Data processing: generic control systems or specific application – Specific application – apparatus or process – Article handling
Reexamination Certificate
2001-03-27
2002-09-24
Ellis, Christopher P. (Department: 3652)
Data processing: generic control systems or specific application
Specific application, apparatus or process
Article handling
C700S237000, C700S241000, C340S568100, C340S870030
Reexamination Certificate
active
06456900
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a locker type merchandise delivering system for reliably delivering merchandise ordered by a customer to the customer by utilizing a non-store retailing site such as electronic shopping.
As personal computers and hand-held terminals have become wide spread, demands have been increasing drastically for non-store retailing services by directly exchanging information between customers and sellers through the Internet, or the like.
The non-store retailing services require a delivering method that replaces a method that directly hands the merchandise to the customer in the shop in addition to a settling method that replaces a conventional settling method by which the seller receives the charge from the customer in the shop.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the conventional non-store retailing service, the customer connects a personal computer to the Internet, gains access to the home page of a seller, exchanges necessary information and orders merchandise.
Receiving the order of the merchandise, the seller requests a delivering company to package and to deliver the merchandise to the customer's house. Also, the delivering company can deliver the merchandise to a convenience store designated by the customer, and the customer can come to the convenience store and pick up the merchandise. Convenience of the customer is thus insured as the merchandise is delivered to the customer's house or to the convenience store nearby.
To settle the charge of the merchandise delivered to the customer, the delivering company or the convenience store collects the charge on the cash-on-delivery basis, by making a withdrawal through a credit card, transferring to postal or bank account.
For example, when the merchandise is delivered to the customer's house, the customer needs to be at home in order to have the merchandise delivered. And when postal transfer is used to settle the charge, the customer has to go to the post office or to the bank to transfer the money. Great limitation of time is imposed on the customer by using conventional ways. Also, in order to deliver the merchandise to the customer's house, the delivering company has to know personal information of the customer such as the address and the telephone number. Since such personal information is handed over from the seller to the delivering company, personal information cannot always be protected sufficiently.
When delivery of the merchandise and settlement of the charge are made in the convenience store, the limitation of the time can be eliminated on the contrary to the case described above. However, there is the possibility that privacy of the customer cannot be protected sufficiently.
On the other hand, when the settling method utilizing the credit card is employed, the limitation of time imposed on the customer becomes small because the customer need not go to the bank. However, since the credit card number is transmitted through the network, a great problem exists in the aspect of security. In addition, the problem of delivery of the merchandise yet remains unsolved in the same way as in the two methods described above.
A service that uses a door-to-door delivery box comprising a plurality of home delivery lockers and installed as receive-only boxes in an apartment house has been materialized as a technology for solving a part of the problem of delivery of the merchandise (Japanese Patent Publication No. 2,834,754 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication Nos. 64-49505 and 9-282531).
This technology gives importance to reliable stipulation of the person who receives the merchandise. The party to which the merchandise is delivered is limited to only the person who is in advance registered to a sales management center, such as a resident in an apartment house having the home delivery lockers.
Similarly, Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-11806 discloses a technology for delivering the merchandise by utilizing delivery lockers. According to this technology, when a proper customer utilizing the non-store retailing service through the network conducts a suitable operation for an article delivering equipment installed in a place where people gather and verifies his identification for receiving the merchandise, the customer can receive the merchandise.
This technology can mitigate much more greatly the limitation imposed on the customer than the home delivery lockers installed in the apartment houses because the article delivering equipment is installed at the place where the customers gather. However, verification of identification for receiving the merchandise is based on the premise that the customer can clearly verify identity of himself. Therefore, to receive the non-store retailing service applying this technology, the customer must register in advance the personal identification number, etc, in the same way as in the above service using the home delivery lockers.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to provide a locker type merchandise delivering system capable of safely settling the charge of merchandise and delivering merchandise for indefinite customers while protecting privacy of the customers.
It is another object of the invention to make it possible to receive orders of merchandise to meet with demands from indefinite customers and set a delivery site, and to settle the charge and deliver the merchandise, without relying at all on manual work, to improve convenience of the customers and to firmly protect privacy of the customers.
It is a further object of the invention to accomplish a service that relieves customers from limitation of time and place imposed on the customer to deliver the merchandise and to settle the charge of the merchandise.
The objects described above can be accomplished by a locker type merchandise delivering system including a plurality of merchandise delivering equipment each being constituted by integrating together a plurality of lockers capable of being locked, a settling unit for settling charge of a merchandise, and a door controlling unit for controlling opening and closing of a door provided to each of the lockers, and said plurality of merchandise delivery equipment installed at public sites such as a train station where unspecified persons can freely enter and leave, the system comprising: an order receiving unit for receiving designation of a place and time at an which a customer desires to receive the merchandise, when ordering the merchandise; an order entry controlling unit for generating an ordering code for specifying the order of the merchandise, and for managing the ordering information relating to the designated place and time on the basis of the ordering code; an sending unit for sending the ordering code to the customer, wherein the settling unit includes: an ordering code inputting unit for accepting the entry of the ordering code; an ordering information inputting unit for receiving, from the order entry controlling unit, ordering information corresponding to the ordering code inputted; an accepting unit for accepting the charge of the merchandise on the basis of the ordering information; and a code notifying unit for notifying to the door controlling unit a release code for unlocking the door of an appropriate locker in response to the acceptance of the charge, and wherein the door controlling unit includes: a code receiving unit for generating a release instruction in response to the reception of the release code, by designating a corresponding locker; and a release unit for releasing the lock built into the door of the corresponding locker in accordance with the release instruction.
Such a locker type merchandise delivering system can accept the order of merchandise in accordance with the request from an unspecified customer, can set the delivery place, and can settle the charge of the merchandise and deliver the merchandise without relying at all on the manual work.
The objects described above can be accomplished also by a locker type merchandise deliverin
Crawford Gene O.
Ellis Christopher P.
Fujitsu Limited
Staas & Halsey , LLP
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