ITEM SCANNING IN A SHOPPING CART

• US 20140001258A1
• Filed: 06/29/2012
• Published: 01/02/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions Holdings Corporation (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Chan, Wei Cai, Chee, Mun Kong, Lim, Kelvin Kok Yong, Soon, Hoon Weng, Wang, Yong Wei
• Granted Patent: US 8,950,671 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/385
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0875 Itemisation or classification of parts, supplies or services, e.g. bill of materials
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/208 Input by product or record sensing, e.g. weighing or scanner processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/0072 with means for detecting the weight of the article of which the code is read, for the verification of the registration weighing combined with recording means, e.g. in weighing scale, G01G19/415
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/0081 the reader being a portable scanner or data reader G07G1/009 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/009 the reader being an RFID reader

Abstract

A method for item scanning in a shopping cart includes detecting a change in a weight of one or more items within a shopping cart. The weight is sensed by a weight sensor disposed in the shopping cart. Each of the one or more items includes a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag. The method includes switching an RFID reader to an active state and scanning RFID tags of the one or more items with the RFID reader in response to detecting the change in weight. The RFID reader is disposed on the shopping cart. The method includes switching the RFID reader to an inactive state subsequent to scanning the RFID tags with the RFID reader. The method includes determining an inventory of the one or more items based on information from the scanned RFID tags. The inventory includes an item quantity and an item identity.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

detecting a change in a weight of one or more items within a shopping cart, the weight sensed by a weight sensor disposed in the shopping cart, each of the one or more items comprising a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag;

switching an RFID reader to an active state and scanning RFID tags of the one or more items with the RFID reader in response to detecting the change in the weight, the RFID reader disposed on the shopping cart;

switching the RFID reader to an inactive state subsequent to scanning the RFID tags with the RFID reader; and

determining an inventory of the one or more items based on information from the scanned RFID tags, the inventory comprising an item quantity and an item identity.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the change in the weight further comprises detecting a change from a baseline weight, the baseline weight being prior to an item being added to the cart.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing the inventory on a storage device disposed on the cart, the storage device in communication with the RFID reader.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising communicating the inventory to a separate computing device away from the cart.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the separate computing device comprises a checkout station, the checkout station performing the checkout process based on the inventory.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the separate computing device comprises a central server, wherein the central server maintains the inventory and communicates the inventory to a checkout station during a checkout process, the checkout station performing the checkout process based on the inventory.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the inventory is communicated using a wireless local area network (WLAN) transmitter in communication with the RFID reader.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a scanning trigger and scanning the RFID tags of the one or more items with the RFID reader in response to receiving the scanning trigger.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the scanning trigger comprises one of:

an external signal; and

a physical feature on a floor under the cart, the physical feature shaped to agitate the cart and cause the weight sensor to detect the change in the weight.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising electronically displaying the inventory on a display in communication with the RFID reader, wherein electronically displaying the inventory comprises displaying one or more of the item quantity, the item identity, an item price, an item promotion, and a total price.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising detecting a difference between the weight of the one or more items and a total predicted weight, the total predicted weight based on the item identity, the item quantity, and a predicted weight for each of the one or more items.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising issuing an alert in response to detecting the difference between the weight of the one or more items and the total predicted weight.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising rescanning the RFID tags of the one or more items with the RFID reader in response to detecting the difference between the weight of the one or more items and the total predicted weight.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein detecting the difference between the weight of the one or more items and the total predicted weight occurs in response to one of detecting the change in the weight of the items and detecting a checkout process initiation.

15. An apparatus comprising:

a detection module that detects a change in a weight of one or more items within a shopping cart, the weight sensed by a weight sensor disposed in the shopping cart, each of the one or more items comprising a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag;

a scanning module that switches an RFID reader to an active state and scans RFID tags of the one or more items with the RFID reader in response to the detection module detecting the change in weight, the RFID reader disposed on the shopping cart;

an inactive state module that switches the RFID reader to an inactive state subsequent to the scanning module scanning the RFID tags with the RFID reader; and

an inventory determination module that determines an inventory of the one or more items based on information from the scanned RFID tags, the inventory comprising an item quantity and an item identity

16. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising a storage module that stores the inventory on a storage device disposed on the cart, the storage device in communication with the RFID reader.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising a communication module that communicates the inventory to a separate computing device away from the cart.

18. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising a checkout module that receives the inventory and performs the checkout process based on the inventory.

19. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising:

a remote storage module that receives the inventory from the cart and stores the inventory at a central server; and

a checkout communication module that communicates the inventory from the central server to a checkout station during a checkout process, the checkout station performing the checkout process based on the inventory.

20. A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code for:

detecting change in a weight of one or more items within a shopping cart, the weight sensed by a weight sensor disposed in the shopping cart, each of the one or more items comprising a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag;

switching an RFID reader to an active state and scanning RFID tags of the one or more items with the RFID reader in response to detecting the change in the weight, the RFID reader disposed on the shopping cart;

switching the RFID reader to an inactive state subsequent to scanning the RFID tags with the RFID reader; and

determining an inventory of the one or more items based on information from the scanned RFID tags, the inventory comprising an item quantity and an item identity.