I/O control apparatus, POS system and printing apparatus including it, and a data relay processing method for an I/O control apparatus

The present invention relates to an I/O (input/output) control apparatus, a POS system and a printing apparatus including it, and a data relay processing method for the I/O control apparatus for providing new added value to a POS system without changing the POS server and POS terminal device application.

POS (point-of-sale) systems such as used in supermarkets and other retail stores commonly generate data for printing receipts ("receipt-printing data") by adding advertising information, including product advertisements and event announcements, to product information related to the purchased goods and price information as disclosed in US 2004/0041022 A1. The thus generated receipt-printing data is then sent to a printer for printing a receipt. More recent POS systems may also print coupons, lottery tickets, and other information in addition to or instead of advertising information. As a result, sales receipts have also become an effective advertising medium.

Adding a function for including such advertising information on printed receipts to existing POS systems not already equipped with the ability to add such advertising information requires a major modification of the existing POS server and/or POS terminal devices, and this necessitates a major capital investment. As a result, many small retailers must forgo using sales receipts as an effective advertising medium. To resolve this problem, JP-A-2004-13708 teaches providing such advertising information by connecting an adapter device between the host terminal and the printer of a POS system in order to add to the POS system a function for adding advertising information to a sales receipt with a minimal capital investment and without greatly modifying the POS system. More specifically, this prior art use an adapter device for connection to a central server, and this server supplies the advertising information to the client terminals.

The advantage of the adapter device taught in JP-A-2004-13708 is the ability to print receipts containing advertising information with a minimal capital investment. The functionality of this adapter device is, however, limited to editing the print data between the server and the printer. More specifically, this system generates print data having advertising information added to the print data received from the host terminal, and supplies the combined receipt print data to the printer. The service that this system can provide is thus limited to adding advertising information from some central server. The adapter device taught in JP-A-2004-13708 cannot add any other new function or handle various complex modifications to the POS system.

A more recent trend in retail sales is the need to provide a variety of services at the point of sale. Providing such services is particularly important as a means of differentiating a store from its competitors. Providing such services as issuing phone cards, accepting utility payments, and digitally processing checks at the point of sale in a retail store helps differentiate one store from others and improves customer service. As a result, introducing a system that makes providing such services possible before competitors do provides a direct and immediate business advantage.

However, providing such a wide range of value-added services presently requires major modifications of the POS server and the POS terminal application, and thus a significant capital investment. For a small retail store it is therefore difficult to frequently change the POS system application in order to offer new services, and provide such value-added services in a timely manner.

The present invention is directed to the foregoing problems, and an object of this invention is to provide an I/O control apparatus, a POS system and printing apparatus including it, and data relay processing method for an I/O control apparatus whereby new functions requiring numerous complicated intermediate operations can be freely added without changing the existing POS application.

This object is achieved by an I/O control apparatus as claimed in claim 1, a printer as claimed in claim 8, a POS system as claimed in claim 9, and a method as claimed in claim 25. Preferred embodiments of the invention are subject-matter of the dependent claims.

A POS system according to the present invention provides an I/O control apparatus for relaying data communication between a POS terminal and an input device and a POS printer, and enables freely connecting various devices to the I/O control apparatus, which enables the devices to access each other through the I/O control apparatus. As a result, new functions can be added to the POS system without modifying the POS terminal application or the POS server application. New added functionality can therefore be achieved at a low cost. In addition, new services provided by a content provider over a network can be easily incorporated into the POS system.

Thus, devices such as input devices and display devices can also be connected to the I/O control apparatus in addition to printers. In addition, when entering or displaying data specific to a function added by the function-adding apparatus is required, the appropriate input device or display device can be connected for the data input or display required for an intermediate operation.

Preferably, the I/O control apparatus also has an identification criteria storage unit for storing identification criteria specific to each input port or identification criteria common to a plurality of input ports; and a data storage unit for storing received data from the input ports.

This aspect of the invention can thus store data received through each input port, and process and output the data as required to a particular device. Furthermore, after sending received data to another device, response data from that device can be edited with the stored received data.

Yet further preferably, a second printing apparatus or other device can be connected to the I/O control apparatus according to the function provided by the function-adding apparatus.

This aspect of the invention enables providing new added functions by simply adding a device having the required function to an existing POS system while using the existing POS system devices as usual. When single-function printers are used, this enables effectively using existing printer resources.

Yet further preferably, the data processing unit can change the identification criteria by running the second process.

Thus comprised, the second process can be written to add new identification criteria to the identification criteria of a specific port, or to change the specific identification criteria, when specific data is received. The second process can thus efficiently execute processes communicating plural times with plural devices according to the sequence of the processes. This also reduces the identification load on the identification unit.

Yet further preferably, the I/O control apparatus, based on the second process, can selectively output all or part of the received data to a connected device according to the type of data received data from the function-adding apparatus.

Including a specific identification code (identification information) in the transmission data from the function-adding apparatus in this aspect of the invention enables the I/O control apparatus to identify the type of data received and to selectively assign the device address to which the received data is sent based on the data type.

Yet further preferably, the function-adding apparatus is a value-added-information server for outputting issued information including all or at least one of a personal identification number corresponding to transmission data from the I/O control apparatus, update data updated based on the transmission data, and extracted data retrieved by searching a specific database based on the transmission data. When the I/O control apparatus detects matching information meeting the identification criterion in the received data, the I/O control apparatus sends the matching information as the transmission data to the value-added-information server according to the second process, and outputs information received from the value-added-information server as print data to the POS printer or other printing apparatus.

This aspect of the invention enables adding a phone card issuing function to a POS system, and thus enables issuing phone cards at a checkout counter. Because the card presented by a customer at the checkout counter to purchase a phone card is not validated as a usable phone card unless the transaction process is completed, no damage results if a purchasing card is stolen. This phone card issuing function is thus secure.

Yet further preferably, the I/O control apparatus is connected to the POS printer, print data is output from the POS terminal to the POS printer through the I/O control apparatus, and when the I/O control apparatus detects matching information in the print data received from the POS terminal, the I/O control apparatus sends the matching information as the transmission data to the value-added-information server. A phone card is thus issued when the I/O control apparatus detects a phone card purchase.

