JPH06290194A - Sales data management system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To continue the sales operations without loading an excessive burden on an operator when a POS terminal is in trouble. CONSTITUTION:When a POS terminal 1 is in trouble, the work is continue only by external equipments 4 and 5 by transferring to a no-down mode. (1) In this case where are equipment 4 is transferred to the no-down mode, it is sent to the equipment 5 through a LAN6 and the both of them are made to turn to no-down mode. (2) If it is the time when the power is turned on the equipment 4 started by a switch control also starts the other equipment 5 to make it the no-down mode, (3) The connection state of PUMPs 1-8 and the state of setting switches to operate the PUMPs 1-8 are stored in the both external equipment, thus, they can be controller similarly as the normal mode. (4) The sales data during the trouble of the POS terminal are store in the external equipment and when the POS terminal is started, they are sent to the POS terminal.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system for managing sales data such as a sales amount of a product and a name of a sales customer by using a POS terminal and an external machine connected to the POS terminal. Used in places.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A sales data management system of a gas station will be described below as an example.

A general sales data management system for a gas station is a POS that centrally manages customers, manages sales data, controls refueling pumps, creates slip data, etc. in an office.
The terminal is installed, and an external device for input / output that is connected to the POS terminal and reads a customer card and prints out a slip is provided outdoors. In this way, in a general management system, the POS terminal concentrates all the work at the gas station, so if the POS terminal goes down due to some trouble, all the work performed by the POS terminal is manually performed. For example, not only the operator must receive the customer card and collate and transcribe the customer code, operate the fuel pump, create slips, etc. When it recovers, it is necessary to manually input the sales data etc. being down to the POS terminal, which is very troublesome and there is a risk that a transcription error, an input error or the like may occur. Especially in recent years, gas stations have become larger, and business hours have become longer (24 hours a day, etc.)
However, if the POS terminal goes down, it has a great influence not only on sales operations but also on store management.

For this reason, as shown in FIG.
Even when one POS terminal (for example, 101) goes down by installing the OS terminals 101 and 102 and dividing the external machines 103 to 106, the oil supply pumps 110 to 121 into each POS terminal, the other POS terminals ( 102),
And it is considered to be able to continue the work by the fuel pump connected to the POS terminal (102). Further, in Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 3-61221, sales operations are continued by connecting a refueling machine (refueling pump) to both the POS terminal and an external machine, and controlling the refueling machine with the external machine when the POS terminal is down. The configuration that is made possible is shown.

[0005]

However, in the configuration in which a plurality of POS terminals are installed as shown in FIG. 13, there is a problem that the system price becomes high and communication between the POS terminals is required for unified management of data. There is a problem that it needs to be done and it takes a lot of time to construct the system, and that the installation space becomes large.

Further, in the structure of Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-61221, since it is necessary to connect one refueling pump to both the POS terminal and the external equipment, the wiring work cost becomes high, especially the signal line of the pump. In the method of installing a plurality of multi-wire pumps directly connected to the POS terminal, there is a problem that the number of wires increases and realization becomes difficult. Also, if the gas station becomes a large-scale store, the number of external equipments will be increased accordingly, but this publication only shows an example in which one external equipment is provided. There is no description about communication between external equipment when equipment is installed. If communication is not made between external devices when the POS terminal is down, it is difficult for a plurality of external devices to perform the same consistent control as before the POS terminal was down.

An object of the present invention is to provide a sales data management device capable of continuing sales operations without delay even when a POS terminal goes down.

[0008]

The invention described in claim 1 is
A POS terminal, an external machine connected to the POS terminal and having at least a sales data input means, and a sales operation unit such as an oil pump for controlling the sales operation connected to the POS terminal or the external machine are provided. Either the normal mode in which the POS terminal and the external device operate normally to control the sales operation unit, or the no-down mode in which the external device alone can control the sales operation unit even when the POS terminal is down. And a means for detecting down of the POS terminal in the normal mode and a no-down mode when down of the POS terminal is detected in at least one of the plurality of external machines. Means and means for transmitting a no-down mode setting signal to another external device when the no-down mode is set by itself, and further, at least Serial out 設機 other than a single outside 設機, characterized in that a means for setting the no-down mode when it receives a no-down mode setting signal.

