WO2007125200A1

WO2007125200A1 - Autonomous checkout system for shops

Info

Publication number: WO2007125200A1
Application number: PCT/FR2007/000711
Authority: WO
Inventors: Philippe Hervieux
Original assignee: Societe Pour L'amenagement Rationnel Des Magasins - A.R.M.
Priority date: 2006-05-03
Filing date: 2007-04-26
Publication date: 2007-11-08
Also published as: EP2028978B1; ES2407145T3; EP2028978A1; PT2028978E; FR2900554B1; FR2900554A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to an autonomous checkout system (1) usable in shops, said system allowing the items to be first checked out and then bagged; comprising item checkout means (9), item receiving means (5) situated upstream of the checkout means, and storage means (13) situated downstream of the checkout means; which system is noteworthy in that the storage means comprise two storage compartments (23, 25), and in that the system (1) comprises a device (27) designed to orientate and convey the items either towards the first compartment or towards the second compartment, and to handle two customers simultaneously, allowing one customer to check out and convey his or her items to one of the compartments while another customer is bagging his or her previously checked-out items stored in the other storage compartment (23, 35), the device (27) comprising a conveyor belt (29) and rotation means (30) for orientating said conveyor belt (29) towards the first storage compartment (23) or towards the second storage compartment (25).

Description

SYSTEM FOR THE AUTONOMOUS COLLECTION OF ARTICLES IN

SHOPS

The present invention relates to an autonomous collection system of articles. It will particularly find its application in shops or commercial areas to cash and bag items that a consumer wants to buy. It will be implemented at furniture manufacturers for mass retailers.

The current collection systems generally consist of receiving means on which the consumer positions the items he wishes to buy, means of collection of items and storage means for items purchased by the consumer. The receiving means are located upstream of the cashing means and comprise for example a conveyor belt for conveying the articles to the cashing means. The items are then cashed by a cashier who scans them on a reading device, then they are manually routed by this hostess to the storage means located downstream of said collection means, said storage means consisting for example of a treadmill and a storage compartment for purchased items. The customer then bags his purchased products while the hostess continues to cash the items of said customer, remaining to account. This design has the disadvantage of mobilizing as many cash desk attendants as POS systems installed in the store, which greatly increases the need for staff, especially in large commercial areas. We already know autonomous collection systems that allow customers to cash their own items. The customer positions his articles on the means of receipt, then cash them himself and routes them to the storage means. The customer then proceeds to the bagging of his purchased items after having cashed them in full. The succession of the collection and bagging steps has the disadvantage of increasing the checkout time of each customer and can therefore generate queues at the collection systems during peak hours in the office. store. This time of passage is even more accentuated that the client is less skilled than a cashier to collect the items. Indeed, a cashier is able to scan twenty items on average per minute, and the customer can at the same time bag his items counted; conversely, a regular customer scans an average of only nine items per minute and can not simultaneously bagged his items. US Pat. No. 4,676,343 describes, for example, an autonomous cashing system comprising means of encashment of the scanner or badge reader type arranged at the rear end of the cashing system, and two storage means for the cashed articles, arranged downstream. means of cashing which are common to both storage means. These two storage means are juxtaposed and allow a customer to cash his items and then position them on one of the storage means, the time that a previous customer performs 1 bagging of his articles, previously cashed and paid on the same means of collection, said articles being arranged on the other storage means.

This design has the advantage of using collection means common to both storage means, and thus allows the simultaneous passage of two customers on the cashing system. The queues of customers at the level of the collection systems are reduced, which compensates for the loss of performance due to the elimination of cashiers. However, such a design has the disadvantage of increasing the size of the collection systems by juxtaposing two storage means, which possibly requires either to increase the area where the systems are installed. in the store, reducing the number of POS systems in the store and thus increasing the queues of cash customers.