Yet further preferably, the I/O control apparatus is connected to the POS printer and an input device, and the POS terminal communicates with the POS printer and input device through the I/O control apparatus, and when the I/O control apparatus detects matching information in the received data received from the input device, the I/O control apparatus sends the matching information as the transmission data to the value-added-information server. Thus comprised, if the I/O control apparatus detects that the purchased-product information from the input device represents a phone card purchase, a phone card is issued.

Yet further preferably, at least a customer display and a customer input device enabling data entry by a customer are connected to the I/O control apparatus; the value-added-information server comprises a personal identification number processing unit for requesting input of a personal identification number to the I/O control apparatus when information matching the identification criteria is received, and issuing additional information when the input personal identification number meets a specific identification criterion; and when a personal identification number input request is received from the value-added-information server, the I/O control apparatus presents a message on the customer display prompting input of a personal identification number, and sends the personal identification number input from the customer input device to the value-added-information server.

This enables using the personal identification number desired by the customer as the personal identification number for calling using the phone card. By thus using a personal identification number specific to the customer, using the phone card is easier for the customer.

Yet further preferably, the POS printer or the second printing apparatus prints the issued information sent from the value-added-information server. This enables printing information on the back of the card used to purchase a phone card, for example, and thus enables using these purchasing cards more efficiently. Yet further, printing the personal identification number on the card could be omitted if so desired by the customer.

In a POS system according to a further aspect of the invention, the POS printer or second printing apparatus distributes and prints issued information sent from the value-added-information server on a plurality of printers. This enables printing the telephone number on the purchased phone card and printing the personal identification number on the receipt, for example. When the personal identification number desired by the customer is entered when a phone card is purchased, printing the personal identification number on the phone card is not necessarily required. Printing the personal identification number on the phone card is also undesirable considering the possibility of loss or theft. As a result, printing the personal identification number only on the receipt is safer. Whether to print the personal identification number on the phone card, on the receipt, or not at all can be decided by the customer.

A printing apparatus according to the present invention comprises the I/O control apparatus of a POS system as described herein.

An I/O control apparatus according to the present invention is used in a POS system having an input device for entering transaction information including purchased-product information, a display device including a customer display for displaying transaction information and other display data, a printing apparatus for printing transaction information and other print data, and a POS terminal for acquiring data from the input device, calculating a sum total of the purchase, and generating and outputting the display data and the print data. The I/O control apparatus is connected to at least one of the input device, display device, and printing apparatus, the POS terminal, and at least one function-adding apparatus for providing a function not provided by the POS terminal, and relays data communication between the connected devices by means of an identification unit for determining if received data from all of the connected devices meets a specific identification criterion; a processing procedure memory for storing a processing procedure defining for each identification criterion a first process that is executed when the received data does not meet the specific identification criterion, and a second process that is executed when the received data meets the specific identification criterion; and a data processing unit for processing the received data according to the processing procedure based on the identification result of the identification unit, and outputting the received data to a connected device.

Another aspect of the present invention is a data relay method for an I/O control apparatus for processing and relaying I/O data between devices connected thereto, including one or more devices of an existing POS system having an input device, a POS terminal, a display device, and a printing device, and a function-adding apparatus for providing new functionality to the POS system. The data relay processing method has (a) an identification step of verifying if received data from each device meets specific identification criteria defined for each input port; (b) a first transmission step of sending the received data to the POS terminal or printing apparatus when the received data does not meet the specific identification criterion according to a predefined first process that operates identically to the existing POS system; (c) a second transmission step of sending the received data to the function-adding apparatus when the received data meets the specific identification criterion according to a second process in addition to the first process or instead of the first process; and (d) a step of processing data received from the function-adding apparatus according to the second process.

Other objects and attainments together with a fuller understanding of the invention will become apparent and appreciated by referring to the following description of preferred embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: <dl id="dl0001"><dt>Fig. 1</dt><dd>is a function block diagram of a POS system and I/O control apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention;</dd><dt>Fig. 2</dt><dd>is a function block diagram of an I/O control apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention;</dd><dt>Fig. 3</dt><dd>is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of a POS terminal and POS server according to the present invention;</dd><dt>Fig. 4</dt><dd>is a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of the card-issuing server 50-1;</dd><dt>Fig. 5</dt><dd>is a function block diagram of a POS printer such as commonly used in a POS server;</dd><dt>Fig. 6A</dt><dd>shows an example of a purchasing card for purchasing a 1000-yen phone card,</dd><dt>Fig. 6B</dt><dd>shows an example of a phone number and access code printed on the back of a purchasing card 70;</dd><dt>Fig. 6C</dt><dd>shows an example of the printed receipt;</dd><dt>Fig. 7</dt><dd>is a block diagram of a POS system and POS printer according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention;</dd><dt>Fig. 8</dt><dd>is a flow chart of the process run by the I/O control apparatus and function-adding server (card-issuing server);</dd><dt>Fig. 9</dt><dd>is a flow chart of the process executed by the POS terminal and POS server;</dd><dt>Fig. 10</dt><dd>is a block diagram of a POS system and POS printer according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention; and</dd><dt>Fig. 11</dt><dd>is an example of a receipt printed in another embodiment of the invention.</dd></dl>

A POS system, an I/O control apparatus, and a POS printer (printing apparatus) according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention are described below with reference to the accompanying figures. The present invention easily adds new functionality to an existing POS system having a POS terminal for transaction processing of purchased products, one or more input devices for entering purchased-product data to the POS terminal, and one or more POS printers for printing print data from a POS terminal on a receipt. Therefore, depending upon the function being added, all or some of the input devices and the POS printers (including existing input devices and printers) are connected through the I/O control apparatus to the POS terminal.

The I/O control apparatus relays data transmissions between the POS terminal and other devices connected thereto. When relaying data received from one connected device ("received data" below) to another device, the I/O control apparatus first checks whether data meeting specific identification criteria is contained in the received data. If such data is detected, the I/O control apparatus sends the received data to a device providing added functionality and intended to process this data, and thereby enables providing additional functionality. A POS system providing new value-added services can thus be provided without modifying the existing POS server application or POS terminal application.

