Queue management system

Abstract

A queue management system comprises a plurality of portable modules, at least one docking station, a queue manager, signal transmitting means, at least one module detector and a communication means. each portable module includes memory means for containing a unique identification code, indicator means to be operative, transmitter means for transmitting the identification code over a short range to confine the transmitted identification code to a local region around the person, and docking means for downloading the identification code. The or each docking station registers the person in queue by downloading the identification code for the portable module when docked. The queue manager maintains the queue sequence for the or each queue and includes a communication means for receiving the or each downloaded code. The signal transmitting means is associated with the queue manager for transmitting the signals to each portable module to instruct the person or group of people carrying the portable module to join the queue. The at least one module detector detects the transmitted identification codes from any portable module in its vicinity. The module detector is arranged at the location of the or each queue to detect when the person carrying the portable module joins the queue Finally, the communication means is arranged between the queue manager and the or each module detector to communicate any detected identification code to the queue manager.

1 . A queue management system for managing at least one queue of people, the system comprising 
 a plurality of portable modules, each portable module being arranged to be carried by a person or a group of people and including memory means for containing a unique identification code, indicator means for indicating to said person or group of people when it is time to join the or each queue, signal receiver means for receiving signals to cause said indicator means to be operative, transmitter means for transmitting said identification code over a short range to confine the transmitted identification code to a local region around said person or group of people, and docking means for downloading said identification code when said portable module is docked;    at least one docking station, the or each docking station being adapted to co-operate with said docking means of a said portable module for registering said person or group of people in queue sequence for a respective queue by downloading said identification code from said portable module when docked;    a queue manager for maintaining the queue sequence for the or each queue and including first communication means for receiving the or each downloaded code;    signal transmitting means associated with said queue manager for transmitting said signals to each portable module to instruct said person or group of people carrying a said portable module to join a queue;    at least one module detector for detecting any portable modules in the vicinity of the or each module detector by detecting any transmitted identification codes, a said module detector being arranged at the location of the or each queue to detect when the person or group of people carrying said portable module joins the queue; and    second communication means arranged between said queue manager and the or each module detector to communicate any detected identification codes to said queue manager;    said queue manager being adapted to update the or each queue sequence using the or each detected identification code and the or each downloaded identification code to remove the or each detected identification code from the front of the respective queue sequence and to add the or each downloaded identification code to the back of the respective queue sequence.    
     
     
         2 . A queue management system as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said signal transmitting means is adapted to transmit radio paging messages to each portable module, and said signal receiver means of each portable module is adapted to receive said radio paging messages.  
     
     
         3 . A queue management system as claimed in  claim 1  or  claim 2 , including at least one additional module detector provided at locations away from the or each queue for detecting any portable modules in the vicinity of the or each additional module detector by detecting any transmitted identification codes, the or each additional module detector being connected to said queue manager by said second communication means, and said queue manager being adapted to use any identification codes detected by the or each module detector and the or each additional module detector to track the locations of each person or group of people carrying a said portable module.  
     
     
         4 . A queue management system as claimed in any preceding claim, the system further comprising at least one automatic registration gate connected to said queue manager by said second communication means, the or each said automatic registration gate corresponding to a respective queue and including a module detector arranged to detect only portable modules passing through the automatic registration gate by detecting any transmitted identification codes, and said queue manager adapted to update the respective queue sequence using the identification codes detected by the automatic registration gate to add the detected identification codes to the back of the respective queue sequence.  
     
     
         5 . A queue management system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein at least one of said module detectors arranged at the location of the or each queue is incorporated in a gate unit, and is further arranged to detect only the transmitted identification codes of portable modules passing through the gate unit.  
     
     
         6 . A queue management system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein at least one of said module detectors arranged at the location of the or each queue includes a pair of detecting antennae arranged as a gate through which a person or group of people carrying a said portable module will pass to join a queue, the or each module detector including correlation means to correlate signals for any detected identification code from said pair of detecting antennae to determine whether a said portable module has passed therethrough and if so to pass the detected identification code to said second communication means.  
     
     
         7 . A queue management system as claimed in  claim 6 , wherein the or each module detector includes means to pass to said second communication means any detected identification codes flagged as representing portable modules being only in the vicinity of the module detector if said correlation means determines that the portable modules have not passed through said pair of detecting antennae.  
     
     
         8 . A queue management system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said signal transmitting means comprises at least one transmitter.  
     
     
         9 . A queue management system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said signal transmitting means comprises one or more signal transmitters, the or each signal transmitter being provided in a, respective one of said module detectors.  
     
     
         10 . A queue management system as claimed in  claim 9 , wherein said signal transmitter is a short-range radio transmitter.  
     
     
         11 . A queue management system as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein said transmitter means of each portable module is adapted to periodically transmit the identification code stored in said memory means.  
     
