Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US20150154581A1/en
Timestamp: 2019-09-22 14:54:49
Document Index: 614238782

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application No. 61', 'art 1500', 'art 1500', 'art 1500', 'art 1500', 'art 1500', 'art 1500']

US20150154581A1 - Systems and methods for dynamic receipt generation with environmental information - Google Patents
US20150154581A1
US20150154581A1 US14/615,257 US201514615257A US2015154581A1 US 20150154581 A1 US20150154581 A1 US 20150154581A1 US 201514615257 A US201514615257 A US 201514615257A US 2015154581 A1 US2015154581 A1 US 2015154581A1
US14/615,257
2010-12-01 First worldwide family litigation filed litigation Critical https://patents.darts-ip.com/?family=43854049&utm_source=google_patent&utm_medium=platform_link&utm_campaign=public_patent_search&patent=US20150154581(A1) "Global patent litigation dataset” by Darts-ip is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
2015-02-05 Priority to US14/615,257 priority patent/US20150154581A1/en
2015-02-05 Application filed by Square Inc filed Critical Square Inc
2015-06-04 Publication of US20150154581A1 publication Critical patent/US20150154581A1/en
2016-08-09 Assigned to SQUARE, INC. reassignment SQUARE, INC. ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: DORSEY, JACK
This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/903,828, filed on Oct. 13, 2010, titled, “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DYNAMIC RECEIPT GENERATION WITH ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION,” which claims priority to U.S. Application No. 61/278,930, filed Oct. 13, 2009, titled “Dynamic receipt with environmental information,”; both of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.
Although magnetic stripe cards are universally used by merchants, there is no way for an individual to take advantage of the card to receive a payment from another individual (who is not a merchant) by swiping the card through a simple reader attached to his/her mobile device. For a non-limiting example, one person may owe another person money for a debt, and the conventional way to pay the debt is to provide cash or a check. It would be convenient to be able to use a credit card or a debit card to payoff the debt. In addition, it is advantageous for an individual to make payment to another individual or merchant by swiping his magnetic stripe card through a reader connected to a mobile device.
FIGS. 3A-3B depict examples of actual card reader with miniaturized design.
FIGS. 4A-4B depict examples of alignment between read head of the card reader and magnetic stripe of card being swiped.
FIGS. 6A-C depict examples of internal structures of a miniaturized card reader.
FIGS. 7A-B depict examples of waveforms of data read from one track of the magnetic stripe by read head when the card is swiped through the slot of the card reader in the forward and reverse directions, respectively.
FIGS. 16A-F depict screenshots of an example of a financial transaction between a purchaser and a merchant through a miniaturized card reader connected to a mobile device.
In the example of FIG. 1, mobile device 100, to which the portable card reader 10 is connected to, can be, but is not limited to, a cell phone, such as Apple's iPhone® (mobile digital device), other portable electronic devices, such as Apple's iPod Touches® (mobile digital device), Apple's iPads® (mobile digital devices), and mobile devices based on Google's Android™ operating system, and any other portable electronic device that includes software, firmware, hardware, or a combination thereof that is capable of at least receiving the signal, decoding if needed, exchanging information with a transaction server to verify the buyer and/or seller's account information, conducting the transaction, and generating a receipt. Typical components of mobile device 100 may include but are not limited to persistent memories like flash ROM, random access memory like SRAM, a camera, a battery, LCD driver, a display, a cellular antenna, a speaker, a Bluetooth® circuit, and WIFI circuitry, where the persistent memory may contain programs, applications, and/or an operating system for the mobile device.
In the example of FIG. 2, miniaturized card reader 10 is shown to comprise at least a housing 12 having a slot 14, a read head 16 embedded on a wall of slot 14, a signal plug 18 extending out from the housing 12, and an optional passive ID circuit 22. FIG. 3A depicts an example of an actual card reader with miniaturized design and FIG. 3B depicts other examples of miniaturized card reader with width around 0.5″.
To correctly read the data on the magnetic stripe of the card, the read head 14 must maintain contact with the stripe as the card moves past slot 14. If the card rocks during the swipe, the alignment of the head 12 with the stripe may be compromised. As the length of the slot 14, i.e., the card path through which the card swiped though slot 14, is shortened, rocking and head alignment may become significant issues. As shown in FIG. 4A, if the magnetic stripe card is swiped through without the base of the card resting against the flat bottom piece, the magnetic stripe will not align with the read head 16 when the card is swiped through slot 14 having a flat base 15.
