Abstract:
The present application discloses systems and methods for managing nutritional information which in some embodiments comprises a database coupled to a central processor, a storage module configured to store in the database a plurality of records comprising loyalty card data for products purchased with a loyalty card and nutritional information for products available for purchase with the loyalty card, and a plurality of records relating to after sale product information. These systems and methods may further comprise a data processing module configured to compare products purchased with a loyalty card with the after sale product information, and determine if there are conflicts and an output module for transmitting results, wherein the central processor is configured to generate a report based upon the information found in the storage module.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/915,015 entitled “Loyalty Card Based Allergy Warning Program,” and filed on Apr. 30, 2007, which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. 
     
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
       [0002]    Not applicable. 
       REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX 
       [0003]    Not applicable. 
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    The present invention relates to the creation of customized nutritional purchase information, and more specifically to the creation of nutritional reports, nutritional options, and promotional information based upon purchases at a local store or online store made while using a loyalty card. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0005]    Loyalty cards are one way to offer incentives for consumers to return to a particular company. For instance, a store may reward its consumers with financial bonuses or discounts that may be applied to purchases. In addition to the enhanced consumer loyalty, the company obtains information on consumers&#39; purchasing behavior. 
         [0006]    While the information obtained on the consumers purchasing behavior is useful by the company, there has not been a way to provide the consumer with useful information based upon information that has been obtained. This problem is perhaps most evident in grocery stores, where nutrition information is freely available for individual products, but is not aggregated in a way that is useful to a consumer. 
         [0007]    In addition, in grocery stores where food items are sold, there are times in which the status of products may change (e.g. recalled, health warnings issued, etc.) as well as some consumers may have allergic reactions to some products. In these situations, systems and methods that could alert the consumer to these changes and possible reactions would be desirable. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0008]    In one embodiment, a computerized method for consumer notification is disclosed which comprising providing a database coupled to a central terminal, storing in the database at least one loyalty profile, and storing in the database a plurality of records comprising products available for purchase using the loyalty profile. This method also comprises storing in the database a plurality of records comprising product status information for the products available for purchase using the loyalty profile, storing purchases made using the loyalty profile, and updating the product status information stored in the database. This method further comprises detecting a change in product status for products purchased using the loyalty profile, generating a report describing the change in the product status for products purchased using the loyalty profile, and transmitting the report to the loyalty profile or a consumer related to the loyalty profile. 
         [0009]    In another embodiment, a computerized method for consumer notification is disclosed which comprises providing a database coupled to a central terminal, storing in the database a plurality of records comprising products available for purchase using a loyalty profile, and storing in the database a plurality of records comprising nutritional information related to products available for purchase using the loyalty profile. This method also comprises associating in the database the nutritional information with products purchased using the loyalty profile, storing in the database consumer information related to a consumer using the loyalty card, detecting conflicts between the consumer information and the products purchased using the loyalty profile, and transmitting a report the consumer who is related to the loyalty profile. 
         [0010]    In yet another embodiment, a system for managing nutritional information is disclosed which comprises a database coupled to a central processor, a storage module configured to store in the database a plurality of records comprising loyalty card data for products purchased with a loyalty card and nutritional information for products available for purchase with the loyalty card, and a plurality of records relating to after sale product information. This method further comprises a data processing module configured to compare products purchased with a loyalty card with the after sale product information, and determine if there are conflicts and an output module for transmitting results, wherein the central processor is configured to generate a report based upon the information found in the storage module. 
         [0011]    These and other features and advantages will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and claims. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]    For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following brief description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and detailed description, wherein like reference numerals represent like parts. 
           [0013]      FIG. 1  is an overview of one embodiment of the present disclosure. 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  is a flowchart of one embodiment of the creation of a consumer profile. 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  is a flowchart of one embodiment of the creation of a report based upon a consumer profile. 
           [0016]      FIG. 4  is a flowchart of one embodiment of the creation of a customized report preference by a consumer. 
           [0017]      FIG. 5  is an overview of another embodiment of the present disclosure. 
           [0018]      FIG. 6  is a flowchart of one embodiment of a product status change notification. 
           [0019]      FIG. 7  is a screenshot of a recall warning. 
           [0020]      FIG. 8  is a flowchart of an allergy warning system. 
           [0021]      FIG. 9  is a screenshot of an allergy warning. 
