CHECKOUT COUNTER SYSTEM

Abstract: A checkout counter (24) includes an optical scanning system mounted therein and includes a cover member posi­ tioned in the top surface of the counter having an aperture (56) through which the scanning system will scan a coded label on a merchandise item (62) positioned adjacent to the aperture. A support member (34) mounted on a rail member (20) att­ ached to the checkout counter (24) adjacent the aperture (56) supports a writing pad (36), a keyboard (38), a display (40) and a card reader (44) enabling a customer to conveniently observe the price of the item being scanned, and the amount of money due for the purchased items, when writing a check for the amount due, or when using a credit card or a debit card to pay for the purchased merchandise items (62) in response to information displayed in the display (40).

Description: Technical Field This invention relates to checkout counter systems of the kind including: a checkout counter having a supporting surface for supporting purchased merchandise items; an aperture in said supporting surface; and an optical scanner mounted in said checkout counter adjacent said aperture and adapted to project scanning light beams through said aperture for reading coded labels on a merchandise item positioned adjacent said aperture. Background Art Presently known checkout systems include a point of sale terminal device positioned adjacent a checkout counter which includes an optical scanning system for scanning a coded label on a merchandise item positioned adjacent the optical scanning system and for generating signals representing data pertaining to the cost of the purchased item. The price of the purchased item is displayed in either the display portion of the data terminal device or in a remote display member mounted on top of the data terminal device which can be observed by both the customer and the checkout operator. It has been found that one of the events which controls the speed of the checkout operation is the time involved for the customer to write a check to pay for the purchased merchandise items or to use a credit card to pay for such items. Disclosure of the Invention It is an object of the present invention to provide a checkout counter system of the kind specified which is capable of enhancing the speed of checkout operations. Therefore, according to the present invention, there is provided a checkout counter system of the kind specified, characterized by: a support member mounted on a front edge of said checkout counter adjacent said aperture and having an elongated horizontal surface adapted to support a checkbook; and a display means extending along a rear edge of said horizontal surface and inclined at an angle to said horizontal surface so as to display data pertaining to the purchase price of the merchandise item being scanned and the total amount due for a plurality of purchased merchandise items, thereby enabling a customer to view said total amount due while writing a check using said horizontal surface of said support member. It will be appreciated that the provision of a support member having an elongated horizontal surface and an angled display adjacent thereto facilitates the writing of a check by a customer and improves overall checkout speed. A further advantage of a checkout counter system according to the invention is that the location of the display means adjacent the scanning aperture facilitates the correlation by the customer of the price displayed with the particular merchandise item currently being scanned. Brief Description of the Drawings One embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a checkout counter showing the writing pad support structure of the present invention mounted on a rail portion of the checkout counter; Fig. 2 is a side view of the writing pad structure showing details of its attachment to the rail member of the checkout counter; Fig. 3 is a block diagram of the checkout system of the present invention; and Fig. 4 is a top view of a checkout station showing the location of the writing pad structure with respect to the aperture of the optical scanning system in the checkout counter together with the location of the data terminal device associated with the checkout operation. Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention Referring now to Figs. 1, 2 and 4, there is shown a portion of a checkout counter which includes an outer rail member 20 extending a predetermined distance above the top supporting surface 22 (Fig. 2) of the checkout counter generally indicated by the numeral 24 (Fig. 4). Secured to an inner wall 28 (Fig. 2) of the rail member 20 by means of screw members 30 is the depending finger portion 32 of a writing pad support member generally indicated by the numeral 34. As best seen in Fig. 1, the writing pad support member 34 include a horizontal surface 36, a portion of which comprises a supporting area on which a customer can position a checkbook for writing a check. At the other end of the surface 36 is located a twelve key keyboard member 38 which is used by the customer to enter a personal identification number (PIN) used to debit the customer's bank account as payment for the purchased merchandise items. Mounted at an angle of 20 degrees to the surface 36 and extending along the rear edge of the surface is a display member 40 which will display the price of the item being scanned by an optical scanner 42 mounted in the checkout counter 24 (Fig. 4). Reference may be made to U.S. Patent No. 4,093,865 for a complete description of the mounting of a typical bar code scanning system within an enclosed housing such as a checkout counter. The display member 40 will also display the total amount due for the purchased merchandise items and instructions for completing a debit/credit transaction. Extending along the rear edge of the display member 40 is a slot 44 (Figs. 1 and 2) in which the customer will place and move a credit card through, enabling a magnetic stripe or other type of card reader 46 (Fig. 3) located in the support member 34 to read data identifying the customer in a manner that is well known in the art. Referring to Fig. 3, there is shown a block diagram of the checkout system which includes a data terminal device 48 (Fig. 4) coupled over line 49 to a central processor unit (CPU) 50 remotely located from the data terminal device and in which lookup tables containing the price of the purchased merchandise items are normally stored. Coupled over line 51 to the data terminal device 48 is the optical scanner 42 for generating data from reading a coded label on the merchandise item identifying the merchandise item. This data is transmitted to the data terminal device 48 and then to the processor 50 which in turn uses the received data to obtain the price of the merchandise items scanned from the price tables located therein. This price data is then transmitted back to the data terminal device 48 which outputs over line 53 the price data to a terminal display 52 (Fig. 4) normally located on the terminal device 48 and to the remote display member 40 (Figs. 1 and 2) over line 55 located on the support member 34. The data terminal device 48 also is coupled over line 57 to the PIN keyboard member 38 (Fig. 1) and over line 59 to the magnetic stripe reader 46 located within the support member 34. The keyboard member 38, the reader 46 and the optical scanner 42 generate data which is used in processing the purchased merchandise item as part of the checkout operation. The data terminal device 48 also includes a printer 54 (Fig. 4) which prints on a receipt record 70 (Fig. 4) and a journal record (not shown) data pertaining to the checkout operation in a manner that is well known in the art. Referring now to Fig. 4, there is shown a plan view of a checkout station which includes the checkout counter 24 having the rail member 20 extending around the perimeter of the checkout counter and includes the optical scanner 42 and an aperture 56 mounted in the top supporting surface 22 through which scanning light beams from the scanner will scan a coded label on a purchased merchandise item as it moves past the aperture 56. Mounted adjacent the scanner 42 is the writing pad support member 34. As part of the checkout operation, the customer 58 will move the shopping cart 60 containing the purchased merchandise items 62 to a position adjacent the optical scanner 42. The customer then positions the purchased merchandise items 62 onto the surface 22 of the checkout counter 24 enabling the checkout operator 64 to move the merchandise items past the aperture 56 as part of a scanning operation in a manner that is well known in the art. Located adjacent the checkout counter 24 is a stand 66 on which is located the data terminal device 48 (Fig. 3) which includes the display 52, the printer 54 and a keyboard 68 for indexing information into the data terminal device which is not available as a result of scanning the purchased merchandise item by the scanner 42. As each item is scanned by the scanner, the price is displayed in the remote display member 40 on the writing pad support member 34 and also on the display 52 mounted on top of the data terminal device 48. The location of the display member 40 with respect to the aperture 56 enables the customer 58 to correlate the type of merchandise item being scanned by the scanner 42 and its corresponding price which is displayed in the display member 40. At the conclusion of the checkout operation, the amount due for the purchased merchandise items will be displayed in the display members 40 and 52. As a result of displaying the amount due, the customer may either write a check on the writing pad support member 34 for the amount which is displayed in the display member 40 or use a credit card which is inserted in the slot 44 (Figs. 1 and 2) of the support member 34. This enables the reader 46 (Fig. 4) to read the information identifying the customer and to transmit the information to the terminal device 48 which is then transmitted to the processor 50 for checking the validity of the credit card. If the customer has a bank account which can be debited, the customer, in response to instructions displayed on the display 40, will utilize the twelve key keyboard member 38 on the writing pad support member 34 (Fig. 1) to index the customer's personal identification number which again is transmitted to the data terminal device 48 and then to the processor 50 which processes the data. At the conclusion of the checkout operation, the operator 64 will remove a receipt record 70 (Fig. 4) on which is printed the prices of the purchased merchandise items and the total price of the purchase which is then given to the customer. It will be seen that there has been described a writing pad arrangement in association with an optical scanning system which provides a display within a customer's field of view that will enable the customer to view both the item being scanned and the price of the item being charged together with a writing surface on which the customer can write on a checkbook the amount due, which amount is also displayed in the remote display located adjacent the writing surface, without looking up at the display on the terminal device. The writing pad also features a magnetic stripe reader and a PIN keyboard which enables the customer to finalize the checkout operation in accordance with instruction displayed on the remote display in a highly efficient manner.

