Self-checkout terminals and programs

Abstract

We will provide self-checkout terminals and other equipment suitable for purchasing products with age restrictions at retail stores such as convenience stores and supermarkets. [Solution] The self-checkout terminal 3 is a terminal for customers to purchase goods. The self-checkout terminal 3 includes a card image reading means 310 that reads the card image of a card on which age information indicating the customer's age is written using a card scanner, an age information acquisition means 330 that obtains age information by performing OCR processing on the card image, an attachment presence / absence determination means 350 that determines from the card image whether or not there is an attachment on the age information on the card, and a notification means 360 that, if the customer's age indicated by the age information is an age at which they cannot purchase goods, or if the attachment presence / absence determination means 350 determines that there is an attachment on the age information, the purchase of goods at the self-checkout terminal is not permitted, and the customer is notified to purchase goods at a manned register.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a self-checkout terminal and its program.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, in retail stores such as convenience stores and supermarkets, self-checkout terminals where customers themselves perform barcode reading of products and payment settlement have become widespread.

[0003] On the other hand, for products with age restrictions on purchase, such as alcoholic beverages and tobacco, purchases at manned cash registers are often required, or even at self-checkout terminals, in many cases, input by a store clerk indicating that the customer has cleared the age restriction is required.

[0004] Therefore, for the purpose of reducing the work of store clerks and eliminating labor shortages in retail stores, there is a demand for a self-checkout terminal that allows customers to purchase products with age restrictions unattended. In this regard, Patent Document 1 describes an example of a vending machine that optically reads the date of birth written on the face of a card to confirm whether the age restriction has been cleared.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0006] However, the technology of Patent Document 1 relates to a vending machine and is not a technology for a self-checkout terminal installed in a retail store. Also, due to misjudgment on the vending machine side, it was conceivable that a customer who had actually cleared the age restriction could not purchase a product, which was inconvenient for the customer.

[0007] This invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a self-checkout terminal or the like that is suitable for purchasing products with age restrictions in retail stores such as convenience stores and supermarkets. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The first invention for solving the above problems is a self-checkout terminal for customers to purchase goods, comprising: a card image reading means for reading a card image of a card on which age information indicating the customer's age is written using a card scanner; an age information acquisition means for obtaining the age information by performing OCR processing on the card image; an attachment presence / absence determination means for determining from the card image whether or not there is an attachment on the age information on the card; and a notification means for notifying the customer that the purchase of goods at the self-checkout terminal will be denied and that the customer should purchase the goods at a manned register if the customer's age indicated by the age information is an age at which they cannot purchase goods, and if the attachment presence / absence determination means determines that there is an attachment on the age information.

[0009] According to the present invention, a self-checkout terminal can be provided that allows customers to purchase age-restricted products by verifying their age using their card, thereby reducing the workload of store staff and addressing labor shortages in retail stores. It can also detect changes to age information due to the attachment of stickers to the card, preventing customers from purchasing products through such means. On the other hand, it is also beneficial for customers as they can purchase products quickly and reduce waiting times at the checkout. It is possible that customers who actually meet the age restrictions may be unable to purchase products at the self-checkout terminal due to misjudgments on the self-checkout terminal side, but in the present invention, instead of simply denying purchases to customers who do not meet the age restrictions or who have stickers attached to the age information on their card, the customer is guided to a manned checkout and allowed to purchase products after verification by store staff, thereby eliminating inconvenience for the customer.

[0010] If the notification means fails to correctly obtain the age information by performing OCR processing on the ticket image, it is desirable that the customer be notified to purchase the product at a manned register. When an object is attached to the age information, the age information may not be obtained correctly due to the influence of the attachment marks on the card image. For example, the date of birth (age information) read from the card may contain the Japanese era name or kanji characters other than "year," "month," and "day," or it may contain a year, month, or day that does not actually exist. In this invention, even in such cases, the customer can be guided to a manned register where a store employee can verify the information.

[0011] The card has an IC chip, and the self-checkout terminal further has an IC chip reading means that reads the IC chip using an IC reader. It is desirable that the notification means notify the customer that they should purchase the product at a manned checkout counter if the IC chip reading means is unable to read the IC chip. This makes it possible to detect when cards are counterfeited using plastic cards without IC chips.

[0012] The on-demand information on the card surface is printed by a molten heat transfer method, and the system further includes a counterfeit determination means that performs authenticity determination based on the card surface image and utilizing the fact that the characters are printed by a molten heat transfer method. Preferably, the notification means notifies the customer that they should purchase the goods at a manned register if the card is determined to be counterfeit by the counterfeit determination means. This makes it possible to detect counterfeiting, such as when false age information is printed using a method other than thermal transfer printing and then attached to the entire surface of the card.

