Set of equipment and procedure for facilitating the cash-free on-site purchase of goods

The invention relates to a set of equipment for facilitating the cash-free on-site purchase of goods, which set of equipment contains a carrying unit for the temporary accommodation of goods and can be freely moved on the site of purchasing goods.

The invention also relates to a procedure that can be realised with the help of the set of equipment for the cash-free on-site purchase of goods, in the course of which procedure the goods are selected on the site of purchase, they are placed in the carrying unit, then the price of the goods is paid and finally the goods are taken away from the site of purchase.

In stores where goods are sold, especially in commercial units where a large selection and a large quantity of products are offered for sale on a large area, for example in hypermarkets, shopping trolleys are widely used. These shopping trolleys are based on the idea that they have a structure that moves on wheels with a storage space for accommodating goods intended to be purchased, in the storage space a large amount of goods can be placed, and purchasers do not need to exert significant physical force to move such large amounts of products. For example patent specifications No. HU P 99 01636 and HU 213.767 describe such solutions.

Furthermore electronic structures are also known that can be connected to shopping trolleys to help purchasers find their way on the service areas of large stores. For example patent specification No. DE 10.049.920 describes a communication device of this character.

The unquestionable advantage of these solutions is that they facilitate the simple movement of large amounts of products and also make it easier for customers to find their way on the sales area. However, their disadvantage is that in themselves they do not make it possible for purchasers to acquire the products they intend to buy in a convenient way, without using cash, avoiding queuing up at checkouts and waiting for a long time.

Our aim by developing the set of equipment and procedure according to the invention was to overcome the deficiencies of the known and widely used purchasing mechanisms and

to create a solution, which enables cash-free on-site purchases in the course of which after purchasing goods it is not necessary to wait in a queue to pay for them, and so direct on-site purchase can be solved quickly, without any checkout operations.

The realisation of the set of equipment according to the invention was based on the recognition that if the trolley used for the temporary storage of the products intended to be purchased is constructed in a special way, so that it can be connected to a communication network, and in a given case devices are placed at certain points of the sales area to realise a short-distance, practically closed information network, through which network the data and price of goods and other related payment parameters and the instructions in connection with them can be forwarded during the period of purchase from the goods to the purchaser and the seller, then during the selection and placement of goods the process of invoicing and settling the invoice can be realised, and so the payment transaction at the checkout becomes unnecessary, and the set aim can be reached.

The idea behind the invention was also based on the recognition that mobile telephone sets known in themselves can be constructed in a suitable way to enable purchasers realise payment transactions through direct, short-distance data transfer with the help of their own mobile telephone sets, which also supports the realisation of cash-free on-site purchases.

In accordance with the set aim the set of equipment according to the invention for facilitating cash-free on-site purchase of goods, - which set of equipment comprises a carrying unit for the temporary accommodation of goods that can be freely moved on the site of purchasing goods, - is constructed in a way that the carrying unit is supplemented with one or more identification part-units for receiving and forwarding the characteristic data of the goods, with the help of a data transfer channel a connection suitable for signal transmission is established between the identification part-unit and the seller's control unit and/or the portable purchaser's payment unit suitable for realising financial transactions, and via the signal transmission channel temporary connection suitable for signal transmission is established between the portable purchaser's payment unit and the seller's control unit.

A further feature of the set of equipment according to the invention may be that the seller's control module has a seller's payment module and an administration module for

stockkeeping and invoicing, with the help of the data transfer channel the identification part- unit is connected to the administration module of the seller's control unit, while the seller's payment module is connected to the portable purchaser's payment module via the signal transmission channel.

In the case of a possible version of the set of equipment, via the signal transmission channel connection suitable for signal transmission is established between the portable purchaser's payment unit and the administration module of the seller's control unit.

From the aspect of the invention it may be favourable, if via the signal transmission channel connection suitable for short-distance signal transmission is established between the portable purchaser's payment unit and the seller's payment module of the seller's control unit.

In the case of a further different realisation of the set of equipment, at least the seller's payment module of the seller's control unit is attached to the carrying unit, and the seller's payment module and the seller's control unit are connected to each other through wireless connection, or at least the seller's payment module of the of the seller's control unit is attached to the carrying unit, and the seller's payment module and the seller's control unit are connected to each other at least temporarily with the help of a data cable as an intermediary part-unit.

In the case of another different construction of the invention, the seller's payment module is fixed in position at the site of purchase independently from the carrying unit and it is in wireless connection with the seller's control unit, or the seller's payment module is fixed in position at the site of purchase independently from the carrying unit and it is connected to the seller's control unit through a data cable as an intermediary part-unit.

In the case of a favourable construction of the set of equipment, the portable purchaser's payment unit is a mobile telephone, the seller's payment module is a POS terminal, and the identification part-unit for receiving and forwarding the characteristic data of the goods may be a wireless identification device, such as an RFDI reader.

