Shopper's purchase monitoring device

A purchase monitoring device, to be used by a shopper in a self-service store having items with bar codes which identify the item and its price, the device including primarily a portable handset having a bar code scanner which enables pricing and identification data of a selected item to be displayed on an LED display of the handset. Through selective use of a price check button, a purchase button, and a return button, the price of the item may be checked, added to a running total of purchase items, or removed from a running total of purchased items. During scanning of an item, a three headed roller selectively designates the item as a purchase item or as a non-purchase item by marking the bar code with either a red or a green line, so the purchase items can be quickly verified. Alternatively, the roller may change the state of a polarized metallic strip included with the bar code. The list of purchase items is stored within the handset for subsequent transfer to a data reception register of the store for payment.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a purchase monitoring device, to be used 
by a shopper in a self-service store to scan the price of select items and 
designate, when desired, that the item is a purchase item, and to store a 
list and running total of the purchase items for subsequent transfer to a 
data reception register for verification and payment, thereby providing an 
effective means of enabling users to be aware of how much they are 
spending in order to help them to stick to a budget and to expedite the 
store checkout procedures by not requiring individual checkout scanning of 
each item. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
When shopping a self-service store such as a supermarket, consumers often 
encounter a number of inconveniences. One of these inconveniences includes 
difficulty in determining the price of an object to be purchased. This 
difficulty is a result of recent technology which enables the bar code of 
an item to be scanned at the cash register, thereby eliminating the 
necessity for individual price tags on each item, and only requiring that 
a price and item description appear on a shelf where the item is stocked. 
Unfortunately, prices often change due to promotions and the like, and are 
sometimes difficult to identify with regard to the prices displayed on the 
shelves. A further difficulty encountered at these stores involves the 
need of many customers to stick to a predetermined, precise budget, 
thereby necessitating that the cost of items to be purchased be calculated 
and known before checkout to avoid delays or embarrassment as a result of 
a deficiency of funds. Finally, the most obvious difficulty all consumers 
encounter in large self-service stores such as supermarkets is the endless 
waiting in line, waiting for all items to be purchased to be scanned and 
paid for. These difficulties are illustrated by the invention of the 
devices such as those recited in Bianco, U.S. Pat. No. 5,047,614, Collins, 
Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 4,929,819, Clyne, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,373,133, and 
O'Connor, U.S. Pat. No. 4,959,530, which utilize scanning of bar codes by 
individuals. These devices, however, do not provide the flexibility of 
allowing a person to merely check the price of an item, or select to 
purchase the item, or select to return the item after selection as a 
purchase item. Further, these inventions are not structured to provide 
that a scanned item itself be clearly indicated as a purchase item. 
Additionally, none of the items in the prior art enable an individual to 
maintain an accurate and up-to-date comparison of their actual purchases 
and their budget by clearly indicating the total purchase amount at all 
times. 
The present invention is designed precisely to meet the needs of consumers 
as well as stores, and make the shopping experience more efficient and 
more enjoyable. Particularly, the present invention incorporates the use 
of existing bar code scanning technology which a majority of stores 
already employ, thereby requiring no adaptation of the store's computer 
pricing techniques. Additionally, the present invention enables the buyer 
to keep a constant update of how much is being spent thereby assisting the 
maintaining of a budget when items are selected to be purchased or 
returned. Most importantly, the present device enables the checkout 
process to be highly expedited through an easily adapted data transmission 
which provides for all purchase data collected by each consumer to be 
quickly and easily transmitted to a register, thereby requiring only a 
rapid, cursory examination of the products to determine if they are 
properly designated as a purchase item. The present invention is a 
complete system which will greatly assist consumers and store owners alike 
since it is easily adapted for use and can be easily and non-complicatedly 
employed by the average consumer. Currently in the art, multiple devices 
and procedures would be required to provide only a few of the functions of 
the device of the present invention and none allow a method of shopping as 
is possible utilizing the present invention. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention is directed towards a purchase monitoring device to 
be used by a shopper in a self-service store. Most self-service stores 
include items having bar codes thereon which may be scanned to identify 
the item and a price thereof, and the device of the present invention 
utilizes this technology. The device of the present invention primarily 
includes a portable handset which has a lightweight exterior casing. This 
exterior casing includes a distal front face, a distal rear face, a 
proximal front face, and a proximal rear face, disposed so as to make the 
handset easy to grasp and utilize. Contained within the handset are data 
storage means which store pricing and identification data corresponding 
individual bar codes of store items. A bar code scanner, which is disposed 
in scanning position in the distal front face of the casing, is adapted to 
scan an item's bar code and correspondingly identify its information 
stored within the data storage means. The bar code scanner is positioned 
such that upon passage of the distal front face of the handset over the 
selected item its bar code is scanned. Additionally, the handset includes 
purchase designation means and non-purchase designation means disposed in 
the distal front face of the casing. The purchase designation means are 
adapted to selectively designate an item over which the distal front face 
of the handset is passed as a purchase item which is sought to be 
purchased. The non-purchase designation means similarly selectively 
designates one of the items previously designated as a purchase item as a 
non-purchase item upon passage of the distal front face of the handset 
thereover. The purchase designation means and non-purchase designation 
means are adapted to be selectively utilized simultaneously with the 
passage of the bar code scanner over the bar code on the selected item 
such that a single pass of the distal front face of the handset over the 
item is necessitated. Disposed in a distal rear face of the casing are 
display means which display pricing and identification information 
thereon. Further contained within the handset are purchase memory means. 
