Method and system for authorizing access to goods and/or services and corresponding access voucher

• US 9,704,147 B2
• Filed: 10/23/2012
• Issued: 07/11/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/23/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microtronic AG (Crane Company)
• Original Assignee: Microtronic AG (Crane Company)
• Inventors: Wahli, Bernard
• Primary Examiner(s): Masud, Rokib
• Application Number:
  US14/437,715
• Publication Number:
  US 20150278791A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,722 Days
• Field of Search: 705 141, 705 17, 705 261, 235381
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/204 comprising interface for record bearing medium or carrier for electronic funds transfer or payment credit
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/342 Cards defining paid or billed services or quantities
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/387 Payment using discounts or coupons relating to marketing G06Q30/02

Abstract

A method for authorizing access to goods and services, including issuing an access voucher by a voucher issuing device, the access voucher having identification of the goods and services and an identification of the point of sale, presenting the access voucher to a reading device of the point of sale, transferring the identification of the goods and services and the identification of the point of sale by the reading device to a processing device of the point of sale, the processing device having access to a database with stored identification of goods and services and to a database with stored identification of the point of sale, comparing the transferred identification of goods and services and the transferred identification of the point of sale by the processing device with the stored identification of the goods and services and the stored identification of the point of sale, and authorizing access to the goods if the identification matches.

Claims

1. A method for authorizing access to at least one of goods and services at a point of sale, in which access to the at least one of goods and services can be authorized based on an access voucher, the method comprising the steps of:

presenting an access voucher including an identification of the at least one of goods and services and an identification of the point of sale to a reading device of the point of sale;

transferring the identification of the at least one of goods and services and the identification of the point of sale by the reading device to a processing device of the point of sale, the processing device comprising a database with stored identification of the at least one goods and services and comprising a database with stored identification of the point of sale;

comparing the transferred identification of the at least one goods and services and the transferred identification of the point of sale by the processing device with the stored identification of the at least one goods and services and the stored identification of the point of sale, the processing device configured so that the comparing step can be performed entirely based on information contained in the access voucher and the point of sale;

authorizing access to the at least one goods and services when the transferred identification of the at least one goods and services matches an identification of the at least one goods and services stored in the database, and when the transferred identification of the point of sale matches the identification of the point of sale stored in the database; and

preventing access to the at least one goods and services when the transferred identification of the at least one goods and services does not match the identification of the at least one goods and services stored in the database, or when the transferred identification of the point of sale does not match the identification of the point of sale stored in the database,

wherein the database with stored identification of the at least one goods and services and the database with stored information of the point of sale are provided at the point of sale.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the access voucher further includes optical machine-readable data including at least one of a barcode and a matrix code.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the optical machine-readable data of the access voucher are arranged on a disposable support.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the access voucher further includes a voucher identification, and the method further comprises the steps of:

transferring the voucher identification to the processing device of the point of sale when the access voucher is presented to the reading device of the point of sale in the step of presenting, the processing device further comprising a database with stored voucher identification;

comparing the transferred voucher identification with stored voucher identification by the processing device; and

authorizing access to the at least one goods and services when the transferred voucher identification does not match any one of the voucher identifications stored in the database with the stored voucher information.

5. The method according to claim 4, further comprising the step of:

storing the transferred voucher identification in the database with the stored voucher information after the step of authorizing access has authorized the access.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the access voucher further comprises time identification, the method further comprising the steps of:

transferring the time identification to the processing device of the point of sale when the access voucher is presented to the reading device of the point of sale in the step of presenting, the processing device having a time information device;

comparing the transferred time identification with a time provided by the time information device by the processing device; and

authorizing the access to the at least one goods and services when the transferred time identification matches the time information provided by the time information device.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein data of at least one of the identification of the at least one goods and services, the identification of the point of sale, the voucher identification, and the time identification of the access voucher are encrypted, the method further comprising:

decrypting the data of the access voucher by a decryption unit of the processing device.

8. A system for authorizing access to at least one goods and services at a point of sale, in which access to the at least one goods and services can be authorized based on an access voucher, the system comprising

a reading device of the point of sale for reading an access voucher having an identification of the at least one goods and services and an identification of the point of sale;

and

a processing device of the point of sale,

wherein the reading device is configured to transfer the identification of the at least one goods and services and the identification of the point of sale of the access voucher to the processing device of the point of sale when the access voucher is presented to the reading device,

wherein the processing device comprises a database with at least one stored identification of at least one goods and services and comprises a database with a stored identification of the point of sale,

wherein the processing device is configured to;

compare the transferred identification of the at least one of goods and services and the transferred identification of the point of sale with the at least one stored identification of the at least one of goods and services and the stored identification of the point of sale, the processing device configured so that the comparison can be based entirely on information contained in the access voucher and the point of sale,

authorize access to the at least one goods and services when the transferred identification of the at least one goods and services matches an identification of the at least one goods and services stored in the database, and when the transferred identification of the point of sale matches the identification of the point of sale stored in the database, and

prevent access to the at least one goods and services when the transferred identification of the at least one goods and services does not match the identification of the at least one goods and services stored in the database, or when the transferred identification of the point of sale does not match the identification of the point of sale stored in the database, and

wherein the database with at least one stored identification of at least one goods and services and the database with stored identification of the point of sale are provided at the point of sale.

9. The system according to claim 8, wherein the processing device comprises a database with at least one stored voucher identification and the processing device is further configured to compare a transferred voucher identification of the access voucher with stored voucher identification, and is configured to authorize the access to the at least one goods and services when the transferred voucher identification does not match any one of the voucher identifications stored in the database.

10. The system according to claim 9, wherein the processing device further comprises a device for storing the transferred voucher identification in the database after the access to the at least one goods and services has been authorized.

11. The system according to claim 8, wherein the processing device further comprises a time information device and is further configured to compare a transferred time identification of the access voucher with the time information provided by the time information device, and is configured to authorize the access to the at least one goods and services when the transferred time identification matches the time information of the time information device.

12. The system according to claim 8, wherein data of at least one of the identification of the at least one goods and services, the identification of the point of sale, the voucher identification, and the time identification of the access voucher are encrypted, and

the processing unit comprises a decryption unit for decrypting encrypted data of the access voucher.

13. An access voucher for authorizing access to at least one of goods and services at a point of sale, the access voucher comprising:

optical machine-readable data having at least one of a barcode and a matrix code, wherein

the optical machine-readable data comprises an identification of the at least one goods and services and an identification of the point of sale.

14. The access voucher according to claim 13, wherein the access voucher is made of a disposable material.

15. Access voucher according to claim 13, wherein the access voucher is printed onto a strip of paper or onto a drinking cup.