the product code), sales data memory, totalizer, indicator, etc. in the shopping basket itself, and When a scanner reads a barcode of a product when the product is put in, the sales data of the product is automatically registered and the total amount of money up to that time is displayed on the display.

Therefore, the customer can confirm the total amount of money one after another, which is an advantage that the customer can carry out shopping according to the budget.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, although the one proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-149791 has the advantage that the customer can shop while confirming the total amount of money,
For the store side, it is necessary to input the product code etc. for each product at checkout, so the above-mentioned item
It is no different from the method of Fig. 12 and Fig. 13.

In addition, since the shopping cart must be provided with a product data memory for each shopping cart, the shopping cart itself is expensive. In addition, the same product name and unit price data must be set in the product data memory of all shopping baskets corresponding to the product code.Also, when changing the product name and unit price data, it must be done individually for each shopping basket. Since it must be done, it takes a lot of time and labor, and there is a problem that it is not possible to respond promptly.

Here, an object of the present invention is to solve such a conventional problem, reduce the burden on the operator, efficiently perform checkout work, and set the information about the product at a low cost. It is an object of the present invention to provide a checkout device that can be changed quickly and easily and can prevent mistakes in product registration.

[Means for Solving the Problem] The present invention comprises a plurality of movable shopping carts and an accounting processing device, and each of the shopping carts is placed in a product storage unit and in the product storage unit. A scanner for reading the product code of the product, a scale for measuring the weight of the product put in the product storage unit, a transmitter and a receiver,
The display unit, the product code read by the scanner, and the weight of the product measured by the scale together with the unique cart number are transmitted from the transmitter to the accounting processing device and received from the accounting processing device by the receiver. The accounting processing device comprises a control unit for displaying information including a result of comparison of weight data on the display unit, and the accounting processing device stores a product data memory storing information including weight data regarding the product for each product code, and each cart. A memory for each cart that stores the product code of the product put into the shopping cart for each number, a transmitter and a receiver, and the product code, weight, and cart number from one of the shopping carts in the receiver. Reading means for reading information including weight data corresponding to the product code from the product data memory when received, and the reading means. Comparing means for comparing the weight data read by the stage with the weight received by the receiver, and the comparison result of the comparing means and the information read by the reading means are transmitted from the transmitter to the corresponding shopping cart. At the same time, the temporary registration means for storing at least the product code in the cart-specific memory corresponding to the cart number on condition that the comparison result of the comparison means matches, and the cart from the cart-specific memory when the cart number is input. An accounting means for reading out a commodity code corresponding to the number and performing accounting processing is provided.

[Operation] In the present invention having the above-described configuration, when a product is placed in the product storage unit of the shopping cart, the product code of the product is read by the scanner and its weight is measured by the scale. The measured weight is transmitted from the transmitter to the accounting processing device together with the product code and the unique cart number.

In the accounting processing device, when the receiver receives the product code and the weight data, the information including the weight data corresponding to the product code is read from the product data memory, the weight data is compared with the received weight, and the comparison result is obtained. And the read information is transmitted from the transmitter to the shopping cart. Further, on condition that the comparison results match, at least the product code is stored in the cart-specific memory corresponding to the cart number. Then, in the shopping cart, after the information including the comparison result of the weight data transmitted from the accounting processing device is received by the receiver, the information is displayed. Therefore, the customer can shop while confirming the information about the product to be purchased, know that the product has a registration error, and can prevent registration error. When the customer finishes shopping, he goes to the accounting processing device. When the cart number of the shopping cart that has come to that position is input, the transaction processing device reads out the commodity code corresponding to the cart number from the cart memory and performs the transaction processing.

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of the checkout device of this embodiment. The check-out device is composed of a plurality of shopping carts 10 that can move inside the store, and an accounting processing device 90 installed on the exit side of the store. The accounting processor 90 includes a host computer 50 and an accounting machine 70 connected to the host computer 50 via an in-line cable 91.

FIG. 2 shows an external view of each shopping cart. In the figure, reference numeral 11 denotes a cart body, which is formed in a frame shape having a caster 12 at the bottom so as to be freely movable and a handle 13 at the top by a pipe or the like. In the middle of the cart body 11, there is a product insertion port 14A on the top surface and the cart body 1
The shopping basket 14 as a product storage unit that is detachably set in 1 and the scale 15 that measures the weight of the products that are loaded into the shopping basket 14 and the products that are loaded into the shopping basket 14 Scanner 16 that reads barcodes (product codes)
A keyboard 17 including a scale display key 17A, a display unit 18, a transmitter 19 and a receiver 20 are provided.

