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Shopper's purchase monitoring device

  • US 5,345,071 A
  • Filed: 03/25/1993
  • Issued: 09/06/1994
  • Est. Priority Date: 04/27/1992
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. To be used by a shopper in a self-service store having items including bar codes thereon to identify the item and a price thereof, a purchase monitoring device comprising:

  • a portable handset,said handset including an exterior casing having a distal front face, a distal rear face, a proximal front face, and a proximal rear face,data storage means within said handset structured and disposed to store pricing and identification data corresponding individual bar codes,a bar code scanner disposed in said distal front face of said casing so as to scan the bar code on a selected item upon passage of said distal front face of said handset thereover,purchase designation means in said distal front face of said casing structured and disposed to selectively designate the select item over which said distal front face of said handset is passed as a purchase item sought to be purchased,non-purchase designation means in said distal front face of said casing structured and disposed to selectively designate one of said purchase items, upon passage of said distal front face of said handset thereover, as a non-purchase item which is not to be purchased,display means disposed in said distal rear face of said casing and being structured and disposed to display pricing and identification information thereon,purchase memory means structured and disposed to store the pricing and identification data of each of said purchase items selected by the shopper,a plurality of buttons in said proximal rear face of said casing of said handset,said buttons including a price check button structured and disposed to be pushed during passage of said distal front face of said handset over the bar code of the selected item such that the pricing and identification data corresponding the selected item will be retrieved from said data storage means and briefly displayed on said display means, thereby enabling the shopper to verify the price and identity of the selected item,said buttons further including a purchase button, said purchase button being structured and disposed to be pushed during passage of said distal front face of said handset over the bar code of the selected item such that said purchase designation means will designate the select item as one of said purchase items and such that the pricing and identification data corresponding the selected item will be retrieved from said data storage means for brief display on said display means and entry into said purchase memory means,said buttons also including a return button, said return button being structured and disposed to be pushed during passage of said distal front face of said handset over the bar code a select one of said purchase items such that said non-purchase designation means will designate said purchase items as one of said non-purchase items and such that the pricing and identification data corresponding said purchase item will be retrieved from said data storage means for matched removal of the pricing and identification data from said purchase memory means,said purchase memory means being further structured and disposed to add the price of all of said purchase items entered therein so as to provide a total purchase amount to be displayed on said display means,said handset further including a numeric key pad disposed in said front proximal face of said casing,said numeric key pad being structured and disposed to enable entry by the shopper of a budget amount corresponding a maximum amount of money to be spent by the shopper at the store, said budget amount being stored in said purchase memory means and displayed on said display means,a power source in said handset,a two-way data transmission connector in said proximal front face of said casing, said connector being structured and disposed to enable updated pricing and identification data to be transmitted from a central store computer to said data storage means within said handset, and being structured and disposed to enable pricing and identification data corresponding said purchase items to be transmitted from said purchase memory means to a data reception register at a checkout station of the store where an itemized receipt of said purchase items is printed,a purchase confirmation station at said checkout station of said store, said purchase confirmation station being structured and disposed to enable an employee of the store to quickly verify that all items represented by the shopper as purchase items are in fact purchase items,an opening in said proximal front face of said casing adjacent said bar code scanner, andsaid handset further including a three headed roller, said roller including a first face, a second face, and a third face, only one of said faces being disposed at one time through said opening in said proximal front face of said casing adjacent said bar code scanner, said exposed one of said faces being disposed for rolling passage over the bar code of the selected item upon passage of said proximal front face of said casing, and accordingly, said bar code scanner, over the bar code of the selected item.

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