EP 0 491 348 discloses an autonomous collection system comprising a counter connected to appropriate control devices, a central system containing at least the product data and a terminal program which transmits information from the control devices to the central system. This document does not disclose rotation means for orienting a conveyor belt towards a first storage compartment or towards a second storage compartment.

The main object of the invention is to provide an improved autonomous cashing system allowing the simultaneous passage of two customers, said system having a simplified technology to limit its size and also to reduce its manufacturing cost. For this purpose, the invention relates to an autonomous collection system that can be used in stores, said system being used to successively collect and bag items, said system comprising at least means for collecting items, receiving means items located upstream of the cashing means for conveying the items for cash, and storage means located downstream of the cashing means for conveying the cashed items for bagging. The invention is remarkable in that the storage means comprise two storage compartments, and in that the system comprises a device arranged for orienting and conveying articles either towards the first storage compartment or towards the second storage compartment, and to manage two customers at the same time, allowing a customer to cash in and forward their items to one of the storage compartments while another customer is bagging his / her already cashed items and stored in the other storage compartment, the device comprising a treadmill and rotational means for orienting said conveyor belt towards the first storage compartment or towards the second storage compartment.

The design of the autonomous collection system according to the invention aims to limit the size of said system, which possibly allows to install more cashing systems without increasing the area provided for this purpose in the store, and at the very least, allows not to reduce their number in order to maintain a return equivalent to that obtained with the cashiers, and thus to have a fluidity of the customers passing in cash. This design also has the advantage of reducing the cost of said autonomous collection system. Indeed, the storage means must have control means, known to those skilled in the art, to ensure that all the items of the customer has actually been cashed and that these items correspond to those arranged on said means of control. storage. The cashing system according to the invention also has the advantage of implementing unique control means, unlike what is described in US Patent 4,676,343 which requires control means on each juxtaposed storage means.

The invention also relates to a method of autonomous collection of items in stores, using the autonomous collection system, comprising at least one step of conveying articles from a first customer to the means of collection and a step of cashing said articles. The method is remarkable in that it implements the following steps:

transfer of the items collected through the device to convey them to one of the two storage compartments,

- control of the passage of all items entered through the device to route them to said storage compartment, with validation of the end of the collection of the said customer's articles,

- change of orientation of the device for conveying articles from a second client to the other storage compartment,

- Authorization of collection of items of the second customer and transfer of its items cashed through the device for routing to the second storage compartment, and simultaneously - bagging in the first storage compartment of the cashed items of the first customer.

Other advantages and features of the present invention will appear better on reading the following description which is based on figures representing a preferred and nonlimiting example of design of the cashing system, among which:

FIG. 1 represents a perspective view of the cashing system according to the invention taken at a front angle; FIG. 2 represents a perspective view of the cashing system taken at a rear angle;

FIG. 3 represents a view from above of the collection system,

- Figure 4 shows a perspective view of the inner part of the cashing system.

According to a preferred embodiment of design shown in Figures 1 to 3, the autonomous cashing system 1 allows a client to successively carry out the collection and bagging of its articles, without the assistance of a cashier . A second customer can simultaneously collect his items, while the previous customer is bagging his own items.

The collection system 1 according to the invention is broken down preferentially and not restrictively, in at least three parts. As represented in FIG. 3, the first part 3 comprises means 5 for receiving articles to be cashed, the second part 7 comprises means of collection 9 of the articles and the third part 11 includes storage means 13 of the items purchased and bagging. The receiving means 5 are located upstream of the collection means 9 and they allow the delivery of items near said means of collection 9 to effect their collection.

These receiving means 5 consist for example of a support plane 15 for a basket containing the articles, said support plane 15 being arranged at the same height as the collection means 9, as shown in Figures 1 to 3 , or at a height offset from the collection means 9, as shown in Figure 4. The receiving means 5 preferably have a shape that facilitates the positioning of a carriage containing the items to be cashed.

According to a variant not shown in the figures, the receiving means 5 may optionally comprise a treadmill for initially spreading the articles on said mat and then forwarding them to the collection means 9.

