Wireless hand-supportable internet-enabled access terminal for enabling information-related transactions over the internet

• US 6,464,139 B1
• Filed: 09/14/2000
• Issued: 10/15/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 11/24/1993
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Metrologic Instruments Incorporated (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Metrologic Instruments Incorporated (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Inventors: Wilz, David M. Sr., Knowles, Carl H.
• Primary Examiner(s): LE, THIEN MINH
• Application Number:
  US09/662,039
• Time in Patent Office: 761 Days
• Field of Search: 235/462, 235/472, 235/375, 235/494, 235/454, 235/470
• US Class Current: 235/462.01
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9554 by using bar codes
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10722 Photodetector array or CCD scanning
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10851 Circuits for pulse shaping, amplifying, eliminating noise signals, checking the function of the sensing device basic electronic circuitry H03

Abstract

A wireless hand-supportable Internet-enabled transaction-enabling terminal for enablign a user to information-related transaction. An HTML-encoded document, and code associated with a transaction-enabling Applet, are created and stored in an http information server for use in enabling the predetermined information-related transaction. The transaction-enabling Applet is encoded within a bar code symbol. When the Applet-encoded bar code symbol is read using the wireless hand-supportable Internet-enabled transaction-enabling terminal of the present invention, the corresponding code is automatically accessed from the HTTP server, the HTML-encoded document is displayed at the terminal, and the transaction-enabling Applet is initiated for execution so that the customer, consumer or client desiring the transaction can simply and conveniently conduct the information-related transaction over the Internet.

Claims

1. A wireless hand-supportable Internet-enabled access terminal for enabling information-related transactions over the Internet, comprising:

a hand-supportable housing;

a bar code symbol reader, disposed within said hand-supportable housing, for reading an Applet-encoded bar code symbol encoded with a transaction-enabling Applet, wherein code associated with said transaction-enabling Applet is stored in a HTTP information server connected to the infrastructure of the Internet;

a computing platform, disposed aboard said hand-supportable housing, for executing said transaction-enabling Applet encoded within said Applet-encoded bar code symbol;

a wireless-type Internet-access device, operably connected to said computing platform and the infrastructure of the Internet so as to provide a wireless data communication link between said wireless hand-supportable Internet access terminal and the infrastructure of the Internet;

an Internet-enabled browser program, executable on said computing platform, for executing Applets, including said transaction-enabling Applet, encoded within said Applet-encoded bar code symbol,

a display screen, integrated with said hand-supportable housing, for visually displaying one or more HTML-encoded documents during the execution of said transaction-enabling Applet, and

a data entry means, integrated with said hand-supportable housing, for entering data into said wireless hand-supportable Internet access terminal,

wherein, when said bar code symbol reader reads said Applet-encoded bar code symbol, said bar code symbol reader automatically produces data representative of said transaction-enabling Applet, and provides said produced data to said Internet-enabled browser program for use in executing said transaction-enabling Applet, including accessing said code associated with said Applet-encoded bar code symbol stored on said HTTP information server, and thereby enabling the user to conduct said information-related transaction over the Internet using said wireless hand-supportable Internet access terminal.

2. The wireless hand-supportable Internet-enabled access terminal of claim 1, wherein said Applet-encoded bar code symbol is a 2-D bar code symbol encoded with the code of said transaction-enabling Applet.

3. The wireless hand-supportable Internet-enabled access terminal of claim 2, wherein said 2-D bar code symbol is of the PDF-417 format.

4. The wireless hand-supportable Internet-enabled access terminal of claim 2, wherein said bar code symbol reader is a 2-D bar code symbol reader capable of reading said 2-D bar code symbol.

5. The wireless hand-supportable Internet-enabled access terminal of claim 4, wherein said bar code symbol reader is selected from the group consisting of a laser scanning bar code symbol reader, a CCD-type bar code symbol reader, and a wand-type bar code symbol reader.

6. The wireless hand-supportable Internet-enabled access terminal of claim 1, wherein said Applet-encoded bar code symbol a Java-Applet encoded bar code symbol and said Internet-enabled browser program is a Java-enabled browser program.