Kiosks for evaluating and purchasing used electronic devices and related technology
AssigneeecoATM, LLC
InventorsMark Vincent Bowles, Thomas L. Tullie, Eric Rosser
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A process for a pre-acquisition auction for recycled electronic devices is disclosed herein. A plurality of pre-acquisition purchase prices are established with each of the plurality of pre-acquisition purchase prices established for a recycled electronic device in a predetermined condition, and each of the pre-acquisition purchase prices established by a winning bid from a bidder of a plurality of bidders for a recycled electronic device.
Claims29
A computer-implemented method for recycling an electronic device, the method comprising:
- establishing a plurality of pre-acquisition purchase prices, each of the plurality of pre-acquisition purchase prices established for a recycled electronic device in a predetermined condition, each of the plurality of pre-acquisition purchase prices established by a winning bid from a bidder of a plurality of bidders for the recycled electronic device;
- and
- via a processor of a kiosk
- receiving, from at least one camera positioned within the kiosk, an image of an electronic device received from a user and positioned on an inspection surface within an inspection area of the kiosk, wherein the inspection surface is in a first position relative to the inspection area when it receives the electronic device and wherein, after receiving the electronic device, the processor causes the inspection surface to move into a second position relative to the inspection area to facilitate imaging the electronic device with the at least one camera;
- inspecting the image of the electronic device;
- determining an identity and/or a condition of the electronic device based at least in part on the inspection of the image;
- selecting one of the pre-acquisition purchase prices from the plurality of pre-acquisition purchase prices for the electronic device based at least in part on the identity and/or the condition of the electronic device;
- and
- offering the selected pre-acquisition purchase price to the user for the electronic device.
A computer-implemented method for recycling an electronic device, the method comprising:
- establishing a plurality of pre-acquisition purchase prices for a plurality of recycled electronic devices;
- and
- via a processor of a kiosk
- receiving, from at least one camera positioned within the kiosk, an image of an electronic device positioned in an inspection position on an inspection surface within an inspection area of the kiosk, wherein at least a portion of the electronic device is facing the at least one camera;
- obtaining an identifier associated with an identity of the electronic device from the image using optical character recognition;
- using the identifier to determine the identity of the electronic device;
- transmitting the image or another image of the electronic device to a human operator for a visual evaluation of a condition of the electronic device;
- determining a purchase price for the electronic device, wherein the purchase price is selected from the plurality of pre-acquisition purchase prices based at least in part on the identity and/or the condition of the electronic device;
- and
- offering the purchase price to a user for the electronic device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.