The invention is described in detail below using by way of example a POS system for processing sales transactions and issuing receipts based on input data relating to the purchased products entered by an operator.

POS System according to a First Embodiment

Fig. 1 shows a POS system 10 and an I/O control apparatus 12 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The existing POS system is denoted by dotted line 60 in Fig. 1. In the existing POS system 60, the input device 32 and display 33 indicated by dotted lines, and a POS printer 34 indicated by a solid line, are connected to input/output (I/O) ports of a POS terminal 30. In this embodiment of the invention, the input device 32, the display 33, and the POS printer 34 are connected to the POS terminal 30 through the I/O control apparatus 12.

A function-adding apparatus for adding one or more new functions may be connected to this existing POS system 60. In the particular embodiment shown in Fig. 1, a plurality of function-adding servers 50-1, 50-2 (collectively referred to function-adding servers 50) connected to an external network such as the Internet are provided as the function-adding apparatuses. The function-adding servers 50 are connected to the I/O control apparatus 12 through a communications device 35. Other POS systems 10-1, 10-2 may be connected to one or more of these function-adding apparatus over the same network. All or at least one of an input device, a display, and a POS printer is connected to a POS terminal through an I/O control apparatus in each of the other POS systems 10-1, 10-2.

Basic POS System Operation

To more easily understand the present invention, the basic operation of a typical existing POS system 60 (the part enclosed in dotted line box 60 in Fig. 1) is first described briefly below.

This POS system is typically installed at the checkout counter of a store, and has a barcode reader, a keyboard, or other input device, and the display device connected to the POS terminal. In this example, the display device is assumed to include an operator display for operator use, and a customer display for customer use. A barcode that contains at least a product code and is applied somewhere on the product, is read using the barcode reader, and other essential information, such as the quantity purchased, is entered using a keyboard. The entered data is presented both on the operator display and customer display or other display device. All input devices connected to the POS terminal, including the barcode reader and keyboard in this example, are collectively represented by the input device 32 in Fig. 1. The product code scanned by the barcode reader and the quantity information entered via the keyboard (input device 32) are sent directly to the POS terminal.

The POS terminal 30 usually sends the data to a POS server 40, to which it is connected over a network. The POS server 40 then finds the product name, price, and other information about the product based on the received product code of the purchased product, and sends this product information back to the POS terminal 30.

The POS terminal 30 then displays the transaction data, including the product name, quantity, and price of each purchased product, on the operator and the customer display. When transaction data for all purchased products has been entered, the sum total of the purchased products is calculated and displayed. The sum total of the purchase is also sent to the POS server 40.

The POS server 40 then completes the transaction by updating inventory data and sales information based on the transaction data received from the POS terminal 30.

Based on information received from the POS server 40, the POS terminal 30 stores the transaction data in an electronic storage medium, and outputs print data to the POS printer 34.

The POS printer 34 then generates data for printing a receipt (receipt-printing data) from the received print data, and prints the receipt.

Connections

The I/O control apparatus 12 of the present invention is connected between the POS terminal 30 and all or at least one of the input device 32, the display 33, and the POS printer 34 of the existing POS system 60.

How each part of a POS system according to this embodiment of the invention is connected is described first. To more easily understand the features of the present invention, the preferred embodiment of the invention described first below is an example in which the input device 32, the display 33, and the POS printer 34 are all connected through the I/O control apparatus 12 to the POS terminal 30. This arrangement is shown as POS system 11 in Fig. 1. Note, however, that any desired selection of components could be connected to the POS terminal 30 through the I/O control apparatus 12, including only the input device 32, only the POS printer 34, or only an input device and a POS printer.

Functions that could be added to the existing POS system 60 could include connecting new input devices other than the input devices 32 described above, including, for example, a customer input device used by customers to enter a personal identification number or a card reader for reading magnetically encoded data from a credit card, or connecting a POS printer with a built-in image scanner (such as further described with reference to Fig. 10).

A POS system according to the present invention thus enables freely connecting any peripheral device (except for a POS terminal) used in the POS system to the POS terminal through the I/O control apparatus 12. This I/O control apparatus 12 has a plurality of communication ports for connecting devices. The communication ports could be input ports, output ports, and input/output ports, and any desirable number of communication ports could be provided.

A POS system according to the present invention could also have one or more POS printers and/or one or more input devices and/or one or more display devices connected to a plurality of I/O control apparatuses. In this type of arrangement each I/O control apparatus manages data communication between the POS printer(s), input device(s) and/or display device(s) connected thereto, and another I/O control apparatus or function-adding apparatus or POS terminal. All or part of the information sent from a function-adding apparatus or one of the plurality of I/O control apparatuses is sent to another one or all of the other I/O control apparatuses as the receiving device(s). Of the data received by an I/O control apparatus, data satisfying the above-mentioned identification criteria of a particular I/O control apparatus is stored by that I/O control apparatus, which then runs a particular printing or display process based on that data.

Input Device Connection

Input devices 32 such as a barcode reader, barcode scanner, keyboard, and image scanner are connected to an input port 21 c of the I/O control apparatus 12. When the I/O control apparatus 12 receives input data (mainly purchased-product data in the present embodiment) from the input device 32, the I/O control apparatus 12 outputs the received data from an output port 21 b. This output port 21 b is connected to an input port 21 a of the POS terminal 30.

The input port 21 a of the POS terminal 30 is the same as the input port to which the input device 32 is connected in the existing POS system. Input data from an input device 32 can thus be handled in the same way as input data in an existing POS system without modifying the POS terminal application in any way.

An input device 32 as used herein includes any input device that can be connected to the existing POS system, including those mentioned above. When different input devices are connected to different types of ports in the existing POS terminal 30, the output port of the I/O control apparatus 12 is connected to the corresponding port of the POS terminal 30.

