RU2674881C1 - Sales in self service stores organization method and system - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: data processing.SUBSTANCE: invention relates to the self-service means when shopping in the store. System comprises: products scanner in the RFID tags reading area, which contains the RFID tags readers, the RFID tags reading area control unit; information counter, which contains the information displaying device and means for communicating with the sales server and databases; payment terminal. Products scanner, information counter and payment terminal are separated in space independent devices, included into the single information network, equipped with the purchase and / or user identifier input device for the identifier data reading, and the antennas are made configured to scan product IDs regardless of their orientation when scanning by the antennas. Products scanner reads the RFID tags in the RFID tags reading area by the RFID antennas, at that, the products scanner contains at least one RFID antenna, movably mounted on a hinge and driven by one or more servo drives to change the effective reading zone direction. List of the read RFID tags is sent in the request via a computer network to the sales server and the database for the purchase making. Method describes the system operation.EFFECT: technical result consists in increase in the wireless tags reading reliability by the RFID antennas.15 cl, 3 dwg

Description

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

The invention relates to the field of trade, mainly to retail and wholesale trade in goods, and is intended to automate the sale of goods.

BACKGROUND

Known technical solution according to patent RU No. 2268635 from 01/27/2006, IPC A47F 10/00, G06Q 30/00, "METHOD FOR REMOTE SALE OF GOODS AND SYSTEM FOR ITS IMPLEMENTATION".

The invention relates to the field of trade and can be used for the remote sale of goods. A way to remotely sell goods is that the goods are sold through a trading system comprising stores, a distribution center and a network of trading terminals. At the same time, signals containing information about the goods ordered by customers are transmitted from the buyers ’communication means to the stores’ communications means, and signals containing information about the trading terminals chosen by the buyers are transmitted from the customers ’communication means to the stores’ and / or distribution center’s communications means.

The advantage of this method is the effective increase in turnover.

The disadvantage is the reduced ability of the buyer to control the quality of the goods through visual control of the appearance of the goods.

Known self-service cash desk US 20040220860, dated 11.04.2004, IPC A47F 9/04; G01G 19/414; G06Q 30/00; G07G 1/00, “Self-checkout system having integrated RFID reader”, related to systems for independently conducting purchase operations using radio frequency identification (RFID) elements. This self-service checkout consists of a goods scanner, information desk and payment terminal, made in one building. At the same time, the product scanner contains a control unit, means for communicating with databases, antennas, an RFID tag reader, scales and a place for placing goods, made in the form of a conveyor belt, on which the buyer must lay out the goods individually. Said information rack comprises an information display device. And on the payment terminal there are installed funds for receiving payment and funds for issuing a check.

The well-known self-service checkout, designed to carry out purchasing operations using radio frequency identification (RFID) elements, is selected as a prototype, since it has the largest number of essential features that match the essential features of the claimed invention.

However, the prototype has significant drawbacks, namely: the long process of the buyer’s work with the self-checkout counter when purchasing goods, due to the fact that all functions (scanning the goods, receiving information about the goods, paying for the goods) are implemented in one building, which increases the queue at the self-service checkout counters .

The proposed system and method have an advantage over known analogues, since they do not contain the indicated disadvantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The technical result of the invention is to automate the process of buying goods at the point of sale of goods with the possibility of control by the buyer of the list of goods.

The task is achieved as follows.

The product scanner contains a place for placing the product — the RFID tag reading zone, RFID tag readers, antennas, an information display device, an RFID tag reading zone control unit, means for communicating with a sales server and databases, an information desk contains an information display device and means for communication with the sales server and databases. The product scanner, information desk and payment terminal are separate devices spaced in space, included in a single information network, equipped with a device to enter a purchase identifier and / or user to read data from this identifier, and the antennas are made with the ability to scan goods regardless of their orientation when scanning with antennas.

In one embodiment of the invention, the self-service system for purchasing goods comprises a scanner for reading information encoded in a Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) tag. Each item is marked with an RFID tag by sticking it on the package. The read data is used to determine the value of the goods, names and other significant parameters of the goods with an attached RFID tag. The determination of the value of the goods and the name of the goods is carried out in the information desk by generating a request to the database, which contains the identifier of the goods. A query to the database leads to reading from the corresponding table of the database of essential information on the key field, which corresponds to the identifier of the goods from the query. The payment terminal provides an interface to the buyer for making a payment for the list of goods received from the sales server and database.

In one embodiment, a system for purchasing goods using a self-service system may include the use of a zone for reading RFID tags from a product to make a purchase, a means of payment to make a payment for a purchase, and an RFID reader for receiving data from RFID tags details of the details from the RFID tag on the product, which is transmitted through the RFID reader to the sales server and database for transaction processing and purchase.

