Methods of transport of one or more items between locations
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of causing transport of an item from one location to at least one other location, the method comprising:
- prompting a user to provide user-specific information to a kiosk disposed at the one location, the prompting comprising establishing wireless communication with a wireless-enabled mobile electronic device of the user, the wireless-enabled mobile electronic device having a transportation-related application computer program operative to run thereon for receiving input comprising a selection of the user-specific information from the user;
receiving, from the wireless-enabled mobile electronic device of the user, the user-specific information;
based at least in part on the received user-specific information, causing production of an identification apparatus, the identification apparatus comprising at least a portion of the received user-specific information;
prompting the user to affix the identification apparatus to the item; and
causing the item to be routed to the at least one other location based at least on the received user-specific information.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods of causing transport of one or more items between two or more locations using computerized apparatus. In one embodiment, the one or more items comprise one or more pieces of luggage of a user which are shipped from a transportation facility such as an airport via user-instigated actions at a kiosk located within the facility. In one variant, user information is provided to the kiosk via a personal electronic device of the user (e.g., provided wirelessly via a smartphone), and the kiosk accesses a travel reservation system to obtain information about the routing of the luggage.
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Citations
241 Claims
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1. A method of causing transport of an item from one location to at least one other location, the method comprising:
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prompting a user to provide user-specific information to a kiosk disposed at the one location, the prompting comprising establishing wireless communication with a wireless-enabled mobile electronic device of the user, the wireless-enabled mobile electronic device having a transportation-related application computer program operative to run thereon for receiving input comprising a selection of the user-specific information from the user; receiving, from the wireless-enabled mobile electronic device of the user, the user-specific information; based at least in part on the received user-specific information, causing production of an identification apparatus, the identification apparatus comprising at least a portion of the received user-specific information; prompting the user to affix the identification apparatus to the item; and causing the item to be routed to the at least one other location based at least on the received user-specific information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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13. A method of causing transport of one or more items associated with a user from one location to at least one other location, the method comprising:
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establishing wireless communication with a wireless-enabled mobile electronic device carried by the user, the wireless-enabled mobile electronic device having a transportation-themed application computer program operative to run thereon and configured to receive input comprising one or more instructions to transmit user-specific information to a kiosk disposed within the one location; receiving, at the kiosk disposed within the one location, the user-specific information received wirelessly by the kiosk from the wireless-enabled mobile electronic device carried by the user; based at least in part on the received user-specific information, causing substantially automatic production of a unique identification apparatus, the unique identification apparatus comprising at least a portion of the received user-specific information; prompting the user to affix the identification apparatus to at least one of the one or more items; and causing the one or more items to be routed to the at least one other location based at least on the affixed identification apparatus. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 27)
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19. A method of causing transport of an item of luggage from a travel departure location for a user to at least one other location, the at least one other location comprising a travel destination for the user who owns the item of luggage, the method comprising:
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receiving, from the user at a kiosk disposed in the travel departure location, user-specific information, the user-specific information provided to the kiosk from a wireless-enabled mobile electronic device of the user via a bar code scanning apparatus of the kiosk; based at least in part on the received user-specific information, causing access of a travel reservation system over at least a network interface between the kiosk and the travel reservation system, the travel reservation system comprising data regarding the user and the travel destination; causing printing of a tag or a label via a printing apparatus of the kiosk, the tag or the label comprising at least a portion of the accessed data; prompting the user to affix the tag or the label to the item; causing production of a receipt for the user which the user can take from the kiosk; and causing the item of luggage to be routed to at least the travel destination based at least on at least a portion of the accessed data. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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45. A method of causing transport of an item of luggage for a user who owns the item of luggage, the transport from an air travel departure location to at least one other location, the at least one other location comprising a travel destination for the user, the method comprising:
