JPH1097681A - Check-out counter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a check-out counter which can detect the mixing of a metal in a commodity when the commodity is purchased. SOLUTION: A placing space 2a for placing a shopping basket and a recovering space 2b for recovering commodities are respectively formed on the upstream and downstream sides of the checker table 2 of a check-out counter 1 and a bar code scanner 4 is installed at a position adjacent to the placing space 2a. In addition, a conveyor belt 5 is provided between the position of the scanner 4 and the position adjacent to the space 2b. A metal detector 6 is provided on the way of the conveyor belt 5 and, at the same time, the sensitivity of the detector 6 is set by means of a metal sensitivity adjusting means which adjusts the sensitivity of the detector 6 by using commodity discriminated information from the scanner 4 based on the adjustment data of the detector 6 for specific commodities by calling the adjustment data from a storing means.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a checkout counter used in a supermarket, a convenience store, and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In large stores such as supermarkets,
Of the products displayed on each storage shelf for each product item, the self-purchase form in which the customer selects and purchases what he or she needs is common, and the purchase price is settled by a clerk.
This is performed by a so-called checkout counter.

The checkout counter has not only a simple cash register but also a POS register for grasping the sales and sales situation at each store, which is combined with an electronic cash register that operates in conjunction with the POS register. Installed. Therefore, a normal checkout counter is provided with a checker table on which a POS register having a barcode scanner for reading a barcode printed on a product label is installed, and an electronic cash register which operates in conjunction with the POS register. Consists of a cashier stand.

In the checkout counter configured as described above, the price of the purchased product is settled,
It has the function of grasping sales information and transmitting it as POS information to store offices and production processing sites. As described above, in a self-sale store, such information management is performed by reading the barcode information attached or printed on the packaging of the product, and efforts are made to promote customer service and sales.

[0005]

However, in such a self-selling format, the purchaser can freely select the product, but on the other hand, intentional such as harassment purpose or behavior of the purchaser, for example, behavior of accompanying children or the like. It is easy for foreign matter to accidentally enter the product. In the production process of products, measures have been taken to prevent foreign matter from being mixed with great care, especially at pack centers that supply packed products packed with fresh food and lunch boxes to supermarkets and convenience stores. Then
In order to process weighing and valuation of packed products at high speed and in large quantities, a fully automatic type automatic weighing and valuing device is used. Metal to detect.

[0006] Such measures have been taken to indicate that the company is to fulfill its manufacturing responsibility as a product manufacturer of foods and the like. However, as described above, when metal is mixed at the sales site in a store. As for, in the end, there was no way to do anything.

In view of the above, according to the present invention, from the viewpoint that it is best to be able to check for metal contamination immediately before it reaches the hands of the purchaser, it is possible to detect metal contamination when purchasing a product. The purpose is to provide a checkout counter.

[0008]

A checkout counter according to the present invention is provided with a product reading device having a barcode scanner for reading a barcode printed on a product label on a checker table, and reading the product on a cashier table. At the checkout counter where an electronic cash register that operates in conjunction with the device is installed, first, a placing space for placing a shopping basket upstream of the checker table and a collecting space for collecting goods downstream of the checker table. Is formed, a product reading device is installed in a portion adjacent to the loading space, a transfer line is provided starting from the installation site and ending in a portion adjacent to the collection space, and the starting line is provided in the middle of the transfer line. Whether metal is mixed in the barcode-checked products sent from the side And it is provided with a metal detector for detecting.

[0009] A storage means for preliminarily storing adjustment data such as a phase and a detection sensitivity of the metal detecting means for each product, and each product information from the product reading device is received.
Metal sensitivity adjusting means for calling the adjustment data of the corresponding article from the storage means based on the article information and performing sensitivity setting on the metal detecting means; and a metal sensitivity adjusting means for setting the sensitivity based on the adjustment data supplied from the sensitivity adjusting means. And a metal detection corresponding means that is activated when a mixed metal is detected in the detection target product.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically described based on embodiments illustrated in the drawings. FIG. 1 is an external view showing a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a checker table 2 and a cashier table 3 are arranged in an L-shape to form a so-called checkout counter 1. I have. Checkout counter 1 arranged in L-shape
The store clerk enters the inside of the store, checks the goods that the customer wants to purchase on the checker table 2, requests the purchase price of the goods on the cashier table 3, and makes a payment.