[0013] Preferably, the notification means transmits a message to the manned register terminal indicating that the purchase of goods at the self-checkout terminal has been denied. This allows staff at manned checkout counters to be aware that a customer has been denied a purchase at a self-checkout terminal, enabling them to carefully verify the customer's identity and age using a card.

[0014] The age information acquisition means preferably extracts an image of the area containing the age information from the ticket image using a grayscale search method and performs OCR processing on the image. This improves the flexibility of the age information acquisition process.

[0015] The second invention is a program for causing a self-checkout terminal for customers to purchase goods to function as a self-checkout terminal having a card image reading means for reading a card image of a card on which age information indicating the customer's age is written using a card scanner; an age information acquisition means for obtaining the age information by performing OCR processing on the card image; an attachment presence / absence determination means for determining from the card image whether or not there is an attachment on the age information on the card; and a notification means for notifying the customer that the purchase of goods at the self-checkout terminal will be disabled and that the customer should purchase the goods at a manned register if the customer's age indicated by the age information is an age at which they cannot purchase goods, or if the attachment presence / absence determination means determines that there is an attachment on the age information. Preferably, the notification means transmits a message to the manned register terminal indicating that the purchase of goods at the self-checkout terminal has been denied. [Effects of the Invention]

[0016] The present invention makes it possible to provide self-checkout terminals and the like that are suitable for purchasing products with age restrictions in retail stores such as convenience stores and supermarkets. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0017] [Figure 1] A diagram showing register system 1. [Figure 2] A block diagram showing the hardware configuration of self-checkout terminal 3. [Figure 3]Diagram showing the outline of the card scanner 33. [Figure 4] Block diagram showing the functions of the self-checkout terminal 3. [Figure 5] Diagram showing the outline of the card 6. [Figure 6] Diagram showing the linked data 7. [Figure 7] Flowchart showing the age confirmation method in the self-checkout terminal 3. [Figure 8] Diagram for explaining the scanning method of the ticket surface of the card 6. [Figure 9] Example of changing the age information 61 of the card 6 by attaching the sticker 63.

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0018] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

[0019] (1. Cash Register System 1) FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a cash register system 1 including a self-checkout terminal 3 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The cash register system 1 is a system installed in a retail store such as a convenience store or a supermarket, and includes a self-checkout terminal 3, a manned cash register 4, a store computer 5, etc.

[0020] The self-checkout terminal 3 is a POS (Point of Sale) terminal for customers to purchase products by themselves reading the barcodes of the products and clearing the payment.

[0021] The manned cash register 4 is a cash register terminal for a store clerk to perform operations such as reading the barcodes of products and clearing the payment when a customer purchases products, and a known POS terminal can be used.

[0022] The store computer 5 is a terminal installed in a retail store for managing sales information of products, etc., and a general-purpose computer having a control unit, a storage unit, a communication unit, etc. can be used.

[0023] (2. Self-checkout terminal 3) Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the self-checkout terminal 3. The self-checkout terminal 3 includes a control device 30, a display 31, a barcode scanner 32, a card scanner 33, a card reader 34, a change dispenser 35, a printer 36, and the like.

[0024] The control device 30 controls various parts of the self-checkout terminal 3 and is installed inside the housing of the self-checkout terminal 3. The control device 30 can be implemented by a computer having a control unit 301, a storage unit 302, a communication unit 303, a peripheral device I / F (interface) unit 304, etc.

[0025] The control unit 301 consists of a CPU, ROM, RAM, etc. The CPU calls programs related to the processing of the control device 30, which are stored in storage media such as the memory unit 302 and ROM, into a work area on the RAM and executes them, controlling each part of the self-checkout terminal 3 to realize the processing described later. ROM is a non-volatile memory that permanently holds programs and data such as the boot program and BIOS. RAM is a volatile memory that temporarily holds programs and data loaded from the memory unit 302, ROM, etc., and also has a work area used by the control unit 301 to perform various processing.

[0026] The memory unit 302 is a hard disk drive or solid-state drive, and stores programs executed by the control device 30 during the processing described later, data necessary for program execution, and an OS (operating system). These programs and data are read and executed by the control unit 301 as needed.

[0027] The communication unit 303 is a communication interface that mediates communication via a network, etc., and communicates with the store computer 5, etc.