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receiving, from the user at a kiosk disposed in the air travel departure location, user-specific information, the user-specific information provided to the kiosk wirelessly from a mobile electronic device of the user, the mobile electronic device comprising at least one travel-themed application computer program rendered in a Java-based programming language; based at least in part on the received user-specific information, causing substantially automatic access of a travel reservation system over at least a network interface between the kiosk and the travel reservation system, the travel reservation system comprising data regarding the user and the travel destination; causing printing of a tag or a label via a printing apparatus of the kiosk, the tag or the label comprising at least a portion of the user-specific information and at least a portion of the accessed data, the tag or the label configured to be affixed to the item of luggage; and causing the item of luggage with affixed tag or label to be routed to at least the travel destination. - View Dependent Claims (46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73)
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74. A method of causing transport of an item of luggage for a user who owns the item of luggage, the transport from an travel departure location to at least one other location, the at least one other location comprising a travel destination for the user, the method comprising:
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receiving, from the user at a kiosk disposed in the travel departure location, user-specific information; based at least in part on the received user-specific information, causing access of a travel reservation system over at least a network interface between the kiosk and the travel reservation system, the travel reservation system comprising data regarding the user and the travel destination; causing provision, via the kiosk, of a tag or a label, the tag or the label comprising at least a portion of the user-specific information and at least a portion of the accessed data, the tag or the label configured to be affixed to the item of luggage and comprising a short-range radio frequency electronic device; and causing the item of luggage with affixed tag or label to be routed to at least the travel destination based at least in part on the short-range radio frequency electronic device. - View Dependent Claims (75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86)
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87. A method of causing transport of an item of luggage for a user who owns the item of luggage, the transport from an air travel departure location to at least one other location, the at least one other location comprising a travel destination for the user, causing transport occurring without resort to a human customer service representative, the method comprising:
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receiving, from the user at a kiosk disposed in the air travel departure location, user-specific information, the user-specific information comprising at least information relating to the travel destination; based at least in part on the received user-specific information, causing access of an airline travel reservation system over at least a network interface between the kiosk and the airline travel reservation system, the travel reservation system comprising data regarding the user and the travel destination; causing provision, via the kiosk, of a tag or a label, the tag or the label configured to be affixed to the item of luggage by the user and comprising a short-range radio frequency electronic device, said a short-range radio frequency electronic device comprising a passive radio frequency identification (RFID) device having an antenna, a data storage device associated therewith, and data processing logic in data communication with the storage device and the antenna, the RFID device configured to transmit data contained within the data storage device upon at least interrogation by radio frequency energy from a reader or interrogator apparatus, at least one of;
(i) a portion of the user-specific information, and/or (ii) at least a portion of the accessed data being stored in the data storage device after encoding by an encoding apparatus of the kiosk, the encoding apparatus comprising a radio frequency apparatus configured to transmit radio frequency energy, and wherein the encoding comprises exchanging with the RFID device data according to at least one communication protocol, at least a portion of the at least one protocol stored on the storage device; andcausing the item of luggage with affixed tag or label to be routed to at least the travel destination based at least in part on the RFID device, the causing the item of luggage with affixed tag or label to be routed comprising; causing interrogation of the RFID device to cause said transmission of said data contained within the storage device by said encoding; and utilizing at least a portion of said transmitted data to effectuate said routing; wherein said causing provision comprises causing provision of a substantially flat tag or label, the RFID device of the substantially flat tag or label having been printed on a substrate that is at least part of the tag or label, the tag or label and the substrate being substantially flexible. - View Dependent Claims (88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114)
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115. Computerized apparatus configured to enable substantially automated transport of an item of luggage for a user who owns the item of luggage and without resort to use of a human customer service representative, the transport from an air travel departure location to at least one other location, the at least one other location comprising a travel destination for the user, the computerized apparatus disposed at the air travel departure location and comprising:
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digital processing apparatus; display apparatus in data communication with the digital processing apparatus; network interface apparatus in data communication with the digital processing apparatus; radio frequency encoding apparatus in data communication with the digital processing apparatus, the encoding apparatus configured to transmit radio frequency energy; and at least one storage device in data communication with the digital processing apparatus, the at least one storage device comprising at least one computer program stored thereon, the at least one program configured to, when executed on the digital processing apparatus; receive user-specific information, the user-specific information comprising at least information relating to the travel destination; based at least in part on the received user-specific information, cause electronic access of an airline travel reservation system associated with an airline transportation agent over at least a network interface between the computerized apparatus and the airline travel reservation system, the travel reservation system comprising data regarding the user and the travel destination; cause provision, via the computerized apparatus, of a tag or a label, the tag or the label configured to be affixed to the item of luggage by the user and comprising a short-range radio frequency electronic device, said a short-range radio frequency electronic device comprising a passive radio frequency identification (RFID) device having an antenna, a non-volatile data storage device associated therewith, and data processing logic in data communication with the storage device and the antenna, the RFID device configured to transmit data contained within the data storage device upon at least interrogation by radio frequency energy from a reader or interrogator apparatus, at least one of;
