JP2008134909A - Warranty system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simplify construction of a warranty system for every warranty service provider, and to achieve the unitary management of the warranty of merchandise on behalf of the warranty service provider. <P>SOLUTION: A service provider device 110 acquires merchandise relevant information accessory to merchandise settlement, and acquires purchaser information including a mail address and a device ID from a portable telephone set 200 of a merchandise purchaser. Then, the service provider device 110 transmits the merchandise relevant information and the purchaser information to a warranty center device 120. The warranty center device 120 generates warranty data for every warranty object merchandise based on information from the service provider device 110, and transmits the warranty data to a service provider main device 110 as the transmission source of the purchaser information and the portable telephone set 200 of the merchandise purchaser, and executes the unitary management of the warranty data based on the device ID. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a guarantee system that issues a guarantee for each product and provides a guarantee service for the product based on the contents of the guarantee. In this specification, “product” may be read as “product”.

By registering the information of his / her property in the ownership database, the user can cooperate with the manufacturer of the property, register the user of the property, change it, issue / update electronic warranty, and There is known a property management system capable of centrally managing notification of important information and information provision (Patent Document 1). There is also known a technique in which warranty information on a product is converted into digital information so that the information on the warranty can be used consistently from the manufacturer to the purchaser (Patent Document 2).
JP 2002-269254 A JP-A-10-105626

  According to the above known technique, user registration with a manufacturer, issuance and updating of a guarantee by the manufacturer can be facilitated.

  However, the above-described known technology facilitates user registration and the like of a manufacturer that is already equipped with a guarantee system, and does not facilitate the construction of a guarantee system in a manufacturer or a dealer. Apart from large companies, small stores and small businesses are difficult to build their own security system.

  Moreover, according to said well-known technique, it is possible to manage the guarantee of the several goods which a user owns centrally. However, the management is performed solely by the warranty service provider (implementer) such as the manufacturer and distributor of the product.

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a guarantee system capable of facilitating the construction of a guarantee system for each guarantee service provider and centrally managing a guarantee card for a product on behalf of each guarantee service provider, and such a guarantee system. The object is to provide a computer program to be realized using a computer.

1. Assurance System The assurance system of the present invention is configured as follows.

Configuration 1-1
(1) A guarantee system that issues a warranty for each product and provides a warranty service for the product based on the contents of the warranty.
(2) This guarantee system includes a service providing main apparatus and a guarantee center apparatus.
(3) The service provider device is a computer system for which the service provider that provides the warranty service has the authority to use.
(4) The guarantee center device is a computer system having a function of communicating with a plurality of service providing main devices.
(5) Each service providing main apparatus has the following functions (5a) to (5e).
(5a) Product-related information acquisition function: This function is a function for acquiring product-related information that can be used to identify the product accompanying the purchase payment of the product.
(5b) Purchaser information acquisition function: This function is a function for acquiring purchaser information (customer information) including the device ID (identifier) of the mobile phone terminal from the mobile phone terminal of the purchaser of the product. The mobile phone terminal means an electronic device having at least a mobile phone function (a function for performing communication using a communication service provided by a mobile phone carrier) (the same applies hereinafter). Therefore, an electronic device having a size or weight that is not actually suitable for carrying if it has a mobile phone function is also included. This also includes electronic devices that are exclusively used for data communication without using the voice call function. Typical examples of mobile phone terminals include small mobile phones (so-called “mobile”), PDAs with mobile phone functions (Personal Digital Assistants), and data communication cards for mobile phones.
(5c) Purchase information transmission function: This function is a function for transmitting the acquired product related information and purchaser information to the guarantee center device.
(5d) Warranty data reception function: This function is a function for receiving warranty data including product related information from the warranty center device.
(5e) Service Providing Warranty Data Storage Function: This function is a function for storing received warranty data and managing it based on product related information included in the warranty data.
(6) The guarantee center device has the following functions (6a) to (6d).
(6a) Warranty data generation function: This function includes a warranty data that includes product related information and does not include a device ID based on information received from each service provider device, and warranty data that includes both product related information and a device ID. Is a function for generating for each guarantee target product.
(6b) Warranty card data transmission function for service provider: This function is a service provider main device that is a source of purchaser information based on warranty data that includes product related information and does not include device ID in the generated warranty data It is a function to transmit to.
(6c) Purchaser warranty data transmission function: This function is a function for transmitting the warranty data including both the product related information and the device ID among the generated warranty data to the mobile phone terminal having the device ID.
(6d) Warranty data central storage function: This function is a function for storing the warranty data including at least both the product related information and the device ID in the generated warranty data and centrally managing it by the device ID included in the warranty data. .