           [0022]      FIG. 10  illustrates an exemplary general purpose computer system suitable for implementing the several embodiments of the disclosure. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0023]    In an embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 , the loyalty card based allergy warning program  10  contains a consumer  12 , a loyalty card  14 , a network connection  16 , a store  18 , an informational computer  20 , and an informational database  22 . Consumer  12  registers a first loyalty card  14 , for example using network connection  16 , with informational computer  20  and creates a loyalty profile  24 . Consumer  12  may add information during or after creation of loyalty profile  24  including, but not limited to, allergy information, medical information (e.g. blood pressure, specific medical problems, etc.), or other information known to consumer  12  to loyalty profile  24 . Consumer  12  uses loyalty card  14  at store  18  while making purchases. Informational computer  20  records the purchases of consumer  12 . Informational computer  20  is capable, in some embodiments, of detecting conflicts (e.g. the purchasing of a product to which consumer  12  has indicated an allergic reaction, or other preference to avoid) between information provided by consumer  12  and products purchased by consumer  12  using loyalty card  14 . Informational computer  20  is also capable, in other preferred embodiments, of notifying consumer  12  in the change of product status (e.g. product recall) of items purchased using loyalty card  14 . Informational computer  20  may create a report based upon the detection of a conflict, a report at the request of consumer  12 , a report in response to the change in the product status by a manufacturer or other source, or a report for any other reason. 
         [0024]    The report created by informational computer  20  is then transmitted through network connection  16  or otherwise conveyed to consumer  12 . Network connection  16  may be any network capable of transmitting and receiving data including, but not limited to, Internet, postal, and telephone networks. It should be understood that the registration of loyalty profile  24  and the purchasing of products might be performed in any order or concurrently. It should also be understood that store  18  may be a local store, such as a grocery store which is intended to refer to any location physically visited by consumer  12 , or an online store visited by consumer  12  through a computer terminal or other electronic device. 
         [0025]    While  FIG. 1  illustrates a single consumer  12 , loyalty card  14 , and store  18  it is envisioned that a plurality of consumers may use a plurality of loyalty cards at a plurality of stores linked to a single loyalty profile  24 . It is further envisioned that informational computer  20  could use any number of stores to collect information about purchases of consumer  12 . The examples of consumer  12 , loyalty card  14 , and store  18  are therefore intended to be illustrative and not limiting. 
         [0026]      FIG. 2  is a flowchart  30  of one embodiment of the process by which consumer  12  may register one or more loyalty cards with informational computer  20  (Block  32 ). Consumer  12  communicates directly or indirectly with informational computer  20  and creates loyalty profile  24  through network connection  16 . Loyalty profile  24  may include, but is not limited to the following information about individuals using loyalty profile  24 : gender, name, age, allergies, weight, medical conditions, and activity level. Using the gender, name, age, allergies, weight, medical conditions, and activity level informational computer  20  is capable of determining the recommended daily intake for nutrients including, but not limited to, calories using industry accepted guidelines and other methods known to one skilled in the art as well as determining which nutrients consumer  12  should avoid. Two examples of industry accepted guidelines are the daily-recommended intake of calories as set by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Dietary Guidelines. Consumer profile  24  also contains information regarding the identity and quantity of products purchased using loyalty card  14 . 
         [0027]    Consumer  12  can add a loyalty card  14  to the loyalty profile  24  (Block  34 ). In the example shown in  FIG. 2 , loyalty card  14  is registered using network connection  16 . However, it is explicitly understood that loyalty card  14  could be registered in any number of other ways, including, but not limited to, filling out a registration form at store  18 . It is further understood that store  18  may, in some alternative embodiments, directly input loyalty profile  24  into informational computer  20 . 
         [0028]    When consumer  12  purchases products from store  18  using loyalty card  14  linked to loyalty profile  24 , informational computer  20  automatically updates loyalty profile  24  with purchases made with loyalty card  14  (Block  36 ). Consumer  12  can access informational computer  20  and request information about the products purchased through network  16  (Block  38 ). Consumer  12  can also receive information regarding the products purchased with loyalty card  14  (Block  40 ). The information received by consumer  12  may include, but is not limited to, information regarding nutritional information of products purchased, alternatives to products purchased, methods of preparation of products purchased, and other promotional or informational material. The information that consumer  12  receives may be transmitted via email, displayed on a local web browser, transmitted through telephonic communication (e.g., facsimile transmission), presented at a point of sale or purchase, or in other ways known to one skilled in the art. 
