JP2531062B2 - Checkout processing method and apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is used in a store such as a supermarket or a convenience store, and performs calculation processing such as registration and settlement of purchased products of customers, display of calculation results, receipt of payment from customers, and change payment. The present invention relates to a checkout processing method and a device for returning the checkout.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in order to simplify the checkout process and shorten the processing time at a retail store, a checkout processing device having a depositing / dispensing device for counting and paying out money has been developed. When this checkout processing device is used, when a customer requests payment for a purchased product, the clerk registers the purchased product in the ECR using a barcode scanner, an electronic cash register (hereinafter referred to as ECR), or the like. (registration process). After that, the clerk, for example, presses the “subtotal” key on the operation unit of the ECR to display the total purchase amount on the display device of the ECR and receives the deposit from the customer (deposit receipt process).

[0003] The clerk inputs the total amount of the deposit into the ECR and inserts coins of the deposit into the deposit / withdrawal device,
The bills are stored in the cash drawer by denomination. Next, the change amount is calculated, and the coin change, which is the coin amount of the change discharged from the depositing / dispensing device, and the banknote change, which is the bill amount of the change taken out from the drawer by the store clerk, are sent from the store clerk to the customer. Handed (change payment processing). For details of the above-mentioned technique, see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-14
See JP 1199 and JP 63-307598.

[0004]

By the way, the time required for the checkout process is the sum of the registration process time, the deposit receipt time, and the change payment time, and it is necessary to shorten the time required for each process in the checkout process. This leads to a reduction in the time taken. However, in the above-mentioned conventional checkout processing device, after the registration process is completed and the total purchase amount is displayed on the display device, the customer receives the deposit in order to find the money from the wallet and hand it to the clerk. The processing time became long, the time spent by the store clerk unnecessarily increased, and the time required for the checkout process also became long.

[0005] In addition, customers have traditionally been reluctant to increase the number of coins in their wallets, but this tendency has been promoted by the effect of the introduction of the consumption tax. An increasing number of customers are searching for and counting coins equivalent to, which further lengthens the processing time for deposit receipt. On the other hand, when the deposit is only banknotes, there is a shortage of change coins prepared in the store, so that the store must have a large number of coins.

The present invention has been made under such a background. By shortening the deposit receipt processing time, the checkout processing time can be shortened, and
It is an object of the present invention to provide a checkout processing method and an apparatus thereof, which enables a store to keep a large amount of coins and keep the change to customers to a minimum required number.

[0007]

According to a checkout processing method of the present invention, a checkout is performed in which the total purchase amount is calculated by registering a customer's purchased product and receiving the price of the product from the customer for settlement. In the processing method, a first step of receiving the price from the customer, sorting the price and calculating the price equivalent before the registration process is completed, and immediately after the product registration is completed.
The purchase price is equal to or more than the purchase total amount.
The second step of determining whether or not
It is judged that the amount equivalent to the purchase price is more than the total purchase amount
In this case, there is a third step of calculating the change amount by subtracting the total purchase amount from the amount equivalent to the price , and a fourth step of paying the change amount to the customer.
Further, the amount equivalent to the price may be displayed or printed. Furthermore, the combination of coins or banknotes constituting the change amount may be calculated so that the number of coins or banknotes is minimized.

The check-out device of the present invention is provided with a deposit / withdrawal port for depositing / withdrawing coins, and sorts and sorts the coins inserted from the deposit / withdrawal port before the registration process of the product purchased by the customer is completed. and withdrawal means for calculating the amount of money put in, before
The total purchase amount obtained by performing the registration process was calculated.
Immediately afterwards, compare the input amount and the total purchase amount
However, if the input amount is greater than or equal to the total purchase amount, the investment amount is
Calculate the change amount by subtracting the total purchase amount from the deposit amount ,
The deposit / withdrawal means is transferred by the arithmetic and control means, which comprises an arithmetic control means for calculating an amount to be refunded with the coin and transferring the calculation result to the deposit / withdrawal means. The coin corresponding to the calculation result is discharged from the deposit / withdrawal port. Further, a banknote is inserted together with the coin from the deposit / withdrawal means of the deposit / withdrawal means, the arithmetic control means subtracts the total purchase amount from the deposit amount, and the deposit / withdrawal means receives the deposit / withdrawal means. A coin or a bill corresponding to the calculation result may be discharged from the dispensing port. Furthermore, the input amount may be displayed or printed on the display unit or the printing unit. In addition, the combination of coins or bills discharged from the deposit / withdrawal port of the deposit / withdrawal means may be calculated so that the number of coins or bills is minimized.