An exemplary scenario for using the proposed solution provides for the following. The buyer enters the store and takes the shopping basket. Visiting the departments of a self-service store, the buyer decides what products he is interested in and puts the goods in the basket. Before placing goods in the basket, the buyer can read the RFID tag from the goods using his mobile phone. The customer’s mobile phone software provides for reading identifiers from RFID tags of goods and forms a shopping list in a shopping basket.

The buyer decides that all the necessary goods are in the basket and sent to the zone of payment for purchases with the basket. To make purchases of all goods that the buyer has laid out in a shopping basket, the buyer can roll the basket into the correspondingly designated area for reading RFID tags by a self-service system. The self-service system reads through RF ID antennas all RFID tags in the RFID tag reading area. The list of read RFID tags is sent as a request through the computer network to the sales server and database. The sales server and the database process the request and send to the information desk the essential parameters of the purchase made, such as: product name, quantity, value of each item.

The information desk provides the opportunity for the buyer to control an automatically generated list of goods and those goods that the buyer scanned using his mobile phone before putting the goods in the basket. To do this, the buyer needs to send the list of scanned purchases from the mobile phone to the information desk via wireless communication, for example, NFC, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or in any other way. The transferred list from the mobile phone is displayed on the display of the information counter next to the commodity items received from the sales server and the database. The user is given the opportunity to compare the lists of goods in order to control the operation of the self-service system when purchasing goods.

The customer’s mobile phone is configured to send a request to the sales server and database, and receive a response with a list of essential information about the selected products that are placed in the customer’s basket.

The information desk forms an invoice for payment of the list of goods and sends the invoice through the computer network to the means of payment to make a payment for the purchase made. Means of payment provide for the possibility of paying for a purchase in cash using the VISA, MSESTRO, MASTERCARD, MIR, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Android Pay, Google Wallet, and other payment systems.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 schematically depicts inductively coupled systems with each other the primary winding of a reader with the secondary winding of an RFID tag.

FIG. 2 schematically displays the purchase payment area and the RFID tag reading area in the basket, which is depicted in three projections (frontal projection, projection from above, projection to the left).

FIG. 3 shows one embodiment of the location of the antennas in the readout area of the RFID tags in the basket.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In FIG. 1 shows a diagram of an inductively coupled reader and an RFID tag. RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technologies, or RFI (Radio Frequency Identification), allow you to remotely identify any physical object using an attached RF tag 120. Tag 120 contains a microchip 122 that stores information about the object (serial number, model, manufacturer, cost , weight, manufacturing date, etc.) and antenna 121 transmitting this information to antenna 111 of RFID readers 110.

Tags 120, containing only the microchip 122 and antenna 121, are called passive, since they use electromagnetic energy of the electromagnetic field 130 received from the reader 110 to power the microchip 122. There are also tags containing autonomous batteries (batteries). Active tags use the battery to continuously transmit the signal independently. Semi-passive tags use the reader's electromagnetic energy to wake up, and battery energy to transmit the signal.

RFID systems are also divided into several types, depending on the frequency of the radio signal used. The advantages of RFID technologies are: simultaneous reading of multiple tags - up to 300 tags per second; remote reading - tags can be read at a distance from one centimeter to several tens of meters; reading tags without line of sight - you can read tags inside the box or behind the wall.

In accordance with FIG. 2 when the buyer 200 decides that all the necessary goods are in the basket 250, the buyer 200 is sent to the payment area 210 with the basket 250. To make the purchase of all the goods that the buyer has laid out in the shopping basket 250, the buyer can roll the basket 250 in the appropriate way designated area for reading RFID tags 240 self-service system. The self-service system reads through RFID antennas 201-208 all RFID tags in the reading area of the RFID tags 240. The list of read RFID tags is sent as a request through the computer network to the sales server and database. The sales server and the database process the request and send to the information desk 220 a list of goods containing the essential parameters of the purchase, such as: product name, quantity, value of each item.

In one embodiment, the basket 250 is placed and secured to the automatic podium 230. The automatic podium 230 is equipped with a pressure sensor and / or photo sensor, the combination of which makes it possible to determine whether the basket 250 is on the podium 230 and that the basket 250 is firmly secured to the mountings of the podium 230. When the basket 250 is mounted on the podium 230, the podium is rotated to provide rotation in space of the scan zone of the RFID tags 240 of all tags at different angles relative to the reading RFID antennas 201-208. The indicated rotation of the basket 250 around the axis of rotation eliminates situations in which the RFID tag 240 is located in the basket 250 at such an angle to the RFID antennas 201-208 that it is not possible to efficiently read information from such an RFID tag 240.