Configuration 1-2
In the guarantee system according to Configuration 1-1, the purchaser information acquisition function acquires purchaser information including a mail address of the mobile phone terminal and a device ID of the mobile phone terminal from the mobile phone terminal of the purchaser of the product. It is a function.

Configuration 1-3
In the guarantee system of Configuration 1-1 or Configuration 1-2, the warranty data central storage function is a function for centrally managing basic data for generating warranty data,
The basic data includes the product related information and the template data of the warranty card,
The model data is associated with each service provider, each product, or each customer.

Configuration 1-4
In the guarantee system of Configuration 1-1, Configuration 1-2, or Configuration 1-3, relay devices of a plurality of mobile phone service providing companies are interposed in parallel between each service providing main device and the warranty card center device. . Then, the relay device of each mobile phone service providing company delivers purchaser information acquired from the mobile phone terminal of each service user and guarantee data generated based on the purchaser information.

Configuration 1-5
(1) A guarantee system that issues a warranty for each product and provides a warranty service for the product based on the contents of the warranty.
(2) This guarantee system includes a service providing main apparatus and a guarantee center apparatus.
(3) The service provider apparatus is a computer system in which a service provider that provides warranty service or a merchandise seller has usage rights.
(4) The guarantee center device is a computer system having a function of communicating with a plurality of service providing main devices.
(5) Each service providing main apparatus has the following functions (5a) to (5e).
(5a) Product related information acquisition function: This function is a function for acquiring product related information that can specify the product. Here, as an aspect of acquiring the product related information, an aspect of automatically acquiring in connection with the purchase payment of the product, an operator using an input device such as a keyboard when the product or ownership of the product is transferred to the purchaser A mode in which information is input by operation can be given.
(5b) Purchaser information acquisition function: This function is a function for acquiring purchaser information (customer information) including the device ID (identifier) of the mobile phone terminal from the mobile phone terminal of the purchaser of the product.
(5c) Purchase information transmission function: This function is a function for transmitting the acquired product related information and purchaser information to the guarantee center device.
(5d) Warranty data reception function: This function is a function for receiving warranty data including product related information from the warranty center device.
(5e) Service Providing Warranty Data Storage Function: This function is a function for storing received warranty data and managing it based on product related information included in the warranty data.
(6) The guarantee center device has the following functions (6a) to (6d).
(6a) Warranty data generation function: This function includes a warranty data that includes product related information and does not include a device ID based on information received from each service provider device, and warranty data that includes both product related information and a device ID. Is a function for generating for each guarantee target product.
(6b) Warranty card data transmission function for service provider: This function is a service provider main device that is a source of purchaser information based on warranty data that includes product related information and does not include device ID in the generated warranty data It is a function to transmit to.
(6c) Purchaser warranty data transmission function: This function is a function for transmitting the warranty data including both the product related information and the device ID among the generated warranty data to the mobile phone terminal having the device ID.
(6d) Warranty data central storage function: This function is a function for storing the warranty data including at least both the product related information and the device ID in the generated warranty data and centrally managing it by the device ID included in the warranty data. .

