Fixed self-checkout station with cradle for communicating with portable self-scanning units
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Abstract
A retail checkout system includes a customer-operated portable terminal with a data reader, such as a barcode scanner, and a customer-operated self-checkout station with an automated payment-accepting subsystem. Customers use the portable terminal to identify and log products that are selected as they move through a store. Item identification data is then transferred to the self-checkout station, where the customer pays for the selected products using the automated payment-accepting subsystem.
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Citations
59 Claims
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1-45. -45. (canceled)
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46. A method for retail check-out comprising the steps of:
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establishing a communication link between (a) a self-checkout station incorporating a customer-operated automated payment-accepting subsystem and (b) a data storage unit in which a plurality of data records are stored, each of the plurality of data records corresponding to a respective one of a plurality of identifiers that was read by a portable data reading unit before the communication link was established;
inputting the plurality of data records from the data storage unit via the communication link established in the establishing step;
determining a price total for a plurality of items corresponding to the plurality of identifiers based on the plurality of data records inputted in the inputting step;
wherein determining the price total comprises;
outputting signals from the self-checkout station to a POS controller through an interface that formats the signals to mimic signals outputted by conventional POS scanning terminals after performing a check-out scan for each of the plurality of items; and
inputting, to the self-checkout station, price information generated by the POS controller in response to the signals outputted in the outputting step; and
accepting payment for the plurality of items based on the price total determined in the determining step, wherein the step of accepting payment is performed using the customer-operated automated payment-accepting subsystem. - View Dependent Claims (55, 56, 57)
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47. A customer-operated checkout system for items bearing identifiers, the system comprising:
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a portable terminal including a data reader, a memory, and a data output port; and
a self-checkout station including a data input port and a customer-operated automated payment-accepting subsystem, wherein the portable terminal identifies selected items using the data reader, stores information about the selected items in the memory, and sends the stored information to the self-checkout station via the data output port, and wherein the self-checkout station receives the stored information from the portable terminal via the data input port, outputs signals to a POS controller through an interface that formats the signals to mimic signals outputted by conventional POS scanning terminals, and accepts payment from the customer for the selected items using the payment-accepting subsystem. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54)
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58. A method of retail shopping, comprising:
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obtaining a portable reading unit;
selecting a set of desired items;
identifying each of the desired items using the portable reading unit during the selecting;
linking, after completion of selecting and identifying the portable reading unit to a self-checkout station having a customer-operated automated payment-accepting subsystem;
waiting for a transfer, into the self-checkout station, of data identifying the set of desired items;
paying for the set of desired items using the customer-operated automated payment-accepting subsystem;
determining a price total at the self-checkout station by;
outputting signals from the self-checkout station to a POS controller through an interface that formats the signals to mimic signals outputted by conventional POS scanning terminals after performing a check-out scan for each of the plurality of items; and
inputting, to the self-checkout station, price information generated by the POS controller in response to the signals outputted in the outputting step. - View Dependent Claims (59)
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Specification