JPS60251498A - Electronic cash register installment processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Technical field to which the invention pertains]

The present invention relates to an electronic cash register, and particularly to a type of electronic cash register used in restaurants, hotels, etc., which allows deferred payment or split payment.

[Prior art and its problems]

Electronic cash registers have become widespread in recent years and have become indispensable in mass retail stores, etc., but as their uses have expanded, there has been a demand for ones with various functions suitable for the uses. On the other hand, business practices in retail sales are also changing, as seen in the spread of credit cards, and there is a need for cash registers that are flexible enough to accommodate new forms of payment. . For example, the aforementioned restaurants and hotels have their own customers at their offices, and it is important to provide convenience for customers. In other words, for these customers, it is necessary to promote the use of credit cards by not only paying by credit card but also by providing convenience for deferred payment or payment of part of the price in installments depending on the customer's convenience. Electronic cash registers that can meet such requests have traditionally been capable of deferred payment, and store the sales price in the accounts receivable storage area of the register, allowing customers to make payments or deposits. When there is a problem, the amount of accounts receivable to that customer that was stored can be called up and settled. In other words, this type of cash register is equipped with a verification key for calling up the accounts receivable. For example, by entering the verification number of the customer who is making a payment and pressing this verification key, the amount of accounts receivable stored for each customer can be retrieved. can be called. However, in the case of installment payments where only a portion of the price is paid or settled at the time of sale or after the sale, the functions that the cash register should have become quite complex. One reason for this is, for example, when multiple customers eat together at a restaurant, or when multiple familiar customers are at one table, and accounts receivable decrease. is memorized for each table, but it is not always clear to which specific customer the accounts receivable is, and from then on each customer will receive payment of their share or part of the amount at any time. In such deferred payment and installment payments, if it is not clear when and which sales item was paid, it may cause trouble later.
If you try to store all sales dates, items, and prices in a cash register in preparation for later settlement, you will naturally need a large storage capacity, making the register expensive, and the operation of the register will be correspondingly complicated. It becomes easy to make mistakes in key operations, so there is no point in making the registers more complicated.Also, the program for operating the registers becomes more complex, which increases the memory area of the program and increases the number of operation steps. This increases the amount of time required for data processing in small cash registers. Due to these circumstances, cash registers with deferred payment processing functions have been known for a long time, but cash registers with split payment processing functions have not yet been put into practical use, except in cases where a host computer is provided as a backup. This meant that split payments had to be done separately from the cash register process.

[Purpose of the invention]

Based on the above-mentioned current situation, it is an object of the present invention to develop an electronic cash register installment processing method that allows easy key operations on the cash register, reduces operational errors, and reduces the number of program operation steps. With the goal.

[Key points of the invention]

According to the present invention, this purpose is to provide a sales amount registration means that calculates the sales amount for each sale by inputting a registration key and also calculates and stores a total of the sales amount, and calculates and stores a total of deposit amount by inputting a cash key. An electronic cash register equipped with at least a payment means for making payments in installments is added with a payment payment means that stores information that a portion of the sales will be paid in installments by inputting an installment payment key, and furthermore, the relationship between the various means is defined as payment in installments. When the key is input, the sales amount registration means only calculates the sales amount for each sale based on the memory contents of the split payment means, and the storage in the split payment means is performed only by the operation of the deposit means based on the cash key input. By configuring the register so that its contents can be erased, this is accomplished with little complexity in the register. In the cash register according to the present invention configured as described above, when making a split payment, first input the above-mentioned customer or table reference number, press the verification key, and then press the split key to immediately start the split payment program. When activated, the amount of accounts receivable is retrieved from the accounts receivable storage area and displayed or printed, and the sales amount registration program is placed in a state of split settlement. Next, installment payments can be made by activating the sales amount registration means and payment means using the same key operations as during normal sales, so there is almost no chance of erroneous operation of the register keys. We only calculate the sales amount necessary for liquidation and do not add the liquidation amount to the sales total.Also, when using the deposit method, we add the liquidation amount to the deposit amount total as usual, and then solve the split liquidation system (so there is no possibility of miscounting). Of course, there is little risk of it being left in the liquidation mode or being misused for other payments.