     
         12 . A queue management system as claimed in any one of  claims 1  to  10 , wherein the or each module detector includes a prompting transmitter for transmitting a prompting signal over a short range to cause any portable modules in range to respond by transmitting their identification codes, each portable module including prompt receiving means for receiving said prompting signal, said transmitter means of each portable module being responsive to the received prompting signal to transmit the identification code stored in said memory means.  
     
     
         13 . A queue management system as claimed in  claim 12 , wherein said transmitter means of each portable module is adapted to transmit said identification code after a random or pseudo-random delay after said prompt receiving means receives said prompting signal.  
     
     
         14 . A queue management system as claimed in any one of claims  11 ,  12  or  13 , wherein said transmitter means of at least some of said portable module transmit said identification codes at different frequencies.  
     
     
         15 . A queue management system as claimed in claims  12 ,  13  or  14 , wherein said prompting transmitter of the or each module detector transmits an identifying prompting signal, and said portable module includes identification means to compare said identifying prompting signal with a stored prompting signal corresponding to a respective queue to determine whether the person or group of people are at the correct queue, and means to indicate to the person or group of people whether or not the person or group of people are located in the correct queue.  
     
     
         16 . A queue management system as claimed in any of  claims 12  to  15 , wherein said the prompting transmitter transmits an identifying prompting signal indicative of the range of said identifying prompting signal, and said portable module is operable in response to said identifying prompting signal to set the range of its identification code transmission.  
     
     
         17 . A queue management system as claimed in any preceding claim for use in a defined area having at least one exit for the people or groups of people carrying said portable modules, the system including at least one said module detector at each exit to detect portable modules to prevent the portable modules being removed from said defined area.  
     
     
         18 . A queue management system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said queue manager is adapted to load an identification code into said memory means of a said portable module using said first communication means when said portable module is docked in a said docking station to register said person or group of people in a queue sequence.  
     
     
         19 . A queue management system as claimed in any one of  claims 1  to  17 , wherein the identification code is preloaded in said memory means of each portable module.  
     
     
         20 . A queue management system as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the or each docking station includes queue display means for displaying a selection of queues which the person or group of people may wish to join; input means to allow the person or group of people to select which queue they wish to join; and downloading means for downloading the identification code of the docked portable module and passing the downloaded identification code to said queue manager via said first communication means, and for passing the identity of the or each queue which the person or group of people wish to join to said queue manager via said first communication means; said queue manager being adapted to register the person or group of people in at least one said queue sequence dependent upon the downloaded identification code and the received queue identity.  
     
     
         21 . A queue management system as claimed in  claim 20 , wherein said display means and said input means of the or each docking station are adapted to respectively display requests for data on the person or group of people and to allow the input of such data for transmission to said queue manager via said first communication means.  
     
     
         22 . A queue management system as claimed in any preceding claim wherein said indicator means of each portable module comprises a display to display messages indicative of the queues for which the person or group of people is registered to join and the time at which the queues should be joined.  
     
     
         23 . A queue management system as claimed in  claim 22  wherein said docking station is adapted to allow the person or group of people to select a preferred sequence of queues to be joined and preferred times of joining the queue, and to reselect said preferred sequence and said preferred times.  
     
     
         24 . A queue management system as claimed in  claim 22  or  claim 23  wherein said queue manager is adapted to optimise the position of a person or group of people in each of a plurality of queue sequences to allow the person or group of people to join each queue and attend each event being queued for.  
     
     
         25 . A queue management system as claimed in  claim 24 , wherein said queue manager includes queue information storage means to store information on the predicted rate at which the or each queue will move and/or the actual rate at which the queue is moving, said queue manager being adapted to use said stored information to optimise the length of the or each queue sequence and to enable the optimisation of the sequence of queues.  
     
     
         26 . A queue management system as claimed in any one of  claims 22  to  25 , wherein said queue manager is adapted to control said signal transmitting means to transmit data on the queue sequence and times at which the queues should be joined, and said memory means of each portable module is adapted to store said data.  
     
     
         27 . A queue management system as claimed in any one of  claims 22  to  26 , wherein each portable module includes a message memory for storing a plurality of standard messages, said queue manager being adapted to send a desired message activation signal to selected said portable modules using said signal transmitting means, and said selected portable modules being adapted to display a desired message from said stored plurality of messages on said display in response to said activation signals.  
     
     
         28 . A queue management system as claimed in any one of  claims 22  to  27 , wherein said queue manager is adapted to send a control signal to selected said portable modules, said selected signal to switch mode of operation to operate as a radio pager.  
     