In one embodiment, the readout area of the RFID tags 240 is made with shielded walls made of sheet metal, or of metal mesh, or of metallized transparent plastic material on a plastic basis, or metal links combined in chains or put together in a chain mail cloth. When determining the fastening of the basket 250 in the readout area of the RFID tags 240, the shielded door of the readout area of the RFID tags 240 is closed. In one embodiment, the readout area of the RFID tags 240 uses a transparent plastic metallized material to shield the input opening, or metal links combined chains or reduced to a chain mail cloth, which is made in the form of a series of strips that are fixed in the upper part of the opening and hang down freely.

The information desk 220 provides the ability for the buyer 200 to control the automatically generated list of goods and those goods that the buyer scanned using his mobile phone before putting the goods in the basket 250. For this, the buyer must send the list of scanned purchases from the mobile phone to the information desk 220 via wireless communication, for example, NFC, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or any other method. The transferred list from the mobile phone is displayed on the display of the information desk 220 next to the commodity items received from the sales server and the database. The user is given the opportunity to compare the lists of goods in order to control the operation of the self-service system when purchasing goods.

In FIG. Figure 3 shows one embodiment of the arrangement of RFID antennas 301-306 to ensure that there are no situations where the RFID tag is located in the read zone space so that the magnetic field of the antennas is not capable of reading the RFID tag. In accordance with FIG. 3 in the diagram, each point in space in the basket has at least double overlap with the effective reading fields of the RFID antennas 301-306 at different angles. In this case, different angles between the RFID antennas and the RFID tag provide an exception when the location of the RFID tag to one RFID antenna is such that the magnetic field does not provide sufficient power to the microchip of the RFID tag, which makes it impossible to read such an RFID tag.

Since the read zone is volumetric, the antennas in accordance with FIG. 3 are arranged in several rows. In one embodiment, each RFID antenna is movably mounted on a hinge and is driven by one or more servos to change the direction of the effective antenna readout zone.

In one embodiment, when reading RFID antennas, each of the RFID antennas is switched on alternately, which allows to reduce the peak values of radio-magnetic radiation and to avoid collisions that arise when a single RFID tag is read simultaneously by two RFID antennas.

In view of the foregoing, the claimed invention has significant differences compared with the aforementioned analogues, it is significantly more advanced technologically, since all the technical solutions underlying it provide the maximum level of automation of the process of functioning of the system, minimize the involvement of the "human factor" and related inevitable errors in the functioning of the system.

In conclusion, it should be noted that the information provided in the description are examples that do not limit the scope of the present invention defined by the formula. One skilled in the art will appreciate that alternative embodiments of the invention exist that are consistent with the spirit of the present invention. Therefore, the attached claims containing a set of features characterizing the invention should not be interpreted in the narrow sense of the examples of implementation disclosed in the description, but at the same time it discloses the scope of legal protection granted to a patent for an invention.

Claims (30)

