Secondary market and vending system for devices

• US 7,881,965 B2
• Filed: 03/19/2010
• Issued: 02/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/02/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ecoatm Incorporated (Coinstar Asset Holdings, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Ecoatm Incorporated (Coinstar Asset Holdings, LLC)
• Inventors: Bowles, Mark, Librizzi, Michael, van Rooyen, Pieter
• Primary Examiner(s): KELLEY, HEIDI RIVIERE
• Application Number:
  US12/727,624
• Publication Number:
  US 20100169231A1
• Time in Patent Office: 319 Days
• Field of Search: 705/308, 705/1.1, 705/14.37, 902/30, D14/302
• US Class Current: 705/14.37
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/30 Administration of product recycling or disposal
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0237 at kiosk
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0278 Product appraisal
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/06 by returnable containers , i.e. reverse vending systems in which a user is rewarded for returning a container that serves as a token of value, e.g. bottles
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0287 being disposable or recyclable
• CPC Class Codes: Y02W 30/82 Recycling of waste of electrical or electronic equipment [WEEE]
• CPC Class Codes: Y02W 90/00 Enabling technologies or technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to greenhouse gas [GHG] emissions mitigation

Abstract

A recycling kiosk for recycling and financial remuneration for submission of a mobile telephone is disclosed herein. The recycling kiosk includes an inspection area with at least one camera and a plurality of electrical connectors in order to perform a visual analysis and an electrical analysis of the mobile telephone for determination of a value of the mobile telephone. The recycling kiosk also includes a processor, a display and a user interface.

Claims

1. A kiosk for analysis of a mobile phone and financial remuneration to a user for submission of the mobile phone, the kiosk comprising:

a housing having an inspection area for placement of a mobile phone therein the housing generating a signal that the mobile phone has been placed in the inspection area;

a user interface on an exterior surface of the housing, the user interface comprising a video display and a keypad for the user to confirm a make and a model of the mobile phone and acceptance or rejection of an offer for financial remuneration;

at least one machine vision camera focused on a field of view within the inspection area of the housing, the at least one machine vision camera capable of acquiring an image of a portion of the mobile phone placed within the inspection area including at least an image of a display screen of the mobile phone;

a plurality of electrical connectors, at least one electrical connector of the plurality of electrical connectors capable of directly connecting to the mobile phone placed within the inspection area;

an electrical connector dispensing device for dispensing one electrical connector of the plurality of electrical connectors to the inspection area;

a processor within the housing;

wherein the processor is in electrical communication with the at least one machine vision camera to receive the image of the portion of the mobile phone and the image of the display screen of the mobile phone, the processor configured to utilize visual inspection and recognition software to determine external dimensions of the mobile phone to determine a subset of possible mobile phones from a master database of mobile phones stored in a memory, and the processor configured to utilize a plurality of secondary features of the mobile phone selected from the group of a placement of a display screen, a size of a display screen, a placement of a keyboard, a size of a keyboard, a plurality of buttons, and a placement of ports, wherein the processor determines an exact make and model of the mobile phone;

wherein the processor is in electrical communication with each of the plurality of electrical connectors, the processor configured to perform an electrical analysis of the mobile phone to determine if the mobile phone is capable of at least activation, capable of maintaining a charge, and capable of powering the display screen of the mobile phone;

wherein the processor is in electrical communication with the user interface to receive the information from the user; and

wherein the processor is configured to determine a financial remuneration value for the mobile phone based on the plurality of secondary features of the mobile phone.