Patent Application
20120250050
The present invention relates generally to input/output devices, and more particularly to a versatile input/output device for users at a facility.
User input/output devices take on a variety of forms, provide a number of functions and are becoming increasingly popular among both customers and facility owners for customer check-in or similar activities. Such devices may be referred to as a “kiosk” or “terminal” and typically provide limited features or functionality, cannot be modified or customized in the field after leaving the factory and face significant down time if a malfunction occurs, among other concerns.
A readily reconfigurable self-contained self-service user input/output device including an input/output assembly accessible by a user, the assembly being readily configurable to be used in more than one type of user configuration or application and at least one peripheral device removably secured in a desired position about the periphery of the assembly.
The following detailed description will be better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings, in which there is shown one or more of the multiple embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be understood, however, that the various embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown in the drawings.
The present invention will be described in detail with reference to embodiments that represent examples of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Although specific elements and configurations are described to provide an understanding of the invention, it is to be understood that the specific embodiments, elements and configurations provided are for illustrative purposes only. Other configurations will be recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the teachings of the present invention or the scope of the appended claims.
Various facilities and organizations frequently require the presence of an individual, such as a customer, patient or the like, at the facility to obtain goods or services at the facility. Some examples of such facilities include, but are not limited to, a doctor's office, a medical clinic, a hospital, a bank, airline terminal, will-call desk, store, automotive service center, restaurant, veterinarians office, kennel or any other type of facility. It is to be understood that the particular facility itself can vary without departing from the teachings of the present invention.
In many of these facilities, the customer or patient has an initial check-in phase followed by one or more subsequent service phases and may have a pre-arranged appointment. Although initial check-in at a facility typically is handled by an administrative person at the facility, use of self-service type check-in equipment is becoming increasingly popular for a variety of reasons.
Self-service check-in equipment typically includes some type of user input/output device such as a kiosk, hand held device, cell phone, tablet PC or the like. Existing kiosks are usually quite limited in functional capabilities and are manufactured as bulky, immovable, stand-alone units with a set configuration and functional capability with little if any ability to make accommodations to the end users needs after it leaves the factory for customization or other purposes.
Additionally, in the event of a malfunction the entire kiosk typically is shut down until an experienced technician can arrive at the facility to work on the kiosk and hopefully bring the kiosk back on-line quickly. If not, significant additional time is lost waiting for a replacement kiosk which can be days if not weeks costing the kiosk customer additional money while using valuable human resources in the interim with potential facility customer inconvenience or annoyance.
As
The device 10 substantially includes a unique housing assembly 12 that serves to accommodate all of the desired electronics, hardware, software, wiring, ports and attachment mechanisms, including a CPU and various peripherals, for example. It is to be understood, however, that the present invention is not to be limited in any way by the particular hardware, software, peripherals or the like.
The housing assembly 12 also enables orientation or mounting in a variety of readily interchangeable applications including, but not limited to, a desk or table top application as illustrated in
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It also is to be understood that peripherals can include any type of peripheral that measures a vital sign of a customer or patient, such as body temperature, blood pressure, pulse, weight, or any other type of vital peripheral. A thermal type of sensor may also be included to measure at least core body temperature and pulse rate, for example.
It is to be noted that the present invention provides a unique secure device 10 with a compact, sleek appearance for use in smaller areas where existing kiosks can't fit. This design not only is appealing to customers and users, but enables placement in many more environments along with enabling more devices 10 to be placed in a designated area.
Additionally, the modular design of the device 10 and various peripherals along with the method of attachment of these peripherals provides a distinct and highly desirable advantage over existing devices. More particularly, the design of the device 10 and attachment mechanisms used to secure the various peripherals to the device 10 are selected so that the peripherals can be secured in more than one position about the periphery of the device 10.
For example,
These unique features of the device 10, among other features, provide a novel versatility to user input/output devices that enable customers to not only customize the device 10 to their particular needs and desires when ordering but enables ready modification, upgrades and addition of more peripherals once installed at a facility by a technician or even the customer to meet changing needs. This versatility is one of many features that have enabled the device 10 to achieve rapid and extensive commercial success, including substantial usage by the U.S. government and top medical facilities.
As mentioned above, this versatility enables significant improvement in the field repair of devices 10, including the display 28 and all peripherals, simply by replacing the desired component with a new component either stocked by the customer at the facility or provided by a service technician. This significantly reduces downtime of the device 10 to reduce costs and inconvenience of the customer. It also enables any self-diagnostic tools of the device 10 to identify potential peripherals for repair and replacement on site as well as enabling any help desk personnel to direct on-site customer personnel to effect repair and replacement on their own.
The particular mounting of each peripheral to the device 10 varies and the claimed invention is not to be limited in any way by the type of mounting provided. The mounting may include particular brackets as well as stands, mounting structures and fasteners for the device 10, display 28 and any other peripheral, as well as brackets, stands and the like for mounting the housing 12 in various positions as desired so long as they provide the desired ready attachment and detachment and easy electrical connection when needed.
To determine the presence of a customer at the kiosk for service, the device 10 may also include a proximity sensor 42, illustrated in
The printer 18 can be any type of printer so long as it provides the output desired to a patient. Additionally, for privacy reasons, the printer can be designed to pull the print out back into the device 10 if not retrieved by a customer in a desired time period and disposed of later. Additionally, a full size paper printer can also be included with the device 10 and if desired integrated in the pedestal in a pull out manner (not illustrated) to enable easy servicing and refilling of ink and paper as well as ready replacement of the printer unit if needed.
The embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented with any combination of hardware and software. If implemented as a computer-implemented apparatus, the embodiments of the present disclosure are implemented using means for performing all of the steps and functions described above.
The embodiments of the present disclosure can be included in an article of manufacture (e.g., one or more computer program products) having, for instance, computer useable media. The media has embodied therein, for example, computer readable program code means for providing and facilitating the mechanisms of the embodiments of the present disclosure. The article of manufacture can be included as part of a computer system or sold separately.
Although the description above contains many specific examples, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments of the present disclosure but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments of this disclosure. Thus, the scope of the embodiments of the disclosure should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the examples given.
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes could be made to the embodiments described above without departing from the broad inventive concept thereof. It is understood, therefore, that this disclosure is not limited to the particular embodiments disclosed, but it is intended to cover modifications within the spirit and scope of the embodiments of the present disclosure.
