# US 7,412,229 B2 · Sales apparatus and method of transmitting and receiving merchandise information by electric field induced in human body

> Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt

- Number: US 7,412,229 B2
- Document ID: US7412229B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 10/676,943
- Filed: 2003-09-30
- Published: 2004-04-08
- Granted: 2008-08-12
- Earliest claimed: 2002-10-02
- Assignees: Nippon Telephone and Telegraph Corporation
- Inventors: Katsuyuki Ochiai; Mitsuru Shinagawa; Hiroyoshi Togo; Tadashi Minotani
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US7412229B2

## CPC

- G07F 9/02: Devices for alarm or indication, e.g. when empty; Advertising arrangements in coin-freed apparatus (alarms or warning devices indicating the interruption of flow to be metered G07F15/10)
- G06Q 20/20: Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
- G06Q 20/202: {Interconnection or interaction of plural electronic cash registers [ECR] or to host computer, e.g. network details, transfer of information from host to ECR or from ECR to ECR}
- G06Q 20/367: {involving electronic purses or money safes}
- 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})
- 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

## Abstract

The button apparatus is an apparatus provided for, for example, a vending machine and to be touched and pressed with the body of a user who wants to purchase a commodity from the vending machine. By pressing down the button apparatus, the user can purchase a required commodity from the vending machine. The button apparatus has a conductive pusher, an insulator, a switch, and a transceiver. A user wearing a wearable computer and a user's transceiver touches and presses down the pusher, to separately establish communication between the transceiver and the user's transceiver through the conductive pusher and the body of the user, as well as communication of providing a press signal.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A sales apparatus comprising:
a wearable computer which a user wears and which includes:
a wallet manager configured to manager electric money information; and
a first transceiver configured to transmit and receive information by inducing an electric field in a body of the user serving as an electric-field propagating medium according to information to be transmitted and by detecting the electric field induced in the human body; and
a vending machine including:
a sales processor configured to manage sales of commodities;
a second transceiver connected to the sales processor; and
a plurality of commodity selection buttons each corresponding to a commodity and including:
a conductive pusher connected to the second transceiver and touched and pressed down with the body of the user when the user intends to obtain the corresponding commodity from the vending machine;
a switch connected to the sales processor and configured to transfer press information of the conductive pusher when the conductive pusher is pressed down, to the sales processor; and
an insulator disposed between the conductive pusher and the switch to prevent the electric field induced in the pusher from leaking to the switch, wherein the sales processor regularly sends a connection confirmation packet to inform the wallet manager of the presence of the vending machine, and when the body of the user touches one of the conductive pushers, a communication path is established between the wallet manager and the sales processor via the first transceiver, the body of the user, the conductive pusher, and the second transceiver so that the wallet manager detects the connection confirmation packet sent from the sales processor and sends the electric money information stored therein to the sales processor, and when the body of the user pushes down the conductive pusher, the switch transfers the press information to the sales processor, which determines the commodity selected by the user based on the press information and requests the wallet manager to pay for the selected commodity.

### Claim 2

A method of transmitting and receiving merchandise information by using a sales apparatus comprising;
a wearable computer which a user wears and which includes:
a wallet manager configured to manage electric money information; and
a first transceiver configured to transmit and receive information by inducing an electric field in a body of the user serving as an electric-field propagating medium according to information to be transmitted and by detecting the electric field induced in the human body; and
a vending machine including:
a sales processor configured to manage sales of commodities;
a second transceiver connected to the sales processor; and
a plurality of commodity selection buttons each corresponding to a commodity and including:
a conductive pusher connected to the second transceiver and touched and pressed down with the body of the user when the user intends to obtain the corresponding commodity from the vending machine;
a switch connected to the sales processor and configured to transfer press information of the conductive pusher when the conductive pusher is pressed down, to the sales processor; and
an insulator disposed between the conductive pusher and the switch to prevent the electric field induced in the pusher from leaking to the switch, the method comprising the steps of:
sending regularly by the sales processor a connection confirmation packet to inform the wallet manager of the presence of the vending machine;
detecting by the wallet manager the connection confirmation packet sent from the sales processor through a communication path established between the wallet manager and the sales processor via the first transceiver, the body of the user, the conductive pusher, and the second transceiver when the body of the user touches one of the conductive pushers;
sending by the wallet manager the electric money information stored therein to the sales processor;
transferring by the switch the press information to the sales processor when the body of the user pushes down the conductive pusher;
determining by the sales processor the commodity selected by the user based on the press information; and
requesting by the sales processor the wallet manager to pay for the selected commodity.