Weight-Aware Tray Recording for Automated Checkout Accounting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems for accounting items sold by weight, such as in supermarkets, are inefficient and prone to unjust purchases, as they require each item to be weighed at an accounting place and do not effectively manage multiple items or reduce packaging resource usage.
Innovation Solution
A system that detects the weight of items sold by weight, calculates the sales price, and writes this information to a recording unit on a package or tray, allowing for automatic accounting and checking for unjust purchases without requiring each item to be weighed at an accounting place, enabling multiple items to be combined in a package.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If items sold by weight are weighed at the accounting place, then accurate sales price calculation is achieved, but accounting time increases and efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs weight measurement and sales price calculation in advance at the selling space before items are brought to the accounting place. The detected weight and calculated sales price are stored in a recording unit, eliminating the need for repeated weighing and calculation at checkout, thus resolving the contradiction between measurement accuracy and accounting speed.
2Measurement precision
If multiple kinds of items sold by weight are placed in separate packages, then accurate accounting for each item is achieved, but packaging resource consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables multiple kinds of items sold by weight to be combined in a single package by recording detected weight and sales price information for each item in a recording unit attached to the package. This merging approach maintains accurate accounting for each item while reducing packaging resource consumption, resolving the contradiction between accounting accuracy and packaging efficiency.
3Extent of automation
If weight information is recorded in a recording unit, then automatic accounting and unjust purchase prevention are achieved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system achieves automatic accounting by having the recording unit store weight and sales price information, which is then automatically read and processed at the accounting place. The check unit automatically verifies weight information to prevent unjust purchases. This self-service approach enables automation while keeping the added complexity minimal, as the recording unit handles data storage and retrieval without requiring complex intervention systems.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This system enables efficient automatic accounting for items sold by weight, reducing the need for multiple weighings and minimizing packaging usage, while preventing unjust purchases by ensuring accurate weight measurements and sales calculations.
Implementation Method 1
providing a weight sensor with a function of detecting a weight of the item
Data Source
AI summary
A system for accounting an item sold by weight according to the present invention detects the weight of the item sold by weight taken in a package, calculates the sales price for the item sold by weight taken in the package based on the detected weight, and writes information on the detected weight and information on the calculated sales price in a recording unit provided on a tray for holding the package and from which data can be read and in which data can be written. Then, the system checks whether an unjust purchase is done for the item sold by weight before the system makes accounts square for the item sold by weight or before the system starts selling the item sold by weight by measuring the weight of the tray and checking whether the weight of the tray identified by the recorded information of the recording unit and the measured weight match or not.