The reading window 16A of the scanner 16 is the shopping cart 14
Is disposed above the product insertion port 14A and is inclined toward the upper side of the shopping basket 14. Further, the display 18 is a first display 18A for displaying the product name and unit price of the product put in the shopping basket 14 and a second display 18A for displaying the total amount of the previous products put in the shopping basket 14. And an indicator 18B.

FIG. 3 shows a circuit configuration of each shopping cart 10. In the figure, 31 is a CPU. The CPU 31 includes a ROM 33 storing a program via the bus 32, a RAM 34, and the scanner 16 described above.
A scanner controller 35 connected to the scale 15, a scale controller 36 connected to the scale 15, a keyboard controller 37 connected to the keyboard 17, a display controller 38 connected to the display 18, a transmitter interface 39 connected to the transmitter 19. And a receiver interface 40 to which the receiver 20 is connected, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 4, in the RAM 34, in addition to a transmission buffer memory 34A and a reception buffer memory 34B, a total weight memory 34C for storing total weight data of the commodities put in the shopping cart 14 and a shopping cart. A total amount memory 34D for storing the total amount of the commodities thrown into 14 is provided respectively. In this embodiment, the CPU 31 and ROM
33 constitutes a control means for executing the processing of the flowchart shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 shows a circuit configuration of the host computer 50. In the figure, 51 is a CPU. CPU51, bus 52
In-line controller 5 connected to ROM53, RAM54, which stores the program via
5, display controller 56, transmitter interface 57
And receiver interface 58 are each connected.

A display 59 is connected to the display controller 59, a transmitter 60 is connected to the transmitter interface 57, and a receiver 61 is connected to the receiver interface 58. Further, in the RAM 54, as shown in FIG. 6, information about the product, that is, the product name, corresponding to the product code,
Product data memory that stores unit price and single product weight data
54A and a cart-specific memory 54B for storing the product code of the product put in the shopping cart 10 and the total weight data of the products put in the shopping cart 10 for each cart number unique to the shopping cart. ing. In addition,
In the present embodiment, the CPU 51 and the ROM 53 constitute a reading means, a comparing means and a temporary registering means for executing the processing of the flowchart shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 shows the circuit configuration of the accounting machine 70. In the figure, reference numeral 71 denotes a CPU. The CPU 71 has a ROM 73, a RAM 74 storing the program via the bus 72, and the in-line cable.
An inline controller 75 to which 91 is connected, a keyboard controller 76, a display controller 77, and a printer controller 78 are respectively connected.

The keyboard controller 76 includes a keyboard 79 including a match key 79A and a mismatch key 79B, a display unit controller 77 includes a display unit 80, and the printer controller 78.
A printer 81 is connected to each. Also, the above
As shown in FIG. 8, in the RAM 74, various storage areas 74B are provided in addition to the product data memory 74A that stores the product name, unit price, number of sales, and sales amount corresponding to the product code. . In this embodiment, the CPU7
The 1 and the ROM 73 constitute an accounting means for executing the processing of the flowchart shown in FIG.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

The customer who visits the store sequentially puts the desired shopping cart 10 into the shopping basket 14 while moving the shopping cart 10 inside the store. Then, the barcode of the product (product code) is read by the scanner 16.

The CPU 31 of the shopping cart 10 executes processing according to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, the steps (hereinafter,
Abbreviated as ST. ) 1 recognizes that there is an input from the scanner 16, that is, when the product code is input by the scanner 16, the process proceeds to ST2, and it is determined whether or not the weight data from the scale 15 has increased. In other words, scale 15 is applied to the total weight data in the total weight memory 34C.
It is judged whether the weight data from the item is increasing (whether the product is certainly put in the shopping basket 14).

Here, when recognizing that the product has been loaded into the shopping basket 14, the process proceeds to ST3, and the product code read by the scanner 16 and the weight data measured by the scale 15 are sent from the transmitter 19 together with the cart number unique to the shopping cart. Host computer
After transmitting to 50, proceed to ST4 and wait for data reception from the host computer 50.

When receiving data from the host computer 50, ST
It proceeds to step 5 and determines whether the received data is the product data, that is, the product name or unit price data of the product corresponding to the transmitted product code. If it is the product name or unit price data, go to ST6 and display the product name and unit price data in the first display unit 18 of the display unit 18.
After being displayed on A, the process proceeds to ST7, unit price data is added to the total amount memory 34D, and the result is displayed on the second display 18B. At this time, the total weight data in the total weight memory 34C is updated to the weight data measured by the scale 15. Therefore, the customer can confirm the unit price of the product put in while shopping and the total amount up to that point.