1. The self-service system for accurate reading of RFID tags when purchasing goods in a store contains: a scanner of goods in the read zone of RFID tags, which contains RFID tag readers, a control unit for the read zone of RFID tags; information rack, which contains an information display device and means for communicating with a sales server and databases; payment terminal; the product scanner, information desk and payment terminal are separate devices spaced in space, included in a single information network, equipped with a device to enter a purchase identifier and / or user to read data from the identifier, and the antennas are configured to scan product identifiers regardless of their orientation when scanning with antennas; the product scanner reads through the RFID antennas the RFID tag in the read zone of the RFID tags, while the product scanner contains at least one RFID antenna movably mounted on a hinge and driven by one or more servos to change the direction of the effective read zone antennas, providing a change in the spatial position of the scan area of RFID tags at different angles relative to the read RFID antennas; the list of read RFID tags is sent in the request through the computer network to the sales server and database; the sales server and the database process the request and send to the information desk a list of goods containing the essential parameters of the purchase, such as the name of the goods, quantity, value of each item; The payment terminal provides an interface to the buyer to pay for the list of goods. 2. The system according to claim 1, in which the information desk provides the ability for the buyer to control the automatically generated list of goods and those goods that the buyer scanned using his mobile phone before putting the goods in the basket by sending the list of scanned purchases from the mobile a telephone to the information desk via wireless communications, such as NFC, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or any other means; the transferred list from the mobile phone is displayed on the information rack display next to the product items received from the sales server and the database for monitoring the operation of the self-service system when purchasing goods. 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the buyer’s mobile phone is configured to send a request to the sales server and database and receive a response with a list of essential information about the selected goods that are placed in the buyer’s basket. 4. The system according to claim 1, in which the information desk generates an invoice for payment of the list of goods and sends the invoice through the computer network to the payment terminal to make payment for the purchase, while payment for the purchase involves cash settlement or using at least one from VISA, MAESTRO, MASTERCARD, MIR, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Android Pay, Google Wallet payment systems. 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the product scanner further comprises an automatic podium equipped with a pressure sensor and / or a photosensor, the combination of which makes it possible to determine whether the basket is on the podium, and the podium provides reliable fastening of the basket in the podium mounts. 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the RFID reader receives data from the RFID tags, the part information from the RFID tags on the product is transmitted via the RFID reader to the sales server and the database for processing the transaction. 7. A self-service method for accurately reading RFID tags when purchasing goods in a store contains: a scanner of goods in the read zone of RFID tags, which contains RFID tag readers, a control unit for the read zone of RFID tags; information rack, which contains an information display device and means for communicating with a sales server and databases; payment terminal; the product scanner, information desk and payment terminal are separate devices spaced in space, included in a single information network, equipped with a device to enter a purchase identifier and / or user to read data from the identifier, and the antennas are configured to scan product identifiers regardless of their orientation when scanning with antennas; the product scanner reads through the RFID antennas the RFID tag in the read zone of the RFID tags, while the product scanner contains at least one RFID antenna movably mounted on a hinge and driven by one or more servos to change the direction of the effective read zone antennas, providing a change in the spatial position of the scan area of RFID tags at different angles relative to the read RFID antennas; the list of read RFID tags is sent in the request through the computer network to the sales server and database; the sales server and the database process the request and send to the information desk a list of goods containing the essential parameters of the purchase, such as the name of the goods, quantity, value of each item; The payment terminal provides an interface to the buyer to pay for the list of goods. 8. The method according to claim 7, in which the product scanner further comprises an automatic podium equipped with a pressure sensor and / or a photo sensor, the combination of which makes it possible to determine the location of the basket on the podium, the podium provides reliable fastening of the basket in the podium mounts. 9. The method according to p. 7, in which the information desk generates an invoice for payment of the list of goods and sends the invoice through the computer network to the payment terminal to make a payment for the purchase, while the payment for the purchase involves settlement in cash or using at least one from VISA, MAESTRO, MASTERCARD, MIR, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Android Pay, Google Wallet payment systems. 10. The method according to claim 7, in which the RFID reader receives data from the RFID tags, the details of the RFID tags on the product are transmitted via the RFID reader to the sales server and the database for processing the transaction 11. The RFID tag reader for self-service system reads RFID tags through the RFID antennas in the RFID tag read zone; wherein the product scanner contains at least one RFID antenna, movably mounted on a hinge and driven by one or more servos to change the direction of the effective antenna readout zone, providing a change in the spatial position of the scan zone of RFID tags at different angles relative to RFID readers Antennas the list of read RFID tags is sent as a request through the computer network to the sales server and database; the sales server and the database process the request and send to the information desk a list of goods containing the essential parameters of the purchase: the name of the goods, quantity, value of each item. 12. The scanner according to claim 11, in which the product scanner further comprises an automatic podium equipped with a pressure sensor and / or a photo sensor, the combination of which makes it possible to determine whether the basket is on the podium, the podium provides reliable basket fastening in the podium mounts, and the podium is rotated to providing rotation in space of the scanning zone of the RFID tags of all tags at different angles relative to the reading RFID antennas. 13. The scanner according to claim 11, in which the readout area of the RFID tags is made with shielded walls made of sheet metal, or from a metal mesh, or from a metallized transparent plastic material on a plastic basis, or metal links combined in chains or in a chain mail , when determining the fastening of the basket in the RFID tag reading zone, the shielded door of the RFID tag reading zone is closed or a transparent plastic metallized material is used to shield the input opening, or metal personal links, combined in chains or reduced to a chain mail cloth, which are made in the form of a series of strips, which are fixed in the upper part of the opening and hang down freely. 14. The scanner according to claim 11, in which the information desk generates an invoice for payment of the list of goods and sends the invoice through the computer network to the payment terminal to make a payment for the purchase, while paying for the purchase involves cash settlement or using at least one from VISA, MAESTRO, MASTERCARD, MIR, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Android Pay, Google Wallet payment systems. 15. The scanner according to claim 11, wherein the RFID reader receives data from the RFID tags, the details of the details from the RFID tags on the product are transmitted via the RFID reader to the sales server and the database for processing the transaction.

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