Invalidity dossier
US 4940116
Unattended checkout system and method
Current assignee: Uniquest Inc
Added 9/24/2026, 12:21:19 AM
Active provider: DeepSeek · deepseek-flash
Patent summary
Title, assignee, inventors, filing/issue dates, abstract, and a plain-language overview of the claims.
US4940116A — Unattended Checkout System and Method
Title: Unattended checkout system and method
Inventors: David F. O'Connor; Wesley Dickover; Steven J. Tilidetzke
Original assignee: Checkrobot Inc.
Current assignee listing (per source): Uniquest Inc; International Business Machines Corp; NewCheck Corp
Priority/filing date: 1989-03-07 (application US07/320,063)
Publication/grant date: 1990-07-10
Legal status: Expired – Lifetime (per source; source states legal status is an assumption, not a legal conclusion)
Purpose: The patent concerns operator-unassisted ("self-service") checkout, particularly of bulk articles such as produce that are not prepackaged with supplier-applied UPC indication. Per the excerpt, the customer applies a UPC label to bulk articles upon selection, unlike source-applied UPC on packaged goods.
Plain-language scope (from the excerpt): The described system includes a UPC code reader generating an output signal, and storage storing UPC signals of available articles correlated with categories: (1) source-of-manufacture applied UPC, (2) customer-applied UPC with price per unit weight, and (3) customer-applied UPC with price per article unit. Article weight is obtained and multiplied by stored price per unit weight; number of articles purchased is determined and multiplied by stored price per article. Weight and count may be determined by apparatus in the referenced commonly-assigned patents or otherwise. FIG. 1 shows an upper channel configured per those referenced patents and a lower channel per this invention; FIGS. 2 and 3 are flow charts.
The excerpt also describes additional described measures: comparison of stored weight-indicative signals against physically measured weight, with checkout failure and possible conveyor reversal on negative comparison; article-shape detection and comparison; repeat UPC reading in a "security tunnel"; and electronic article surveillance (EAS) tag checking against stored expectations. The excerpt states this invention's primary object is improved systems and methods for operator-unassisted checkout.
Not established by the excerpt: The full claims, the referenced commonly-assigned patents' identities, complete figure details, and omitted specification text. The excerpt is partial and omits portions between "unit 38, wh" and the end. Nothing here establishes validity, litigation, or prior art beyond what the source states.
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/[US4940116](/patent/US4940116)/en
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:31:59 PM
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Litigation summary
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PTAB challenges
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Assignment history
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Prior art
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Obviousness
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Extensions
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Derivative works
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