Patent Application
20180047007
The invention relates generally to payment system, and more specifically, to systems and methods for paying for goods at a door.
One of the biggest issues a customer faces when shopping at a store is the time it takes to actually purchase products. Often, there are never enough cashiers to deal with the volume of customers. Self-check lines are always limited when a customer has too many items. Once a customer selects products to purchase and puts them in a cart, the customer then chooses a cashier, waits in a line and purchases the goods. Accordingly, there is a need for a quick and efficient payment method without standing in line.
In one aspect, provided is a payment system for paying for goods at a door of a store, the system comprising: a purchase tunnel comprising an entrance door or gate, an exit door or gate and a scanning device, wherein the scanning device automatically scans and reads product identifying elements for all products within a cart; a biometric reader electronically coupled to the purchase tunnel, wherein the entrance door or gate opens in response to a customer inputting biometric data through the biometric reader; an entrance sensor coupled to the purchase tunnel to determine when a customer enters the purchase tunnel, wherein the entrance door or gate close in response to the sensor determining that the customer entered the purchase tunnel; and a payment hub, wherein payment is automatically processed by the payment hub upon confirmation of scanning all of the products within the cart.
Another aspect includes a method of using a payment system for paying at a door of a store, the method comprising: performing a biometric scan of a customer's biometric data using a biometric scanner of a payment system; authenticating that the scanned biometric data matches a stored biometric data associated with a registered customer; automatically opening an entrance door or gate of a payment tunnel of the payment system in response to authenticating the registered customer; automatically closing the entrance door or gate in response to a door sensor determining that the customer and associated cart have entered the payment tunnel; automatically scanning all products within the cart; and automatically processing payment for the products in the cart in response to the system determining that all products in the cart have been scanned.
The above and further advantages of this invention may be better understood by referring to the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals indicate like structural elements and features in various figures. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention.
Brick-and-mortar stores provide customers the ability to walk about the store, perusing items of interest, touching items for purchase, smelling items, listening to items, trying on items determining spacial qualities of the items, etc. However, the check out process is often time consuming where the number of cashiers is often limited and the customer selects a line to wait in for a cashier hoping they selected the fastest line. Then the customer can finally pay and leave the store with the purchased goods.
The present inventive concepts provide a secure payment system that allows a customer to quickly and efficiently checkout, pay and exit the store. The payment system allows for a user to easily and quickly checkout without the need for experiencing the conventional check out process currently offered in stores.
Referring to the drawings,
The payment system 30 may include a biometric reader 50 located by an entrance door or gate 34 of the payment tunnel 32. The biometric reader 50 operates to collect a biometric reading from the customer, such as, but not limited to a hand print, a palm print, a finger print, a retinal scan, a voice print, a facial scan, a DNA sequence and the like. The system 30 may then compare the collected biometric reading with the stored biometric data in order to determine the customer accessing the payment tunnel 32 and authenticate that the customer is registered and that the payment system 30 has all of the needed information for processing payment. Once the biometric reader 50 authenticates the customer, the entrance door or gate 34 of the payment tunnel 32 opens and allows the customer to enter with the cart 40. While a biometric reader 50 is depicted, it will be understood that there may be additional forms of identification that a customer may utilize to gain access to the payment tunnel, such as an identification card, a PIN, or the like.
As the customer enters the payment tunnel 32 with the cart 40, the entrance door or gate 34 behind the customer will close. This enables security so people do not get tailgated into the tunnel. If another unauthorized person enters the area the customer is responsible to request assistance to have the person and their merchandise removed. However, since many customers shop with more than one person, the customer may authorize more than one person in the payment tunnel 32, such as children, spouse, friend and the like.
Once in the payment tunnel 32, the payment tunnel 32 operates the sensors to scan each item in the cart 40. For example, and without limitation, products in the cart may each be marked uniquely. This unique marking may include magnetic ink, RFID tags, or some type of tag, which can be read without adjusting the products within the cart. In some embodiments, the products do need to be visible to the scanning devices 38. In the payment tunnel 32, general UPC codes will be not be needed due to the possibility of someone purchasing multiples and the system not picking up the correct amount of items. Each individual product or item has a unique code that may be invisible to the naked eye but will enable the payment system 30 to track each individual item.
Once the payment tunnel 32 confirms that all products have been scanned, the payment system 30 may utilize a payment hub 52 to collect payment. In some embodiments, the payment hub 52 operates as a typical point of sale where the customer utilizes cash or a card to pay for the products. In other embodiments, the payment hub 52 operates to automatically process payment utilizing payment data associated with the customer and stored on the server. The payment data may be accessed by the payment system 30 and payment may then be processed. Upon successful payment, the exit door or gate 36 opens and the customer may leave with the cart 40. The payment system 30 may then supply a receipt in accordance with the customer receipt preference, such as a paper receipt, or an e-receipt sent to the registered customer's email for record keeping, product returns, and warranties.
Another embodiment of a payment tunnel that may be used within this system has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,997,486, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated entirely herein by reference.
In performing the method 60, the system may be able to process various types of scanned biometric data. The scanned biometric data may include one or more of a handprint scan, a palm scan, a finger print scan, a retinal scan, a facial scan, a voice print scan and a DNA scan.
Step 65 of automatically scanning all products within the cart occurs while the customer pushes the cart through the payment tunnel. Further, Step 65 includes automatically scanning all products within the cart includes reading product identifying elements for all products within the cart. Additionally, determining whether all products in the cart are scanned further includes using video analytics system for determining that all items in the cart are visible.
As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present invention may be embodied as a system, method, or computer program product. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable medium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.
Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may be utilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wire-line, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing.
Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).
Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, cloud-based infrastructure architecture, or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other devices to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.
While the invention has been shown and described with reference to specific preferred embodiments, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PAYING FOR GOODS AT A DOOR,” Ser. No. 62/372,500, filed Aug. 9, 2016, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated entirely herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62372500 | Aug 2016 | US |