[0028] The peripheral device I / F section 304 is an interface for connecting devices such as a barcode scanner 32, a card scanner 33, a card reader 34, a change dispenser / ticket dispenser 35, and a printer 36 in a communication-enabled manner.

[0029] Display 31 is a liquid crystal display with a touch panel that also serves as the input section for the self-checkout terminal 3.

[0030] The barcode scanner 32 reads barcodes attached to product packaging, etc. Barcodes contain product information about that product.

[0031] The card scanner 33 is a line scanner that optically reads cards held by customers. A commercially available flatbed scanner can be used as the card scanner 33, keeping implementation costs low. Examples of cards include driver's licenses, My Number cards, and residence cards, which have the customer's age information printed on the card surface and also contain an IC chip.

[0032] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the card scanner 33. As shown in Figure 3, the card scanner 33 includes a housing 331, a guide 332, a carriage 333, illumination 334, a document tray 335, a lid 336, an IC reader 337, etc.

[0033] The housing 331 is a box-shaped component with an open top, and the guide 332, carriage 333, lighting 334, etc. are housed inside.

[0034] The guide 332 is a member for moving the carriage 333 along a predetermined direction of travel. In this embodiment, the guide 332 is a rod-shaped member that penetrates the carriage 333, but its shape and arrangement are not particularly limited.

[0035] The carriage 333 is a transporter that contains an optical system and a photodetector for acquiring an image of the card surface 6. The carriage 333 moves along the guide 332, transporting the imaging unit consisting of the optical system and the photodetector.

[0036] The illumination 334 is located on top of the carriage 333 and shines illumination light onto the surface of the card 6. The illumination light reflected from the surface of the card 6 is received by the light receiving unit via the optical system inside the carriage 333, thereby capturing an image of the surface of the card 6.

[0037] The document tray 335 is a glass plate provided to cover the opening at the top of the housing 331. The card 6 is placed on top of the document tray 335.

[0038] The cover 336 covers the document glass 335 from above when capturing the image of the card surface 6, preventing external light from entering.

[0039] The IC reader 337 reads the IC chip (not shown) of card 6 and is located inside the cover 336.

[0040] Returning to the explanation of Figure 2, the card reader 34 reads the customer's credit card, transportation IC card, etc., in order to process the payment.

[0041] The change dispenser 35 accepts coins and banknotes via the deposit slot (not shown) of the self-checkout terminal 3 when settling the payment, and refunds the difference between the amount paid for the goods and the deposit slot (not shown) in coins or banknotes.

[0042] The printer 36 prints the purchased goods and their prices on a receipt after payment is received, and then ejects the receipt from a receipt output slot (not shown).

[0043] Figure 4 is a block diagram showing the functions of the self-checkout terminal 3. The control device 30 of the self-checkout terminal 3 includes a ticket image reading means 310, an IC chip reading means 320, an age information acquisition means 330, an authenticity determination means 340, an attachment presence / absence determination means 350, a notification means 360, and the like.

[0044] The ticket image reading means 310 involves the control device 30 of the self-checkout terminal 3 reading the ticket image on the card 6 using the card scanner 33.

[0045] The IC chip reading means 320 is used by the control device 30 of the self-checkout terminal 3 to read the IC chip of the card 6 using the IC reader 337.

[0046] The age information acquisition means 330 is obtained by the control device 30 of the self-checkout terminal 3 performing OCR (Optical Character Recognition) processing on the image of the card 6, thereby acquiring the age information written on the card 6. The age information will be described later.

[0047] The authenticity determination means 340 is performed by the control device 30 of the self-checkout terminal 3 to determine the authenticity of card 6 based on the image of the card surface. In particular, in this embodiment, there are characters printed on the surface of card 6 using a molten heat transfer method, and the authenticity determination is performed based on the card surface image, utilizing the fact that these characters were printed using a molten heat transfer method.

[0048] The attachment presence / absence determination means 350 is used by the control device 30 of the self-checkout terminal 3 to determine from the image of the card surface 6 whether or not there is an attachment on the age information on the card surface 6.

[0049] The notification means 360 notifies the customer that they will purchase the product at the manned register 4, based on the results of the age information acquisition means 330, the authenticity determination means 340, and the presence / absence determination means 350. Details will be described later.

[0050] (3. Card 6) As mentioned above, card 6 is a document on which the customer's age information is printed, such as a driver's license, My Number card, or residence card. Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of card 6 (in this case, a driver's license), illustrating an example of the face of card 6.

