ITSI990002A1 - SHOPPING CART EQUIPPED WITH A COMPUTERIZED SYSTEM SUCH AS TO AUTOMATE PAYMENT OPERATIONS TO THE CASH REGISTER AND OPERATING IN - Google Patents

Description

HEADING

Description of the industrial invention entitled:

'SHOPPING CART EQUIPPED WITH A COMPUTERIZED SYSTEM SUITABLE TO AUTOMATE PAYMENT OPERATIONS AT THE CASH AND OPERATING IN A CAUTIONARY MANNER FOR DISTRIBUTOR AND CUSTOMER "

SUMMARY

Shopping trolley [1] with a structure similar to those currently used in self-service distribution systems equipped with computerized equipment that involves the use of a bar code reader [2], a magnetic strip deactivation system [3 [ 7]. The aforementioned system is managed by a microprocessor [8] suitably programmed and equipped with adequate user memory and program memory [9], connected with acoustic [10] and optical [10a] indicators and with an interface for data loading and downloading [11] . The entire system is powered by transportable batteries [12].

The products must be equipped with the normal barcode [13], an additional barcode [13a] and suitable magnetic strips [14].

The equipment is characterized by the fact that it allows the determination and control, by means of appropriate registration operations, of the exact total cost of the objects purchased and to automate the subsequent payment operations at the cashiers. The equipment makes it possible to check the correspondence between the objects introduced in the trolley and those registered, eliminating the risk of fraud against the distributor and guaranteeing the effectiveness of data acquisition operations.

The products that can be managed with the present invention have, in addition to the normal bar code, a deactivatable magnetic band and an additional bar code applied to a non-removable support.

DESCRIPTION

The object of the present industrial invention is a shopping trolley with a structure similar to those currently in use in self-service distribution systems [department stores, supermarkets, etc.] and equipped with a computerized system capable of determining and controlling, following of a registration operation, the exact total cost of the items purchased; this happens already in the phase of picking up the products from the shelves. This data acquisition makes it possible to automate payment operations at the product cashiers, significantly reducing the time associated with waiting for one's shift and subsequent determination of their cost. The possibility of using the invention in other sectors is not excluded. The object of the present invention, by means of suitable equipment, also makes it possible to check that the objects introduced into the trolley correspond to those recorded without risk of fraud to the detriment of the vending machine and guaranteeing the effectiveness of the data acquisition operations.

The invention in question also makes it possible to eliminate the set of operations that currently make up the payment procedure for the products within a self-service distribution system, replacing it with a faster and more efficient procedure.

Currently, the product purchase procedure begins with waiting for one's payment turn, continues with the extraction of the products from the trolley and storage on the conveyor belt, the determination of the total cost by the cash desk operators, and ends with the '' placing the products in suitable containers and paying their cost.

The set of operations listed above normally requires a time comparable to that required overall to purchase the products. In order to improve the aforementioned sales process, the Applicant has therefore devised a system by which the operations are reduced to the sole payment of the cost of the products, obtaining a series of advantages both for the user and for the large-scale distribution company. .

The main advantages obtainable by the customer of the self-service distribution system with the present invention are both the drastic reduction of waiting times and the elimination of the operation of extracting the products from the trolley near the crates and subsequent re-insertion into the containers. This last operation can be done directly at the moment of withdrawal from the shelf.

The main advantages obtainable by the self-service distribution company with the present invention are both the reduction of operating costs through a reduction in the number of personnel employed, and the improvement of the working conditions of the personnel themselves, since the movement of objects is eliminated. . The distribution company offers greater efficiency in the service offered to the customer. The trolley guarantees the vending machine from possible fraud as it is equipped with a series of intrinsic safeties.

In addition to the aforesaid advantages, the object of the present invention contributes to reducing the so-called shrinkage due to thefts. We quantify the incidence of shoplifting on the total shrinkage on the basis of the data provided by the managers of large-scale distribution. It can be assumed an average incidence ranging between 1% and 2% for foodstuffs, 2% - 4% for non-food items, with peaks of up to 6% - 7% for particular product categories such as books, compact discs, video cassettes, etc.