The present invention as set forth in claim 2 is, in the above sales data management system, means for detecting a POS terminal down in the normal mode, means for setting a no-down mode when a POS terminal down is detected, and other means. A means for detecting that the power of the external machine is directly turned on to at least one external machine having a means for transmitting a no-down mode setting signal to the external machine, and a power source of the external machine are A means for setting the no-down mode when it is detected that the power is directly turned on, and a means for transmitting a power-on signal and a no-down mode setting signal to other external equipment,
Is provided.

The present invention as set forth in claim 3 is a POS terminal, an external machine connected to the POS terminal and having at least sales data input means, and a refueling system connected to the POS terminal or the external machine to control the sales operation. A normal operation mode in which a sales operation unit such as a pump is provided and the sales operation unit is controlled by normal operation of the POS terminal and the external device, or
Even if the POS terminal is down, a means for setting either one of the no-down mode in which the external device can control the sales operation unit by itself is provided, and the POS terminal, the connection state between the external device and the sales operation unit, Input / output control content storage means for storing the input / output control content such as the allocation state of the operation part for operating each sales operation part, means for transmitting the input / output control content to an external machine, and Means for directly or indirectly controlling the sales operation unit based on the input / output control content,
And a means for storing the input / output control content received from the POS terminal and a means for controlling the sales operation unit based on the input / output control content in the no-down mode. And

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a POS terminal, an external machine connected to the POS terminal and provided with at least a sales data input means, and a refueling system connected to the POS terminal or the external machine to control the selling operation. A normal operation mode in which a sales operation unit such as a pump is provided and the sales operation unit is controlled by normal operation of the POS terminal and the external device, or
Even if the POS terminal is in the down state, a means for setting either one of the no-down mode in which the external operating unit can control the sales operation unit independently is provided, and further, the POS terminal has the sales data storage means for storing the sales data and the down state. Means for notifying each external machine that the no-down mode is to be switched to the normal mode upon recovery, and the transmission of the sales data in the no-down mode stored in each external machine following the notification of the transition. A means for requesting the external equipment and a means for adding the sales data in the no-down mode received from each external equipment to the sales data before the down and storing it in the sales data storage means are provided. The means for storing the sales data of the sales operation executed only by the external device in the no-down mode, and the normal mode when the notification of the shift to the normal mode is received from the POS terminal. Means for constant, characterized in that a, and means for transmitting the sales data in the no-down mode to the POS terminal when receiving the transmission request of sales operation record from the POS terminal.

[0012]

According to the present invention, at least one of the plurality of external machines is provided with means for detecting the down of the POS terminal. When the POS terminal goes down, the external machine is installed. Is detected by. When the external device detects that the POS terminal is down, the external device switches its mode from the normal mode to the no-down mode.
A signal for setting the no-down mode is transmitted to another external device.

As a result, the other external equipment shifts from the normal mode to the no-down mode. In this case, the other external equipment does not need to detect the down of the POS terminal, the line between the POS terminal and the external equipment is not unnecessarily congested, and all the external equipment collectively operate. The mode is changed.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the POS terminal is in the down state and the external machine is directly powered on,
The external equipment sets itself to the no-down mode, and by sending a power-on signal and a no-down mode setting signal to the other external equipment, the other external equipment is started up and set to the no-down mode. . Therefore, for example, only by directly turning on the power of one external installation machine, the power of all the other external installation machines is turned on, and all the external installation machines operate in the no-down mode.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the operation and control of the input / output unit are the same in the normal mode and the no-down mode. In the normal mode, the POS terminal directly or indirectly controls the sales operation unit based on the input / output control contents, but even in the no-down mode, the external device controls the sales operation unit based on the same information (input / output control contents). Therefore, the input / output parts such as the pump designation key and the output printer do not change between the normal mode and the no-down mode. For example, even if the same key (input unit) is operated in the no-down mode, there is no problem that another oil supply pump (output unit) operates.

According to another aspect of the invention, when the POS terminal is down, the external device accumulates and stores the sales data during that time, and when the POS terminal recovers from the down state, the sales data is stored in the POS terminal. Send to the terminal. P
The OS terminal adds the down sales data transmitted from the external device to the pre-down sales data, and stores them together.