These means of collection 9 comprise for example a scanner 17 for the optical reading of a code on the items to cash, a touch screen 19 allowing for example the customer to select certain functions such as the beginning and the end of the cashing, or a scanner gun, also called hand shower, not shown in the figures, for reading the code on items difficult to manipulate.

The storage means 13 are located downstream of the means of collection 9. They allow the delivery of the items cashed by the customer, in a storage area 21 where they remain the time that the customer completes the collection of all items . When the cashing of the items is completed, the customer can then bag his temporarily waiting items in the storage area 21. For this, and to allow the simultaneous passage of two customers, the storage means 13 comprise two storage compartments 23 and 25 in which end the cashed items waiting to be bagged by the customer.

The collection system 1 according to the invention comprises a device 27 arranged to guide the items and route them to either the first storage compartment 23 or to the second storage compartment 25, the compartment change being done when a first client has finished cashing its articles and a second client wishes to begin the collection of his own, the device 27 having then carried out checks of items cashed and forwarded prior to the change of compartment 23 or 25.

The device 27 makes it possible to manage two clients simultaneously. Indeed, it allows the first customer to cash his items and route them to one of the storage compartments 23 or 25 where they remain temporarily stored until the end of the collection operation. Then, once the encashment completed and all items positioned in said storage compartment 23 or 25, the device 27 then changes orientation to allow the second client to perform in turn the operations of collection and routing of its articles to the second storage compartment 23 or 25 where they remain temporarily stored, the first client performing simultaneously during this period the bagging of its items located in the first storage compartment 23 or 25.

According to a preferred embodiment highlighted in FIG. 3, the device 27 comprises at least one treadmill 29 and rotation means 30, shown in FIG. 4, making it possible to change the orientation of said treadmill 29 and to direct it either the direction of the first storage compartment 23 is towards the second storage compartment 25. The conveyor belt 29 consists of at least two rolling elements 31 and 33: the first rolling element 31 is defined in a fixed position and is located in upstream portion of the conveyor belt 29; the second rolling member 33 is located at the downstream portion of the carpet 29 and it is steerable sometimes to the first storage compartment 23 sometimes to the second storage compartment 25.

As represented in FIGS. 1 and 2, the device 27 comprises an enclosure 35. This enclosure 35 comprises two walls 37 and 39 disposed on the lateral sides of the enclosure 35 and an upper wall 41. Thus, the enclosure 35 is closed on the lateral sides and on the top to prevent access to the items concealed on at least one longitudinal section of the system 1, and force the purchased items to pass through the chamber 35 before they are positioned in the one or the other of the storage compartments 23 or 25.

This enclosure 35 encloses at least a portion of the conveyor belt 29. It comprises an inlet 43 through which the concealed articles penetrate when they run on the conveyor belt 29, and it preferably opens out two outlets 45 and 47 to the right of the two compartments. storage 23 and 25; the downstream end 49 of the treadmill, located inside the enclosure 35, is oriented towards one or other of the outlets 45 or 47 to convey the articles to the storage compartment 23 or 25 in correspondence with said output 45 or 47.

The enclosure 35 is provided with control means for the cashed items, to verify the labeling of the cashed items and also to avoid the theft of uncashed items. These control means make it possible to verify that the articles that have been scanned correspond to the items subsequently positioned on the conveyor belt 29. They also make it possible to verify that all the articles have actually passed through the enclosure 35 to come to waiting in the one of the storage compartments 23 or 25, and thus allow the change of orientation of the conveyor belt 29 to position it towards the outlet 45 or 47 of the enclosure 35 giving access to the other storage compartment 23 and 25.

According to a preferred embodiment, the control means comprise a weighing belt and at least one sensor volumetric. For this purpose the belt comprises a third weighing element 51, intermediate between the fixed rolling element 31 and the steerable rolling element 33, as represented in FIGS. 2 and 3. This third weighing element 51 comprises means for carrying out the weighing of articles that run on the conveyor belt 29, for example of the electronic scale type positioned under the conveyor belt 29. This weighing wheel element 51 is also located inside the enclosure 35 to prevent access to the articles purchased after they have been weighed on the scale and controlled by the volumetric sensor which is also positioned inside the enclosure 35.