         [0029]      FIG. 3  is a flowchart  50  of one embodiment where informational computer  20  populates informational database  22  and creates a report for consumer  12 . Informational computer  20  populates informational database  22  with product information regarding products sold at store  18  (Block  52 ). Manufactures, distributors, the USDA, the FDA, or any other source known to one skilled in the art may provide this information. Consumer  12  creates loyalty profile  24 , which is stored in informational computer  20  and is linked to at least one loyalty card  14  (Block  54 ). Loyalty profile  24  may be created in any manner discussed above, and may be created prior, concurrent, or subsequent to the population of informational database  22 . Informational computer  20  receives notification of items purchased by consumer  12  using loyalty card  14  (Block  56 ). Such notification may be made in any way known to one skilled in the art, including, but not limited to, point of sale data. This data could, in one embodiment, be obtained through collecting data from the scanning of items sold, capturing this data, and transmitting this data to informational computer  20 . Informational computer  20  looks up the loyalty profile  24  linked to loyalty card  14 , and updates loyalty profile  24  with information related to the purchases made by consumer  12  (Block  58 ). This purchasing information may include, but is not limited to, the type and quantity of products purchased, information identifying loyalty card  14 , and other sales information. Informational computer  20  generates a report on purchases made by consumer  12  using the loyalty profile  24  (Block  60 ). It is expressly contemplated that consumer  12  may modify consumer profile  24  with additional products purchased, or by removing items listed in loyalty profile  24 . In this embodiment, informational computer  20  automatically generates a report upon the receipt of information by store  18 ; however, it is contemplated that the report may be generated at any time as discussed above. When informational computer  20  receives a request from consumer  12  linked to loyalty profile  24 , it transmits the report based on loyalty profile  24  to consumer  12  (Block  62 ). 
         [0030]      FIG. 4  is a flowchart  70  of one embodiment where a consumer can create a customized report to determine if purchased items might cause allergic reactions. First, the consumer requests a customized report to be generated based on consumer profile information, and selects parameters for the report (Block  72 ). Parameters for the report include, but are not limited to, the purchased products consumer  12  is interested in (e.g. breads, fruits, and candy), the product status for each product consumer  12  is interested in, and any known allergic reaction that may occur given the items purchased and loyalty card profile  24 . Informational computer  20  creates a report based upon the loyalty profile  24  and report parameters (Block  74 ). Informational computer  20  transmits the report to consumer  12  (Block  76 ). 
         [0031]      FIG. 5  is an overview  80  of one embodiment that integrates a product status computer  82  with informational computer  20 , store  18 , and consumer  12 . In this embodiment, informational computer  20  is capable of communicating with consumer  12 , store  18 , and product status computer  82 . Product status computer  82  is further capable of communication with store  18 . In some embodiments, the product status computer  82  is capable of providing information regarding the product status (e.g. recall, consumer advisory, etc.) of items sold in store  18 . Product status computer  82  may receive information from any number of sources, including but not limited to, the FDA, manufacturers, or other entities. In the event of the change of a product status, product status computer  82  transmits the product status change to informational computer  20 , store  18 , or both informational computer  20  and store  18 . For example, in the event of a recall, product status computer  82  transmits information to store  18  and informational computer  20  regarding the recall of products. Informational computer  20  then is capable, in some embodiments, of forwarding this information to consumer  12 . 
         [0032]      FIG. 6  is a flowchart  90  of steps by which the status of a product may be changed and transmitted to consumer  12 . In this example embodiment, informational computer  20  receives notice of a product status change from the product status computer  82  (Block  92 ). Informational computer  20  then finds a list of all loyalty cards and loyalty card profiles that have been used during the purchasing of the item for which the product status has changed (Block  94 ). Finally, informational computer  20  will forward a notice of the product status change to consumer  12  (Block  96 ). 
         [0033]      FIG. 7  is an example of a screenshot  100  of a product recall warning. In this example screenshot, the name of product being recalled  102 , the date the item was purchased  104 , and the date of the recall  106 , an explanation of the recall  108  is shown. It is expressly understood that the explanation for the recall  108  may, in some embodiments, be a forwarded recall notice from the manufacturer. This notice may also contain a continue  110  button which, when pressed, may be recorded by informational computer as an acknowledgement that information regarding the recall was acknowledged by consumer  12 . 
         [0034]      FIG. 8  is a flowchart  120  of one method alerting consumer  12  to a possible allergy conflict. In this flowchart, informational computer  20  identifies items purchased using a loyalty card (Block  122 ). Informational computer  20  compares items purchased with items listed as items containing ingredients which loyalty card profile  24  indicates an allergy (Block  124 ). Informational computer  20  then determines if any of the items contain ingredients the loyalty card profile  24  indicates might cause an allergic reaction (Block  126 ). If none of the items contain ingredients that loyalty card profile  24  indicates an allergy exists for, then informational computer  20  does not send a notice to the consumer (Block  128 ). If an item contains an ingredient that loyalty card profile  24  indicates an allergy exists for, then informational computer  20  sends a notice to consumer  12  containing information about the item that contains the ingredient that may cause an allergic reaction (Block  130 ). This notice may contain information including the steps, as provided by a third party source such as the FDA, to take in the event that the food is ingested. 