Configuration 1-6
In the warranty system of Configuration 1-5, the warranty card center device deletes the current warranty data (old warranty data) when generating new warranty data for the same product, that is, a product with the same product ID. Have

Configuration 1-7
In the guarantee system according to Configuration 1-5 or Configuration 1-6, the warranty center device acquires information indicating the competition relationship between the product ID and the device ID of the mobile phone terminal and information indicating the registration date and time thereof. Has a registered information holding function for holding the old warranty data even after the old warranty data is deleted.

2. Computer Program The computer program of the present invention includes the following.

Configuration 2-1
A computer program for causing a computer to function as a service providing main apparatus in the assurance system of Configuration 1-1, Configuration 1-2, Configuration 1-3, or Configuration 1-4.

  That is, the computer program is installed in the computer, and the product related information acquisition function for acquiring the product related information that can identify the product accompanying the purchase payment of the product is installed in the computer. Purchaser who acquires purchaser information including the device ID of the mobile phone terminal (preferably, purchaser information including the device ID of the mobile phone terminal and the mail address of the mobile phone terminal) from the purchaser's mobile phone terminal Information acquisition function, purchase information transmission function for transmitting the acquired product related information and purchaser information to the warranty center device, warranty data receiving function for receiving warranty data including product related information from the warranty center device, and the received warranty Warranty card for service provision in which data is stored and managed by product related information included in the warranty card data And over data storage function, it is intended to have.

Configuration 2-2
A computer program for causing a computer to function as a service providing main apparatus in the guarantee system having configuration 1-5.

  That is, the computer program is installed in the computer, and the product related information acquisition function for acquiring the product related information that can specify the product is installed in the computer, and the mobile phone terminal of the purchaser of the product Purchaser information acquisition function for acquiring the purchaser information including the device ID of the mobile phone terminal (preferably, purchaser information including the device ID of the mobile phone terminal and the e-mail address of the mobile phone terminal), and the acquired product A purchase information transmission function for transmitting related information and purchaser information to the warranty center device, a warranty data receiving function for receiving warranty data including product related information from the warranty center device, and storing the received warranty data in the warranty data Service provision guarantee data storage function managed by the product related information included Is shall.

Configuration 2-3
A computer program for causing a computer to function as a warranty card center apparatus in the warranty system according to any one of Configurations 1-1 to 1-7.

  That is, the computer program is installed in the computer, whereby the guarantee data, the product related information, and the device including the product related information and not including the device ID based on the information received from each service providing main device in the computer. Warranty data generation function for generating warranty data including both IDs for each product to be guaranteed, and transmission of purchaser information based on warranty data that includes product-related information and does not include device ID among the generated warranty data Service provider warranty data transmission function to be transmitted to the original service provider main device: This function and the warranty data including both the product related information and the device ID in the generated warranty certificate data to the mobile phone terminal having the device ID The purchaser's warranty data transmission function to send Both those which have a warranty centralized data storage function of centralized management by the device ID included in the guarantee data stored warranty data containing both product-related information and the device ID. Further, the computer is provided with an old warranty data deletion function for deleting the current warranty data (old warranty data) when generating new warranty data for the same product, that is, a product with the same product ID. Furthermore, information indicating the counter relationship between the product ID and the device ID of the mobile phone terminal and information indicating the registration date and time are acquired in the computer, and the information is retained even after the old warranty data is deleted. It has a holding function.

  According to the warranty system of the present invention, it is possible to facilitate the system construction for each warranty service provider, and to centrally manage the warranty card for products on behalf of each warranty service provider.

  According to the computer program of the present invention, it is possible to easily realize the service providing main apparatus and the warranty card center apparatus constituting the warranty system of the present invention using a computer.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1. Guarantee system 1-1-1. First Configuration Example FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a first configuration example of a guarantee system according to the present invention (claim corresponding diagram of claim 1). FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing an embodiment of the entire system corresponding to FIG.

[System configuration]
The warranty system 100 is a warranty system that issues a warranty for each product and provides a warranty service for the product based on the contents of the warranty.

  This guarantee system 100 includes a service providing main apparatus 110 and a guarantee center apparatus 120.