[0009]

According to the above method, the customer pays for the merchandise before the registration process of the merchandise purchased by the customer is completed. The price is sorted and sorted, and the price equivalent amount is calculated. The registration process is completed and the total purchase price is calculated.
Then, whether or not the amount equivalent to the price is equal to or more than the total purchase amount
Is immediately determined, and the amount equivalent to the price is the total purchase amount
When it is determined that the above is the case, the total purchase amount is subtracted from the price equivalent amount to calculate the change amount, and the change amount is paid to the customer.

According to the above configuration, first, in the depositing / dispensing means, the coins inserted from the deposit / withdrawal port are sorted and selected before the registration processing of the customer's purchased product is completed, and the deposit amount is calculated. . Next, after the registration processing is completed, the purchase control obtained by performing the registration processing in the arithmetic control means.
Immediately after the total amount is calculated, the input amount and the purchase
The total amount is compared and the input amount is less than the total purchase amount.
If it is above, the total purchase amount is subtracted from the input amount to calculate the change amount. In the arithmetic control means,
Of the change amount, the amount paid by the coins is calculated, and the calculation result is transferred to the deposit / withdrawal means. In the deposit / withdrawal means, the coin corresponding to the calculation result transferred by the arithmetic control means is discharged from the deposit / withdrawal port.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view showing an external configuration of a checkout processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which 1a and 1b are shopping carts and 2 is a shopping cart 1.
Checkout counter with a and 1b, 3
Is a bar code scanner for reading a bar code attached to a product, 4 is an ECR, 5 is a depositing / dispensing device for depositing / dispensing and counting coins. Display unit 14, operation unit 15, deposit unit 1
6, a display panel 14a, which is a part of the dispensing unit 19, an operation panel 15a, an inlet 16a, and an outlet 19a are provided. Although not shown, a clerk is located in the back of the checkout counter 2 in the figure, and the customer moves from the left side of the checkout counter 2 in the figure to the right.

Next, FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of the electrical configuration of the ECR 4. In this figure, 6 is a CPU 1 described later.
A ROM storing a control program executed in 1 and basic data, 7 a RAM for temporarily storing data, 8 an operation unit for a store clerk to input data, and 9 a total purchase amount and the like. A display unit, 10 is a printing unit for issuing receipts, 11 is a CPU, and each of the above-described components 6 to 10, the barcode scanner 3, and the depositing / dispensing device 5 are provided.
Data will be transferred to and from, and calculations such as calculation of the total purchase price will be performed.

Next, FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of an electrical configuration of the depositing / dispensing apparatus 5. In this figure, 12 is C described later.
A ROM for storing a control program executed by the PU 20 and basic data, 13 is a RAM having the same function as the RAM 7, 14 is a display unit for displaying a message or the like on the display panel 14a, and 15 is for giving instructions to the CPU 20. It is an operation unit, and is provided with an operation panel 15a and the like provided with a depositing end button or the like that informs the CPU 20 that the depositing process has been completed by being pressed by the customer. Further, 16 is a depositing part in which a slot 16a into which coins are to be inserted is formed, 17 is a discriminating part for discriminating the denomination of coins, 18
Is a sorting unit that sorts and stores coins by denomination, 19 is a dispensing unit in which a discharge port 19a for discharging coins is formed, 20 is a CPU, and each of the above-described constituent elements 12 to 1
The data is exchanged with 9, and the calculation such as calculation of the amount of money to be input is performed.

4 and 5 and 6 show the processing performed by the CPU 11, the CPU 20, the store clerk, and the customer when a customer requests the settlement of the product desired to be purchased by the checkout device in such a configuration. This will be described with reference to the processing diagrams shown in and. FIG. 4 is a process diagram showing the process of the deposit process. Hereinafter, the process of the deposit process will be described based on the flow shown in this figure. First, it is assumed that the customer requests that the clerk insert coins to be used for payment into the deposit unit 16 at the time when the check-out process of the previous customer is completed. When the previous customer is in the process of checking out, the deposit unit 16 is closed so that the next customer cannot deposit. Further, when the checkout process of the previous customer is completed, a message requesting the insertion of coins is displayed on the display panel 14a in the display unit 14 of the depositing / dispensing device 5 and the operation panel 15a in the operation unit 15. The deposit part 1
The insertion slot 16a of 6 is in a state in which coins can be inserted.