In the case of an even further realisation of the invention, the carrying unit has an individual identifier, e.g.: a barcode identifier, and the individual identifier is allocated to the identification part-unit connected to the given carrying unit or the seller's control unit attached to the carrying unit.

In the case of another different version of the set of equipment, the seller's control unit has a goods-protection part-unit, the goods-protection part-unit contains one or more sensor gates, one or more inactivating devices and, in a given case, identification elements allocated to the individual goods, the sensor gate of the goods-protection part-unit is placed on the site of purchase near the exit, while the inactivating device of the goods-protection part-unit is connected to the carrying unit and/or the sensor gate. In a given case the identification element and the information carrier containing the characteristic data of the goods form one single unit.

Beside the set of equipment, in accordance with the set aim, the procedure according to the invention for the cash-free on-site purchase of goods, - in the course of which procedure the goods are selected on the site of purchase, they are placed in the carrying unit, then the price of the goods is paid and finally the goods are taken away from the site of purchase, - is based on the principle that in the course of placing the goods in the carrying unit, or after placing the goods in the carrying unit, during the period while the goods are situated in the carrying unit, the characteristic data of the goods are determined with the help of the identification part-unit, at least a part of the characteristic data is processed and forwarded to the portable purchaser's payment unit, and on the basis of the characteristic data forwarded to the portable purchaser's payment unit the price of the goods is settled by making a cash-free payment transaction.

A further feature of the procedure according to the invention may be that first at least a part of the characteristic data is forwarded to the seller's control unit, it is processed there, and the data processed in the seller's control unit is forwarded to the portable purchaser's payment unit.

In the case of a realisation method of the procedure, in the course of the cash-free payment transaction short-distance data transfer operation is realised between the portable

purchaser's payment unit and the seller's control unit in order to settle the price of the goods.

In the case of an even different realisation of the procedure, in the course of the cash-free payment transaction the virtual payment units stored in the portable purchaser's payment unit are transferred into the seller's payment module belonging to the seller's control unit with the help of wireless information transfer, practically through NFC data transfer directly or by inserting an intermediary part-unit, and on the basis of the virtual payment units transferred into the seller's payment module the removal of the given goods from the site of purchase is permitted.

In the case of another different version of the procedure, in the course of granting permission to take away the goods, the identification element placed on the goods is inactivated by temporarily switching on the inactivating device of the goods-protection part- unit belonging to the seller's control unit.

An advantage of the set of equipment according to the invention is that in the case it is used no checkouts stopping purchasers and restricting the turnover of the stores need to be constructed, as a result of which the size of the useful sales area can be increased and investment costs can be reduced, and also, due to the elimination of narrow cross-section checkout points the speed of the service can be increased, purchasers' feeling of comfort can be improved, which may result in the increasing of customers' desire to make purchases and consequently in the further increasing of the turnover and sales revenue.

It must also be regarded as an advantage that due to the use of the set of equipment different from other known sets of equipment, customers' possibility to make purchases on the site can be maintained without needing cash, which improves the security of shopping, as in the case of cash-free shopping pickpocketing aimed at misappropriating cash from purchasers can be eliminated.

It must also be regarded as favourable that the elements of the set of equipment according to the invention other than the purchaser's payment unit can be positioned in a simple way on the sales area and on the business area of the stores. The part-units are easy

to handle and maintain, and due to their construction they can even be installed subsequently in not recently built traditional commercial units, which makes it possible to change over to cash-free, quick on-site shopping with a small investment.

Another advantage is that if the purchaser's payment unit is set up in a mobile telephone, it results in the advanced utilisation of an already existing, versatile tool, which facilitates shopping and by this the possibility of selling mobile telephones offering services other than usual can also be increased.

Below the set of equipment according to the invention is described in detail in connection with a construction example, on the basis of a drawing. In the drawing

figure 1 is the diagrammatic view of a possible version of the set of equipment, figure 2 is the diagrammatic view of a part of a different construction of the set of equipment, figure 3 is the diagrammatic view of a part of a further version of the set of equipment, figure 4 is the diagrammatic view of a part of an even different construction of the set of equipment.

Figure 1 shows a version of the set of equipment according to the invention, which can be practically positioned in hypermarkets of a large floor area. It can be seen that - as usual - there are several independent carrying units 20 on the site 1, which carrying units 20 are similar to the traditional shopping trolleys on wheels used for shopping. The carrying unit 20 includes an accommodating space 21 used for the placement of goods 10. However, in this case the accommodating space 21 is equipped with one or more identification part-units 22 for sensing and interpreting, e.g.; reading, the data of the information carrier 12 containing the characteristic data 11 of the goods. The identification part-unit 22 can be an RFDI reader or another different suitable device.

