JPH0232675B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention is directed to point-of-sale management.
The present invention relates to a transaction processing system in a sales (hereinafter referred to as POS) system, and in particular to a transaction processing system that can reduce the number of POS terminals (Point of Sales Terminal) and save labor.

[Conventional technology]

Recently, with the spread of computer network systems, department stores, supermarkets, etc.
POS systems are widely adopted.

In conventional POS systems, POS terminals are placed at each counter on the sales floor, and as shown in Figure 8, usually multiple POS terminals 1a to 1n are used as a control device (Terminal Controller: hereinafter referred to as T/C). 2, and is further connected online to a computer center 3 via a line.

The transaction data processed by POS terminals 1a to 1n is displayed as sales information for each product.
It is sent one by one to the computer center 3 via C2,
Comprehensive information management is performed for product management, including sales aggregation, inventory management, and purchase management. (For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 55-110319) In this case, for example, in a department store, there are multiple counters on one floor, a POS terminal is installed at each counter, and there are usually multiple clerks who interact with customers and operate the POS terminals. There are operators assigned to do this.

The clerk receives the product and cash from the customer, hands the price tag of the product and the cash to the operator, and the operator inputs the price of the product and the like through a registration operation. The prices of the products are sequentially displayed on the display, printed on the receipt, and finally the total price is displayed by pressing a button. There, the amount of cash deposited by the customer is input, change is calculated, and the payment is made, and a receipt is issued for each sales transaction using a printer.

During this time, the clerk wraps the product and hands the product, receipt, and change to the customer.

Credit cards can be used instead of cash transactions.
In the case of a transaction using a card (hereinafter referred to as a card), the clerk receives the card instead of cash and hands it to the operator in the same way.The clerk puts the POS terminal into card transaction mode, performs the card reading operation, reads the authentication data, and sends the card to the computer. The transaction is processed if the response signal indicates that the transaction is possible.

In this way, transactions are processed in response to customers, but in consideration of customer service, there are many product categories and counters are provided in each display area.

[Problem that the invention aims to solve]

In the above-mentioned conventional method, customer service at the counter varies greatly depending on Sundays, holidays and weekdays, or time of day.
A counter and a
POS terminals are installed in many places. As a result, the number of operators and clerks assigned increases, resulting in wasted personnel and equipment during off-season periods. On the other hand, store clerks can reduce the number of people per counter to some extent by increasing the number of people only during busy hours, but a minimum number of people is required, and POS terminals and operators can only handle the number of counters. Since it is necessary, there is a problem of waste.

In the present invention, POS terminals are not provided for each counter, that is, for each sales floor, but a number smaller than the number of sales floors is provided in common for all sales floors, and transaction details, cash, and other items to be transported between the sales floor and the POS terminal are The purpose of the present invention is to increase the efficiency of using a POS terminal even when the sales floor is busy and to reduce the number of operators by transporting the terminal by a transport means.

[Means for solving problems]

According to the present invention, this purpose is made up of a sales station provided for each of a plurality of sales floors, a processing section commonly provided to the sales counters, and a conveyance means for transporting objects between the sales floor station and the processing section.
The processing unit has a plurality of processing stations, POS terminals belonging to the processing stations, automatic deposit/withdrawal machines controlled by the POS terminals, a transfer control device, and a system control device, and the system control device includes a main control unit and a It includes a processing memory for storing presence/absence, and the transport means includes a transport rail connecting the sales floor station and the processing station;
The processing station has a carrier departure and arrival mechanism on which the carrier is moved under the control of the transfer control device, and the sales station has a transfer command button and a carrier that issue a transfer command when moving the carrier to the processing section. The main control unit receives a transfer command, detects an empty processing station using the processing memory, and transfers information belonging to the processing station.
It has a function that sends a start signal to the POS terminal and automatic deposit/withdrawal device, and also sends information about the sales station that issued the transport command and the processing station that was detected empty to the transport control device, and the transport control device issues the transport command. This is achieved by a transaction processing system characterized by having a function of controlling the movement of carriers between an empty sales floor station and an empty processing station detected by a main control unit.

[Effect]

That is, according to the present invention, sales floor stations are provided in a number of sales floors that enable sufficient service, but expensive POS terminals are not provided, and only the associated carriers, their departure and arrival mechanisms, and transport stations are provided. Only a transport command button is provided to issue a command, and these operations can be performed by a store employee.Therefore, there is no need for a POS terminal operator at the sales floor. The processing department will be equipped with a number of POS terminals and automatic cash deposit/withdrawal machines controlled by them to achieve the highest usage efficiency, taking into account the processing capacity of all sales floors during the busiest and slowest times. Therefore, the number of POS terminals is smaller than the number of sales floors, the number of operators is also reduced, and automatic cash deposit/withdrawal machines are also shared, so there is no need to store cash in each sales floor, and there is no need to store cash at each sales floor. Even if a system control device and a transfer control device for controlling the carrier departure/arrival mechanism, conveyance means, and conveyance means at the sales floor station and processing station are required, the entire system can be used more efficiently and economically.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the system control device shown in FIG. 1, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are perspective views and side views showing the conveying means shown in FIG. 1. , Figure 5 is the first
POS terminal at the processing station in the figure,
FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the POS terminal, and FIG. 7 is a flowchart mainly showing the operation of the system control device shown in FIG. 2. The same reference numerals indicate the same objects throughout the figures.

