JP2024162763A - Accounting Systems and Programs - Google Patents

Abstract

To prevent intrusion of privacy of a customer without limiting a write area of information concerning privacy.SOLUTION: A payment system S includes a wireless tag T, a switching unit 25, and a wireless tag detection unit 30. The wireless tag T can switch whether reading of the wireless tag is allowed in response to a switching signal that switches whether reading of the wireless tag is allowed, and is attached to a commodity with previously stored commodity information. The wireless tag detection unit 30 transmits a detection signal when detecting the wireless tag T by reading the wireless tag T. The payment system S disables reading of the wireless tag T of a commodity for which payment has been made, thereby restricting detection of the wireless tag T of the commodity for which payment has been made, by the wireless tag detection unit 30.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

Application for application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act has been filed. Exhibition date: October 26-28, 2022 Exhibition name: Brand Supporter Exhibition 2022 "GO GLOBAL"

The present invention relates to an accounting system and an accounting program.

Conventionally, there are accounting systems that use wireless tags, as disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2. Wireless tags include standardized RFID (radio frequency identification) tags such as EPC GEN2 (EPCglobal Class1 Generation2).

This wireless tag has four memory areas: a user area "USER", a tag ID area "TID", an EPC area "EPC", and a reserved area "RESERVED". EPC is an abbreviation for Electronic Product Code, an internationally standardized GS1 identification code written to RFID tags. In the case of the wireless tag of Patent Document 1, any user data is stored in the user area, tag identification information that does not overlap with other RFID tags is stored in the tag ID area during the manufacturing stage of the wireless tag, and code information indicating that it is a discount tag along with a product code is stored in the EPC area. An arbitrary access password is stored in the reserved area. Of the memory areas, the user area and reserved area can be read and written using the access password stored in the reserved area, and the EPC area can be written using the access password. Note that writing to the tag ID area is restricted when the RFID inlet is manufactured.

The system disclosed in Patent Document 2 includes a POS (Point Of Sales) terminal, a wireless tag reader/writer that communicates with the POS terminal, a wireless tag reader installed at the entrance and exit, and an alarm device. In this system, a wireless tag is attached to a product, and stores the product information (product ID) in the user area and the tag identification information in the tag ID area. The wireless tag does not store a password before the transaction, and the password is written by the wireless tag reader/writer after the transaction is made at the POS terminal. Once the password is written to the wireless tag, it can still be read in the tag ID area, but the user area is set so that it cannot be read unless the password is entered. In this way, the system in Patent Document 2 restricts the reading of product information from the wireless tags of products that have already been purchased, thereby preventing others from reading product information purchased by the customer and thereby preventing violation of the customer's privacy.

In addition, in the system of Patent Document 2, a wireless tag reader installed at the entrance detects wireless tags passing through the entrance by reading the tag information, and is configured to read the product information from the wireless tag. Then, when the wireless tag reader is able to read the product information from the wireless tag, that is, when it detects the wireless tag of a product that has not yet been checked out, it transmits this information to an alarm device. When the alarm device receives information that the wireless tag of a product that has not yet been checked out has been detected, it issues an alarm. In this way, in a security solution using a conventional checkout system, a wireless tag reader installed at the entrance first detects a wireless tag, then determines whether or not it is a wireless tag attached to a product that has already been checked out, and the alarm device issues an alarm based on the result of this determination.

However, in conventional security solutions, the wireless tag reader at the entrance must determine whether the wireless tag is attached to an item that has already been purchased, based on the operation of the accounting system. Therefore, the wireless tag reader at the entrance is dedicated to a specific accounting system and cannot be used for general purposes.

In addition, in the accounting system of Patent Document 2, in order to prevent privacy violations, information relating to privacy is written only to a user area where reading can be restricted, which is undesirable as it limits the area in which information relating to privacy can be written.

JP 2012-108603 A JP 2009-187491 A

The problem that this invention aims to solve is to provide an accounting system that can prevent violation of customer privacy without limiting the area in which privacy-related information can be written on a wireless tag.

