System and method for tracking items at a scale of a self-checkout terminal

• US 20030047387A1
• Filed: 09/10/2001
• Published: 03/13/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 09/10/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NCR Voyix Corporation
• Original Assignee: NCR Corporation
• Inventors: Bogat, Antonio
• Granted Patent: US 7,040,455 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 186/59
• CPC Class Codes: A47F 9/047 for recording self-service articles without cashier or assistant
• CPC Class Codes: G01G 19/4144 for controlling weight of goods in commercial establishments, e.g. supermarket, P.O.S. systems
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/0054 with control of supplementary check-parameters, e.g. weight or number of articles

Abstract

A system tracks items in the checkout area of a self-checkout terminal to reduce the likelihood of fraud in item substitution. The system includes a plurality of weight sensors operatively coupled to a checkout area for sensing a distributed weight of an item placed in a checkout area; and an item locator coupled to the plurality of weight sensors for determining a location for the item from the distributed weight as sensed by the sensors. The item locator identifies a location for an item from the weight differentials sensed at the weight sensors in response to movement of an item within the checkout area. The weight distribution and location data may be correlated to the item identifier for a scanned item so the items in the checkout area may be tracked. A security application program associated with the self-checkout terminal may be coupled to the system of the present invention to identify items placed on the checkout area by location as well as weight. As a consequence, the location of an item may be determined by the weight data detected by the sensors in response to an item being placed or removed in the checkout area. The location data for the items in the checkout area may be compared with stored location data for previously scanned items to determine whether another item has been substituted for a scanned item.

Claims

1. A system for tracking items in the checkout area of a self-checkout terminal comprising:

a plurality of weight sensors operatively coupled to a checkout area for sensing a distributed weight of an item placed in a checkout area; and

an item locator coupled to the plurality of weight sensors for determining a location for the item from the distributed weight as sensed by the sensors.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the item locator correlates the item location and distributed weight data to an item identifier for purposes of tracking items in the checkout area.

3. The system of claim 2 further comprising:

a security application associated with a terminal processor for using the item location and distributed weight data to track items in the checkout area.

4. The system of claim 2 wherein the item locator receives item identifiers from a processor associated with a self-checkout terminal and generates data structures that correlate the item identifiers with location and distributed weight data.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein the item locator generates data structures that include a total weight for the identified item, the total weight being determined from the distributed weight and location data correlated to an item identifier.

6. The system terminal of claim 1 wherein the location data is Cartesian coordinate data.

7. The system terminal of claim 1 wherein the location data is polar coordinate data.

8. The system terminal of claim 1 wherein the plurality of weight sensors is comprised of four load cells proximately mounted to the checkout area.

9. The system terminal of claim 8 wherein the four load cells are proximately mounted to the corners of a rectangular checkout area.

10. The system terminal of claim 1 wherein the item locator determines a multiplying factor as a ratio of a weight sensed by a weight sensor and a total weight for an item.

11. A method for tracking items in the checkout area of a self-checkout terminal comprising:

sensing a distributed weight with a plurality of sensors associated with a checkout area; and

identifying a location for an item corresponding to the weight sensed.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

correlating the distributed weight and location data to an item identifier for purposes of tracking items in the checkout area.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising:

providing the correlated data to a security application associated with a terminal processor so that the correlated item data may be used to track items in the checkout area.

14. The method of claim 12 further comprising:

receiving item identifiers from a processor associated with a self-checkout terminal; and

generating data structures that correlate the item identifiers with distributed weight and location data.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the data structure generation includes include a total weight for the identified item, the total weight being determined from the distributed weight and location data correlated to an item identifier.

16. The method of claim 11 wherein the item location data is Cartesian coordinate data.

17. The method of claim 11 wherein the item location data is polar coordinate data.

18. The method of claim 11 wherein said distributed weight sensing is sensed through four load cells proximately mounted to the checkout area;

and

the item location is determined using ratios of a distributed weight sensed at each sensor to the total weight sensed by all of the sensors.

19. The method of claim 11 further comprising proximately mounting the load cells to the corners of a rectangular checkout area.

20. The method of claim 11 further comprising determining a multiplying factor as a ratio of a weight sensed by a weight sensor and a total weight for an item.