[0051] Card 6 is a roughly rectangular card base with the cardholder's (customer's) name, date of birth, address, and facial image, as well as the date of issuance, number, and expiration date printed on it. The date of birth is age information 61, which indicates the customer's age. By extracting the area 62 containing the age information 61 from the image of Card 6 and performing known OCR processing on that image, the cardholder's date of birth can be obtained, and the cardholder's age can be determined by comparing it with the current date and time.

[0052] In Card 6, the characters such as "Name," "Address," "Date of Issuance," and "Number" that indicate the fields for writing name, address, date of issuance, and number, the lines for writing name, date of birth, address, date of issuance, and number, the characters "Year," "Month," "Day," and "Birth" for the date of birth, the characters "Year," "Month," and "Day" for the date of issuance, and the characters "No." and "Number" for the number are used in common on each Card 6. These characters or lines are pre-printed in fixed positions on the card base material using printing methods such as offset printing or letterpress printing, and are called pre-printed areas.

[0053] On the other hand, the cardholder's name, the characters of their date of birth excluding "year," "month," "day," and "birth," address, facial image, characters of the issuance date excluding "year," "month," and "day," characters of the number excluding "No." and "No.", and expiration date are on-demand information that differs for each individual card 6. Of the on-demand information, the characters are printed at a fixed position on the card substrate using a melt-type thermal transfer method with a thermal head. The facial image is printed on the card substrate using a sublimation-type thermal transfer method with a thermal head. The melt-type and sublimation-type thermal transfer methods are known, and examples are described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2022-146248, Japanese Patent Publication No. 7484573, Japanese Patent Publication No. 7099179, etc., so a detailed explanation is omitted here.

[0054] The range 62 for the age information 61 on card 6 differs depending on the type of card 6 (driver's license, My Number card, residence card, etc.). In this embodiment, as shown in Figure 6, linked data 7 that links the type 71 of card 6 with the range 62 for the age information 61 on card 6 of that type 71 is pre-stored in the storage unit 302 of the control device 30.

[0055] (4. Age Verification Method) Figure 7 is a flowchart showing the age verification method at the self-checkout terminal 3. Each step in Figure 7 is executed by the control device 30 of the self-checkout terminal 3, which controls various parts of the self-checkout terminal 3. In the preceding stage of the flow in Figure 7, the customer has the barcode of the product scanned by the barcode scanner 32 of the self-checkout terminal 3, and it is assumed that some of the products have age restrictions. The flow in Figure 7 is initiated by the customer giving a touch command to start the checkout process on the display 31, but is not limited to this.

[0056] The self-checkout terminal 3 first displays a message on the display 31 indicating that age verification using card 6 is required because some of the products have age restrictions for purchase (S1). The display 31 can also display instructions on how to scan card 6, such as placing card 6 on the platen 335 of the card scanner 33 and closing the lid 336.

[0057] To verify their age, the customer places card 6 on the platen 335 of the card scanner 33, closes the lid 336, and initiates the reading of card 6 by pressing a button (not shown) on the card scanner 33. The self-checkout terminal 3 first reads the IC chip of card 6 via the IC reader 337 (S2). In S2, the terminal reads information from the IC chip that can be read without a PIN, particularly identification information indicating the type of card 6, such as the application ID.

[0058] If reading the IC chip fails (S3; NO), it is possible that card 6 has been forged using a plastic card without an IC chip. Therefore, self-checkout terminal 3 will disable the purchase of goods at self-checkout terminal 3 (S14).

[0059] On the other hand, possible causes of IC chip reading failure include incorrect placement of card 6, malfunctions of the IC chip or IC reader 337, and other factors not related to card 6 forgery. Therefore, in this embodiment, instead of simply denying the purchase of the product, a message such as "Please come to the manned register" is displayed on the display 31 to notify the customer that they will purchase the product at the manned register 4 (S15), and the process is terminated. After that, the store clerk at the manned register 4 can visually check the card 6 to verify the customer's identity and age, and then decide whether or not to allow the purchase of the product.

[0060] If the IC chip is successfully read (S3; YES), the self-checkout terminal 3 drives the carriage 333 of the card scanner 33 and scans the surface of the card 6 (S4).

[0061] Figure 8(a) is a diagram illustrating the method for scanning the surface of card 6, and shows a vertical cross-section of the upper part of carriage 333 along the carriage travel direction a.