[0017]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a gas station system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Although the overall configuration of the system varies depending on the scale of the store, etc., in this example, the POS terminal 1 arranged in the office and the pumps PUMP1 to PUMP8 (hereinafter, PUMP) of the plurality of fuel dispensers arranged outdoors
1, PUMP2 ...) and the external machines 4 and 5. The external equipment 4 and the PUMPs 3 to 6 are arranged in the vicinity to form the island 2. Also, the external machine 5 and PU
MP1, 2, 7, and 8 are arranged in the vicinity and the island 3
Are configured. The POS terminal 1 and the external machines 4, 5 are connected by a dedicated LAN 6, and are connected between the POS terminal 1 and the external machine 4, between the POS terminal 1 and the external machine 5, or between the external machine 4 and the external machine 4. Data can be communicated with the installation machine 5. Further, the POS terminal 1 and the PUMPs 1 and 2 and the external equipment 4 and the PUMPs 3 to 8 are connected by pump cables.
The overall configuration of such a system is appropriately set depending on the scale of the store as described above. For example, the number of external machines and pumps is increased, and the pumps are dispersed and connected to a plurality of external machines. However, even in that case, LAN connection is performed so that data can be transmitted between the external devices.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the structure of the POS terminal. The POS terminal 1 has devices such as a display 57, a keyboard 58, a card reader 59, a printer 60, a hard disk drive 54, and a floppy disk drive 55, which are controlled by the CPU 51 via a device interface circuit 56. RO
M52 is a memory for storing programs, and RAM53 is a memory for storing various data. A LAN controller 61 is provided for communication with the external machines 4, 5, and a serial transmission interface 63 and a modem 64 are provided for communication with a host computer (not shown). Further, a pump control unit 62 for controlling the PUMPs 1 and 2 of the fuel dispenser is provided. In this embodiment, the POS
Although the PUMPs 1 and 2 are connected to the terminal 1, the pump may not be connected to the POS terminal 1 depending on the configuration. Therefore, the pump control unit 62 is indicated by a broken line in the figure.

By the way, there are the following two types of pump control, one of which is to directly connect each signal of the pump to the interface board. This is a one-chip CPU 62 on the interface board 62 as shown in FIG.
a, motor control driver 62b, nozzle receiver 62
c, a flow rate pulse receiver 62d is provided, which directly outputs a motor control signal to the pump motor, and directly inputs a nozzle signal indicating the state of the nozzle from the pump and a flow rate pulse generated according to the flow rate. The method is called multi-wire method. Another method is CP for pump
This is a system in which U is provided to read the flow rate and exchange data with the POS terminal 1 by serial transmission. In this case, the POS terminal 1 sends a refueling permission as a command to the pump. From the pump
The nozzle state and the amount of refueling are transmitted to the terminal 1 as the status. Therefore, the latter pump controller is RS-48
It is a serial transmission circuit that supports 5 and the like. Although any method may be adopted in the present invention, the former multi-wire method is adopted in this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the external equipment 4. The external equipment 4 has a display 76, a keyboard 77, a card reader 78, a printer 79 as input / output devices connected to the CPU 71 through a device interface 75, and also has a program storage ROM 7
2. It has a RAM 73 for storing data. For communication with the POS terminal 1 and the external equipment 5, a dedicated LAN control unit 80 similar to that built in the POS terminal 1 is provided.
A multi-wire type pump control unit 81 similar to that incorporated in the POS terminal 1 for controlling the UMPs 3 to 8
Is provided. Further, a battery-backed RAM card 74 is connected to the external equipment 4 for the no-down mode. The RAM card 74 has a memory area for a no-down flag, input / output control contents, sales data and the like.

The external equipment 5 is constructed in substantially the same manner as the external equipment 4. However, in this embodiment, since the pump is not connected to the external equipment 5 at all, the pump control unit 81 shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 3 is unnecessary. In this way, by concentrating the pump control function in some of the external equipment (providing the pump control unit), the cost of other external equipment can be reduced. That is, in the case of a system in which many external equipments are installed, the pump control function is distributed to several external equipments and the pump control function is not provided to other external equipments, thereby reducing the cost of the entire system. be able to. In the case of a system having more machine bases, an external machine having no input / output functions such as a display, a card reader, a keyboard and a printer is provided without a storage unit such as a RAM card, and the external machine is provided in the no-down mode. The machine may be turned off and the work may be continued only with the remaining machine.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the front panel of the external equipment. The front panel of the external machine is provided with a display 76 including an LCD, a keyboard 77, a card reader 78, and a printer 79. On the keyboard 77, pump designation keys PSK1, PSK2 ... (Hereinafter referred to simply as PSK1, PSK2 ...) for designating refueling, a numeric keypad 77a for inputting an operator code, etc., and a setup key 77b for setting after pressing the numeric keypad. , A start key 77c, an all clear key 77d, etc. are provided. Start key 77
The operation when the c, all-cree key 77d is operated will be described later. LED is on the key position of the pump designation key.
Selection status confirmation lamps PSL1, PSL2
.. (hereinafter, simply referred to as PSL1, PSL2 ...) Is provided and lights up when refueling is designated by PSK1, PSK2. PSK1, PSK2 ... is PU
The relationship with MP1, PUMP2, ... Is registered when the system is configured, and the registered content (input / output control content) is stored in the hard disk 54 of the POS terminal 1. The contents of input / output control in this embodiment are shown in the table below.

