METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR IMPLEMENTING ELECTRONIC STORAGE AREAS

• US 20160098679A1
• Filed: 03/25/2015
• Published: 04/07/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/02/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Luxer Corp. (Assa Abloy AB)
• Original Assignee: Luxer Corp. (Assa Abloy AB)
• Inventors: Levy, Arik Seth
• Granted Patent: US 10,445,687 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/583 using metadata automatically derived from the content
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0836 Recipient pick-ups
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders

Abstract

In an embodiment, articles such as items are left in storage areas in a storage bank by delivery service. A delivery service selects the intended recipient from a list of intended recipients. If the intended recipient is not found on the list, information about the intended recipient (e.g. a photo of the mailing label or other information) is entered into the system, and a message having the information is left in a house account. In response, a message is received having additional information about the intended recipient, which is used to contact the intended recipient and request the intended recipient to pick up the item.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

photographing, by a camera, a label on an article for an intended recipient, creating an image of the label;

storing, via a machine, at least information about an address of the intended recipient based on the image, the machine including at least

a processor system having at least one processor and

a computer storage system; and

receiving the article in a given storage area of a set of storage areas.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein

the image of the label includes an image of at least a portion of the article.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein

the image of the label includes at least one of a name, an address, a phone number, and an email address of the intended recipient.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

comparing, automatically by the machine, at least one piece of information from the label with information about a plurality of potential recipients; and

selecting, automatically by the machine, one of the plurality of potential recipients, the at least one piece of information from the label matching at least one piece of information about the one of the plurality of potential recipients.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein

the set of storage areas includes a set of lockers in a bank of lockers.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

locking, by one of a plurality of locks, the given storage area after receiving the article in the given storage area.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

authenticating, by the machine, a user to determine whether the user is authorized to access the locker bank; and

if the authenticating determines that the user is authorized, automatically opening, by the machine, the one of the plurality of locks that locks the given storage area that received the article.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving the article in a pre-designated space within a focal range of the camera before performing the photographing of the label of the article with the camera.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, automatically by the machine, the intended recipient based on the information about the address.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the determining of the intended recipient further comprises:

automatically, by the machine identifying at least one piece of information from the image of the label;

automatically, by the machine, searching for the at least one piece of information in a database; and

automatically, by the machine locating the intended recipient based on the searching.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

automatically extracting from the image of the label letters and numbers that make up the information about the address of the intended recipient.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein

the camera automatically sends the image to the machine.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

presenting the information about the address of the intended recipient to a user; and

presenting a page to the user having options for the user to choose the intended recipient.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

presenting a list of potential recipients to the user wherein the presenting of the page to the user having the options for the user to choose the intended recipient includes at least presenting options for the user to select the intended recipient from the list of potential recipients.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

presenting the information about the address of the intended recipient to a user; and

presenting a page to the user having options for the user to create a listing for the intended recipient.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the information about the address of the intended recipient is the image of the label.

17. A storage system comprising at least

a camera mounted in a predetermined location for photographing an image of a label on an article for an intended recipient;

a set of storage areas for storing the article after the article is photographed;

a set of locks for locking the storage areas;

a machine having a processor system including one or more processor and a storage system, the machine being communicatively coupled to the set of locks and the camera, the machine storing one or more machine instructions, which when implemented cause the machine to control whether to lock and unlock at least one lock of the set of locks and causes the machine to collect information about articles being delivered based on images from the camera.

18. The storage system of claim 17, wherein

the label is on the article, wherein the image of the label includes an image of at least a portion of the article.

19. The storage system of claim 17, wherein

the set of storage areas includes a set of lockers in a bank of lockers.

20. The storage system of claim 17, wherein

the at least one lock of the set of locks automatically locks one storage area of the set of storage areas after the one storage area of the set of storage areas receives the article.

21. The storage system of claim 20, the machine instructions including one or more instructions that cause the machine to authenticate a user, and if the user is authenticated, the one or more instructions cause the one of the plurality of locks that locks the given storage area that receives the article to be automatically opened.

22. The system of claim 17, further comprising

a pre-designated space within a focal range of the camera, wherein the article is placed in the pre-designated space before the camera photographs the label of the article.

23. The system of claim 17, wherein the machine includes one or more instructions for controlling the camera via a communicative coupling between the camera and the machine.