Method and system for online payments using processing sensor

• US 20030093376A1
• Filed: 11/12/2002
• Published: 05/15/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/25/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Silverbrook Research Pty Limited
• Original Assignee: Silverbrook Research Pty Limited
• Inventors: Silverbrook, Kia, Lapstun, Paul, Walmsley, Simon Robert, Lapstun, Jacqueline Anne
• Granted Patent: US 7,451,115 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/14 specially adapted for billing systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/208 Input by product or record sensing, e.g. weighing or scanner processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3674 involving authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/382 insuring higher security of transaction
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/03 Credit; Loans; Processing thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/188 Electronic negotiation
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/26 for printing, stamping, franking, typing or teleprinting apparatus ticket printing or the like apparatus G07F17/42

Abstract

Methods and systems are disclosed which relate to online payments via interface surfaces printed with information and coded data. The coded data, encoded visibly or invisibly, may be queried by an appropriate sensing device. The sensing device communicates with a computer system. Together, the interface surfaces, sensing device and computer system are capable of effecting payment transactions over a network.

Claims

1. A method of enabling payment of bills, the method including the steps of

providing a person with a bill containing information relating to a requested payment, the bill including coded data indicative of an identity of the bill and of at least one reference point of the bill;

receiving, in a computer system, indicating data from a sensing device regarding the identity of the bill and at least one of a position and a movement of the sensing device relative to the bill; and

identifying, in the computer system and from the indicating data, at least one parameter relating to the requested payment,

wherein the sensing device comprises;

(a) an image sensor adapted to capture images of at least some of the coded data when the sensing device is placed in an operative position relative to the bill; and

(b) a processor adapted to;

(i) identify at least some of the coded data from one or more of the captured images;

(ii) determine an orientation, within the captured images, of at least some of the coded data;

(iii) decode at least some of the coded data; and

(iv) generate the indicating data using at least some of the decoded coded data.

2. The method of claim 1 in which said at least one parameter relating to the requested payment is associated with at least one zone of the bill and in which the method includes identifying, in the computer system and from the zone relative to which the sensing device is located, said at least one parameter.

7. The method of any one of claims 1, 3 or 4, wherein the processor is housed within the sensing device.

8. The method of any one of claims 1, 3 or 4, wherein the processor is adapted to operate at processing speeds ranging from 1 instruction per second to 1×

10¹² instructions per second.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the processor is adapted to operate at processing speeds ranging from 10 instructions per second to 1×

10⁶ instructions per second.

10. The method of any one of claims 1, 3 or 4, wherein the image sensor is housed within the sensing device.

11. The method of any one of claims 1, 3 or 4, wherein the image sensor is adapted to capture images at rates ranging from 1 image per second to 1,000 images per second.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the image sensor is adapted to capture images at rates ranging from 10 images per second to 200 images per second.

13. The method of any one of claims 1, 3 or 4, wherein the coded data comprises non-barcode coded data.

14. The method of any one of claims 1, 3 or 5 in which the parameter is an action parameter of the requested payment, the method including effecting, in the computer system, an operation in respect of the action parameter.

15. The method of claim 14 in which the action parameter of the requested payment is selected from the group comprising:

requesting that payment be made, specifying a payment amount or resetting the bill to an original state.

16. The method of any one of claims 1, 3 or 5 in which the parameter is an option parameter of the requested payment, the method including identifying, in the computer system, that the person has entered a hand-drawn mark by means of the sensing device and effecting, in the computer system, an operation associated with the option parameter.

17. The method of claim 16 in which the option parameter is associated with at least one of:

cardholder name, payment method or credit card type.

18. The method of any one of claims 1, 3 or 5 in which the parameter is a text parameter of the requested payment, the method including identifying, in the computer system, that the person has entered handwritten text data by means of the sensing device and effecting, in the computer system, an operation associated with the text parameter.

19. The method of claim 18 which includes converting, in the computer system, the handwritten text data to computer text.

20. The method of claim 19 which includes converting, in the computer system, the handwritten text data to computer text using and online handwriting recognition program.

21. The method of claim 20 in which the text parameter is associated with at least one of:

a cardholder name, an amount paid or a card expiry date.

22. The method of any one of claims 1, 3 or 5 in which the parameter is an authorization parameter of the requested payment, the method including identifying, in the computer system, that the person has entered a handwritten signature by means of the sensing device and effecting, in the computer system, an operation associated with the authorization parameter.

23. The method of claim 22 which includes verifying, in the computer system, that the signature is that of the person.

24. The method of claim 23 in which the authorization parameter is associated with payment authorization.

3. A method of enabling payment of bills, the method including the steps of:

providing a person with a bill containing information relating to a requested payment, the bill including coded data indicative of at least one parameter of the requested payment;

receiving, in a computer system, data from a sensing device regarding said at least one parameter and regarding at least one of a movement and a position of the sensing device relative to the bill; and

interpreting, in the computer system, at least one of said movement and said position of the sensing device as it relates to said at least one parameter,

wherein the sensing device comprises;

(a) an image sensor adapted to capture images of at least some of the coded data when the sensing device is placed in an operative position relative to the bill; and

(b) a processor adapted to;

(i) identify at least some of the coded data from one or more of the captured images;

(ii) determine an orientation, within the captured images, of at least some of the coded data;

(iii) decode at least some of the coded data; and

(iv) generate, using at least some of the decoded coded data, the data regarding at least one of the movement and the position of the sensing device relative to the bill.