Claims: 1. A checkout counter system, including: a checkout counter (24) having a supporting surface (22) for supporting purchased merchandise items (62); an aperture (56) in said supporting surface (22); and an optical scanner mounted in said checkout counter (24) adjacent said aperture (56) and adapted to project scanning light beams through said aperture (56) for reading coded labels on a merchandise item (62) positioned adjacent said aperture (56), characterized by: a support member (34) mounted on a front edge of said checkout counter (24) adjacent said aperture (56) and having an elongated horizontal surface (36) adapted to support a checkbook; and a display means (40) extending along a rear edge of said horizontal surface (36) and inclined at an angle to said horizontal surface (36) so as to display data pertaining to the purchase price of the merchandise item (62) being scanned and the total amount due for a plurality of purchased merchandise items (62), thereby enabling a customer to view said total amount due while writing a check using said horizontal surface (36) of said support member (34). 2. A checkout counter system according to claim 1, characterized in that said display means (40) is adapted to display instructions to complete the purchase of said merchandise items (62) and in that said support member (43) further includes a keyboard (38) mounted on a portion of said horizontal surface (36) adjacent said display means (40) enabling said customer to enter identifying data into said keyboard (38) in accordance with said instructions displayed on said display means (40). 3. A checkout counter system according to claim 1, characterized in that said support member (34) further includes a horizontal slot (44) extending along one edge of said support member (34) adjacent the rear of said display means (40) and a card reader (46) mounted within said support member (34) adjacent said horizontal slot (44) and adapted to read a data card moved through said slot (44), said card containing data identifying said customer as part of a debit/credit transaction. 4. A checkout counter system according to claim 1, characterized in that said angle is 20 degrees. 5. A checkout counter system according to claim 1, characterized in that said checkout counter (24) includes an upstanding rail member (20) extending along a peripheral edge of said checkout counter (24) and in that said support member (34) includes a depending arm portion (32) secured to an inside edge (28) of said rail member (20) for locating said support member (34) on a top surface of said rail member (20) adjacent said aperture (56) in said top surface of said checkout counter (24). 6. A checkout counter system according to claim 1, characterized by processing means (48, 50) connected to said display member (40) and said card reader (46) and adapted to generate said data pertaining to the purchase price of said merchandise item (62) purchased by the customer and said total amount due for the purchased merchandise items (62).

Inventors: COLLINS, DONALD, ALEXANDER, JR., MERGENTHALER, BARRY, MYRON
Applicants: NCR CORPORATION
Application year: 1988
Main classification: G07G1
IPC codes: G07F7, A47F9, G06K7, G07G1