JP6530965B2 - POS system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a semi-automatic point of sales (POS) system.

  There is known a semi-automated POS system including a commodity registration machine that executes commodity registration processing and a payment machine that executes payment processing of a payment based on payment data generated by the registration processing (see FIG. For example, refer to Patent Document 1). In the semi-automated POS system, the sales clerk operates the merchandise registration machine, and the customer operates the payment machine, thereby shortening the time required to pay the payment.

JP, 2013-242839, A

  In the semi-automated POS system as described above, it is important how to reduce the number of product registration machines from the viewpoint of reducing the number of clerks. In order to do so, it is necessary to reduce the processing load on the product registration machine.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a POS system capable of reducing the processing load on a commodity registration machine.

  The POS system according to the present invention is operated by a store clerk, and a product registration machine that executes registration processing of goods, and a customer who is operated by a customer and executes payment processing based on payment data generated by execution of registration processing. A plurality of payment machines are provided, and each of the plurality of payment machines executes payment data acquisition processing based on the progress of the payment processing.

  In this POS system, since each payment machine executes acquisition processing of payment data based on the progress of payment processing, for example, the commodity registration machine transmits payment data based on the progress of payment processing. There is no need to select the payment machine to be used. Therefore, according to this POS system, the processing load on the commodity registration machine can be reduced.

  In the POS system of the present invention, the commodity registration machine may have a prohibition setting unit which prohibits some payment machines among the plurality of payment machines from acquiring the payment data. In this way, for example, operations that can improve the convenience of the customer can be implemented, such as prohibiting the payment data processing device from acquiring the payment data from the product registration device.

  In the POS system of the present invention, the commodity registration device may have a notification unit for notifying a payment payment device that has obtained payment data among a plurality of payment payment devices. This enables the customer to be taught a payment machine to operate in order to pay for the payment.

  In the POS system of the present invention, the commodity registration machine may associate a plurality of payment data, and any one payment machine among the plurality of payment machines may collectively acquire the plurality of associated payment data. . Thereby, for example, one customer can change the payment mode for each payment data or issue a receipt for each payment data in one payment machine.

  In the POS system of the present invention, the commodity registration machine may have a permission setting unit which permits some payment machines of the plurality of payment machines to acquire the payment data. Thus, it is possible to carry out an operation that can improve the convenience of the customer, such as, for example, permitting the payment machine near the product registration machine to obtain the payment data.

  The POS system of the present invention further comprises a high-level device that can communicate with the product registration machine and the payment machine, and the product registration machine adds information indicating the payment machine that has obtained the payment data acquisition to the payment data. The payment apparatus that has transmitted the payment data to the upper apparatus and is permitted to obtain the payment data may execute an acquisition process on the payment data received by the upper apparatus. As a result, it is possible to make the commodity registration machine execute the commodity registration processing without waiting for the payment data acquisition by the payment machine.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a POS system capable of reducing the processing load on a commodity registration machine.

It is a block diagram showing composition of a POS system of one embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the goods registration machine of the POS system of FIG. It is an external appearance perspective view of the goods registration machine of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the payment machine of the POS system of FIG. It is an external appearance perspective view of the payment machine of FIG. It is a sequence diagram which shows the operation example of the POS system of FIG.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals and redundant description will be omitted.

[POS system configuration]
As shown in FIG. 1, the POS system 1 includes a store controller (upper device) 10, a plurality of commodity registration devices 20, and a plurality of payment machines 30. The store controller 10, each commodity registration device 20, and each payment device 30 are mutually connected by a wired or wireless LAN (Local Area Network) 2. The POS system 1 is a semi-automatic POS system built in a store such as a supermarket. That is, in the POS system 1, each merchandise registration machine 20 is operated by a store clerk to execute a merchandise registration process, and each payment machine 30 is operated by a customer and is used as the fee data generated by the execution of the registration process. Execute payment processing based on the payment. The store clerk includes the employee etc. and the user etc. of the store where the POS system 1 has been introduced, and in a broad sense, it includes the relevant business of the store. The customer includes a person who purchases and / or purchases a product, and broadly includes a person who sends and / or pays to a store.

  The store controller 10 is a computer that controls the POS system 1 and manages various information such as a product master. The store controller 10 can communicate with each product registration unit 20 and each payment machine 30, and appropriately transmits a product master to each product registration unit 20 and each payment machine 30. The product master is a file storing product information (such as product identification information, and information on product names and sales prices) for each product. The product master is updated as appropriate.