Next, when a customer who wishes to purchase a product inserts all the coins usable in the wallet into the depositing part 16 of the depositing / dispensing device 5 through the slot 16a, the CPU 20 proceeds to step SA1 in FIG. move on. In step SA1, the CPU 20
Determines whether or not the deposit end button on the operation panel 15a has been pressed, that is, whether or not the deposit has ended.
If it is in the middle of depositing, the determination in step SA1 is “NO”, and the CPU 20 proceeds to step SA2.

At step SA2, the CPU 20 determines whether or not the coin has been conveyed to the discriminating section 17. For example, when the customer takes time to take out the coin from the wallet and the coin has not been inserted yet, the determination in step SA2 is “NO”, the CPU 20 returns to step SA1, and the deposit is completed again. Determine whether or not. vice versa,
When the coin is conveyed to the discriminating unit 17 and the determination in step SA2 is "YES", the CPU 20 causes the step S2 to proceed.
Proceed to A3.

At step SA3, the discriminating unit 17 discriminates the denomination of coins and inputs the denomination data to the CPU 20. Then, the process proceeds to step SA4. In step SA4, C where the denomination data has been input
The PU 20 reads the count data of the corresponding denomination from the predetermined address of the RAM 13, adds 1 to it and stores it again at the predetermined address, and stores coins in the sorting unit 18 for each denomination. Then, the process returns to step SA1.

The step SA5 is a step SA1.
This is the process when it is determined that the deposit has been completed. In this step, the CPU 20 closes the insertion slot 16a, stores (sets) predetermined data in a predetermined address (flag) of the RAM 13, and calculates the amount of money to be inserted from the counting data of the money type stored in the RAM 13. Then R
Store in AM13. This is the end of the deposit process.

In parallel with the above deposit processing, registration processing of purchased commodities and the like are performed. The process by which these processes are performed
This will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. 5 and 6 show
It is a process diagram showing processes such as a registration process, a deposit receipt process, and a change payment process, which should be connected by and in the figure. In step SB1 of FIG. 5, the clerk sequentially takes out the products stored in the shopping basket 1a,
Use the barcode scanner 3 or the operation unit 8 of the ECR 4 to register data such as the product name and price of the product in the ECR 4,
Store the registered products in another shopping basket 1b. In response to this operation, the CPU 11 of the ECR 4 causes the RAM 7 to store the data such as the product name and the price input by the store clerk, and causes the display unit 9 to display the product name and the price stored in the RAM 7. Further, the CPU 11 is
The latest accumulated data obtained by adding the price data input in this registration to the accumulated data whose initial value is 0 stored in the prescribed address of M7 is stored in the prescribed address of RAM7. Then, the CPU 11 of the ECR4 proceeds to step SB2.

At step SB2, the CPU 11 determines whether or not the registration process is completed. This determination is made based on, for example, whether the "subtotal" key of the operation unit 8 has been pressed. If the registration process is not completed, the determination in step SB2 becomes "NO", and the process returns to step SB1 to continue the registration process. On the contrary, when the registration process is completed and the “subtotal” key is pressed, this determination becomes “YES”, and the CPU 1
1 proceeds to step SB3.

In step SB3, the CPU 11 displays the total purchase price, which is the total price of the individual products, on the display unit 9, and proceeds to step SB4. In step SB4,
The CPU 11 determines whether or not a deposit has been made, that is, whether or not the depositing process to the depositing / dispensing device 5 shown in FIG. 4 has been performed. This determination is made in step SA5 of FIG.
It is determined whether or not a predetermined value is set in the flag of the RAM 13 of the deposit / withdrawal device 5. Now, assuming that the deposit processing has been performed, the determination in step SB4 is “YES”,
The CPU 11 proceeds to step SB5.

At step SB5, the CPU 11 reads out the amount of money to be inserted from the RAM 13 of the coin depositing / dispensing device 5, and judges whether or not the amount of money to be inserted is less than the total purchase amount stored in the RAM 7, that is, the amount of money to be paid alone. It is judged whether or not it is impossible. At this time, if the input amount is less than the total purchase amount, the determination in step SB5 is "YES", and the process proceeds to step SB6. On the contrary, if the input amount is equal to or more than the total purchase amount, the determination in step SB5 is “NO”.
Then, the CPU 11 stores the input amount of money in the RAM 7 as the total amount of payment, and proceeds to step SB10.

