METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR SECURING A PORTABLE DEVICE

• US 20120119874A1
• Filed: 11/17/2010
• Published: 05/17/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/17/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Motorola, Inc. (Motorola Solutions, Inc.), Symbol Technologies, LLC (Zebra Technologies Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Symbol Technologies, Inc. (Zebra Technologies Corporation)
• Inventors: Ciervo, Christopher, Ghafoor, Nadim
• Granted Patent: US 8,816,816 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/4.34
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1632 External expansion units, e.g. docking stations
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1696 the I/O peripheral being a printing or scanning device
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10267 the arrangement comprising a circuit inside of the interrogation device
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10277 the arrangement being mechanical, such as reinforced housings or protective cages against unlawful entry
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10386 the interrogation device being of the portable or hand-handheld type, e.g. incorporated in ubiquitous hand-held devices such as PDA or mobile phone, or in the form of a portable dedicated RFID reader
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0226 Incentive systems for frequent usage, e.g. frequent flyer miles programs or point systems
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/0618 by carts

Abstract

An apparatus for securing a portable device is described. The portable device includes a housing having a mating feature adapted to mate with a corresponding mating feature of the cradle. The cradle includes a locking mechanism that is capable of locking the portable device to the cradle. A transceiver is positioned in the housing. The transceiver is capable of communicating with a remote server containing data of a registered user. A radio-frequency identification (RFID) reader is positioned in the housing. The RFID reader controls the locking mechanism such that the locking mechanism releases the portable device from the cradle when a RFID tag storing the data of the registered user is positioned proximate to the RFID reader.

Claims

1. A portable device, comprising:

a housing having a mating feature adapted to mate with a corresponding mating feature of a cradle, the cradle including a locking mechanism capable of locking the portable device to the cradle;

a transceiver positioned in the housing, the transceiver capable of communicating with a remote server containing data of a registered user; and

a radio-frequency identification (RFID) reader positioned in the housing, the RFID reader controlling the locking mechanism such that the locking mechanism releases the portable device from the cradle when a RFID tag storing the data of the registered user is positioned proximate to the RFID reader.

2. The portable device of claim 1, further comprising a database for storing the data of the registered user, the data stored on the RFID tag being compared to the registered user data stored in the database prior to the locking mechanism releasing the portable device.

3. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the RFID tag comprises location information.

4. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the RFID reader reads a RFID tag located in the cradle to register a location of the portable device relative to the cradle.

5. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the locking mechanism releases the portable device when the data of the registered user data is validated and a battery level of the portable device is tested.

6. The portable device of claim 1, further comprising a charging circuit for charging a battery of the portable device.

7. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the locking mechanism comprises a solenoid.

8. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the RFID tag comprises a customer loyalty card.

9. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the cradle further comprises an indicator for indicating at least one of a battery charge of the portable device and a status of the locking mechanism.

10. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the portable device comprises a mobile data capture device.

11. A system comprising:

a portable device having a radio-frequency identification (RFID) reader for controlling a locking mechanism and a transceiver capable of communicating with a remote server containing data of a registered user;

a cradle adapted to mate with the portable device such that a locking mechanism of the cradle is capable of locking the portable device to the cradle; and

a RFID tag storing the data of the registered user, the locking mechanism of the cradle releasing the portable device when the RFID tag is positioned proximate to the portable device.

12. The system of claim 11, further comprising a database for storing the data of the registered user, the data stored on the RFID tag being compared to the registered user data stored in the database prior to the locking mechanism releasing the portable device.

13. The system of claim 11, further comprising a database for storing product information.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the cradle further comprises a charging circuit for charging a battery of the portable device.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the RFID tag comprises a customer loyalty card.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the portable device comprises a mobile data capture device.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein the cradle further comprises a networking component adapted to couple the cradle to a network.

18. The system of claim 11, wherein the locking mechanism comprises a solenoid.

19. A method comprising:

positioning a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag storing data of a registered user proximate to a portable device locked in a locking mechanism of a cradle, an RFID reader of the portable device capable of reading the data stored in the RFID tag and controlling the locking mechanism;

unlocking the portable device from the cradle in response to a comparison of the data stored on the RFID tag and registered user data stored in a database; and

removing the portable device from the cradle.

20. The method of claim 19 further comprising storing the database in a remote server.