Sales Management Device for POS Peripheral Error Detection

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Solution Overview

Problem

In point-of-sale (POS) systems where tablet terminals share peripheral devices, it is difficult for processing terminals to timely notice and respond to abnormalities in shared devices due to the inability to know the device state before accessing it.

Innovation Solution

A sales management device with a communication interface and processor that grants exclusive access to peripheral devices, determines if they are in an error state, and notifies POS terminals, allowing them to display error information and manage access rights.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If a processing terminal is granted exclusive right to access a shared device, then access control and device management are improved, but the processing terminal cannot know the device state before accessing it, leading to delayed abnormality detection

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedevice management reliabilityVSAvoiddevice state information
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The management device performs preliminary actions by determining the device state (error or normal) before granting access rights to the processing terminal. This allows the terminal to be informed of the device state in advance, enabling timely response to abnormalities while maintaining exclusive access control.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The management device provides feedback to the processing terminal about the device state before access is granted. This feedback mechanism ensures that the terminal receives accurate information about whether the shared device is in an error state or normal state, allowing operators to make informed decisions about access and respond promptly to abnormalities.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

2Measurement precision

If the processing terminal communicates with the shared device to confirm its state, then accurate device state information is obtained, but this communication can only occur after access permission is granted, delaying abnormality notice

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedevice state detection accuracyVSAvoidtime to detect abnormality
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The management device performs the device state determination action in advance, before the processing terminal requests access. This preliminary determination eliminates the need for the terminal to communicate with the device after gaining access, thereby reducing the time to detect abnormalities while maintaining accurate state information.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

3Productivity

If multiple processing terminals share a limited number of peripheral devices, then resource utilization is improved, but timely detection and response to device abnormalities becomes difficult

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveresource utilization efficiencyVSAvoidabnormality detection reliability
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The management device acts as an intermediary between multiple processing terminals and shared peripheral devices. It centralizes the function of determining device states and distributing this information to terminals before access is granted. This intermediary role enables efficient resource sharing while ensuring reliable abnormality detection through centralized monitoring and information distribution.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentEP4195129A1Management device and information processing method
Publication Date: 2023.06.14 TOSHIBA TEC KK
  • EP4195129A1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4195129A1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP4195129A1 patent drawingFigure 3~4

AI summary

A sales management device includes a communication interface configured to communicate with a plurality of point-of-sale (POS) terminals for performing checkout processing in a store and a peripheral device accessible from one or more of the POS terminals and performing a function related to the checkout processing, and a processor configured to in response to a first request from one of the POS terminals, grant an exclusive right to access the peripheral device, determine whether the peripheral device is in an error state, and upon determining that the peripheral device is in the error state, control the communication interface to transmit a notification to one or more POS terminals.