In order to solve the above problems, the accounting system according to the present invention comprises:
a wireless tag capable of switching whether or not the wireless tag can be read by a switching signal for switching whether or not the wireless tag can be read, the wireless tag storing product information in advance and attached to a product;
A switching unit that transmits a switching signal;
The wireless tag detection unit is configured to detect the wireless tag by reading the wireless tag, and transmits a detection signal when the wireless tag is detected.
The switching unit renders the wireless tags of the purchased products unreadable, thereby restricting the wireless tag detection unit from detecting the wireless tags of the purchased products.

The accounting system preferably includes:
a password generating unit that generates a payment-completed password for each wireless tag of each product based on predetermined information and predetermined rules;
The wireless tag has a password storage area for storing a password, and is configured to switch whether or not the wireless tag can be read by a switching signal including the stored password, and also stores an unaccounted-for password before a transaction is made;
The switching unit transmits a switching signal including an unaccounted password to the wireless tag of the product to restrict reading of the wireless tag, and also transmits the generated accounted password to the wireless tag, changing the unaccounted password stored in the wireless tag to the accounted password.

The accounting system preferably includes:
An input unit for receiving input of predetermined information is further provided,
The predetermined information includes customer information and/or product information.

The accounting system preferably includes:
When a product is returned after a transaction, a switching unit transmits a switching signal including a transaction-completed password corresponding to the wireless tag of the product to the wireless tag to release the read restriction of the wireless tag, and also transmits an untransactioned password to the wireless tag to change the transaction-completed password stored in the wireless tag to the untransactioned password.

The accounting system preferably includes:
Further comprising an alarm device that emits sound and/or light,
The wireless tag detector transmits a detection signal to the alarm device, and upon receiving the detection signal, the alarm device emits sound and/or light.

In order to solve the above problems, the accounting program according to the present invention comprises:
An accounting program for use in an accounting system that uses wireless tags attached to products,
The wireless tag stores product information in advance and is capable of switching whether or not the wireless tag can be read by a switching signal that switches whether or not the wireless tag can be read,
The accounting system is
a computer having a storage device and a processor;
A communication device that communicates with the wireless tag,
The wireless tag has a password storage area for storing a password, and is configured to switch whether or not the wireless tag can be read by a switching signal including the stored password, and also stores an unaccounted-for password before a transaction is made;
The storage device prestores predetermined rules for generating a completed-account password, a non-account password, and an accounting program.
The accounting program is
generating an accounted password based on predetermined rules;
The communication device is made to transmit a switching signal including an unaccounted password to restrict reading of the wireless tag, and is also made to transmit the generated accounted password to the wireless tag to change the unaccounted password stored in the wireless tag to the accounted password.

The accounting system of the present invention prevents violation of customer privacy by making the wireless tags of items that have been paid for unreadable, so it is possible to prevent violation of customer privacy without limiting the area in which information relating to privacy can be written.

1 is a diagram showing an overview of an accounting system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a memory area of a wireless tag. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the hardware configuration of an accounting device and a gate. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the accounting system. FIG. 13 is a flow diagram showing accounting processing. FIG. 11 is a flow diagram showing a notification process. FIG. 13 is a flow diagram showing a return processing.

Below, an embodiment of the accounting system and accounting program of the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings.

Figure 1 is a diagram showing an overview of the accounting system S according to this embodiment. As shown in Figure 1, the accounting system S includes a radio tag T, a data server 1, an accounting device 2, and a gate 3. In the accounting system S, a radio tag T is attached to each product M, and the product M is checked out by the accounting device 2. The gate 3 is configured to detect and report the radio tag T attached to an unchecked product M. Each component of the accounting system S will be described below.

