Secondary market and vending system for devices

• US 8,423,404 B2
• Filed: 07/30/2012
• Issued: 04/16/2013
• 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, van Rooyen, Pieter, Librizzi, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): KELLEY, HEIDI RIVIERE
• Application Number:
  US13/562,292
• Publication Number:
  US 20120294490A1
• Time in Patent Office: 260 Days
• Field of Search: 705/1.1, 705/14.37, 705/308, 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 an electronic device and financial remuneration to a user for submission of the electronic device, the kiosk comprising:

a housing having an inspection area for placement of an electronic device therein;

a user interface on the housing for the user to input information;

at least one machine vision camera focused on a field of view within the inspection area of the housing;

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 electronic device and the image of a display screen of the electronic device, the processor configured to utilize visual inspection and recognition software to determine external dimensions of the electronic device to determine a subset of possible electronic devices from a master database of electronic devices stored in a memory, and the processor utilizing a plurality of secondary features of the electronic device 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 electronic device.

2. The kiosk according to claim 1 further comprising a plurality of electrical connectors, at least one electrical connector of the plurality of electrical connectors capable of directly connecting to the electronic device placed within the inspection area.

3. The kiosk according to claim 1 further comprising an external communication device for communicating with a server over a network.

4. The kiosk according to claim 1 further comprising a display screen on an exterior surface of the housing.

5. The kiosk according to claim 1 further comprising a dispenser for dispensing remuneration to a user.

6. The kiosk according to claim 1 wherein the processor is a personal computer.

7. The kiosk according to claim 1 further comprising a weight scale positioned within the inspection area for weighing the electronic device.

8. The kiosk according to claim 1 further comprising a memory comprising a database of information on a plurality of electronic devices, the information comprising at least images, physical characteristics and current prices.

9. The kiosk according to claim 1 wherein the kiosk is configured to bin a plurality of electronic devices according to parameters comprising vendor/model, condition, value, visual quality, physical damage, water damage, locked or unlocked, carrier compatibility, frequency of phone, or type of cellular standard supported.

10. A system for analysis of electronic devices and financial remuneration to users for submission of the electronic devices, the system comprising:

a plurality of kiosks, each of the plurality of kiosk comprising

a housing having an inspection area for placement of an electronic device therein,

a user interface on the housing for the user to input information,

at least one machine vision camera focused on a field of view within the inspection area of the housing,

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 a portion of the electronic device and the image of a display screen of the electronic device, the processor configured to utilize visual inspection and recognition software to determine external dimensions of the electronic device to determine a subset of possible electronic devices from a master database of electronic devices stored in a memory, and the processor utilizing a plurality of secondary features of the electronic device 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 electronic device; and

a server in communication with each of the plurality of kiosks over a communication network.

11. The system according to claim 10 further comprising a database in communication with the server.

12. The system according to claim 10 further comprising a content server in communication with the server, the content server comprising images, audio, video, electronic documents and instructions to enable each of the plurality of kiosks to render the content correctly.

13. The system according to claim 10 wherein each of the plurality of kiosks further comprises a plurality of electrical connectors, at least one electrical connector of the plurality of electrical connectors capable of directly connecting to the electronic device placed within the inspection area.

14. The system according to claim 10 wherein each of the plurality of kiosks further comprises an external communication device for communicating with a server over a network.

15. The system according to claim 10 wherein each of the plurality of kiosks further comprises a display screen on an exterior surface of the housing.

16. The system according to claim 10 wherein each of the plurality of kiosks further comprises a dispenser for dispensing remuneration to a user.

17. The system according to claim 10 wherein each of the plurality of kiosks further comprises a memory comprising a database of information on a plurality of electronic devices, the information comprising at least images, physical characteristics and current prices.