The system 1 also includes volumetric sensors outside the enclosure, to detect whether a customer is possibly trying to pass items outside the said system 1, without cashing them.

The conveyor belt 29 comprises a roll of rollers 52 mounted freely in rotation. This carpet of rollers 52 preferably has a slight slope and is arranged between the weighing element 51 and the swiveling element 33 of the conveyor belt 29. The conveyor belt 52 ensures the transfer by gravity of the purchased articles between weighing element 51 and the orientable element 33, by appropriately positioning said articles on said orientable element 33, whatever its orientation.

According to a preferred embodiment, the weighing element 51 and the steerable element 33 are arranged at substantially different heights, which makes it possible to create this slight gradient on the roll carpet 52. This difference in height also makes it possible to overlap the two elements 51 and 33, to reduce the empty spaces on the conveyor belt 29, due to the shift of the steerable element 33 relative to the intermediate element 51, during its change of orientation. According to a preferred embodiment, appearing in FIG. 1, the enclosure 35 comprises a safety device 53 which prevents access to the downstream end 49 of the conveyor belt 29, and in particular to the rolling element. steerable 33 located inside the enclosure 35. This safety device 53 thus prevents a customer puts his hands on the treadmill 29 during its change of orientation of a compartment 23 to the other 25 or vice versa.

As shown in FIG. 1, the security device 53 comprises at least one sliding door 55 which closes the access inside the enclosure 35 from the storage compartments 23 or 25. The security device 53 is composed of preferably, two doors 55 and 57 slidably mounted in sliding connection at the two outlets 45 and 47 of the enclosure 35. The sliding doors 55 and 57 are, for example, electrically controlled by electric motors, not shown, coupled in a rack connection to said doors 55 and 57.

As shown in Figure 4, the rotation means 30 of the conveyor belt 29 are constituted by a rotary motor 59 with a double direction of rotation, for example controlled electrically. The motor 59 is positioned near the axis of rotation 61 of the conveyor belt 29, precisely at the level of the connection between the intermediate weighing element 51 and the steerable rolling element 33. The motor 59 is coupled to a shaft transmission 62 constituting the axis of rotation 61 of the steerable element 33 relative to the intermediate weighing element 51.

According to a preferred mode of design, the two storage compartments 23 and 25 comprise a physical separation 63 preventing the concealed articles of two customers from mixing when they are stored in said compartments 23 and 25, waiting to be bagged. The storage compartments 23 and 25 comprise a slightly inclined plane provided with rollers 65 and 67 mounted in free rotation, said roller mats 65 and 67 being disposed at the outlets 45 and 47 of the enclosure 35. These mats with rollers 65 and 67 receive the items cashed at the exit of the carpet 29, the articles then descending naturally by gravity in the funds 69 and 71 of the compartments 23 and 25, at the end of the inclined plane, where they remain stored until bagging. The system 1 preferably comprises a covering 73 consisting of a set of profiled panels. The profiled panel 75, shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, close to the rotation means 30 disposed inside the system 1, under the conveyor belt 29, preferably comprises an access hatch 77 to the rotation means 30 for carrying out easily maintain them.

The system 1 thus allows the customers to proceed to the collection of their articles independently. The customer, positioned upstream of the system 1, routes his articles to the means of collection 9. He has his articles on the means of receipt 5, then proceeds to the collection of articles.

The articles are then transferred through the device 27. For this, the articles are placed on the conveyor belt 29 which conveys them through the chamber 35 to the downstream end 49 of said conveyor belt 29 which is directed towards the one of the two storage compartments 23 or 25. The articles then remain in said storage compartment 23 or 25, waiting to be bagged by the customer when he has finished cashing all of his articles.