The purchase memory means are adapted to store the particular pricing and 
identification of data of each of the items designated as a purchase item 
by the shopper. Further, the purchase memory means adds all of the prices 
of the purchase items entered therein so as to provide a total purchase 
amount displayed on the display means, thereby providing a shopper with a 
constant update of how much they are spending. Positioned on a proximal 
rear face of the casing of the handset are a plurality of buttons. These 
buttons include a price check button, a purchase button, and a return 
button. The price check button is adapted to be pushed during passage of 
the distal front face of the handset over the bar code of a selected item 
such that the pricing and identification data corresponding the item will 
be retrieved from the data storage means and briefly displayed on the 
display means to enable a shopper to verify the price and identity of the 
selected item. The purchase button is also adapted to be pushed during 
passage of the distal front face of the handset over the bar code of the 
selected item, and when it is pushed during this passage, the purchase 
designation means are simultaneously caused to designate the item scanned 
as one of the purchase items, thereby retrieving the pricing and 
identification data of that selected item, briefly displaying it on the 
display means, and entering it into the purchase memory means for storage 
and addition to the running total purchase amount. The return button is 
adapted to be pushed during passage of the distal front face of the 
handset over the bar code of a select one of the purchase items so as to 
cause the non-purchase designation means to designate that purchase item 
as a non-purchase item and to retrieve the pricing and identification data 
corresponding that purchase item from the data storage means for matched 
removal of that pricing and identification data from the purchase memory 
means, accordingly updating the total purchase amount. Disposed on the 
front proximal face of the casing of the handset is a numeric key pad. The 
numeric key pad enables entry by the shopper of a budget amount 
corresponding a maximum amount of money which can be spent by the shopper 
at the store. This budget amount is stored in the purchase memory means 
and is displayed on the display means, thereby enabling a user to 
constantly refer to the budget amount in determining how much more can be 
purchased. The handset, which includes its own independent power source, 
includes a two-way data transmission connector in the proximal front face 
of the casing. This connector is particularly adapted to enable updated 
pricing and identification data to be transmitted from a central store 
computer to the data storage means within the handset by connecting the 
handset through the two-way data transmission connector to the store's 
central computer. Additionally, the two-way data transmission connector is 
structured and disposed to enable the pricing and identification data 
corresponding all of the purchase items to be transmitted from the 
purchase memory means to a data reception register at the checkout station 
of the store so as to provide an itemized receipt of the purchase items to 
be printed. The data reception register is generally positioned at a 
purchase confirmation station of the device located at the store's 
checkout station. The purchase confirmation station is adapted to enable 
an employee of the store to quickly verify that all items represented by 
the shopper as purchase items are in fact purchase items, without the need 
to individually scan each item or perform a detailed price check and 
verification on every item. 
It is an object of the present invention to provide a device which will 
enable shoppers to quickly and easily determine the price of a selected 
item. 
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a purchase 
monitoring device which will keep an accurate and updated total purchase 
amount, thereby enabling a user to constantly know how much money they 
have spent on the items selected during their shopping. 
A further object of the present invention is to enable a user to quickly 
and easily compare the total purchase amount of items to be bought with a 
maximum budget amount which they have pre-selected, thereby assuring that 
the shopper will know how many items they can afford to actually purchase. 
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a purchase 
monitoring device which can be easily updated to assure that current 
pricing and identification data corresponding item bar codes is always 
utilized. 