In some embodiments, the base 15 of slot 14 can be changed from flat to a curved base with a radius in order to increase contact between the read head 14 and the magnetic stripe to address the rocking problem. As shown in FIG. 4B, the read head 16 can maintain contact with the magnetic stripe, even with some additional error due to the gradation of contact introduced by the curved base 15.
In some embodiments, housing 12 of card reader 10 is made of nonconductive material such as plastic so that the reader will not interfere with the function of mobile device 100 it is connected with. Such choice of material is important since the outer case of certain mobile devices, such as iPhone®4, is conductive and serves as an antenna for the device, which function could potentially be interfered with if the metal case of the device gets in touch with the housing of a card reader made of conductive material.
FIG. 6A depicts an example of an internal structural diagram of a miniaturized card reader. Although the diagrams depict components as functionally separate, such depiction is merely for illustrative purposes. It will be apparent that the components portrayed in this figure can be arbitrarily combined or divided into separate software, firmware and/or hardware components.
In the example of FIG. 6A, the internal structure inside housing 12 of card reader 10 is shown to comprise at least a read head 16 with embedded circuitry, and a spring structure 20 to support read head 16. FIG. 6B depicts an example of an internal structure an actual miniaturized card reader. FIG. 6C depicts an example of separated components of read head 16 and spring structure 20 used in the actual miniaturized card reader.
In the example of FIGS. 6A-C, read head 16, which for a non-limiting example, can be an inductive pickup head, detects and provides data stored in the magnetic stripe of a card to a connected mobile device 100. More specifically, as the magnetic stripe of a card is swiped through slot 14 and in contact with read head 16, the card reader device 10 reads one or more tracks of data or information stored in the magnetic stripe of the card via the detection circuitry embedded inside the read head. Here, data stored in the magnetic stripe may be in the form of magnetic transitions as described in the ISO 7811 standards. As the card moves past the read head 16, magnetic transitions representing data induce a voltage or waveform in a coil (not shown) of read head 16 due to such relative movement between read head 16 and the stripe (called the Hall Effect), wherein a resistor (not shown) inside read head 16 sets the amplitude of the waveform. This waveform is sent via the signal plug 18 into the socket which is registered by the microphone of the mobile device 100 connected with card reader 10.
In some embodiments, read head 16 in card reader is capable of reading only one track of data (either track 1 or 2, but not both) from the magnetic stripe in order to reduce the size and structural complexity of compact read head 16 as only one pin needs to be included in the read head. FIG. 7AB depict examples of waveforms of data read from track 1 (instead of both tracks 1 and 2 as by a traditional read head) of the magnetic stripe by read head 16 when the card is swiped through slot 14 in the forward and reverse directions, respectively.
In the example of FIGS. 6A-C, spring structure 20 is a flexible spring mounting to read head 16 without a screw, causing the read head to be suspended to housing 12 of card reader 10. Here, spring 20 can either be connected to housing 12 via screws or welded to plastic housing 12 without using any screws. As the card moves past the read-head 16 on the miniaturized card reader, any card bending or misalignment may cause the read head to lose contact with the magnetic stripe. Spring 20 allows suspended read head 16 to swivel while maintaining contact pressure to track the stripe of the card being swiped. Spring 20 is designed to be sufficiently small to fit within the miniaturized card reader 10, yet powerful enough to maintain good contact during the stripe. Unlike traditional spring structures, spring 20 positions the supports for read head 20 inside the overall form of the spring, which allows the spring to flex without having to make one support moveable.
In the example of FIG. 10, communication subsystem 26 comprises a signal driver connected with control unit 32 and unique ID storage 24. In a non-limiting embodiment of a system which sends an 10 only once to a mobile device 100, after the control unit 32 boots up, communication subsystem 26 will check a status bit in the monitor subsystem 38. The first time this process occurs, the status bit will be not set. When the status bit is not set the 10 is sent immediately. FIG. 12 contains a detailed flowchart of a non-limiting example of this process. In one embodiment the control unit 32 will write to the status bit in monitor subsystem 38. It will then use the discharge system 34 to reset itself. During this time the pathway subsystem 30 will be configured to direct the signal path to the fake load preventing the mobile device 100 from detecting a disconnect with the card reader 10. Once the power subsystem 28 has completed its power cycle, the control unit 32 will read the status bit. Upon seeing that the status bit is cleared it will configure the pathway subsystem 30 to direct the signal path to the card reader circuit 16. The control unit 32 will then put the system into an extremely low power state (from here referred to as a sleep state). Only the monitoring subsystem 38 will remain active. The monitor subsystem 38 will wake the system from the sleep state at some time (time depending on implementation) before a power cycle. The control unit 32 will notified of the system awakening by the monitoring subsystem 38. The control unit 32 will then set the status bit on the monitor subsystem 38 only if there is a voltage detected on the fake load indicating the reader is still connected. The control unit 32 will then force a power cycle.
