# US 2021/0241210 A1 · Systems and methods for facilitating self-serve transactions with a freezer

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- Number: US 2021/0241210 A1
- Document ID: US20210241210A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 16/779,359
- Filed: 2020-01-31
- Published: 2021-08-05
- Earliest claimed: 2020-01-31
- Applicants: QSRR Corporation (dba BeMeals)
- Inventors: Michael Esrubilsky
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20210241210A1

## CPC

- G06Q 10/087: Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
- F25D 29/00: Arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices
- G06F 16/2379: {Updates performed during online database operations; commit processing}
- G06K 7/10366: {the interrogation device being adapted for miscellaneous applications}
- G06Q 10/08772: {Inventory counting methods}
- G06Q 20/102: {Bill distribution or payments}
- G06Q 20/18: involving self-service terminals [SST], vending machines, kiosks or multimedia terminals
- G06Q 20/203: {Inventory monitoring}
- G06Q 20/209: {Specified transaction journal output feature, e.g. printed receipt or voice output}
- G06Q 30/0185: {Product, service or business identity fraud}
- G07F 9/105: {Heating or cooling means, for temperature and humidity control, for the conditioning of articles and their storage (dispensers for food articles requiring a processing by temperature treatment or conditioning before they are ready for dispensing G07F17/0064)}
- H04L 12/1895: {for short real-time information, e.g. alarms, notifications, alerts, updates}
- F25D 29/008: {Alarm devices}
- F25D 2500/06: Stock management
- F25D 2700/02: Sensors detecting door opening
- F25D 2700/06: Sensors detecting the presence of a product
- F25D 2700/08: Sensors using Radio Frequency Identification [RFID]
- G06Q 10/08776: {by management of storage life of perishable or hazardous products}
- G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- F25D: REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR (refrigerated showcases A47F3/04; thermally-insulated vessels for domestic use A47J41/00; refrigerated vehicles, see the appropriate subclasses of classes B60 - B64; containers with thermal insulation in general B65D81/38; heat-transfer, heat-exchange or heat-storage materials, e.g. refrigerants, or materials for the production of heat or cold by chemical reactions other than by combustion C09K5/00; thermally-insulated vessels for liquefied or solidified gases F17C; air-conditioning or air-humidification F24F; refrigeration machines, plants, or systems F25B; cooling of instruments or comparable apparatus without refrigeration G12B)
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)
- G06K: GRAPHICAL DATA READING (image or video recognition or understanding G06V); PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS
- G07F: COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS (coin sorting G07D3/00; coin testing G07D5/00; {handling coins or paper currencies apart from payment activated apparatus G07D; payment architectures, schemes or protocols G06Q20/00})
- H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M)

## Abstract

Systems and methods for conducting self-serve transactions from an item storage device are described. In one embodiment, the system includes a freezer computing system that can execute instructions to receive an unlock signal, unlock a door of the freezer, receive an indication that the door is closed, direct one or more scanners to conduct a scan of the freezer to generate an inventory, receive the inventory from the one or more scanners, and send the inventory to a server. In another embodiment, the system includes a server computing system that can execute instructions to receive a freezer identifier and a purchaser identifier from a purchaser device, verify the freezer identifier to ensure that the purchaser is interacting with a valid freezer, verify the purchaser identifier to ensure that the purchaser is authorized for transactions, send an unlock signal to the freezer, and receive an inventory message from the freezer.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A computing system for conducting a transaction at a freezer that contains items, the computing system comprising:
one or more computer-readable storage mediums storing computer-executable instructions for controlling the computing system to:
receive an unlock signal sent from a server in communication with a purchaser;
direct the unlocking of a door of the freezer;
receive an indication that the door of the freezer is closed;
direct one or more scanners to conduct a scan of the freezer to generate an inventory of items contained in the freezer;
receive the inventory from the one or more scanners; and
send the inventory to the server so that the server can determine whether an item was removed from the freezer while the door was unlocked; and
one or more processors for executing the computer-executable instructions stored in the one or more computer-readable storage mediums.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The computing system of claim 1 wherein the one or more scanners include one or more radio-frequency identification (RFID) scanners.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The computing system of claim 1 wherein the inventory is a list of radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags identified within the freezer by the one or more scanners.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The computing system of claim 1 wherein the instructions further control the computing system to:
detect when the door of the freezer is opened;
direct the one or more scanners to scan contents of the freezer while the door is opened; and
detect when an item previously removed from the freezer has been placed into the freezer.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The computing system of claim 4 wherein the scan occurs repeatedly while the door is open.

### Claim 6 (depends on 4)

The computing system of claim 4 wherein the instructions further control the computing system to communicate to the purchaser an alert warning the purchaser not to consume the item placed into the freezer.

### Claim 7

A method performed by a computing system for conducting a transaction at a freezer, the method comprising:
receiving a signal to unlock a door of the freezer from a server in communication with a purchaser;
directing the unlocking of the door of the freezer;
receiving an indication that the door of the freezer is closed;
directing one or more scanners to conduct a scan of the freezer to generate an inventory of items contained in the freezer;
receiving the inventory from the one or more scanners; and
sending the inventory to the server so that the server can determine whether an item was removed from the freezer while the door was unlocked.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The method of claim 7 wherein the freezer comprises an interior including one or more shelves configured to carry items, one or more radio-frequency identification (RFID) scanners within the interior, and a communication element.

### Claim 9 (depends on 7)

The method of claim 7 wherein the one or more scanners include radio-frequency identification (RFID) readers configured to identify RFID tags within the freezer when directed to scan the freezer.

