JPH11346885A - Check-out counter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a check-out counter capable of preventing falling from a load receiving surface at the time of transferring a shopping basket in accompany with registration/accounting work or the like, further, good in transfer operability and capable of improving a series of work efficiencies. SOLUTION: This counter is provided with a guide protector 19 erected along a circular-arcuate shape from a circular-arcuate end part 18a formed in the circular-arcuate shape making a cashier position P as a center between a carry-in part 16 and a carry-out part 17 of the cashier side end part of the load receiving surface 13. Then, the movement of the shopping basket on the load receiving surface 13 is controlled by the guide protector 19. Thus, even in the case of requiring direction conversion or the like relating to the shopping basket, the shopping basket can be transferred on the load receiving surface 13 along the guide protector 19, the operation of pulling it to a front side is sufficient and the falling of the shopping basket is prevented as well.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a checkout counter installed at a cash register of a relatively large store such as a supermarket and for sequentially transferring shopping carts brought by customers with registration work.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Today, stores of this type are provided with a checkout counter which is elongated in parallel with the moving direction of the customer in order to carry out sales operations efficiently. 2. Description of the Related Art A checkout system in which a shopping basket containing articles is placed and a cashier sequentially transports the basket while performing registration work has become common.

A configuration example of a conventional checkout system will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4 is an external perspective view,
FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view. First, an elongated checkout counter 1 is arranged along the moving direction of the customer.
The receiving surface 2 of the checkout counter 1 is formed in a rectangular shape elongated in the left-right direction with respect to a cashier (not shown) for performing registration / checkout work. A checkout device such as an ECR 3 is disposed near the left end of the checkout counter 1, and a reading device such as a barcode scanner 5 is provided in the center area of the receiving surface 2 with a basket passing portion 4 opened in the front. It is erected. The bar code scanner 5 is a so-called vertical scanner, which has a reading window 6 for optically reading a bar code attached to a product on an operator's standing surface, and a keyboard 7 and a display which are lowered toward the user at the top. 8 are provided.

[0004] The checkout counter 1 is adapted to carry a shopping basket 9 containing commodities from the right side, and the receiving surface 2 of the barcode scanner 5 has a carry-in section 2a on the right end and a carry-out section 2b on the left end. Is set as A guide rail 10 having a rod arm structure for preventing the shopping basket 9 from dropping is provided along the transfer direction at the front end on the cashier side with respect to the carry-in section 2a.

[0005] In such a configuration, the customer places the shopping basket 9 containing the goods on the receiving surface 2 of the checkout counter 1.
From the loading unit 2a. Then, the cashier draws the shopping basket 9 to the hand side position as shown by A while guiding it on the guide rail 10. At this time, since the right side of the A position of the receiving surface 2 is vacant, the next customer can place another shopping basket 9. In addition, since the empty shopping basket 9 by the previous customer is previously placed at the position B on the side of the unloading section 2b,
The cashier reads the barcode of the product taken out of the shopping basket 9 at the position A through the reading window 6 of the barcode scanner 5 and then puts it into the shopping basket 9 at the position B. At this time,
The read barcode information is transmitted to the ECR 3 and registered. After such registration processing is completed for all the commodities in the shopping basket 9 at the position A, the shopping basket 9 at the position B is transferred to the position C and the process proceeds to the accounting processing. In this way, when the sales operation for one customer is completed, C
The shopping basket 9 at the position is vacant B because the customer takes it away.
The empty shopping basket 9 at the position A is moved to the position. Such operations are repeated for each customer.

[0006]

However, the check-out counter 1 in the conventional check-out system.
As shown in the figure, a guide rail 10 is provided on the front side of the loading section 2a of the receiving surface 2 so that the shopping basket 9 is prevented from dropping to the front side. The guide rail 10 is also rectangular. Similar to the load receiving surface 2, it is based on a linear flow line. This does not coincide with the movement of the cashier's arm or hand (circular movement rotating about the right shoulder), which is mainly performed while standing at the position P facing the barcode scanner 5, and the work efficiency is not very good. This contributes to fatigue and a reduction in processing speed during congestion. In particular, since the cashier standing at the position P has no guide rail at the front edge of the receiving surface 2, a part of the shopping basket 9 comes into contact with a part of the body of the cashier at the stage of transferring the shopping basket 9 to the position B. It can also cause discomfort. In addition, the shopping basket 9 in the vertical position as viewed from the cashier is often placed in the horizontal position at a position in front of the barcode scanner 5, and it is necessary to change the direction of the shopping basket 9. There is no indicator and the operability is poor.

Therefore, the present invention provides a checkout counter which can prevent the shopping basket from dropping off from the receiving surface when the shopping basket is transferred for registration and accounting work, has good transfer operability, and can improve the efficiency of a series of operations. The purpose is to do.

