System and method for managing expiration-dated products utilizing an electronic receipt
First Claim
1. A method for managing product items with shelf-life limitations comprising the steps of:
- associating shelf-life limitation information to each of one or more perishable product items;
recording said shelf-life limitation information for each of said one or more perishable product items in a database;
identifying selected ones of perishable product items being purchased;
recovering said recorded shelf-life limitation information from the database for each of the perishable product items selected for purchase;
electronically recording said shelf-life limitation information for each of said one or more product items in an electronically readable and storable form;
providing the shelf-life limitation information to a purchasing customer in the electronically readable and storable form; and
using a terminal accessed by the purchasing customer to add the shelf-life limitation information to an inventory list, the inventory list being used by the purchasing customer to manage use of the said one or more product items.
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Abstract
The present invention provides apparatus, systems and methods by which information concerning the shelf-life limitations of a particular product item is made available to the purchaser electronically; that the electronically recorded shelf-life limitation information is provided to, or made accessible by, the purchaser; that the electronically recorded shelf-life limitation information is communicated to a computer equipped with a microprocessor, or to a computer system network, accessible by the purchaser, programmed to receive the shelf-life limitation data for each product for that purchaser; that the computer or purchaser-accessible computer system network, is further programmed to provide the purchaser with on-screen and/or printed reports of various formats that list the items purchased and the corresponding shelf-life limitation information; and that the computer or purchaser-accessible computer system network provides interactivity with the purchaser to allow the purchaser to identify further information to the computer/network, such as identifying location information of each particular product item, and the inventory status of each particular product item, e.g., whether the product has been opened or has been discarded.
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Citations
10 Claims
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1. A method for managing product items with shelf-life limitations comprising the steps of:
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associating shelf-life limitation information to each of one or more perishable product items;
recording said shelf-life limitation information for each of said one or more perishable product items in a database;
identifying selected ones of perishable product items being purchased;
recovering said recorded shelf-life limitation information from the database for each of the perishable product items selected for purchase;
electronically recording said shelf-life limitation information for each of said one or more product items in an electronically readable and storable form;
providing the shelf-life limitation information to a purchasing customer in the electronically readable and storable form; and
using a terminal accessed by the purchasing customer to add the shelf-life limitation information to an inventory list, the inventory list being used by the purchasing customer to manage use of the said one or more product items. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
retrieving the shelf-life limitation information from the memory storage area; and
displaying the electronic shelf-life limitation information for each of said one or more product items on a home terminal display screen.
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6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the recorded shelf-life limitation information is electronically recovered from the database by a store check-out terminal.
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7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the store check-out terminal electronically recovers the recorded shelf-life limitation information for each perishable product item by scanning a bar code each item and associating each item'"'"'s bar code with an entry in the database.
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8. The method according to claim 6, wherein the store check-out terminal electronically recovers the recorded shelf-life limitation information for each perishable product item by reading an RFID label affixed to each item and associating each item'"'"'s RFID label information with an entry in the database.
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9. The method according to claim 6, wherein the database comprises a price-look-up table, shelf-life limitation information for each perishable product item being associated to that item according to its corresponding entry in the price-look-up table.
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10. The method of claim 1, wherein the shelf-life limitation information includes a period for which the product remains viable once it has been opened.
Specification