[Embodiments of the invention]

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a functional diagram showing the principle of the method of the present invention,
As shown in the figure, the cash register according to the present invention is
Sales amount registration means each displayed as a functional block 1. It includes a deposit means 2 and a split payment means 3, and each of these means is, for example, an electronic functional means built into a microcomputer shown in FIG. A keyboard 30 is shown with keys arranged as 10 and 10 on the numeric keys for entering sales quantities and unit sales prices. In addition to the group of department keys as the registration key KR that starts the sales amount registration method, the cash key KC that starts the deposit method, and the installment payment key KD that starts the installment payment method, there is also a deferred payment KP for storing accounts receivable and customer verification. Contains a verification key KID for checking. Also, at the bottom of the figure is I? as a storage device in the microcomputer 10 mentioned above. AM 15 and display and printing means 40 are shown, and RAM 15 includes a registration area RA as a temporary storage area for sales amounts, an aggregation area TA for memorizing the total sales amount, and accounts receivable, etc. Accounts receivable area PA has been set. On the other hand, the display and printing means 40 includes a numeric display DISP that displays the sales amount of each sale and a printer PRT that prints out receipts and the like. The solid line arrows in Figure 1 indicate the route and direction of commands between these components, while the dashed line arrows indicate the movement route and direction of data such as quantities and amounts. It shows. The operation of the elements in this functional diagram will be described in detail later, but the correlation between means 1, 2 and 3, which are the main components of the present invention, is symbolized in this diagram by the flag F stored in the division settlement means. is shown. That is, when the split payment means 3 is activated by the installment payment key KD, the means sets flag F to "1" and issues a command to the sales registration means 1 to enter the split payment mode, and the deposit means 2 starts the payment process. When the procedure is completed, the flag is returned to rOJ to release the split liquidation mode. FIG. 2 schematically shows the external appearance of a cash register that adopts the method of the present invention. This cash register has almost no difference in appearance from a normal cash register, and only one installment key KD is set on the keyboard 30. It's just that. As shown in the figure, in the cash register 50, a main body case 52 is placed and fixed on a cash storage box 51 equipped with a drawer 51a for taking in and taking out cash. Display devices such as the above-mentioned keyboard 30° numeric display DISP with keys 31 and a printer PRT are attached, and external connection means 53 for adding a printer or the like as necessary is provided on the outside. FIG. 3 shows an example of an electronic device for carrying out the method of the present invention in terms of hardware, and the main means for carrying out the present invention is in the microcomputer device 10 shown to the left of the dashed line in the figure. It can be accommodated. As shown in the figure, in the microcomputer 10, an address bus 11 and a data bus 12 are connected to, for example, 8085 series CP [113 and i? 0M
14 and the aforementioned RAM 15 are coupled, and both buses are coupled to an input/output boat 17 and an output boat 17 via an address decoder 16 and the like. Input/output boat 17
In this implementation shown on the right side, a controller chip 21 shared by the keyboard 30 and the numeric display DISP is connected, and receives key input signals from the keyboard 30 via an input filter 21a and outputs them to the computer 1.
0, and at the same time, the data is transmitted via the decoder 23 to a digit designated by the digit driver 25 and displayed as a predetermined character via the segment driver 24 in response to a command from the computer 10. On the other hand, the output port 18 includes a serial interface, gives commands and data to another controller chip 22 on the right side thereof, and sends specified data to the printer PR via the printer driver 26.
Print on T. FIG. 4 shows the above-mentioned RAM 1 for implementing the method of the present invention.
The allocation of storage areas in 5 is an example, and is shown divided into three areas: registration area RA, accounts receivable area PA, and totaling area TA. The registered area RA is CP based on the quantity and unit price entered from the numeric keypad KIO on the keyboard 30.
The accounts receivable area PA includes an area for the sales amount S for each sale calculated in Ul0, an area for the split settlement amount, and an area for storing the logical value of the aforementioned flag F. It consists of a plurality of areas in which deferred payment amounts P1 to PIIl are individually stored for each period of 1 to m, and the amount data is written and read from these areas using customer numbers as collation address numbers 1 to m. The last total area is roughly divided into a department total part and a total part, and the former includes n areas corresponding to department numbers l to n. In the case of a restaurant, this category refers to the types of food, drinks, soups, desserts, etc., and is set appropriately by the register user, and such categories are included in the n areas mentioned above. Sales amounts BIT to BnT for each department are stored. As shown in the figure, the total section is provided with at least areas for the total amount ST of sales, the total PT of accounts receivable, and the total CT of deposited amounts. FIG. 5 shows an example of the key arrangement within the keyboard 30, which is a known numeric keypad KIO for inputting numerical data.
, a funk key group KW, and a department key group 1[R provided for each department as described above. The funky four-key group KF includes keys for activating the means of the present invention, and is actually provided in a larger number than shown in the figure, but for the sake of simplicity, it will be referred to as a collation key KID. Deferred payment key KP, installment payment key KD, and cash key IC
The 8 department key group KR, which is only indicated with , includes several dozen keys as necessary, and is used to roughly divide the sales items, and is also used as a starting key for the sales amount registration means 1 as described later. . Having thus completed the explanation of the configuration of the hardware surface of the cash register implementing the method of the present invention, we will now turn to Figure 6, which shows the key operation procedure, and Figure 7, which shows the operations of various means activated by the key operation. The method of the present invention will be explained from a software perspective with reference to the flowchart. The key operation procedure shown in Figure 6 (al) is the simplest procedure without deferred payment or installment payment. If you manually press the registration key ■, the sales amount registration means shown in Figure 7 tr) will be activated.Registration key K
