Fixed self-checkout station with cradle for communicating with portable self-scanning units
View Patent ↗A retail checkout system includes a customer-operated portable terminal with a data reader, such as a barcode scanner, and a customer-operated self-checkout station with an automated payment-accepting subsystem. Customers use the portable terminal to identify and log products that are selected as they move through a store. Item identification data is then transferred to the self-checkout station, where the customer pays for the selected products using the automated payment-accepting subsystem.
1. A customer-operated self-checkout system for items bearing identifiers, the system comprising:
a portable terminal including a data reader and a first RF interface, wherein the portable terminal identifies selected items using the data reader, and transmits information about the selected items via the first RF interface;
a base station including a second RF interface, a memory, and a data output port, wherein the base station receives the information about the selected items from the portable terminal via the second RF interface, stores the information in the memory, and outputs the information via the data output port; and
a self-checkout station including a data input port, a customer-operated automated payment-accepting subsystem, and a portable terminal interface at the customer-operated automated payment-accepting subsystem for communicating directly with the terminal to identify the portable terminal, wherein the self-checkout station receives the stored information from the base station data output port via the data input port, and accepts payment from the customer for the selected items using the payment-accepting subsystem.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the data reader identifies the selected items by reading barcodes, and the data reader comprises a barcode reader selected from a group consisting of: a flying spot scanner, an optical imagining reader, and a wand reader.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the data reader identifies the selected items by reading optical characters, and the data reader comprises an optical character recognition reader.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the data reader identifies the selected items by reading radio frequency identification tags, and the data reader comprises a radio frequency identification tag reader.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the base station memory stores a price look-up table, and wherein a total price for selected items is computed based on a price look-up table.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the self-checkout station further includes an interface to a point-of-sale system.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the payment-accepting subsystem comprises at least one of a credit card transaction device, a debit card transaction device, and a cash-accepting device.
8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the portable terminal further includes terminal identification information.