On-demand point-of-sale scanner access
First Claim
1. A method of automatically associating a scanner device with a user, comprising steps of:
- capturing, by a scanner device configured with a biometric sensor, biometric information of a user; and
scanning, by the scanner device, item-identifying information of an item, such that the captured biometric information and the scanned item-identifying information can be transmitted to a computing device adapted for comparing the captured biometric information to previously-stored biometric information to identify the user and thereby automatically associating the scanner device with the identified user, such that the item for which the item-identifying information was scanned is also associated with the user.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Associating and/or disassociating a mobile point-of-sale scanner device with a particular shopper. Shoppers may be identified, for example, using biometrics or by scanning a loyalty card. As an example of using biometrics, the shopper'"'"'s fingerprint may be scanned as a trigger of the scanner is activated to scan an item'"'"'s barcode. The fingerprint is preferably transmitted, along with the scanned barcode, to a server or other device for comparison to previously-stored information. The scanner is then automatically associated with the shopper to whom the fingerprint corresponds. In another embodiment, scanned loyalty card information is preferably transmitted (optionally, along with a scanned barcode), such that the scanner is then automatically associated with the shopper to whom the loyalty card corresponds. Disassociating the scanner from a shopper is preferably triggered using a sensor (such as a light) that forms part of the scanner device, whereby the sensor is activated when the shopper releases the scanner device. A timer may be used to filter out accidental activation of the sensor.
-
Citations
30 Claims
-
1. A method of automatically associating a scanner device with a user, comprising steps of:
-
capturing, by a scanner device configured with a biometric sensor, biometric information of a user; and
scanning, by the scanner device, item-identifying information of an item, such that the captured biometric information and the scanned item-identifying information can be transmitted to a computing device adapted for comparing the captured biometric information to previously-stored biometric information to identify the user and thereby automatically associating the scanner device with the identified user, such that the item for which the item-identifying information was scanned is also associated with the user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. A method of automatically associating a scanner device with a user, comprising steps of:
-
capturing, by a scanner device, loyalty card information by scanning a loyalty card of a user, such that the captured loyalty card information can be transmitted to a computing device adapted for comparing the captured loyalty card information to previously-stored loyalty card information to identify the user and thereby automatically associating the scanner device with the identified user; and
automatically disassociating the scanner device from the user when the user no longer maintains physical contact with the scanner device. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
-
-
22. A method of automatically disassociating a scanner device from a user, comprising steps of:
-
automatically associating a scanner device with a particular user upon matching identifying information of the particular user, captured by the scanner device, with previously-stored identifying information of a plurality of users;
adding items scanned by the scanner device to a shopping cart of the particular user while the scanner device remains associated with the particular user; and
upon a detection, by a sensor of the scanner device, that the particular user is no longer in physical contact with the scanner device, automatically disassociating the scanner device from the particular user. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25)
-
-
26. A scanner device adapted for automatic association with a user, the scanner device comprising:
-
a biometric sensor for obtaining biometric information of a user;
an item scanner portion for scanning item-identifying information of an item; and
a transmitter adapted for transmitting the obtained biometric information to a computing device for comparing the transmitted biometric information to previously-stored biometric information to identify the user and thereby automatically associate the scanner device with the user and for transmitting the item-identifying information to the computing device. - View Dependent Claims (27)
-
-
28. A computer program product for associating a scanner device with a user, the computer program product comprising computer-readable code embodied on one or more computer-usable media, the computer-readable code comprising instructions that when executed on a computer cause the computer to:
-
receive, from a scanner device, biometric information of a user and item-identifying information of an item, the biometric information captured with a biometric sensor of the scanner device and the item-identifying information captured with an item scanning portion of the scanner device;
compare the received biometric information to previously-stored biometric information and thereby identify the user;
automatically associate the scanner device with the identified user; and
add the item to a shopping list of the user. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30)
-
Specification