Method and user interface for specifying toppings and their placement on a pizza

• US 6,801,228 B2
• Filed: 09/07/2001
• Issued: 10/05/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 09/07/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ipdev Company
• Original Assignee: Ipdev Company
• Inventors: Kargman, James B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Luu, Sy D.
• Application Number:
  US09/949,389
• Publication Number:
  US 20020077912A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,124 Days
• Field of Search: 345/810-847, 345/700, 345/962, 345/976, 345/977, 705/26, 705/15, 705/25, 705/27, 705/1
• US Class Current: 715/837
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0621 Item configuration or customization
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/12 Hotels or restaurants
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/0078 Food articles which need to be processed for dispensing in a hot or cooked condition, e.g. popcorn, nuts
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/02 Devices for alarm or indication, e.g. when empty; Advertising arrangements in coin-freed apparatus alarms or warning devices indicating the interruption of flow to be metered G07F15/10
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/105 Heating or cooling means, for temperature and humidity control, for the conditioning of articles and their storage dispensers for food articles requiring a processing by temperature treatment or conditioning before they are ready for dispensing G07F17/0064

Abstract

A method and user interface for designating toppings to be assembled on a pizza as well as their respective position on the pizza is disclosed. The user interface presents a plurality of three part buttons associated with the available topping with the three parts of each button corresponding to the left half, right half and entire surface of the pizza. The method includes the steps of pressing part of a button to select the topping and the quantity to be applied to the left half, right half, or entire surface of the pizza and highlighting a portion of the button to indicate which portion of the pizza was designated to receive the topping and in what quantity.

Claims

1. A method for designating toppings to be assembled on a pizza as well as their respective position on the pizza utilizing a user interface having a plurality of three part buttons where each button is associated with a specific topping which may be applied to a pizza and the three parts of each button correspond to the left half, right half and entire surface of the pizza respectively, the method comprising the steps of:

selecting one part of one of the three part buttons to designate the application of the topping associated with the button pressed to the left half, right half, or entire surface of the pizza;

highlighting at least a portion of the left half, right half or entirety of the button pressed to indicate that the left half, right half or entire surface of the pizza is to receive the topping associated with the button pressed;

repeating the foregoing steps for each topping to be designated for application to the pizza.

2. The method of claim 1, in which the step of selecting one part of one of the three part buttons is performed by touching the button.

3. The method of claim 1, in which the buttons are comprised of regions on an electronic video display, and the step of selecting one part of one of the three part buttons is performed by pressing one or more keys on a computer keyboard that are associated with the button part being selected.

4. The method of claim 3, in which the step of pressing one or more keys on a computer keyboard is performed by simultaneously pressing a first key and a second key, where the first key is associated with a particular topping and the second key is associated with the portion of the pizza to which the topping should be applied.

5. The method of claim 1, in which the buttons are comprised of regions on an electronic video display, and the step of selecting one part of one of the three part buttons is comprised of the substeps of positioning a cursor on the video display over the button part to be selected using an electronic pointing device;

and performing a clicking operation with the electronic pointing device.

6. A method for designating toppings to be assembled on a pizza as well as their respective position on the pizza utilizing a user interface having a plurality of three part buttons where each button corresponds to a specific topping which may be applied to a pizza and the three parts of each button correspond to the left half, right half and entire surface of the pizza respectively, the method comprising the steps of:

selecting a first part of one of the three part buttons to designate the application of the topping associated with the button pressed to the portion of the pizza surface corresponding to the first part;

highlighting a first portion of the left half, right half or entirety of the button pressed to indicate that the left half, right half or entire surface of the pizza is to receive the topping associated with the button pressed;

selecting the first part of one of the three part buttons a second time to designate that a double portion of the topping is to be applied to the portion of the pizza surface corresponding to the first part;

highlighting a second portion of the left half, right half or entirety of the button pressed to indicate that the left half, right half or entire surface of the pizza is to receive a double portion of the topping designated; and

repeating the foregoing steps for each topping to be designated for application to the pizza.

7. The method of claim 6, in which the step of selecting a first part of one of the three part buttons is performed by touching the button.

8. The method of claim 6, in which the buttons are comprised of regions on an electronic video display, and the step of selecting a first part of one of the three part buttons is performed by pressing one or more keys on a computer keyboard that are associated with the button part being selected.

9. The method of claim 8, in which the step of pressing one or more keys on a computer keyboard is performed by simultaneously pressing a first key and a second key, where the first key is associated with a particular topping and the second key is associated with the portion of the pizza to which the topping should be applied.

10. The method of claim 6, in which the buttons are comprised of regions on an electronic video display, and the step of selecting one part of one of the three part buttons is comprised of the substeps of positioning a cursor on the video display over the button part to be selected using an electronic pointing device;

and performing a clicking operation with the electronic pointing device.

11. A graphic user interface apparatus for facilitating the designation of toppings to be assembled on a pizza as well as their respective positions on the pizza, the user interface comprising:

a plurality of buttons each corresponding to a specific topping which may be designated for application to a pizza, each button having a left, center and right region corresponding respectively to the left half, entire surface and right half of the pizza;

means for highlighting at least a portion of the left half, right half or entirety of each button when the left, right or center region of a button is selected;

whereby the topping associated with each button is to be applied to the portion of the pizza corresponding to the highlighted regions.

12. A graphic user interface apparatus for facilitating the designation of toppings to be assembled on a pizza, as well as their respective quantities and positions on the pizza, the user interface comprising:

a plurality of buttons each corresponding to a specific topping which may be designated for application to a pizza, each button having a left, center and right region corresponding respectively to the left half, entire surface and right half of the pizza;

means for highlighting a first portion of the left half, right half or entirety of each button when a left, right or center region of the button is selected a first time;

means for highlighting a second portion of the left half, right half or entirety of each button when the left, right or center region of the button is selected a second time;

whereby the topping associated with each button is to be applied to the portion of the pizza corresponding to the highlighted regions in a quantity corresponding to the number of highlighted portions of each region.