Digital signage system

• US 10,311,448 B2
• Filed: 08/16/2011
• Issued: 06/04/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 08/19/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: William Eugene Urban
• Original Assignee: William Eugene Urban
• Inventors: Urban, William Eugene, Tomovick, Shawn Thomas
• Primary Examiner(s): Sittner, Matthew T
• Assistant Examiner(s): Woodworth, II, Allan J
• Application Number:
  US13/211,079
• Publication Number:
  US 20120047024A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,849 Days
• Field of Search: 705 141- 1473
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

A method of operating a digital signage system. The method includes creating at least one user account, creating or retrieving a display content to be displayed on a display device, searching for a display location and at least one display device associated with the display location, and sending a request to display the content on at least one selected display device. The method further includes automatically downloading the content to be displayed on the selected display device, automatically processing a payment from a first user account to a second user account that is associated with the display device, and displaying the content on the selected display device.

Claims

1. A method of operating an online community wherein each of a plurality of users of the online community has access to a plurality of display devices and wherein each of the plurality of display devices is associated with a display device computer, the method comprising:

establishing, by a processor of a computer, a database, the database storing a plurality of user account records, wherein each user account record is associated with a user of the online community;

receiving, by a processor of a computer, a request to establish a first user account for a first user to be included in the plurality of users of the online community;

receiving, by the processor, an identifier of the first user;

automatically storing, by the processor, a record of the first user account for the first user to the plurality of user account records stored in the database, wherein the record of the first user account includes an identifier of the first user and does not include an identifier of any of the plurality of display devices accessible through the online community;

receiving, by the processor, a request to establish a second user account for a second user to be included in the plurality of users of the online community;

receiving, by the processor, an identifier of the second user, a messaging address of the second user, an address of a display device to be included in the plurality of display devices accessible through the online community, and a display price for the display device, wherein the display price is a rate for displaying data on the display device;

automatically storing, by the processor, a record of the second user account for the second user to the plurality of user account records stored in the database, wherein the record of the second user account includes the identifier of the second user, the messaging address of the second user, an identifier of the display device, the address of the display device, and the display price of the display device;

receiving, by the processor, a request to log into the first user account from a user computer;

in response to verifying the request to log into the first user account, receiving, by the processor, a search request from the user computer, the search request specifying one or more parameters for display devices sought by the first user;

automatically retrieving from the database, by the processor, at least one record matching the search request, wherein the at least one record includes the record of the second user account;

automatically transmitting, by the processor, data regarding the display device identified in the record of the second user account to the user computer, wherein transmitting the data includes transmitting the display price for the display device;

receiving, by the processor, a selection of the display device identified in the record of the second user account from the user computer;

receiving, by the processor, content from the user computer;

in response to the selection, automatically retrieving, by the processor, the messaging address of the second user included in the record of the second user account from the database;

in response to the selection, automatically generating and transmitting, by the processor, an electronic message to the messaging address of the second user, the electronic message including a request to display the content on the display device;

in response to receiving a reply to the request including an acceptance of the request, transmitting, by the processor, the content over a communication network to a display device computer associated with the display device, wherein the display device computer controls the display device to display the content on the display device; and

wherein transmitting the content in response to the reply including an acceptance of the request includes automatically downloading the content to the selected display device and automatically processing a payment from an account associated with the first user to an account associated with the second user when the automatic download completes successfully.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising automatically generating and sending an email message to the first user when the automatic download completes successfully.

3. A method of operating an online community wherein each of a plurality of users of the online community has access to a plurality of display devices and wherein each of the plurality of display devices is associated with a display device computer, the method comprising:

establishing, by a processor of a computer, a database, the database storing a plurality of user account records, wherein each user account record is associated with a user of the online community;

receiving, by a processor of a computer, a request to establish a first user account for a first user to be included in the plurality of users of the online community;

receiving, by the processor, an identifier of the first user;

automatically storing, by the processor, a record of the first user account for the first user to the plurality of user account records stored in the database, wherein the record of the first user account includes an identifier of the first user and does not include an identifier of any of the plurality of display devices accessible through the online community;

receiving, by the processor, a request to establish a second user account for a second user to be included in the plurality of users of the online community;

receiving, by the processor, an identifier of the second user, a messaging address of the second user, an address of a display device to be included in the plurality of display devices accessible through the online community, and a display price for the display device, wherein the display price is a rate for displaying data on the display device;