Steps SB6 to SB9 are the same as step SB.
In step 5, the process is performed when it is determined that payment is impossible with only the input amount. In step SB6, the CPU 11
Subtracts the input amount from the total purchase amount to calculate the shortage amount which is insufficient for payment, and displays it on the display unit 9. Then, the process proceeds to step SB7.

In step SB7, the clerk orally bills the customer for the shortfall and receives a deposit from the customer commensurate with the shortfall. In this case, since no coins can be used in the customer's wallet, the deposit received is a banknote having an amount equal to or more than the shortfall. Then, the process proceeds to step SB8 in FIG. In step SB8, the clerk operates the operation unit 8 to input the deposit amount received from the customer into the ECR 4 and sorts and stores the deposit amount in the cash drawer of the ECR 4. Then, the process proceeds to step SB9.

In step SB9, the CPU 11 sums the deposit amount and the deposit amount to calculate the total payment amount,
It is stored in the RAM 7. Then, the process proceeds to step SB10. In step SB10, the CPU 11 subtracts the total purchase amount from the total payment amount to calculate the change amount, and together with the banknote change amount that is the amount to be paid in the banknotes and the coin change amount that is the amount to be paid in coins. It is stored in the RAM 7. Then, the process proceeds to step SB11. Step SB
In 11, the CPU 11 prints a receipt, which is stored in the RAM 7 and includes the item name and price of the product, the total purchase amount, the total payment amount, and the change amount, on the printing unit 1.
Issue from 0. Then, the process proceeds to step SB12.

At step SB12, the CPU 11 sends the data corresponding to the coin change amount to the CPU of the coin depositing / dispensing device 5.
Enter 20. The CPU 20 calculates the combination of the minimum number of coins corresponding to the input data, ejects the coins of the combination from the ejection port 19a in the dispensing section 19, and for the deposit processing of the next customer, Deposit part 16
The input port 16a inside is opened. Then, step SB1
Go to 3. In step SB13, the clerk takes out the banknote corresponding to the banknote change amount from the cash drawer of ECR4 and hands it to the customer together with the receipt. At this time, if the change amount is less than the amount of the lowest banknote, the change amount of banknote is 0. That is, since it is not necessary to hand the bill to the customer, only the receipt is given to the customer.

In addition, steps SB14 and SB15
Performs the process when it is determined in step SB4 that the deposit process has not been performed. In step SB14, the clerk orally bills the customer for the total purchase amount, and receives a deposit corresponding thereto. Then, the process proceeds to step SB15. In step SB15, the clerk inputs the deposit amount received from the customer into the ECR 4 from the operation unit 8. next,
The CPU 11 stores the input deposit amount in the RAM 7 as the total payment amount, and proceeds to step SB10. Since the processing after step SB10 is as described above, the description thereof is omitted here.

As described above, according to this embodiment,
After calculating the total purchase amount, the clerk
Alternatively, the check-out process can be completed only by delivering the receipt. In addition, in the present embodiment, an example in which the depositing / dispensing device 5 deposits / dispenses only coins is shown. However, by depositing / dispensing banknotes and coins, the clerk is released from the money transfer process and the deposit is received. The time and the change-back time can be further shortened. For details of a device for depositing and withdrawing banknotes, see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-166688 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-30759.
See Publication No. 8.

Further, in this embodiment, the deposit / withdrawal device 5
Since there is no means to compare the amount of money input by the customer with the amount of money that the customer thinks has been put into the slot 16a, the amount of change paid or the total amount paid If the question is asked, there is a possibility that the clerk cannot determine whether the customer is correct or the deposit / withdrawal device 5 is correct. In order to prevent such troubles, in the deposit / withdrawal device 5, a display device or a printing device for allowing the customer to confirm the amount of coins deposited by the customer, and a device for ejecting the deposited coins as they are When a customer presents a question by adding a temporary storage unit, a refund button, or the like, all coins stored in the temporary storage unit are discharged from the discharge port 19a, and the customer can confirm it. You may do it.

