Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q10/00—Administration; Management
  • G06Q10/06—Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q30/00—Commerce
  • G06Q30/02—Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Definitions

• the prior art requires that the manufacturer of products maintain a database of components that were used to manufacture a given product (such as an automobile). Then when a particular component becomes subject to recall, the manufacturer must search that database to determine which product incorporated that component, to determine the identity of the purchasers of the product, and to provide each of the purchasers with a product recall notice.
• Computers for example, comprise processor chips made by various manufacturers, motherboards (themselves comprising a plethora of chips that come from several vendors), keyboards, displays of various kinds, network components, power supplies, and so on, any one of which maybe subject to recall.
• Household appliances such as refrigerators comprise an electric motor, a compressor, plumbing, insulation, and so on that may come from separate vendors.
• the co-pending applications outline several classes of products for which the prior art fails to support a product recall protocol that can protect public safety while protecting manufacturers from product liability. The existence of subordinate products within primary products subject to recall further complicates the product recall problem and illustrates the need for improvement in the art of product recall management.
• a method and apparatus for receiving a product notice wherein a subordinate component provides a product identifier.
• the product identifier is received.
• a product notice message is also received.
• a target product identifier is included in the received product notice message.
• An indication is generated by comparing the product identifier received from the subordinate component and the target product identifier included in the received product notice message.
• Fig. 3 is a flow diagram that depicts one alternative illustrative method of receiving the PID of a component of a product subject to recall;
• Fig. 6 is a block diagram of one illustrative embodiment of a notice receiver 250 capable of managing a recall notice according to the present invention
• Fig. 7 is a block diagram of an alternative embodiment of an apparatus that is capable of managing a recall notice for a product when the product comprises subordinate components that are, themselves, subject to recall;
• Fig. 8 is a block diagram of an alternative embodiment of a notice receiver 251 capable of managing a recall notice according to the present invention
• Fig. 9 is a flow diagram that describes another variation of the method of the present invention that employs the use of short-range wireless identification device for receipt of a subordinate PID;
• Fig. 10 is a block diagram of one exemplary embodiment of a notice receiver 252 capable of managing a recall notice when smart chips are used to identify subcomponents subject to recall.
• Fig. 1 is a flow diagram that describes one example of a method for managing the recall of a product that comprises subordinate components that are, themselves, subject to recall.
• One illustrative variation of the method, according to the present invention is applied by a device installed in a product subject to recall wherein said product comprises one or more subordinate components that, themselves, are subject to recall.
• each subordinate component is assigned a product identifier (PID).
• PID product identifier
• the term "Product Identifier" is defined in the first introduced incorporated reference.
• This variation of the method accordingly, provides that the PID of a subordinate component is received (step 5).
• the received PID is stored in a register (step 10) and a notice receiver is enabled (step 15) in a manner described more fully in a copending application.
• a message is received comprising a recall notice (step 20).
• the recall notice may comprise one or more PIDs corresponding to products or components being recalled.
• the received message is analyzed to determine whether a PID associated with the message matches the PID stored in any register (step 25). If a match does occur, then an indication of product recall is issued (step 30), and a record of the received notice is stored (step 35).
• other types of user notifications are delivered by one other variation of this method. Again, other types of notifications include, but are not limited to product upgrade notices and advertising notices.
• one variation of the method calls for extracting a PID from the message and storing the PID (step 50).
• the PID is stored in a register.
• additional messages are received and stored.
• One particular variation of the method teaches that the procedure is repeated until a time out occurs (step 55). The meaning of the time out implies, according to one variation of the method, that an interval of time has elapsed that is sufficient to assure reception of the PIDs for all possible subordinate devices in the product.
• Fig. 3 is a flow diagram that depicts one alternative illustrative method of receiving the PID of a component of a product subject to recall.
• This alternative illustrative method which may be called the "polling" mode of operation, calls for sending an identification request message (step 60).
• a master process intercommunicates with subordinate devices by means of a local area network (LAN) and is able to transmit a polling message that is received by a subordinate device.
• LAN local area network
• an identification request message is conveyed to the network in a broadcast manner such that a plurality of subordinate devices receive the polling message and wherein each of said device then responds by conveying an identification message to the master process.
• one variation of the method After transmitting a polling message, one variation of the method provides for waiting for a response message (step 65) from the subordinate device.
• a response message is received (step 70)
• another variation of the method provides that a PID is extracted from the message, and the PID is stored (step 75).