Since R is the department key shown in FIG. 5, one of the n departments described above, for example, the registration key KRj of the first department.
is manipulated. With this, CPt113 is set to numeric key K.
Calculate the sales amount A from the sales quantity and unit price input from IO. In the numeric key operation example shown in FIG. 6 (16), the quantity is 3 and the unit price is 560, so the sales amount A is 1000 yen. The sales amount registration means adds this sales amount to the sales amount S in the registration area RA of the RAM 15 in step R1 as shown in FIG. 7 tr+. In the next judgment step R2,
At this stage, the flag F is O, so the process moves to step R3, where the sales amount A is added to the sales total BjT of the first department in the aggregation area TA, and the sales amount A is further added to the sales total ST in step R4. . In the final step R6, the sales amount A is printed on the printer PRT. Registration key operation procedure R
P is repeated the required number of times for one sale, and registration is completed.
Move on to the next deposit key operation procedure cp. As shown in the 6th ata>, in the procedure CP, when the amount B deposited from the customer is entered in the number 10 on the numeric keypad and the cash key KC is pressed, the cash key KC is pressed.
9 Tel's deposit means 2 is activated. In step C1 of the deposit means 2, the sales amount S for the sale, which was added and stored in the registration area RA at the registration stage, is added to the deposit total CT in the aggregation area TA.In the zero-order judgment step C2, Since the flag F is still 0, steps C3 and C4 are skipped and the process moves to step C5. In this step C5, the sales amount S, the deposit B, and the change CB that is the difference between the two are displayed on the numerical display DISP and printed on the printer PRT. The receipt printed by the printer PRT is given to the customer along with the change to complete one sale, but the depositing method continues at step C6 to clear the sales amount S in the registration area and prepare for the next sale. As mentioned above, as shown in Fig. 6 (Ml key operation procedure RP-C)
P is a completely normal procedure and can be said to be the basis of cash register operation, but in the method of the present invention, as described later, in order to avoid changing this key operation procedure as much as possible, L7 is used to eliminate erroneous key operations. Special consideration is given to this. The key operation procedure shown in Figure 6 (Figure 6) is for deferred payment sales. Press to call up the accounts receivable account for that customer.
The matching procedure shown in 1) is started, and its first step 1
1, the account receivable P1 to the customer with verification number i (number 100 in the example of FIG. 6(f)) is transferred from the accounts receivable area PA to the registration area R.
Transferred to A as sales amount S. In the next step I2, the accounts receivable Pi in the accounts receivable area PA is once cleared, and further in step I3, the sales amount S, that is, the accounts receivable pt is subtracted from the total accounts receivable PT in the total area. This sales amount 5-Pl is then printed out by the printer PRT in the next step I4, and the verification procedure ends. The next key operation in the 6th issue) is the registration procedure RP, which is repeated multiple times depending on the sales content, and each time the sales amount is printed out on the printer PRT for each item, and the sales amount S is added. Ru. After completing the registration, press the deferred payment key.
When P is pressed, the deferred payment processing procedure shown in FIG. As can be seen from the above explanation, this sales amount S is an updated account receivable obtained by adding the sales amount of the current sale to the previous account receivable Pi, and in the next step P2, this sales amount is updated as an updated account receivable. Amount S is transferred to accounts receivable area PA
and stored in the area with reference number l. Next, in step P3, the sales amount S is displayed and printed on the printer PRT, and then in step P
4, the sales amount S in the registered area RA is cleared to complete the deferred payment sales process. At this time, since two receipts are printed at the same time in step P3, one of the receipts is given to the customer and the other one is kept at the store in preparation for later payment. The key operation procedure shown in Figure 6 +01 is for deferred payment processing, and when the customer clears the accounts receivable in full, use the numeric keypad to enter the customer's verification number i as before, then press the verification key. By pressing , the account receivable P1 with verification number I
is called up as the sales amount S in the registered area RA, then input the deposit B from the customer using the numeric keys and press the deposit key KC to process the deposit, so just hand over the change CB and receipt to the customer and the transaction will be settled. Complete. At this time, the accounts receivable account Pi with the verification number i has been cleared from the accounts receivable area PA when the verification key KID was previously pressed and the verification procedure was performed, so it completely disappears. Figure 6 (The key operation procedure for dl is for implementing the installment payment processing method according to the present invention, and as can be easily seen from the figure, the key operation procedure for dl is as similar as possible to the key operation procedure explained so far. In other words, this key operation procedure (dl) is the same as in (b) and (e) of the same figure: the verification procedure IP that calls the customer's accounts receivable Pi, the procedure that presses the installment payment key KD, and the cash It consists of a registration procedure RP and a deposit procedure CP as basic register operations, and the only difference from previous operations is that the installment payment key KD is pressed one more time.In this key operation procedure (d), first, Using the verification procedure IP, call the customer receivables pi with verification number l from the accounts receivable area PA to the registered area RA as the sales price, and then press the installment key KD.