Further, in the present embodiment, the check-out processing by the check-out processing device alone is shown, but the check-out processing in which the check-out processing device is used as the terminal of the POS system is also the same.
Presence of bar code scanner, use in two-person system,
Needless to say, the positions of the inlet 16a and the outlet 19a are not limited.

In addition, in the present embodiment, the customer has shown an example in which he or she inserts money into the checkout processing device and takes out the change, but the input / output port 16a and the discharge port 19 of the deposit / withdrawal device 5 are shown.
A is set up on the clerk side, and the clerk receives the currency received from the customer.
The change may be put into the input port 16a of the check-out processing device and the change discharged from the output port 19a may be taken out by the store clerk and given to the customer.

[0032]

As described above, according to the checkout processing method and the apparatus thereof of the present invention, the delivery of the deposit between the store clerk and the customer precedes or parallels with the merchandise registration processing. The processing time for deposit receipt is shortened. Further, when the money that can be handled by the depositing / dispensing means is a banknote and a coin, the clerk does not participate in the dispensing of the change, so the change payment processing time is shortened . By shortening the deposit receipt processing time and the change payment processing time as described above, there is an effect that the time required for the checkout processing is shortened.
Further, since the customer constantly supplies money to the deposit / withdrawal means, and the change to the customer is the minimum number, there is an effect that the store does not have to keep a large amount of coins. In addition, a customer who unnecessarily possesses a large number of coins and intends to reduce the number of coins he / she has, after completing the check-out process, has the minimum required number of coins possessed by the checkout of the present invention. Since the shop where the device is installed comes to be used for shopping, there is an effect that the number of visitors is increased for the shop.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an external configuration of a checkout processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of ECR4 shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a deposit / withdrawal device 5 shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a processing diagram showing an operation of the depositing / dispensing apparatus 5 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a processing diagram showing the operation of the checkout processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a processing diagram showing the operation of the checkout processing device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

4 ECR (arithmetic control means) 5 deposit / withdrawal device (arithmetic control means, deposit / withdrawal means)

Claims (7)

(57) [Claims] 1. A checkout processing method for performing registration processing of a product purchased by a customer to calculate a total purchase amount, and receiving payment for the product from the customer to perform settlement processing, wherein the registration processing is performed before the registration processing is completed. The first process of receiving the price from the customer, sorting and selecting the price and calculating the price equivalent amount, and the first process performed immediately when the product registration is completed,
Judge whether the amount of money is more than the total amount of purchase
In the second step, the price equivalent amount in the second step is less than the total purchase amount.
If it is determined that the change is above, there is a third step of calculating the change amount by subtracting the total purchase amount from the amount equivalent to the price , and a fourth step of paying the change amount to the customer. Characterized checkout processing method. 2. The checkout processing method according to claim 1, wherein the price equivalent amount is displayed or printed. 3. The checkout processing method according to claim 1, wherein the combination of coins or banknotes constituting the change amount is calculated so that the number of coins or banknotes is minimized. 4. A deposit / withdrawal port for depositing / withdrawing coins is provided, and the coins deposited from the deposit / withdrawal port are sorted and sorted before the customer's purchase product registration process is completed to calculate the deposit amount. The deposit / withdrawal means and the total purchase amount obtained by performing the registration process were calculated.
Immediately afterwards, compare the input amount and the total purchase amount
However, if the input amount is greater than or equal to the total purchase amount, the investment amount is
Calculate the change amount by subtracting the total purchase amount from the deposit amount ,
And a calculation control means for calculating the amount to be refunded with the coin and transferring the calculation result to the depositing / dispensing means, wherein the depositing / dispensing means is transferred by the calculation controlling means. A checkout processing device, wherein coins corresponding to the calculation result are discharged from the deposit / withdrawal port. 5. A bill is inserted together with the coin from the deposit / withdrawal port of the deposit / withdrawal means, the arithmetic control unit subtracts the total purchase amount from the deposit amount, and the deposit / withdrawal unit. 5. The checkout processing device according to claim 4, wherein coins or banknotes corresponding to the calculation result are discharged from the deposit / withdrawal port. 6. The checkout processing apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising display means or printing means, wherein the input amount of money is displayed or printed on the display means or the printing means. 7. The combination of coins or banknotes discharged from the deposit / withdrawal port of the deposit / withdrawal means is calculated such that the number of coins or bills is minimized. 6. The checkout processing device according to any one of 6.