The checker table 2 has a placement space 2a on which a shopping basket is placed on the upstream side with the customer coming to the checkout from the merchandise sales floor as an upstream side, and collects goods on the downstream side of the checker table 2. A collection space 2b is formed. A vertical barcode scanner 4 is installed at a portion adjacent to the mounting space 2a, and a portion adjacent to the collection space 2b is set as an end point with the portion where the barcode scanner 4 is set as a starting point. A transport conveyor 5 is provided. An arch-shaped metal detector 6 having a form of straddling the conveyor is installed on the conveyor 5. The cashier table 3 is provided with an electronic cash register 7 that operates in conjunction with the barcode scanner 4.

The metal detector 6 detects whether or not a metal piece as a foreign substance is mixed in a product conveyed by the conveyor 5 and has an ability to detect a very small metal piece. However, it is necessary to set the adjustment data such as the phase and the detection sensitivity to appropriate values according to the detection target. If the detection sensitivity is not appropriate, erroneous detection will occur if the detection sensitivity is too high, and a detection error will occur if the detection sensitivity is low. Therefore, the more quickly the target product to be detected changes, the faster and more appropriate the sensitivity setting is required.

Although the external configuration is configured as described above with reference to FIG. 1, an electrical configuration as shown in the block diagram of FIG. 2 is employed to set the appropriate sensitivity. ing. That is, according to the present invention, since the purchased product has already been specified by the barcode scanner 4 in order to settle the purchased product, the sensitivity of the metal detector 6 is set based on the specified product information. I have to.

As shown in FIG. 2, the bar code scanner 4
The product information is transmitted not only to the electronic cash register 7 but also to the storage means 8 in which the detection sensitivity adjustment data of the metal detector 6 for every product that can be detected is stored in advance. In the storage unit 8, the adjustment data of the corresponding product is called in accordance with the specified product information, and the adjustment data is output to the metal sensitivity adjustment unit 9. The metal sensitivity adjusting means 9 adjusts the sensitivity of the metal detector 6 based on the adjustment data.

The goods checked by the barcode scanner 4 are placed on a transfer line 5 starting just below the scanner and conveyed to the collection space side. At this time,
Since the sensitivity of the metal detector 6 has already been adjusted according to the conveyed product as described above, the presence or absence of mixed metal is checked when the product passes through the metal detector 6. When the metal detector 6 detects the incorporation of a metal in the product, a detection signal is output to the metal detection corresponding means 10.
Upon receiving such a detection signal, the metal detection responding means 10 takes a response measure immediately.

As a specific configuration of the metal detection responding means 10, when the receipt is printed out in the electronic cash register 7, it is configured as a printing means for printing presence or absence of metal contamination. It is possible to recognize whether or not metal is mixed in the purchased product. Further, it may be configured as a conveyance stopping means for outputting a stop signal to the drive source of the conveyance line 5, and according to such a countermeasure, since the product mixed with metal remains on the conveyance line 5, this is immediately changed. Can be removed. Further, an alarm unit for instructing an alarm of a product in which metal contamination has been detected by a warning sound or a voice may be used, or these corresponding units may be combined.

[0017] The purchaser of the product can identify and recognize the product containing the metal by operating the corresponding means. Therefore, it is possible to complete the settlement except for the product concerned, or to use the product provided separately by the store. It is possible to take measures such as replacing the product with a proper product that does not contain metal at the exchange office, and it is possible to prevent an accidental accident caused by the purchase of a defective product. On the other hand, the store side can also avoid fulfilling the liability that can be a fatal loss in management due to the sale of such defective products.

