Weighing Device Memory Management for Receipt Clarity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Checkout systems with scales often produce confusing receipts due to the unordered printing of goods scanned or weighed, and there is a need for increased flexibility in handling weighing data across multiple scales in a network, especially in environments like supermarkets where customers should be able to continue or complete their purchases seamlessly across different scales.
Innovation Solution
A weighing device with a memory device that stores weighing data records including weight and information about the goods, accessible by software modules that control storage and access, allowing for organized storage and printing of data at the end of a sales process, ensuring clarity and continuity across multiple scales.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If weighing data records are printed immediately after each weighing process, then the printing process is simple and straightforward, but the receipt becomes confusing due to unordered printing of goods
Solution Approach 1:
The system stores weighing data records in a memory device during the sales process without printing them immediately. This preliminary storage action allows all weighing data to be collected and then printed together in the correct order at the end of the sales process, resolving the contradiction between simple printing operations and receipt clarity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a single memory device is shared across multiple scales in a network, then flexibility and continuity of purchases are improved, but access control and data management complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The memory device is designed to be accessible by multiple software modules from different scales in the network, each identified by unique identification designations. This universal access design allows customers to continue purchases across different scales while the control device manages access control, balancing network flexibility with controlled data management.
Solution Approach 2:
The control device checks whether accessing software modules have permitted identification designations before allowing access to the memory device. This feedback mechanism ensures proper access control and data management while maintaining the flexibility of networked scale operations.
3Productivity
If weighing data records are stored simultaneously in the memory device, then productivity and efficiency are improved, but memory management and address allocation complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control device pre-allocates memory addresses for weighing data records before they are stored. This preliminary address allocation simplifies simultaneous storage operations by eliminating the need for complex dynamic address management during high-speed data insertion, thus maintaining productivity while reducing memory management complexity.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a weighing device comprising at least a scale and a checkout device connected thereto for processing the weighing results of articles, resulting from a plurality of related weighing results, wherein each weighing result encompasses at least the weight of the article determined during the respective weighing process. A memory device is provided which is configured to store the weighing data sets associated with the weighing results, each weighing data set comprising at least the weight of the article weighed during the weighing process and an information characterizing the respective weighed article. Said memory device is accessed by individual software modules which run on the scale and the checkout device, each software module being provided with an identification marker. A control device controls the memory device and the access thereto in such a manner that the weighing data sets of a related sales procedure are stored in the memory device simultaneously with the weighing data sets of other sales procedures and are unambiguously assigned to a sales procedure, whereby the control device manages the addresses of the individual weighing data sets. Said control device also checks the identification marker of the accessing software module whether it is authorized to access the memory, and, only in the affirmative case, it allows write access to a memory space in a free region of the memory device, which is to be determined by the control device.