<Wireless tag>
The wireless tag T is an RFID tag, and as shown in FIG. 2, has four memory areas, namely, a TID area Ta, an EPC area Tb, a USER area Tc, and a RESERVED area Td. The TID area Ta stores a tag ID, and the EPC area Tb stores an SGTIN (Serialized GTIN), i.e., a GTIN used in the GS1 code with a unique number added. The GTIN corresponds to the "product information" of the present invention. The USER area Tc stores any user data. The RESERVED area Td stores a password A in advance. The RESERVED area Td corresponds to the "password storage area" of the present invention, and the password A corresponds to the "non-account password" of the present invention.

The wireless tag T is configured so that it can be switched between wireless tag reading and non-reading by a switching signal that switches between wireless tag reading and non-reading. Hereinafter, the state in which reading of the wireless tag T is restricted is referred to as "protected mode." The switching signal includes a password, and this password corresponds to the password stored in the RESERVED area Td.

<Data Server>
The data server 1 is a so-called server computer, and is configured to be able to communicate with the accounting device 2 via wired or wireless communication. The data server 1 stores the product name, type of product M, and price of product M corresponding to the GTIN of each product M. The data server 1 also stores information related to accounting and return processing.

<Accounting device>
As shown in FIG. 3, the accounting device 2 has a communication device 2a, a computer 2b, a display device 2c, and an input device 2d.

The communication device 2a is capable of reading and writing to the wireless tag T and is configured with a publicly known wireless tag reader/writer.

Computer 2b has a storage device and a calculation device, the storage device stores an accounting program according to the present invention, and the calculation device operates based on the accounting program.

The display device 2c is configured with a display and displays information processed by the accounting device 2. The display device 2c may be configured with two displays to display information to both the store clerk side and the customer side, or may be configured with only one display, like a self-checkout.

The input device 2d includes a touch display and a barcode reader, but these are merely examples, and may include a keyboard instead of a touch display, or may not include a barcode reader. The configuration of the input device 2d is not particularly limited. The barcode reader is configured to be capable of reading two-dimensional and/or three-dimensional barcodes.

Figure 4 is a functional block diagram of the accounting system S. As shown in Figure 4, the accounting device 2 has a memory unit 20, a reading unit 21, an accounting processing unit 22, a display unit 23, a password generation unit 24, a switching unit 25, and an input unit 26.

The memory unit 20 stores a password A and a password generation rule (hereinafter simply referred to as the "generation rule") for generating a password Bn. The password A is a password used when switching the RFID tag T to a protected mode, and is pre-stored in all the RFID tags T. The generation rule is a rule that is pre-defined for generating the password Bn, which will be described later.

The reading unit 21 reads the product information (SGTIN) stored in the wireless tag T. The read product information is sent to the accounting processing unit 22 and the password generation unit 24. The reading unit 21 may read multiple wireless tags T at once. The product information of the wireless tag T includes a serial number unique to each wireless tag T, and the reading unit 21 recognizes each serial number to prevent the same wireless tag T from being read multiple times.

The accounting processing unit 22 transmits the received GTIN to the data server 1 and receives product information corresponding to the transmitted GTIN from the data server 1. The accounting processing unit 22 then performs accounting based on the received product information and transmits the product information and the processed information to the data server 1 and the display unit 23.

The display unit 23 displays the received information on the display device 2c.

The password generation unit 24 generates a password Bn for each RFID tag T based on the generation rules and the received GTIN. The password Bn corresponds to the "accounted password" of the present invention. The generation rules are configured to capture product information stored in the RFID tag T and generate a password Bn corresponding to each product M. Therefore, the password generation unit 24 generates the same password Bn for the RFID tag T attached to the same product M. The generated password Bn is sent to the switching unit 25. Note that this generation rule is merely an example, and the password generation unit 24 may, for example, capture a portion of the GTIN to generate the password Bn. The "product information" of the "predetermined information" of the present invention also includes a portion of the product information, such as a portion of the GTIN.

