Employee time entry and accounting system
First Claim
1. A time and attendance system comprising:
- a plurality of supervisor identification cards respectively assigned to a plurality of supervisors, wherein each of the cards contains coded information uniquely identifying the card as being assigned to a single supervisor;
a plurality of employee identification cards respectively assigned to a plurality of employees, wherein each of the employee identification cards contains coded information uniquely identifying the card as being assigned to a single employee;
at least one time clock having a display screen, a plurality of buttons and a card reader, the time clock configurable between a closed state and an open state, wherein the time clock enters the open state only in response to reading an authorized one of the supervisor identification cards, and the time clock generates a set of data signals in the open state in response to reading one of the employee identification cards;
a computer, receiving the signals from the time clock, configured to store information indicative in part of the data signals generated by the time clock;
a first number of data structures associated with the computer and containing information directed to the employee identified in said one employee identification card; and
means, associated with the computer and responsive to said indicative information, for providing changes to data structures defining employee payroll or benefits information in response to signals from the time clock relating to the employee identified in said one employee identification card.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A time entry and accounting system permitting employees to clock in and clock out from work at computerized time clocks located adjacent to their workstations using an individually encoded identification card. The time clock is configured to have a normally closed state and an opened state and to move between states in response to a supervisor scanning his identification card. The computerized time clocks are interactively linked to a central computer and, upon an employee clocking in or out, the central computer receives appropriate signals from the time clock, and stores information corresponding to these signals in memory. The information stored in the memory of the computer is subsequently used to develop accounting records and reports, to generate payroll data, and to send signals to the time clocks. The time clock further includes a display screen permitting the time clock to display messages in response to signals sent by the central computer and a plurality of buttons permitting an employee or supervisor to send additional information to the central computer.
112 Citations
48 Claims
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1. A time and attendance system comprising:
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a plurality of supervisor identification cards respectively assigned to a plurality of supervisors, wherein each of the cards contains coded information uniquely identifying the card as being assigned to a single supervisor; a plurality of employee identification cards respectively assigned to a plurality of employees, wherein each of the employee identification cards contains coded information uniquely identifying the card as being assigned to a single employee; at least one time clock having a display screen, a plurality of buttons and a card reader, the time clock configurable between a closed state and an open state, wherein the time clock enters the open state only in response to reading an authorized one of the supervisor identification cards, and the time clock generates a set of data signals in the open state in response to reading one of the employee identification cards; a computer, receiving the signals from the time clock, configured to store information indicative in part of the data signals generated by the time clock; a first number of data structures associated with the computer and containing information directed to the employee identified in said one employee identification card; and means, associated with the computer and responsive to said indicative information, for providing changes to data structures defining employee payroll or benefits information in response to signals from the time clock relating to the employee identified in said one employee identification card. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A time and attendance system for a workplace having a plurality of workstations where a plurality of employees perform their assigned jobs, comprising:
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a plurality of identification cards individually assigned to a plurality of employees, wherein each of the cards contains coded information specific to the employee assigned the card; a plurality of time clocks having a card reader with each time clock being positioned at a location in the workplace which is adjacent to at least one of the employees'"'"' work stations, the time clock configurable between a closed state and an open state, wherein the time clock enters the open state only in response to reading an authorized one of the plurality of identification cards, and wherein, in response to reading one of the plurality of employee identification cards while in the open state, the time clock generates a set of data signals indicative of the information encoded on the employee identification card that was read; a central computer having a memory which, in response to receiving the set of data signals from the time clock, stores information indicative of the time the identification cards were scanned; a first number of data structures associated with the computer and containing information directed to the employee identified in said one employee identification card; and means, associated with the computer and responsive to said indicative information, for providing changes to data structures defining employee payroll or benefits information in response to signals from the time clock relating to the employee identified in said one employee identification card. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A time and attendance system for a workplace having a plurality of workstations where a plurality of employees perform their assigned jobs interactively accumulating and processing accounting information for hourly employees in a work place comprising:
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employee identification means for individually identifying the employees in the work place; supervisor identification means for individually identifying the supervisors in the work place; time clock means, configurable between a closed state and an open state, remotely mounted in a plurality of locations in the workplace so that the time clock means are adjacent to at least one of the employee'"'"'s work stations, for reading the employee identification means and thereby generating data signals indicative of when the employee identification means was read by the time clock means; control means, connected to the time clock means for placing the time clock means into the open state upon the time clock means reading an authorized one of the supervisor identification means; central computing means for storing information received from the time clock means, and for reviewing stored information to generate return signals to the time clock means and for generating payroll information and reports; a first number of data structures associated with the computer and containing information directed to an employee identified by the employee identification means; and means, associated with the computer and responsive to the generated data signals for providing changes to the data structures relating to an individual employer identified by the employee identification means read by the time clock means. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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46. In a time and attendance system comprising a plurality of card reading time clocks having a card reader, configured to read a plurality of employee identification cards and a plurality of supervisor identification cards, and a central computer having a memory which receives signals from the plurality of time clocks, a method of interactively accumulating and processing accounting information for employees in a workplace comprising the steps of:
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scanning one of the plurality of supervisor identification cards through the card reader; opening the computerized time clock if the scanned supervisor identification card is authorized; scanning one of the plurality of supervisor identification cards through the card reader; retrieving selected data from the scanned employee identification card; transmitting the selected data to the central computer; storing information in the employee'"'"'s file in the memory of the central computer so as to define payroll parameters for that employee; and scanning the identification card assigned to the supervisor through the card reading device attached to the computerized time clock to close the computerized time clock. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48)
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Specification