In FIG. 1, the area above the one-dot chain line indicates the processing section 4. The processing section 4 includes a system control device 5, a transport control device 6, processing stations 7a to 7d, POS terminals 10a to 10d, and an automatic deposit machine (Auto-Deposit Machine).
Deposit: hereinafter referred to as AD) 11a, 11b and automatic cashier (hereinafter referred to as AC)
12a and 12b are arranged.

The sales floor stations 9a to 9n are arranged at the sales floor counter position, and are equipped with a transport command button (not shown), and are connected to the processing stations 7a to 7d by the transport rail 8.
is connected to.

The system control device 5, whose control block diagram is shown in FIG. 2, includes a main control section 51, a processing memory 5,
2. File section 53, POS terminal interface 54, AD interface 56, AC
The processing memory 52 includes a storage area _A1 corresponding to the processing stations 7a to 7d.
~ _A4 , and the code of the sales floor station performing the processing is stored in the storage area corresponding to the processing station in use. Therefore, the storage areas of processing stations that are not in use are empty. Also, the file section 53 is a processing station 7a.
7d and POS terminals 10a to 10d are shown as a pair. When a transport command is issued from any of the sales floor stations 9a to 9n, the main control unit 51 sends the code of the corresponding sales floor station to the processing memory 52 to store it in the area corresponding to the empty processing station that is not in use. The number of the detected processing station is sent to the conveyance control device 6, and on the other hand, the POS terminal corresponding to the processing station is detected based on the file section 53, and the POS terminal and the automatic deposit device and automatic Issue a processing command to the withdrawal device. Furthermore, when a response signal is issued from the detected POS terminal, the code of the sales station that issued the transport command is stored in the processing memory 52.
The data is then read out and sent to the transport control device 6.

The conveyance control device 6 has a function of causing the carriers 8a, 8b, .

Carriers 8a, 8b... are the price tag of the product purchased by the customer and cash (or card in case of card transaction)
It is a transport body on which objects to be transported such as carriers 8a, 8b, etc. are mounted, and as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, carriers 8a, 8b...
…is a linear induction motor (Liner
It runs on the conveyor rail 8 by an induction motor (hereinafter referred to as LIM).

Such linear induction motors are known, for example, in JP-A-57-3588, JP-A-57-183263, and JP-A-57-196866.
The LIM is a comb-toothed portion 82 provided on the opposing surfaces of two primary cores 81 that are arranged opposite to each other with a gap between them.
In addition, a traveling magnetic field generating coil (hereinafter referred to as 3
phase AC coil) 83, single-phase AC coil (hereinafter referred to as AC coil) 84, and DC coil (hereinafter referred to as
85 (called DC coil) is wound. Here, the primary cores 81 are lined up at intervals of a predetermined length (for example, 500 m) with a slight gap (for example, 3 to 5 mm), and one set of three-phase AC coils 83 is provided for each predetermined length of the primary core 81. , the AC coil 84, and the DC coil 85 are installed at the stop position, and can be individually energized. Conveyance rails 8 are installed on the upper surfaces of the two primary side iron cores 81 that face each other.

In addition, a carrier 8a is hung such that the secondary conductor plate 86 is located in the center of the interval between the primary iron cores 81.
is located so that it can run on the conveyor rail 8 with wheels 87.

Therefore, in order to run the carrier 8a, when the three-phase AC coil 83 of the primary iron core 81 is energized, a traveling magnetic field is generated, an eddy current is induced in the secondary conductor plate 86, and the eddy current and the traveling magnetic field are Propulsive force is generated by the interaction, and the carrier 8a travels on the transport rail 8 by the wheels 87. Thus 3 one after another
By energizing the phase AC coil 83, it is possible to travel a predetermined distance. Also, when stopping the carrier 8a at a predetermined stop position, when the carrier 8a approaches the stop position,
When the 3-phase AC coil 83 is de-energized in the advancing direction and energized in the opposite direction, the carrier 8a decelerates, and then
When AC coil 84 and DC coil 85 are energized,
The carrier 8a is stopped at the correct stop position by braking by the AC coil 84 and stop positioning by the DC coil 85.