The switching unit 25 transmits a switching signal including the password A and the generated password Bn to the RFID tag T corresponding to the password Bn, switching the RFID tag T to the protected mode and rewriting the password stored in the RFID tag T from password A to password Bn.

By making the RFID tags T of purchased products M unreadable, the accounting system S prevents invasion of customer privacy by others reading the RFID tags T of purchased products M. As a result, the accounting system S can prevent invasion of customer privacy without limiting the area in which information related to privacy can be written.

The input unit 26 accepts information entered by the input device 2d when returning goods. The input unit 26 transmits the entered information to the accounting processing unit 22 and the password generation unit 24.

Figure 5 is a flow diagram showing the above-mentioned accounting process. As shown in Figure 5, (1) when a product M is moved to the accounting device 2 (S (step) 51 in Figure 5), the accounting system S reads the GTIN stored in the wireless tag T attached to the product M by the reading unit 21 (S52 in Figure 5).

(2) Next, the accounting system S receives the product information related to this RFID tag T from the data server 1 via the accounting processing unit 22 (S53 in FIG. 5) and performs accounting processing (S54 in FIG. 5). The accounting system S then displays the processed information on the display device 2c (S55 in FIG. 5).

(3) In parallel, the accounting system S generates a password Bn using the password generation unit 24 (S56 in FIG. 5), sends a switching signal to the RF tag T using the switching unit 25 to set the RF tag T to the protected mode (S57 in FIG. 5), and switches the password stored in the RF tag T from password A to password Bn (S58 in FIG. 5).

This allows the accounting system S to perform accounting processing for all products M in one place, while also preventing violation of customer privacy related to the wireless tags T attached to all products M in one place.

<Gate>
1 and 3, the gate 3 has two upright plate-like members 3a, and a wireless tag detection unit 30 and an alarm device 31 provided on the plate-like members 3a. However, this is merely an example, and the gate 3 does not have to have the plate-like members 3a, and the alarm device 31 does not have to be provided on the plate-like members 3a. The wireless tag detection unit 30 may be provided, for example, at the top of an entrance/exit. The gate 3 may be provided, for example, at the entrance/exit of a store or at the exit of an area where transaction processing is performed. Below, the operation of each component of the gate 3 will be described with reference to FIG. 6.

The wireless tag detection unit 30 is composed of a known wireless tag reader, and the notification device 31 is composed of a speaker and a light. The speaker and the light do not need to be provided in the same position; for example, only the speaker or the light may be provided on the plate-shaped member 3a.

The wireless tag detection unit 30 is configured to detect a wireless tag T by reading memory information of the wireless tag T passing between two plate-like members 3a. When the wireless tag detection unit 30 detects a wireless tag T passing between the plate-like members 3a (S61 in FIG. 6) (Yes in S62 in FIG. 6), it transmits a detection signal to the alarm device 31 (S63 in FIG. 6). The memory information of the wireless tag T read by the wireless tag T is not particularly limited. In other words, the wireless tag detection unit 30 according to the present invention can reuse a wireless tag detection device (wireless tag reader) used in a conventional security system without making any particular changes to its configuration.

When the notification device 31 receives the detection signal, it emits a sound from the speaker and a light from the light (S64 in FIG. 6). In this way, the notification device 31 notifies the customer, store clerks, and security guards that unpaid product M has passed through gate 3.

Since the wireless tag T attached to the purchased product M is switched to the protection mode, the wireless tag detection unit 30 cannot detect the wireless tag T attached to the purchased product M (No in S62 in FIG. 6). Therefore, the alarm device 31 does not emit light or sound to the wireless tag T attached to the purchased product M.

<Returns Processing>
Next, with reference to FIG. 7, a process performed by the accounting device 2 when a purchased item M is returned for some reason will be described.

(1) When product M is returned (S71 in FIG. 7), the accounting system S inputs product information (GTIN) related to the returned product M and accounting information related to the product M via the input device 2d (S72 in FIG. 7).

