SYSTEMS, ARTICLES AND METHODS RELATED TO RETAIL ORDERING AND FULFILLMENT, EMPLOYING WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A wireless transponder, comprising;
- at least one antenna;
at least one nontransitory medium that stores at least a first identifier;
at least a first user actuatable switch having a first state and at least a second state, the first user actuatable switch selectively operable by a person in possession of the wireless transponder to place the first user actuatable switch into at least one of the first or the second states; and
at least one circuit coupled to the antenna and operable to modulate a return signal with information indicative of the stored first identifier only when the first user actuatable switch is in the second state.
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Abstract
An order placement and fulfillment system allows orders to be automatically placed, for instance on entry to a retail establishment, permitting customers to avoid long ordering queues. An interrogation system may interrogate wireless communications devices, for instance wireless passive transponders to detect an order placement. The wireless transponder may include one or more user actuatable switches, allowing a customer to avoid unintentionally placing an order, or to select between a number of predefined orders.
13 Citations
52 Claims
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1. A wireless transponder, comprising;
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at least one antenna; at least one nontransitory medium that stores at least a first identifier; at least a first user actuatable switch having a first state and at least a second state, the first user actuatable switch selectively operable by a person in possession of the wireless transponder to place the first user actuatable switch into at least one of the first or the second states; and at least one circuit coupled to the antenna and operable to modulate a return signal with information indicative of the stored first identifier only when the first user actuatable switch is in the second state. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of operating a wireless transponder, comprising:
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receiving a first interrogation signal at a first time; and in response to both receipt of the first interrogation signal and a first user actuatable switch being in a second state, the second state different from a first state of the first user actuatable switch, returning a first return signal modulated with a first identifier that is stored in a nontransitory processor-readable medium of the wireless transponder. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method of operating a retail fulfillment system, the method comprising:
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for each of a plurality of customers, establishing a respective customer account via at least one computer system, the at least one computer including at least one processor and at least one nontransitory processor-readable medium communicatively coupled to the at least one processor; for each of at least some of the customers, logically associating at least one identifier stored in a wireless transponder with the respective customer account; and for each of the identifiers, logically associating the respective identifier at least with order information which specifies at least a type of at least one item from a list of orderable items. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A retail fulfillment system, comprising:
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at least one computer including at least one processor and at least one nontransitory processor-readable medium communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, the at least one computer; for each of a plurality of customers, establishes a respective customer account via at least one computer system; for each of at least some of the customers, logically associates at least one identifier stored in a wireless transponder with the respective customer account; and for each of the identifiers, logically associates the respective identifier at least with order information which specifies at least a type of at least one item from a list of orderable items. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
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Specification