Electronic locker right acquisition via an external system

• US 9,558,608 B2
• Filed: 11/12/2014
• Issued: 01/31/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/12/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Smarte Carte Incorporated (SMARTE CARTE)
• Original Assignee: Smarte Carte Incorporated (SMARTE CARTE)
• Inventors: Amdahl, Keith Louis
• Primary Examiner(s): PENDLETON, DIONNE
• Application Number:
  US14/539,913
• Publication Number:
  US 20160133075A1
• Time in Patent Office: 811 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00571 operated by interacting with a central unit
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00912 for safes, strong-rooms, vaults or the like
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/105 for money boxes for saving clocks G07F17/0007
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/12 comprising lockable containers, e.g. for accepting clothes to be cleaned
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/14 for fastenings for doors of containers for safe keeping G07F17/12; for turnstiles
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 5/26 Interlocks, e.g. for locking the doors of compartments other than that to be used

Abstract

A locker rental system includes electronic lockers centrally managed by a locker manager. The locker manager is in communication with a separate external system, which handles admissions and sales for a venue. Users are provided with a unique external identification (ID) code for purposes such as admission to the venue. Determinative sequences of the external ID codes are provided to the locker manager as validation codes. When the external ID code is scanned, the locker manager validates the external ID code using the validation codes. A valid external ID code may be used to rent and access lockers in the locker system. In some implementations, locker rights may be sold through the external system and details of the transaction provided to the locker manager. If the external ID code is valid, the locker manager generates a rental plan.

Claims

1. A locker system operable with an encoded item issued to a user, each encoded item associated with an external identification (ID) code, the external ID code including a semi-unique portion and a unique portion, the semi-unique portion being a fixed sequence shared by multiple external ID codes, the unique portion being a sequence appearing in only one external ID code sharing the semi-unique portion, the external ID code originally provided to the user for a purpose other than to access the locker system, the external ID codes being associated with an external system including an external access control system in communication with a point-of-sale terminal including a code entry device allowing entry of external ID codes from the encoded items as part of a sale transaction, the locker system comprising:

a locker manager;

a locker having an electromechanically actuated lock; and

a locker terminal in communication with the electromechanically actuated lock and the locker manager, the locker terminal comprising a processor, memory, and a code entry device for entering external ID codes from the encoded items, the locker terminal sending the external ID code entered when access to the locker is requested to the locker manager;

wherein the locker manager is in communication with the locker terminal and with the external system, the locker manager comprising a processor and memory, the memory storing validation codes, each validation code corresponding to at least a portion of one of the external ID codes, the locker manager receiving an activation request from the external system, the activation request generated during a sale of locker rights and comprising one of the external ID codes entered as part of the sale of locker rights with the unique portion of the external ID code being unknown to the locker manager prior to the locker manager receiving the activation request, the locker manager storing the external ID code from the activation request in the memory as an active external ID code if a corresponding portion of the external ID code from the activation request matches one of the validation codes, the locker manager determining whether to authorize access to one of the lockers based on a comparison of the external ID code received from the locker terminal to the active external ID codes.

2. The locker system of claim 1 wherein the activation request further comprises a description of the purchased locker rights, the locker manager generating a locker account based on the description of the purchased locker rights and storing the locker account in the locker manager memory if a corresponding portion of the external ID code from the activation request matches one of the validation codes.

3. The locker system of claim 2 wherein the locker manager associates the locker account with the external ID code from the activation request to create a rental plan, the locker manager storing the rental plan in the locker manager memory.

4. The locker system of claim 2 wherein the description of the purchased locker rights comprises a rental type and a rental duration, the rental type being one of a single access rental and a multiple access rental, the single access rental permitting the locker to be accessed only once during the rental duration, and the multiple access rental permitting the locker to be accessed more than once during the rental duration.

5. The locker system of claim 1 wherein multiple locker accounts are associated with a single rental plan.

6. The locker system of claim 1 wherein multiple external ID codes are associated with a single rental plan.

7. The locker system of claim 1 wherein the code entry device comprises at least one of a magnetic strip reader, a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag reader, a barcode reader, a keypad, and a touch screen.

