Method of and apparatus for identifying consumer products in a retail environment when bar code symbols on the products are not readable or have been removed from packaging
First Claim
1. A method of identifying a consumer product in a retail store environment when a bar code symbol on a product is not readable or has been removed from the product'"'"'s packaging, said method comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing a digital image capturing and processing system in said retail environment;
(b) using said digital image capturing and processing system to capture a plurality of digital images for each consumer product sold in said retail store environment, and storing said digital images in a database subsystem, along with product identifying information for each consumer product; and
(c) when a consumer checks out a consumer product at the POS station in said retail store environment, an attempts is made to identify consumer product by capturing and processing one or more digital images of the consumer product using said digital image capturing and processing system so as to read the bar code symbol label on its packing, and when the imaged bar code symbol happens to be unreadable, or when the bar code symbol label happens to have fallen off or have been removed from the packaging, then said digital image capturing and processing system uses (i) said one or more digital images of said consumer product, and (ii) said plurality digital images stored in said database subsystem, to assist in the identification of said consumer product.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method of and system for identifying a consumer product in a retail store environment when a bar code symbol on a product is not readable or has been removed from the product'"'"'s packaging. The system comprises a database system, and a digital image capturing and processing system installed in the retail environment and in data communication with the database system. The digital image capturing and processing system is capable of capturing one or more digital images for each consumer product sold in the retail store environment, and storing the digital images in the database subsystem, along with product identifying information for each consumer product. When the imaged bar code symbol happens to be unreadable, or when the bar code symbol label happens to have fallen off or have been removed from the packaging, then one or more digital images of the consumer product are compared with digital images stored in the database subsystem to identify the consumer product graphically represented in the digital images.
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Citations
12 Claims
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1. A method of identifying a consumer product in a retail store environment when a bar code symbol on a product is not readable or has been removed from the product'"'"'s packaging, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing a digital image capturing and processing system in said retail environment;
(b) using said digital image capturing and processing system to capture a plurality of digital images for each consumer product sold in said retail store environment, and storing said digital images in a database subsystem, along with product identifying information for each consumer product; and
(c) when a consumer checks out a consumer product at the POS station in said retail store environment, an attempts is made to identify consumer product by capturing and processing one or more digital images of the consumer product using said digital image capturing and processing system so as to read the bar code symbol label on its packing, and when the imaged bar code symbol happens to be unreadable, or when the bar code symbol label happens to have fallen off or have been removed from the packaging, then said digital image capturing and processing system uses (i) said one or more digital images of said consumer product, and (ii) said plurality digital images stored in said database subsystem, to assist in the identification of said consumer product. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A system for identifying a consumer product in a retail store environment when a bar code symbol on a product is not readable or has been removed from the product'"'"'s packaging, said system comprising:
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a database system; and
a digital image capturing and processing system installed in said retail environment, and in data communication with said database system, wherein said digital image capturing and processing system is capable of capturing one or more digital images for each consumer product sold in said retail store environment, and storing said digital images in said database subsystem, along with product identifying information for each consumer product;
wherein when a consumer checks out a consumer product at the POS station in said retail store environment, then an attempt is made to identify consumer product by capturing and processing one or more digital images of the consumer product using said digital image capturing and processing system so as to read the bar code symbol label on its packing; and
wherein when the imaged bar code symbol happens to be unreadable, or when the bar code symbol label happens to have fallen off or have been removed from the packaging, then said digital image capturing and processing system uses (i) said one or more digital images of said consumer product, and (ii) said digital images stored in said database subsystem to assist in the identification of the consumer product. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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Specification