[0062] In this embodiment, a linear opening 3331 is provided on the upper part of the carriage 333, extending in a direction perpendicular to the carriage's direction of travel a (corresponding to the plane normal direction in Figure 8(a)). The illumination 334 has a linear light source that also extends in a direction perpendicular to the carriage's direction of travel a, and is positioned in front of the opening 3331 in the carriage's direction of travel a.

[0063] The card scanner 33 captures illumination light b, which is irradiated from the illumination 334 and reflected from the surface of the card 6 placed on the document glass 335, through the aperture 3331. By receiving the illumination light b through the optical system inside the carriage 333 with a photodetector, the scanner can obtain pixel values ​​for one line in a direction perpendicular to the carriage's direction of travel a. By obtaining pixel values ​​for one line at each position in the carriage's direction of travel a while the carriage 333 is moving, an image of the entire surface of the card 6 can be obtained.

[0064] The self-checkout terminal 3 refers to the linked data 7 (Figure 6) and obtains the range 62 for the age information 61 corresponding to the type 71 of card 6 indicated by the identification information obtained in S2. Then, it extracts an image of the above range 62 from the card surface image of card 6 obtained in S4 and performs OCR processing on the image to obtain the customer's age information 61 (S5).

[0065] Here, one possible method for changing the age information 61 on card 6 is to attach a sticker or other object to the age information 61. Those who wish to change the age information 61 would likely want to avoid damaging their card 6, and considering that there is no need to present card 6 to a store employee at the self-checkout terminal 3, and that there are not many people around the self-checkout terminal 3, it is reasonable to assume that a simple method of attaching a sticker (which is easily noticeable to anyone) would suffice.

[0066] Figures 9(a) to 9(c) show examples of how the age information 61 on card 6 can be changed by attaching an attachment 63, and image 8 of the area 62 where the age information 61 can be written. In the example in Figure 9(a), the tens digit of the "year" is erased by attaching a blank attachment 63 with no numbers printed on it to the customer's date of birth, which increases the apparent age of the customer by 10 years or more. In the example in Figure 9(b), the "year" is changed by attaching an attachment 63 with numbers printed on it, and in the example in Figure 9(c), the "year," "month," and "day" are changed by attaching an attachment 63 with numbers written on it. These methods allow the apparent age of the customer to be freely changed.

[0067] As described above, in the card scanner 33, the position of the illumination 334 in the carriage travel direction a is different from the position of the opening 3331 of the carriage 333 in the carriage travel direction a. Therefore, when an attachment 63 is attached to the surface of the card 6, a shadow 64 is cast on the card surface due to the thickness of the attachment 63, as shown in Figure 8(b). As a result, when the age information 61 is changed by the attachment 63, as shown in Figures 9(a) to (c), the shadow 64 appears as a low-luminance attachment mark 81 in the image 8 of the area 62 where the age information 61 is written. The attachment mark 81 is a linear portion along the edge of the attachment 63.

[0068] If the self-checkout terminal 3 successfully obtains the age information 61 (S6; YES), it determines whether the customer's age indicated by the age information 61 is above the age at which they can purchase goods. Here, we assume the age is 20 years old. If the customer's age indicated by the age information 61 is 20 years old or older (S7; YES), the process proceeds to S8, which will be described later.

[0069] "Successfully obtaining age information 61" means that a reasonable value was obtained for age information 61 of card 6. Even if age information 61 is changed, if a reasonable value can be obtained for age information 61, it will still be considered that age information 61 was successfully obtained.

[0070] However, as shown in Figures 9(a) to (c), when the age information 61 is altered by the attached object 63, there are cases where the age information 61 cannot be correctly obtained by the OCR processing of image 8 due to the influence of the attachment marks 81. For example, there are cases where kanji other than the era name or kanji other than "year," "month," and "day" are obtained as age information 61, or cases where numbers that cannot be used as a date of birth on the ticket (such as "Heisei 50" or "13th month") are obtained as age information 61, resulting in the acquisition of values ​​that are not reasonable as age information 61. Furthermore, even without the influence of the attachment marks 81, the alteration of age information 61 by the attached object 63 may result in incorrect age information 61, such as "Heisei 02" (correctly Heisei 2) or "Heisei 1" (correctly Heisei 1).

[0071] In the above case, the self-checkout terminal 3 determines that it could not correctly obtain the age information 61 (S6; NO), and, as before, makes it impossible to purchase the product at the self-checkout terminal 3 (S14), notifies the customer by displaying on the display 31 that the product should be purchased at the manned register 4 (S15), and terminates the process.