automatically storing, by the processor, a record of the second user account for the second user to the plurality of user account records stored in the database, wherein the record of the second user account includes the identifier of the second user, the messaging address of the second user, an identifier of the display device, the address of the display device, and the display price of the display device;

receiving, by the processor, a request to log into the first user account from a user computer;

in response to verifying the request to log into the first user account, receiving, by the processor, a search request from the user computer, the search request specifying one or more parameters for display devices sought by the first user;

automatically retrieving from the database, by the processor, at least one record matching the search request, wherein the at least one record includes the record of the second user account;

automatically transmitting, by the processor, data regarding the display device identified in the record of the second user account to the user computer, wherein transmitting the data includes transmitting the display price for the display device;

receiving, by the processor, a selection of the display device identified in the record of the second user account from the user computer;

receiving, by the processor, content from the user computer;

in response to the selection, automatically retrieving, by the processor, the messaging address of the second user included in the record of the second user account from the database;

in response to the selection, automatically generating and transmitting, by the processor, an electronic message to the messaging address of the second user, the electronic message including a request to display the content on the display device;

in response to receiving a reply to the request including an acceptance of the request, automatically transmitting, by the processor, the content over a communication network to a display device computer associated with the display device, wherein the display device computer controls the display device to display the content on the display device; and

automatically cancelling the request when the second user does not accept or reject the request with a predetermined period of time.

4. A method of operating an online community wherein each of a plurality of users of the online community has access to a plurality of display devices and wherein each of the plurality of display devices is associated with a display device computer, the method comprising:

establishing, by a processor of a computer, a database, the database storing a plurality of user account records, wherein each user account record is associated with a user of the online community;

receiving, by a processor of a computer, a request to establish a first user account for a first user to be included in the plurality of users of the online community;

receiving, by the processor, an identifier of the first user;

automatically storing, by the processor, a record of the first user account for the first user to the plurality of user account records stored in the database, wherein the record of the first user account includes an identifier of the first user and does not include an identifier of any of the plurality of display devices accessible through the online community;

receiving, by the processor, a request to establish a second user account for a second user to be included in the plurality of users of the online community;

receiving, by the processor, an identifier of the second user, a messaging address of the second user, an address of a display device to be included in the plurality of display devices accessible through the online community, and a display price for the display device, wherein the display price is a rate for displaying data on the display device;

automatically, by the processor, determining additional location information for the display device based on the address of the display device;

automatically storing, by the processor, a record of the second user account for the second user to the plurality of user account records stored in the database, wherein the record of the second user account includes the identifier of the second user, the messaging address of the second user, an identifier of the display device, the address of the display device, the display price of the display device, and the additional location information for the display device;

receiving, by the processor, a request to log into the first user account from a user computer;

in response to verifying the request to log into the first user account, receiving, by the processor, a search request from the user computer, the search request specifying one or more parameters for display devices sought by the first user;

automatically retrieving from the database, by the processor, at least one record matching the search request, wherein the at least one record includes the record of the second user account;

automatically transmitting, by the processor, data regarding the display device identified in the record of the second user account to the user computer, wherein transmitting the data includes transmitting the display price for the display device and the additional location information for the display device;

receiving, by the processor, a selection of the display device identified in the record of the second user account from the user computer;

receiving, by the processor, content from the user computer;

in response to the selection, automatically retrieving, by the processor, the messaging address of the second user included in the record of the second user account from the database;

in response to the selection, automatically generating and transmitting, by the processor, an electronic message to the messaging address of the second user, the electronic message including a request to display the content on the display device; and

in response to receiving a reply to the request including an acceptance of the request, automatically transmitting, by the processor, the content over a communication network to a display device computer associated with the display device, wherein the display device computer controls the display device to display the content on the display device.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein determining the additional location information includes determining at least one selected from the group comprising an Internet service provider and an Internet service speed.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein determining the additional location information includes determining at least one selected from the group comprising a country, a latitude, and a longitude.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein determining the additional location information includes determining a market area.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising automatically determining a rank of the display device within the market area.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising automatically determining a rank for each of the plurality of display devices and storing the rank for each of the plurality of display devices in the database.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein automatically transmitting the data regarding the display device associated with the record of the second user account to the user computer includes automatically transmitting the rank associated with the display device based on the database.