SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING ITEMS PLACED IN A CONTAINER

• US 20070143188A1
• Filed: 12/15/2005
• Published: 06/21/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kelley, Edward E., Wilbrink, Tijs
• Application Number:
  US11/306,076
• Publication Number:
  US 20070143188A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/26
• CPC Class Codes: B62B 2203/50 comprising weighing means
• CPC Class Codes: B62B 5/0096 Identification of the cart or merchandise, e.g. by barcodes or radio frequency identification [RFID]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/02 by keys or other credit registering devices
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/0054 with control of supplementary check-parameters, e.g. weight or number of articles
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/0081 the reader being a portable scanner or data reader G07G1/009 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/009 the reader being an RFID reader

Abstract

A system and method for processing items placed in a container. The system includes a cart having a system for processing items stored therein, comprising: a detection system that detects the placement of an item into the cart; a near field communication (NFC) reader for reading and storing information from an NFC tag attached to items detected as being placed in the cart.

Claims

1. A cart having a system for processing items stored therein, comprising:

a detection system that detects the placement of an item into the cart;

a near field communication (NFC) reader for reading and storing information from an NFC tag attached to items detected as being placed in the cart.

2. The cart of claim 1, wherein the detection system comprises a set of light sensors.

3. The cart of claim 1, wherein the detection system comprises a weight sensor.

4. The cart of claim 1, further comprising a system for directing the NFC reader to poll all items stored in the cart to determine an inventory of all items in the cart.

5. The cart of claim 4, further comprising a system for comparing the inventory with stored data.

6. The cart of claim 1, wherein the detection system comprises a counter to track a number of items placed in the cart.

7. A method of processing items placed in a cart, comprising:

activating a processing system associated with the cart;

detecting an item being placed in the cart with a detection mechanism;

reading information from a tag attached to the item with a near field communication (NFC) reader; and

storing the information read from the tag.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the detection mechanism comprises a light sensor.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the detection mechanism comprises a weight sensor.

10. The method of claim 7, comprising the further step of incrementing a counter each time a new item is placed in the cart.

11. The method of claim 7, comprising the further step of performing a test to see if information from the tag was read successfully.

12. The method of claim 11, comprising the further step of sounding an alarm if the information from the tag was not read successfully.

13. The method of claim 7, comprising the further steps of:

notifying the processing system that no further items are to be placed in the cart;

polling the items in the cart to generate an inventory; and

comparing the inventory to stored information about items placed in the card.

14. The method of claim 13, comprising the further steps of:

sending a list of items in the cart to a cashier; and

effectuating payment of the list of items.

15. A method of automatically processing items placed in a shopping cart, comprising:

activating a processing system associated with the shopping cart when a user begins shopping;

tripping a light sensor each time an item is placed in the shopping cart;

reading information from a tag attached to an item with a near field communication (NFC) reader whenever the light sensor is tripped;

storing the information read by the NFC reader in memory;

notifying the processing system that the user is done shopping;

polling all items in the shopping cart to determine an inventory; and

comparing the inventory with the stored information;

effectuating a checkout procedure.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of activating a processing system is done with a user interface to the processing system.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the tripping step causes a counter to be incremented.

18. The method of claim 15, comprising the further step of performing a test to see if information from the tag was read successfully.

19. The method of claim 18, comprising the further step of sounding an alarm if the information from the tag was not read successfully.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein the comparing step includes effectuating a manual checkout procedure if the inventory does not match the stored information.