         [0035]      FIG. 9  is a screenshot  140  of an allergy warning issued by informational computer  20 . The allergy warning contains the name of the item to which there is a possible allergy  142 , the date of purchase of the item  144 , the name of the allergy  146  indicated by consumer  12 , and a warning  148 . This warning may include information regarding the appropriate steps as provided by a third party in the case of the ingestion of the food item. This notice may also contain a continue  150  button which, when pressed, may be recorded by informational computer as an acknowledgement that information regarding the recall was acknowledged by consumer  12 . Consumer  12  is therefore alerted to consumer information regarding what types of food products may be undesirable. 
         [0036]    Alerts may be given to consumer  12  for any undesirable product. Undesirable products are determined by any standard desired by the consumer, including, but not limited to, allergies, other types of heath concerns (e.g. cholesterol), or health goals (e.g. weight loss). 
         [0037]    The examples of the allergy and product status changes are intended to be illustrative only. Embodiments explicitly envisioned include any notification of any kind issued to consumer  12  or other individual or entity regarding information about the products purchased by consumer  12 , or new information obtained by informational computer  20  after the sale of items to consumer  12 . Additional examples include, but are not limited to, the discontinuation of certain items, change in side effects of different drugs sold by a pharmacy, the change in the warnings of drugs sold (e.g., additional warnings during pregnancy, etc.), advantages of certain products, or any other product information provided to consumer  12 . In this way, the disclosed systems and methods are not limited to warning consumer  12  about products purchased by consumer  12 , but can also alert consumer  12  to some advantages of products available for purchase or purchased by consumer  12 . 
         [0038]    Examples of advantages include, but are not limited to, health qualities (e.g. antioxidant qualities, concentration of certain vitamins, concentration of fiber, etc.), promotion offers, or other information given to consumer  12 . Such advantages may be programmed into informational computer  20  in any way known to one skilled in the art. 
         [0039]    Moreover, it is explicitly understood that any source (i.e. physician, hospital, health care provider, etc.) may add, in some embodiments, information to consumer profile  24 . In this way, a third party such as a physician may add additional information regarding the desirability or potential harm of certain food items purchased by consumer  12 . This information may include the avoidance of certain items (e.g., for an individual who has suffered a heart attack, the physician may indicate that all high fat products must be avoided). In this way, informational computer  20  may aggregate information from any number of sources to create customized reports for consumer  12 . 
         [0040]    Another innovative embodiment of the present disclosure is the ability to store consumer profile  24 , part of consumer profile  24  and a unique identifying code corresponding to consumer profile  24 , or only a unique identifying code corresponding to consumer profile  24  on any computer identifiable mechanism. The phrase “computer identifiable mechanism” is intended to include, but not be limited to, any type of storage device that may store any kind of identification information which may be read by or transmitted to informational computer  20 . Examples of computer identifiable mechanisms which may be used consistent with the present disclosure include, but are not limited to, bar codes, information embedded in a magnetic strip, information embedded in memory device such as a flash memory device. The unique identifying code may be any piece of unique information, including, but not limited to, a phone number, a unique combination of letters or numbers, or a unique code stored on a computer readable mechanism. 
         [0041]    It is expressly contemplated that information stored in the computer identifiable mechanism may, in some embodiments, be transmitted over the air through a communication mechanism (e.g., radio frequency identification (RFID)), be read by a magnetic card reader, entered manually by consumer  12 , or conveyed in any other way known to one skilled in the art. It is further contemplated that, in some embodiments, a third party may access informational computer  20  to obtain information about consumer  12 . Examples of third parties include, but are not limited to, restaurants, convenience stores, or any other entity which may sell items that consumer  12  may consume. 
         [0042]    Another of the innovations made possible through the present disclosure and the computer identifiable mechanism is the ability to control what information consumer  12  makes available to a third party. For instance, in the example of the RFID example, consumer  12  may wish to allow a third party computer to be aware of an allergy. In this example, if consumer  12  were to go to a store equipped with the mechanism to read from the computer identifiable mechanism, and consumer  12  were to purchase an item to which an allergy or other warning had been stored in computer identifiable mechanism, the third party could warn consumer  12  of the possible conflict. 