In the light of these data, it appears that a reduction of the aforementioned differences can bring considerable economic advantages to the distributor.

Currently, the operating scenario of self-service distribution systems involves the use of a series of shelves containing the products on sale; the customer picks up the objects he intends to buy from them by placing them in a traditional trolley. The payment of the products takes place at the cash desks located near the exit, normally equipped with anti-theft systems of various kinds and whose method of operation is referred to below. The cashier operator records (by reading the bar code) the products selected by the customer. To exit the shop, the latter must necessarily go through the anti-theft system. The purchased products are not subjected to anti-theft detection in the glove and are managed by the cashier operator. This mode of operation is called "by-pass".

As regards the state of the art of anti-theft systems, it can be said that there are various principles used, classified according to characteristics linked both to the position of the systems and to the type of labels applied to the products (magnetic, radio frequency, etc.).

The position of the anti-theft systems generally consists of two facing vertical barriers. In the so-called by-pass system, the deactivation of the labels applied to the products is not mandatory and the management of the system is carried out directly by the staff. '

The shape and size of the labels is mainly linked to the type of goods to be protected and they are essentially divided into rigid, flexible and self-adhesive.

Two technologies can currently be used for the anti-theft detection of products: radio frequency systems and electromagnetic systems.

The former use a label containing an inductive and a capacitive circuit tuned to a certain oscillation frequency. The principle on which they are based is the interception of the label between a transmitting and a receiving antenna. This system is part of the technologies called RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) which are understood to be part of the state of the art.

The deactivation of the labels is carried out by passing, even at a distance (about 20 cm) over a deactivator plate which either alters the value of the oscillation frequency of the label or burns the circuit inside it. These systems allow detection between antennas placed at a considerable distance from each other (up to two meters with rigid labels). However, they cannot detect the labels inside the metal trolleys or the overlapping labels. Furthermore, the labels are not detected when applied to metal containers.

An additional limitation to the applicability of RF labels is the footprint which can be excessive for use on many products. Furthermore, the cost of each RF tag is higher than that of the magnetic anti-shoplifting tags described in the following.

The electromagnetic systems instead use a label of a particular metal material that disturbs a magnetic field created between two antennas.

There are labels of different types and lengths: printable labels, thin wire labels (7/9 cm) and non-adhesive drop-down labels for books and blistered products.

Deactivation takes place by demagnetization of a particular metal, coupled inside the label, by passing over a special deactivator or by shielding the magnetic field by superimposing a label on the original magnetic strip.

This type of anti-theft allows a considerable assortment and camouflage of self-adhesive labels and good possibilities to label the goods regardless of the shape and size of the container. To this is added the good functioning for applications on metal containers. Furthermore, electromagnetic labels can be detected inside metal trolleys and have a significantly lower cost than radiofrequency labels. There is also the possibility of using a single label for protection, price and code description.

In this operational scenario there are currently some variants that can be identified as follows:

a] Portable product barcode reading systems.

The battery-powered system consists of a barcode reader and a digital system for decoding and storing the codes of the products purchased. This device is only able to add up the cost of the products providing the user with the progressive value.

This methodology has a number of limitations. In fact, it is not absolutely precautionary for the vending machine, as it constitutes a simple aid for the user. The system does not contain any verification process, neither intermediate nor final and the products introduced in the cart may not correspond in quantity and type to those registered, with consequent fraud against the distributor. The use of the data provided by this equipment cannot be used safely for payment at the cashier as it is based on the presumption of honesty of the customer, with all the limits connected to this.

b] Systems with transponder applied to the product.

The transponder technology is part of the methodologies called RFID. The reader and each label are able to communicate with each other by means of a radio frequency signal. Basically it is the radio communication between a fixed transceiver (reader) and a mobile transceiver (transponder). The latter is solicited by the sending of an electromagnetic wave and responds to this solicitation with a signal from which the reader derives a numerical code.

There is a system that uses this technology to determine the type and quantity of products contained within a cart labeled with a transponder, by passing the cart through a reading door. This system is based on a different principle from that described with the present invention precisely because the identification of the products is carried out by passing the trolley through the reading door.

