JPS6319920B2 - - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a two-person register system suitable for checkout in large retail stores such as supermarkets.

PRIOR ART AND PROBLEMS A plurality of one-person cash registers as shown in FIG. 1a are often installed in checkout counters of supermarkets (abbreviated as supermarkets). In this figure, T is a table, and a customer P who has put a desired product in a basket places the basket B on the table T. Printer along this table T
There is a register consisting of PR, keyboard KB, drawer DW, etc., and the operator (called cashier) CH takes the items in basket B one by one and transfers them to another basket, inputs the amount using keyboard KB, and totals the amount. Tell customer P the amount, take the cash, and if there is change, give it to customer P along with the receipt.Customer P receives the money, leaves the counter with the basket and bag containing the product, and returns to the refill table. I stuff the items in a bag and leave the supermarket. Although there are many counters that are large enough to accommodate a large store, there are still long lines at each counter during busy times such as in the evening.

Therefore, in order to improve the accounting processing ability of the checkout counter, a two-person register as shown in Fig. 1b and c was devised. In Fig. 1b, the table T is lengthened, the drawer DW is removed from the keyboard KB section and attached to the rear of the table, and two operators are employed: checker CH and cashier CA. The customer places the basket B containing the products on the front of the table T, and the checker CH moves the products in the basket to another basket while operating the keyboard KB to enter the amount of each product and calculate the total. This is told to the customer, and the receipt is given to the cashier CA, who then hands over the cash to the cashier CA. The cashier CA pays the customer any change from the total amount and the amount received from the customer, and hands the customer the receipt and the basket containing the goods along with the bag. In other words, in this two-person cash register, separate operators are responsible for inputting the amount of each item and calculating the total, and for receiving cash from customers and returning change if there is change.
When inputting the amount of money for the products brought by one customer P1 and calculating the total is completed, it is possible to move on to inputting the amount of money for the products in the basket brought by the next customer P2, which can greatly improve processing capacity. . However, in this two-person cash register system, the cashier/CA has to mentally calculate the amount of change if there is change, which increases the cashier's fatigue and risks making many mistakes.

In the two-person register in Figure 1 c, Chetzker CH
Prepare only the keyboard, and prepare the printer, keyboard KB, and drawer DW for the cashier CA.
The checker CH transfers the products in the basket B brought by the customer one by one into the empty basket and inputs the price of the product using the keyboard KB. When you run out of items in the basket, press the subtotal key to get the subtotal, and check the total.
The CH informs the customer of the subtotal amount. Furthermore, the keyboard
Since the KB has a display, the checker CH can see the input amount, subtotal amount, etc. on the display. Chetzker CH
The table of is connected to the table of cashier CA by wire l, and when the checker CH inputs the amount and its subtotal on the keyboard, it is sent to the printer through wire l when the total key is pressed.
Sent to PR and printed on receipt. CHETSKA CH cashiers refilled baskets of products.
The cashier receives the cash from the customer,
The amount is entered using the keyboard KB, the total is subtracted from the subtotal, and if there is change, the amount is given to the customer along with the basket and bag containing the products. With this method, receipts are not passed from the checker to the cashier, and change calculations are done by a processor attached to a keyboard, etc., which reduces cashier fatigue.
The checker specializes in input and the cashier specializes in delivery, increasing efficiency and increasing processing capacity to around 200%. However, it has the disadvantage that it requires nearly twice as much equipment as a single-person register.

In addition, barcodes are widely used for products, especially foodstuffs, and by reading this barcode with a scanner that uses a laser, the price can be determined, eliminating the need for keyboard operations. Furthermore, since the product management information such as the product name represented by the barcode can be read at this time, it can be sent to the host computer to update the product management data. However, the register system shown in FIG. 1 cannot adequately handle bar codes.

Also, once a customer places a basket full of products at the counter, it is not necessarily true that there will be no changes such as adding or deleting products after that, and the purchase of some products was canceled because the total cost was larger than expected. There are also requests for deletion, such as requests for deletion, or requests for additions, such as a child coming to you with the item and buying it as well. In the method shown in Figure 1c, this is the cashier CA.
will do it. However, if a barcode scanner is to be installed, it will be installed at the checker channel, but if this is done, the above additions and deletions will require some ingenuity.

Purpose of the Invention The present invention is a two-person register system that can register a transaction item by reading a barcode, and that can add or correct transaction item data that has already been registered in the system. The purpose of this invention is to enable a two-person register system to perform the following using two input devices.