  As illustrated in FIG. 2, the product registration device 20 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 201, a read only memory (ROM) 202, a random access memory (RAM) 203, a scanner 204, and a display unit 205 for a clerk. , A display unit for customer 206, an operation unit 207, a communication unit 208, a speaker 209, and a printing unit 210. These are connected to one another by a bus 215. The appearance of the commodity registration machine 20 is as shown in FIG.

  The CPU 201 controls the operation of the commodity registration machine 20 by reading and executing the program stored in the ROM 202. The ROM 202 stores a program for controlling the operation of the commodity registration machine 20. The RAM 203 stores, as needed, product information acquired from the product master transmitted from the store controller 10, product information acquired from the product master based on the barcode (product code) read by the scanner 204, information on operation history, and the like.

  The scanner 204 optically reads a bar code or the like attached to a product. The store clerk display unit 205 displays, for the store clerk, a product name, a sales price, and the like corresponding to the barcode read by the scanner 204. The customer display unit 206 displays, for the customer, a product name, a sales price, and the like corresponding to the barcode read by the scanner 204. The store clerk display unit 205 and the customer display unit 206 also function as an operation unit by configuring a touch panel.

  The operation unit 207 has various operation buttons (a subtotal key, a total key, a numerical key, a correction key, a preset key, and the like) for operating the commodity registration device 20. The communication unit 208 communicates with other devices via the LAN 2. The speaker 209 outputs an operation sound of the product registration device 20, various sounds, and the like. The printing unit 210 appropriately prints various characters and the like on a sheet of paper and issues the sheet of paper.

  In the product registration device 20 configured as described above, the CPU 201 acquires product information from the product master when the barcode read on the product that the customer is going to purchase is read by the scanner 204 under the operation of the store clerk. The payment data is generated (execution of the product registration process). The payment data includes information on the unit price and quantity of all the products that the customer is going to purchase, and the total amount.

  Then, when the generated payment data is acquired by any one payment machine 30, the payment machine 30 that has acquired the payment data among the plurality of payment machines 30 (that is, the customer pays The payment machine 30) to be paid is notified. In the commodity registration machine 20, the customer display unit 206 and the printing unit 210 function as a notification unit. Specifically, the customer display unit 206 displays, for example, among the identification numbers attached to the respective payment machines 30, the identification number of the payment machine 30 that has acquired the payment data. The printing unit 210 prints on a piece of paper the identification number of the payment machine 30 that has acquired the payment data, a bar code indicating identification information of the payment data, etc., and issues the relevant piece of paper (accounting ticket).

  The speaker 209 may function as a notification unit. In that case, the speaker 209 outputs, for example, a voice indicating the identification number of the payment machine 30 that has acquired the payment data, among the identification numbers attached to the payment machines 30. In the commodity registration machine 20, at least one of the customer display unit 206, the speaker 209, and the printing unit 210 can function as a notification unit.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the payment machine 30 includes a CPU 301, a ROM 302, a RAM 303, a scanner 304, a display unit 305, an operation unit 307, a communication unit 308, a speaker 309, and a printing unit 310. , A settlement unit 311, a sign pole 312, a human sensor 313, and a camera 314. These are connected to one another by a bus 315. The external appearance of the payment machine 30 is as shown in FIG.

  The CPU 301 controls the operation of the payment machine 30 by reading and executing the program stored in the ROM 302. The ROM 302 stores a program for controlling the operation of the payment machine 30. The RAM 303 stores, as needed, the product master transmitted from the store controller 10, information on the operation history, and the like.

  The scanner 304 optically reads a bar code or the like printed on a bill. The display unit 305 displays, for the customer, an operation procedure and the like for the customer to pay for the payment. The display unit 305 also functions as an operation unit by configuring a touch panel.

  The operation unit 307 has various operation buttons (a correction key, a preset key, and the like) for operating the payment machine 30. The communication unit 308 communicates with other devices via the LAN 2. The speaker 309 outputs the operation sound of the payment machine 30, various sounds, and the like. When the customer pays the price, the printing unit 310 prints a list of purchased products, the amount of each product, the total amount, the received amount, the fishing amount, etc. Issue).

  The settlement unit 311 has a bill insertion and ejection port 311a, a coin insertion port 311b, a coin ejection port 311c, a credit card insertion and ejection port 311d, an electronic money reader 311e, and a control unit (not shown) for controlling them. ing. The bill insertion and ejection port 311a, the coin insertion port 311b, and the coin ejection port 311c function as a cash settlement unit. The customer pays the cash payment through the cash settlement unit such as the bill insertion and discharge port 311a, pays the credit card through the credit card reader, and pays the electronic money through the electronic money reader. You can choose at least one of the payments for.