(2) The accounting system S sends the GTIN and accounting information entered by the input unit 26 to the accounting processing unit 22 and the password generation unit 24 (S73 in FIG. 7). The GTIN for the returned product M may be obtained from the barcode attached to the product M, and the accounting information for the returned product M may be obtained from information written on a receipt, for example.

(3) Next, the accounting system S receives product information related to the input GTIN from the data server 1 via the accounting processing unit 22, and processes the return based on the received product information (S74 in FIG. 7).

(4) Next, the accounting system S generates a password Bn using the password generation unit 24 based on the generation rules and the received GTIN (S75 in FIG. 7), and transmits the generated password Bn to the switching unit 25.

(5) Next, the accounting system S sends a switching signal including the received password Bn and password A to the wireless tag T corresponding to the returned product M via the switching unit 25 to release the protection mode (S76 in FIG. 7), and also rewrites the password stored in the wireless tag T from password Bn to password A (S77 in FIG. 7).

(6) Next, the accounting system S causes the display unit 23 to display the processed information on the display device 2c (S78 in FIG. 7).

This allows this RFID tag T to be reused in the same way as other RFID tags T. Furthermore, by rewriting the password A to password Bn when setting the protection mode, the accounting system S can prevent the protection mode of the RFID tag T of a product M that is not eligible for return from being turned off when the product is returned.

By being configured as described above, the accounting system S can prevent any infringement of a customer's privacy without limiting the area in which privacy-related information can be written on the wireless tag T, since the information on the wireless tag T cannot be read after the transaction has been completed. Furthermore, by making the wireless tag T attached to the product M after transaction unreadable, the accounting system S can also prevent malfunctions of security gates at other stores by making it impossible to detect the wireless tag T by security gates at other stores.

Furthermore, when the accounting system S passes through the gate 3 and carries the product M with the RFID tag T attached into the store, the accounting system S can carry the product M into the store without activating the alarm function of the gate 3 by setting the RFID tag T to protection mode in advance. Then, after the product M has been carried into the store, the accounting system S may release the protection mode of multiple RFID tags T all at once by using a switching signal including the password A.

Although one embodiment of the accounting system and accounting program of the present invention has been described above, the accounting system and accounting program of the present invention are not limited to the above embodiment. For example, the accounting system and accounting program of the present invention may be implemented in the following modified examples or a combination of each modified example.

<Modification>
The accounting system S according to the present invention does not use the memory of the user area of the RFID tag T, so the RFID tag T related to the accounting system S does not need to have a user area.

- During accounting processing, the accounting system S may obtain the price of the product M by importing information from a barcode read by a barcode reader, or by inputting the price tag attached to the product M via a keyboard and importing that information.

- For example, the accounting system S may not generate a password Bn, and may simply be operated using password A. In this case, the accounting system S does not have a password generation unit 24, does not rewrite the password of the RFID tag T when setting the protected mode, and when canceling the protected mode, cancels the protected mode using a switching signal including password A. In this case, the accounting system S may not have an input unit 26.

- The order of accounting processing in the accounting system S and setting the protection mode of the RFID tags T is not particularly limited. For example, when accounting for multiple products M, the accounting system S may set the protection mode of the RFID tags T for each product as it processes the products one by one. Alternatively, the accounting system S may set the RFID tags T to protection mode after the accounting processing is completed. In this case, the accounting system S may be configured separately as a so-called cash register and a RFID tag reader/writer.

- The password generation rules are not limited to the above embodiment. For example, the password generation unit 24 may generate the password Bn by incorporating all or any of the date and time of the transaction, the customer's membership number, the customer's date of birth, and the tag ID. In this case, the accounting system S may further include a reader for reading the information. The accounting system S may also be configured to incorporate information that is not printed on the receipt to generate the password Bn, and by having the customer provide the information verbally or by presenting a membership card when returning the product, it is possible to prevent the return of counterfeit products M.

