FR2730079A1 - Reading and processing data coded into bar=code format - Google Patents

Abstract

The bar-code reader extracts information from bar-codes (3) printed on a discount coupon (4) and processes the information. The reader (2) delivers the signals from the bar-code scan to a computer (6), which performs the subtraction of the amount of the discount based on the data read from the bar-code. The computer has a storage (7) holding data concerning the coupon. The storage is physically remote from the reader and computer, but can be interrogated by the computer. Data is transmitted between the storage and the computer via the telephone lines (9), and to a remote logging centre (10). The bar codes are in a specific format, identifying a reduction coupon, the issuer of the coupon and the effective period. The last part of the bar code has error checking codes.

Description

DEVICE AND METHOD FOR READING AND PROCESSING CODED INPOIATIONS IN A BAR CODE
The present invention relates to a device for reading information coded in a bar code reproduced on a reduction coupon, and for processing said coded information, the device comprising bar code reader means and calculation means comprising subtraction means reduction granted from said coded information read by reader means.

 It also relates to a method for reading and processing information coded in a bar code.

 It finds a particularly important, although not exclusive, application in the field of reimbursement and processing of price reduction coupons for items on promotion, presented at checkout by customers of retail stores, such as hypermarkets and supermarkets. .

 Devices and methods are already known for processing such reduction coupons.

 Current processing methods are generally based on manual processing of coupons and include the following steps: - The cashier verifies that the product concerned by the coupon has been purchased and that the coupon has not expired.

Then she enters the amount of the reduction.

- The store periodically sends the reduction coupons collected to a processing center.

- The processing center manually sorts the coupons (by coupon issuer, by kid, by amount, by issuing method, etc.), counts them, then reimburses the store and invoices the coupon issuer.

 This treatment has many drawbacks. I1 indeed involves the risk of errors at each stage, does not prevent significant fraud, results in high processing costs and generates considerable processing time.

 Faster, automated processing methods are also known for reduction coupons previously marked with a bar code by their issuers.

 The bar code is read by a code reader attached and linked to the store cash register, and includes a code known as the issuer, in general indicating the manufacturer's brand or company name, a code known as the range code or packaging identifying more precisely the item subject to reduction and a solely numerical code indicating the amount of the reduction.

 The range code is used to electronically check that the item concerned by the coupon has been purchased.

 However, such methods also have drawbacks since a single bar code cannot contain all of the information necessary for processing the reduction coupons, without physically occupying all the space on said coupons.

 A second, smaller bar code has therefore sometimes been added, including for example the expiration date and a method of issue code.

 However, there is currently no barcode reader capable of reading the two codes simultaneously, for an affordable price.

 The above methods are also also unsatisfactory during the following stages of processing the coupon.

 The present invention aims to provide a device and a method for reading the coded information in a bar code printed on a flat support such as a reduction coupon, and for processing said coded information, responding better than those previously known to the requirements of the practice, in particular in that it makes it possible to obtain all the information concerning the coupon directly at the cash desk, to carry out a complete verification in real time, then to transmit the reduction coupon electronically to the processing center.

 To this end, the invention proposes in particular a device for reading information coded in a bar code reproduced on a reduction coupon, and for processing said coded information, the device comprising means for reading the bar code and calculation means comprising means for subtracting the reduction made on the basis of said coded information read by the reader means, characterized in that the device also comprises means for storing data relating to the coupon, located entirely at a distance from the reader means and from the calculation means and comprising an electronic read / write memory and in that said calculation means comprise means for interrogating said storage means from data read from the bar code by said reader means, arranged to authorize or not said reduction.

 In advantageous embodiments, one and / or the other of the following provisions are also used: - the device comprises computer means for storing and processing information corresponding to the reduction transaction - the device comprises means of transmission by the switched telephone network of said information corresponding to the reduction transaction, to a remote processing center; - the reduction coupons bear a bar code with at least four groups of signs, the first group of signs indicating that the bar code represents a reduction coupon, the second group of signs identifying the issuer of the coupon, the third group signs identifying the range code of the coupon and the fourth allowing a good reading control ;; the data storage means relating to the coupon comprise a descriptive file of said coupon comprising sequences of signs, namely the second and third groups of signs, at least one additional identifier, the amount of the reduction and an expiry date.

- the computer means for storing information corresponding to the reduction transaction include descriptive files of the transaction comprising sequences of signs corresponding to the bar code of the coupon, to the bar code of the article, on the date of presentation by the customer, by the hour, at the code of the store where the reduction takes place, at the cash register N, the cashier N and the checkout transaction N.