During their transfer, the device 27 checks the passage of all the articles collected through the chamber 35. For this, the intermediate weighing element 51 verifies that the weight of the transferred article corresponds to that which has been previously scanned by the client. Similarly, the volumetric sensor verifies the code of the article during its passage in the chamber 35. The device 27 also controls that all the cashed items have left the chamber 35 and have been transferred to the storage compartment 23 or 25. Validation of the control requiring validation of the end of the collection of items from the customer, this operation being done for example on the touch screen 19 means of collection 9.

When this step is completed and the end of the encashment of the customer's items is validated, the device 27 changes orientation to allow the delivery of articles from a next client to the second storage compartment 23 or 25. The security device 53 of the enclosure 35 is then activated, which closes the doors 55 and 57 of the enclosure 35. When the doors 55 and 57 are closed, the motor 59 is actuated and the steerable element 33, downstream of the conveyor belt 29, pivots and moves towards the second compartment 23 or 25. Once the change of orientation is effected, the doors 55 and 57 of the enclosure 35 open; the device 27 then authorizes the collection of the next customer's items. This customer can then cash his items and transfer them through the device 27 to route them to the second storage compartment 23 or 25. In parallel with this step, the previous customer performs the bagging of his items stored in the first storage compartment 23 or 25.

The system 1 comprises, at its downstream end 79, payment means of the credit card reader type 81, as represented in FIGS. 1 and 3. The customer makes the payment after having bagged his articles, which makes it possible to validate that said customer has completed his purchases and that the storage compartment 23 or 25 is free and can therefore receive the items of a new customer. The side walls 37 and 39 of the enclosure 35 are preferably provided with orifices 83, shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and the upper wall 41 uses a transparent material, such as plexiglass for example, to enable visualization at inside of said enclosure 35. This ensures the customer that all his items have left the enclosure 35, and facilitate maintenance in case an article would lock inside said enclosure 35.

Claims

1 - Autonomous collection system (1) usable in the stores, said system for successively cashing and bagging articles, said system comprising at least means of collection (9) of the articles, receiving means ( 5) items located upstream of the cashing means (9) for conveying the items to cash, and storage means (13) downstream of the cashing means (9) for the delivery of items casings for bagging them, characterized in that the storage means (13) comprise two storage compartments (23, 25), and in that the system (1) comprises a device (27) arranged to orient and convey articles either to the first storage compartment (23) or to the second storage compartment (25), and to simultaneously manage two customers, allowing a customer to cash and deliver their items to one of the storage compartments (23). , 25) penda another customer performs the bagging of items already cashed and stored in the other storage compartment (23, 25), the device (27) comprising a conveyor belt (29) and rotation means (30). for directing said conveyor belt (29) towards the first storage compartment (23) or towards the second storage compartment (25).

2 - System (1) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the treadmill (29) comprises a fixed rolling element (31) positioned upstream of the treadmill (29) and a steerable rolling element (33) positioned downstream of the treadmill (29).

3 - System (1) according to any one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the device (27) comprises a chamber (35) closed in which is located at least a portion of the treadmill (29), and in which transits the articles received to access one or other of the storage compartments (23, 25).

4 - System (1) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the enclosure (35) comprises means for checking the cashed items used to check said cashed items and allow the change of orientation of the treadmill (29) to either one of the storage compartments (23, 25).

5 - System (1) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the control means comprise a weighing belt (51) and at least one volumetric sensor.

6 - System (1) according to any one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that the enclosure (35) comprises a safety device (53) preventing access to the treadmill (29) during its change of orienting a compartment (23, 25) towards the other.

7 - System (1) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the safety device (53) comprises at least one sliding door (55, 57) which closes the access to the interior of the enclosure (35) from the storage compartments (23, 25).

8 - System (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the rotating means (30) of the conveyor belt (29) consist of a motor (59) coupled to a transmission shaft (62). ).