US 11,915,220 B2
Point-of-sale terminal for dynamic mode management of multiple card readers
Tom Hanley, Dublin (IE); Stephen Kirk, County Louth (IE); and Chance Ashley Kirsch, Seattle, WA (US)
Assigned to Toast, Inc., Boston, MA (US)
Filed by Toast, Inc., Boston, MA (US)
Filed on Mar. 29, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/215,871.
Prior Publication US 2022/0309483 A1, Sep. 29, 2022
Int. Cl. G06Q 20/20 (2012.01); G06K 7/00 (2006.01)
CPC G06Q 20/204 (2013.01) [G06K 7/0039 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An apparatus for dynamic credit card reader mode management, the apparatus comprising:
a point-of sale (POS) terminal, configured to accept employee login credentials via a magnetic stripe card, to display menu items for selection, to add selected menu items to an order, and to accept payment for said order, wherein said payment may be obtained via swipe, dip, or tap, said POS terminal comprising:
a first card reader, configured to read first provided cards when enabled;
a second card reader, configured to read second provided cards when enabled; and
a dual reader controller, coupled to said first and second card readers, configured to determine one or more workflow states of said POS terminal, and configured to dynamically control modes of said first and second card readers according to said one or more workflow states, said dual reader controller comprising:
a configuration manager, coupled to said first card reader, configured to determine a type and capabilities of said first card reader upon power up of said first credit card reader; and
a data translation/normalization processor, coupled to said configuration manager and said first card reader, configured to;
receive instructions from said configuration manager indicating said type and said capabilities;
communicate with sadi first card reader according to said type and said capabilities responsive to a common set of commands employed by said POS terminal; and
format data received from said firt credit card reader into a common data format.