The main limit to the applicability of transponders is their cost, which is comparable with that of many products present in a distribution system. The incidence of the cost makes the technique not economically applicable. In fact, the system has not had significant developments, although it has been known for some years. It is reasonable to assume that even in the future the cost of 'intelligent' components, such as transponders, will still remain considerably higher than passive components such as magnetic strips, keeping systems based on the use of the transponders inapplicable. It remains to underline that it is impossible. with this technique an intermediate check of the amount of the expense by the customer.

The electromagnetic anti-shoplifting technique constitutes a consolidated methodology which is also used in the invention in question: in particular there is an application of electromagnetic anti-shoplifting systems capable of detecting the labels inside the metal trolleys; such use is to be understood purely by way of example without binding or limiting the object of the present invention. Any other system capable of detecting magnetic labels inside the trolley can also be used.

The above represents an overview of the operating scenarios of self-service distribution systems and the state of the art of some purchasing and protection techniques currently used.

We describe in detail the operating principle of the present invention.

Figure 1 illustrates the trolley object of the present invention, in a schematic perspective view of a purely exemplary solution.

It is a shopping trolley [1] with a structure similar to those currently in use in self-service distribution systems and equipped with fixed or removable computerized equipment that involves the use of a bar code reader [2], deactivator for anti-shoplifting systems [3] and relative magnetic field sensor [4], an anti-shoplifting antenna system [5], interface for dialogue with the user [6] containing a display [6a] and a keyboard [6b] and a sensor proximity of products [7]. The aforementioned system must be managed by a microprocessor [8] suitably programmed and equipped with adequate user memory and program memory [9] and connected with acoustic [10] and optical [10a] indicators and interface for data loading and unloading [11]. The entire system is powered by transportable batteries [12].

The operating scenario in which the object of the present invention operates appears to have changed with respect to the current one as the enabled cash desks will be equipped with a system capable of connecting to the interface [11] and capable of interrogating the system and processing the data for payment transactions.

Figure 2 illustrates the part of the present invention relating both to the acquisition and management of data and to the control of the operations performed by the customer. In this figure, the position of the components is to be considered purely by way of example.

Furthermore, again with reference to fig. 2, the products must be equipped with barcodes [13] and [13a] and with suitable magnetic strips [14] capable of being deactivated with one of the possible existing techniques (for example application of a damped magnetic field, shielding, superposition of the effects, etc.).

The self-service distribution system that will use the object of the present invention will not have to change its distribution architecture since a part of the anti-theft systems that intervene in the sales process are already present at the exit doors and are permanently active. These systems, as already mentioned, essentially consist of two parallel vertical panels placed after each box. The path that leads the customer to the exit crosses these barriers. If there is a strip of suitably magnetized material in the trolley ο between the customer's clothes, the anti-theft system emits an acoustic signal.

With regard to the distribution architecture, greater attention must be paid to the fact that the wrapping of products aggregated in multiple packs prevents them from being sold individually. Special packages will be prepared for single sale. This distinction is already in use, in various forms, in current self-service distribution systems.

The technical characteristics of the invention, according to the aforementioned purposes, are clearly verifiable from the content of the claims reported below and the advantages thereof will become more evident in the detailed description that follows, made with reference to the attached drawings [fig. 1 - fig. 2 - fig. 3], which represent a purely exemplary and non-limiting embodiment thereof.

Figure 3 illustrates by means of a block diagram the operation of the object of the present invention.

We present the sequence of operations required for the use of the trolley in question, at the same time describing the set of components that characterize it.

First of all, each product intended for sale using the methodology in question must present, in addition to the usual bar code [13] currently present, a magnetic strip of suitable dimensions [14] and an additional bar code [13a]. The latter has the function of making a field of codes correspond to the same type of product; for example, a type A product, equipped with a certain usual barcode, can have one of the additional codes ranging from 1 to N, where N is the number that limits the field. The usefulness of this supplemental code will be clarified in the description that follows. The usual bar code, the additional one and the magnetic stripe must be close to each other and occupy a suitably small area (area A of fig. 2) of the product.