Display Device Connection

Fig. 1 shows a display 33 connected through the I/O control apparatus 12 to the POS terminal 30. The display 33 is connected to an output port 22c of the I/O control apparatus 12. The display 33 includes both a customer and an operator display device. If the POS terminal 30 has a built-in operator display, then only the customer display is connected through the I/O control apparatus 12 to the POS terminal 30. In addition to transaction information output from the output port 22a of the POS terminal to the input port 22b of the I/O control apparatus 12, the information displayed on the display 33 may include print data received from a function-adding server (as further described below).

Printer Connection

The POS printer 34 is also connected through the I/O control apparatus 12. The output port 23a of the POS terminal 30 is connected to the input port 23b of the I/O control apparatus 12. The POS printer 34 is connected to an output port 23c of the I/O control apparatus 12. The I/O control apparatus 12 sends print data received from the POS terminal 30 through output port 23c to the POS printer 34. The I/O control apparatus 12 can also output print data received from a function-adding server 50 to the POS printer 34. If the existing POS printer 34 is lacking a desired print function, a second printer 36 could be connected. If the existing POS printer 34 cannot print certain kinds of slips (forms) or print on certain kinds of print media, for example, a second printer 36 could be connected to handle these print functions.

Function-adding Server Connection

The function-adding servers 50 are connected to I/O port 25a of the I/O control apparatus 12. The communications device 35 preferably provides security functions such as those of a virtual private network to ensure security of communication between the servers 50 and the I/O control apparatus 12. The arrangement shown in Fig. 1 anticipates connecting through a communications device 35 with a VPN router function to the Internet or other external network 61, but the POS system 11 could be connected to the function-adding server 50 through an in-house LAN.

As shown in Fig. 1, the POS system 11 of the present invention is not limited to connecting only one function-adding server 50 to the I/O control apparatus 12, and a plurality of function-adding servers 50 each providing different additional functionality could be connected. More particularly, a continually growing range of services providing different types of content are expected to become more and more available. Using an I/O control apparatus according to the present invention will make it simple to introduce in a timely manner a system providing a wide range of value-added services using external resources without modifying the basic infrastructure (particularly the POS server and POS application) of a company's existing POS system.

Note that a function-adding apparatus as used herein includes a server providing specific additional functionality, such as a phone card server for issuing a new phone card as further described below. This type of server is called a "value-added-information server" below.

The function-adding server 50 stores data received from an I/O control apparatus in a database 55 (see Fig. 4). In response to operator commands received from the I/O control apparatus, the function-adding server 50 executes typical database operations on the database 55, including searching and serving data, data backup, computation, deletion, compression and expansion, encryption and decryption, printing, and display processes.

I/O Control Apparatus

The basic configuration of an I/O control apparatus according to this embodiment of the invention is described next. An I/O control apparatus 12 according to this embodiment of the invention has a communication control unit 13 for controlling communication with the devices connected to the multiple communication ports, a data storage unit 14 for temporarily storing data received from the communication ports, an identification unit 15 for interpreting the received data, a processing procedure memory 18, and a data processor 16 for editing transmission data and generating communication data such as the transmission data address. The processing procedure memory 18 stores the procedures for processing received data according to specified identification criteria, and data used in those processes.

The data storage unit 14 stores the received data separately for each input port. The stored received data is then used for transmission data editing by the data processor 16. The data storage unit 14 is not limited to storing only received data. The I/O control apparatus 12 can store all or part of the received data together with all or at least one of the following: data for identifying the I/O control apparatus 12, data identifying the operator, and data identifying the date. Furthermore, data can be stored in a compressed format or in the raw (uncompressed) data format. The received data is then transferred from the data storage unit 14 to the function-adding server 50 at regular intervals, when requested by the function-adding server 50, when the remaining capacity in the data storage unit 14 reaches a specified level, or when the received data satisfies specific identification criteria. The transmission data is automatically encrypted and decrypted during transmission.

The specific test (identification) criteria are stored in the identification unit 15. If a phone card issuing service is provided as the added function, for example, the calling card product number and all or part of the product name (such as "phone") are stored as the identification criteria and compared with the received data. Based on the result of this comparison, the received data is edited according to a procedure stored in the processing procedure memory 18. The data processor 16 also generates communication data relating to the addressed device based on the data from the processing procedure memory 18 to assure that the transmission data is sent correctly. As a result, the communication control unit 13 can thus appropriately forward the received data to the addressed device.

The processing procedure memory 18 stores the procedures for processing received data to be relayed by the I/O control apparatus 12 and the data required to run these procedures according to the received data and the added function. The I/O control apparatus 12 can therefore relay received data to all devices connected thereto.

The I/O control apparatus 12 is described in detail below with reference to Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a function block diagram of an I/O control apparatus according to this embodiment of the invention. The numerals assigned to the communication ports in Fig. 2 are added for the convenience of clearly identifying the input port or input/output port where the data is received. Note that unless needed to identify a port as an input/output port, the communication ports are referred to below simply as input ports and output ports.

The data storage unit 14 stores received data from input ports (IP) 1 to 4. Data received through input port 1 is input data, such as purchased-product data, input from the input device 32. Data received through input port 2 is display data output from the POS terminal 30 for presentation on the display 33. Data received through input port 4 is print data input from the POS terminal 30 and data received from the function-adding servers 50.

Data output from the function-adding servers 50 to the I/O control apparatus 12 includes, for example, display information such as prompts and guidance helping the operator (user) perform operations such as entering a personal identification number, print data relating to an added function, and specific data for the POS terminal 30 in conjunction with an added function. A code or symbol identifying the specific data is added to the transmission data for identification by the identification unit 15 of the I/O control apparatus 12. The procedure to be run when this information is received is stored in the processing procedure memory 18 as a routine. Content stored in the processing procedure memory 18 can preferably be added to or updated from a function-adding server 50 or input device 32 in response to specific identification criteria being detected.

The identification unit 15 determines whether the received data meets specific identification criteria. The identification unit 15 compares the received data with identification criteria stored in an identification criteria storage unit 15-1 to determine whether to process the received data using a specific routine stored in the processing procedure memory 18. More specifically, if the received data does not satisfy the identification criteria, a normal process (first process) is run, but if the data meets the criteria, a specific routine (second process) is run in addition to or in place of the normal process.

