US 5,510,979 A · Data processing system and method for retail stores

Abstract

A computer system for entering, processing and recording sales of items is provided, which is especially suitable for use in retail sales, particularly quick service restaurants. The system includes a plurality of programmable POS registers for entering and tabulating customer orders, an off-line processor for programming the programmable POS registers, shared memory for recording data entered and tabulated by the programmable POS registers, and a communication structure for networking a plurality of programmable POS registers, the off-line processor and the shared memory. In one embodiment, the system includes an access control system for enabling access to the POS registers, the off-line processor or the shared memory if operation of those are authorized. In another embodiment, each POS register includes a programmable display for displaying a hierarchial menu of a plurality of keys, each of the keys being visually associated with a label of salable items or categories of salable items, and a touch sensitive apparatus for detecting when one of the keys has been touched by a human operator. The programmable display is responsive to the touch-sensitive apparatus so that a human operator can enter a particular salable item into the programmable display by touching the key which is visually associated with the label corresponding to the particular salable item or category in which the particular salable item is included.

Claims19

Dependent claims

A computer system for entering, processing and recording sales of items comprising:

(a) a plurality of physically separated programmable POS register means for entering and tabulating customer orders, said POS register means including programmable display means responsive to a display program for displaying a plurality of keys, each of which is visually associated by the display program with an assigned label which corresponds to at least one salable item, and touch sensitive means for detecting when one of said keys has been touched by a human operator;
(b) off-line processing means, at a location remote from said plurality of programmable POS register means, for programming said programmable POS register means, said off-line processing means including display means for displaying a plurality of keys and a plurality of labels corresponding to at least one salable item, selection means for allowing a human operator to select one of said displayed keys and one of said displayed labels and means responsive to the human operator's selection of one of said displayed keys and one of said displayed labels for revising said plurality of keys and assigned labels displayed on said POS register means without recompiling said display program;
(c) shared memory means, at a location remote from said plurality of programmable POS register means, for recording data entered and tabulated by said programmable POS register means;
and
(d) communication means for networking said plurality of programmable POS register means, said off-line processing means and said shared memory means.

2 more elements

A computer system for entering, processing and recording sales of items comprising:

(a) a plurality of physically separated programmable POS register means comprising programmable display means for displaying a plurality of keys, each of which is visually associated with a label that corresponds to a category of at least one salable item, touch-sensitive means for detecting when one of said keys has been touched by a human operator, and means responsive to said touch-sensitive means for causing said programmable display means to display a plurality of keys, each of which is visually associated with a sub-category of at least one salable item, said sub-category being a member of the category visually associated with that one of said keys most recently touched by the human operator;
(b) off-line processing means, at a location remote from said plurality of programmable POS register means, for creating and modifying programs for said programmable POS register means to display said keys and labels, said off-line processing means including display means for displaying a plurality of keys and a plurality of labels corresponding to at least one salable item, selection means for allowing a human operator to select one of said displayed keys and one of said displayed labels and means responsive to the human operator's selection of one of said displayed keys and one of said displayed labels for revising said plurality of keys and assigned labels displayed on said POS register means without recompiling said display program;
(c) shared memory means, at a location remote from said plurality of programmable POS register means, for recording customer orders entered and tabulated by said programmable POS register means and for storing programs for said programmable POS register means;
and
(d) communication means for networking said plurality of programmable POS register means, said off-line processing means and said shared memory means, said communications means comprising a plurality of electronically connected network interface units, one of each resident at each said programmable display means, said off-line processing means and said shared memory means.