[0008]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
A flat receiving surface formed to be elongated in the left-right direction as viewed from the cashier position and transferring the shopping basket from the loading portion to the unloading portion, and An arc-shaped end portion formed in an arc shape centered on the cashier position; and the shopping basket on the load receiving surface at the arc-shaped end portion erected from the arc-shaped end portion along the arc shape. And a guide protector that regulates the movement of the vehicle.

Therefore, even when it is necessary to change the direction of the shopping basket from the vertical state to the horizontal state, the shopping basket is placed on the load receiving surface along the guide protector erected at the arcuate end. The arc-shaped end and the guide protector have an arc shape centered on the cashier position, so that the shopping basket can be moved along the guide protector by moving the arm or hand in an arc shape centering on the right shoulder. As a result, the transfer operability of the shopping basket is improved. Especially,
Since the guide protector is provided upright, the shopping basket may be transported while being brought into contact with the guide protector, and an operation of pulling the shopping basket toward the front side can be performed, and the shopping basket can be prevented from falling off. In addition, the guide protector is set upright from the arc-shaped end, so the cashier can lean on this guide protector by pressing against the back side, and rest during hours when there are no customers. Can help reduce fatigue for cashiers in standing jobs. As a result, a series of work efficiency of registration and accounting by the cashier is improved.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the checkout counter according to the first aspect, the guide protector faces a reading device having a reading window for optically reading product data on a front surface facing the cashier. It is arranged in. Accordingly, the operability of transferring the shopping basket at the cashier position is good, and the reading operation of sequentially taking out the products in the shopping basket and performing the reading operation with the reading device can be performed with good operability at the directly facing position. As a result, a series of work efficiency of registration and accounting by the cashier is further improved.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the checkout counter of the first or second aspect, the guide protector has a cashier side surface formed of a soft material and a load receiving surface side surface formed of a hard material. Therefore, when transporting the shopping basket, the hard material is convenient for sliding and good, and the soft material is convenient for leaning and resting.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the checkout counter according to the first, second, or third aspect, the guide protector has a cross-sectional shape in which a shopping basket on the receiving surface is in point contact with the shopping basket. Accordingly, when the shopping basket is transferred while being brought into contact with the guide protector, only a point contact is made, so that the resistance is small and the operability is improved.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The checkout counter according to the present embodiment is applied to a checkout system including a product data reading device 11 and an ECR 12 as shown in FIG.

First, a checkout counter 14 having a flat and flat receiving surface 13 is provided on the left and right as viewed from the cashier. Although the checkout counter 14 is based on a slender rectangular shape as a whole,
A wide loading section 16 for vertically placing the shopping basket 15 as viewed from the cashier, a narrow discharging section 17 for horizontally placing the shopping basket 15 as viewed from the cache, and a loading section 16 for these.
And a direction conversion unit 18 connecting the discharge unit 17 and the discharge unit 17. Here, although there is a difference between the loading section 16 and the unloading section 17 in the shopping basket 15 in the vertical and horizontal positions,
The transfer direction itself is set to the same direction (right-to-left), and the direction changing unit 18 controls the loading unit 16 and the unloading unit 17.
And has a function of instructing a direction change from a vertical to a horizontal connection by connecting them in an arc shape with the center line being offset. The direction changing portion 18 is formed by the shape of the receiving surface 13 itself. More specifically, when the position where the cashier stands is defined as the cashier position P, this cashier position P
Inner side arc portion 18 formed concentrically around the center
a and the outer diameter side arc portion 18b. Here, the cashier position P means one point assumed within a range where the cashier stands. The inner diameter side arc portion 18a formed in an arc shape at the end portion on the cashier side is an arc-shaped end portion, and a guide protector 19 having the same arc shape is provided upright from the edge portion.

The ECR 12 is disposed on the cashier side adjacent to the checkout counter 14 from the vicinity of the exit of the direction changing section 18 to the unloading section 17 side.