FIG. 11 depicts an example of an implementation for passive ID circuitry 22 depicted in FIG. 10. In some embodiments, power subsystem 28 has multiple capacitors in parallel. A voltage breaker (e.g., zener diode etc) and a latch are used to trigger the transition between parallel and series configurations. Once the latch is flipped, power subsystem 28 will remain in series configuration until the combined voltage drops below the CMOS trigger gate voltage, at about 4V. At this time the passive ID circuitry 22 will reset and the unique ID delivery process will begin again
In the example of FIG. 11, pathway subsystem 30 comprises a plurality of latches controlled by control unit 32 for switching among various subsystems of passive 10 circuitry 22. When passive ID circuitry 22 is in operation, the default configuration allocates the output signal through signal plug 18 to modified charge pump of power subsystem 28. After the latch to turn off modified charge pump 28 is triggered, control unit 32 will route signal plug 18 from read head 16 to communication subsystem 26 and transmit the unique ID through signal plug 18 after checking the status bit in unique ID storage 24. Pathway subsystem 30 will then write to the status bit in unique ID storage 24 and discharge the power subsystem 28. FIG. 12 depicts a flowchart of an example of a process to deliver the unique ID to mobile device 100 via the passive ID circuitry 22.
Reactive digitizing takes the given peak information as fact, and attempts to convert them into 1 s and 0s in the following steps:
In some embodiments, transaction engine 130 may notify buyer and/or the merchant of the receipt via an electronic message, which can be but is not limited to, an email message, a Short Message Service (SMS) message, Twitter® (online social networking service), or other forms of electronic communication. The recipient of the electronic message may then retrieve a complete itemized dynamic receipt online at his/her convenience via a telephone number on his/her record in user database 140 to retrieve his/her electronic receipts stored in transaction database 160. In some embodiments, the electronic message may include an indication such as a code that the recipient can use to retrieve the electronic receipt online as an alternative or in combination with the telephone number.
FIG. 15 depicts a flowchart of an example of a process to support financial transaction between a payer and a payee through a miniaturized card reader connected to a mobile device. In the example of FIG. 15, the flowchart 1500 starts at block 1502 where an amount of a financial transaction is provided through an interactive user application launched on the mobile device as shown in FIG. 16A. The flowchart 1500 continues to block 1504 where a miniaturized card reader structured to minimize swipe error is connected to the mobile device as shown in FIG. 16B. The flowchart 1500 continues to block 1506 where a card is swiped through the card reader to initiate the financial transaction as shown in FIG. 16C. The flowchart 1500 continues to block 1508 where the payer confirms the amount of the card-present transaction via a signature signed via the interactive user application on the mobile device to complete the transaction as shown in FIG. 16D. Note that the signature is required as an additional layer of confirmation for the protection for the payer even when such signature may not be technically required to authorize the transaction. The flowchart 1500 continues to block 1510 where result of the transaction is received and presented to the payer and/or merchant as shown in FIG. 16E. The flowchart 1500 ends at block 1512 where an electronic receipt of the transaction is provided to the payer in the form of an electronic message as shown in FIG. 16F.
a payment card reader configured to be electrically coupled to a mobile device;
a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver of the mobile device configured to acquire location information;
a transaction engine running on the mobile device, the transaction engine configured to acquire financial transaction information about a financial transaction between a buyer and a seller at a location, and to acquire payment card information from the payment card reader coupled to the mobile device, and to acquire the location of the mobile device during the financial transaction between the buyer and the seller;
a server managed by an acquiring financial institution, the server configured to receive the financial transaction information and the payment card information from the transaction engine to process the financial transaction and provide a transaction result to the transaction engine; and
the transaction engine further configured to generate a dynamic receipt for the buyer that includes the transaction result and the location of the mobile device during the financial transaction between the buyer and the seller, the transaction result being received from the server of the financial institution and acquired by the transaction engine, and the location of the mobile device being acquired from the GPS receiver of the mobile device.
