JPH01306963A - Ordering system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the working efficiency of the title system by causing the system to make two-way communication and providing a memory which stores data and additional information regarding currently handled commodities and a means which sends answers to an order and additional information request from portable terminal equipment to a controller, and the, displaying the answers on the terminal equipment. CONSTITUTION:When portable radio terminal equipment 5 is made communicatable in two ways with a controller 2 and a large-capacity memory 22 is provided to the controller 2, the radio terminal equipment 5 can display out-of-stock information and additional information about a commodity by means of its displaying means after inquiry to the controller 2. Since the registration and updating of a setting and registering file 23 are made from the terminal equipment 5, neither keyboard nor display device are required for the controller 2 and the controller 2 can be miniaturized. Moreover, even when the controller 2 is miniaturized, the capacity of the memory 22 can be enlarged when the space for the eliminated keyboard and display device is utilized. Therefore, the current state of the ordering system where the out-of-stock information or additional information is obtained by sending persons to each section can be improved sharply in efficiency.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a controller that integrates a plurality of terminal printers and ordering machines in a cafeteria, warehouse, etc.

It relates to a system consisting of PO8 terminals.

[Conventional technology]

In the above system, the order input device is usually portable, but data is transferred to the controller by wire or wirelessly. In particular, wireless portable terminals are widely used due to their convenience in use. When an order is sent from the wireless mobile terminal to the controller, the controller transmits data to a specific terminal printer in response to the received order.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In conventional systems, wireless mobile terminals are designed to be compact to make them convenient to carry, so there are limitations on memory capacity, power, etc. I can't leave it behind. In addition, data transmission is one-way communication from the wireless mobile terminal to the controller, so when an item is out of stock or additional information is required, a person must intervene to contact the customer. There were problems in places where the availability or production of products were separated from each other.

Next, the conventional controller only had the function of concentrating data from the order input device and transmitting the data to various terminal printers connected to it. Terminal printers differ depending on each POS system, but in cafeterias and restaurants, for example, there are different types and different installation locations for in-store terminal printers that output accounting slips and kitchen terminal printers.

Therefore, the controller has a settings registration file that specifies information such as printer type, printer location, and printer call voice for each terminal.

This setting was keyed in from the controller's keyboard. This key-in is required only when making settings, so it would be nice if the keyboard could be omitted. If key-in is not performed, there is an advantage that a display device for confirming key-in is not required.

An object of the present invention is to provide an order entry system that can eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks.

[Means to solve the problem]

The system targeted by the present invention includes a controller that integrates a plurality of terminal printers and order input devices, and a POS system.
The system consists of a terminal, and the order input device is a portable terminal that communicates wirelessly with a controller, and the controller sends commands to the terminal printer. In the present invention, the wireless communication between the mobile terminal and the controller is bidirectional, and the controller transmits data regarding the currently available products.

The mobile terminal has a memory for storing additional information and a means for sending a response to an order and an additional information request from a mobile terminal, and the mobile terminal has a display means for displaying the response.

Further, a registration file that defines each setting condition of a plurality of terminal printers included in the controller is registered and updated in response to commands from the mobile terminal.

[Effect]

If the wireless communication between the wireless mobile terminal and the controller is bidirectional, and if the controller is equipped with a large capacity memory,
The wireless mobile terminal can send out-of-stock information and additional information to the controller and display it on the display means. In addition, since the controller registers and updates the setting registration file from a wireless mobile terminal, a keyboard and display are not required and the controller can be made smaller. Even if the device is miniaturized, it is possible to increase the memory capacity by utilizing the space of the keyboard and display.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The embodiment is a POS system for a cafeteria, as shown in Figure 1 (A
) is a system diagram. The PO8 terminal 1 and the controller 2 are connected by wire to various printer terminals. In this example, a plurality of kitchen terminals 3 are arranged in the kitchen, and a floor terminal 4 is arranged in the store. 5 is a wireless mobile terminal that can be used anywhere in the store. Wireless mobile terminal 5. Each of the controllers 2 has a wireless transmitting/receiving section 54, 24, and performs two-way communication with each other. The kitchen terminal 3 prints out a customer's order, and generates a buzzer sound at a constant frequency when an order is received according to a command from the controller 2.

The floor terminal 4 issues accounting slips.

Next, controller 2. A circuit block diagram of the wireless mobile terminal 5 is shown in FIG. 1(B). Controller 2 is memory 2
21. Setting registration file 23. Wireless transmitting/receiving section 24. Product data bank 25. A data interface 26 is controlled by the CPU 21 via a common bus. 26a is the kitchen terminal 3. The signal line 26b is a signal line to the floor terminal 4 and the signal line 26b is a signal line to the POS terminal 1. Here, the setting registration file 23 includes information about the kitchen terminal 3. For each floor terminal 4, printer status, placement position, sound quality, etc. are specified for each terminal number. Specifying the sound quality means, for example, changing the frequency of the sound quality when notifying a worker that an order has been placed, as in the case of the kitchen terminal 3, for each terminal so that the terminals can be easily identified.

The product data bank 25 stores inventory data and additional information of handled products. B] Additional information is detailed data on products that are not listed on the menu.

Next, the wireless mobile terminal 5 includes a key input section 521, a display section 53, a wireless transmitting/receiving section 54, and so on. It has a memory 55 and is controlled by a CPU 51. Memory 55 is a small capacity memory that includes program memory. The controller 2° wireless mobile terminal 5 is capable of two-way communication by wireless transmitting/receiving sections 24 and 54, respectively. The controller 2 has no key power section and therefore also can omit a display section. Therefore, the settings registration file 23. Even if a large-capacity product data bank 25 is provided, the size can still be reduced.

