Hand held terminal with an odor sensor

• US 6,464,144 B1
• Filed: 05/18/2000
• Issued: 10/15/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 05/18/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Symbol Technologies, LLC (Zebra Technologies Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Symbol Technologies, Inc. (Zebra Technologies Corporation)
• Inventors: Roslak, Thomas K., Swartz, Jerome
• Primary Examiner(s): Frech, Karl D.
• Assistant Examiner(s): TRAIL, ALLYSON NEEL
• Application Number:
  US09/573,582
• Time in Patent Office: 880 Days
• Field of Search: 235/472.01, 235/375, 235/383
• US Class Current: 235/472.01
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/02 Food
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 17/00 Methods or arrangements for effecting co-operative working between equipments covered by two or more of main groups G06K1/00 - G06K15/00, e.g. automatic card files incorporating conveying and reading operations

Abstract

A hand held terminal has a display, a keying input, an odor sensor, a processor for receiving information from the keying input and from the odor sensor for processing same and for directing information onto the display and a housing for the keying input, odor sensor, display and processor.

Claims

1. A hand held portable shopping terminal comprising:

a display;

a keying input;

a memory having a shopping list stored therein;

an odor sensor configured to sense the odor of food products;

a processor for receiving information from the keying input and from the odor sensor for processing same and for directing information onto the display;

the processor further configured to maintain the shopping list; and

a housing for the keying input, odor sensor, display and processor.

2. The terminal according to claim 1, wherein the odor sensor senses the odor of food in a food store for use by the terminal.

3. The terminal according to claim 1, wherein the terminal uses the input from the sensor to determine spoilage.

4. The terminal according to claim 1, wherein the terminal uses the input from the sensor to identify a product.

5. The terminal according to claim 1, wherein the terminal uses the input from the sensor to determine price differentials between food products.

6. The terminal according to claim 1, further comprising a bar code scanner.

7. The terminal according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to add a particular food product to the shopping list in response to the detection of an odor indicating that the particular food product is at least near spoiling.