Structure of the Invention The present invention provides a two-person register system that performs accounting processing for products with barcodes attached thereto, between a front stand where a container containing the product is placed and a back stand where an empty container is placed. A scanner for reading barcodes is placed, a keyboard, a printer, and a control unit are placed near the rear stand, and the control unit has a first-in, first-out file that stores the amount data read by the scanner, and a file on the cashier side for payment. An input means for processing and a means for correcting the amount data stored in the file using the scanner of the barcode and the data input by the input means are provided, The amount data read by the computer is sequentially stored in the file, and the amount data is printed out by the printer, and the file is read out in the order in which it is stored based on the keyboard operation of the cashier, and the total amount data is displayed and output for payment processing. It is characterized by the fact that it becomes like that.

Function: In the cash register system of the present invention, the checker reads the barcode of the product with a scanner, prints out the reading results one by one on the printer on the cashier side, and the cashier uses his own display and keyboard to process the payment. The cashier can easily perform accounting processing by dividing the work, and the cashier can easily change money by looking at the display and add/delete items using the keyboard and scanner.

Embodiments of the Invention FIG. 2 shows an overview of a two-person register system according to the present invention. The table is divided into a front stand T1 and a rear stand T2, between which a barcode scanner SCN using a laser beam is placed, and the checker CH takes a seat in front of the scanner SCN. W is the scanner SCN reading window. A keyboard KB, a printer PR, and a drawer DW are placed along the rear of the rear stand T2, and the cashier CA takes a seat in front of these. Rear stand T
A control unit CNT is placed inside the controller 2, and includes a microprocessor MPU, a memory M, a file F, etc., and is connected to a scanner SCN, a keyboard KB, a printer PR, etc. by wiring (not shown). In other words, these KB, PR, SCN, etc. are MPU
It is a terminal. The keyboard KB has a display
DISP is included, and Scanyana SCN also comes with a polynomial keyboard MKB. B3 is an empty basket, T3 is a bag storage stand, and P1 and P2 are customers.

A customer who comes to the counter with desired products in a basket places the basket B1 on the front stand T1. Checker CH takes out the products one by one from the basket B1,
Transfer the product on the reading window W with the barcode facing down to read it, then put it in the empty basket B2,
This registration operation is carried out until there are no more products in basket _B1 . The barcode reading results are sent to the control unit one by one.
The product price is sent to CNT and stored in file F, and the product price is printed on the PR printer and displayed on the multi-item keyboard MKB display. Multi-item keyboard when the item in basket B1 is gone
Press the subtotal button on the MKB to display the subtotal amount on the display, convey it to the customer, and place it in basket B2. With this, my work as a checker CH is over, and I move on to inputting the price of the next customer's product. The above-mentioned customer hands the cashier CA a paperback for the total amount informed. Cashier CA is keyboard KB
Press the subtotal button to display the billed amount for the customer on the display DISP, and if necessary, tell the customer to confirm it. Enter the amount given by the customer using the keyboard KB, and check the difference between the amount and the subtotal. If there is a difference, the difference is displayed on the display DISP, and is given as change to the customer together with basket B2 containing the product.

Figures 3a and 3b are flow diagrams showing the operation of such a checker and cashier. The checker reads the barcode (registers the product) for each product, and presses the subtotal button when the barcode has been read for all the products in the basket. At this point, if you want to add or delete products, do so (product registration), and when this is finished, press the total button. Once the process for customer P1 is completed, the process moves on to the same process for customer P2. Note that the subtotal button operations shown in parentheses may be modified as appropriate, such as by substituting the total button operation, but a separation between customers is necessary, and if the total button is to have the meaning of this separation, Assume that it is not possible to add or delete products after pressing the total button (this will be handled by the cashier).

The cashier receives the cash handed over by the customer, and also presses the subtotal button to display and confirm the bill for the customer on the display DISP. This is because when it gets crowded or the delivery process takes time, many customers may line up between the checker CH and the cashier CA, and the cashier CA's display DISP displays the amount of the previous customer. It is necessary to perform an operation to switch to the amount for the next customer, and this operation is to press the subtotal button. Enter the amount handed over by the customer using the keyboard KB,
Calculate the difference with the subtotal and display it
The difference will be displayed on the DISP and if there is a difference, it will be paid to the customer as change. If there are additions or deletions of products, that processing is also performed. Once this is complete, the process moves on to total processing for the next customer.

What appears on the Checker CH display is the amount of each individual item and the final total, but what appears on the Cashier CA display is the subtotal (above total) when the subtotal button is pressed and the difference when calculating change, etc. The price of the product is not available. cashier
The subtotal display on the CA display is based on the data stored in file F, and data from the scanner SCN is sequentially written to this file.
After a short delay, it (only the subtotal) is read out and displayed on the cashier A display.