  The service provider apparatus 110 is a computer system for which a service provider that provides a warranty service is authorized to use. At least one service providing apparatus 110 is installed in each store (A store, B store,..., Z store) (see FIG. 2). Each store means a base managed and operated by an organization (including individuals) contracted with an organization (for example, “Guaranteed Certificate Center”) that operates this guarantee system.

  The guarantee center device 120 is a computer system having a function of communicating with a plurality of service providing main devices 110. The guarantee center device 120 includes a large-capacity database DB121. The warranty center device 120 is installed in a facility called a warranty center (see FIG. 2). In the warranty center, a WWW (World Wide Web) server 125 connected to the warranty center device 120 via a LAN (Local Area Network) is installed.

[Service provider main unit]
Each service provider main unit 110 includes a product related information acquisition function 110a, a purchaser information acquisition function 110b, a purchase information transmission function 110c, a guarantee data reception function 110d, and a service provision warranty data storage function 110e. These functions (functional units) 110a to 110e are realized by installing and executing the computer program of the present invention on a computer used as each service providing main apparatus 110.

  The product-related information acquisition function 110a is a function for acquiring product-related information that can be used to identify a product accompanying the purchase settlement of the product. The product related information includes product information (product ID, product number, manufacturing number, model number <model name>, product name, etc.) and sales information (sales shop, sales date, etc.). As product related information, at least product information (particularly, product ID) may be included. The product related information can be easily obtained by reading information on tags (barcode tags, RFID tags) attached to the products with a reader. If the service providing apparatus 110 has a function as a POS (Point Of Sales system) terminal, product related information can be acquired in a series of processing for product purchase settlement.

  The purchaser information acquisition function 110b acquires purchaser information (customer information) including the mail address of the mobile phone 200 and the device ID of the mobile phone 200 from the mobile phone (mobile phone terminal) 200 of the product purchaser. It is a function. The device ID is unique information that can uniquely identify the mobile phone 200, and includes at least one of a telephone number, a telephone ID, and a user ID. The telephone ID is unique information of the mobile phone 200 main body. The user ID is unique information (contractor information) that can uniquely identify the user of the mobile phone 200, that is, the contractor who has contracted with the mobile phone service provider in order to use the mobile phone 200. The user ID is recorded on a contractor information recording IC (Integrated Circuit) card in the mobile phone 200. Examples of the contractor information recording IC card include SIM (Subscriber Identity Module), USIM (Universal SIM), UIM (User Identity Module), R-UIM (Removable UIM), and the like. Information from the contractor information recording IC card is obtained by short-distance communication with the mobile phone 200 (infrared communication, electromagnetic wave communication <electromagnetic coupling method, electromagnetic induction method, radio wave method>, etc.), cable with an external connection terminal It can be implemented by wired communication by connection, etc.). Further, in the mobile phone 200 incorporating the non-contact type IC card, the user ID may be recorded on the non-contact type IC card. An example of this type of contactless IC card is FeliCa (registered trademark). If the service providing main apparatus 110 has a function as a POS (Point Of Sales system) terminal and a credit settlement processing function using a contactless IC card, the credit function (for example, Osaifu-Keitai (registered trademark)) of the mobile phone 200 is provided. The purchaser information can be acquired in a series of processing for the purchase settlement of the product by the function).

  The purchase information transmission function 110c is a function for transmitting the acquired product related information and purchaser information to the guarantee center device 120. Communication between the service providing main apparatus 110 and the guarantee center apparatus 120 is performed via a communication network 300 such as the Internet. Of course, the service providing main apparatus 110 and the guarantee center apparatus 120 may be connected by a dedicated line.

  The warranty data reception function 110d is a function for receiving warranty data including product related information from the warranty center device 120.

  The service providing warranty data storage function 110e is a database function that stores received warranty data and manages it based on product-related information included in the warranty data. The guarantee data is stored in a storage device (hard disk or the like) or an external storage device (hard disk, optical disk, network storage, or the like) in the service providing main device 110.

