Wireless-enabled kiosk for recycling consumer devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11734654-B2
Application number	US-202117445575-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 20, 2021
Priority date	Oct 2, 2014
Publication date	Aug 22, 2023
Grant date	Aug 22, 2023

Abstract

Wireless-enabled kiosk systems and associated methods for recycling and performing other processes with mobile phones and other electronic devices are described herein. In various embodiments, the present technology includes systems and methods for wirelessly connecting a consumer-operated kiosk with an electronic device to facilitate processing (e.g., purchasing) the device. In some embodiments, the present technology includes using a wireless link to identify a device, evaluate a device, resolve device issues to enable purchase of the device, locate a device, etc. Various other aspects of the present technology are described herein.

First claim

We claim:

1. A method for evaluating and purchasing an electronic device, the method comprising:
via a first processor of an electronic device:
receiving an identifier associated with first information of the electronic device, wherein the identifier is received remote from a recycling kiosk, and
transmitting the identifier and the first information to a remote server; and

via a second processor of the recycling kiosk:
receiving the identifier from the electronic device,
receiving the first information from the remote server,
performing an inspection of the electronic device to determine second information associated with the electronic device,
comparing the first information and the second information, and
offering to purchase the electronic device for a price, wherein the price is based at least partially on the first information.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the first information includes at least one of a make, a model, a serial number, an IMEI number, and/or a cosmetic condition of a display screen of the electronic device.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the second information includes at least one of a make, a model, a serial number, an IMEI number, and/or a cosmetic condition of a display screen of the electronic device.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein performing the inspection to determine the second information includes:
prompting a user to position the electronic device within an inspection area of the recycling kiosk while the electronic device displays the second information on a display screen of the electronic device; and
using a camera positioned within the inspection area to perform optical character recognition to read the second information from the display screen.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the inspection includes a visual inspection, and wherein performing the visual inspection includes obtaining, via a camera of the recycling kiosk, one or more images of the electronic device.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the identifier includes at least one of a barcode and/or a QR code associated with the electronic device and/or the first information.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving the identifier includes scanning the identifier via an externally-facing scanner of the recycling kiosk.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the electronic device is a mobile phone.

9. A method for evaluating and purchasing an electronic device at a recycling kiosk, the method comprising:
receiving, via a software application executed on the electronic device, information about the electronic device;
instructing a user to scan a machine-readable code at the recycling kiosk, the machine-readable code associated with using the recycling kiosk to purchase the electronic device;
receiving the electronic device from the user in an inspection area of the recycling kiosk;
visually inspecting the electronic device using one or more cameras positioned within the inspection area; and
determining a purchase price for the electronic device based at least partially on the information and the visual inspection.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein visually inspecting the electronic device includes visually inspecting a cosmetic condition of a display screen of the electronic device.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein receiving the electronic device from the user includes prompting the user to cause a display screen of the electronic device to display a unique identifier associated with the electronic device, and wherein visually inspecting the electronic device includes using optical character recognition to read the unique identifier from the display screen.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the unique identifier includes at least one of a make, a model, a serial number, and/or an IMEI number for the electronic device.

13. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
determining an initial purchase price for the electronic device based at least partially on the received information; and
displaying the initial purchase price to the user via a display screen of the electronic device.

14. The method of claim 9 wherein instructing the user to scan the machine-readable code includes instructing the user to scan, with the electronic device, a QR code displayed by a display screen of the recycling kiosk.

15. The method of claim 9 wherein the electronic device is a mobile phone.

16. A kiosk for evaluating and purchasing electronic devices, the kiosk comprising:
a housing;
an inspection area within the housing and configured to receive an electronic device from a user;
a first camera coupled to the housing and operable to image the electronic device;
a second camera having a viewing angle including the inspection area;
a processor; and
a non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the kiosk to—
image at least part of the electronic device with the first camera;
receive, via a wireless communication component of the kiosk, information about the electronic device;
prompt the user to position the electronic device within the inspection area;
visually inspect the electronic device via the second camera when the electronic device is positioned within the inspection area; and
determine a price for the electronic device based at least partially on the received information and the visual inspection.

17. The kiosk of claim 16 , further comprising a transparent plate within the inspection area, wherein the transparent plate is configured to support the electronic device within the inspection area.

18. The kiosk of claim 17 wherein the second camera is positioned above the transparent plate.

19. The kiosk of claim 17 wherein the second camera is positioned above the transparent plate, the kiosk further comprising a third camera having a viewing angle including the inspection area and positioned below the transparent plate.

20. The kiosk of claim 16 , further comprising:
a storage receptacle within the housing and configured to receive the electronic device from the inspection area; and
a binning mechanism configured to move the electronic device from the inspection area toward the storage receptacle.

21. The kiosk of claim 16 wherein imaging at least part of the electronic device with the first camera comprises imaging a display screen of the electronic device.

22. The kiosk of claim 16 wherein the electronic device is a mobile phone.

23. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving the identifier from the electronic device via the second processor of the recycling kiosk includes receiving the identifier, by the second processor, from the remote server.

24. The method of claim 9 wherein receiving, via the software application executed on the electronic device, the information about the electronic device includes receiving the information about the electronic device at a remote server.

25. The method of claim 9 wherein receiving, via the software application executed on the electronic device, the information about the electronic device includes receiving, by the kiosk, at least a portion of the information about the electronic device from a remote server.

26. The method of claim 9 wherein determining the purchase price for the electronic device includes determining the purchase price by a remote server.

27. The method of claim 9 wherein using the recycling kiosk to purchase the electr

Assignees

• Ecoatm Llc

Inventors

• Silva John
• Ploetner Jeffrey
• Bowles Mark Vincent
• Beane John Andrew
• Librizzi Michael
• Erman Randal

Classifications

• G06Q10/30 Primary

  Administration of product recycling or disposal · CPC title

• G06Q20/18

  involving self-service terminals [SST], vending machines, kiosks or multimedia terminals · CPC title

• G06Q20/202

  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

• G06Q20/208

  Input by product or record sensing, e.g. weighing or scanner processing · CPC title

• G06Q30/0201

  Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data · CPC title