For object recognition, barcode reading is used which falls within the range of automatic identification. The techniques for reading and writing bar codes are considered to have been acquired and included in the consolidated technology.

The use of another automatic identification technique which provides for the recognition of labels is to be considered as a particular technically equivalent to the reading of bar codes.

To purchase a product, the user moves the area A of the product close to the reading and deactivation area having an operating volume of controllable shape and size [area B of fig. 2]. The shape, size and position of the magnetic strip on the products, in relation to the characteristics of said operating volume, will be such as to prevent the simultaneous deactivation of two or more magnetic strips. A proximity sensor [7] senses the presence of the object and the optical reader [2] reads the standard and supplementary barcode of the chosen product and transmits the information contained in these codes to the microcomputer for subsequent management, carried out by the microprocessor [ 8]. The deactivation system [3] operates on the magnetic strip [14] by deactivating it.

Once the previous operations have been carried out, an appropriate authorization signal is emitted and the user can deposit the product inside the trolley [1]. In this way, the system acquired both the product barcode and deactivated the magnetic stripe applied. Deactivation will only be possible following a barcode reading and will last for a limited time both to avoid illegal maneuvers and to reduce system consumption. The anti-shoplifting antennas [5] on the trolley detect any failure to deactivate the magnetic strip. Any wall of the trolley can be used equivalently for the positioning of the antennas. The cycle described above is repeated for each product that the user intends to purchase through the use of the present invention.

For each product, the data acquired during the reading phase (usual bar code and additional code) is placed in a transit memory location. This data passes to a permanent memory, which contains the list of products acquired definitively, in the event that the reading and deactivation operations are successful. In the event that the anti-shoplifting antennas [5] detect that the magnetic strip of the product just introduced into the cart has not been deactivated, the user is warned, by means of an appropriate signal, that the above operations must be repeated. In this case, the system compares the reacquired barcodes with those contained in the buffer: the two data must necessarily coincide. In fact, two commercially identical products [brand, type, price, weight, etc.] will differ from each other only by the additional barcode generated in a random way [from 1 to N]. The additional code therefore serves to prevent the data in the provisional memory from being deleted in a fraudulent manner.

In fact, it is highly unlikely, for high N values, that two products with the same traditional barcode also have the same supplementary code. In the event that the two data do not coincide, the continuation of the operations is forbidden, for the restoration of which the intervention of the personnel in charge is required. In the event that the user intends to carry out payment operations, the data contained in the transit memory is automatically transferred to the final memory.

In the event that the user introduces a product into the cart without having previously registered it, the on-board anti-shoplifting system detects it, since the magnetic strip on it has not been deactivated.

As long as the on-board anti-shoplifting detects the presence of the non-deactivated product, the continuation of the operations is forbidden.

Any forgetfulness on the part of the user is reported immediately. Therefore, the non-demagnetized product is easily identifiable because it was introduced last. Cases of renunciation of an already registered product must be managed by the operators in charge at the time of payment. This operation does not present difficulties as reactivable bands are part of the state of the art. This allows the initial configuration to be returned to the products.

It should be noted that the incidence of this event is limited in percentage terms.

In case of non-detection by the on-board anti-shoplifting, we will still have the anti-shoplifting detection at the exit, thus guaranteeing a high degree of system security.

The interface between the user and the system takes place via a display [6a], an acoustic signal [10], an optical signal [10a] and a keyboard of suitable shape and size [6b]. The system itself is battery powered [12] and can be either fixed or removable. If only the management system is removable, the anti-theft antenna [5], suitably shaped, will be part of the trolley structure and will become an active element only when the aforementioned system containing the power supply and the rest of the control elements is applied. .

It is not excluded that the antenna [5] can be integrated in the same container as the management system, if this is removable.

The microprocessor is structured in such a way that it is possible to determine the total cost of the items purchased by pressing a simple button on the push-button panel [6b]. This operation can be done at any time by the user in order to have a simple, quick and reliable evaluation of the cost of the chosen objects.