[Warranty Center Device]
The warranty center device 120 includes a warranty data generation function 120a, a service provider warranty data transmission function 120b, a purchaser warranty data transmission function 120c, and a warranty data central storage function 120d. These functions (function units) 120a to 120d are realized by installing and executing the computer program of the present invention on a computer used as the warranty card center apparatus 120.

  The warranty certificate data generation function 120a generates warranty certificate data that includes product related information and does not include device ID based on information received from each service provider main device 110, and warranty certificate data that includes both product related information and device ID. It is a function generated for each. The contents of the guarantee data differ for each service provider, for each product, and for each customer. That is, the warranty card center apparatus 120 holds many types of template data of the warranty card associated with each service provider, each product, and each customer, and the corresponding template for each product related information and device ID. Warranty data is generated using the shape data.

  The service provider warranty data transmission function 120b is a function for transmitting, to the service provider main device 110 that is the source of the purchaser information, the warranty certificate data that includes product related information and does not include the device ID. It is.

The purchaser's warranty data transmission function 120c is a function of transmitting the warranty data including both the product related information and the device ID among the generated warranty data to the mobile phone 200 having the device ID. The guarantee certificate data is transmitted to the mobile phone 200 using an electronic mail or near field communication with the service providing main apparatus 110. The form in which the guarantee data is transmitted to the purchaser's mobile phone 200 using e-mail includes the form in which the warranty card center device 120 directly sends an e-mail to the purchaser's mobile phone 200 and the indirect via the service provider main unit 110. In other words, there is a form in which a mail is transmitted to the purchaser's mobile phone 200. In the former form, it is necessary for the warranty card center device 120 to have a function (mail server function) for sending the warranty card data to the purchaser's mobile phone 200 by mail. In the latter form, it is necessary for the service providing main device 110 to have a function (mail server function) for sending the guarantee certificate data received from the guarantee center device 120 to the purchaser's mobile phone 200 by mail.
The warranty data central storage function 120d is a function that stores, in the DB 121, warranty data that includes at least both product-related information and device IDs in the generated warranty data, and centrally manages them based on the device ID included in the warranty data.

[WWW server]
The WWW server 125 publishes the information on the warranty data centrally managed by the warranty center device 120 on the Internet while maintaining high information security for protecting the personal information of the product purchaser.

  Specifically, the WWW server 125 is a Web page (a group of files constituting a page screen displayed on a Web browser specified by a unique URL (Uniform Resource Locator) for each product purchaser. And the My Page is published on the Internet so that it can be viewed only on the mobile phone 200 of the corresponding product purchaser. That is, the URL of each My Page corresponds to the device ID of each mobile phone 200 in a one-to-one relationship, and the WWW server 125 checks the device ID of the mobile phone 200 that has requested access to the warranty information disclosure site, The merchandise purchaser can browse his / her own page on the mobile phone 200 by returning the My Page of the URL corresponding to the device ID to the mobile phone 200. The form in which the WWW server 125 acquires the device ID of the mobile phone 200 is arbitrary. As an example, the relay device (gateway device) 400 of each mobile phone service provider (carrier) interposed between the mobile phone 200 and the WWW acquires the device ID, together with a request for access to the warranty information disclosure site. A mode in which the device ID of the requesting mobile phone 200 is transferred to the WWW server 125 can be mentioned. In addition, a method of making my page viewable only on the mobile phone 200 of the corresponding product purchaser is arbitrary. As an example, the WWW server 125 transmits a URL including a device ID as a part thereof to the mobile phone 200, and the mobile phone 200 that has received the URL compares the device ID of the own device with the device ID in the URL. A method of requesting transmission of a Web page specified by the URL only when the two match can be cited. In this case, the mobile phone 200 needs to have a function of comparing the device ID included in the received URL with the device ID of the device itself and performing processing according to the result. This type of function can be easily realized, for example, by installing in the mobile phone 200 an application program created to cause the mobile phone 200 to perform an appropriate operation.