(i) a portion of the user-specific information, and/or (ii) at least a portion of the accessed data being stored in the data storage device after encoding by the radio frequency encoding apparatus, and wherein the encoding comprises exchanging with the RFID device data according to at least one communication protocol, at least a portion of the at least one protocol stored on the storage device of the RFID device; andcause the item of luggage with affixed tag or label to be forwarded to a handling entity for subsequent routing to at least the travel destination based at least in part on the RFID device; wherein said causation of provision comprises causing provision of a substantially flat tag or label, the RFID device of the substantially flat tag or label having been printed on a substrate that is at least part of the tag or label, the tag or label and the substrate being substantially flexible. - View Dependent Claims (116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138)
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139. Computerized apparatus configured to enable substantially automated transport of an item of luggage for a user who owns the item of luggage, the transport from an air travel departure location to at least one other location, the at least one other location comprising a travel destination for the user, the computerized apparatus comprising a substantially fixed kiosk disposed at the air travel departure location and comprising:
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digital processing apparatus; display apparatus in data communication with the digital processing apparatus; network interface apparatus in data communication with the digital processing apparatus; a limited-range wireless interface in data communication with the data processing apparatus, the wireless interface configured to receive data wirelessly from a mobile electronic user device; and at least one storage device in data communication with the digital processing apparatus, the at least one storage device comprising at least one computer program stored thereon, the at least one program configured to, when executed on the digital processing apparatus; receive user-specific information via the limited-range wireless interface, the user-specific information comprising at least information relating to the travel destination; based at least in part on the received user-specific information, cause automated electronic access of an airline travel reservation system associated with an airline transportation agent over at least a network interface between the computerized apparatus and the airline travel reservation system, the travel reservation system comprising data regarding the user and the travel destination; cause provision, via the computerized apparatus, of a tag or a label, the tag or the label configured to be affixed to the item of luggage by the user, the tag or label comprising at least one of;
(i) a portion of the user-specific information, and/or (ii) at least a portion of the accessed data; andcause the item of luggage with affixed tag or label to be forwarded to a handling entity for subsequent routing to at least the travel destination based at least in part on the tag or label. - View Dependent Claims (140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166)
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167. A method of causing transport of an item of luggage for a user who owns the item of luggage, the transport from an air travel departure location to at least one other location, the at least one other location comprising a travel destination for the user, the method comprising:
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a step for receiving, from the user at a kiosk disposed in the air travel departure location, user-specific information, the user-specific information comprising at least information relating to the travel destination; a step for, based at least in part on the received user-specific information, causing access of an airline travel reservation system over at least a network interface between the kiosk and the airline travel reservation system, the travel reservation system comprising data regarding the user and the travel destination; a step for causing provision, via the kiosk, of a means for conveying information, the means for conveying configured to be affixed to the item of luggage by the user and comprising a short-range radio frequency electronic device, said a short-range radio frequency electronic device comprising a passive radio frequency identification (RFID) device having an antenna, a data storage device associated therewith, and data processing logic in data communication with the storage device and the antenna, the RFID device configured to transmit data contained within the data storage device upon at least interrogation by radio frequency energy from a reader or interrogator apparatus, at least one of;
(i) a portion of the user-specific information, and/or (ii) at least a portion of the accessed data being stored in the data storage device after encoding by an encoding apparatus of the kiosk, the encoding apparatus comprising a radio frequency apparatus configured to transmit radio frequency energy, and wherein the encoding comprises exchanging with the RFID device data according to at least one communication protocol, at least a portion of the at least one protocol stored on the storage device; anda step for causing the item of luggage with affixed means for conveying to be routed to at least the travel destination based at least in part on the RFID device, the causing the item of luggage with affixed means for conveying to be routed comprising; causing interrogation of the RFID device to cause said transmission of said data contained within the storage device by said encoding; and utilizing at least a portion of said transmitted data to effectuate said routing; wherein said step for causing provision comprises a step for causing provision of a substantially flat means for conveying, the RFID device of the substantially flat means for conveying having been printed on a substrate that is at least part of the means for conveying, the means for conveying and the substrate being substantially flexible.
