Split ticket handling

• US 10,078,820 B2
• Filed: 12/31/2015
• Issued: 09/18/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Block, Inc. (f/k/a Square, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Square Inc (Block, Inc. (f/k/a Square, Inc.))
• Inventors: Renke, Christopher Philip, Brunet, Justin
• Primary Examiner(s): Sheikh, Asfand M
• Application Number:
  US14/985,528
• Publication Number:
  US 20170193488A1
• Time in Patent Office: 992 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/045 using payment protocols involving tickets
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/085 involving remote charge determination or related payment systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/209 Specified transaction journal output feature, e.g. printed receipt or voice output
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/322 Aspects of commerce using mobile devices [M-devices]

Abstract

This disclosure describes techniques and arrangements for splitting one or more items from a ticket to another ticket. Some techniques and arrangements facilitate the splitting of one or more items from an open ticket to one or more split tickets. In some implementations, a foster ticket is utilized to account for items associated with split tickets. Other techniques and arrangements include providing split ticket suggestions. In some implementations, split ticket suggestions are provided based on historical ticket information and/or customer information.

Claims

1. A point-of-sale (POS) system for tracking states of one or more open tickets associated with one or more transactions, the POS system including:

a POS device for receiving payment for a cost of a transaction, the POS device comprising;

a display;

first memory;

one or more first processors; and

one or more first computer-readable media storing first computer-executable instructions that, when executed on the one or more first processors, cause the one or more first processors to perform first acts comprising;

receiving, at least partly via an open ticket mode of a user interface (UI) presented on the display, a first input designating a set of items to a first ticket, the set of items including a first item and a second item, and the first ticket being associated with a first state;

storing, in the first memory of the POS device, the first ticket in association with the set of items and in association with a first identifier;

sending, to one or more serving devices associated with a payment processor that processes payments for multiple merchants including a merchant associated with the POS device, a first message that causes the one or more serving devices to store a duplicate of the first ticket,

the duplicate of the first ticket being associated with a second state that is different than the first state,

the duplicate of the first ticket being a first foster ticket that is associated with the set of items and that is associated with the first identifier,

the one or more serving devices being configured to use at least the first foster ticket to account for items capable of being manipulated in a ticket splitting mode of the UI of the POS device;

receiving, at least partly via the UI, a second input that initiates a split ticket mode of the UI for splitting tickets;

receiving, at least partly via the split ticket mode of the UI, a third input designating at least the first item to be split from the first ticket to a second ticket;

storing, in the first memory of the POS device, the second ticket in association with at least the first item;

receiving, at least partly via the split ticket mode of the UI, a fourth input corresponding to a save of the first ticket;

at least partly responsive to receiving the fourth input;

dismissing the first ticket from the split ticket mode of the UI;

determining a first subset of items associated with tickets that remain in the split ticket mode of the UI after the dismissing the first ticket;

determining a second identifier associated with the second ticket; and

sending, to the one or more serving devices, a second message that causes the one or more serving devices to generate a second foster ticket and to store the second foster ticket in association with the first subset of items and the second identifier, the second foster ticket replacing the first foster ticket and the second foster ticket being associated with the second ticket via the second identifier;

receiving, at least partly via the split ticket mode of the UI, a fifth input corresponding to a save of the second ticket;

at least partly responsive to receiving the fifth input;

dismissing the second ticket from the split ticket mode of the UI;

determining a second subset of items associated with at least one remaining ticket that remains in the split ticket mode of the UI after the dismissing the second ticket; and

sending, to the one or more serving devices, a third message that causes the one or more serving devices to update the association between the second foster ticket and the first subset of items to an association between the second foster ticket and the second subset of items; and

receiving, at least partly via the split ticket mode of the UI, a sixth input to recall the first ticket; and

the one or more serving devices comprising;

second memory;

one or more second processors; and

one or more second computer-readable media storing second computer-executable instructions that, when executed on the one or more second processors, cause the one or more second processors to perform second acts comprising;

accessing the first ticket; and

sending the first ticket to the POS device to enable the POS device to access the first ticket after the first ticket has been dismissed from the split ticket mode of the UI.