FIG. 4 shows an outline of the processing program, and 11-
25 are its various programs. A two-person register system must be operable even by one person, and in the case of a one-person system, a part of the system is suspended, as shown in FIG. Program 11 (CO2 task) is the 6th
As shown in the figure, it operates when there are two people, and if a statement is registered, it starts the program 15 (TXI task) for storing the statement. Program 12 is the keyboard
16 is a scanner SCN control task, 13 is a parity check task, and 14 is an editing task. The TXI task checks whether the stored text (data read by the scanner) number Ti in file F is the same as the processed text number Tj, and if not, transfers the true storage pointer P1 to the temporary storage pointer P2.
If they are the same, the detailed text (ST) is assembled and the temporary storage pointer P2 is increased by ±α. Here again
Ti=Tj? Check, and if Ti=Tj, P2 becomes P1
If Ti = \Tj, check whether the transaction is completed data, check whether the transaction data is completed, and if YES, change P2 to P1 and add 1 to Tj.

The program 18 (TXO task) retrieves the text from the file F, and if the true storage pointer P1 and true processing pointer P3 are not P1=P3 as shown in the figure, the detailed text is retrieved.
Add 1 to Tj. Program 20 (CO1 task) is a program that controls additional registration, specification correction (deletion), etc. in the cacher CA, and in this case, input is only through the keyboard KB. Programs 21, 22, 23, and 24 are equivalent to programs 12, 13, 14, and 15, and the edited text data is I/O task 2.
4 has been used to promote printers. 7th
The figure is a diagram showing the interrelationships of each task. The above-mentioned true storage pointer P1 indicates the file position of the stored details, temporary storage pointer P2 indicates the file position of the details currently being stored, and true processing pointer P3 indicates the file position of the details currently being processed. Also, in Figure 6
"Detailed output completed" for each task of TXO and CO1 indicates the completion of editing the distribution of one transaction in the detailed receipt, and
ON allows additional registration and specification correction from CO1 task (distribution editing of TXO task is prohibited), OFF allows
Instructs to prohibit additional registration and specification correction from CO1 task (permission to edit distribution of TXO task).

The TX1 task 15 sequentially stores text in the file F, the TXO task 18 retrieves it in a follow-up manner, and stores new text after the retrieval, so that the file F is used cyclically.

In the case of a one-person system, it will be as shown in Figure 5, so Sukiyana
Data read from SCN is not stored in file F, but is output to I/O in the same way as additions and corrections. Keyboard KB to determine whether it is a one-person system or a two-person system
Instruct by operating the corresponding push button.

Adding or deleting (correcting) items after pressing the checker CH total key is done using cashier CA.
The control program is the CO1 task, but statistical processing of the product information written in the barcode is again performed using the scanner SCN. This process can also be performed by the cashier CA by operating the keyboard KB (the information it represents is also written as a numerical value on the barcode, so all you have to do is enter that numerical value), but this is difficult because there are many digits. Since reading errors are likely to occur, reading using a scanner SCN is appropriate. This scanner reading is handled as an interrupt. That is, press the interrupt button on the keyboard MKB, specify addition/deletion, run the product on the scanner reading window, and press the button again to notify the end of the interrupt. In this case, the information read by the scanner is output directly to the I/O and is not stored in the file F.

Effects of the Invention As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a two-person register system that can handle barcodes, and since there is only one processor and the scanner, keyboard, etc. serve as its I/O, the conventional system shown in FIG. It is no longer necessary to install a total of 12 processors in each CH and CS, and the system can be configured at low cost, and by removing some functions, it can be easily changed to a one-person register system, making it easy to cope with busy stores. In addition, we provided a file F that is used in circulation, in which scan data is written one after another, and read out at the time of checkout. This allows multiple customers to be stored between the checker and the cashier, and the printer is able to send scan data to the file F. Since the system starts operating immediately when the customer receives the cashier, the receipt is often already printed by the time the customer comes to the cashier, which has various advantages such as speedy transaction processing.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional register system, Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the register system of the present invention, and Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional register system.
The figure is an explanatory diagram of the operation of Fig. 2, Figs. 4 and 5 are explanatory diagrams of the program, Fig. 6 is a flow diagram explaining the contents of the program, and Fig. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the interrelationship of tasks. . In the drawing, B is the container, T1 is the front stand, T2 is the rear stand, SCN is the scanner, KB is the keyboard, PR is the printer, CNT is the control unit, MPU is the processor,
F is file, CH is checker, and CA is cashier.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In a two-person register system that performs accounting processing for products with barcodes attached, between a front stand where a container containing the product is placed and a back stand where an empty container is placed. A scanner for reading the barcode is arranged, a keyboard, a printer, and a control section are arranged near the rear stand, and the control section has a first-in, first-out file for storing the amount data read by the scanner, and a first-in, first-out file provided on the cashier side. An input means for performing payment processing, and a means for correcting the amount data stored in the file using the barcode scanner and the data input by the input means are provided, and the scanner is configured based on the registration operation of the checker. The amount data read by the cashier is sequentially stored in the file, and the amount data is printed out by the printer, and the file is read out in the order of storage based on the keyboard operation of the cashier, and the total amount data is displayed and output for settlement. A two-person register system characterized by processing.