The main advantage introduced by the present invention is that of allowing the payment of the selected products in a rapid and reliable manner by connecting the data management system to the cashier device, suitably interfaced. In fact, the following are avoided: waiting for one's payment turn, the removal of products from the trolley and deposit on the conveyor belt, the determination of the total cost by the cashier operators. The set of these operations takes place in a safe manner for the user and distributor since the trolley in question is equipped with a series of intrinsic safety devices.

A further advantage is constituted by the fact that the introduction of the magnetic strip - on each product, regardless of the method of purchase, increases the defenses against theft, offering a significant reduction in shrinkage. It is reasonable to foresee that the additional cost due to the introduction of magnetic strips in all products is partially or totally offset by the reduction in the number of shoplifted products.

From the above it can be seen that the object of the present invention exploits the presence of magnetic strips not only for the purpose of deterrence against theft but also as an integral part of a significantly more efficient sales system than the current ones.

It is easy to see how the set of the above features constitute evident advantages for both the distributor and the customer.

The invention thus conceived is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the inventive concept. Furthermore, all the detailed components can be replaced by technically equivalent elements.

The invention in question is susceptible of industrial application since the individual components described are part of the state of the art.

Claims (1)

CLAIMS 1] Shopping trolley [1] with a structure similar to those currently in use in self-service distribution systems and equipped with computerized equipment that involves the use of a bar code reader [2], a band deactivation system magnetic fields [3] and relative magnetic field sensor [4], an anti-shoplifting antenna system [5], a dialogue interface with the user [6] containing a display [6a] and a keyboard [6b] and a proximity of products [7]. The aforementioned system is managed by a microprocessor [8] suitably programmed and equipped with adequate user memory and program memory [9] and connected with acoustic [10] and optical [10a] indicators and with an interface for data loading and downloading [11 ]. The entire system is powered by transportable batteries [12]. The equipment is characterized by the fact that it allows the determination and control, by means of appropriate registration operations, of the total cost of the objects purchased and at the same time automates the subsequent payment operations at the cashiers. The equipment allows to check the correspondence between the objects introduced in the trolley and those registered, eliminating the risk of fraud against the distributor. The products that can be managed with the present invention have, in addition to the normal bar code [13], a magnetic band that can be deactivated [14] and an additional bar code [13a] applied to the product in a non-removable manner. 2] Trolley according to claim 1 according to which the aforesaid or other technically equivalent apparatuses are displaced in different reciprocal positions or have other dimensions. 3] Trolley according to claim 1 in which the deactivation system is such that by geometry and / or composition it guarantees the contemporaneity of the operations of reading the codes and deactivating the magnetic strip. 4] Trolley according to claim 1 in which the reading and deactivation operations take place by approaching the product to the reader-deactivator. 5] Trolley according to claim 1 in which the reading and deactivation operations take place by approaching the reader-deactivator to the product. 6] Trolley according to claim 1 in which the deactivation of the magnetic strip takes place by application of a deactivating magnetic field and / or shielding and / or superimposition of the effects or other technically equivalent. 7] Trolley according to claim 1 wherein the whole apparatus is rigidly connected with the structural part. 8] Trolley according to claim 1 in which there is at least the deactivation system [3], the bar code reader [2], the battery [12], the interface [11] and an electronic management system. 9] Trolley according to the preceding claims in which the anti-shoplifting antennas [5] are integrated in the supporting structure of the trolley and are electrically connected with the other parts of the apparatus. 10] Trolley according to the preceding claims in which the anti-shoplifting antennas [5] are positioned in any one of the sides of the trolley. 11] Trolley according to the preceding claims in which the set of parts is integrated in a single container which is removable and transportable manually. 12] Trolley according to the preceding claims in which the anti-shoplifting antennas [5] are integrated into the trolley structure and the remaining devices are removable and transportable manually. 13] Trolley according to the preceding claims powered by a removable battery. 14] Trolley according to the preceding claims in which the part containing the bar code reader [2] and the magnetic strip deactivation system [3] can be separated from the remaining equipment. 15] Trolley according to the preceding claims capable of communicating the data collected to the payment system through an interface that uses cable connection or infrared ray methods or magnetic cards or radio frequency transponders or other technically equivalent ones.