If the password generation rule is, for example, a rule that generates password Bn using customer information rather than product information, return processing by accounting system S may be implemented, for example, as follows: (1) when product M is returned, accounting system S (2) receives customer information and generates password Bn. Next, accounting system S (3) releases protection mode using password Bn and reads product information (SGTIN) stored in wireless tag T. Next, accounting system S (4) processes the return based on the read product information, and (5) next rewrites the password of the wireless tag T related to the return from password A to password Bn.

- The wireless tag T in the accounting system S may have a conventional function of restricting, for example, reading and writing to only a portion of the memory area. The wireless tag T may also have a so-called kill mode in which there is no response from the wireless tag reader/writer at all. In these cases, the access password and kill password used for these functions of the wireless tag T may be the same as password A.

- The accounting system S may have a function to temporarily read the RF tag T when the RF tag T is in a protected mode, for example. That is, the accounting system S may have a function to send a special command including the password Bn to the RF tag T to release the protected mode, read the information in the RF tag T, and then send another special command including the password Bn to reset the protected mode using the password Bn again.

S accounting system T wireless tag M product 1 data server 2 accounting device 2a communication device 2b computer 2c display device 2d input device 20 memory unit 21 reading unit 22 accounting processing unit 23 display unit 24 password generation unit 25 switching unit 26 input unit 3 gate 3a plate-shaped member 30 wireless tag detection unit 31 notification device

Claims (6)

A wireless tag capable of switching whether or not a wireless tag can be read by a switching signal for switching whether or not a wireless tag can be read, the wireless tag storing product information in advance and attached to a product;
A switching unit that transmits a switching signal;
a wireless tag detection unit configured to detect the wireless tag by reading the wireless tag and transmit a detection signal when the wireless tag is detected;
The accounting system restricts detection of the wireless tags of the paid-for products by the wireless tag detection unit by making the wireless tags of the paid-for products unreadable using the switching unit. a password generating unit that generates a payment-completed password for each of the wireless tags of each product based on predetermined information and predetermined rules;
the wireless tag has a password storage area for storing a password, and is configured to switch whether or not the wireless tag can be read by the switching signal including the stored password, and a non-accounting password is stored in advance before a transaction is made;
The accounting system described in claim 1, wherein the switching unit transmits the switching signal including the unaccounted password to the wireless tag of the product to restrict reading of the wireless tag, and transmits the generated paid password to the wireless tag and changes the unaccounted password stored in the wireless tag to the paid password. An input unit that receives input of the predetermined information,
The accounting system according to claim 2 , wherein the predetermined information includes customer information and/or product information. The accounting system according to claim 3, wherein, when a product is returned after a transaction, the switching unit transmits the switching signal including the transaction-completed password corresponding to the wireless tag of the product to the wireless tag to release the read restriction of the wireless tag, and transmits the non-transactional password to the wireless tag to change the transaction-completed password stored in the wireless tag to the non-transactional password. Further comprising an alarm device that emits sound and/or light,
The wireless tag detection unit transmits the detection signal to the notification device,
The accounting system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the alarm device emits sound and/or light upon receiving the detection signal. An accounting program for use in an accounting system that uses wireless tags attached to products,
The wireless tag stores product information in advance, and a switching signal for switching whether or not the wireless tag can be read is used to switch whether or not the wireless tag can be read. The accounting system includes:
a computer having a storage device and a processor;
a communication device that communicates with the wireless tag,
the wireless tag has a password storage area for storing a password, and is configured to switch whether or not the wireless tag can be read by the switching signal including the stored password, and a non-accounting password is stored in advance before a transaction is made;
The storage device prestores predetermined rules for generating a paid password, the unpaid password, and the payment program,
The accounting program is installed on the computer.
generating the accounted password based on the predetermined rules;
An accounting program that causes the communication device to transmit the switching signal including the unaccounted password to restrict the reading of the wireless tag, and also causes the communication device to transmit the generated accounted password to the wireless tag, thereby changing the unaccounted password stored in the wireless tag to the accounted password.

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