Biometric bag check system

Abstract

A biometric bag check system includes one or more bag accepting devices, bag transport devices, and/or bag delivery devices. A bag accepting device is operable to obtain control of a bag from a person, obtain a digital representation of a biometric from the person, use a biometric identification system to determine an identity for the person using the digital representation of the biometric, verify flight information for the person by communicating with an airline system using the identity, and route the bag upon verification of the flight information. A bag transport device is operable to receive the bag from the bag accepting device and transport the bag. A bag delivery device is operable to receive the bag from the bag transport device and deliver the bag to the person.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A biometric bag check system, comprising:
 a non-transitory storage medium storing instructions;   at least one bag transport device; and   a processor that executes the instructions to:
 receive a bag from a bag accepting device using the at least one bag transport device, the bag associated with an identity of a person after:
 the bag is placed by the person in a bag accepting area and not subsequently removed by the person; 
 the identity of the person is determined by comparing a digital representation of a biometric received from the person to multiple sets of stored biometric data that are associated with multiple identities and stored in a biometric identification system; and 
 flight information is obtained for the person by communicating with an airline system using identity information that is stored in association with the identity; 
 
 transport the bag using the at least one bag transport device according to the flight information; 
 detect a change to a flight associated with the flight information; and 
 reroute the bag using the at least one bag transport device to a bag delivery device in response to the change, the bag delivery device operable to open to provide the bag in response to verification of the identity of the person using the biometric identification system. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the change to the flight comprises a flight cancellation, a flight rerouting, or a flight delay. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the person is a first person and the processor:
 determines that the bag is for a second person; and
 determines that the second person is a relative of the first person before transporting the bag. 
   
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the processor determines that the second person is a child of the first person. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is operable to:
 determine a risk factor associated with the person from information associated with the identity; and   route the bag for security screening based on the risk factor.   
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is operable to:
 transmit an offer to the person to deliver the bag directly to the person; and   reroute the bag directly to the person upon receipt of an acceptance from the person.   
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the bag accepting area includes a pressure sensor. 
     
     
         8 . A biometric bag check system, comprising:
 a non-transitory storage medium storing instructions; and   a processor that executes the instructions to:
 receive a notification regarding receipt of a bag from a bag accepting device by at least one bag transport device, the bag associated with an identity of a person after:
 the bag is placed by the person in a bag accepting area and not subsequently removed by the person; 
 the identity of the person is determined by comparing a digital representation of a biometric received from the person to multiple sets of stored biometric data that are associated with multiple identities and stored in a biometric identification system; and 
 flight information is obtained for the person by communicating with an airline system using identity information that is stored in association with the identity; 
 
 instruct the at least one bag transport device to transport the bag according to the flight information; 
 detect a change to a flight associated with the flight information; and 
 instruct the at least one bag transport device to reroute the bag to a bag delivery device in response to the change, the bag delivery device operable to open to provide the bag in response to verification of the identity of the person using the biometric identification system. 
   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the processor is operable to:
 determine a risk factor associated with the person from information associated with the identity; and   interrupt routing of the bag based on the risk factor.   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the processor is operable to:
 transmit an offer to the person to deliver the bag to a secured area instead of an unsecured area; and   reroute the bag to the secured area upon receipt of an acceptance from the person.   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the processor is operable to process a payment upon receipt of the acceptance. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the processor is operable to process the payment using a credit account that the processor is operable to create using biographic details associated with the identity. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the processor is operable to determine:
 that the person missed the flight; and   to omit instructing the at least one bag transport device to reroute the bag upon determining that the person will take a later flight.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the processor processes a payment for the bag using payment details associated with the identity. 
     
     
         15 . A biometric bag check system, comprising:
 a non-transitory storage medium storing instructions; and   a processor that executes the instructions to:
 receive a notification regarding receipt of a bag from a bag accepting device by at least one bag transport device, the bag associated with an identity of a person after:
 the bag is placed by the person in a bag accepting area and not subsequently removed by the person; 
 the identity for the person is determined by comparing a digital representation of a biometric received from the person to multiple sets of stored biometric data that are associated with multiple identities and stored in a biometric identification system; and 
 flight information is obtained for the person by communicating with an airline system using identity information that is stored in association with the identity; 
 
 detect that a flight associated with the flight information is cancelled, rerouted, or delayed; and 
 instruct the at least one bag transport device to reroute the bag. 
   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the processor is operable to:
 transmit an offer to the person for expedited bag delivery; and   provide the expedited bag delivery upon receipt of an acceptance from the person.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the processor is operable to transmit the offer to an electronic device specified in information associated with the identity. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the processor is operable to interrupt routing of the bag based on a flight restriction indicated in information associated with the identity. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the processor is operable to route the bag for security screening based on an indication to perform the security screening that is stored in information associated with the identity. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the processor is operable to transmit a notification to delay the flight for performance of the security screening.