Scale With Machine-Readable Code Display for Pre-Checkout Pricing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Customers selecting products by weight for purchase face inefficiencies in the checkout process due to the need to weigh and price products at the point-of-sale, slowing down the shopping experience.
Innovation Solution
A scale that includes a housing with an integrated weighing assembly and electronic components to determine product weight, encode it into a machine-readable code, and display it on a separate display for scanning by a user device, allowing pre-checkout pricing and eliminating the need for re-weighing at the checkout.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If products are weighed and priced at the point-of-sale, then accurate pricing is achieved, but the checkout process slows down
Solution Approach 1:
The scale performs weight measurement and price calculation in advance at the shopping location, generating a machine-readable code with the price information before the customer reaches the checkout. This preliminary action eliminates the need for re-weighing at checkout, thus maintaining measurement accuracy while significantly reducing checkout time.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of transferring the physical product for re-weighing at checkout, the system creates a digital copy of the price information in a machine-readable code format. This copy contains all necessary pricing data derived from the initial weight measurement, allowing checkout systems to process the copied information without requiring the original measurement process to be repeated.
2Productivity
If a scale with machine-readable code display is implemented, then checkout efficiency is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple functions into a single integrated scale system: weight measurement, price calculation based on weight, and machine-readable code generation are merged into one device. This consolidation improves checkout efficiency by eliminating the need for separate weighing and pricing steps while managing complexity through integration rather than multiplication of components.
Solution Approach 2:
The scale is designed as a multi-functional device that not only measures weight but also calculates prices, generates machine-readable codes, and interfaces with shopping systems. This universal approach allows a single device to perform multiple tasks that would otherwise require separate systems, improving productivity while containing complexity through functional integration.
Data Source
AI summary
In some embodiments, systems, apparatuses and methods are provided herein useful to provide a weight of a product in a machine-readable code on a scale. More specifically, the scale can include an associated display that is configured to display a machine-readable code when a product is weighed on the scale, where the machine-readable code informs a scanning computing device of the weighed amount.