[0023]

[Table 1]

According to this table, for example, PUMP1 is PO
Although it is driven by the S terminal 1, the PSK1 of the external device 5 is an operation key, and issuance of slips and the like is performed by the external device 5. Further, for example, the PUMP 4 is driven by the external machine 4 and a drive command and a slip are issued by the external machine 4, and the PUMP 7 is driven by the external machine 4, but the drive command and the chit is issued by the external machine 5.

A refueling procedure when the gas station system configured as described above is operating normally will be described.

First, when the power of the POS terminal 1 is turned on, P
A power-on signal is output from the OS terminal 1 to the external equipments 4 and 5, and the external equipments 4 and 5 are also turned on. Then P
The OS terminal 1 transmits the minimum required check items such as the input / output control contents shown in Table 1 and important bad customer data to the external equipment 4, 5 through the LAN 6, and the external equipment 4, 5
Captures the data and writes it in the storage area of the RAM card 74. This puts it in a refueling standby state.

Here, the refueling customer is a PUMP of the island 2.
A case where the car is parked near 3 will be described as an example. Customers are PUM
If you stop the car near P3 and give the customer card to the operator,
The operator sends the customer card to the card reader 78 of the external device 4.
To lead. The card reader 78 of the external device 4 reads the data written on the customer card, and the external device 4 transmits the contents to the POS terminal 1. The POS terminal 1 checks the contents (expiration date, defective customer check, etc.), and outputs the check result (sales permission or disapproval) to the external device 4
Send to. On the other hand, following the insertion of the customer card, the operator depresses the pump designation key for driving the PUMP 3, that is, the PSK 1 of the external equipment 4. Then, an inquiry is made to the device to which the PUMP 3 is connected, in this case, the external device 4 itself, as to whether or not the PUMP 3 can be used. As a result of the above check, if the customer card data is approved for sale and the PUMP 3 can be used, the PSL 1 of the external device 4 is turned on. If the sale is not permitted or the PUMP 3 is in an unusable state, a message to that effect is displayed on the display 76. When the sale is permitted as described above, when the operator removes the refueling nozzle from the refueling machine and opens the valve attached to the nozzle, the external machine 4
Sends a drive signal to the PUMP3 motor to start refueling. The flow rate at this time is sent as a flow rate pulse to the external equipment 4 and is counted. When refueling is completed and the operator puts the nozzle on the refueling machine, the state of the nozzle is sent to the external equipment 4 as a nozzle signal, and the external equipment 4 recognizes that the refueling is completed. When the refueling is completed, the external machine 4 becomes the POS
The flow rate count data is transmitted to the terminal 1, and the POS terminal 1 stores necessary data such as customer data and flow rate count data in combination as sales data.
The slip data is created and the slip data is transmitted to the external device 4. The external device 4 prints out the slip data.

The above example is an example of refueling by the PUMP 3 controlled by the external equipment 4 and operated by the external equipment 4. For example, a pump controlled by the external equipment 4 and operated by the external equipment 5 In the case of (for example, PUMP7), the insertion of the customer card, the operation of PSK, the lighting of PSL, the refueling process, and the issuing of the slip are performed by the external machine 5, and the customer data is checked, the sales data is stored, and the slip data is created. Is performed by the POS terminal 1, and the drive of the PUMP 3 motor, the flow rate count, and the nozzle state check are performed by the external device 4.

When the POS terminal 1 is operating normally, the above processing is performed, but when the POS terminal is down, the following processing is performed. The processing corresponding to each of claims 1 to 4 will be described below.