2. The POS system of claim 1, the first acts further comprising:

receiving, at least partly via the split ticket mode of the UI, a seventh input designating at least the second item to be split from the first ticket to a third ticket;

receiving an eighth input corresponding to a cancel of the third ticket;

at least partly responsive to the receiving the eighth input;

dismissing the third ticket from the UI; and

updating, in the UI, the first ticket to include the at least the second item.

3. The POS system of claim 2, wherein the updating the first ticket to include the at least the second item is based at least in part on one or more of:

the first foster ticket;

a parent-child relationship between the first ticket and the third ticket;

or

a split ticket event that has been logged in association with the first ticket and the third ticket.

4. A method implemented at least in part by an application executing on a point-of-sale (POS) device, the method comprising:

receiving, at least partly via a user interface (UI) presented by the application, a first input indicating a set of items that have been ordered by one or more customers from a merchant associated with the POS device;

generating, by the application, a first ticket associated with the set of items;

sending, from the application and to one or more serving devices, a first message that causes the one or more serving devices to generate a first foster ticket having an association with the first ticket and the set of items,

the first foster ticket being a duplicate of the first ticket,

the first foster ticket being associated with a different state than the first ticket, and

the one or more serving devices being configured to use foster tickets to account for items capable of being manipulated at least partly via the UI of the POS device;

receiving, via the UI, a second input corresponding to an action that changes a state of the first ticket to a changed state in the UI;

sending, from the application and at least partly responsive to the receiving the second input, a second message that causes the one or more serving devices to affect a change to the first foster ticket;

receiving, at the one or more serving devices, the second message;

affecting, by the one or more serving devices, the change to the first foster ticket;

receiving, via the UI, a third input requesting to change the changed state of the first ticket to a new state;

sending, from the application and to the one or more serving devices, a third message that causes the one or more serving devices to access the first foster ticket for provisioning information associated with the first foster ticket based on the third input;

receiving, at the one or more serving devices, the third message;

accessing, by the one or more serving devices and based on receiving the third message, the first foster ticket;

provisioning, from the one or more serving devices and to the application, information from the first foster ticket to enable the application to change the changed state of the first ticket to the new state; and

modifying, by the application, the changed state of the first ticket to the new state based at least in part on receiving the information from the first foster ticket.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein:

the one or more serving devices are associated with a third-party payment processor; and

the one or more serving devices are configured to process payments for multiple merchants including the merchant associated with the POS device.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

receiving, via the UI, a fourth input designating at least one item of the set of items to be split from the first ticket to a second ticket, wherein the first ticket is an open ticket generated while the UI is operable in an open ticket mode and the second ticket is a split ticket generated while the UI is operable in a split ticket mode; and

receiving, at least partly via the UI, a fifth input that causes the POS device to transition from the open ticket mode to the split ticket mode.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the second input corresponds to one or more of:

a save of the first ticket;

a cancel of the first ticket;

a print of the first ticket;

or

a close out of the first ticket.

8. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

receiving, via the UI, a fourth input designating at least one item of the set of items to be split from the first ticket to a second ticket;

presenting, via the UI, the first ticket and the second ticket, wherein the UI is presented on a display of the POS device;

receiving, via the UI, a fifth input corresponding to at least one of a save or a cancel of at least one of the first ticket or the second ticket; and

dismissing, by the application and at least partly responsive to the receiving the fifth input, at least one of the first ticket or the second ticket, wherein the dismissing includes removing the at least one of the first ticket or the second ticket from the UI presented on the display.