### Claim 10 (depends on 7)

The method of claim 7 wherein the method further comprises sending a unique freezer identifier to a purchaser through a wireless communication, the freezer identifier specifying which freezer the purchaser is interacting with.

### Claim 11 (depends on 7)

The method of claim 7 wherein the method further comprises providing a unique freezer identifier to a purchaser, the freezer identifier specifying which freezer the purchaser is interacting with.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The method of claim 11 wherein the unique freezer identifier is a QR code assigned to the freezer.

### Claim 13 (depends on 7)

The method of claim 7 further comprising:
detecting when the door of the freezer is open;
repeatedly scanning the freezer to detect contents of the freezer using the one or more scanners; and
detecting when a new item has been placed into the freezer by identifying the new item as not having been present in a previous scan.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The method of claim 13 further comprising alerting a purchaser to the presence of the new item in the freezer in order to warn against consuming the new item.

### Claim 15

A computing system for authorizing a transaction at a freezer containing items, the computing system comprising:
one or more computer-readable storage mediums storing computer-executable instructions for controlling the computing system to:
receive a freezer identifier and a purchaser identifier from a computer device controlled by a purchaser, the freezer identifier specifying which freezer the purchaser is interacting with and the purchaser identifier specifying which purchaser is interacting with the freezer;
verify the freezer identifier to ensure that the purchaser is interacting with a valid freezer;
verify the purchaser identifier to ensure that the purchaser is authorized for transactions with the freezer;
send an unlock signal to the freezer so that the freezer will unlock a door so that the purchaser can remove items for purchase; and
receive a message from the freezer specifying an inventory in the freezer after the door was shut; and
a processor for executing the computer-executable instructions stored in the one or more computer-readable storage mediums.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The computing system of claim 15 wherein the freezer comprises a main storage area, three radio-frequency identification (RFID) scanners inside the main storage area, one or more shelves inside the main storage area for carrying inventory, and a communication element for communicating with the computing system.

### Claim 17 (depends on 15)

The computing system of claim 15, wherein:
the computing system further includes an inventory consumption date database storing a record of consumption dates for items in the freezer and a status for items in the freezer; and
the instructions further control the computing system to:
check the message for inventory items past their consumption date;
update the status of any item that is past the consumption date for the item; and
send a “do not consume” message to a purchaser application identifying the item past its consumption date after receiving the freezer identifier.

### Claim 18 (depends on 15)

The computing system of claim 15, wherein:
the computing system further includes an inventory database storing a history of the inventory in the freezer; and
the instructions further control the computing system to:
calculate a change in the inventory using the message received from the freezer and the history of the inventory in the freezer; and
identify when an item has been added to the freezer between a previous message and the message based on the change in freezer inventory.

### Claim 19 (depends on 18)

The computing system of claim 18, wherein the instructions further control the computing system to send a “do not consume” message to a purchaser identifying the item that was added to the freezer.

### Claim 20 (depends on 15)

The computing system of claim 15, wherein:
the computing system further includes an inventory database storing a history of the inventory in the freezer; and
the instructions further control the computing system to:
calculate a change in the inventory using the message received from the freezer and the history of the inventory in the freezer; and
assign a value to the change in freezer inventory based on pricing information.

### Claim 21 (depends on 20)

The computing system of claim 20, wherein the instructions further control the computing system to:
bill a purchaser identified by the purchaser identifier for an amount corresponding to the value; and
send a receipt message to a purchaser application communicating the value.

### Claim 22 (depends on 20)

The computing system of claim 20, wherein the instructions further control the computing system to:
bill a freezer manager for an amount corresponding to the value; and
send the freezer manager a receipt with the purchaser identifier and the value.

### Claim 23

A method performed by a computing system for authorizing a transaction at a freezer, the method comprising:
receiving a freezer identifier and a purchaser identifier from a computer device controlled by a purchaser, the freezer identifier specifying which freezer the purchaser is interacting with and the purchaser identifier specifying which purchaser is interacting with the freezer;
verifying the freezer identifier to ensure that the purchaser is interacting with a known freezer;
verifying the purchaser identifier to ensure that the purchaser is authorized for transactions with the freezer; and
sending an unlock signal to the freezer so that the freezer will unlock a door so that the purchaser can open the door and remove items for purchase.

### Claim 24 (depends on 23)

The method of claim 23 wherein the method further comprises receiving a message from the freezer specifying an inventory in the freezer after the door was shut.

### Claim 25 (depends on 24)

The method of claim 24 wherein the method further comprises:
retrieving a consumption date for each item in the inventory from an inventory database;
comparing a current date to the consumption date for each item; and
reporting any item for which the consumption date is earlier than the current date.

### Claim 26 (depends on 24)

The method of claim 24 wherein the method further comprises:
retrieving a previous inventory from an inventory database;
calculating an increase in the inventory using the message received from the freezer and the previous inventory to identify new items; and
reporting the new items to a freezer manager to alert the freezer manager to remove the new items before a second purchaser consumes them.

### Claim 27 (depends on 26)

The method of claim 26 further comprising:
receiving the freezer identifier and a second purchaser identifier from a second computer device controlled by the second purchaser; and
sending an alert to the second computer device, wherein the alert warns the second purchaser of the presence of the new items and warns against consuming the new items.

### Claim 28 (depends on 24)

The method of claim 24 wherein the method further comprises:
retrieving a previous inventory from an inventory database;
calculating a reduction in freezer inventory using the message received from the freezer and the previous inventory to identify removed items; and
assigning a value to the reduction to be used in billing for the transaction.

### Claim 29 (depends on 28)

The method of claim 28 wherein the method further comprises charging the purchaser for the value.

### Claim 30 (depends on 28)

The method of claim 28 wherein the method further comprises charging a freezer manager for the value.