 The invention also provides a method of reading a bar code reproduced on a coupon for reducing the sale price of an item in a retail store, and of processing the information coded in said bar code, comprising the steps bar code reading and calculation comprising subtracting the reduction made from the coded information read, characterized in that additional data concerning the coupon are stored in a memory located entirely at a distance from the location of the reading and said memory is interrogated from data read from the bar code to authorize or not authorize said reduction by computer, simultaneously or substantially simultaneously with said transaction.

 Advantageously, more information corresponding to the reduction transaction is stored and processed by computer.

 It can be, for example, the date of presentation of the coupon by the customer or the cash register transaction number.

 In an advantageous embodiment, the reduction coupons are marked with a bar code with at least four groups of signs, the first group of signs indicating that the bar code represents a reduction coupon, the second group of signs identifying the issuer of the coupon, the third group of signs identifying the range code of the coupon and the fourth allowing a good reading control, and the data concerning the coupon is stored in the form of a descriptive file comprising sequences of signs, namely the second and third group of signs, at least one additional identifier, the amount of the reduction and an expiry date.

 Advantageously, the information corresponding to the reduction transaction is stored in the form of descriptive files of the transaction comprising sequences of signs corresponding to the barcode of the coupon, the barcode of the article, the date of presentation by the customer, of the hour, the store code, the cash register N, the cashier N and the cash transaction ID.

 The invention will be better understood on reading the following description of a particular embodiment of the device and the method of the invention, given below by way of nonlimiting example.

 The description refers to the accompanying drawings in which: - Figure 1 is an example of configuration of the device according to the embodiment of the invention more particularly described here.

- Figure 2 is a flow diagram of the steps followed by a cashier implementing the processing method according to the invention.

- Figure 3 is a flowchart giving the steps followed when taking into account a reduction coupon according to the computerized method of the invention.

 FIG. I shows a device 1 comprising several bar code readers 2 reproduced on a coupon 4, for example on a sheet of paper, said code containing in particular the bar code of the article concerned (or issuer code), and the amount of reduction.

 The reader 2, of known type, for example constituted by an apparatus manufactured by the company SPECTRAPHYSICS is connected to a cash register 5 which comprises, in known manner, calculation means 6 arranged to deduct the reduction granted from the total purchases of the customer from the coded information read by the reader on the barcode 3.

 The device 1 further comprises means 7 for storing data, for example constituted by a microcomputer 8 configured as a server, located entirely at a distance from the cash register 5 and comprising an electronic read / write memory of the RAM type and / or EEPROM and a mass memory.

 The calculation means 6 also comprise means 6 'for interrogating the storage means 7 from the data read from the bar code 3 by the reader 2, arranged to authorize or not said reduction.

 In the embodiment of the invention more particularly described here, the microcomputer 8 is arranged to store and process the information corresponding to the transaction.

 It then becomes entirely possible to invoice the issuer of the coupon directly, without waiting for the interim settlement of the coupon processing center, by accordingly providing for a specific program for processing data from reading the bar code.

 Advantageously, the device 1 is moreover connected via the switched telephone network 9 (in dashed lines in FIG. 1) to a processing center 10, located at a distance from the retail store where the device 1 is located, comprising the cash register and the means optical reading, which allows a global and efficient processing of coupons from several stores, for example belonging to the same chain.

 We will now describe more precisely the operation of the device 1 with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 2 and 3.

 The reduction coupons treated in the embodiment of the invention more particularly described here bear a thirteen-digit bar code, according to the following format: 99EEEEEECCCCK.

 The first two digits, necessarily "99" in the example, indicate that the bar code represents a reduction coupon.

 The numbers from position three to position eight identify the issuer of the coupon.

 The digits from position nine to position twelve identify the coupon code.

 The thirteenth digit is a check digit allowing the optical reader to verify that the code has been read correctly.

 Figure 2 shows the steps of the process followed by a cashier implementing the invention.

 The cashier passes the bar codes of the items to be entered above the optical reader, for example with a laser beam (step 11).

 When it presses the "total key" (step 12), it then initiates step 13 of passing coupons or coupons, which is detailed below with reference to FIG. 3.

 Once this step has been completed, the cashier presses the payment button (step 14), which closes the transaction (step 15).

 FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the detailed flow diagram of the steps implemented during step 13 of passing the coupons or coupons.

 When the cashier presents the coupon to the optical reader 2, the bar code 3 is read (step 16) then transferred to a terminal called "point of sale terminal" connected to the cash register 5 and which comprises the calculation means 6 and interrogation 6 'to consult a descriptive file called SCANCPN of information concerning the coupon stored in 7.

The format of the descriptive file SCANPCN is for example the following
Key (issuer code + coupon code) EEEEEECCCC Subfamily of the article (range or packaging code) SSS
Amount of reduction in cents 9999
Expiration date YYMMDD
Method of distributing the DDD coupon
If the SCANPCN file does not contain the coupon code (step test 17) or if the coupon is found (step 18) it is not a valid coupon (step 19), or if the expiry date of the coupon is located beyond the transaction date (test step 20), the terminal warns the cashier that the coupon is not valid (block 21).

