Retail terminal

Abstract

 A retail terminal has a housing (34) including a front cash till portion (30) with a lid (36) hinged to the housing (34), a keypad (20) being mounted on the lid (36). The terminal employs a flexible circuit (46) instead of a printed circuit board to facilitate mounting the keypad (20) on the lid (36). A rear portion (44) of the housing (34) contains a controller (12) connected to the keypad (20) by the flexible circuit (46), a liquid crystal display (14) coupled to the controller (12), and receipt and journal printers (16) coupled to the controller (12). The terminal may also include a circuit (24) for wirelessly communicating with a host system (22), and a solar panel and battery means for remote operations.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to retail terminals.

[0002] Known retail terminals typically include cash drawers to leave room on top of the terminal for a keypad. Such terminals include printed circuit boards within the terminal which are connected to printers, displays, and other built-in peripherals. Due to their size and weight, such terminals are typically not portable. Thus, they are not well suited for use in retail environments other than checkout stands.

[0003] It is an object of the invention to provide a retail terminal which is lightweight and portable.

[0004] According to the present invention there is provided a retail terminal including a housing having a controller mounted therein, characterized in that the housing includes a front cash till portion with a movable lid, and in that there are provided a keypad mounted on the lid, and a flexible circuit for coupling the controller to the keypad.

[0005] It is a feature of a retail terminal in accordance with the present invention that a flexible circuit is used instead of a printed circuit board to facilitate mounting the keypad on the lid.

[0006] One embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a retail terminal in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the retail terminal shown in block diagram form in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the terminal of Fig. 2, with the lid of the terminal raised, showing the cash till.

[0007] Referring now to Figs. 1-3, the retail terminal 10 shown therein includes a controller 12, and peripherals such as a display 14, printers 16, a power supply 18, and a lid-mounted keypad 20.

[0008] The controller 12 executes retail programs and controls the peripherals.

[0009] The display 14 is preferably a liquid crystal display for displaying primarily price information and messages from the controller 12.

[0010] The printers 16 include a receipt printer and a journal printer.

[0011] The power supply 18 may regulate power from alternating or direct current sources, or it may be a light-to-electrical converter such as a solar panel, and batteries for portable operation. The power supply 18 may include a converter 19 which converts alternating current to direct current.

[0012] The keypad 20 provides keypad functions which are utilized by the controller 12. Such functions are implemented by simple numerical keys and specific function keys.

[0013] The retail terminal 10 may operate as a standalone unit or may operate as a slave terminal for a host system 22. For communicating from remote sites, the terminal 10 may include a transceiver 24 and an antenna 25 for communicating with the host system 22. The terminal 10 may also communicate with the host system 22 through a cable 26.

[0014] With reference to Figs. 2 and 3, the terminal 10 includes a cash till 30 in a front portion 32 of a housing 34. A lid 36 of the cash till 30 opens upwardly about a hinge 38 along a rear edge 40 (Fig. 3). The keypad 20 is preferably any commercially available elastometric keypad and is mounted on the lid 36 to minimize the size and weight of the terminal 10. The keypad 20 is coupled to the controller 12 through a flexible circuit 46 mounted on the underside of the lid 36, the keypad 20 projecting through an aperture 42 in the lid 36. The use of a commercially available flexible circuit instead of a printed circuit board significantly reduces the overall cost of the terminal 10. An example of a company which manufactures flexible circuits is Poly-Flex Circuits, Inc., of Cranston, Rhode Island, U.S.A.

[0015] The controller 12, the display 14, the printers 16, and the power supply 18 are located in a rear portion 44 of the housing 34.

[0016] The controller 12 may be connected to the flexible circuit 46 using commercially available anisotropic connectors, such as those manufactured by Fuji Polymer Industries Co., Ltd. The keypad 20 may be soldered or glued directly to the flexible circuit 46.

Claims

1. A retail terminal including a housing (34) having a controller (12) mounted therein, characterized in that the housing includes a front cash till portion (30) with a movable lid (36), and in that there are provided a keypad (20) mounted on the lid, and a flexible circuit (46) for coupling the controller (12) to the keypad (20).

2. A terminal according to claim 1, characterized in that the flexible circuit (46) is mounted on the underside of the lid (36).

3. A terminal according to either claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that the keypad (20) is in the form of an elastometric keypad.

4. A terminal according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the keypad (20) is mounted in an aperture (42) in the lid (36).

5. A terminal according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the lid (36) is hinged to the housing (34) to enable it to be lifted to provide access to the cash till portion (30).

6. A terminal according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized by display means (14) and printer means (16) mounted in a rear portion (44) of the housing (34) and coupled to the controller (12) which is also mounted in said rear portion.

7. A terminal according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized by circuit means (24) for wirelessly communicating with a host system (22).

8. A terminal according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized by a power supply (18) including a solar panel and battery means for enabling portable operation of the terminal.

Drawing