<Embodiment of Claim 1> When the normal POS terminal 1 is operating normally, data is transmitted and received between the POS terminal and the external equipment, and as shown in FIG.
When the OS terminal 1 receives various data from the external device, the OS terminal 1 responds to the data and sends the slip data to the external device.
However, if the POS terminal 1 goes down due to some trouble, there is no response from the POS terminal 1, and in this case, the external device judges that the POS terminal 1 is down and can shift to the no-down mode. However, in the customer waiting state or the like, data is not transmitted / received between the POS terminal and the external device, so the external device cannot recognize the down state of the POS terminal 1. Therefore, when the data transmission / reception interval with the POS terminal 1 is open for a predetermined time or longer, the external device can perform POS
It is set to transmit a confirmation telegram indicating whether or not the terminal 1 is down. The predetermined time is appropriately set according to the system speed and the like, but in this embodiment, it is set to 5 seconds. If there is no response from the POS terminal 1 to the confirmation message, it is retried, and if there is no response twice in a row, it is determined that the POS terminal 1 has gone down. As described above, when the data transmission between the POS terminal 1 and the external device is opened for a predetermined time or more, the confirmation message indicating whether or not the external device is down is transmitted to the POS terminal 1. , The transmission line is not unnecessarily congested, and the influence on the communication speed down is reduced. The function of transmitting the confirmation telegram from the external equipment to the POS terminal 1 may be provided in all the external equipment, or the function may be added only to a specific external equipment. For example, by adding this function only to an external machine that is frequently used in a store, an external machine to which many refueling machines are connected, and the like, the congestion of the transmission path can be further reduced. For example, in this embodiment, only the external device 4 transmits the confirmation telegram to the POS terminal 1.

If there is no response to the data from the external device to the POS terminal, or if there is no response to the confirmation message from the external device, it is assumed that the POS terminal has gone down and the process of shifting to the no-down mode is executed. To be done. First, a confirmation screen for inquiring whether to shift to the no-down mode as shown in FIG. 9 is displayed on the display 76. In response to this, the operator decides whether or not to shift, and shifts to the no-down mode by key operation. Let it run. It should be noted that the operator may automatically switch to the no-down mode when transmission with the POS terminal 1 becomes impossible even if the operator does not confirm or give an instruction to switch to the no-down mode. However, in this embodiment, it is preferable for the operator to recognize that the operation has switched to the no-down mode (the POS terminal 1 is down), so in this embodiment, the operator himself / herself performs the switching to the no-down mode. I'm trying to decide. FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing the procedure for shifting to the no-down mode.

When it is determined that transmission / reception with the POS terminal 1 becomes impossible, a message to that effect is displayed on the display 76, and the start key 77c or the all-cree key 77d is displayed.
It becomes a waiting state for pressing (n1 → n2 → n3, n7). The start key 77c is a press key for starting the no-down mode. When the start key 77c is pressed, the external device 4 sets the no-down flag of the RAM card 74 to start the no-down mode (n
3 → n4). Then, the external equipment 4 transmits a command for shifting to the no-down mode to the other external equipment 5 (n5 → n).
6). As a result, the external equipment 5 also sets the no-down flag and shifts to the no-down mode. Further, when the all-cree key 77d is pressed, the mode does not shift to the no-down mode but remains in the normal mode (n7). on the other hand,
The other external equipment 5 that has received the no-down shift command is also R
The no-down flag of the AM card 74 is set and the process in the no-down mode is started (n11 → n12). When the no-down mode is started, the CPU transfers the data of the input / output control contents, important defective customers, etc. written in the RAM card 74 to the RAM 73 for processing (n8, n).
13).

As described above, in this embodiment, when the operator operates the decision to shift to the no-down mode with one external equipment 4, the transition to the no-down mode is also transmitted to the other external equipment 5, The operator does not have to perform the operation of shifting all the external equipment to the no-down mode, and the labor of the operator can be significantly reduced. Even in the case of a system that automatically shifts to the no-down mode when the POS terminal goes down,
When one external machine shifts to the no-down mode, all the other external machines also shift to the no-down mode, so that no mode shift occurs. In addition, in the case of a gas station system including an external machine that does not own a RAM card, the power of the external machine is turned off when shifting to the no-down mode,
No-down operation is performed only by the external machine that owns the RAM card. In this embodiment, a RAM card is used as a memory for storing data in the no-down mode, but a battery-backed C-MOS static RAM or the like can be used as long as the data is retained even when the power is turned off. .