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a purchase 
monitoring device which will significantly expedite the checkout procedure 
by eliminating the need for a store clerk to individually scan each item 
to be purchased at the checkout station, but merely necessitates that the 
store clerk provide a cursory, rapid verification of all items as they are 
quickly transferred from a user's shopping cart to a bagging area. 
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a purchase 
monitoring device which can easily transfer information regarding the 
items to be purchased to a store data reception register where a receipt 
may be printed and payment received. 
A further object of the present invention is to provide a purchase 
monitoring device which is easy to utilize by any store customer and will 
not require complex or costly adaptation of existing store pricing systems 
which already utilize bar codes and bar code scanners to identify and 
price items.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Shown throughout FIGS. 1-8, the present invention is directed towards a 
purchase monitoring device, generally indicated as 10. The monitoring 
device 10 is adapted to be used by a shopper in a self-service store of 
the type having numerous items with bar codes thereon to identify the item 
and a price thereof. The monitoring device includes primarily a portable 
handset 20, illustrated in FIGS. 1-6. The handset 20 includes a durable 
exterior casing having a distal front face 21, a proximal front face 23, a 
distal rear face 25, and a proximal rear face 27 oriented to facilitate 
holding and use by the shopper. Contained within the handset 20 are data 
storage means 57. These data storage means 57 are adapted specifically to 
store information relating bar codes to appropriate identification and 
pricing data. Disposed in the distal front face 21 of the handset 20 is a 
bar code scanner 30. The bar code scanner 30 is a standard-type scanning 
device which reads and recognizes bar code information on an item when the 
distal front face 21 of the handset 20 is passed over the bar code of the 
item. Further disposed in the distal front face 21 of the handset 20, 
adjacent the bar code scanner 30, is a three headed roller 50 which 
includes a first face, a second face, and a third face, only one of the 
faces being exposed at one time through an opening 22 in the proximal 
front face 21 of the handset 20. The roller 50 is adapted to contact the 
bar code of an item upon passage of the front distal face 21 of the 
handset 20 over the bar code of the item so as to scan the item with the 
bar code scanner 30. The first face 51 of the roller 50 is normally in an 
exposed position protruding through the opening 22 in the distal front 
face 21 of the handset 20 and has a neutral effect. The second face of the 
roller 50 includes purchase designation means 53 thereon which are 
specifically adapted to selectively designate the select item over which 
the distal front face 21 of the handset 20 passes, as a purchase item 
which can be easily identified as such at a checkout station. The third 
face of the three headed roller 50 includes non-purchase designation means 
52 thereon adapted to selectively designate one of the previously selected 
and designated purchase items as a non-purchase item which is no longer to 
be bought by the shopper. Passage of the particular exposed face of the 
three headed roller 50 over the scanned item is adapted to be simultaneous 
with the scanning by the bar code scanner 30, thereby assuring that a 
shopper cannot solely scan an item. The orientation of the three headed 
roller 50 through the opening 22 in the distal front face 21 of the 
handset 20 is directed by a plurality of buttons 36, 37, and 38 disposed 
in the proximal rear face 27 of the handset 20. The buttons include a 
price check button 36, a purchase button 37, and a return button 38, one 
of the buttons necessarily being pressed for the bar code scanner 30 to 
effectively scan the bar code of the selected item. When the price check 
button 36 is pressed during passage of the distal front face 21 over the 
bar code of the selected item, the neutral, normally exposed, first face 
51 of the roller 50 remains exposed for rolling passage over the bar code 
of the item and the bar code scanner 30 reads the bar code such that the 
corresponding pricing and identification data relating to the scanned item 
will be retrieved from the data storage means 57 and momentarily displayed 
on display means 32 positioned in the distal rear face 25 of the handset 
20. The display means 32 include an LED display which is conveniently 
disposed for quick reference by the shopper. When the purchase button 37 
on the handset 20 is pushed during passage of the distal front face 21 
over the bar code of a selected item, the second face of the roller 50 
having the purchase designation means 53 thereon is rotated to the opening 
22 for rolling passage over the selected item. The selected face of the 
roller 50 is rotated to the opening 22 upon pushing one of the select 
buttons either by electrical, mechanical, or magnetic actuation means, 
such as those normally utilized in the art. Simultaneous with rolling 
passage of the purchase designation means 53 over the bar code of the 
selected item, so as to designate the item as a purchase item, the bar 
code scanner 30 reads the bar code on the item and retrieves the pricing 
and identification data corresponding the item from the data storage means 
57 and, while displaying the information briefly on the display means 32, 
enters the data into purchase memory means 59 contained within the handset 
20. The purchase memory means 59 are adapted to store the pricing and 
identification data of all of the purchase items selected by the shopper, 
and sums the prices to maintain a running, total purchase amount of all 
purchase items to be displayed on the display means 32 such that the 
shopper may always be able to refer to the amount of money they are 
spending. Upon pressing the return button 38 in the handset 20, during 
passage of the distal front face 21 of the handset 20 over a select item, 
which has previously been designated as a purchase item by the purchase 
designation means 53, the third face of the roller 50 having the 
non-purchase designation means 52 thereon rotates to an exposed position 
through the opening 22 in the distal front face 21 of the handset 20 for 
rolling passage over the bar code of the selected purchase item. 