If the product name is other than the unit price data, the process proceeds to ST8, and the first display 18A of the display unit 18 displays an error message. Therefore, the customer can confirm from this display that there is a registration error. In ST9, when it is recognized that the scale display key 17A is pressed, the process proceeds to ST10 and the weight data of the scale 15 is displayed on the first display 18A.

On the other hand, the CPU 51 of the host computer 50 executes the processing according to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, ST11
Check whether the data is received from the shopping cart 10 at ST12
Data request from 70 to judge. Shopping cart 10 at ST11
If the data is received from ST1, the product name, unit price and single item weight data corresponding to the product code received from the product data memory 54A are read out, and then the process proceeds to ST14 where the single item weight data and the received weight data are read. It is determined whether or not the weight data of the input product based on this match.

That is, from the received weight data, the corresponding cart memory 54
The total weight data of B is subtracted to obtain the weight data of the product put in immediately before, and it is determined whether or not this weight data and the read single product weight data match.

If they match, the process proceeds to ST15, stores the product code in the corresponding cart-specific memory 54B, updates the total weight data to the received weight data, and then ST16.
Go to the shopping cart from transmitter 60 to go to the item name and unit price
Send to 10. If they do not match, ST17
Proceed to and send the error code from the transmitter 60 to the shopping cart 10.

In ST12, when the data request from the accounting machine 70 is received, the process proceeds to ST18, and the contents of the cart-specific memory 54B (product code and total weight data) designated by the cart number are transmitted to the accounting machine 70.

In this way, the customer who finishes shopping can use the shopping cart.
When moving to 10 and reaching the accounting machine 70, the accounting machine 70
The operator inputs the cart number of the shopping cart 10 from the keyboard 79.

Then, the CPU 71 of the accounting machine 70 executes the process according to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, when it is judged in ST21 whether or not the cart number has been input, and in ST22 whether or not the product code has been input, when it recognizes that the cart number has been input, the process proceeds to ST23 and the cart of the corresponding cart number is sent to the host computer 50. After requesting the data (product code and total weight data) in the separate memory 54B, the process proceeds to ST24 and waits for data reception from the host computer 50.

In ST24, when the data from the host computer 50 is received, the process proceeds to ST25 and the display unit 80 displays the total weight data among the received data. Here, the operator of the accounting machine 70 presses the scale display key 17A of the shopping cart 10. Then, in ST10 of FIG. 9, the weight data of the scale 15, that is, the total weight data of all the commodities put in the shopping basket 14 is displayed on the first display 18A. It is determined whether the total weight data displayed on 18A and the total weight data displayed on the display unit 80 match, and if they match, the match key 79A is pressed, and if they do not match, the mismatch key 79B is pressed.

Then, when the CPU 71 recognizes in ST26 that the match key 79A has been pressed, it proceeds to ST27 and registers the received data (product code). Then, the process proceeds to ST28, the total amount is displayed on the display unit 80, and then the process proceeds to ST29 to perform change processing.

When it is recognized in ST30 that the mismatch key 79B is pressed, the process ends. Therefore, in this case, the product in the shopping basket 14 may be taken out and input from the keyboard 79. Then, when recognizing that the product code is input in ST22, the CPU 71 proceeds to ST32 and registers the product code.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the product data memory 54A that stores the product name, unit price, and single product weight data corresponding to the product code is provided in the host computer 50, and the product code is read from each shopping cart 10 in the host computer 50. When received, it reads out the product name, unit price and single product weight data corresponding to the product code from the product data memory 54A,
Since the item name and unit price data in this are sent to the shopping cart 10 that has sent the product code, it is not necessary to provide a product data memory for each shopping cart, so it is inexpensive and the setting of product data is possible. And changes can be made quickly.

On the other hand, the shopping cart 10 receives the data from the host computer 50, displays the item name and unit price data on the first display 18A of the display unit 18, and adds the unit price to the total amount memory 34D. The second indicator 1
Since it is displayed on 8B, the user (customer) can check the price of the purchased product from the product name and unit price data displayed on the display 18A, 18B, and also check the total amount purchased so far. It is convenient because it can be done.

In addition, each shopping cart 10 is provided with a scale 15 for measuring the weight of the products put in the shopping basket 14, and this scale 15
The product weight data measured by 15 is sent to the host computer 50 together with the product code, and the host computer 50 receives the received weight data and product data memory.
Compare with the individual item weight data corresponding to the product code read from 54A, and if the two do not match, send an error code to the shopping cart 10 and display the fact on the display section 18 of the shopping cart 10. As a result, the user can be notified of the registration error. This has the advantage that fraud can be prevented.

