Reading device and method

Abstract

According to one embodiment, a reading device includes a communication interface for communication with a commodity registration device. A commodity reader of the reading device reads commodity information from a commodity and the commodity information can be used for identifying the commodity. An output device signals that the commodity reader has read commodity information. A controller causes the communication interface to transmit the commodity information read by commodity reader, initialize the communication interface when it is determined that transmission of the commodity information has failed, and signal a communication failure when transmission of the commodity information has failed.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A reading device, comprising:
 a communication interface configured to communicate with a commodity registration device;   a commodity reader configured to read commodity information from a commodity for identifying the commodity;   an output device configured to signal that the commodity reader has read commodity information; and   a controller configured to:
 cause the communication interface to transmit the commodity information read by commodity reader, 
 initialize the communication interface when it is determined that transmission of the commodity information has failed, and 
 signal a communication failure when transmission of the commodity information has failed. 
   
     
     
         2 . The reading device according to  claim 1 , wherein after the initialization of the communication interface, the controller causes the communication interface to transmit communication failure information indicating that the transmission of the commodity information has failed. 
     
     
         3 . The reading device according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the output device signals, using a first audible signal, that the commodity reader has read commodity information, and   the controller causes the output device to signal the communication failure using a second audible signal.   
     
     
         4 . The reading device according to  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to initialize components of the reading device in a prescribed order if the communication failure is not recovered after the communication interface has been initialized. 
     
     
         5 . The reading device according to  claim 1 , wherein the controller determines that a communication failure has not been recovered when a response from the commodity registration device is not received via the communication interface within a predetermined time after a transmission of communication failure information to the commodity registration device via the communication interface. 
     
     
         6 . The reading device according to  claim 1 , wherein the commodity reader is a bar code scanner. 
     
     
         7 . The reading device according to  claim 1 , wherein the output device comprises a speaker. 
     
     
         8 . The reading device according to  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to cause the communication interface to re-transmit the commodity information read by commodity reader along with the signal of the communication failure. 
     
     
         9 . The reading device according to  claim 1 , wherein the commodity reader is disposed within the commodity registration device. 
     
     
         10 . The reading device according to  claim 1 , wherein the commodity reader is a hand-held scanner. 
     
     
         11 . A checkout apparatus, comprising:
 a display screen for displaying commodity information related to a sales transaction;   a first communication interface configured to receive commodity information; and   a reading device including:
 a second communication interface configured for communication of commodity information to first communication interface; 
 a commodity reader configured to read commodity information from a commodity for identifying the commodity; 
 an output device configured to signal that the commodity reader has read commodity information; and 
 a controller configured to:
 cause the second communication interface to transmit the commodity information read by commodity reader, 
 initialize the second communication interface when it is determined that transmission of the commodity information to the first communication interface has failed, and 
 signal a communication failure when transmission of the commodity information to the first communication interface has failed. 
 
   
     
     
         12 . The checkout apparatus according to  claim 11 , wherein after the initialization of the second communication interface, the controller causes the second communication interface to transmit communication failure information to the first communication interface indicating that the transmission of the commodity information has failed. 
     
     
         13 . The checkout apparatus according to  claim 11 , wherein
 the output device signals, using a first audible signal, that the commodity reader has read commodity information, and   the controller causes the output device to signal the communication failure using a second audible signal.   
     
     
         14 . The checkout apparatus according to  claim 11 , wherein the controller is further configured to cause the second communication interface to re-transmit the commodity information read by commodity reader along with the signal of the communication failure. 
     
     
         15 . The checkout apparatus according to  claim 11 , wherein the commodity reader is a bar code scanner. 
     
     
         16 . The checkout apparatus according to  claim 11 , wherein the commodity reader is a hand-held scanner. 
     
     
         17 . A sales transaction registration method, comprising:
 reading commodity information for identifying a commodity with a commodity reader device;   signaling that commodity reader device has successfully read commodity information of a commodity with a first audible sound;   attempting transmission of the commodity information from the commodity reader device to a sales registration device via a communication interface of the commodity reader device;   initializing the communication interface if the attempted transmission of commodity information fails; and   signaling a communication failure if the attempted transmission of commodity information fails.   
     
     
         18 . The sales transaction registration method according to  claim 17 , wherein signaling the communication failure includes transmitting a communication failure notice to the sales registration device via the communication interface and outputting a second audible sound. 
     
     
         19 . The sales transaction registration method according to  claim 18 , further comprising:
 re-attempting transmission of the commodity information to the sales registration device after a response to communication failure notice from the sales registration device is received via the communication interface.   
     
     
         20 . The sales transaction registration method according to  claim 18 , further comprising:
 re-transmitting the commodity information along with the communication failure notice.