[0072] Reasons why age information 61 may not be obtained correctly may include cases where dust is attached to the surface of card 6 or the platen 335 of the card scanner 33, which are not due to changes in age information 61 caused by the attached item 63. The cashier at the manned register 4 can, as described above, visually check the surface of card 6 to verify the customer's identity and age, and then decide whether or not to allow the purchase of the product.

[0073] Furthermore, even if age information 61 is successfully obtained (S6; YES), if the age indicated by age information 61 is under 20 years old (S7; NO), the self-checkout terminal 3 will also disable the purchase of goods at the self-checkout terminal 3 (S14), and will notify the customer on the display 31 that they should purchase the goods at the manned register 4 (S15), and then terminate the process.

[0074] In S8, the self-checkout terminal 3 determines the authenticity of card 6 based on the image of the card surface (S8). In particular, this embodiment assumes a counterfeit where a printed document containing age information 61 is attached to the entire surface of card 6, and detects such a counterfeit card 6 based on characteristics derived from the printing method (fumbling thermal transfer method) of the on-demand information on the surface of card 6.

[0075] While the specific method is not particularly important, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2022-146248 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 7484573 describe examples of authenticity determination that utilize the fact that the characters of the on-demand information on an ID card (card 6) are printed by a thermal transfer method. Japanese Patent Publication No. 2022-146248 uses the fact that numerous stepped areas appear on the lines of the characters in the card image, originating from the heating element of the thermal head, to determine authenticity, detecting cards with fewer stepped areas as counterfeit ID cards. Japanese Patent Publication No. 7484573 uses the fact that the size of the characters in the card image depends on the dimensions of the heating element of the thermal head to determine authenticity, detecting cards that do not meet this requirement as counterfeit ID cards. By applying these technologies, it is possible to detect counterfeit cards 6 that have been created by attaching an adhesive 63, on which the characters of the on-demand information are printed using a printing method other than thermal transfer, such as an inkjet method, to the entire surface of the card.

[0076] Furthermore, Japanese Patent Publication No. 7099179 describes an example of authenticity determination that utilizes the fact that the characters of the on-demand information on an ID card (card 6) are printed by a molten thermal transfer method. In Japanese Patent Publication No. 7099179, the edges of the lines of characters printed by the molten thermal transfer method are clearly visible within the card surface image, and cards that do not exhibit this characteristic are determined to be counterfeit. This makes it possible to detect counterfeit cards 6 in which an attached item 63, on which the characters of the on-demand information are printed using a printing method other than the molten thermal transfer method, such as a dye-sublimation thermal transfer method, is attached to the entire surface of the card.

[0077] If the self-checkout terminal 3 determines that card 6 is fake (S9; NO), it will notify the customer that they will need to pay at the manned register 4 by displaying a message on the display 31 (S15), and then terminate the process. This is because the determination that card 6 is fake may be a misjudgment due to dirt or other imperfections on the card surface. The staff at the manned register 4 can, as described above, visually check the card surface to verify the customer's identity and age, and then decide whether or not to allow the purchase of the goods.

[0078] On the other hand, if the self-checkout terminal 3 determines that card 6 is true (S9; YES), it determines from the image of card 6 whether or not there is an attachment 63 on the age information 61 (S10). As mentioned above, if the age information 61 cannot be correctly obtained due to an attachment 63 on the age information 61, the purchase of the product is not possible, but here, it directly determines whether or not there is an attachment 63 on the age information 61.

[0079] The determination method in S10 is not particularly limited, but for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2023-105897 describes setting an inspection area that spans the contour portion of the background area of ​​the face image on the ID card, and performing edge detection within the inspection area to detect forgery of an ID card by attaching a printed material with a face image printed on it, and a similar method can be applied in this embodiment.

[0080] In other words, in this embodiment as well, the presence or absence of the attached object 63 can be determined by setting an inspection area that spans the contour portion of the description area 62 of the age information 61 and detecting the edge (attachment mark 81) within the inspection area. The symbol R in Figure 9(a) is an example of an inspection area, which is set to span the contour portion of the description area 62 of the age information 61 and not overlap the printed portion of the age information 61.

[0081] If the self-checkout terminal 3 determines that there is an object 63 attached to the age information 61 (S11; NO), it will notify the customer that they will need to pay at the manned register 4 by displaying a message on the display 31 (S15), and then terminate the process. As mentioned above, the presence of an object 63 attached to the age information 61 may be due to a misidentification caused by debris on the card 6. Therefore, the staff at the manned register 4 can visually check the card 6 to verify the customer's identity and age, and then decide whether or not to allow the purchase of the product.