<Embodiment of Claim 2> By the way, the down of the POS terminal 1 does not always end only on that day, and it may be carried over to the next day, the next two days, and so on. In such a case, on the next day, it is necessary to start up the system with only the external equipment and operate it in the no-down mode. Therefore, the external equipment is configured to be activated by either a power-on signal (from the POS terminal) or an operation by the external equipment itself. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a power supply circuit of an external machine, and FIG. 7 is a timing chart when the power supply is activated.

AC 100V is supplied to the power supply unit 91 of the external equipment. The power supply unit 91 includes a rectifier circuit 91a, a + 5V regulator 91b connected to the rectifier circuit 91a, and a DC-DC convert circuit 91c. A transistor TR1 is connected as a switching element to the DC-DC converting circuit 91c, and a power-on signal transmitted from the POS terminal 1 via a LAN (hereinafter referred to as a wake up signal) is connected to a base of the transistor TR1. Is provided on the side surface of the external machine, etc.
A switch SW1 for turning on the power of the external device itself when the terminal goes down and a flip-flop FF1 turned on by the CPU of the external device are connected. The outputs of the signal lines of the integrating circuit 92, the switch SW1, and the flip-flop FF1 are input to the sense port 93, and are output as data D1, D2, and D3 when a read command is issued from the CPU 71.

The operation at power-on will be described with reference to FIG. First, the case where the power is turned on by the wake up signal from the POS terminal 1 will be described. When AC 100V is connected, the regulator 91b supplies + 5V to the integrating circuit 92 and the switch SW1. In this state, the POS terminal 1 transfers the data to the integrating circuit 92 via the LAN.
When the ake up signal is input, the signal is integrated and output. The output of this integration circuit causes the transistor TR
1 is turned on, and the DC-DC conversion circuit 91c is activated. Also, the transistor TR1 is turned on and the DC-DC converting circuit 91c is activated even when the switch SW1 provided in the external machine is pressed for a certain period of time. DC
-When the DC conversion circuit 91c is activated, the CPU 71 operates after a reset signal is output for a certain period of time.
Immediately after the operation, the flip-flop FF1 is turned on to hold the power supply and sense the cause by the sense port 93. At this time, wa
If the power supply is started by the ke up signal, only D0 and D2 become "H" and D1 becomes "L".
On the other hand, if the power supply is started by turning on the switch SW1, D1 and D2 become "H", and D1 becomes "L". Therefore, the state of D0 to D2 enables the CPU to recognize whether the external device is started up by the POS terminal or by the switch SW1 operation of the external device itself. In this way, one external machine
It is possible to recognize whether the wake-up signal from the POS terminal or the operation of the switch SW1 of the external device itself causes the rise and which of the rises the rise.

In the case of having a plurality of external installation machines, other external installation machines can be started up in conjunction with each other simply by operating the switch SW1 of one external installation machine. This is switch SW1
The external machine that was started up by the operation is a wake against other external machines.
This is accomplished by sending an e up signal. Below, Figure 1
The system startup procedure in the no-down mode will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. In this embodiment, specifically, the external equipment 4 is started by operating the switch SW1, and the external equipment 5 is wake up from the external equipment 4.
I am trying to start by a signal. When the external device 4 recognizes that it has been activated by the switch SW1, it writes necessary data such as input / output control contents and important defective customer data stored in the RAM card 74 to the working RAM 73, and at the same time, other Wake to the external equipment 5
An up signal and a signal to the effect that it is activated in the no-down mode are transmitted (n51 → n52 → n53). Then, the processing of the no-down mode is performed as described above. On the other hand, the external device 5, which has received the wake up signal and the signal indicating the no-down mode from the external device 4, writes the data of the RAM card 74 to the RAM 73 after activation, and then operates in the no-down mode (n55 → n56). → n5
7).

As described above, one external machine 4 is connected to the switch S.
When activated by the operation of W1, the other external equipment 5 also starts to operate in an interlocking manner, so that the labor of the operator does not increase significantly even in the no-down mode. In the case of an external machine without a RAM card, a wake up signal is output from the external machine 4 to the external machine, and the power of the external machine without the RAM card is turned on. The machine then releases its power-holding state and turns off.