2 more elements

A method for networking a microcomputer to a physically separated shared memory device to enable said microcomputer to operate as a point-of-sale register and to ensure the integrity of sales data generated by said microcomputer, comprised of the following steps:

(a) storing programs and data necessary to enable said microcomputer to function as a POS register on a shared memory device, physically separated from said microcomputer;
(b) electronically connecting said microcomputer with said shared memory device;
(c) creating a plurality of data structures in said microcomputer's memory for storing cumulatively tabulated sales data in said microcomputer's memory, said data structures each comprising data records containing the tabulated data and a header containing a transaction number;
(d) creating a plurality of backup data structures in said shared memory means which are duplicative of said data structures in said microcomputer's memory, so that for each data structure in said microcomputer's memory, there is a corresponding backup data structure in said shared memory means;
(e) entering sales from a specific customer transaction into said microcomputer;
(f) tabulating sales data for each customer transaction entered into said microcomputer;
(g) generating said transaction number, said transaction number greater than the previous transaction number;
(h) placing said transaction number in said header of each said data structure;
(i) updating said data structures by placing said tabulated data in said data records;
(j) determining if steps (g) through (i) have been successfully completed, and aborting the operation of said microprocessor where steps (g) through (i) have not been successfully completed;
(k) updating each of said backup data structures by placing into said data records of particular one of said backup data structures said tabulated data contained in that one of said plurality of data structures which corresponds to said particular backup data structure, and placing said transaction number generated in step (g) in said header of said particular backup data structure;
(l) determining if step (k) was successfully completed, and if step (k) was successfully completed, then skipping to step (p);
(m) determining if the failure of step (k) was due to a failure of said networking means, and aborting the operation of said shared memory means if failure of step (k) was due to a reason other than a failure of said networking means;
(n) waiting until said networking means have been made operational;
(o) examining each said data structure and said backup data structure to determine whether any of said data structure has a higher transaction number than any said corresponding backup data structure;
and
(p) updating the contents of said backup data with the contents of said corresponding data structure if said data structure contains a higher transaction number than said corresponding backup data structure.

14 more elements

A computer system for entering, processing and recording sales of items comprising:

(a) a plurality of physically separated programmable POS register means comprised of programmable display means for displaying a plurality of keys, each of which is visually associated with a label that corresponds to a category of at least one salable item, touch-sensitive means for detecting when one of said keys has been touched by a human operator, and means responsive to said touch-sensitive means for causing said programmable display means to display a plurality of keys, each of which is visually associated with a sub-category of at least one salable item, said sub-category being a member of the category visually associated with that one of said keys most recently touched by said human operator;
(b) off-line processing means, at a location remote from said plurality of programmable POS register means, for creating and modifying programs for said programmable POS register means to display said keys and labels, whereby the operator of said off-line processing means may assign one or more of said keys to a label corresponding to at least one salable item or a category having a plurality of salable items therein;
(c) shared memory means, at a location remote from said plurality of programmable POS register means, for recording customer orders entered and tabulated by said programmable POS register means and for storing programs for said programmable POS register means;
and
(d) communications means for networking said plurality of programmable POS register means, said off-line processing means and said shared memory means, said communications means comprised of a plurality of electronically connected network interface units, one of each resident at each said programmable display means, said off-line processing means and said shared memory means;
and
(e) access control means for selectively enabling the operation of one of a plurality of functions performed by one of said POS register means, off-line processing means and shared memory means, each of said functions being associated with a predetermined privilege level, if operation of said function on that one of said POS register means, off-line processing means and shared memory means is authorized comprising of:
a plurality of badges each affixed with a magnetic strip electronically encoded with a unique number and each assigned to a particular human operator;
a plurality of badge reader means electronically connected to said communications means for reading said unique numbers on said badges;
means for one of said human operators to designate that one of the plurality of POS register means, shared memory means and off-line processing means which said human operator desires to operate;
password entry means for accepting a password from an operator who has placed one of said badges in said badge reader means;
a table of said unique numbers and relating a predetermined password and privilege level to each of said unique numbers, said table being on said shared memory means;
access enabling means for enabling said human operator to use said designated machine if the number encoded on that one of said badges which has been passed through said badge reader is contained in said table, and if said password entered by said human operator matches said predetermined password related by said table to said operator's unique number;
function enabling means for enabling access to a desired function performed by the designated one of said plurality of POS register means, said off-line processing means and said shared memory means if said privilege level related by said table to said operator's unique number is equal to or greater than said predetermined privilege level associated with desired function.

11 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Data processing system and method for retail stores

Life of this patent

Data processing system and method for retail stores

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims19