Processing multiple point-of-sale transactions

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11727378-B2
Application number	US-202016923512-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 8, 2020
Priority date	Dec 16, 2014
Publication date	Aug 15, 2023
Grant date	Aug 15, 2023

Abstract

A point-of-sale system for concurrently processing multiple point of sale transactions, each point of sale transaction including an item input portion and a payment portion of the transaction, each portion performed in series. The point-of-sale system comprises a customer facing terminal and a merchant facing terminal. The system can comprise a plurality of customer facing terminals and can be portable. The customer facing terminal is configured to receive an input of payment information for a first point of sale transaction during a payment portion of the first point of sale transaction. The merchant facing terminal is configured to receive an input of an item selection for a second point of sale transaction during an item input portion of the second point of sale transaction and during the payment portion of the first point of sale transaction.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A point-of-sale (POS) system comprising:
a computing device configured to display a user interface, the computing device configured to:
receive, at a first window of the user interface, a first input of payment information associated with a first item of a first POS transaction;
present, at a second window of the user interface, a status of the first POS transaction such that the second window is associated with the first POS transaction;
receive, at the first window and concurrently with presentation of the status of the first POS transaction at the second window of the user interface, a second input associated with a second POS transaction, the second input including at least one selection of a second item, wherein the first window is associated with the second transaction and the second window is associated with the first transaction; and
receive a notification of a confirmed payment of the first POS transaction prior to a resolution of the second transaction.

2. The point-of-sale system of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is configured to close the first POS transaction based at least in part on receiving the notification of the confirmed payment.

3. The point-of-sale system of claim 1 , wherein the status includes information regarding content displayed on the first window of the user interface.

4. The point-of-sale system of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is configured to accept at least one of:
a magnetic strip card;
a chip-type card; or
a cardless payment type.

5. The point-of-sale system of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is a first computing device, and the system further comprises a second computing device configured to receive the first input of payment information for the first POS transaction during a first payment portion of the first POS transaction.

6. The point-of-sale system of claim 5 , wherein the first computing device and the second computing device are configured to communicate bidirectionally with each other.

7. The point-of-sale system of claim 5 , wherein the first computing device is further configured to process a second payment portion of the second POS transaction concurrently with the first payment portion of the first POS transaction being processed on the second computing device.

8. The point-of-sale system of claim 5 , wherein the second computing device is detachably secured to the first computing device and the second computing device is portable.

9. The point-of-sale system of claim 5 , wherein the second computing device is fixedly attached to the first computing device.

10. The point-of-sale system of claim 5 , wherein the first computing device is further configured to transfer control of the first POS transaction to the second computing device during at least the first payment portion of the first POS transaction.

11. A computing device configured to display a user interface, the computing device configured to:
receive, at a first window of the user interface, first input that includes a first item in a first POS transaction;
present, at a second window of the user interface, a status of the first POS transaction, the second window associated with the first POS transaction;
transition to a state configuring the computing device to accept, in the first window, second input including a second item in a second POS transaction;
receive, at the first window and concurrently with presentation of the status at the second window, a second input associated with a second item of a second POS transaction, wherein the first window is associated with the second transaction and the second window is associated with the first transaction; and
receive a notification of a confirmed payment of the first POS transaction prior to a resolution of the second transaction.

12. The computing device of claim 11 , wherein the computing device is further configured to finalize and close the first POS transaction after a payment portion of the first POS transaction has completed.

13. The computing device of claim 11 , wherein the computing device is further configured to display a list of queued POS transactions having an item-input portion.

14. The computing device of claim 11 , further configured to accept at least one of:
a magnetic strip card;
a chip-type card; or
a cardless payment type.

15. The computing device of claim 11 , wherein the computing device is a first computing device, and the first computing device is further configured to communicate with a second computing device configured to receive the first input associated with a payment portion of the first POS transaction.

16. The computing device of claim 15 , wherein the first computing device and the second computing device are configured to communicate bidirectionally with each other.

17. The computing device of claim 15 , wherein the second computing device is detachably secured to the first computing device and the second computing device is portable.

18. The computing device of claim 15 , wherein the second computing device is fixedly attached to the first computing device.

19. The computing device of claim 15 , wherein the first computing device is configured to transfer control of the first POS transaction to the second computing device during at least a payment portion of the first POS transaction.

20. The computing device of claim 15 , wherein a payment portion of the first POS transaction is a first payment portion, and the first computing device is further configured to process a second payment portion of the second POS transaction concurrently with the first payment portion of the first POS transaction being processed on the second computing device.

Assignees

• Block Inc

Inventors

• Bell Bruce
• Knight Gerard Thomas
• Marr Jared Travis

Classifications

• G06Q20/202 Primary

  Interconnection or interaction of plural electronic cash registers [ECR] or to host computer, e.g. network details, transfer of information from host to ECR or from ECR to ECR · CPC title

• G06Q20/204

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

• G07G1/0009

  Details of the software in the checkout register, electronic cash register [ECR] or point of sale terminal [POS] · CPC title

• G06Q20/322

  Aspects of commerce using mobile devices [M-devices] · CPC title