Point of sale system having a customer terminal and a merchant terminal

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11681994-B2
Application number	US-201715720749-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 29, 2017
Priority date	Dec 28, 2015
Publication date	Jun 20, 2023
Grant date	Jun 20, 2023

Abstract

A point of sale system includes a merchant terminal and a customer terminal. The merchant terminal is configured to display a user interface (UI) window on the merchant terminal. The UI window on the merchant terminal displays a merchant-specific version of a screen displayed on the customer terminal. The merchant terminal receives updates from the customer terminal regarding the status of the payment portion for a transaction. The merchant terminal can provide an input to the UI window which is sent as a message to the customer terminal. Control of state for the point of sale system is shared such that when the system is in a first state, the merchant terminal is the state control terminal, and when the point of sale system is in a second state, the customer terminal is the state control terminal and has control of state for the system.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system, comprising:
a customer terminal configured to display one or more first screens guiding a customer through a point-of-sale (POS) transaction;
a merchant terminal configured to display one or more second screens guiding a merchant through the POS transaction; and
non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
receiving one or more first inputs to at least one of the merchant terminal or the customer terminal, wherein the one or more first inputs are associated with the POS transaction;
responsive at least in part to, and based at least in part on, the one or more first inputs, determining a status of the POS transaction;
determining, based at least in part on the status of the POS transaction, that the system is in a first state;
designating, based at least in part on determining that the system is in the first state a and a state-designation protocol associated with the system, that:
the customer terminal is a control terminal, the control terminal having control of a state of the system; and
the merchant terminal is a non-control terminal, the non-control terminal without control of the state of the system;

causing, while the system is in the first state, a customer UI element to be rendered within a customer UI window of the control terminal;
causing, while the system is in the first state and while the customer UI element is rendered within the customer UI window, at least a portion of the customer UI window and the customer UI element to be rendered concurrently on at least a portion of the non-control terminal along with a merchant UI element;
receiving, while the system is in the first state and from the non-control terminal and at the control terminal, a communication indicating one or more second inputs received via the customer UI element rendered by the non-control terminal, the one or more second inputs based at least in part on the state of the system;
determining, based at least in part on the status of the POS transaction, that the system is in a second state; and
designating, based at least in part determining that the system is in the second state, that the merchant terminal is the control terminal.

2. The system of claim 1 , the operations further comprising causing the POS transaction to be terminated based at least in part on a cancellation message received from at least one of the control terminal or the non-control terminal.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein causing the POS transaction to be terminated is based at least in part on cancellation being confirmed via the control terminal within a predetermined period of time from when the cancellation message is received.

4. The system of claim 1 , the operations further comprising:
storing first data corresponding to a first level of confidentiality in first memory associated with the customer terminal; and
storing second data corresponding to a second level of confidentiality in second memory associated with the merchant terminal, the first level of confidentiality being greater than the second level of confidentiality.

5. The system of claim 1 , the operations further comprising:
causing data corresponding to one or more directions to be sent from the control terminal to the non-control terminal; and
causing display of the one or more directions on the non-control terminal.

6. A method, comprising:
receiving one or more first inputs to at least one of a customer terminal configured to display one or more first screens guiding a customer through a point-of-sale (POS) transaction or a merchant terminal configured to display one or more second screens guiding a merchant through the POS transaction, wherein the one or more first inputs are associated with the POS transaction;
responsive at least in part to, and based at least in part on, the one or more first inputs, determining a status of the POS transaction;
determining, based at least in part on the status of the POS transaction, that a system comprising the merchant terminal and the customer terminal is in a first state;
designating, based at least in part on determining that the system is in the first state and a state-designation protocol associated with the system that:
the customer terminal is a control terminal, the control terminal having control of a state of the system; and
the merchant terminal is a non-control terminal, the non-control terminal without control of the state of the system;

causing, while the system is in the first state, a customer UI element to be rendered within a customer UI window of the control terminal;
causing, while the system is in the first state and concurrently with the customer UI element being rendered within the customer UI window, at least a portion of the customer UI window and the customer UI element to be rendered on at least a portion of the non-control terminal along with a merchant UI element;
receiving, while the system is in the first state and from the non-control terminal and at the control terminal, a communication indicating one or more second inputs received via the customer UI element rendered by the non-control terminal, the one or more second inputs based at least in part on the state of the system;
determining, based at least in part on the status of the POS transaction, that the system is in a second state; and
designating, based at least in part determining that the system is in the second state, that the merchant terminal is the control terminal.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
receiving a merchant input via the merchant terminal; and
causing display of the merchant input on the customer terminal.

8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
rendering a personal identification number (PIN) pad display on the customer UI element of the customer terminal; and
rendering the PIN pad display on the merchant UI element on the merchant terminal, the rendering of the PIN pad display presenting customer inputs received at the PIN pad display on the customer UI element.

9. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
rendering a personal identification number (PIN) pad display on the customer UI element of the customer terminal; and
rendering the PIN pad display on the merchant UI element on the merchant terminal without presenting customer inputs received at the PIN pad display on the customer UI element.

10. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
receiving, from the non-control terminal, a request to terminate the POS transaction;
sending an indication of the request to the control terminal;
receiving a cancellation confirmation message from the control terminal; and
cancelling the POS transaction based at least in part on the cancellation confirmation message.

11. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
receiving a request to terminate the POS transaction;
determining that the request was received from the control terminal; and
cancelling the POS transaction based at least in part on determining that the request was received from the control terminal.

12. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
determining that a trigger event has occurred;
causing the control terminal to transition to the non-control terminal based at least in part on the trigger event; and
causing the non-control terminal to transition to the control terminal based at least in part on the trigger event.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the trigger event comprises at least one of:
completion of an item-input portion of the POS transaction; or
completion

Assignees

• Block Inc

Inventors

• Han Koun
• Dower Nicholas
• Ryan Raymond
• Bell Bruce
• Marr Jared Travis
• Kalinichenko Alexey
• Nguyen Tien

Classifications

• G06F3/0481

  based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance · CPC title

• G07F7/1033

  Details of the PIN pad · CPC title

• G07G1/0018 Primary

  Constructional details, e.g. of drawer, printing means, input means · CPC title

• G07G1/01

  Details for indicating · CPC title

• G06Q20/204

  comprising interface for record bearing medium or carrier for electronic funds transfer or payment credit · CPC title