The function provided by the function-adding apparatus in the following example issues a phone card for a specific calling service based on the purchase price. The specific criteria for this service is the product code of the phone card. A phone card processing routine 18-3 is stored in the processing procedure memory 18. This phone card processing routine 18-3 includes subroutines for a transmission data editing process 19-1, a print data editing process 19-2, and an address control process 19-3 in this embodiment.

If the received data from the input device 32 does not contain the registered print data (identification criteria), the normal process is run, that is, the received data from input port 1 is passed directly from communication (output) port 21 b to the input port 21 a of the POS terminal 30 (first process).

If a phone card product code is detected in the received data, however, a second process is run in addition to the first process. In the second process the I/O control apparatus 12 sends phone card purchasing information (i.e., matching information=information matching the specific identification criteria) to the function-adding server 50. So that specific data sent from the function-adding server 50 is appropriately processed within the second process, part of the specific identification criteria stored in the I/O control apparatus could be overwritten (temporarily adding a specific identification code as an identification criterion). This would allow speeding up the identification process. The function-adding server 50 stores information for issuing a phone card, and sends display information with a specific ID code to the I/O control apparatus 12. This display information is used to display a prompt asking the user to enter a personal identification number for using the phone card on the customer display 33.

When the identification unit 15 of the I/O control apparatus 12 detects the specific ID code in the received data from the function-adding server 50, the received data is sent through communication port 22c to the display 33 according to the specified process in the processing procedure memory 18 (the phone card processing routine 18-3 in this example). When the customer enters the personal identification number from the input device, the received data from the input device is checked by the identification unit 15 of the I/O control apparatus 12. This received data is then sent to the function-adding server 50 according to a specified process (second process).

The function-adding server 50 stores an issued phone card record in the database 55, and sends the specific ID code with the personal identification number and telephone number providing the calling service to the I/O control apparatus 12. When the identification unit 15 of the I/O control apparatus 12 detects the specific ID code, the I/O control apparatus 12 sends the received data according to the specified process to the POS printer 34 or second printer 36. Note that if a print data editing process (subroutine) 19-2 for editing the print data is provided as shown in Fig. 2, the I/O control apparatus 12 could edit the received data according to a specified print format to generate the print data, and send the resulting print data to the printer.

The I/O control apparatus 12 can be implemented by means of a hardware configuration having a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and a communication control circuit, and a control program.

The control processes and routines shown in Fig. 2 are software implementations, but could be embodied in an ASIC chip or other hardware (logic circuit) design to enable faster operation. These logic circuits could be integrated in a single chip.

The communication interface of the input device 32, the display 33, and the printers 34, 36 could be an RS-232C or other serial data interface, a Centronics (R) or other parallel data interface, a network interface, or a USB or other data transfer protocol. This also applies to the communication interface with the POS terminal 30.

When the drive voltage level used in the POS terminal 30 or POS printer 34, for example, differs from the TTL (transistor-transistor logic) level of the I/O control apparatus 12, a driver circuit for handling level conversions between the communication interfaces is preferably provided.

An arrangement having a plurality of I/O control apparatuses connected to the function-adding apparatuses and at least one of the I/O control apparatuses not connected to the POS terminal is also possible.

POS Terminal and POS Server

Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of a POS terminal and POS server. The POS terminal 30 has a terminal control unit 38 composed of a CPU, ROM, RAM and control program, an I/O control unit 37 for handling data communication with the I/O control apparatus 12, and a communication interface 39 for handling data communication with the POS server 40. The POS terminal 30 is connected to input device 32, display 33, and POS printer 34 through I/O control apparatus 12, which is connected to I/O ports 21 a to 23a.

The terminal control unit 38 has a product input processing unit 38-1 for receiving purchased product input data from the input device 32; a product information query unit 38-2 for querying the POS server 40 for price and other product information based on the product code or other input data; a transaction processing unit 38-3 for processing sale transactions based on input data and product data from the POS server 40; a display processing unit 38-4 generating display data for presentation on the display based on the input purchased-product data and the transaction data; a print processing unit 38-5 for outputting print data; and a deletion processing unit 38-6 for deleting and correcting transaction data such as mistakenly entered purchased-product information.

The POS server 40 has a control device (CPU 41) and a memory, including ROM 42 and RAM 43. The CPU 41 processes data stored in a buffer 43-6 in RAM 43 according to a control program stored in ROM 42. Also provided in RAM 43 are a product code block 43-1, product name block 43-2, amount block 43-3, and inventory block 43-4. Based on the product information from the POS terminal 30, the CPU 41 extracts the product code, product name, and price data, and generates the product data used for printing a receipt and displaying on the display 33 of the POS terminal 30.

The POS terminal 30 acquires input from an input device 32 connected to the I/O control apparatus 12 from the I/O control apparatus 12, including product information entered via the keyboard or by scanning a barcode with a barcode reader, and information about the customer (customer information). If a card reader is connected as one of the input devices 32, a customer credit card or preferred-customer (membership) card can be read to acquire information for authorizing a credit card transaction or customer information such as a customer ID number. Product price information can also be displayed for the customer by sending product information generated based on the product data received from the POS server 40 through the I/O control apparatus 12 as display data to the customer display 33. Print data is likewise sent to the POS printer 34 through the I/O control apparatus 12 for receipt printing.

Data extracted from the print data sent from the POS terminal 30 to the I/O control apparatus 12, including credit card transaction data, credit card information read by a credit card reader as one of the input devices 32, data identifying the POS terminal, and data identifying the terminal operator, is sent through the I/O control apparatus 12 to the function-adding apparatus. Based on this data, the function-adding apparatus runs a credit card authorization process. If this authorization process indicates the credit card is authorized for use, the function-adding apparatus sends the credit card paying information through the I/O control apparatus to the POS printer 34, 36 as print data for printing a credit card charge slip on which the customer's signature is then acquired. A credit card transaction processing function can thus be provided.

