Patent ID: 7648067

Claim:
A POS system for processing transaction information including purchased product information, the POS system comprising: an input device for entering transaction information; a display for displaying display data including at least a portion of the transaction information; a printer for printing print data including at least a portion of the transaction information; a POS terminal for acquiring or receiving data including transaction information from the input device, calculating a purchase total, and generating and outputting at least a portion of the display data and at least a portion of the print data; and an input/output control unit in communication with the POS terminal and at least one of the input device, the display and the printer, the input/output control unit comprising: a plurality of input ports, at least one of which is configured to receive data from the POS terminal, and at least one of which is configured to receive data from at least one other device in communication with the input/output control unit, an identification unit for detecting whether data received through at least one of the plurality of input ports meets a specific identification criterion, a processing procedure memory for storing a processing procedure for executing a first process when the data received through the at least one of the plurality of input ports does not meet the specific identification process, and for executing a second process when the data received through the at least one of the plurality of input ports meets the specific identification criterion, a data processing unit for processing received data and outputting all or a portion of the received data to at least one of the printer or the display based on whether the received data meets the specific identification criterion, an identification criteria storage unit for storing identification criteria, each criterion being stored in relation to the input port or ports to which that criterion applies, and a data storage unit for storing data received through the input ports; wherein the input/output control unit further includes, or is configured to communicate with, at least one function-adding component configured to provide a functional application to the POS terminal.