RF tag based system and method for drive-through applications
First Claim
1. A system for allowing a customer riding in its vehicle to make a purchase from a vendor having a drive-through establishment, said customer being an Internet subscriber and said vendor having its products and/or services advertised-on and orderable-through said Internet, said system comprising:
- first means for establishing a customer'"'"'s account over said Internet with said vendor, said account being chargeable against a credit card of said customer;
second means for establishing over said Internet with said vendor one of said products and/or services as a selection-default product and/or service;
a vehicle-establishment communication area located on said drive-through establishment and accessible to said vehicle;
third means associated with said vehicle and under control of said customer in cooperation with fourth means located at said drive-through establishment and under control of said vendor for automatically placing and receiving an order on behalf of said customer for said selection-default product and/or service when said vehicle is driven by said vehicle-establishment communication area; and
, fifth means, under control of said vendor, for automatically charging said credit card for said order.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method are provided that allow a customer to order drive-through menu items using an RF tag (104). A customer vehicle (102) is equipped with a radio-frequency (RF) tag (104). Prior to placing an order, the customer opens an account and creates a default menu using a food vendor'"'"'s web site. To order items from the default menu, the customer approaches a drive-through order station (312) at a fast food vendor location (318). As vehicle 102 passes order station (312) a first transponder (110A) queries RF tag (104) and processes a return signal (114). Identification information is extracted from return signal (114) such that the customer'"'"'s order, consisting of the default menu items, is prepared. The customer'"'"'s vehicle 102 then approaches pick-up station (316) and a second transponder (110B) queries RF tag (104) and subsequently bills the customer'"'"'s account for the ordered items.
255 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A system for allowing a customer riding in its vehicle to make a purchase from a vendor having a drive-through establishment, said customer being an Internet subscriber and said vendor having its products and/or services advertised-on and orderable-through said Internet, said system comprising:
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first means for establishing a customer'"'"'s account over said Internet with said vendor, said account being chargeable against a credit card of said customer;
second means for establishing over said Internet with said vendor one of said products and/or services as a selection-default product and/or service;
a vehicle-establishment communication area located on said drive-through establishment and accessible to said vehicle;
third means associated with said vehicle and under control of said customer in cooperation with fourth means located at said drive-through establishment and under control of said vendor for automatically placing and receiving an order on behalf of said customer for said selection-default product and/or service when said vehicle is driven by said vehicle-establishment communication area; and
,fifth means, under control of said vendor, for automatically charging said credit card for said order. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for allowing a customer riding in its vehicle to make a purchase from a vendor having a drive-through establishment, said customer being an Internet subscriber and said vendor having its products and/or services advertised-on and orderable-through said Internet, said method comprising:
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establishing a customer'"'"'s account over said Internet with said vendor, said account being chargeable against a credit card of said customer;
establishing over said Internet with said vendor one of said products and/or services as a selection-default product and/or service;
providing a vehicle-establishment communication area located on said drive-through establishment and accessible to said vehicle;
automatically placing and receiving an order on behalf of said customer for said selection-default product and/or service when said vehicle is driven by said vehicle-establishment communication area; and
,said vendor automatically charging said credit card for said order. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A computer program product including program code embodied in computer storage media and adapted to be run on a computer system, said computer program product enabling a customer riding in its vehicle to make a purchase from a vendor having a drive-through establishment including a vehicle-establishment communication area accessible to said vehicle, said customer being an Internet subscriber and said vendor having its products and/or services advertised-on and orderable-through said Internet, said computer program product comprising:
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program code for establishing a customer'"'"'s account over said Internet with said vendor, said account being chargeable against a credit card of said customer;
program code for establishing over said Internet with said vendor one of said products and/or services as a selection-default product and/or service;
program code for automatically placing and receiving an order on behalf of said customer for said selection-default product and/or service when said vehicle is driven by said vehicle-establishment communication area; and
,program code for automatically charging said credit card for said order.
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Specification