Patent ID: 7720710

Claim:
A self-service checkout system comprising: a common checkout platform shared by at least two checkout stations arranged on opposite sides of the common checkout platform each checkout station associated with a checkout lane; and checkout components including unshared components at each of the checkout stations and a shared component available for use by customers at more than one of the checkout stations, the unshared components comprising a touch display and a bar code scanner and the shared component comprising a cash dispenser; and a computer for monitoring transactions being carried out at the at least two checkout stations, the computer being operative to identify that the shared component is required in a first transaction being carried out at a first checkout station, to determine if the shared component is already in use in connection with another transaction at a second checkout station and to interrupt the first transaction until the shared component is available; and wherein the computer receives a component busy signal from the shared checkout component and does not resume the first transaction until the computer receives a component ready signal from the shared checkout component.