Note that by connecting an ECR to the I/O control apparatus instead of a POS terminal, printing a receipt and processing a credit card transaction can both be handled in a single efficient process whereas receipt printing and processing credit card transactions are typically separate processes in a conventional POS system.

Providing Added Functions

An example of adding a function a function for issuing phone cards ("phone-card-issuing function") added to an existing POS system is described next with reference to Fig. 4 to Fig. 6.

An example of a card displayed in open displays in the store and used to purchase a phone card (referred to as a "purchasing card" 70 herein) is shown in Fig. 6A. Phone card purchasing cards 70 printed with the product name, "Phone Card" in this case, and a barcode (purchasing code) and price are displayed in the store. If cards for different amounts, such as 1000 yen, 3000 yen, and 5000 yen, are sold in the store, the content of the barcode printed on each purchasing cards 70 will differ according to the amount. The customer then simply purchases a purchasing card 70 for the desired amount.

As described above, input data (the purchased-product data) entered from an input device 32 is sent to the I/O control apparatus 12, and then sent from the I/O control apparatus 12 to the POS terminal 30 for transaction processing. The I/O control apparatus 12 checks the received data from the input device 32 to test whether it meets any of identification criteria stored in the control apparatus and sends the checked input data to the POS terminal 30. Most products do not meet the specified identification criteria, and the input data is therefore sent as it is to the POS terminal 30 for transaction processing using the conventional method of the POS system.

When a phone card is purchased, the barcode (product code) of the purchasing card 70 is read by the barcode reader (input device 32). The read product code is sent from the input device 32 to the I/O control apparatus 12. The product code of the purchasing cards 70 is stored in the I/O control apparatus 12 as an identification criterion, and the identification unit 15 detects that the product code matches the stored identification criteria. The product code of the purchasing card 70 is sent to the POS terminal 30 and to the card-issuing server 50-1, which is one of the function-adding servers 50, at the same time.

When the card-issuing server 50-1 receives a phone card product code, the server runs a specific card-issuing process. Fig. 4 is a function block diagram of a card-issuing server 50-1 according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. The card-issuing server 50-1 has a communication control unit 51, a verification unit 52, a data issuing managing unit 53, and a registration unit 54.

When the card-issuing server 50-1 receives the product code of a purchasing card 70 from the I/O control apparatus 12, the verification unit 52 first verifies whether the request is valid (that is, whether the requesting terminal has issuing authority). If authority is verified, the data issuing managing unit 53 runs the phone card issuing process.

To issue a phone card, a code verification unit 53-1 verifies the received product code and confirms the value of the purchasing card 70. The PIN processing unit 53-2 then sends display data to the I/O control apparatus 12 for prompting the customer to enter a preferred PIN (personal identification number). The I/O control apparatus 12 sends the received display data to the customer display 33. When the customer then enters the desired personal identification number at a customer keypad used as one of the input devices 32, the entered PIN is sent from the I/O control apparatus 12 to the card-issuing server 50-1.

When the card-issuing server 50-1 receives the PIN, the server accepts the request to issue a phone card, and sends the PIN and service content to be provided through the registration unit 54 for storage in the database 55. Based on the type of phone card purchased, the amount, calling time information, and POS system location information, the card-issuing server 50-1 also sends the phone number and PIN for receiving the calling service to the I/O control apparatus 12 as print data.

When at least one POS printer or input device is connected to the I/O control apparatus, and data communication between the POS terminal and POS printer or input device is passed through the I/O control apparatus, if the card-issuing server 50-1 detects purchase information for a purchasing card and address information in the print data or input data from the input device, the card-issuing server 50-1 extracts the phone number corresponding to the address information from the database 55 as retrieved data, sends a PIN for the phone card according to the purchase information of the purchasing card, and prints all or part of this data to the phone card.

When at least one POS printer or input device is connected to the I/O control apparatus, and data communication between the POS terminal and POS printer or input device is passed through the I/O control apparatus, if the card-issuing server 50-1 detects phone card identification information and a remaining calling time request for acquiring the remaining calling time left on the phone card in the print data or input data from the input device, the card-issuing server 50-1 calculates the remaining calling time on the phone card using the phone card identification information to obtain the required information, and sends the remaining calling time to the I/O control apparatus as the issued information for printing on the phone card or presenting on a display.

Fig. 5 is a function block diagram of a common POS printer 34. The I/O control apparatus 12 sends print data received from a card-issuing server 50-1 to a POS printer 34 such as shown in Fig. 5. The POS printer 34 has a receipt printing unit 34-3 and a slip printing unit 34-4. The slip printing unit 34-4 can print to relatively thick card stock. When the operator sets a purchasing card 70 into the slip printing unit 34-4, the telephone number and PIN sent to the control unit 34-2 from the communication interface 34-1 are printed to the back 71 of the purchasing card 70.

Fig. 6B shows an example of the telephone number and PIN (personal identification number) printed on the back 71 of a purchasing card 70. Fig. 6C shows a sample of a printed receipt for products A, B, and C, and one phone card. As shown in the sample receipt in Fig. 6C, the PIN could be printed on the receipt instead of on the back 71 of the purchasing card 70. Further alternatively, the PIN could be acquired by requiring the user to enter the PIN twice consecutively when the phone card is first used instead of printing the PIN anywhere. Not printing the PIN on the phone card helps prevent unauthorized use if the card is lost or stolen.

Further alternatively, the telephone number and PIN could be printed on the receipt, and the receipt issued as a valid phone card. This enables the purchasing card 70 to be recovered at the checkout counter after payment is made so that the purchasing cards can be reused.

Furthermore, if phone cards are sold by printing a telephone number and/or other information on a purchasing card 70 or other type of card but the existing POS printer 34 does not have a slip printing function, the present invention enables providing this new service by simply connecting a second printer 36 with a slip printing capability.

While the customer is prompted to enter a desired PIN in the foregoing example, the PIN could be issued automatically by the card-issuing server and printed. Cards can be issued more quickly in this case because the customer does not need to enter a PIN.

When the customer that purchased the phone card then desires to use the phone service, the customer calls the specified telephone number and enters the PIN as directed. The communication control device then queries the database 55 via a card calling management server 57 as shown in Fig. 4 to verify the remaining calling time and PIN and provide telecommunication services accordingly.