In this way, the carrier 8a can be moved and stopped by the LIM.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, processing stations 7a to 7d have POS terminals 10a to 10.
d are arranged in correspondence with each other, and are placed on the processing table 71 to register the transaction product.Also, although not shown, a return command button for commanding the return of the carrier is also provided on the table. POS terminals 10a and 10b share automatic deposit machine AD11a and automatic withdrawal machine AC12a, and POS terminal 1
0c and 10d share AD11b and AC12b.

Further, the transport rail 8 is embedded in the floor surface, and the carriers 8a and 8b running on the transport rail 8 are
When they reach the processing stations 7a to 7d, they are raised to a predetermined position above the running surface, that is, to the surface of the processing table 71, by a lifting mechanism (not shown).
This also applies to the sales floor stations 9a to 9n. Therefore, this allows other carriers to travel on the transport rail 8, and also facilitates the loading and unloading of objects to be transported into and from the carriers 8a, 8b, . . .

Sales floor stations 9a to 9n shown in FIG. 1 are provided for each sales counter, and although not shown, carriers 8a, 8b, . . .
~9n is waiting on the counter table surface. Also on the counter table are carriers 8a, 8b...
A transport command button (not shown) is provided to command the transport of the image to the processing station.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the POS terminal 10a, which is composed of a display 13, a keyboard section 14, a card reading section 15, a printer section (not shown) disposed inside the device, and a control section. A receipt 16a issuing port 16 is provided between the receipt 13 and the keyboard section 14.

Therefore, information entered by the operator on the keyboard section 14 is sent to the control section, and according to commands from the control section, the product number, product name, unit price, operation instructions for the operator, etc. are displayed one by one on the display 13, and finally the necessary information is displayed on the display 13. The calculation process will be performed and the total amount will be displayed. There, the automatic deposit machine AD11a calculates change for the amount deposited by the customer, and the automatic deposit machine AD11a calculates change for the amount deposited by the customer.
Change is released by commanding the AC 12a. on the other hand,
A transaction statement, change, etc. are printed on the receipt 16a. When making a transaction using a card, when the card is inserted into the card reader 15, the customer's account number and
The transaction is processed after the PIN number is read, the PIN number is verified, the credit balance is checked, and the transaction is confirmed. At this time, a slip for card transaction is issued instead of the receipt 16a.

The automatic deposit machines AD11a and AD11b distinguish, count and store cash input by the operator, and also send the counted amount to the POS terminals 10a to 1.
It has a function to send to 0d.

The automatic teller machines AC12a, 12b have the function of discriminating, counting, and dispensing the amount of cash instructed by the POS terminals 10a to 10d.

With such a configuration and function, when processing a transaction, a store clerk receives the product purchased by the customer at any of the sales floor stations 9a to 9n, adds up the prices of the products, and sends the amount to the customer. Please keep the cash when making cash transactions. (When making a card transaction, a card is kept instead of cash.) The price tag of the product and the cash (or card) deposited by the customer are loaded onto the carrier 8a, for example, and a transport command button on the counter table is pressed.

When the system control device 5 receives this signal, it instructs the transport control device 6 to transport the carrier 8a to a part of the processing stations 7a to 7d that is not being processed, for example, the processing station 7d, and the carrier 8a is transported to the processing station 7d. be done. At this time, the carrier 8a is lowered from the counter table surface onto the transport rail 8 by the elevating mechanism and then travels.

The carrier 8a transported to the processing station 7d is raised by the lifting mechanism and positioned on the processing table surface. Then processing station 7d
A processing command is issued to the corresponding POS terminal 10d, automatic deposit machine AD11b, and automatic cash withdrawal machine AC12b, and a buzzer (not shown) sounds to notify the operator.

Then, the operator takes out the cash and price tags of the products carried on the carrier 8a from the outlet, inserts the cash into the automatic deposit machine AD11b, reads the product category, product name, product price, etc. from the price tags, and sends the POS. Register on terminal 10d. (In the case of a card transaction, the card is read by the card reader 15 and registered after confirming that the transaction is possible.) The AD 11b counts the input cash, and the data is transferred to the POS terminals 10a to 10.
0d, the difference between the total amount calculated by registration, that is, the change, is calculated, and the automatic withdrawal machine
AC12b is commanded to release change.

Thereupon, the operator loads the receipt 16a and change (slip and card in the case of card transactions) as objects to be transported onto the carrier 8a, and presses a return command button on the processing table.

The return command signal is sent to the system control device 5, which reads out the code of the sales station in the corresponding storage area of the processing memory 52, and issues a transport command to the transport control device 6. Then Carrier 8
A is lowered onto the transport rail 8 by the lifting mechanism, transported to any of the original sales floor stations 9a to 9n, and then raised again to the sales floor counter surface.

