Patent Application
20170178089
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally pertains to the field of digital scanning, computing, data collection and data processing devices and electronic use, and more particularly relates to a barcode reader apparatus connected to the bank account of the vendor.
2. Description of Related Art
A barcode is an optical machine-readable representation of data. Originally, barcodes represented data, by varying the programmed barcode chip. These types of barcodes may be referred to as programmed barcode chips or one-dimensional (1D) barcodes. Later, barcodes evolved into rectangles, dots, hexagons and other geometric patterns in two dimensions (2D).
Although 2D systems use a variety of symbols, they are generally referred to as barcodes as well. Devices for identifying or extracting information from barcodes are generally referred to as barcode readers. Barcodes and barcode readers have a wide variety of uses. For example, almost every item from a grocery store, department store, or a mass product has a barcode on it.
Currently, most of the stores sell products created by different vendors e.g. clothes, food items, medicines, furniture, luggage bags etc. Stores keep and sell these products and pay the vendor only after a predetermined period such as 30 days, 60 days, 90 days or 120 days.
Therefore, there is a need of a barcode reader apparatus placed in a store for communicating the store bank with the vendor's bank. Further, the barcode reader apparatus scans information related to each product from the barcode chip.
In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, a barcode reader apparatus for communicating the store bank with the vendor's bank over a communication network is provided.
An object of the present invention is to provide a barcode reader apparatus including a housing handheld by the store manager and or clerk, an in-counter barcode scanner capable of scanning and decoding barcodes information from the barcode chip. Further, the barcode reader apparatus include a memory unit and a processor.
The memory unit is for storing vendor's bank name, vendor's bank account number, routing number of the vendor's bank account, vendor's name, a special code and price of each product and the processor is coupled to the memory unit and the in-counter barcode scanner.
The processor is programmed to receive decoded alphanumeric characters from the in-counter barcode scanner; store the decoded alphanumeric characters in the memory unit; analyze the vendor price and selling price, routing number, and account number and a special code, and vendor's name, and financial institute programmed from the barcode chip; and communicating with the store's bank and or customer's bank account for transferring the vendor price associated with the product to the vendor's bank account.
In another object of the present invention, the processor is further programmed to send a transaction slip of the purchases to the vendor over the communication network.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more fully apparent in the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
While this technology is illustrated and described in a preferred embodiment, a barcode reader apparatus for communicating the store bank and or the customer's bank account with the vendor's bank may be produced in many different configurations, forms, computer languages and materials. There is depicted in the drawings, and will herein be described in detail, as a preferred embodiment of the invention, with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and the associated functional specifications for its construction and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiment illustrated. Those skilled in the art will envision many other possible variations within the scope of the technology described herein.
The barcode reader apparatus 100 directs the store's bank and or the customers account to transfer funds associated with the product to the vendor's bank over a communication network. The barcode chip 106 contains a product code associated with the product. The product code reflects multiple price of the product such as vendor price, selling price and store's commission price on the product. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the vendor's price is transferred by the store's bank and or the customer's bank account to the vendor's bank.
The in-counter barcode scanner 104 outputs alphanumeric characters encoded in the barcode chip. Examples of in-counter barcode scanner 104 includes but not limited to Honeywell horizon MS7625 code reader MK7625-71B41, and the Datalogic Magellan 2300HS Barcode Scanner M230D-00111-05040R etc.
The barcode reader apparatus 100 includes a memory unit 106 mounted in the housing 102 for storing vendor's bank name, vendor's bank account number, routing number of the vendor's bank account, vendor's name, a special code and price of each product. Further, in another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the memory unit 106 may store multiple prices for each product i.e. selling price, vendor price and store commission price.
The barcode reader apparatus 100 includes a processor 108 coupled to memory unit 106 and the in-counter barcode scanner 104. The processor 108 is programmed to process a series of steps. The steps initiates with a step 110 to receive decoded alphanumeric characters from the in-counter barcode scanner. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the alphanumeric characters are a special code reflecting vendor's information associated with the product.
The step 110 is followed by a step 112 to store the decoded alphanumeric characters in the memory unit 106. In a preferred embodiment, the special code is stored in the memory unit. The step 112 is then followed by a step 114 of analyzing the vendor price and selling price, routing number, and account number and a special code, and vendor's name, and financial institute programmed from the barcode chip.
The step 114 is then followed by a step 116 of communicating with the store's bank/customer's bank for transferring the vendor price associated with the product to the vendor's bank account. This enables the vendor's to receive money directly associated with the product being sold at the store.
The present invention offers various advantages such as eliminating the need of applying for bank loans, or paying factoring company a percentage to buy their account receivable. The vendor's receive money directly and no more waiting period.
Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the herein described apparatus may be subject to various modifications and alternative constructions. There is no intention to limit the scope of the disclosure to the specific exemplary embodiments, applications, and/or constructions described herein. Rather, the herein described devices, systems are intended to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling within the scope and spirit of the claimed invention and its equivalents.