[0082] On the other hand, if the self-checkout terminal 3 determines that there is no affixed item 63 on the age information 61 (S11; YES), it allows the customer to purchase the product (S12) and proceeds to the payment settlement process (S13). The payment settlement process can be carried out in the usual way at the self-checkout terminal 3, and the explanation is omitted here.

[0083] As described above, this embodiment provides a self-checkout terminal 3 that allows the purchase of age-restricted products by verifying the customer's age using their card 6, thereby addressing labor shortages in retail stores by reducing the workload of store staff. Furthermore, it can detect changes in age information 61 due to the attachment of an object 63 to the card 6, preventing customers from purchasing products through such means.

[0084] On the other hand, it is also beneficial for customers as they can purchase products quickly and reduce waiting times at the checkout. Furthermore, it is conceivable that, due to misjudgments on the self-checkout terminal 3, customers who actually meet the age requirement may not be able to purchase products at the self-checkout terminal 3. However, in this embodiment, customers who do not meet the age requirement, or who are deemed to have a sticker 63 attached to the age information 61 on card 6, are not simply denied the purchase. Instead, they are guided to a manned checkout 4, where they can purchase products after verification by a store employee, thereby eliminating inconvenience for the customer.

[0085] Furthermore, if a customer attaches an object 63 to the age information 61 on card 6, the age information 61 may not be correctly obtained due to the influence of the attachment marks 81 in the card image. In this embodiment, even in such cases, the customer can be guided to a manned register 4 where a store employee can perform the verification.

[0086] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the authenticity of card 6 can be determined by utilizing the fact that the characters of the on-demand information on the surface of card 6 are printed by a molten thermal transfer method. This makes it possible to detect counterfeiting, such as when a sticker 63 with false age information 61 or the like printed by another method is attached to the entire surface of card 6.

[0087] Furthermore, in this embodiment, by reading the IC chip of card 6, it is possible to detect if card 6 has been counterfeited using a plastic card or the like that does not have an IC chip.

[0088] However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, in this embodiment, the application ID in the IC chip is read in S2, but in the case of a driver's license, the expiration date can also be read without a PIN, and if the expiration date has passed (the expiration date is before the current time), the customer may be notified that payment will be made at the manned register 4.

[0089] In this embodiment, the notification that payment will be made at the manned register 4 is displayed on the display 31, but the message that payment will be made at the manned register 4 may also be output by voice from the speaker (not shown) of the self-checkout terminal 3. Alternatively, both display on the display 31 and voice output may be performed.

[0090] Furthermore, the notification means 360 of the self-checkout terminal 3 may, in addition to making the above notification, transmit to the cashier terminal of the manned register 4 that the purchase of the product was not possible at the self-checkout terminal 3. This allows the staff at the manned register 4 to know that the customer was not able to purchase the product at the self-checkout terminal 3, and to perform identity verification and age verification using the card 6 with care. In addition to the fact that the purchase of the product was not possible at the self-checkout terminal 3, information indicating which judgment (S3, S6, S7, S9, S11 in Figure 7) caused the purchase to be notified may also be transmitted to the cashier terminal of the manned register 4, which is useful for identity verification and age verification using the card 6.

[0091] Furthermore, the card scanner 33 in this embodiment is of the type that receives reflected light from the surface of the card 6 while moving the carriage 333, but the card 6 itself may also be moved. However, the type that moves the carriage 333 is more accurate, and shadows 64 caused by the thickness of the attached object 63 are more likely to be created.

[0092] Furthermore, although the card scanner 33 in this embodiment is a line scanner, it may also be a type that photographs the surface of the card 6 using an area camera. Thus, the card scanner 33 described above is just one example, and the configuration and form of the card scanner 33 are not particularly limited as long as it has the same function of obtaining information from the surface of the card. However, the card scanner 33 in Figure 3, which uses a line scanner, is prone to creating shadows 64 due to the thickness of the attached object 63, and is inexpensive.

[0093] Furthermore, while the card 6 in this embodiment is a driver's license, My Number card, or residence card, it is not limited to these; any card that has age information 61 indicating the cardholder's age printed on its surface is acceptable. For example, it could be an employee ID or student ID. Also, while the card 6 in this embodiment has an IC chip, it does not have to have one. In this case, the IC chip reading process (S2 in Figure 7) and the reading result determination process (S3) described above are omitted. Also, the age information 61 is not limited to the date of birth. For example, it could be the customer's actual age.