When the cart number is input to the accounting machine 70, the contents of the cart-specific memory 54B corresponding to the cart number are read from the host computer 50, and the total weight data included in the contents is displayed on the display unit 79. It on the other hand,
When the scale display key 17A of the shopping cart 10 is pressed, the weight data measured by the scale 15 is displayed on the display 18A. Therefore, the operator can know from the display of both that there is a registration error.

Further, as a result of comparing the weight data, if the match key 79A is pressed when there is no registration error, the product code temporarily registered in the host computer 50 is automatically registered, so the burden on the operator can be reduced. In addition to being able to do so, checkout work can be performed efficiently.

Further, since the scanner 16 of each shopping cart 10 is arranged at a position higher than the product inlet 14A of the shopping basket 14 and in an inclined shape toward the upper part of the shopping basket 14, the user (customer) can move the product from the product display shelf. The bar code of the product can be read by simply inserting the taken product into the shopping basket 14, and it is possible to prevent the product inserted into the shopping basket 14 from being read twice.

In the above embodiment, in each shopping cart 10,
Although the unit price data transmitted from the host computer 50 is added to obtain the total amount of money, the total amount of money may be calculated by the host computer 50 and then the total amount of money may be transmitted to the shopping cart 10.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the following operational effects can be achieved.

That is, since it is not necessary to provide a product data memory for each shopping cart, it is possible to inexpensively set and change information about products quickly and easily.
Further, when the cart number is entered, the temporarily registered merchandise code is automatically registered, so that the burden on the operator can be reduced and the checkout work can be performed efficiently. On the other hand, in the shopping cart, the information from the accounting processing device is received and the information is displayed on the display unit. Therefore, the user (customer) can conveniently carry out shopping while looking at the information displayed on the display unit.

In addition, the shopping cart displays the comparison result of the measured weight data of the product and the weight data corresponding to the product code read from the product data memory, so that the customer knows that the inserted product is a registration error. This makes it possible to prevent registration mistakes. In addition, fraud can be prevented in advance.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 11 show an embodiment of the present invention.
The figure shows the overall structure, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the shopping cart, FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the circuit structure of the shopping cart, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the contents of the RAM of FIG. 5, FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of the host computer, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the contents of the RAM of FIG. 5, FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of the accounting machine, and FIG. FIG. 9 shows the contents of RAM in the figure, FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing the flow of processing of the shopping cart, FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing the flow of processing of the host computer, and FIG. 11 is a flow of processing of the checkout machine. It is a flowchart. FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 show a prior art, FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view showing a shopping cart, and FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a scanner. 10 …… Shopping cart, 14 …… Shopping basket (product storage),
15 …… scale, 16 …… scanner, 18 …… display, 31,3
3 ... CPU and ROM (control means), 19 ... oscillator, 20 ...
... Receiver, 51, 53 ... CPU and ROM (reading means, comparing means, temporary registration means), 54A ... product data memory, 54B ...
… Memory by cart, 60 …… Transmitter, 61 …… Receiver, 71,7
3 ... CPU and ROM (accounting means), 90 ... Accounting processing device.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of movable shopping carts and an accounting device, each of the shopping carts having a product storage unit and a scanner for reading a product code of a product placed in the product storage unit. ,
A scale for measuring the weight of the product put in the product storage unit, a transmitter and a receiver, a display unit, a product code read by the scanner, and the weight of the product measured by the scale together with a unique cart number. And a control unit that causes the display unit to display information including a comparison result of weight data from the accounting processing device received by the receiver from the transmitter to the accounting processing device. , A product data memory that stores information including weight data regarding the product for each product code, a memory for each cart that stores the product code of the product placed in the shopping cart for each cart number, a transmitter, and When the receiver and the receiver receive the product code, weight and cart number from one of the shopping carts, the product data Reading means for reading information including weight data corresponding to the product code from the memory, comparing means for comparing the weight data read by the reading means with the weight received by the receiver, and the comparing means. The comparison result and the information read by the reading means are transmitted from the transmitter to the corresponding shopping cart, and at the same time, the cart-specific memory corresponding to at least the product code corresponding to the cart number is provided on the condition that the comparison result of the comparison means matches. A checkout device, comprising: a temporary registration means for storing in a memory and a accounting means for reading out a product code corresponding to the cart number from the cart-specific memory when the cart number is input and performing accounting processing. .