Other Embodiments

Fig. 7 shows a POS system and POS printer according to another embodiment of the present invention in which the I/O control apparatus 12 described above is provided in the form of an I/O control board 78 built into the POS printer. More particularly, in the POS system shown in Fig. 7, the POS printer 34' has the I/O control board 78 and a printing unit 73. The I/O control board 78 is connected through a connector 77 to the printing unit 73 and could be detachably connected. Except for the way of connection to the POS printer 34, this I/O control apparatus (control board 78) is functionally identical to that shown in Fig. 2. Another printer 36 could also be connected to the POS printer 34' shown in Fig. 7.

When the printing control unit 74 receives print data from the I/O control board 78, the printing control unit 74 distributes the print data to a receipt print unit 75 or a slip print unit 76 of the POS printer 73 according to the specific printing format for printing.

Fig. 10 shows a POS system and POS printer according to a further embodiment of the invention. The POS system shown in Fig. 10 differs from that of Fig. 7 only in that, in addition to an I/O control board 78-1 that may be the same as the I/O control board 78 in Fig. 7, a printing and imaging processing unit 74-1 instead of the printing control unit 74 is built into the POS printer 34'. The I/O control board 78-1 could be detachably connected via the connector 77 like the I/O control board 78.

When the I/O control board 78-1 receives print data from the POS terminal 30 in a POS printer 34" having an integral image scanner 100, the I/O control board 78-1 sends the print data to the printing and imaging control unit 74-1. The printing and imaging control unit 74-1 then distributes the print data to the receipt print unit 75 or the slip print unit 76 according to the specific printing format for printing. Print data received from a function-adding server 50 is likewise printed by the POS printer 34". As a result, printing involved with the added functionality provided by the function-adding server 50 can be executed on the POS printer 34".

Furthermore, image data captured by the image scanner 100 can be output through the I/O control board 78-1 to the POS terminal 30 or to a function-adding server 50. This image data could be captured from a credit card, check, or driver license, for example. All or a part of this image data, account number information read from a check, date information, information for identifying the I/O control port (I/O control apparatus), information for identifying the POS terminal, operator identification information, and amount information can be stored in the data storage unit 14 of the I/O control board 78-1.

In any of the embodiments mentioned above, an image scanning device could also be connected as an input device 32. In this case, the captured image data can be output through the I/O control board 78-1 to the POS terminal 30 or a function-adding server 50 in the same way as with the foregoing POS printer 34" having an integral image scanner.

Fig. 11 shows a print sample of a receipt 72-1 printed for journal data or tax reporting purposes. In the print data sent from the POS terminal 30 to the I/O control apparatus, the information that requires recording in the journal is the journal data 110. Other information such as the store logo that is printed on the sales receipts does not need recording in the journal. The tax data 111 required for tax collecting and reporting includes the sum total of the purchase and the applied tax. Information printed on the receipt 72-1 can thus be selectively extracted for specific uses.

As indicated before, the I/O control boards 78 and 78-1 provide all functionality of the I/O control apparatus 12 that has been explained in the context of the first embodiment, including that of the function units 14, 15, 16 and 18.

Print data can thus be converted to an electronic journal, and tax-related information can be extracted, without adding any journal data archiving function to the POS terminal. Providing this added function helps saving paper and improves job efficiency.

Transaction Processing and Phone Card Issuing Procedure

Operation of a POS system according to the present invention is described below with reference to the flow charts shown in Fig. 8 and Fig. 9. Fig. 8 is a flow chart of the processes executed by the I/O control apparatus 12 and function-adding server (card-issuing server) 50-1, and Fig. 9 is a flow chart of the processes executed by the POS server 40 and POS terminal 30.

When purchased-product information is entered to an input device 32 during a transaction, the input data is sent to the I/O control apparatus 12. When the I/O control apparatus 12 receives the purchased-product information from the input device 32 (S101), the identification unit determines if the received data meets specific identification criteria (S102). Depending on whether the received data meets the specific identification criteria and whether the first process or a second process is thus executed, transmission data is then edited (S103), the addressee (output destination) is determined (S104), and the transmission data is sent to the specific device determined by the executing process. Note that directly relaying the received data is also included in the concept of "editing" by the I/O control apparatus 12 as used herein.

If the received data from the input device 32 does not meet the specific identification criteria, the received data is sent directly to the POS terminal 30 based on the first process. If the product code indicating a phone card purchase is received from the input device 32, said product code will be detected by the received data identification process (S102). If said product code is detected, the received data is sent to the POS terminal 30 according to the first process, and the received data is also sent to the card-issuing server 50-1 (S105) after first applying other steps (S103, S104) according to the second process.

When the card-issuing server 50-1 receives phone card purchasing information (S201), the issuing authority is verified (S202), and a request to enter a PIN (PIN entry request) is output (S203).

This PIN entry request sends display information prompting the user to enter a PIN to the I/O control apparatus 12. The I/O control apparatus 12 confirms the received data (S101, 102), and after executing a particular process, outputs display data to the display 33 requesting the user to enter the PIN (S103 to S105). When the I/O control apparatus 12 then receives the PIN from the input device 32 (S101), a specific process is again executed (S102 to S103), and the edited transmission data is sent to the card-issuing server 50-1 (S104, S105). When the card-issuing server 50-1 receives the PIN, the server stores a customer record containing the PIN and the phone card purchase information (S204). The server then sends print data for the phone number for accessing the phone service and the PIN to the I/O control apparatus 12 (S205).

When the I/O control apparatus 12 receives the print data from the card-issuing server 50-1 (S101), the I/O control apparatus 12 identifies the data (S102) and thus recognizes print data from the card-issuing server 50-1 (S102). The I/O control apparatus 12 then edits the data as required (S103), and sends the print data to the appropriate printer 34 or 36 (S104, S105). If the PIN is printed on the receipt, the PIN is stored and the print data is edited in the print data editing routine after the print data is received so that the PIN is printed at a specific location on the receipt.

Whether to print the PIN, and where to print the PIN on a card (slip) or receipt could also be determined as desired by the customer.