 On the other hand, if the code is present in the file and if the coupon is not expired (path 22), the point of sale terminal checks at 23 that the item concerned is indeed in the list of items previously scanned by the cashier.

 This is the case (path 24) when there is at least one item in the customer basket having the same issuer code and the same subfamily code as those indicated in the SCANPCN file.

 The amount of the reduction is then applied in 25 to the purchase and the registration is added to the TRXCPN file.

In the embodiment more particularly described, the format of the file TRXCPN is for example
Coupon bar code 99EEEEEE CCCC K
Barcode of the article AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Date of presentation by the client YYMMDD
HHMM time
MMMM store code
N RRR Fund
N Cashier CCCC
N TTTTT Cash Transaction
It is easy to see that it then becomes possible to set up global computer processing via a computer network, which can itself be connected via the switched network 9 to an external device 10 for collecting and processing data from several stores. retail, which will, for example, allow direct and almost immediate invoicing of coupon issuers.

 As is obvious and as it follows from the foregoing, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment more particularly described but on the contrary embraces all variants and in particular those where the formats of the files are different and include other types of information, such as the amount of the basket of the housewife who used a coupon.

Claims (10)

 1. Device (1) for reading the information coded in a bar code (3) reproduced on a reduction coupon (4), and for processing said coded information, the device comprising means (2) for reading the bar code, and calculation means (6) comprising means for subtracting the reduction granted from said coded information read by the reader means, characterized in that the device also comprises means (7) for storing data relating to the coupon, located entirely at a distance from the means (2) readers and means (6) of calculations and comprising an electronic read / write memory and in that said means (6) of calculation comprise means (6 ') for interrogating said means storage from data read from the bar code by said reader means, arranged to authorize or not said reduction.  2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that it further comprises computer means (7) for storing and processing information corresponding to the reduction transaction.  3. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises means (8) of transmission by the switched telephone network (9) of said information corresponding to the reduction transaction, to a processing center (10) distant.  4. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the reduction coupons (4) carry a barcode (3) with several digits in a format of the type 99EEEEEECCCCK, the first group of signs indicating that the code bar represents a reduction coupon, the second group of signs identifying the issuer of the coupon, the third group of signs identifying the code known as range code of the coupon and the fourth allowing a good reading control and in that the means (7 ) data storage concerning the coupon include a descriptive file of said coupon comprising sequences of signs according to the following types of formats:  the second and third  EEEEEECCCC sign groups  at least one identifier  complementary SSS and DDD  the amount of the reduction 9999 an expiration date YYMMDD.  5. Device according to claim 4, characterized in that, the computerized means (7) for storing information corresponding to the reduction transaction comprise descriptive files of the transaction comprising sequences of signs according to the formats of the following types: - code bar code 99EEEEEECCCCK - article bar code ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - date of presentation by the customer YYMMDD - HHMM time - store code MMMM - N "cashier BRRR - N" cashier CCCC - N TTTTT checkout transaction.  6. Method for reading a bar code reproduced on a coupon for reducing the sale price of an item in a retail store, and for processing the information coded in said bar code, the method comprising the steps of reading of the bar code (16) and of calculation comprising the subtraction (25) of the reduction granted from the coded information read, characterized in that the data relating to the coupon is stored in a memory located entirely at a distance from the location of reading and interrogating (18) said memory from data read from the bar code to authorize or not said reduction.  7. Method according to claim 6, characterized in that information corresponding to the reduction transaction is stored and processed by computer, simultaneously or substantially simultaneously with said transaction.  8. Method according to any one of claims 6 and 7, characterized in that said information corresponding to the reduction transaction is transmitted by the switched telephone network to a processing center located entirely at a distance from the retail store.  9. Method according to any one of claims 6 to 8, characterized in that the reduction coupons (4) are marked with a bar code (3) comprising at least four groups of signs, the first group of signs indicating that the bar code represents a reduction coupon, the second group of signs identifying the issuer of the coupon, the third group of signs identifying the code known as the range code of the coupon and the fourth allowing a good reading control and in that which is stored the data concerning the coupon in the form of a descriptive file comprising sequences of signs, namely: the second and third groups of signs, at least one additional identifier, the amount of the reduction and an expiry date.  10. Method according to claim 9 characterized in that, the information corresponding to the reduction transaction is stored in the form of descriptive files of the transaction comprising sequences of signs corresponding to the bar code of the coupon, to the bar code of the article, on the date of presentation by the customer, on time, to the store code, to the cash register N, to the cashier N and to the checkout transaction N.