Registers – Systems controlled by data bearing records
Reexamination Certificate
1999-04-26
2004-03-16
French, Karl D. (Department: 2876)
Registers
Systems controlled by data bearing records
C235S487000, C119S174000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06705516
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a product management apparatus, a historical information recording device and a product provided with such a device, more particularly relates to a historical information recording device capable of electrically performing historical management, for example, from the manufacture of the product to its disposal, a product provided with the same, a historical information recording device having a function of switching to a transmission mode suitable for a case of broadcasting the location of a product or a function of preventing tampering etc. of the historical information, and product provided with the same, still more particularly relates to a historical information recording and/or reproduction device, a product having this, and a method for discriminating historical information recorder.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the related art, written guarantees are usually attached to audio visual equipment (AV equipment) and other products.
These written guarantees are generally made of paper and contain information relating to the product such as a model number of the product and the product serial no. and information relating to the sale such as the name of the store and the date of sale.
The general practice is to offer the service of free repair of the product based on the information in the written guarantee when the product breaks down in a predetermined guarantee period of for example one year from the date of sale of the product.
However, it is necessary for the user to store the written guarantee separately from the product. For this reason, if he or she loses the written guarantee, he or she sometimes is not eligible for the free repair when the product breaks down.
Further, since the written guarantee is made of paper or the like, depending on how it is stored, for example the surface of the guarantee may become moldy due to moisture or may become dirty so that the information sometimes no longer can be discriminated.
On the other hand, the information relating to the product of the written guarantee is indicated in advance on the manufacturer's side by printing or the like before shipment, but the information relating to the sale is described by the store stamping the store name and writing in the date of sale. When the product is for example a gift or a prize in a contest or when the store deliberately does not write in the date of sale, the starting date of the guarantee period cannot be identified.
For this reason, the manufacturer or a business which undertakes repair sometimes must perform the repair upon request by the user irrespective of the fact that the guarantee period has actually passed, so they sometimes suffer a loss by performing the repair free even though the repair originally should have been charged. Further, if the date of sale cannot be identified, it becomes impossible to correctly determine the service life and frequency of breakdown of the related product and parts thereof and otherwise statistically manage products after sale.
Further, it becomes possible to additionally record information other than the product information of the written guarantee and the sale information, for example, the date of arrival at a wholesaler in the distribution process, the date of shipment out from it, the name of the wholesaler, and other historical information of the distribution process, the date of repair when a product breaks down, the details of the repair, the person in charge of the repair, and other historical information of repair, and other historical information relating to the individual product. Such historical information has never before been recorded for individual products.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a historical information recording device capable of reliably managing the historical information relating to a product and a product provided with such a device.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a historical information recording device capable of handling not only recording of data relating to the manufacture, sale, and repair of a product, but also a broader range of applications and a product provided with such a device.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a historical information recording device capable of enhancing the reliability of stored information, for example, able to prevent tampering of once stored historical information, and a product provided with such a device.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a historical information recording and/or reproduction device capable of reliably recording and/or reproducing historical information relating to a product, a product provided with such a device, and a method for discriminating a historical information recorder reliably managing historical information relating to the product.
To achieve the above objects, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is a product management apparatus comprising: a main unit attached to a product and having an input unit inputting historical information of the product, a recording means for recording the input historical information, and a transmitting means for transmitting the recorded historical information; and an outside unit having a receiving means for receiving the historical information transmitted by the transmitting means.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a product provided with a historical information recording device comprising: a main unit comprising an input unit for inputting the historical information, a recording means for recording the input historical information, and a transmitting means for transmitting the recorded historical information; said main unit communicates the historical information with an outside remote controller.
According to the above configuration, since the main unit has the input unit for inputting the historical information and the recording means for recording this input historical information, it can clearly record individual historical information of products. Further, since this recorded historical information is transmitted to the outside unit via the transmitting means of the main unit, the historical information can be correctly confirmed by using this outside unit.
Further, in a product provided with such a historical information recording device, since the historical information is provided in the product, the historical information can be managed for individual products.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a product management apparatus comprising: a main unit having an input means for inputting historical information, a password imparting means for giving a password for at least part of the input historical information, a recording means for recording the historical information, and a transmitting means for transmitting the recorded historical information; and an outside unit having a receiving means for receiving the historical information transmitted from the transmitting means, a password comparing means for comparing the password given to the transmitted historical information, and a password inputting means for inputting a password to the password comparing means.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a product provided with a historical information recording device comprising: a main unit comprising an input means for inputting historical information, a password imparting means for giving a password for at least part of the input historical information, a recording means for recording the historical information, and a transmitting means for transmitting the recorded historical information; and said main unit communicates with an outside remote controller said outside unit comprising: a receiving means for receiving the historical information transmitted from the transmitting means, a password comparing means for comparing the password given to the transmitted histor
Depke Robert J.
French Karl D.
Hess Daniel A.
Holland & Knight LLC
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