By pressing , the divisional payment means 3 shown in FIG. In D2, the data of accounts receivable pt is moved from the sales amount S area to the installment payment amount area in the registration area, and in the third step D3, 1 is set in flag F indicating that split settlement will be performed.Key operation procedure (d ), then follow the regular sales and all (in the same way, you can follow the registration procedure RP and deposit procedure CP in sequence. At the end of the registration procedure RP, press the registration key KR.
When you press , the sales amount registration means 1 is started, but since 1 is set in the flag F, the flow in FIG. 7(r) is different from the previous explanation, and this time it starts from the second step R2. Fifth
The process moves to step R5 and steps R3 and R4 are skipped. That is, the sales amount A is not added to the departmental sales total BjT and the total sales ST, but the sales amount A is simply subtracted from the accounts receivable pi included in the installment payment amount in the registered area RA. In the case of split settlement, this sales amount is the amount that the customer intends to pay in installments from accounts receivable Pi, and it is the amount and unit price of the items subject to split settlement included in the receipt created during the previous deferred payment processing. It is calculated by inputting it into number key 1 [10] in the same way as regular sales. Of course, the registration procedure RP is repeated for each installment payment target, so each time the registration key KR is pressed, the amount etc. will be printed on the receipt, and the customer can confirm and keep safe what he/she has split payment for. can. The deposit procedure CP after completing the registration of the subject of split liquidation may be the same as for normal sales, but the flow of the split liquidation means 2 activated thereby is slightly different from normal sales, as shown in FIG. 7 TCI. In other words, since flag F is 1, the flow moves from step C2 to step 03, and in this step, the remaining amount after subtracting the current settlement amount from the previous accounts receivable Pl included in the installment payment amount in the registered area RA is calculated as accounts receivable. Transferred to the area with the area reference number l. Next, the process moves to step C4, and the same remaining amount is added to the total receivables in the total area TA. Since the sales amount S as the previous accounts receivable Pi has already been deducted from the total accounts receivable PT in step I3 of the previous matching procedure, the total accounts receivable PT is
This means that the previous accounts receivable of the customer with reference number l in the middle has been replaced with a new account receivable as the remaining amount after the current split settlement. The subsequent steps C5 and C6 are the same as regular sales, and the customer 5 can know the details of the payment and the payment amount from the receipt printed in step C5. Since the flag F is cleared to O, the register is returned to the state before the start of regular sales, and malfunctions such as the flag being erroneously erased during split liquidation are prevented from occurring. As can be seen from the key operation procedure in Figure 6 and the processing flow in Figure 7, the key operations for the cash register implementing the method of the present invention are almost the same as for conventional cash registers, resulting in confusion in key operations. There is almost no risk.Also, the number of steps in each processing flow is the same as before, and only a few steps need to be added overall.
Furthermore, the processing means or procedures activated by each function key are organized into simple modules, which prevents errors in operation and confusion in sequence. The system of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but can be implemented in various ways. Not only the two combinations of key arrangements and the single allocation of storage areas have the above degrees of freedom, but also the arrangement and order of steps within each processing means can take various forms within the scope of the present invention. Furthermore, it is easily understood that the items to be displayed on the display device and the items to be printed by the printer can be selected at any time depending on the purpose of use. [Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the method of the present invention includes a sales amount registration means that calculates the sales amount for each sale by inputting a registration key and also calculates and stores a total of the sales amount, and a sales amount registration means that calculates the sales amount for each sale by inputting a registration key and deposits money by inputting a cash key. In order to incorporate an installment payment processing function, which has not been attempted in the past, into an electronic cash register that is equipped with at least a deposit means that calculates and stores the total amount of sales, a portion of the sales proceeds can be paid in installments simply by inputting the installment payment key. In addition, when the installment payment key is input, the sales amount registration means only calculates the sales amount for each sale based on the memory contents of the division payment means, and the cash key input is performed. In a cash register that implements the Orai Komei method, the desired purpose can be achieved by a relatively simple means of configuring the memory contents in the split payment means to be erased only by the operation of the deposit means based on Not only can the key operations for regular sales and deferred payment sales be exactly the same as before, but even when processing installment payments, the key operations are essentially the same as conventional ones, and only a few operational steps need to be inserted. Key operations are easy and easy to follow, so there are fewer erroneous operations.
In addition, the method of the present invention was not originally intended to increase the amount of memory or improve calculation accuracy with respect to the procedures required for transferring commands and data within the computer, but rather, by adopting the method of the present invention, various means and procedures were adopted. Since the process is modularized and simplified, the number of processing steps is reduced and the processing speed can be increased. Furthermore, as can be seen from the above explanation, the adoption of the present invention does not require a new storage area, and since it is only necessary to add one key, the cause of the increase in the cost of cash registers is eliminated. It is possible to provide the cash register to the market at a price that is practically non-existent and easy to use. As described above, the system of the present invention can be advantageously implemented in a new cash register that is relatively simple and has an installment processing function that was not available in the past.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