4. A method of enabling payment of bills, the method including the steps of:

providing a person with a bill including coded data indicative of an identity of the bill;

receiving, in a computer system, data from a sensing device regarding an identity of the person and regarding the identity of the bill; and

identifying, in the computer system and from the data regarding the identity of the person and the identity of the bill, a requested payment,

wherein the sensing device contains the data regarding the identity of the person and comprises;

(a) an image sensor adapted to capture images of at least some of the coded data when the sensing device is placed in an operative position relative to the bill; and

(b) a processor adapted to;

(i) identify at least some of the coded data from one or more of the captured images;

(ii) determine an orientation, within the captured images, of at least some of the coded data;

(iii) decode at least some of the coded data; and

(iv) generate the data regarding the identity of the bill using at least some of the decoded coded data.

5. The method of claim 4 in which the coded data is also indicative of at least one parameter of the requested payment, and the method includes receiving, in the computer system, indicating data from the sensing device regarding said at least one parameter of the requested payment, the sensing device sensing the indicating data using at least some of the coded data.

6. The method of claim 5 which includes receiving, in the computer system, data from the sensing device regarding at least one of a movement and a position of the sensing device relative to the bill, the sensing device generating data regarding at least one of the movement and the position of the sensing device relative to the bill using at least some of the coded data.

25. A system for enabling payment of bills, the system including

a bill containing information relating to a requested payment, the bill including coded data indicative of an identity of the bill and of at least one reference point of the bill;

and

a computer system for receiving indicating data from a sensing device for identifying at least one parameter relating to the requested payment, the indicating data being indicative of the identity of the bill and at least one of a position and a movement of the sensing device relative to the bill, the sensing device comprising;

(a) an image sensor adapted to capture images of at least some of the coded data when the sensing device is placed in an operative position relative to the bill; and

(b) a processor adapted to;

(i) identify at least some of the coded data from one or more of the captured images;

(ii) determine an orientation, within the captured images, of at least some of the coded data;

(iii) decode at least some of the coded data; and

(iv) generate the indicating data using at least some of the decoded coded data.

26. The system of claim 25 in which said at least one parameter relating to the requested payment is associated with at least one zone of the bill.

31. The system of any one of claims 25, 27 and 28, wherein the processor is housed within the sensing device.

32. The system of any one of claims 25, 27 and 28, wherein the processor is adapted to operate at processing speeds ranging from 1 instruction per second to 1×

10¹² instructions per second.

33. The system of claim 32 wherein the processor is adapted to operate at processing speeds ranging from 10 instructions per second to 1×

10⁶ instructions per second.

34. The system of any one of claims 25, 27 and 28, wherein the image sensor is housed within the sensing device.

35. The system of any one of claims 25, 27 and 28, wherein the image sensor is adapted to capture images at rates ranging from 1 image per second to 1,000 images per second.

36. The system of claim 35 wherein the image sensor is adapted to capture images at rates ranging from 10 images per second to 200 images per second.

37. The system of any one of claims 25, 27 and 28, wherein the coded data comprises non-barcode coded data.

38. The system of any one of claims 25, 27 or 28 in which said at least one parameter of the requested payment is selected from the group comprising an action parameter of the requested payment, an option parameter of the requested payment, a text parameter of the requested payment, or an authorization parameter of the requested payment.

39. The system of claim 38 in which the action parameter of the requested payment is selected from the group comprising:

requesting that payment be made, specifying a payment amount, or resetting the bill to an original state.

40. The system of claim 38 in which the option parameter is associated with at least one of:

cardholder name, payment method, or credit card type.

41. The system of claim 38 in which the text parameter is associated with at least one of:

a cardholder name, an amount paid, or a card expiry date.

42. The system of claim 38 in which the authorization parameter is associated with payment authorization.

27. A system for enabling payment of bills, the system including:

a bill containing information relating to a requested payment, the bill including coded data indicative of at least one parameter of the requested payment; and

a computer system for receiving data from a sensing device regarding said at least one parameter and regarding at least one of a movement and a position of the sensing device relative to the bill, and for interpreting at least one of said movement and said position of the sensing device as it relates to said at least one parameter, the sensing device comprising;

(a) an image sensor adapted to capture images of at least some of the coded data when the sensing device is placed in an operative position relative to the bill; and

(b) a processor adapted to;

(i) identify at least some of the coded data from one or more of the captured images;

(ii) determine an orientation, within the captured images, of at least some of the coded data;

(iii) decode at least some of the coded data; and

(iv) generate, using at least some of the decoded coded data, the data regarding the at least one parameter and regarding at least one of the movement and the position of the sensing device relative to the bill.

28. A system for enabling payment of bills, the system including:

a bill including coded data indicative of an identity of the bill; and

a computer system for receiving from a sensing device data regarding an identity of the person and the identity of the bill, and for identifying, from said received data, a requested payment, the sensing device containing the data regarding the identity of the person and comprising;

(a) an image sensor adapted to capture images of at least some of the coded data when the sensing device is placed in an operative position relative to the bill; and

(b) a processor adapted to;

(i) identify at least some of the coded data from one or more of the captured images;

(ii) determine an orientation, within the captured images, of at least some of the coded data;

(iii) decode at least some of the coded data; and

(iv) generate the data regarding the identity of the bill using at least some of the decoded coded data.

29. The system of claim 28 in which the coded data is also indicative of at least one parameter of the requested payment, the computer system receiving indicating data from the sensing device regarding said at least one parameter of the requested payment, and the sensing device sensing the indicating data using at least some of the coded data.

30. The system of claim 28 which includes the sensing device, the sensing device sensing at least one of a movement and a position of the sensing device relative to the bill.