The operation of this embodiment will be explained below. The operation of registering and updating the contents of the setting registration file 23 of the controller 2 using the wireless mobile terminal 5 will be explained with reference to the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 2(a) shows the operation of the wireless mobile terminal 5. After inputting the setting number and setting data, the transmission is performed manually using the send key, and as shown in FIG. If the setting is input, the setting data is registered in the setting registration file 23 for each setting number. The same applies to updates.

Next, the order entry operation will be explained using the sequence diagram shown in FIG. When the wireless mobile terminal 5 sends an order with a customer identification number to the controller 2, the controller 2 searches the product data bank 25 and, if the item is out of stock, reports the information to the wireless mobile terminal 5. In the wireless mobile terminal 5, for example, a display shown in FIG.

If the item is out of stock, the controller 2 determines the item name through this reorder. When the order is confirmed, the controller 2 refers to the setting registration file 23 and selects the specific kitchen terminal 3.
Send the order data with the order number and identification number to
The kitchen terminal 3 prints out the order slip. The same data is also sent to the floor terminal 4, and the accounting slip is printed out. At this time, the controller 2 receives accounting data from the POS terminal 1 and adds it to the data to create an accounting slip.

The case where you want to obtain additional product information will be explained. As shown in FIG. 4 (bl), on the wireless mobile terminal 5, if you key in the product name and display it, and then press the ? key, the controller 2 will know that additional information is required, so the product name will be displayed. It refers to the data bank 25 and sends the data.When the wireless mobile terminal 5 receives this data, the display shown in FIG. 4(C) is shown.The ordering system has been generally explained above. describes a document printout mechanism that is useful for certain systems.In some systems, the same customer may place additional orders without combining the orders.Traditionally, all the documents would be separate documents. Each slip is printed out from the kitchen terminal 3 and the floor terminal 4.This system is particularly troublesome and difficult to manage in places where there are many additional orders, such as bars.Therefore, in such cases, As shown in (b), as a printout mechanism (al's kitchen terminal 3 issues a perforated slip for each item with a customer identification number attached to the order slip 31, and the floor terminal 4 of (b) also uses a sewing machine). Accounting slips 41 and copy sheets 42 for each marked item are printed out.

By doing the above, in the kitchen, after the cooking is finished, the output single item slip is attached to the food and handed over to the store, where the identification number of the single item slip is written as lII Lyt, and it is printed out on the floor terminal 4. The user can tear off the perforated parts of the accounting slip to confirm the same dish before serving the dish to the customer.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, in the POS ordering system of the present invention, the order input device is a mobile terminal, and by inputting the order, the controller is connected to a plurality of terminals (the terminals have different characteristics, for example, at the production site, in the store, etc.). ) to ensure proper production instructions and accounting operations. The mobile terminal and controller are able to communicate bidirectionally via radio. Since mobile terminals need to be small and lightweight, the display and memory capacities are kept to a minimum, and the controller is equipped with a product data bank as a large-capacity memory. As a result, when the order for the mobile terminal is out of stock, the out-of-stock information is displayed on the display section of the mobile terminal.

Furthermore, if more detailed information about products (content not listed on menus at restaurants, etc.) is prepared in the controller as a product data bank, that information can be obtained on a mobile terminal. This has the effect of greatly streamlining the current situation where the above-mentioned out-of-stock information or additional information is obtained based on the traffic of people in each section of the system.

Next, for each terminal it controls, the controller
A settings registration file is provided for each terminal that defines its type, installation location, instruction sound quality, etc., and when an order is placed, the controller appropriately selects each terminal from the settings registration file. Conventionally, this setting registration file was registered by keying in from the controller's keyboard. In the present invention, setting data is wirelessly sent from the mobile terminal to the controller and registered in a file by the controller, so the controller does not need a keyboard or a display section and can be made smaller. As a result, even if the previously mentioned product data bank is provided on the controller side, sufficient space can be obtained. Also, when printing out slips from each terminal, print slips for each item on perforated paper.
By printing this along with the customer's identification number, it is possible to appropriately manage a system where there are many individual additional orders. This is useful because systems using wireless mobile terminals are often constructed in places where there are many additional orders as described above.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings relate to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1(A) is an overall system system diagram, FIG. 1(B) is a circuit block diagram of a controller/wireless mobile terminal, and FIG. 2 is a configuration registration file of the controller. 3 is a sequence diagram showing the order flow of the system, FIG. 4 is a display example of a wireless mobile terminal, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of printing out a slip. 1-POS terminal, 2--controller, 3-kitchen terminal, 4--floor terminal, 5-wireless mobile terminal, 23-setting registration file, 24-wireless transmitter/receiver, 2
5--product data bank, 54...-wireless transmitting/receiving unit.

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A system consisting of a controller that integrates multiple terminal printers and an order input device, and a POS terminal.The order input device is a mobile terminal that communicates wirelessly with the controller, and the controller sends commands to the terminal printer. In this case, the communication is bidirectional, and the controller has a memory for storing data and additional information regarding the currently available products, and a means for sending responses to orders and additional information requests from the mobile terminal. death,
An ordering system characterized in that the mobile terminal has a display means for displaying the response. (2) A system consisting of a controller that integrates multiple terminal printers and order input devices, and a POS terminal, where the order input device is a mobile terminal that communicates wirelessly with the controller, and the controller sends commands to the terminal printer. An ordering system characterized in that the controller is provided with a registration file that defines each setting condition of the terminal printer, and the registration file is registered and updated in response to commands from the mobile terminal. (3) The terminal printer according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the terminal printer includes an order receiving printer and an accounting printer, and the printer paper prints out a slip with perforations for each item.