Simultaneous with passage of the non-purchase designation means 52 over 
the bar code of the selected purchase item, the bar code scanner 30 
identifies the bar code and retrieves the corresponding pricing and 
identification data from the data storage means 57 for matched removal of 
the pricing and identification data corresponding the previously selected 
purchase item from the purchase memory means 59 such that the price of the 
item will be removed from the running total purchase amount simultaneous 
with the designation of the item as a non-purchase item and no longer a 
purchase item. 
Disposed in a proximal front face 23 of the handset 20 is a numeric key pad 
40. The numeric key pad 40 is adapted to allow entry of a maximum budget 
amount for storage within the purchase memory means 59. The budget amount 
is the maximum amount of money which the shopper wishes to spend at the 
store, and for ease of comparison is displayed on the display means 32. 
Additionally, a first confirmation button 41 is disposed on the proximal 
front face 23 of the handset 20 to indicate that a number entered is in 
fact the budget amount to be stored within the purchase memory means 59 
and displayed on the display means 32. For convenience to a shopper, the 
display means 32 includes three separate display fields 33, 34, and 35, in 
the preferred embodiment. These display fields include a large primarily 
display field 33 wherein the pricing and identification data corresponding 
an item which has just been scanned is displayed after scanning for 
reference and verification by the shopper. A second, smaller display field 
34 is adapted to perpetually display the updated total purchase amount as 
stored and calculated by the purchase memory means 59. Finally, the third 
display field 35 is adapted to display the budget amount which was entered 
by means of the numeric key pad 40 and stored within the purchase memory 
means 59 such that the user can consistently refer to the budget amount in 
field 35 for comparison with the total purchase amount displayed in field 
34. As a further assurance that the shopper is aware that the budget 
amount has reached the total purchase amount, an indicator light 43 is 
included to signal the user that the amounts have been equaled. Further 
disposed on the proximal front face 23 of the handset 20 is a second 
confirmation button 42 which when pressed after scanning an item provides 
for display a price per unit weight ratio of the scanned item as stored 
within the data storage means for the scanned item. This price per unit 
weight ratio enables a shopper to compare values without the need to 
independently calculate the ratio from the price of the item and the 
weight displayed on the item container. 
Turning to FIGS. 5 and 6, the purchase designation means 53 and 
non-purchase designations means 52 include two preferred embodiments. In 
the preferred embodiment, illustrated in FIG. 5, the bar code of each item 
includes a polarized metallic strip. The purchase designation means 53 on 
the second face of the roller 50, includes a first polarizing magnetic 
member, and the non-purchase designation means 52 on the third face of the 
roller 50 includes a second polarizing magnetic member. Initially, the 
metallic strip on the item is set to a non-purchase polarization, 
preferably a positive polarization. Upon rolling passage of the first 
polarizing magnetic member of the purchase designation means 53 over the 
bar code, and accordingly the strip, the polarization of the strip is 
changed to its opposite, a negative polarization, thereby designating the 
item as a purchase item because of the polarization of the strip. 
Similarly, the second polarizing magnetic member of the non-purchase 
designation means 52 includes a polarization effect opposite that of the 
purchase designation means 53 such that when it passes over the bar code 
and strip of an item previously designated as a purchase item and 
accordingly having had the polarization of the strip changed to a negative 
polarization, the polarization of the strip will change to the positive 
non-purchase polarization which can be easily identified upon checkout. 
Illustrated in FIG. 6, a second embodiment of the purchase designation 
means 53' and non-purchase designation means 52' includes the use of 
stamping strips disposed in the second and third faces of the roller 50. 