Practically the carrying unit 20 should also have an individual identifier 24, which can also be read with the help of the identification part-unit 22. In the case of installing one given identification part-unit 22, the individual identifier 24 makes it possible to allocate it

to exactly one carrying unit 20 increasing by this the security of the purchasing process and preventing misuse.

It must be pointed out here that in cases when a given identification part-unit 22 is attached to the carrying unit 20 irremovably, the individual identifier 24 is not needed, as in this case the carrying unit 20 can be identified with the help of the identification part-unit 22 attached to the given carrying unit 20 itself.

In the case of the present construction of the carrying unit 20, apart from the identification part-unit 22 and the individual identifier 24 it also contains the seller's payment module 41, which forms a part of the seller's control unit 40, and in this case it is connected to the portable purchaser's payment unit 30 with the help of a short-distance signal transmission channel 31, through radio frequency transmission. The seller's control unit 40 also contains the administration module 44, which, in the case of this construction, is connected to the identification party-unit 22 fixed in the accommodating space 21 of the carrying unit 20 with a wireless connection, e.g.: radio frequency transmission, with help of the data transfer channel 23. The task of the administration module 44 is to perform the stockkeeping and monitoring of the goods 10 offered for sale on the site 1, and favourably to issue the invoice containing the goods 10 placed in the accommodating space 21 of the carrying unit 20.

Beside the seller's payment module 41 and the administration module 44 the seller's control unit 40 may also contain a goods-protection part-unit 43 preventing the misappropriation of the goods 10. The goods-protection part-unit 43 comprises one or more sensor gates 43 a situated near the exit 2 of the site 1, the inactivating devices 43 c and the identification elements 43b. The identification elements 43b may be passive goods- protection devices that may be placed on the goods 10 or in their packaging ¹ and generate an alarm signal when they are near the sensor gate 43 a, if the inactivating device 43 c does not inactivate their operation. In accordance with this the inactivating devices 43 c can be placed in the accommodating space 21 of the carrying units 20 or near the exit 2 in the vicinity of the sensor gates 43a, or at both places.

In the case of the set of equipment shown in figure 1, the identification part-unit 22, the seller's payment module 41, the administration module 44 and the portable purchaser's payment module 30 realise wireless information exchange with each other. The portable purchaser's payment unit 30 itself is a mobile telephone, which is suitable for storing virtual payment units 32 temporarily. If necessary the virtual payment units 32 can be placed in the portable purchaser's payment unit 30 on a storage device similar to customer loyalty point collection cards known in themselves, so in the course of cash-free payment (e.g.: through TS[FC data transfer they can be removed into the seller's payment module 41 of the seller's control unit 40.

Figure 2 shows a part of the carrying unit 20 and seller's control unit 40 belonging to a version of the set of equipment according to the invention, where the seller's payment module 41 situated in the accommodating space 21 of the carrying unit 20 is connected to the seller's control unit 40 with the help of a data cable 42a used as an intermediary part- unit 42. This connection is temporary and it makes it possible to read the data accumulated in the buffer storage of the seller's payment module 41 in the background storage of the seller's control unit 40 directly.

Figure 3 shows a further example of another different connection established between the carrying unit 20, the portable purchaser's payment unit 30 and the seller's control unit 40. In this case the accommodating space 21 of the carrying unit 20 contains only the identification part-unit 22, and there is wireless connection between the identification part- unit 22 and the administration module 44 of the seller's control unit 40. Here the seller's payment module 41 of the seller's control unit 40 is not situated in the accommodating space 21 of the carrying unit 20, it is connected through a wired connection to the seller's control unit with the help of a data cable 42a as an intermediary part-unit 42, and it is installed in a fixed position at several points on the site 1. With the help of a short-distance signal transmission channel 31 wireless connection is established between the fixed seller's payment modules 41 and the portable purchaser's payment unit 30.

It must also be pointed out here that in a possible version there is wireless connection between the seller's payment module 41 and the seller's control unit 40, but the seller's payment module 41 is not attached to the carrying unit 20, but it is placed on the site 1 in a

fixed position. In this case the data transfer channel 23 establishes connection between the seller's payment module 41 and the seller's control unit 40, while wireless communication between the seller's payment module 41 and the portable purchaser's payment unit 30 is supported by a short-distance signal transmission channel 31.

Figure 4 shows another different arrangement of the parts of the seller's control unit 40. Here, in the storage space 21 of the carrying unit 20, apart from the identification part-unit 22 there is also the administration module 44 and the seller's payment module 41, which may be connected to each other even through direct wired connection. Obviously, in this case too, temporary wireless connection can be established between the portable purchaser's payment units 30 and the seller's payment module 41 practically with the help of the short-distance signal transmission channel 31. It must also be pointed out here that this version should be practically used only on sites 1 where the selection of goods 10 is not too wide, as in the case of a large amount of different types of goods 10 the data of the goods 10 needs to be loaded into each administration module 44 connected to the individual carrying units 20. In this case loading valid data into the administration module 44 can take place by using a data cable 42a, as an intermediary part-unit 42, connected to the seller's control unit situated on the site 1 in a fixed position.