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168. A method of causing transport of an item of luggage for a user who owns the item of luggage, the transport from an air travel departure location to at least one other location, the at least one other location comprising a travel destination for the user, the causing transport being without resort to a human customer service representative or airline employee, the method comprising:
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a step for receiving, from the user at a kiosk disposed in the air travel departure location, user-specific information, the user-specific information provided to the kiosk wirelessly from a mobile electronic device of the user, the mobile electronic device comprising at least one travel-themed application computer program means rendered in a Java-based programming language, the application computer program means configured to cause the wireless provision of the user-specific information to the kiosk; a step for, based at least in part on the received user-specific information, causing substantially automatic access of a travel reservation system over at least a means for network interface between the kiosk and the travel reservation system, the travel reservation system comprising data regarding the user and the travel destination; a step for causing printing of a portable means for conveying information via a printing apparatus of the kiosk, the means for conveying comprising at least a portion of the user-specific information and at least a portion of the accessed data, the means for conveying configured to be affixed to the item of luggage; a step for evaluating at least one parameter or physical quality associated with the item of luggage using at least the kiosk, the step for evaluating comprising a step for generating data relating to the evaluating; a step for providing the generated data to at least one of (i) an entity at the travel destination, and/or (ii) an intermediary luggage routing entity; and a step for causing the item of luggage with affixed means for conveying to be routed to at least the travel destination.
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169. A method of frustrating surreptitious activity, the activity intended to be conducted via at least one item of luggage to be transported on a transportation modality, the transport being from a travel departure location to at least one other location, the at least one other location comprising a travel destination for the transportation modality, the method comprising:
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receiving, from respective ones of a plurality of users at respective kiosks disposed in the travel departure location, user-specific information; based at least in part on the received respective user-specific information, causing respective accesses of a travel reservation system over at least a network interface between the respective kiosk and the travel reservation system, the travel reservation system comprising data regarding the respective user and their travel destination; causing provision, via the respective kiosk, of a respective tag or a label, the tag or the label comprising at least a portion of at least one of;
(i) the respective user-specific information, and/or (ii) at least a portion of the respective accessed data, the respective tag or label each configured to be affixed to the respective item of luggage, and comprising a short-range radio frequency electronic device formed or embedded therein or thereon;thereafter, causing the items of luggage with respective affixed tag or label to be collectively inventoried or authenticated based at least in part on the short-range radio frequency electronic device after each respective item of luggage has left the possession of the respective user, but before being loaded onto the transportation modality, the collective inventory or authentication being used at least in part to identify one or more conditions indicative of possible tampering with one or more of the items of luggage. - View Dependent Claims (170, 171)
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172. A method of frustrating surreptitious activity, the activity intended to be conducted via an item of luggage to be transported on a transportation modality, the transport being from a travel departure location to at least one other location, the at least one other location comprising a travel destination for the transportation modality, the method comprising:
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receiving, from a kiosk disposed in the travel departure location, user-specific information; based at least in part on the received user-specific information, causing access of a travel reservation system over at least a network interface between the kiosk and the travel reservation system, the travel reservation system comprising data regarding the user and their travel destination; causing evaluation of the item of luggage, at the kiosk, via an evaluation apparatus, the evaluation apparatus configured to generate data relating to the evaluation of the item of luggage; causing provision, via the kiosk, of a tag or a label, the tag or the label comprising at least a portion of at least one of;