     
         29 . A queue management system as claimed in any one of  claims 22  to  28 , including an access control mechanism associated with the or each module detector to allow access to a queue area for a queue, said queue manager being adapted to compare a detected identification code with the identification codes of the queue sequence associated with the queue to determine if said detected identification code falls within a predetermined range of the front of the queue sequence, and to transmit an access denied signal over said second communication means to said access control mechanism if said detected identification code is determined to be outside said predetermined range, said access control mechanism being responsive to said access denied signal to prevent the person or group of people carrying the portable module associated with the detected identification code from gaining access to the queue area.  
     
     
         30 . A queue management system as claimed in  claim 29 , wherein said queue manager is adapted to transmit an explanatory message signal to the portable module which has been denied access to the queue area to explain the reason why access has been denied.  
     
     
         31 . A queue management system as claimed in  claim 29 , wherein said each portable module is adapted to store a default acceptance time window associated with each queue for which the identification code of the portable module has been entered in the queue sequence reason messages, a portable module which has been denied access being adapted to identify the module detector to determine whether the portable module is at the correct queue area at the correct time, and to select and display an appropriate reason message to explain why access has been denied.  
     
     
         32 . A queue management system as claimed in any one of  claims 22  to  31 , wherein a plurality of said portable modules can be assigned as a group, each member of a group of portable modules having an identification code which identifies which group the portable module belongs to, the or each docking station being adapted to allow the selection of the option for the members of a group of people to each have a portable module.  
     
     
         33 . A queue management system as claimed in  claim 32 , wherein said docking station is adapted to allow a member of a group to input a group specific message to said queue manager via said first communication means when the member's portable module is docked, said queue manager being responsive to said group specific message to transmit a message to all members of the group.  
     
     
         34 . A queue management system as claimed in  claim 32  or  claim 33 , wherein said queue manager is adapted to monitor the locations of said portable modules, the or each docking station including means to input a location request to request the location of the group members when a group member's portable module is docked, said queue manager being responsive to said location request to transmit information on the location of the group members for display by the docking station.  
     
     
         35 . A queue management system as claimed in any one of  claims 22  to  34 , wherein said queue manager is adapted to monitor the locations of said portable modules and to send area specific messages to portable modules known to be in at least one specific area.  
     
     
         36 . A queue management system as claimed in any one of  claims 22  to  35 , wherein said queue manager is adapted to program the language of the messages displayed on said display of a said portable module when said portable module is docked.  
     
     
         37 . A queue management system as claimed in  claim 27 , wherein said queue manager is adapted to send the messages stored in said message memory of a said portable module when said portable module is docked.  
     
     
         38 . A queue management system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said queue manager is adapted to set the frequency of said transmitter means of a said portable module when said portable module is docked.  
     
     
         39 . A queue management system as claimed in any preceding claim including a plurality of portable tagging modules, each portable tagging module being arranged to be carried by a person or group of people to be tracked, comprising memory means for containing a unique identification code, transmitter means for transmitting said identification code over a short range to confine the transmitted identification code to a local region around the person or group of people carrying the portable tagging module, and docking means for docking with the or each docking station for downloading said identification code to said queue manager; the or each docking station being adapted to allow a person or group of people carrying a said portable module to associate at least one said portable tagging module with said portable module, said docking station having means for prompting the selection of a tagging option when said portable module is docked to download the identification code thereof, said means for prompting subsequently requesting the docking of a said portable tagging module to download the identification code thereof; said queue manager being responsive to said means for prompting and said downloaded identification codes to associate said identification codes; the or each docking station including means to transmit a location request signal for an associated identification code of a portable module or portable tagging module when a portable module or portable tagging module is docked; said queue manager being responsive to said location request signal to transmit information on the location of the associated portable module or portable tagging module to said docking station for display thereby.  
     
     
         40 . A queue management system as claimed in  claim 39 , wherein each portable tagging module includes a receiver for receiving prompting signals from the or each module detector, said transmitter of each portable tagging module being responsive to said prompting signals to transmit said identification code.  
     
     
         41 . A queue management system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the or each docking station includes payment means for receiving payment in respect of a queue which has a fee associated therewith, said payment means being adapted to request payment and await receipt of payment before registering a person or group of people in a queue sequence for a desired queue which has a fee associated therewith.  
     
     
         42 . A queue management system as claimed in any one of  claims 1  to  40 , wherein the or each docking station includes payment means for receiving payment to be credited to the person or group of people carrying a said portable module and to be associated with the identification code of said portable module; said queue manager including credit storing means for receiving and storing information on the payment to be credited to a portable module from said docking station, queue cost information memory containing information on the cost of the or each queue which has a fee associated therewith, debiting means for debiting funds from the credit stored in said credit storing means for a portable module when said queue manager receives a detected identification code from said module detector at a queue which has a fee associated therewith; said queue manager being further adapted to transmit information on the credit stored in said credit storing means for a portable module to said portable module for display thereby.  
     
     
         43 . A queue management system as claimed in  claim 41  or  claim 42 , wherein said payment means comprises a credit card reader.