The clerk at the counter wraps the product during the processing in the processing section 4, takes out the receipt 16a and change from the returned carrier 8a, and hands it to the customer together with the wrapped product, completing the transaction.

Here, the operation of the system control device 5 shown in FIG. 2 will be explained in more detail with reference to the flowchart in FIG. Control device 6
sends a signal to the system control device 5, but in this case it is received by the main control unit 51 from the transport control interface 55.

The main control unit 51 is an area A1 of the processing memory 52.
A vacant area of ~A4, that is, a processing station that is not currently being processed, is selected, and, for example, the code of the sales floor station 9a is stored in area A4. This area A
4 corresponds to the processing station 7d.

The main control unit 51 instructs the transport control device 6 to transport, for example, the carrier 8a of the sales floor station 9a to the selected processing station 7d, and the transport control device transports the carrier 8a to the processing station 7d.

The main control unit 51 confirms the arrival of the carrier 8a, and transfers the file to the processing station 7d from the file unit 53.
The POS terminal 10d corresponding to the POS terminal 10d is read and a processing command is sent from the POS terminal interface 54 to the POS terminal 10d.
AD11 also corresponds to POS terminal 10d.
b, and AD interface 5 to AC12b
6, and a processing command is issued from the AC interface 57.

Registration via POS terminal 10d, AD11
When the transaction processing is completed with the cash counting and settlement performed by AC 12b and AC 12b, a signal is sent to the system control device 5 by the operator pressing the return command button. The code of the sales floor station 9a in the storage area A4 corresponding to the processing station 7d is read out, and a command is issued to the conveyance control device 6. Then, under the control of the conveyance control device, the carrier 8a is lowered onto the conveyance rail 8 by the elevating mechanism and conveyed to the original sales floor station 9a.

When the conveyance is completed, the conveyance control device 6 sends a signal to the system control device 5, and the code of the sales floor station 9a stored in the corresponding storage area of the processing memory 52, that is, area A4, is cleared.

In this way, transaction processing is performed by the POS terminals 10a to 10d etc. installed centrally in the processing section 4 instead of at the sales floor counter, and therefore the number of POS terminals 10a to 10d installed,
and the number of operators can be significantly reduced.

In the above example, the sales floor counter is equipped with only a transport command button and no other devices are arranged. However, if a store clerk is equipped with a calculation device that calculates the total price of products purchased by a customer, the input data for this calculation is Processing section 4
POS terminals 10a to 10d that are not being processed
A method that allows direct registration is also considered.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, the number of installed transaction processing devices can be equally reduced without degrading the service to customers.

The workforce can be equally reduced.

There is an effect.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the system control device shown in FIG. 1, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are perspective views and side views showing the conveying means shown in FIG. 1. , Fig. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the outline of the positions of the POS terminal, automatic deposit/withdrawal machine, and conveyance means in the processing station shown in Fig. 1;
FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the POS terminal shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the operation of the system control device shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a conventional POS system. In the figure, 1a to 1n, 10a to 10d are
POS terminal, 4 is a processing unit, 5 is a system control device, 6 is a transfer control device, 7a to 7d are processing stations, 8 is a transfer rail, 8a, 8b... are carriers, 9a to 9n are sales station, 11
a, 11b are AD, 12a, 12b are AC, 51
is the main control unit, 52 is the processing memory, 53 is the file unit, 54 is the POS terminal interface,
55 is a transfer control device interface; 56 is a transfer control device interface;
AD interface, 57 is AC interface, 81 is primary iron core, 83 is 3-phase AC coil,
84 is an AC coil, 85 is a DC coil, and 86 is a secondary conductor plate.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 Consisting of a sales station provided for each of the multiple sales floors, a processing section commonly provided to the sales floor stations, and a conveying means for transporting objects between the sales floor stations and the processing section, the processing section includes a plurality of processing stations and the processing section. POS belonging to processing station
It has a terminal, an automatic deposit/withdrawal machine controlled by a POS terminal, a conveyance control device, and a system control device.The system control device includes a main control unit and a processing memory that stores whether the station is empty or not, and the conveyance means is located at the sales floor. It consists of a transport rail that connects the station and the processing station, and a carrier that is moved on the rail under the control of the transport control device.The processing station has a carrier departure and arrival mechanism, and the sales station moves the carrier to the processing section. The main controller receives the transport command, detects an empty processing station from the processing memory, and sends the POS terminal belonging to the processing station, automatic deposit/withdrawal, etc. It has the function of sending a start signal to the device and sending information about the sales station that issued the transport command and the processing station that has been detected empty to the transport control device, and the transport control device communicates with the sales station that issued the transport command and the A transaction processing system characterized by having a function of controlling movement of a carrier to and from an empty processing station detected by a control unit.