The merchandise data reader 11 is disposed at the customer side of the direction changing section 18 of the checkout counter 14, that is, at the center of the outer diameter side arc portion 18b. That is, it is provided in a direction facing directly at the cashier position P. The product data reading device 11 is configured based on a so-called vertical scanner 20 which is a reading device. First, the direction changing unit 1 of the checkout counter 14
In FIG. 8, two columns 21 are erected on the outer diameter side arc portion 18b, and a vertical scanner 20 supported by these columns 21 is provided. The vertical scanner 20 optically reads bar code information as product data. The vertical scanner 20 is set at a position higher than the shopping basket 15 with respect to the receiving surface 13 and has a front surface (standing surface) facing the cashier. It has a reading window 22, and a laser beam or the like emitted from the reading window 22 is reflected on the bar code, the reflected light is made to enter the reading window 22 again, and is received by a light receiving unit (not shown). is there. Above the reading window 22, a PLU keyboard 23 and a display unit 24 are provided. Reference numeral 25 denotes a customer operation display unit provided on the back side. Also, the PLU keyboard 23
A keyboard 26 and a circular change tray 27 having a concave central portion are provided on the left and right sides thereof. The keyboard 26 is provided on the right side (upstream side) of the PLU keyboard 23, and the change tray 27 is provided on the left side (downstream side) of the PLU keyboard 23. The PLU keyboard 23 has a reading window 2 such as a heavy object or a product to which a barcode label cannot be attached.
2 is provided with a key for assisting an input operation when it is not suitable for inputting through the interface 2 and functions as a product registration. The key hood 26 includes keys necessary for a tightening process such as a numeric keypad and a tightening key, and also includes a card reader unit 28.

Here, the guide protector 19 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view showing the guide protector 19 in an enlarged manner. The guide protector 19 is erected so as to form a trapezoidal bank at a height of about 5 cm from the load receiving surface 13. Here, the side of the guide protector 19 on the cashier side 19a side is formed of a soft material,
The b side is formed of a hard material. As a soft material,
Materials such as urethane, sponge, vinyl chloride, and rubber are used. Hard materials include hard plastic, steel,
A slippery material such as stainless steel, or a bent rod is used. The inclination angle of the side surface 19b on the side of the receiving surface is set to be larger than the inclination angle of the side surface of the shopping basket 15, and has a cross-sectional shape that makes point contact at a point indicated by a point Q in FIG.

In such a configuration, according to the checkout counter 14 of the present embodiment, the shopping basket including an arc-shaped direction changing portion basically indicated by an arrow in FIG. 2 due to the shape of the receiving surface 13 itself. It has 15 flow directions. In particular, since the guide protector 19 erected in the shape of an arc exists at the front front position at the cashier position P, the direction of transfer of the shopping basket 15 is specified.

Here, the customer purchases the shopping basket 15 containing the product.
Is carried in from the carry-in part 16 in the receiving surface 13. Here, the shopping basket 15 is placed vertically (the carry-in section 16 has a space in which two shopping baskets 15 can be placed vertically, and the customer and the next customer can store the shopping basket 15 containing the products. Can be placed). Therefore, the cashier located at the cashier position P moves the shopping basket 15 placed vertically at the position A to the direction changing unit 18.
While being sequentially changed in direction as indicated by position B and position C according to the circular arc shape of FIG. At this time, if the movement of the shopping basket 15 in the direction changing unit 18 is moved while being in contact with the arc-shaped guide protector 19 located on the near side, this movement is equivalent to the operation of rotating the hand or arm around the right shoulder. Since they match, the transfer operability involving the change of direction is good, and the shopping basket 15 does not fall off from the receiving surface 13 or come into contact with the body of the cashier. In particular, since the side surface 19b side of the load receiving surface of the guide protector 19 is formed of a slippery hard material, the operation of transferring the shopping basket 15 while contacting the shopping basket 15 can be performed smoothly. This point has a cross-sectional shape in which the shopping basket 15 makes a point contact with the guide protector 19 at the point Q, and is increased by a small resistance. At this time, since the empty shopping basket 15 by the previous customer is previously placed at the D position on the unloading section 17 side, the cashier can read the bar code of the retrieved product from the shopping basket 15 at the C position or the vertical scanner 20. After the reading operation is performed in the reading window 22, the user puts it in the shopping basket 15 at the D position. At this time, the read barcode information is transmitted to the ECR 12 and registered. After such a registration process is completed for all the products in the shopping basket 15 at the position C, the process proceeds to an accounting process. In this manner, when the sales operation for one customer is completed, the shopping basket 15 at the D position is carried away by the customer via the E position and the like, so the empty shopping basket 9 at the C position is moved to the vacant D position. It will be. Such operations are repeated for each customer. Here, D which is the unloading unit 17
Or, in the E position, the shopping basket 15 is set horizontally.
It becomes easier for the customer to hold the handle of the shopping basket 15 than in the case of the vertical placement.