All figures are for detailed explanation of the invention,
Fig. 1 is a functional diagram showing the principle of the installment processing method of the electronic cash register according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of a cash register adopting the method of the present invention, and Fig. 3 is the method of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a block circuit diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of the electronic devices in the cash register for implementing the method of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a layout diagram showing an example of key arrangement on the keyboard of a cash register implementing the method of the present invention, FIG. 6 is an operation procedure diagram showing a key operation procedure of a cash register implementing the method of the present invention, and FIG. The figure is a flowchart illustrating a software flow for implementing the method of the present invention. In the figure, 1: sales registration means, 2: deposit means, 3: split payment means, 10: microcomputer, 15: RAM as storage area, 30 + keyboard, 40: display printing means, 50: electronic cash register. , F: Flag as a data signal to command split payment, ■P: Verification key operation procedure, CP: Deposit key operation procedure, RP: Registration key operation procedure, KC: Cash key, KD: Installment payment key, KID:
These are the collation key, KP: deferred payment key, KR: department key as a registration key, KIO: numeric key, accounts receivable area in PA n RAM, and tally area in TA j RAM. 73 [¥1 (r) rc) off country

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1) A sales amount registration means that calculates the sales amount for each sale by inputting a registration key and also calculates and stores a total of the sales amount, a depositing means that calculates and stores a total of deposit amount by inputting a cash key, and an installment key. A split payment means stores information that a part of the sales will be split and settled based on input, and when the installment key is input, the sales registration means registers the sales amount for each sale based on the memory contents of the split payment means. 1. An installment payment processing method for an electronic cash register, characterized in that only the calculation operation is performed, and the memory contents in the installment payment means can be erased only by the operation of the deposit means based on the input of a cash key.