<Third Embodiment> When the no-down mode is entered as described above, the sales operation is continued only by the external machines 4 and 5 without making an inquiry to the POS terminal. The RAM card 74 of the external equipment 4 and 5 stores the input / output control contents shown in Table 1, important defective customer data, and the like transmitted from the POS terminal 1 and stored therein. Continue the work with the same settings as before the POS terminal 1 went down. In this case, PUMP1 and PUMP2 cannot be used because they are connected to the POS terminal 1.
P3 to 6 are controlled by the external device 4, and the control operation is also performed by the external device 4. The PUMPs 7 and 8 are controlled by the external device 4, and the control operation is performed by the external device 5. The processing in the no-down mode will be described below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. Note that a specific description will be made assuming that the customer stops the vehicle at the position of PUMP 8 and performs a refueling operation.

The PUMP 8 is controlled by the external equipment 4 and operated by the external equipment 5 as described above. In no-down mode,
When the customer card is read by the card reader 78 of the external device 5, the data is checked by the external device 5 itself (n
21 → n22 → n23). As described above, when the POS terminal is operating normally, the RAM card of the external device 5 has data such as important defective customer data that needs to be checked at least, and it is important to refer to this data. Check for bad customers. Further, the external equipment 5 has a calendar function and can also check the expiration date of the card. The check in this case is a simple check of only the minimum necessary compared to the normal state.

If the customer card cannot be used, error processing is performed. If the customer card can be used, necessary data such as customer card data and operator code is stored in the RAM 73 (n24 → n25 → n26 →). n27). And PU
When PSK4 of the external device 5 for designating the MP8 is pressed, the connection destination of the PUMP8 is searched with reference to the input / output control content (Table 1), and the external device 4 that is the connection destination is searched. Inquire about availability (n28 → n29 →
n30). When the use is permitted, the PSL4 is turned on to wait for the refueling completion (n31 → n32 → n3).
3). During this period, the external equipment 4 checks the refuelable state of the PUMP 8, drives the PUMP 8, counts the flow rate data, etc. When the refueling process is completed, the external equipment 4 outputs the flow rate data to the LA.
The data is transmitted to the external device 5 via N6 (n41 to n47).
Upon receiving this flow rate data, the external device 5 turns off the PSL4, creates sales data including the flow rate data and stores it in the RAM card 74, and creates slip data and prints it (n34 → n35 → n36). → n37 → n3
8).

As described above, in this embodiment, the external machine 4,
Since the contents of input / output control and important defective customer data are stored in 5 and the external machines 4 and 5 are connected by the LAN 6, the external machines 4 and 5 are different from those when the POS terminal is operating normally. With the same settings, you can control pumps and issue slips, and perform unified operations without confusing the operator. Although PUMP8 is shown as an example in this embodiment, PUMP7 is controlled in the same manner. Also, PUM
Since P3 to P6 are both provided with the pump control section and the operation section for controlling the pump in the external equipment 4, they can be controlled only by the external equipment 4.

Further, although this embodiment is provided with two external machines 4 and 5, the number of external machines and the number of pumps are arbitrarily set, and the connection state of pumps is also set. It can be set arbitrarily, such as concentrating on one unit or dispersing on several units. Such a system configuration is appropriately set in consideration of the store form, system price, and the like.

<Embodiment of claim 4> When the POS terminal 1 recovers, it is necessary to shift from the no-down mode to the normal mode. When the POS terminal 1 recovers and is turned on, it first sends a signal to turn off the power to all external devices.
At this time, the external machine having the RAM card 74 is operating, but the external machine not having the RAM card 74 is in the off state, and the external machine that is off is still off. The external machine that is operating resets the flip-flop FF1 and turns off its power supply. After turning off all the external devices in this way, the POS terminal sends a wake up signal to all the external devices via the dedicated LAN 6, starts each external device, and then enters as a process in the normal mode. Output control contents, initialization message, etc. are transmitted. By this message, each external device recognizes that the POS terminal has recovered, resets the no-down flag, and starts the normal mode processing. After this, the POS terminal 1 inquires of each external device about the presence or absence of sales data, and sucks up the sales data held by each external device in the RAM card. Then, the siphoning result is added to the data stored in the hard disk or the like before the down, and the sales data including the down time is stored in the hard disk or the like. This sales data can be transmitted to a host computer or the like via a public line.