9. The method of claim 4, further comprising receiving, via the UI, a fourth input designating at least one item of the set of items to be split from the first ticket to a second ticket, wherein:

the second input corresponds to a save of the first ticket; and

the second message causes the one or more serving devices to generate a second foster ticket that replaces the first foster ticket, the second foster ticket being associated with items remaining in the UI.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising dismissing, by the application and at least partly responsive to the receiving the second input, the first ticket from the UI.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising associating, by the one or more serving devices, the second foster ticket with at least one ticket remaining in the UI.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the associating the second foster ticket with at least one ticket remaining in the UI of the POS device includes associating the second foster ticket with a lowest ordinal ticket remaining in the UI.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the second foster ticket is associated with the second ticket based at least in part on the second ticket being a lowest ordinal ticket remaining in the UI, the second ticket is associated with a first identifier, and the method further comprises assigning, by the one or more serving devices, the second foster ticket a second identifier that is correlated to the first identifier.

14. The method of claim 4, further comprising receiving, via the UI, a fourth input designating at least one item of the set of items to be split from the first ticket to a second ticket, wherein:

the second input corresponds to a save of the second ticket; and

the second message causes the one or more serving devices to update the association between the first foster ticket and the set of items to an association between the first foster ticket and items remaining in the UI.

15. The method of claim 4, further comprising generating, by the one or more serving devices, a log that indicates at least one of parent-child relationships established between tickets or split event information associated with ticket splitting.

16. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to perform acts comprising:

designating a set of items to a first ticket of a point-of-sale (POS) device associated with a merchant, the set of items including a first item and a second item;

sending, to one or more serving devices of a payment processor configured to process payments for multiple merchants including the merchant associated with the POS device, a first message that causes the one or more serving devices to generate a first foster ticket associated with the first ticket and the set of items,

the first foster ticket being a duplicate of the first ticket,

the first foster ticket being associated with a different state than the first ticket, and

the one or more serving devices being configured to use foster tickets to account for items capable of being manipulated in a user interface (UI) of the POS device;

determining to change a state of the first ticket to a changed state;

sending, at least partly responsive to changing the state of the first ticket, a second message that causes the one or more serving devices to update the first foster ticket;

receiving an indication to change the state of the first ticket to a new state;

sending a third message that causes the one or more serving devices to access the first foster ticket;

receiving, from the one or more serving devices, information to facilitate the change of the state of the first ticket to the new state, the information being based on the first foster ticket; and

changing the state of the first ticket to the new state based at least in part on the information.

17. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 16, wherein the acts further comprise:

splitting at least the first item from the first ticket to a second ticket;

establishing a parent-child relationship between the first ticket and the second ticket, wherein the first ticket is a parent of the second ticket, and the second ticket is a child of the first ticket; and

storing at least one of the first ticket or the second ticket in association with a reference pointer to the other of the first ticket or the second ticket based on the parent-child relationship.

18. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 16, wherein the acts further comprise:

splitting at least the first item from the first ticket to a second ticket and at least one of;

storing the first ticket in association with first split event information, the first split event information including an indication of at least the first item that has been split from the first ticket to the second ticket;

or

storing the second ticket in association with second split event information, the second split event information including an indication of one or more items that remain on the first ticket after splitting at least the first item from the first ticket to the second ticket.

19. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 16, wherein the determining to change the state of the first ticket occurs at least partly in response to receiving an input comprising at least one of:

a save of the first ticket;

a cancel of the first ticket;

a print of the first ticket;

or

a close out of the first ticket.

20. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 16, wherein the acts further comprise:

splitting at least the first item from the first ticket to a second ticket;

splitting a third item of the set of items from the first ticket to the second ticket;

splitting the third item from the second ticket to a third ticket;

determine that a split ticket session of the UI of the POS device has been canceled;

dismissing, at least partly responsive to the determining that the split ticket session of the UI has been canceled, the second ticket and the third ticket from the UI; and

updating, based at least in part on the first foster ticket, the first ticket to include the set of items.