(i) the user-specific information, and/or (ii) at least a portion of the accessed data, the tag or label configured to be affixed to the item of luggage, and comprising a short-range radio frequency electronic device formed or embedded therein or thereon, the short-range radio frequency device having been encoded with at least a portion of the generated data relating to the evaluation;causing the item of luggage with affixed tag or label to be interrogated after the item of luggage has left the possession of the user, but before being loaded onto a transportation modality, the interrogation causing transmission of the at least a portion of the generated data relating to the evaluation from the short-range radio frequency device, the transmitted at least portion of the generated data being used at least in part to identify one or more conditions indicative of possible tampering with the item of luggage. - View Dependent Claims (173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179)
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180. A method of causing shipment of an item to be transported on a transportation modality, the shipment being at least to a destination of the item, the method comprising:
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receiving, from a kiosk disposed in a user-accessible location, user-specific information relating at least to the item and the destination; causing evaluating the item at the kiosk, via an evaluation apparatus, the evaluation apparatus configured to generate data relating to the evaluation of the item; causing provision, via the kiosk, of a tag or a label or an insert configured to be affixed to or included within the item or a shipping container associated therewith, the tag or the label or the insert comprising a radio frequency electronic device formed or embedded therein or thereon, the radio frequency device having been encoded with at least a portion of at least one of;
(i) the user-specific information, and/or (ii) the data relating to the evaluation;causing the item with affixed or included tag or label or insert to be transported to a first location; at the first location, accessing the encoded radio frequency device to obtain the at least a portion of the at least one of;
(i) the user-specific information, and/or (ii) the data relating to the evaluation;utilizing the obtained at least a portion of the at least one of;
(i) the user-specific information, and/or (ii) the data relating to the evaluation, to attempt to validate or authenticate the item; andperforming one of the following as applicable; when the item has been successfully validated or authenticated, causing delivery of the item to the destination;
orwhen the item cannot be successfully validated or authenticated, causing designation of the item in a computerized system as at least one of (i) being undeliverable, and/or (ii) requiring further evaluation or investigation. - View Dependent Claims (181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189)
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190. Computerized apparatus configured to enable substantially automated transport of items of luggage for a plurality of users who owns the respective items of luggage, the transport from a respective air travel departure location to respective ones of at least one other location, the respective at least one other location comprising a travel destination for the respective user, the computerized apparatus comprising:
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network server apparatus, the network server apparatus comprising at least one network interface, the network interface configured to communicate via a data network with a plurality of computerized kiosks, the network server apparatus further comprising computerized logic configured to access a computerized airline travel reservation system associated with an airline transportation agent, and to; receive, from respective ones of the kiosks, requests for access to data of the travel reservation system, the data comprising at least (i) user-specific identification information for respective ones of users using the respective kiosks; and
(ii) data relating to respective flight destinations or routes for the respective users; anda plurality of substantially fixed computerized kiosks disposed at the respective air travel departure locations and each comprising; digital processing apparatus; display apparatus in data communication with the digital processing apparatus; network interface apparatus in data communication with the digital processing apparatus, the network interface apparatus configured to enable communication with the data network; a wireless interface in data communication with the data processing apparatus, the wireless interface configured to receive data wirelessly from a mobile electronic user device; and at least one storage device in data communication with the digital processing apparatus, the at least one storage device comprising at least one computer program stored thereon, the at least one program configured to, when executed on the digital processing apparatus; receive respective information via the wireless interface, the received information comprising at least information relating to the respective user or their travel destination; based at least in part on the respective received information, cause automated electronic access of the airline travel reservation system over at least the data network; cause provision, via the kiosk, of a tag or a label, the tag or the label configured to be affixed to or within the respective item of luggage by the respective user, the respective tag or label comprising at least one of;