In the case of each different arrangement of the seller's control unit 40 and carrying unit 20 described above it is possible to realise a construction in which the seller's payment module 41 is a POS terminal, but obviously it can also be a device of a different construction or operating principle. However, an essential requirement is that in each case the seller's payment module 41 should be able to communicate with the portable purchaser's payment unit 30 and with the seller's control unit 40.

It is also obvious that the individual identifier 24 is a series of signals, e.g.: a barcode, recorded by the identification part-unit 22 in a readable form, but a different signal other than a barcode is also possible. However, in this case too, it is a valid requirement that in each case the identification part-unit 22 should be able to sense and interpret the individual identifier 24 and realise identification accordingly.

Below the procedure according to the invention is described in detail with the help of examples.

Example 1

In the case of this example of the procedure purchase was realised using the set of equipment according to figure 1. In the course of the purchase the goods 10 displayed on the site 1 and offered for sale were placed in the accommodating space 21 of the carrying unit 20, and there the information carrier 12 containing the characteristic data 11 of the goods 10 was read - in a way known in itself - with the help of the identification part-unit 22, and then it was forwarded to the administration module 44 of the seller's control unit 40 through a wireless data transfer channel 23. With the administration module 44, with the help of the characteristic data 11 of the goods the information relating to the price was determined, and after placing all the goods 10 to be purchased into the accommodating space 21 of the carrying unit 20 the invoice containing the final amount was prepared with the help of the administration module 44.

After calculating the price, the data of the amount to be paid was sent from the administration module 44 of the seller's control unit 40 via the data transfer channel 23 to the seller's payment module 41, which forwarded this data to the portable purchaser's payment unit 30 with the help of the short-distance signal transmission channel 31. Using the virtual payment units 32 of the portable purchaser's payment unit 30, the price displayed on the portable purchaser's payment unit 30 was settled in a way that with the help of wireless information transfer, in the present case trough ISlPC data transfer, a part of the virtual payment units 32 conforming to the price was transferred to the seller's payment module, and by this the price of the goods 10 collected in the accommodating space 21 of the carrying unit 20 was settled.

On leaving the area filled with goods 10 offered for sale with the carrying unit 20, when the carrying unit 20 approaches the exit 2 of the site 1 and the price "arrives" in the seller's payment module 41, in the seller's control unit 40 the actual information of the goods 10 in the accommodating space 21 of the carrying unit is compared with the amount transferred into the seller's payment module 41, and if they are the same, with the help of the seller's

control unit 40 the inactivating devices 43 c situated in the accommodating space 21 of the carrying unit 20 are activated. With the help of the activated inactivating devices 43 c the operability of the identification elements 43b situated on the goods 10 is blocked, and by this a situation is created in which when the carrying unit 20 approaches the exit 2 of the site, the sensor gates 43 a cannot come into operation, that is the goods-protection part-unit 43 does not give out an alarm relating to unauthorised purchase. In this way the purchased goods 10 can be taken away from the site 1 without queuing and paying at the checkout, quickly, using a cash-free payment method.

If the price transferred to the seller's payment module 41 is lower than the actual value of the goods 10 placed in the accommodating space 21 of the carrying unit 20, the inactivating tool 43c does not come into operation, and when approaching the exist 2 the sensor gate 43 a gives out an alarm.

It must be pointed out here that in a given case the information carrier 12 containing the characteristic data 11 of the goods 10 may be the same as the identification element 43b of the goods-protection part-unit 43, and in this case the information carrying and goods- protection device is one single device.

Example 2

In the case of this version of the procedure the same process is followed as above, with the difference that the carrying unit 20 shown in figure 4 is used. In accordance with this, in order to calculate the price of the goods 10 and transfer the price from the virtual payment units 32 of the portable purchaser's payment unit 30 into the seller's payment module 41 - in the course of shopping - the seller's control unit 40 is not used, but the seller's payment module 41 and administration module 44 situated in the accommodating space 21 of the carrying unit 20 are used. In the course of making purchases the data relating to the purchases and the amount read in the seller's payment module 41 is stored in the memory of the administration module 44. Then at the end of the day the administration module 44 and the seller's payment module 41 are connected to the seller's control unit 40 with the help of

a data cable 42a forming an intermediary part-unit 42, and with the help of this data cable 42a the data is transferred to the background storage of the seller's control unit 40, and stockkeeping is also performed at the same time.

The set of equipment according to the invention can be used favourably at various places of sale to make cash-free on-site purchases quickly, without standing in queues.