  The sign pole 312 lights or blinks the indicator lights of a plurality of colors to notify that the customer can carry out an operation for paying the payment, that some abnormality has occurred, and the like. The human sensor 313 detects a customer or the like present in a predetermined area in front of the payment machine 30. The camera 314 captures an image of a customer or the like present in a predetermined area in front of the payment machine 30.

  In the payment machine 30 configured as described above, when the payment data generated by the execution of the registration process is acquired by the CPU 301, the payment machine 30 that has obtained the payment data to the customer (ie, the customer It is informed that the payment machine 30) to be paid for is the own machine. In the payment machine 30, the payment machine 30 which has acquired the payment data by at least one of display of characters and the like by the display unit 305, output of voice by the speaker 309, lighting of the indicator light by the sign pole 312, etc. It is informed that it is.

  The customer goes to the payment machine 30 which has acquired the payment data, in accordance with the notification by the product registration device 20 and the notification by the payment machine 30 which has acquired the payment data. When the customer detecting sensor 313 detects a customer who has entered the predetermined area in front of the payment machine 30, the display unit 305 starts displaying an operation procedure for the customer to pay the payment. At this time, the output of the sound indicating the operation procedure is also started by the speaker 309. Note that when the screen of the display unit 305 is touched by a customer, some button of the operation unit 307 is pressed by a customer, and the customer who has entered the predetermined area in front of the payment machine 30 is imaged by the camera 314 At any time, the display of the operation procedure may be started by the display unit 305, and the output of sound indicating the operation procedure may be started by the speaker 309.

  The customer operates the payment machine 30 via the operation unit 307 and the display unit 305 constituting the touch panel in accordance with the display by the display unit 305 and the output of voice by the speaker 309 to pay for the payment. Specifically, when the customer causes the scanner 304 to read the barcode printed on the accounting ticket issued by the commodity registration machine 20, the display unit 305 displays a selection screen for selecting a payment type. The customer selects one of the payment types of cash, credit card and electronic money, or a plurality of payment types to be used in combination in the display section 305, and the payment section 311 pays in the selected payment type. When the customer pays for the payment, the printing unit 310 issues a receipt on which a list of purchased products and the like is printed.

[Operation example of POS system]
An operation example of the POS system 1 described above will be described with reference to FIG. Here, attention is focused on one product registration device 20A among the plurality of product registration devices 20. As a premise, it is assumed that the product registration device 20A permits the three payment machines 30A, 30B, and 30C of the plurality of payment machines 30 to obtain the payment data. In the product registration machine 20A, the display unit 205 for a clerk configuring the touch panel or the operation unit 207 acquires payment data for a part (at least one) payment machines 30 of the plurality of payment machines 30. It functions as a permission setting unit to allow.

  First, for a product that a customer is going to purchase, when the clerk starts an operation of the product registration machine 20A (such as an operation that causes the scanner 204 to read a barcode attached to a product the customer is going to purchase) 20A starts the registration process of the product (step S01). When the registration process is completed (step S02), the commodity registration machine 20A adds the information indicating the payment machines 30A, 30B, and 30C which have permitted the acquisition of the fee data to the payment data generated by the execution of the registration process. Then, the payment data is transmitted to the store controller 10 (step S03). The store controller 10 receives the charge data (step S04) and stores it.

  At this time, in the payment machine 30A, the payment by another customer has not been made, so the payment machine 30A executes the process of acquiring payment data from the store controller 10. Specifically, the payment machine 30A monitors whether or not the payment data to which the information indicating the own device is added is stored in the store controller 10, and if the payment data is stored, the store It requests the controller 10 to transmit the payment data. On the other hand, in the payment machines 30B and 30C, since the payment by the other customer is performed, the payment machines 30B and 30C do not execute the processing for acquiring the payment data to the store controller 10. , The payment process of the charge started conventionally (steps S05 and S06) is executed.

  Then, the store controller 10 transmits the payment data generated by the commodity registration device 20A to the payment device 30A according to the request from the payment device 30A (step S07). When the payment machine 30A receives the payment data transmitted from the store controller 10 (step S08), the payment machine 30A transmits, to the commodity registration device 20A, information indicating that the acquisition of the payment data has been completed.

  In the product registration machine 20A, the payment machine 30 that has acquired the payment data based on the information received from the payment machine 30A (that is, the payment machine 30 for which the customer should pay the payment) is the payment machine 30A. Inform customers about things. The payment machine 30A notifies the customer that the payment machine 30 (that is, the payment machine 30 for which the customer should pay the payment) is the own machine that has acquired the payment data. When the customer guided to the payment machine 30A starts the operation of the payment machine 30A according to the notification by the product registration machine 20A and the payment machine 30A, the payment machine 30A generates the price data generated by the product registration machine 20A. The payment process based on the payment is started (step S09).