(i) at least a portion of the respective user-specific identification information, and/or (ii) at least a portion of the data relating to the respective flight destination or route for the respective user; andcause the respective item of luggage with affixed tag or label to be forwarded to a handling entity for subsequent routing to at least the respective travel destination based at least in part on the respective tag or label. - View Dependent Claims (191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 220, 230, 231)
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221. Computerized apparatus configured for enabling routing of transport device of a user, the user utilizing the transport device for transport of one or more chattel between a point of departure and at least a destination, the transport device comprising a size and a weight and an appearance and being configured to contain the one or more chattel therein, the computerized apparatus comprising:
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digital processor apparatus; data storage apparatus in data communication with the digital processor apparatus; a display device in data communication with the digital processor apparatus; and a first wireless interface in data communication with the digital processor apparatus; and computerized logic configured to be executed on the digital processor apparatus and configured to, when executed; receive, via the first wireless interface, user-specific data relating to at least one of (i) a user identity, and/or (ii) the destination; cause display of at least a portion of the received user-specific data on the display device; store at least a portion of the received user-specific data in the data storage apparatus; and wherein the computerized apparatus further comprises bar code apparatus, the bar code apparatus disposed so as to be scannable by an external bar code scanning apparatus, the bar code apparatus comprising a visible rendering of a bar code representative of at least a portion of the received user-specific data. - View Dependent Claims (222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229)
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232. A portable computerized device configured to enable transport of at least one transport device of a user, the user utilizing the transport device for transport of one or more chattel between a point of departure and at least a destination, the transport device comprising a size and a weight and an appearance and being configured to contain the one or more chattel therein, the portable computerized device comprising computerized logic, a storage device, and a wireless interface, the portable computerized device configured to execute the method comprising:
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enabling establishment of a communications session with a mobile electronic device of the user, the mobile electronic device comprising an application computer program operative to run thereon, the session to be established between the application computer program and at least one computer program of a portable computerized device; wirelessly receiving, via the wireless interface and session and from the mobile electronic device of the user, user-specific data relating to at least one of (i) a user identity, and/or (ii) the destination; storing at least a portion of the received user-specific data in a data storage device of the portable computerized device; and causing, via the portable computerized device, encoding of data relating to at least the received user-specific data, the portable computerized device configured to be scanned by a scanning apparatus in order for the scanning apparatus to obtain the encoded data, the scanning comprising impinging electromagnetic radiation generated by the scanning apparatus onto the computerized device, the obtained encoded data useful in enabling said transport of the transport device to at least the destination. - View Dependent Claims (233, 234, 235, 236)
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237. A method of transporting at least one transport device of a user, the user utilizing the transport device for transport of one or more chattel between a point of departure and at least a destination, the transport device comprising a size and a weight and an appearance and being configured to contain the one or more chattel therein, the method comprising:
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causing provision of an application computer program, the application computer program configured for download to and operation on a Bluetooth-enabled wireless mobile device of a user, the application computer program configured to enable establishment of a communications session between the application computer program and at least one computer program of a portable computerized device associated with the transport device via a Bluetooth interface of the portable computerized device, the program further configured to cause transmission from the mobile electronic device, user-specific data relating to at least one of (i) a user identity, and/or (ii) the destination, to the portable computerized device; wirelessly obtaining from the portable computerized device, data relating to the transmitted user-specific data;
the obtained data useful in enabling said transport of the transport device to at least the destination; andcausing transport of the transport device to the destination based at least on the obtained data. - View Dependent Claims (238, 239, 240, 241)
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Specification