[0094] In this embodiment, when performing OCR processing on the age information 61, the linked data 7 is referenced to obtain the description range 62 of the age information 61 according to the type 71 of the card 6, and an image 8 of the description range 62 is extracted from the card image. However, instead, a pattern matching method such as gray search may be used to define the description range 62 of the age information 61 on the card image. As a criterion pattern for matching, an image in which the characters "year," "month," and "day" are arranged at predetermined intervals can be used. This improves the flexibility of the extraction process for the description range 62 of the age information 61. For example, even if the cards 6 are of different types, if the same criterion pattern can be applied, it is possible to extract the description range 62 of the age information 61 using a common algorithm.

[0095] The easiest way to alter the age information 61 is to attach a blank sticker 63 over the tens digit of the "year" in the age information 61, as shown in Figure 9(a). If only such forgery is assumed, it is also possible to determine that the sticker 63 has not been attached if the units digit of the "year" is "0" (S11; YES). This is because if the units digit of the "year" is "0", concealing the tens digit with the sticker 63 would result in an obviously unreasonable value (such as Heisei 0), so the customer has no incentive to conceal it with the sticker 63.

[0096] Preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the attached drawings, but the present invention is not limited to these examples. It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications or alterations can be conceived within the scope of the technical idea disclosed herein, and these will naturally also fall within the technical scope of the present invention. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0097] 1: Register system 3: Self-checkout terminals 4: Manned checkout 5: Store Computers 6: Card 8: Image 30: Control device 31: Display 32: Barcode Scanner 33: Card Scanner 34: Card reader 35: Change machine 36: Printer 61: Age Information 62: (Scope of age information) 63: Attached items 64: Shadow 310: Means for reading the image on the ticket surface 320: IC chip reading method 330: Means of obtaining age information 331: Cabinet 332: Guide 333: Carriage 334: Lighting 335: Manuscript stand 336: Lid 337: IC Reader 340: Methods for determining authenticity 350: Means for determining whether or not an attachment is present 360: Notification means

Claims

1. A self-checkout terminal for customers to purchase products, A card image reading means that reads the image of a card on which age information indicating the customer's age is printed using a card scanner, An age information acquisition means that acquires the age information by performing OCR processing on the ticket image, A means for determining whether or not there is an attachment on the card surface image of the card, If the age information indicates that the customer is of an age that does not allow them to purchase the product, and if the presence or absence determination means determines that the attached item is present on the age information, the notification means will notify the customer that they will not be able to purchase the product at the self-checkout terminal and will need to purchase the product at a manned checkout counter. A self-checkout terminal characterized by having the following features.

2. The self-checkout terminal according to claim 1, characterized in that the notification means notifies the customer that they should purchase the product at a manned checkout counter if the age information cannot be correctly obtained by performing OCR processing on the ticket image.

3. The aforementioned card has an IC chip, The self-checkout terminal further includes an IC chip reading means that reads the IC chip using an IC reader, The self-checkout terminal according to claim 1, characterized in that the notification means notifies the customer that they should purchase the product at a manned checkout counter if the IC chip reading means is unable to read the IC chip.

4. The characters of the on-demand information on the card surface are printed using a thermal transfer method. The system further includes a means for determining authenticity based on the aforementioned ticket image, utilizing the fact that the characters are printed using a molten heat transfer method. The self-checkout terminal according to claim 1, characterized in that the notification means notifies the customer that they should purchase the goods at a manned checkout counter if the card is determined to be fake by the authenticity determination means.

5. The self-checkout terminal according to claim 1, characterized in that the notification means transmits a message to the manned register's register terminal indicating that the purchase of goods at the self-checkout terminal has been denied.

6. The self-checkout terminal according to claim 1, characterized in that the age information acquisition means extracts an image of the area containing the age information from the ticket image using a grayscale search method and performs OCR processing on the image.

7. Self-checkout terminals for customers to purchase products, A card image reading means that reads the image of a card on which age information indicating the customer's age is printed using a card scanner, An age information acquisition means that acquires the age information by performing OCR processing on the ticket image, A means for determining whether or not there is an attachment on the card surface image of the card, If the age information indicates that the customer is of an age that does not allow them to purchase the product, and if the presence or absence determination means determines that the attached item is present on the age information, the notification means will notify the customer that they will not be able to purchase the product at the self-checkout terminal and will need to purchase the product at a manned checkout counter. A program to enable a self-checkout terminal to function as such.

8. The program according to claim 7, characterized in that the notification means transmits to the cash register terminal of the manned register that the purchase of goods at the self-checkout terminal has been denied.

Images