Systems and methods for the self-checkout of secured items from a lending establishment

A method for self-checkout of secured items from a lender comprising the steps of:

• locking an item in a secure locked case;
• authenticating a patron's identification card by scanning the identification card on a scanning mechanism and confirming that the patron is allowed to checkout secured items by comparing the information stored on the identification card with the previously stored patron's status;
• if patron is authenticated, displaying instructions instructing the patron to scan an item over a second scanning mechanism;
• scanning the item over the second scanning mechanism;
• determining whether the scanned item is contained in a secure locked case based at least in part on previously stored information identifing certain items as secured items;
• blocking access to an unlocking mechanism with a blocking mechanism comprising at Least one retractable member positioned to prevent the use of the unlocking mechanism if the item is determined to be contained in a secure locked case until after secured item has been approved for checkout and the patron has been authenticated;
• actuating the blocking mechanism to allow access to the unlocking mechanism;
• inserting the secured item into the unlocking mechanism;
• unlocking the secure locked case with the unlocking mechanism so that the secure locked ease may be removed from the item;
• securing a blocking mechanism upon removal of the secure locked case from the unlocking mechanism.

A system for self-checkout of secured items from a lender comprising:

• a first scanning mechanism for reading a patron's identification card, where the first scanning mechanism is connected to a database which contains the previously stored patron's status for checkout of secured items;
• a first processor for authenticating a patron's identification card by comparing the information stored on the identification card with the previously stored patron's status to determine eligibility to checkout a secured item;
• a second scanning mechanism for receiving information about a scanned item, wherein the information includes at least one security bit and item identification;
• an RF identification tag attached to the secured item containing at least information identifying the item and a security bit identifying the item as a secured item;
• a second processor for determining whether the scanned item is contained in a secure locked case based at least in part on information previously stored in the second database and associated with the scanned item;
• a second processor for determining whether the scanned item is contained in a secure locked case by comparing information received from the second scanning mechanism to information stored on the RF identification tag;
• an unlocking mechanism for unlocking a secure locked case from a secured item, wherein access is denied to the unlocking mechanism unless the secured item is determined to be contained in a secure locked case by the second processor and the patron has been authenticated;
• and
• a blocking mechanism to prevent use of the unlocking mechanism, wherein the blocking mechanism comprises at least one retractable member to prevent access to the unlocking mechanism to prevent secured item from being inserted into unlocking mechanism, and wherein the blocking mechanism is released to allow insertion of the secure item into the unlocking mechanism only after a secured item has been approved for checkout.