A series of registration and registration by such a cashier
In the accounting operation, the operation of transferring the shopping basket 15 from the loading unit 16 side to the position in front of the vertical scanner 20 while transferring the shopping basket 15 on the receiving surface 13 and the operation of further transferring the shopping basket 15 to the unloading unit 17 while further changing the direction are described. In doing so, it is only necessary to operate according to the shape of the load receiving surface 13, particularly the shape of the direction changing unit 18, and the workability is improved. In particular, the guide protector 19 is formed in an arc shape centered on the cashier position P, and the arm or hand of the cashier operated at the cashier position P (usually an arc-shaped movement centered on the shoulder). ), It can be performed very smoothly. In addition, the operation of reading the merchandise in the shopping basket 15 at the cashier position P with the vertical scanner 20 can also be performed with good workability while directly facing the vertical scanner 20. As a result, the efficiency of a series of operations in sales operations is improved. Also,
In the case of the present embodiment, the checkout counter 14 includes the direction changing unit 18 formed in a concentric shape, but since the transfer direction of the carry-in unit 16 and the carry-out unit 17 is the same direction,
The entire checkout counter is rectangular in shape and does not take much length in the short direction, so that the area occupied by the checkout counter 14 does not become extremely large. Even if they are installed side by side, there is no problem.

On the other hand, since the guide protector 19 is erected directly from the inner diameter side arc portion 18a, the cashier presses the guide protector 19 against the back side.
You can also lean on. Since the guide protector 19 itself is also formed in a concave arc shape, it tends to lean. Therefore, during a time when there is no customer at the cash register, the user can rest while leaning on the guide protector 19, which is useful for the cashier who stands and works to reduce fatigue. In this case, since the side of the guide protector 19 on the side of the cashier 19a is made of a soft material, the feel when leaning is good and it is useful for rest.

In the present embodiment, the direction changing unit 18
Although the customer side is also formed in an arc shape as the outer-diameter-side arc portion 18b in forming the shape, at least, only the cashier-side end portion provided with the guide protector 19 may be formed as the inner-diameter-side arc portion 18a. Is not particularly limited.

[0023]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, even when the shopping basket needs to change its direction from a vertically placed state to a horizontally placed state, the guide protector provided upright on the arc-shaped end portion. The shopping basket may be transported along the receiving surface along the arc, and since the arc-shaped end and the guide protector have an arc shape centered on the cashier position, the arms and hands can be moved in an arc shape centered on the right shoulder. For example, the shopping basket can be moved along the guide protector, and the transfer operability of the shopping basket can be improved.In particular, since the shopping basket has an upright guide protector, the shopping basket is transferred while being in contact with the guide protector. The operation can be performed by pulling the shopping basket forward, and the shopping basket can be prevented from falling off. In addition, since the guide protector is set upright from the arc-shaped end, the cashier can rest on this guide protector, which can help reduce the fatigue of the cashier when standing. In addition, the efficiency of a series of registration and accounting operations by the cashier can be improved.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the guide protector is disposed at a position facing the reading device, the operability of transporting the shopping basket at the cashier position is good, and the products in the shopping basket can be moved. A reading operation to be sequentially taken out and performed by the reading device can be performed with good operability at a position directly facing, and as a result, a series of work efficiency of registration and accounting by the cashier can be further improved.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the side surface of the guide protector on the cashier side is formed of a soft material, and the side surface of the load receiving surface is formed of a hard material. According to this, it is convenient to slide and rest, and soft material is convenient for leaning and resting.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the receiving side of the guide protector has a cross-sectional shape in which the shopping basket on the receiving surface is in point contact, so that the shopping basket is brought into contact with the guide protector while being transferred. Therefore, the resistance is small and the operability can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a checkout system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view thereof.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged schematic sectional view showing the vicinity of a guide protector.

FIG. 4 is an external perspective view of a checkout system showing a conventional example.

FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view thereof.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 13 Receiving surface 15 Shopping basket 16 Carry-in part 17 Unloading part 18a Arc-shaped end part 19 Guide protector 19a Cashier side surface 19b Receiving surface side surface 20 Reading device 22 Reading window P Cashier position

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A flat receiving surface formed to be elongated in the left-right direction as viewed from a cashier position to transfer a shopping basket from a loading portion side to a loading portion side, and the loading portion at a cashier-side end of the loading portion and the loading portion. An arc-shaped end formed in an arc shape with the cashier position as a center between the discharge portion and the load receiving surface at the arc-shaped end erected from the arc-shaped end along the arc shape; A checkout counter comprising: a guide protector that regulates the movement of the shopping basket. 2. The checkout counter according to claim 1, wherein the guide protector is disposed at a position facing a reading device having a reading window for optically reading product data on a front surface facing the cashier. 3. The checkout counter according to claim 1, wherein the guide protector has a side surface on the cashier side made of a soft material and a side surface on the receiving surface side made of a hard material. 4. The checkout counter according to claim 1, wherein the guide protector has a cross-sectional shape on a receiving surface side of the guide protector where a shopping basket on the receiving surface makes point contact.