2. The point-of-sale system of claim 1 wherein the mobile device further comprises a camera configured to capture an image or a video of the transaction that is included in the dynamic receipt.
3. The point-of-sale system of claim 1 wherein the payment card reader has an output jack that is configured to be inserted into at least one of an audio input jack and a microphone input jack of the mobile device.
4. The point-of-sale system of claim 1 wherein the mobile device further comprises a biometric scanner configured to scan a finger print or a palm print of the buyer or the merchant, the finger print or the palm print being included in the dynamic receipt.
5. The point-of-sale system of claim 1 wherein the dynamic receipt includes information associated with the transaction, the information associated with the transaction including at least one of: a speed of the card swipe and an angle of the card swipe.
6. The point-of-sale system of claim 1 wherein the dynamic receipt is in electronic form.
7. The point-of-sale system of claim 1 wherein the GPS receiver captures coordinates of the mobile device during the financial transaction and records the coordinates of the mobile device it as part of the dynamic receipt.
8. The point-of-sale system of claim 1 wherein the financial transaction information includes one or more of a card number, a card holder's name, an expiration date and a security code.
9. The point-of-sale system of claim 1 wherein the dynamic receipt further includes a finger print or a palm print of the buyer.
10. The point-of-sale system of claim 1 wherein the dynamic receipt further includes a finger print or a palm print of the merchant.
11. A method of generating a dynamic receipt, the method comprising:
acquiring financial transaction information about a financial transaction using a mobile device that has a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver;
acquiring, by the mobile device, payment card information from a card reader coupled to the mobile device, the card reader configured to read the payment card information from the payment card, the payment card information to be used to process the financial transaction;
acquiring, by the mobile device, a location of the mobile device during the financial transaction from the GPS receiver;
sending, by the mobile device, the financial transaction information and the payment card information, to an acquiring institution server to process the transaction; and
generating a dynamic receipt for the buyer that includes the location of the mobile device during the financial transaction as acquired by the GPS receiver during the financial transaction, and a transaction result received from the acquiring institution server so that the location of the mobile device and the transaction result are included in the dynamic receipt.
12. The method of claim 11 wherein the card reader is electrically coupled to the mobile device.
13. The method of claim 11 wherein the payment card reader has an output jack that is configured to be inserted into at least one of an audio input jack and a microphone input jack of the mobile device.
14. The method of claim 11 further comprising reading a magnetic stripe of a payment card using the card reader.
15. The method of claim 11 further comprising capturing additional environmental information by the transaction engine that is added into the dynamic receipt by the transaction engine.
16. The method of claim 11 further comprising using the location information to assess risk associated with the financial transaction.
17. The method of claim 11 further comprising acquiring a finger print or a palm print of the buyer and including the finger print or the palm print in the dynamic receipt.
18. The method of claim 11 further comprising acquiring a finger print or a palm print of the merchant and including the finger print or the palm print in the dynamic receipt.
19. A point-of-sale system comprising:
a payment card reader configured to be coupled to a mobile device;
a transaction engine running on the mobile device, the transaction engine configured to acquire financial transaction information about a financial transaction between a buyer and a seller at a location, and to acquire payment card information from the payment card reader coupled to the mobile device, and to acquire the location of the mobile device during the financial transaction between the buyer and the seller; and
wherein the point-of-sale system is configured to generate a dynamic receipt for the buyer that includes the transaction result and the location of the mobile device during the financial transaction between the buyer and the seller, wherein the location of the mobile device is acquired from the mobile device.
20. The point-of-sale system of claim 19 wherein the mobile device further comprises a camera configured to capture an image or a video of the transaction that is included in the dynamic receipt.
US14/615,257 2009-10-13 2015-02-05 Systems and methods for dynamic receipt generation with environmental information Pending US20150154581A1 (en)
US12/903,828 Continuation US20110087596A1 (en) 2009-10-13 2010-10-13 Systems and methods for dynamic receipt generation with environmental information
US20150154581A1 true US20150154581A1 (en) 2015-06-04
Abifaker US pub 2008/0099375 A1 *
Barnes US pub 2003/0220835 A1 *
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:DORSEY, JACK;REEL/FRAME:039384/0405