The purchase designation means 53' include a green ink stamping strip 
which upon rolling passage over the bar code of a selected item, leaves a 
green line across the bar code of the item to designate the item as a 
purchase item. In order to assure that the green ink stamping strip always 
includes sufficient ink, when the second face of the roller 50 is in its 
normally retracted position, the green ink stamping strip 53' is disposed 
in ink recharging contact with a green ink reserve 55 disposed within the 
handset 20. Similarly, the non-purchase designation means 52' include a 
red ink stamping strip adapted to place a red line on the bar code of the 
item upon rolling passage over the bar code. The red ink stamping strip 
52' remains charged by being in ink recharging contact with a red ink 
reserve 54 disposed within the handset 20 when the third face of the 
roller is in its normally retracted position. The designation of an item 
as a purchase item or non-purchase item utilizing this second embodiment 
of the purchase designation means 53' and non-purchase designation 52' 
relates to the quantity and ratio of green and red lines on the bar code 
of the item. If there are an equal number of green and red lines, or there 
are no lines, the item is a non-purchase item, and if there is one more 
green line than there are red lines, the item is a purchase item. Checking 
of the appropriate designation on the item is performed at a purchase 
confirmation station 76 located at the checkout station of the store. The 
purchase confirmation station 76 includes a standard unloading counter 71 
having a conveyor belt 72 disposed therein. When utilizing the second 
embodiment of the purchase and non-purchase designation means 53' and 52', 
confirmation and quick verification that all items purported to be 
purchase items are in fact purchase items is performed solely by an 
employee of the store who performs a cursory examination of all items as 
they pass on the conveyor belt to verify the existence of more green lines 
than red lines. This procedure is significantly quicker than scanning each 
individual item by the employee as only a rapid cursory check needs to be 
performed. When utilizing the first embodiment of the purchase and 
non-purchase designation means 53 and 52, the purchase confirmation 
station 76, as illustrated in FIG. 7, includes detection means 73, 
preferably in the form of polarization indicators, spanning the conveyor 
belt 72 such that all items must pass through the detection means 73. The 
detection means 73 are structured to detect any items having a positive 
non-purchase polarization. If one of such items having a positive 
non-purchase polarization is detected, the detection means 73 cause the 
conveyor belt 72 to immediately stop thereby identifying all items within 
a specifically delineated designation detection area 74 between the 
detection means 73 as items which must be independently verified by the 
employee by checking them against a listing of all purchase items 
contained within the purchase memory means 59 in handset 20. 
In order to facilitate the printing of a receipt and various other 
requirements of shopping, the handset 20 includes a two-way data 
transmission connector 60 in the proximal front face 23 of the handset 20. 
As illustrated in FIG. 8, the two-way data transmission connector 60 is 
adapted to be connected to the central store computer 65, prior to use, 
for transmittal of updated pricing and identification data corresponding 
items within the store to the data storage means 57 of the handset 20, 
thereby assuring that updated information relating to items within the 
store is maintained during sales, promotions, and the like. Additionally, 
the two-way data transmission connector 60 functions to transmit all 
pricing and identification data stored within the purchase memory means 
59, and corresponding all purchase items, to a data reception register 61 
located with the purchase confirmation station 76 at the store check out 
station. The data reception register 61 include a specially adapted 
handset receptacle 62 wherein a shopper's handset 20 is positioned upon 
checkout. The receptacle 62 is adapted to place the handset 20 in 
transmitting connection with the data reception register 61 such that the 
information stored within the purchase memory means 59 can be transmitted 
to the register 61 for printing of an itemized receipt which facilitates 
verification and receipt of payment at the register 61. 
In order to be fully portable, the handset 20 includes an independent power 
source contained therein. Preferably, the power source 47 includes a 
primary power source 48 and an auxiliary power source 49. The primary 
power source 48 is in the form a rechargeable battery pack disposed within 
the casing of the handset 20 which through an externally accessible power 
input plug 46 is adapted to be recharged after it runs low. The auxiliary 
power source 49 includes a reserve battery which enables the handset 20 to 
remain powered for a short period of time after the primary power source 
48 has been exhausted. In order to indicate that the primary power source 
48 is running low, an indicator light 44 is disposed on a proximal front 
face 23 of the handset 20 to indicate to the shopper that the primary 
power source 48 is running low and the situation should be remedied. The 
auxiliary power source 49 is highly beneficial because it enables a 
shopper, upon noticing that the primary power source 48 is running low, to 
either transmit all data stored within the purchase memory means 59 to the 
data reception register 61, or to a second fully charged handset 20' for 
continued shopping without losing the previously scanned purchase data. 
The present invention as described illustrates the preferred embodiments at 
the time of invention and variations consistent with the intent claimed 
herein and the doctrine of equivalents should also be included within the 
scope of this invention. 
Now that the invention has been described,