Registers – Coded record sensors – Particular sensor structure
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-31
2004-04-13
Lee, Diane I. (Department: 2876)
Registers
Coded record sensors
Particular sensor structure
C235S383000, C705S022000, C705S028000, C340S572100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06719202
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a commodity information management system such as a POS (Point Of Sale) system for clearing and performing commodity management by reading a barcode attached to the commodity and, more particularly, to a commodity information management system, which performs security management by using a tag attached to a commodity.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a POS system which reads a barcode attached to each of the commodities has been installed into different kinds of stores, such as book stores, convenience stores, music software stores, etc., in order to systematize the commodity management, reduce the time for clearing, and save labor or the like. As security measures against, for example, shoplifting, plainclothes watchmen are employed to watch the customers inside the store or the customers are monitored using a video camera. However, it is known that shoplifting cannot be totally prevented even though such measures are taken, and so it may be said that the security is not fool proof.
Under the circumstances as described above, a security measure is currently becoming popular in which security tags, for example, activated tags are attached to each of the commodities in the store and the POS system is provided with a built-in deactivator for deactivating each of the tags at the cash counter. Further, an alarm unit having a magnetic field detector is installed at the exit of the store, and when the alarm unit detects the magnetic field of the tag it considers the case as a shoplifting and provides an alarm.
FIG. 5
is a block diagram schematically showing an electric configuration of a POS system based on conventional technology. In the figure, a commodity
1
on display in a store is taken to the cash counter (not shown in the figure) when a customer wants to buy the commodity. A barcode
2
is attached to the commodity
1
and comprises a plurality of alternately provided black and white bars. This barcode
2
indicates codes such as a commodity maker code and a commodity item code.
A security tag
3
made of magnetic material and having a shape of a thin plate is attached to the commodity
1
in the same manner as that of the barcode
2
. This security tag
3
is an activated state while the commodity
1
is on display and is used for the security measure of the store. A scanner
4
is provided in the cash counter and comprises a reading section
5
, a control section
6
, and an I/F section
7
. The reading section
5
optically reads the barcode
2
attached to the commodity
1
to be bought and outputs a result to the control section
6
as barcode data D
b
, and also outputs a reading-completion signal S
1
to the control section
6
when the reading of the barcode
2
is completed.
The control section
6
provides controls for each section of the device and performs processing such as calculating the amount of money to be paid for the commodity
1
according to the barcode data D
b
, displaying the amount on a display section (not shown), outputting a receipt from a printer (not shown), and outputting the data generated at the time of clearing to a host terminal (not shown) as data related to the commodity from a particular store. The I/F section
7
is an interface between the control section
6
and an external device.
A deactivator
8
is provided near the scanner
4
and comprises a control section
9
and a deactivating section
10
. The control section
9
provides controls for driving the deactivating section
10
. The deactivating section
10
deactivates the security tag
3
on the same principle as that of an eraser head of a tape recorder when the security tag
3
is brought near it. More specifically, the deactivating section
10
comprises a coil (not shown) and a bias oscillator (not shown) for supplying a high frequency current to the coil, and applies a strong AC magnetic field generated by the coil to the security tag
3
. Herein the AC magnetic field is strong enough to activate the security tag
3
to saturation. A alarm unit (not shown) is located at the exit of the store in which this POS system is installed for giving an alarm when it detects the magnetic field of the security tag
3
.
Next, the operation of the POS system based on the conventional technology is described. When a customer brings a desired commodity
1
to the cash counter, an operator (or a cashier) swings the commodity
1
from the reading section
5
(upstream side) to the deactivating section
10
(downstream side) to clear the commodity. During this swing, when the barcode
2
comes near the reading section
5
it is optically read by the reading section
5
and barcode data D
b
indicating codes, such as a commodity item code, is outputted to the control section
6
.
At this time, the deactivating section
10
is driven by the control section
9
. When the security tag
3
comes near the deactivating section
10
, the AC magnetic field generated by the deactivating section
10
is applied to the security tag
3
. Because of this AC magnetic field the magnetic field of the security tag
3
converges to zero after reaching a saturation point on the hysteresis for the tag and the security tag
3
is deactivated. Herein, the state where the security tag
3
is deactivated is referred to as a state where the security is released.
When payment is completed, commodity
1
with the security tag
3
whose security has been released is handed over to the customer, and then the customer goes out of the store through the exit. The alarm unit located at the exit does not issue any alarm because it can not detect the magnetic field of the security tag
3
. Namely, this customer is considered as an ordinary customer who has paid for the commodity
1
.
In order to explain an example of a case where a commodity
1
is shoplifted, when a shoplifter having the commodity
1
with the security tag
3
which is not deactivated tries to pass through the exit along with the commodity, the alarm unit detects the magnetic field of the security tag
3
. Herein, a state where the security tag
3
is not deactivated is referred to as a state where the security is not released. When the alarm unit detects the magnetic field of the security tag
3
it considers that a shoplifter is about to go out of the store and gives an alarm.
In the conventional type of POS system, the security is released by deactivating the security tag
3
with the deactivating section
10
, but the operator has no way of understanding whether the security is perfectly released or not because it is impossible to visually check the deactivated state of the security tag
3
. Under such circumstances, in the conventional type of POS system, if there is a little more distance between the deactivating section
10
and the security tag
3
when the security tag
3
is passed over deactivating section
10
, the AC magnetic field generated by the deactivating section
10
cannot deactivate the magnetic field of the security tag
3
.
In such a case the security tag
3
is still activated, commodity
1
with the security tag
3
whose security has not been released is handed over to the ordinary customer who has paid for it. When this customer is about to pass through the exit of the store, the alarm unit located at the exit detects the magnetic field of the security tag
3
, the customer is regarded as a shoplifter despite the fact that the customer has paid for it, and an alarm is given which makes the ordinary customer feel displeased.
Accordingly, in the conventional type of POS system, when the case described above occurs, the commodity
1
and the security cannot be managed for a while and the quality of commodity management as well as of security management is degraded.
Also, when the case as described above happens, the ordinary customer regarded as a shoplifter has to go all the way back to the cash counter and tell that payment has been properly made to the operator, and then hand over the commodity
1
again to the operator to hav
Iwaguchi Isao
Kawai Hiroaki
Watanabe Mitsuo
Yamazaki Kozo
Fujitsu Limited
Lee Diane I.
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