[0045]

According to the invention as set forth in claim 1, the POS terminal is connected to a plurality of external devices and is controlled.
If the terminal goes down, one of the external equipment
Recognizing that the S terminal has gone down, when this external machine shifts to the no-down mode, all other external machines can shift to the no-down mode, making it easy to shift the entire system to the no-down mode. become able to. In this case, the number of external devices that monitor the down of the POS terminal may be minimal (for example, only one), and other external devices do not need to detect the down of the POS terminal. The line between machines will not be unnecessarily crowded and the cost will be low.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the system is started up in the no-down mode, all the external machines can be started up in the no-down mode by only starting a minimum number of external machines. , The system can be started up easily in the no-down mode, and the labor of the operator can be reduced.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the operation and control of the input / output unit are the same in the normal mode and the no-down mode, and it is possible to prevent the operability from decreasing in the no-down mode.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the sales data can be easily restored when the POS terminal is restored, and there is no problem such as an input error.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a gas station system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a POS terminal.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an external machine.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a multi-wire type pump control unit.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a front panel of the external equipment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a power supply startup circuit of an external machine.

FIG. 7 is a timing chart at the time of power activation of an external device.

FIG. 8 is a timing chart of an external machine for detecting the down of the POS terminal.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a display example of an inquiry screen of an external device when shifting to a no-down mode.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure of switching processing to a no-down mode.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a sales process procedure of an external device in a no-down mode.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a startup process procedure of an external device in a no-down mode.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a gas station system when two POS terminals are installed.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A POS terminal, an external machine connected to the POS terminal, comprising at least a sales data input means, and a POS.
A normal operation mode in which a selling operation unit such as a refueling pump that is connected to a terminal or an external device and whose selling operation is controlled is provided, and the POS terminal and the external device operate normally to control the selling operation unit. Alternatively, even if the POS terminal is down, a means for setting either one of the no-down mode in which the sales operation unit can be controlled independently by the external installation machine is provided, and at least one of the external installation machines is equipped with at least one external installation machine. , Means for detecting down of the POS terminal in the normal mode, and PO
And a means for setting a no-down mode when the down of the S terminal is detected, and a means for transmitting a no-down mode setting signal to another external machine when the S terminal itself sets the no-down mode. For external machines other than one external machine,
A sales data management system comprising means for setting a no-down mode when a no-down mode setting signal is received. 2. The sales data management system according to claim 1, wherein a means for detecting down of the POS terminal in the normal mode, a means for setting no down mode when the down of the POS terminal is detected, and other external equipment. And a means for detecting that the power of the external machine is directly turned on to at least one external machine having a means for transmitting a no-down mode setting signal to the machine, and the power of the external machine is directly turned on. A sales data management system comprising: means for transmitting a power-on signal and a no-down mode setting signal to other external equipment while setting the no-down mode when it is detected. 3. A POS terminal, an external machine connected to the POS terminal, having at least a sales data input means, and a POS.
A normal operation mode in which a selling operation unit such as a refueling pump that is connected to a terminal or an external device and whose selling operation is controlled is provided, and the POS terminal and the external device operate normally to control the selling operation unit. Or, the POS terminal is provided with a means for setting either one of the no-down mode in which the sales operation unit can be controlled independently by the external machine even when the POS terminal is down. An input / output control content storage means for storing input / output control content such as a connection state and an allocation state of an operation section for operating each sales operation section; and a means for transmitting the input / output control content to an external machine,
Means for directly or indirectly controlling the sales operation unit based on the input / output control contents in the normal mode, and means for storing the input / output control contents received from the POS terminal in an external machine; Means for controlling the sales operation unit based on the input / output control contents in the mode, and a sales data management system. 4. A POS terminal, an external machine connected to the POS terminal, having at least a sales data input means, and a POS.
A normal operation mode in which a selling operation unit such as a refueling pump that is connected to a terminal or an external device and whose selling operation is controlled is provided, and the POS terminal and the external device operate normally to control the selling operation unit. Or, a means for setting either one of the no-down mode in which the sales operation unit can be controlled independently by the external machine even when the POS terminal is down is provided, and the POS terminal further has sales data storage means for storing sales data, A means for notifying each external machine that the no-down mode is to be switched to the normal mode at the time of recovery from the down state, and the sales data in the no-down mode stored in each external machine following the transition notification. Means for requesting transmission to each external device and sales data stored in the no-down mode received from each external device is added to the sales data before down And means for storing sales data of a sales operation executed only by the external machine in the no-down mode, and a notification of shifting to the normal mode from the POS terminal. The means for setting the normal mode and the sales data in the no-down mode when the transmission request for the sales operation record is received from the POS terminal
A sales data management system comprising: a means for transmitting to an OS terminal.