• more than one such message is received, so the procedure is repeated until a time out occurs (step 80), said time out operating to assure that PIDs for all possible subordinate devices have been received.
• Fig. 4 is a flow diagram that describes one exemplary method by which to determine whether a PID associated with a recall notice matches the PID of any subordinate component of a product subject to recall.
• an arbitrary variable called SELECT is defined and set to 1 (step 85).
• the name of the SELECT variable is introduced only for purposes of illustration and in no way is intended to limit the scope of the invention. In fact, the variable may take any name whatsoever.
• the PID associated with the received recall notice then is compared with the PID stored in the selected PID register (step 95). If the PID in the received recall notice does not match the
• SELECT is incremented (step 105). If the last SELECT value has not been considered (step 110), then the procedure is repeated by selecting another PID register (step 90). If no PID register is found that matches the PID associated with the received recall notice, and if the last value of SELECT has been considered (step 110), then SELECT is reset to 1 (step 85). In one variation of the method, the procedure begins again when a new recall, or other user notice is received. If the PID in the received recall notice does match the PID stored in a particular PID register (step 95), then an indication of product recall is issued (step 100), and the process continues by incrementing the value of SELECT (step 105). In one particular variation of the method, a received recall notice comprises more than one PID.
• FIG. 5 is a block diagram of one embodiment of an apparatus that is capable of managing a recall notice for a product when the product comprises subordinate components that are, themselves, subject to recall.
• a notice receiver 200 capable of receiving a recall notice comprising one or more PIDs associated with components subject to recall.
• the recall notice is received in the form of a wireless signal sensed on an antenna 205, although the notice may be received in other forms in other embodiments.
• the receiver is commensurate with the receiver described in the first incorporated reference and is augmented with the capabilities described herein.
• the apparatus further comprises at least one subordinate device 210 that is communicatively coupled to the notice receiver 200.
• the subordinate devices 210 pass their respective PID values 215 to the notice receiver 200.
• the notice receiver 200 compares each of the subordinate PIDs with the PID or PIDs associated with the received recall notice.
• the notice receiver 200 asserts the notice indicator 220 when the PID of one or more of the subordinate devices matches any PID associated with the received recall notice.
• Fig. 6 is a block diagram of one illustrative embodiment of a notice receiver 250 capable of managing a recall notice according to the present invention.
• This embodiment of the notice receiver 250 comprises an antenna 255 by means of which a wireless message comprising a recall or other product notice can be received.
• the recall or other product notice may be received by other means.
• the signal in one embodiment is transmitted over a power line.
• the signal is transmitted over a telephone line.
• Other embodiments may employ other media. None of these examples of means by which a recall notice can be received is intended to limit the scope of the present invention. The reader is asked to refer to the first incorporated reference to fully understand other alternative embodiments of the receiver.
• One embodiment of the notice receiver 250 further comprises a receiver 260 and a notice PID register 265 capable of storing a PID associated with a recall or other product user notice.
• the receiver 260 is capable of converting the received signal into a form that can be stored in the notice PID register 265.
• One embodiment of the notice receiver 250 further comprises one or more point-to- point communication units 275, each such unit being capable of intercommunicating with one subordinate device subject to recall.
• Another embodiment of the notice receiver 250 still further comprises one or more PID registers 280 that are associated in one to one correspondence with the point-to-point communication units 275. Each such PID register 280, therefore, is associated with one subordinate component subject to recall.
• Each PID register is capable of storing a PID associated with the corresponding subordinate device.
• the notice receiver 250 further comprises a control state machine 270, a selection unit 285, a comparison unit 295, and a notice storage unit 300.
• a recall notice comprising the PID is received, and the notice PID is stored in the notice PID register 265.
• the contents of the notice PID register 265 also are presented to one input of the comparison unit 295 and to the input of the notice storage unit 300.
• the point-to-point communication units 275 communicate with their respective subordinate devices, and each communication unit 275 receives a PID that is stored in a PID register 280.
• the control state machine 270 by means of control signal 290, causes the selection unit 285 to present the contents of each PID register 280 to one input of the comparison unit 295.
• the output of the comparison unit 295 is asserted, thus asserting a recall indicator 310.
• the recall indicator 310 also functions as a clock signal 305 that acts to cause the notice storage unit 300 to store the contents of the notice PID register 265 as discussed more fully in a co-pending application.