  The commodity registration machine 20A can execute a new registration process at the time of transmitting the generated price data to the store controller 10 (step S03). Therefore, when the clerk starts the operation of the product registration device 20A for the product which the next customer is going to purchase, the product registration device 20A starts the registration processing of a new product (step S11). When the registration process is completed (step S12), the commodity registration machine 20A adds, to the payment data generated by the execution of the registration process, information indicating the payment machines 30A, 30B, and 30C for which the acquisition of the payment data is permitted. Then, the payment data is transmitted to the store controller 10 (step S13). The store controller 10 receives the charge data (step S14) and stores it.

  At this time, in the payment machine 30A, since the previous customer pays for the payment, the payment machine 30A does not execute the process of acquiring the payment data to the store controller 10, and The payment process started in step S09 is executed. On the other hand, in the payment machines 30B and 30C, since the payment processing of the charge started conventionally (steps S05 and S06) is completed (steps S15 and S16), the payment machines 30B and 30C are the store controller 10 The processing for acquiring payment data is executed.

  Then, the store controller 10 sends the payment data generated by the commodity registration device 20A to the payment device 30B in accordance with the request from the payment device 30B among the requests from the payment devices 30B and 30C (step S17). When the payment machine 30B receives the payment data transmitted from the store controller 10 (step S18), the payment machine 30B transmits, to the commodity registration device 20A, information indicating that the acquisition of the payment data has been completed. In step S17, the store controller 10 follows the request by the payment machine 30B among the requests by the payment machines 30B and 30C because of the predetermined priority. In the POS system 1, for example, in the case where the requests from the plurality of payment machines 30 overlap, the priority is determined in advance such that the store controller 10 follows the request from the payment machine 30 closest to the commodity registration machine 20. It is done.

  The commodity registration machine 20A is based on the information received from the payment machine 30B that the payment machine 30 (that is, the payment machine 30 for which the customer should pay for the payment) is the payment machine 30B. Inform customers about things. The payment machine 30B notifies the customer that the payment machine 30 (that is, the payment machine 30 to which the customer should pay the payment) is the own machine that has acquired the payment data. The customer goes to the payment machine 30B according to the notification by the commodity registration machine 20A and the payment machine 30B, and pays the payment at the payment machine 30B.

  As described above, each of the payment machines 30A, 30B, and 30C starts the processing for acquiring payment data when the payment processing for the payment is completed. For example, when the printing unit 310 issues a receipt, the time when the sensor detects that the receipt has been taken by the customer. The payment machines 30A, 30B, and 30C are not limited to the time when the payment process is finished, but a predetermined time during payment process (for example, when the settlement by the settlement unit 311 is completed) Then, the processing for acquiring payment data may be started. That is, each payment machine 30A, 30B, 30C can execute the process of acquiring payment data based on the progress of the payment process.

[Action and effect]
In the POS system 1, since each of the plurality of payment machines 30 executes acquisition processing of payment data based on the progress status of payment processing, for example, in the commodity registration machine 20, based on the progress status of payment processing, The process of selecting the payment machine 30 to which the payment data should be transmitted is unnecessary. Therefore, according to the POS system 1, the processing burden on the commodity registration machine 20 can be reduced.

  Further, in the product registration device 20, the display unit 205 for the sales clerk configuring the touch panel or the operation unit 207 transmits the payment data to the payment machine 30 of a part (at least one) of the plurality of payment machines 30. It functions as a permission setting unit that permits acquisition. Thus, for example, an operation that can improve the convenience of the customer can be implemented, such as, for example, permitting the payment machine 30 near the product registration machine 20 to acquire the payment data.

  Further, in the commodity registration machine 20, at least one of the customer display unit 206, the speaker 209, and the printing unit 210 functions as a notification unit. Thereby, the customer can be taught the payment machine 30 to be operated to pay the price.

  Further, in the POS system 1, the commodity registration machine 20 adds the information indicating the payment machine 30 that has permitted the acquisition of the payment data to the payment data, and transmits the payment data to the store controller 10. Then, the payment machine 30 permitted to obtain the payment data executes an acquisition process on the payment data received by the store controller 10. As a result, the commodity registration device 20 can execute the commodity registration process without waiting for the payment device 30 to acquire the payment data.