         [0043]    Informational computer  20  described above may be implemented on any general-purpose computer  290  with sufficient processing power, memory resources, and network throughput capability to handle the necessary workload placed upon it. A user home personal computer, networked to a central informational computer  20  through a wide area network, such as the Internet, may be used in conjunction with the disclosed embodiments. The user home personal computer may share some, or all, of the elements of informational computer  20 .  FIG. 10  illustrates a typical, general-purpose computer system suitable for implementing one or more embodiments disclosed herein. The general-purpose computer  290  includes a processor  302  (which may be referred to as a central processor unit or CPU) that is in communication with memory devices including secondary storage  292 , read only memory (ROM)  294 , random access memory (RAM)  296 , input/output (I/O)  298  devices, and network connectivity devices  300 . The processor may be implemented as one or more CPU chips. 
         [0044]    The secondary storage  292  is typically comprised of one or more disk drives or tape drives and is used for non-volatile storage of data and as an over-flow data storage device if RAM  296  is not large enough to hold all working data. Secondary storage  292  may be used to store programs that are loaded into RAM  296  when such programs are selected for execution. The ROM  294  is used to store instructions and perhaps data that are read during program execution. ROM  294  is a non-volatile memory device that typically has a small memory capacity relative to the larger memory capacity of secondary storage. The RAM  296  is used to store volatile data and perhaps to store instructions. Access to both ROM  294  and RAM  296  is typically faster than to secondary storage  292 . 
         [0045]    I/O  298  devices may include printers, video monitors, liquid crystal displays (LCDs), touch screen displays, keyboards, keypads, switches, dials, mice, track balls, voice recognizers, card readers, paper tape readers, or other well-known input devices. The network connectivity devices  300  may take the form of modems, modem banks, ethernet cards, universal serial bus (USB) interface cards, serial interfaces, token ring cards, fiber distributed data interface (FDDI) cards, wireless local area network (WLAN) cards, radio transceiver cards such as code division multiple access (CDMA) and/or global system for mobile communications (GSM) radio transceiver cards, and other well-known network devices. These network connectivity devices  300  may enable the processor  302  to communicate with an Internet or one or more intranets. With such a network connection, it is contemplated that the processor  302  might receive information from the network, or might output information to the network in the course of performing the above-described method steps. Such information, which is often represented as a sequence of instructions to be executed using processor  302 , may be received from and outputted to the network, for example, in the form of a computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave. 
         [0046]    Such information, which may include data or instructions to be executed using processor  302  for example, may be received from and outputted to the network, for example, in the form of a computer data baseband signal or signal embodied in a carrier wave. The baseband signal or signal embodied in the carrier wave generated by the network connectivity devices  300  may propagate in or on the surface of electrical conductors, in coaxial cables, in waveguides, in optical media, for example optical fiber, or in the air or free space. The information contained in the baseband signal or signal embedded in the carrier wave may be ordered according to different sequences, as may be desirable for either processing or generating the information or transmitting or receiving the information. The baseband signal or signal embedded in the carrier wave, or other types of signals currently used or hereafter developed, referred to herein as the transmission medium, may be generated according to several methods well known to one skilled in the art. 
         [0047]    The processor  302  executes instructions, codes, computer programs, scripts that it accesses from hard disk, floppy disk, optical disk (these various disk based systems may all be considered secondary storage  292 ), ROM  294 , RAM  296 , or the network connectivity devices  300 . 
         [0048]    While several embodiments have been provided in the present disclosure, it should be understood that the disclosed systems and methods might be embodied in many other specific forms without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. The present examples are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the intention is not to be limited to the details given herein. For example, the various elements or components may be combined or integrated in another system or certain features may be omitted, or not implemented. 
         [0049]    Also, techniques, systems, subsystems and methods described and illustrated in the various embodiments as discrete or separate may be combined or integrated with other systems, modules, techniques, or methods without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Other products shown or discussed as directly coupled or communicating with each other may be coupled through some interface or device, such that the products may no longer be considered directly coupled to each other but may still be indirectly coupled and in communication, whether electrically, mechanically, or otherwise with one another. Other examples of changes, substitutions, and alterations are ascertainable by one skilled in the art and could be made without departing from the spirit and scope disclosed herein. 
         [0050]    It should be understood that although an exemplary implementation of one embodiment of the present disclosure is illustrated above, the present system may be implemented using any number of techniques, whether currently known or in existence. The present disclosure should in no way be limited to the exemplary implementations, drawings, and techniques illustrated above, including the exemplary design and implementation illustrated and described herein, but may be modified within the scope of the appended claims along with their full scope of equivalents.