• Fig. 7 is a block diagram of an alternative embodiment of an apparatus that is capable of managing a recall notice for a product when the product comprises subordinate components that are, themselves, subject to recall.
• This alternative embodiment comprises a notice receiver 350 capable of receiving a recall notice comprising one or more PIDs associated with components subject to recall.
• One embodiment of the apparatus further comprises a wired or wireless local area network or "intra net" 360 and one or more subordinate devices 365.
• the notice receiver 350 in one embodiment is capable of intercommunicating with each of the subordinate devices 365 by means of the intra net 360.
• the notice receiver 350 receives, by means of an antenna 355, a recall notice comprising a notice PID.
• the notice receiver 350 then intercommunicates with the subordinate devices 365 through the medium of the intra net 360. If the notice receiver 350 determines that one of the subordinate devices needs to be recalled, then the notice receiver 350 asserts the notice indicator 370.
• Fig. 8 is a block diagram of an alternative embodiment of a notice receiver 251 capable of managing a recall notice according to the present invention.
• This alternative embodiment is similar to the embodiment of a notice receiver 250 disclosed in the discussion of Fig. 6.
• Like numerals in Fig. 6 and Fig. 8 denote like elements.
• the notice receiver 251 differs from the notice receiver 250 in that the point-to-point receivers 275 are replaced with a local area network (LAN) interface 276 capable of intercommunicating with subordinate devices that form part of the product subject to recall.
• the control state machine by means of control signal 291, communicates with the LAN
• LAN interface 276 to cause the LAN interface to acquire PID values from subordinate components, said PID values then being stored in PID registers 280.
• Other aspects of the notice receiver 251 as diagramed in Fig. 8 are identical to corresponding aspects of the notice receiver 250 as disclosed in the discussion of Fig. 6.
• Fig. 9 is a flow diagram that describes another variation of the method of the present invention that employs the use of short-range wireless identification device for receipt of a subordinate PID.
• embedded short-range wireless devices are used to identify components of the product subject to recall.
• the tires on an automobile have embedded therein short-range wireless identification devices or "smart chips" that are installed during the process of manufacture.
• smart chips one variation of the method teaches that the smart chips are electromagnetically interrogated (step 405) to determine their respective PIDs.
• the received PID is stored in a register (step 410) and a notice receiver is enabled (step 415) in a manner described more fully in a copending application.
• a message is received comprising a recall notice (step 420).
• the recall notice may comprise one or more PIDs corresponding to products or components being recalled. During any given time interval, a large number of such messages may be received, and it is unlikely that any given message pertains to the particular product under consideration.
• the received message is analyzed to determine whether a PID associated with the message matches the PID stored in any register (step 425). If a match does occur, then an indication of product recall is issued (step 430), and a record of the received notice is stored (step 435).
• Fig. 10 is a block diagram of one exemplary embodiment of a notice receiver 252 capable of managing a recall notice when smart chips are used to identify subcomponents subject to recall. .
• This alternative embodiment is similar to the embodiment of a notice receiver 250 disclosed in the discussion of Fig. 6.
• Like numerals in Fig. 6 and Fig. 10 denote like elements.
• the notice receiver 252 differs from the notice receiver 250 in that the point-to-point receivers are replaced with transceivers 277 capable of intercommunicating with smart chips that are embedded in the product.
• the smart chip transceivers 277 acquire PIDs from the smart chips; the PIDs are then stored in PID registers 280.
• Other aspects of the notice receiver 252 as diagramed in Fig. 8 are identical to corresponding aspects of the notice receiver 250 as disclosed in the discussion of Fig.
• the smart-chip transceivers are housed proximate to the wheel wells of an automobile allowing interrogation of the smart-chips embedded in each tire resulting in the retrieval of PIDs for each tire and storage of those PIDs in the notice receiver 252.
• the present invention is not intended to be limited in scope to "smart-chips" which is an industry standard radio- frequency identification tagging mechanism. Any wireless means for retrieval of a PID from subordinate component that are electronically tagged with an identifier constitutes a proper embodiment of the present invention.

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• 2004
  • 2004-05-18 WO PCT/US2004/015690 patent/WO2004104781A2/en active Application Filing
  • 2004-05-18 EP EP04785571A patent/EP1673680A2/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2004-05-19 EP EP04752785A patent/EP1673718A2/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2004-05-19 WO PCT/US2004/015832 patent/WO2004104784A2/en active Application Filing

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