8. A locker system operable with an encoded item issued to a user, each encoded item associated with an external ID code, the external ID code including a semi-unique portion and a unique portion, the semi-unique portion being a fixed sequence shared by multiple external ID codes, the unique portion being a sequence appearing in only one external ID code sharing the semi-unique portion, the external ID code originally provided to the user for a purpose other than to access the locker system, the external ID codes being associated with an external access control system in communication with a point-of-sale terminal including a code entry device allowing entry of external ID codes from the encoded items as part of a sale transaction, the locker system comprising:

a plurality of lockers, each locker comprising an enclosure, a door, and a lock, the enclosure defining an interior and an opening allowing access to the interior, the door attached to the enclosure, the door moveable between a closed position wherein the door substantially blocks the enclosure opening to inhibit access to the enclosure interior and an open position wherein the door does not block the enclosure opening thereby permitting access to the enclosure interior, the lock configured to secure the door in the closed position when engaged and release the door when disengaged, the lock being electronically actuated; and

a communication module in the point-of-sale terminal generating an activation request comprising the external ID code entered during a sale of a locker right via the point-of-sale terminal and sending the activation request to a locker manager, the unique portion of the external ID code being unknown to the locker manager prior to the locker manager receiving the activation request, the activation request further comprising a description of the purchased locker right having a corresponding rental duration;

a locker manager in communication with each lock, the locker manager comprising a processor and memory, the locker manager storing validation codes in the memory, each validation code corresponding to at least a portion of one of the external ID codes, the locker manager creating an active user account associated with the external ID code from the activation request if the corresponding portion of the external ID code from the activation request matches one of the external ID codes, creating a locker account with the rental duration based on the locker right description and associating the active user account with the locker account, the user account being used to retrieve the locker account to manage access to a locker associated with the locker account when a request to access the locker is received.

9. A method of renting lockers based on external ID codes associated with encoded items issued to users, the external ID code originally provided to the user for a purpose other than to access the locker system, the external ID codes being associated with an external system, the external system including a point-of-sale terminal in communication with an access control system, the point-of-sale terminal including a code entry device allowing entry of external ID codes from the encoded items as part of an external system sales transaction that includes a sale of locker rights, the method comprising the acts of:

storing validation criteria corresponding to the external ID codes in a locker rental system;

receiving an activation request sent from the external system to the locker rental system, the activation request comprising the external ID code entered from the encoded item into the external system;

determining if the activation request is valid based on an evaluation of the external ID code from the activation request against the validation criteria stored by the locker rental system; and

if the activation request is valid, storing the external ID code as an active external ID code in the locker rental system, the active external ID codes being used to determine whether to authorize access to lockers based on a comparison of the external ID code received from the locker terminal to the active external ID codes.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the activation request is valid and further comprises a description of locker rights purchased via the external system, the method further comprising the acts of:

generating a locker account based on the description of the purchased locker rights; and

storing the locker account in the locker rental system.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising the acts of:

associating the locker account with the external ID code from the activation request to create a rental plan; and

storing the rental plan in the locker rental system.

12. The method of claim 9 wherein the external ID codes include a semi-unique portion and a unique portion, the semi-unique portion being a fixed sequence shared by multiple external ID codes, the unique portion being a sequence appearing in only one external ID code sharing the same semi-unique portion, the validation criteria including validation codes correspond to the semi-unique portion of the external ID codes.

13. The method of claim 9 wherein the validation criteria include a code length or a code pattern and the act of determining if the external ID code in the access request is valid based on an evaluation of the external ID code in the access request against the validation criteria further comprises the act of accepting the external ID codes that match the code length or code pattern as valid.

14. The method of claim 9 wherein the external ID code is entered into the external system during admission to a venue associated with the external system.

15. The method of claim 9 wherein each encoded item includes a machine readable barcode, radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, or magnetic strip storing the external ID code.

16. The method of claim 9 wherein the activation request further comprises a description of the purchased locker rights.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the description of the purchased locker rights comprises a rental type and a rental duration, the rental type being one of a single access rental and a multiple access rental, the single access rental permitting the locker to be accessed only once during the rental duration, and the multiple access rental permitting the locker to be accessed more than once during the rental duration.