Method and system for presenting item information using a portable data terminal

• US 6,550,672 B1
• Filed: 11/04/1999
• Issued: 04/22/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 09/05/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Symbol Technologies, LLC (Zebra Technologies Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Symbol Technologies, Inc. (Zebra Technologies Corporation)
• Inventors: Sandler, Robert, Riso, Francis, Tracy, William X., Beach, Robert, Roslak, Thomas K., Murrah, Judith
• Primary Examiner(s): Frech, Karl D.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nowlin, April
• Application Number:
  US09/434,052
• Time in Patent Office: 1,265 Days
• Field of Search: 235/383, 235/385, 235/462.45, 235/462.46, 235/472.01, 235/472.02, 705/16, 705/26, 705/27, 705/408, 705/410
• US Class Current: 235/383
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/343 Cards including a counter
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3552 Downloading or loading of personalisation data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/00 Mechanisms actuated by objects other than coins to free or to actuate vending, hiring, coin or paper currency dispensing or refunding apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/02 by keys or other credit registering devices
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/1008 Active credit-cards provided with means to personalise their use, e.g. with PIN-introduction/comparison system
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/0036 Checkout procedures

Abstract

The present invention relates to an improved portable shopping system. The system is provided with improved data presentation system for presenting customer desired data on a portable terminal. The portable terminal includes components for presenting audio as well as video information to the customer. The audio and/or video information corresponds to one or more of the customer'"'"'s user preferences.

Claims

1. A method for presenting an item of product information corresponding to a product selected by a customer on a portable terminal within a self-checkout system, said method comprising the steps of:

(1) storing the item of product information on a retrievable memory, the retrievable memory being associated with a remotely located host computer;

(2) associating one or more user preferences to the customer;

(3) providing the customer the portable terminal having a machine code reader for reading a machine coded indicia on the selected product;

(4) transmitting from the portable terminal to the host computer information represented by the machine coded indicia;

(5) identifying at the host computer the availability of the item of product information corresponding to the selected product on the portable terminal and corresponding to the one or more user preferences;

(6) selecting the item of product information for output on the portable terminal;

(7) retrieving the item of product information from the retrievable memory; and

(8) transmitting from the host computer to the portable terminal the item of product information and outputting said item of product information on a data output device on said portable terminal.

2. A system for self-checkout of selected products having machine coded indicia, said system comprising:

a plurality of portable terminals, each of said terminals comprising an integrated machine code scanner, a display, a wireless radio for communicating over a wireless communication network, a rechargeable battery supply, and at least two data entry function buttons;

a terminal dispenser for storing and dispensing each of said plurality of portable terminals, said dispenser comprising a terminal lock for locking said terminals and a battery charging circuit for recharging the batteries on each of the plurality of terminals during storage of said terminals in the dispenser;

a self-checkout controller including i) a preference file, the preference file including a list of customers and one or more categories of information associated with each of the customers, the one or more categories of information being selected from a group of categories of information and ii) a product file corresponding to each of said selected products, said product file including a price component and data corresponding to the group of categories of information;

a wireless network access point coupled to said self-checkout controller for communicating data over the wireless network;

a facility controller for maintaining a price look-up table including the price component for each of the plurality of selected products; and

an interface coupler coupled to the facility controller and the self-checkout controller for communicating the price component maintained in the price lookup table to the product file in the self-checkout controller;

wherein in response to registering a machine readable indicia with the machine code scanner, the self-checkout controller transmits to the portable terminal the price component associated with the selected products and the data associated with the one or more categories of information associated with the customer'"'"'s preference file.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein the at least two data entry function buttons include an add item button and a remove item button.