The operation of the POS terminal 30 and POS server 40 are described next with reference to Fig. 9.

When the POS terminal 30 receives purchased-product information from the I/O control apparatus 12 (S301), the POS terminal 30 sends a product information query to the POS server 40 (S301).

When the POS server 40 receives the query (S401), the POS server 40 retrieves the product information and sends the information to the POS terminal 30 (S402).

When the POS terminal 30 receives the product name, price, and other product information from the POS server 40 (S302), the POS terminal 30 generates and sends the data to be displayed or printed as the display data and receipt-printing data to the I/O control apparatus 12 (S303, S304). When all purchased-product information has been entered, a transaction confirmation is sent from the input device 32. When the POS terminal 30 receives this transaction confirmation (S305 returns yes), the POS terminal 30 calculates the sum total of the purchase and the sales tax, for example, outputs the transaction information as display and print data, and also outputs the transaction data to the POS server 40 at the same time (S306). The POS server 40 updates the product inventory data and sales data based on the received transaction data (S403).

Returning to Fig. 8, when the I/O control apparatus 12 receives display data or print data from the POS terminal 30, the I/O control apparatus 12 outputs the data to the display 33 or POS printer 34 according to the normal procedure. The display 33 thus sequentially displays data based on operator input from the input device 32, such as the name and price of the purchased product, and then displays the transaction information at the end of the transaction. The POS printer 34 prints the print data from the I/O control apparatus 12 on a receipt. The POS printer could print the purchased-product data on a receipt as the data is entered, or the POS printer could batch print the data on the receipt after the final total is determined. When the data is printed can be controlled by adjusting the timing at which the POS terminal 30 sends the print data to the I/O control apparatus 12, the timing at which the I/O control apparatus 12 sends the print data to the POS printer 34, and when the print timing of the POS printer 34.

Examples of Providing other Added Functions

Examples of other functions that can be provided by means of an I/O control apparatus according to the present invention are described below.

Example 1

Connecting an I/O control apparatus of this invention to a product maintenance server operated by a manufacturer enables adding a function for remote maintenance to, for example, monitor the use of consumables such as ink ribbons and ink, or a function for providing remote software upgrades.

Remote maintenance can be provided by the I/O control apparatus reading maintenance information (such as ink consumption, remaining ink level, print volume, number of automatic paper cutting operations, the amount of paper consumed, number of times the power switch is turned on/off) from the printer, and sending this maintenance information to the function-adding apparatus at regular intervals or when requested by the function-adding apparatus.

Other services such as remote inventory management could also be provided to, for example, automatically ship ink cartridges from the manufacturer when a store's inventory of ink cartridges drops to a certain level, or bill according to ink consumption. Wasteful replacement of ink cartridges, and problems resulting from running out of ink, can thus be remotely prevented.

Example 2

A function for automatically collecting subscription fees for software used on the POS system, for example, can be added by connecting the POS system to an automatic payment server through an I/O control apparatus according to the present invention.

Example 3

A credit card payment function can be easily added by connecting a credit authorization terminal (CAT), which is used to verify credit card authorization, to the I/O control apparatus of the invention.

Example 4

High value-added services based on a membership or preferred customer card, for example, can also be offered.

Example 5

The present invention can also provide a check payment function, a payment function using digital data captured from check images, and improved reliability. Conventional systems read the account number information printed on each check and then, based on the account number, execute one or all of the following: verifying whether the account exists, whether the account can be used, checking the remaining balance, and checking whether the account is on a list of banned customer accounts. The POS terminal application must then determine whether to accept the account number.

Using the I/O control apparatus of the present invention, however, the account number information read from the check is sent through the I/O control apparatus to a function-adding apparatus. The function-adding apparatus then checks all or at least one of whether the account exists, whether the account can be used, what the remaining balance is, and whether the account is on a list of banned customer accounts; it then determines whether the account number can be accepted, and sends the acceptance result to the I/O control apparatus. Whether payment can be accepted and the transaction is complete is thus known. A check processing function can thus be added to an existing POS system without introducing a new POS system application, and check payments can be processed easily.

Reading and storing an image of a check at the same time the account number is read from the check also provides evidence in the event the account number of the check was misread or a check is used illegally. The POS terminal application used for this purpose in a conventional system receives check image data from a printer having an internal image scanner or from a separate image scanner, and either stores the image data in the POS terminal or sends the image data to the check processing server for storage on the server side. Using an I/O control apparatus according to the present invention enables saving the image data or sending the image data to a specific server without changing the POS terminal application, thereby easily saving proof if a check is misread or used illegally, and thus improving reliability.

Example 6

Another function that can be added uses "digital change" to speed up the transaction time (checkout time) in a store and eliminate the need for customers to carry small change. This is achieved by storing customer change less than a specified amount as digital change on a particular management server. When an uneven amount is due for a purchase, the balance kept on the digital change server is used together with the amount paid by the customer to complete the transaction so that the customer does not need to carry much change around.

Example 7

If print data is sent to the printer through the I/O control apparatus after a payment is made at the checkout counter or after an order is paid for and an order receipt (ticket) is issued, the I/O control apparatus extracts the product information from the print data and sends the product information to a second I/O control apparatus. The second I/O control apparatus sends print data to a connected printer as cooking instructions in a restaurant kitchen or shipping instructions, for example. As a result, instructions can be automatically routed to a kitchen or warehouse.

Example 8

In addition to the transaction information normally printed on a receipt, all or part of information such as customer identification information, operator identification information, a serial print number, and I/O control apparatus identification information is added to the print data sent from the function-adding apparatus and print data sent from the I/O control apparatus, and this information is sent to a plurality of I/O control apparatuses connected to the POS system. A plurality of I/O control apparatuses store the information, and select and send the print data to a particular printer based on instructions identifying what information to print. These instructions are included with the print command sent from an input device or function-adding apparatus connected to the I/O control apparatuses. This arrangement enables the operator to print using the nearest printer or I/O control apparatus. This also enables working around a malfunctioning printer, for example, and to shorten the time needed to resume printing.