ID image providing device, store terminal, connection information providing device, ID image providing method, printing method, and connection information providing method

• US 20080056541A1
• Filed: 08/03/2007
• Published: 03/06/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 09/04/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Seiko Instruments Incorporated (Seiko Group)
• Original Assignee: Seiko Instruments Incorporated (Seiko Group)
• Inventors: Okabe, Akihiro, Shoji, Noriyoshi, Muneto, Kazunori, Tani, Kazuo, Kanayama, Yasuhisa
• Granted Patent: US 8,038,060 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/115
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/0036 Checkout procedures

Abstract

To provide an advertisement meaningful to a customer at an optimal timing, a store controller (3) receives, from a cash register (7), checkout information relating to a commodity purchased by the customer, creates image search information based on the checkout information, and transmits the image search information to an advertisement search server (2), the advertisement search server (2) retrieves advertising ID images by using the image search information transmitted from the store controller (3) and transmits the advertising ID images to the store controller (3), the store controller (3) transmits the filtered advertising ID images to the cash register (7), the cash register (7) prints the advertising ID images on a receipt (4), a cellular phone (5) photographs the advertising ID images on the receipt 4 and transmits the photographed image to the advertisement search server (2), the advertisement search server (2) transmits a URL associated with the photographed image to the cellular phone (5), and the cellular phone (5) connects to an advertisement website of an advertising content server (6) by using the URL.

Claims

1. An ID image providing device, comprising:

commodity information receiving means for receiving, from a store terminal installed at a store, commodity information on a commodity settled in the store;

ID image storing means for storing ID images defining ID information;

correspondence storing means for storing a correspondence between the commodity information and the ID images;

ID image searching means for retrieving, from the ID images thus stored, ID images corresponding to the commodity information thus received, by using the correspondence thus stored; and

ID image transmitting means for transmitting the ID image thus retrieved to the store terminal.

2. An ID image providing device according to claim 1, wherein the ID image defines the ID information in a frequency domain.

3. An ID image providing device according to claim 2, wherein the ID image comprises an image which is obtained by subjecting an ID pattern defined in a frequency domain to inverse Fourier transform.

4. An ID image providing device according to claim 1, wherein the ID image has the ID information embedded in a form of a digital watermark.

5. An ID image providing device according to claim 1, wherein the ID image has human-readable information overlaid thereon, which covers part of a region of the ID image.

6. An ID image providing device according to claim 1, wherein the ID image transmitting means transmits the plurality of ID images to the store terminal.

7. An ID image providing device according to claim 1, wherein the ID images are accompanied by attribute information to be used for deciding whether or not to print each of the ID images by the store terminal.

8. An ID image providing device according to claim 7, further comprising attribute list storing means for storing a list registering the attribute information of the ID images, the attribute information being used for deciding whether or not to print each of the ID images by the store terminal,

wherein the ID image transmitting means selectively transmits the ID images thus retrieved by transmitting only the ID images which have been decided to be printed based on the attribute list.

9. A store terminal, comprising:

commodity information transmitting means for transmitting commodity information on a commodity settled in a store to the ID image providing device according to claim 1;

ID image receiving means for receiving, from the ID image providing device, an ID image corresponding to the commodity information thus transmitted; and

printing means for printing the ID image thus received on a print medium.

10. A store terminal according to claim 9, wherein the printing means prints, in a case where the ID image receiving means has received the plurality of ID images, the ID images thus received on different regions on the print medium.

11. A store terminal according to claim 9, wherein:

the ID image thus received is accompanied by attribute information for deciding whether or not to print the ID image by the printing means;

the store terminal further comprises deciding means for deciding, based on the attribute information, whether or not to print the ID image; and

the printing means prints the ID image in a case where the deciding means has decided to print the ID image.

15. A printing method for a store terminal including commodity information transmitting means, ID image receiving means, and printing means, the printing method comprising:

a commodity information transmitting step of transmitting, by the commodity information transmitting means, commodity information on a commodity settled in a store to the ID image providing device according to claim 1;

an ID image receiving step of receiving, by the ID image receiving means, an ID image corresponding to the commodity information thus transmitted, from the ID image providing device; and

a printing step of printing, by the printing means, the ID image thus received on a print medium.

12. A connection information providing device, comprising:

connection information storing means for storing connection information in which ID information and connection information for connecting to a predetermined website are associated with each other;

ID information acquisition means for acquiring ID information from a user terminal;

connection information searching means for retrieving connection information which is associated, by the connection information storing means, with the ID information thus obtained; and

connection information transmitting means for transmitting the connection information thus retrieved to the user terminal.

13. A connection information providing device according to claim 12, further comprising:

ID image receiving means for receiving an ID image; and

converting means for converting the ID image thus received into a frequency domain,

wherein the ID information acquisition means obtains ID information from the ID image thus converted.

14. An ID image providing method for a computer including ID image storing means for storing ID images defining ID information, correspondence storing means for storing a correspondence between commodity information and the ID images, commodity information receiving means, ID image searching means, and ID image transmitting means, the ID image providing method comprising:

a commodity information receiving step of receiving, by the commodity information receiving means, commodity information of a commodity settled in a store from a store terminal installed at the store;

an ID image searching step of retrieving, by the ID image searching means, from the ID images thus stored, an ID image corresponding to the commodity information thus received, by using the correspondence thus stored; and

an ID image transmitting step of transmitting, by the ID image transmitting means, the ID image thus retrieved to the store terminal.

16. A connection information providing method for a computer including connection information storing means for storing connection information in which ID information and connection information for connecting to a predetermined website are associated with each other, ID information acquisition means, connection information searching means, and connection information transmitting means, the connection information providing method comprising:

an ID information obtaining step of obtaining, by the ID information acquisition means, ID information from a user terminal;

a connection information searching step of retrieving, by the connection information searching means, connection information which is associated, by the connection information storing means, with the ID information thus obtained; and

a connection information transmitting step of transmitting, by the connection information transmitting means, the connection information thus retrieved to the user terminal.