[Modification]
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, although the store controller 10 stores the payment data generated by the commodity registration device 20 in the above embodiment, the commodity registration device 20 may store the payment data. In that case, each payment machine 30 executes processing for acquiring payment data not to the store controller 10 but to the commodity registration device 20.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the store controller 10 stores payment data as a higher-level device in the POS system 1, but if it has a function to save payment data, another device is used as a higher-level device in the POS system 1. be able to.

  Further, in the above embodiment, although the product registration machine 20 generates the payment data, the store controller 10 or the payment machine 30 generates the payment data based on the registration process of the product executed by the product registration machine 20. May be

  Further, in the product registration device 20, the display unit 205 for the sales clerk configuring the touch panel or the operation unit 207 transmits the payment data to the payment machine 30 of a part (at least one) of the plurality of payment machines 30. It may function as a prohibition setting unit that prohibits acquisition. Thus, it is possible to carry out an operation that can improve the convenience of the customer, such as, for example, prohibiting the payment machine 30 far from the commodity registration machine 20 from acquiring the payment data. In the operation example shown in FIG. 6, it is considered that the payment data for the payment machines 30 other than the three payment machines 30A, 30B, and 30C among the plurality of payment machines 30 is prohibited to obtain the payment data. be able to.

  Further, the commodity registration machine 20 can associate the plurality of price data, for example, by adding related information to the plurality of price data. In that case, the payment machine 30 in a state capable of acquiring payment data collectively acquires the plurality of associated payment data. Thus, for example, one customer can change the payment mode for each payment data or issue a receipt for each payment data in one payment machine 30.

  In addition, when the mutual connection between the store controller 10, the product registration machines 20, and the payment machines 30 by the LAN 2 is disconnected for some reason, the customer uses the accounting ticket issued by the product registration machine 20. The payment may be made by any payment machine. Further, the progress status of the payment process in each payment machine 30 may be confirmed from the commodity registration machine 20 side.

  Also, in the case where one commodity registration machine 20 permits a plurality of payment machines 30 to acquire payment data, and the other goods registration machine 20 permits a plurality of payment machines 30 to acquire payment data. In the case where one payment machine 30 is permitted to obtain payment data from both one goods registration machine 20 and another goods registration machine 20, one goods registration machine 20 is requested to the payment machine 30. The payment data generated in step (d) and the payment data generated in another commodity registration device 20 may be alternately acquired.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 POS system 10 Store controller (host device) 20 Merchandise registration machine 30 Payment machine 205 Display unit for clerk (permission setting unit, prohibition setting unit) 206 Display unit for customer (notification Sections 207,... Operation sections (permission setting section, inhibition settings section) 209: Speakers (notification section) 210: Printing section (notification section).

Claims (8)

A merchandise registration machine operated by a store clerk to execute a merchandise registration process;
A plurality of payment machines which are operated by a customer and execute payment processing of charges based on payment data generated by execution of the registration processing;
Information indicating a plurality of payment machines, which is a part of the plurality of payment machines, is added to the payment data,
Each of the plurality of payment machines that are part of the unit executes acquisition processing of the payment data on the payment data to which the information indicating the own device is added , based on the progress status of the payment processing. POS system. When execution of the acquisition processing is overlapped between at least two payment machines among the plurality of payment machines that are part of the payment data, the payment process among the at least two payment machines The POS system according to claim 1, wherein the payment machine closest to the commodity registration device is configured to acquire the payment data. The commodity registration machine, among the plurality of cash money dispenser, against payment machine except the plurality of payment machine is part above, with a prohibition setting section for prohibiting the acquisition of the price data, wherein The POS system according to Item 1 or 2 . The commodity registration apparatus includes a notification unit for notifying the cash money dispenser acquired the price data of the plurality of cash money dispenser wherein a part, claims 1-3 in any one claim POS system. The commodity registration machine associates a plurality of the price data,
One Daikin dispenser one of a plurality of cash money dispenser which is part the acquires together a plurality of the payment data associated with, any one of claims 1-4 POS system. The commodity registration machine, among the plurality of cash money dispenser for a plurality of payment machine is part above, has a permission setting section for permitting the acquisition of the price data, according to claim 1 to 5 The POS system according to any one of the above. The commodity registration machine adds the information indicating the plurality of payment machines that are the part to the payment data, and stores the payment data.
The POS system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein each of the plurality of payment machines that are a part execute the acquisition process on the payment data stored in the commodity registration machine. And a higher-level device capable of communicating with the commodity registration device and the plurality of payment machines.
The commodity registration machine, said information indicating a plurality of payment machine which is part the in addition to the price data, and transmits the payment data to said host device,
The POS system according to any one of claims 1 to 6 , wherein each of the plurality of payment machines that are a part execute the acquisition process on the payment data received by the upper apparatus.

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