As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to check for metal contamination immediately before a product is delivered to a purchaser's hand, and to check for metal contamination in a processing line. Monitoring system can be further strengthened.

Further, in order to detect whether or not metal is mixed in the product, the product checked by the bar code scanner 4 is placed on a transport line 5 having a starting point directly below the scanner, and is collected in a collection space 2b. When being conveyed to the side, the metal detector 6 is configured to detect the intrusion of metal as a foreign substance, so that products are taken out one by one from the shopping basket placed in the mounting space 2a, By sequentially transporting the products to the collection space 2b by the transport line 5, the products are aligned and transported as a result.

Therefore, in FIG.
As shown in the figure, if a basket for collecting products and an automatic bagging device are installed, products that are sequentially aligned and conveyed can be packed sequentially in baskets and bags for take-out. After the settlement at the out-counter, there is no need to perform an operation of re-adding the purchased merchandise put in the shopping basket by the clerk to the take-out bag passed by the counter on the collection stand separately provided on the exit side.

In the conventional check-out counter, a clerk takes out products one by one from a shopping basket on a check stand, checks them with a barcode scanner, and puts them back into the basket. , And it was not possible to settle until the work was completed, resulting in a completely wasteful waiting time. By using the checkout counter according to the present invention, as described above, the check of metal contamination can be further strengthened, and the take-out packaging of the product can be performed during the waiting time at the time of clearing, which was conventionally wasted. Therefore, efficient purchase and sale can be performed by both the customer and the store. In addition, it is also possible to eliminate the need for a collection table for take-out of goods, which has been conventionally installed on the exit side, so that space can be saved and store premises can be effectively used.

In the above embodiment, the first object is to check for the incorporation of metal, since metal has the greatest effect as foreign matter to be incorporated into commodities. However, if there is a need to detect foreign substances other than metals,
It is also possible to use an ultrasonic detection device, an X-ray inspection device, or the like as the foreign substance detection means.

[0023]

According to the checkout counter of the present invention, it is possible to check for metal contamination immediately before a product reaches a buyer's hand, and to check for metal contamination in a processing line. The surveillance system can be further strengthened. In addition, when checking for metal contamination, purchased goods are consequently arranged and conveyed, so that it is possible to efficiently carry out take-out packaging of goods using the waiting time at the time of settlement.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an electrical configuration of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Checkout counter 2 Checker stand 3 Cashier stand 4 Barcode scanner 5 Transport line 6 Metal detector 7 Electronic cash register 8 Storage means 9 Metal sensitivity adjustment means 10 Metal detection corresponding means_

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A product reading device having a barcode scanner for reading a barcode printed on a product label is installed on a checker table, and an electronic cash register that operates in conjunction with the product reading device is installed on a cashier table. In the check-out counter, a placing space for placing a shopping basket on the upstream side of the checker table and a collecting space for collecting merchandise on the downstream side of the checker table are formed, and are adjacent to the placing space. The product reading device is installed at the site, a transfer line is provided starting from the installation site and ending at a site adjacent to the collection space, and metal is mixed into the bar code checked product in the middle of the transfer line. Metal detection means for detecting whether or not the A storage unit in which adjustment data such as sensitivity is stored in advance, and each piece of product information from the product reading device is received, and the adjustment data of a corresponding product is called from the storage unit based on the product information, and the metal detection unit is called. Metal sensitivity adjusting means for performing sensitivity setting, and operating when the metal detecting means detects a mixed metal in a product to be detected under a setting sensitivity based on the adjustment data supplied from the sensitivity adjusting means. A checkout counter provided with a metal detection corresponding means. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the metal detection corresponding means is a printing means for printing whether or not metal is mixed when the electronic cash register prints out a receipt.
Checkout counter described. 3. The checkout counter according to claim 1, wherein the metal detection corresponding means is a transport stop means for outputting a stop command to the transport means to stop the transport of a product in which metal contamination is detected. 4. The checkout counter according to claim 1, wherein the metal detection corresponding means is an alarm means for instructing a product in which metal contamination has been detected by an alarm or voice.