1-1-2. Operation of First Configuration Example FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of a series of processes in the assurance system of the first configuration example.

[Product related information acquisition processing]
The service providing main apparatus 110 acquires product related information at the time of product settlement processing (S101). As an aspect in which the service providing main device 110 acquires the product related information, for example, in the store where the product is provided, the store clerk inputs the product related information written on the product tag or the like with the input device (keyboard, mouse etc.) A method of operating and inputting to the service providing main apparatus 110 by so-called manual input, and a series of processing for product settlement processing (reading tag information and the service providing main apparatus 110 having a POS terminal function based on the information In the series of processing accompanying the settlement performed in this manner, a method for acquiring product related information can be mentioned.

[Purchaser information acquisition processing]
The service providing main device 110 transmits a request for purchaser information to the mobile phone 200 of the product purchaser, that is, the person who has settled the product (S102). The cellular phone 200 receives the purchaser information request from the service providing main apparatus 110 (S201). The mobile phone 200 that has received the request for the purchaser information returns the purchaser information including the mail address and device ID of the device itself to the service provider device 110 that is the request source (S202). The service providing main apparatus 110 receives purchaser information from the mobile phone 200 (S103). The service providing main apparatus 110 acquires purchaser information of the mobile phone 200 of the product purchaser through these series of processing steps S102, S201, S202, and S103.

[Purchase information transmission processing]
The service providing main device 110 transmits the product related information acquired in the product related information acquisition processing (S101) and the purchaser information acquired in the purchaser information acquisition processing (S102, S201, S202, S103) to the guarantee center device 120. (S104).
[Warranty data generation processing]
The guarantee center device 120 receives the product related information and the purchaser information from the service providing main device 110 (S151). The warranty center device 120 includes the warranty data (hereinafter referred to as “service provider warranty data”) that includes the product-related information and does not include the device ID based on the information (product-related information, purchaser information) received from the service provider main device 110. And warranty data including both product related information and device ID (hereinafter referred to as “purchaser warranty data”) are generated for each warranty target product (S152).

[Guarantee data transmission processing for service providers]
The warranty center device 120 transmits the purchaser information based on the warranty data for the service provider, that is, the warranty data generated in the warranty data generation process (S152) and including the product-related information but not the device ID. It transmits to the original service providing main apparatus 110.

[Warranty data reception processing for service providers]
The service providing main apparatus 110 receives the service provider warranty data from the warranty center apparatus 120 (S105).

[Warranty data storage processing]
The service provider main device 110 stores the received service provider warranty data and manages it according to the product related information included in the warranty data (S106).

[Purchase warranty data transmission process]
The warranty card center device 120 transmits the warranty certificate data for the purchaser, that is, the warranty card data generated in the warranty certificate data generation process (S152) including both the product related information and the device ID to the mobile phone 200 having the device ID. (S154).

[Warranty data centralized storage processing]
The warranty center device 120 stores the purchaser's warranty data among the warranty data generated in the warranty data generation process (S152) in the DB 121, and centrally manages it by the device ID included in the warranty data (S155).

[Web page data transmission processing]
Each time the new purchaser's warranty data is stored in the DB 121, that is, each time the contents of the DB 121 are updated, the warranty card center device 120 browses by the purchaser of each product among the updated difference data. Is transmitted to the WWW server 125 as Web page data (S156).

[My page generation processing]
The WWW server 125 receives Web page data from the guarantee center device 120 (S161). The WWW server 125 generates a My Page based on the received Web page data (S162). The WWW server 125 stores the generated My Page in the warranty certificate information disclosure site storage area in its own device.

[Warranty card display processing]
The mobile phone 200 receives the purchaser's warranty data from the warranty center device 120 (S203). The mobile phone 200 displays the content of the received purchaser's warranty data (the content of the purchased product warranty) on the display unit 201 of the own device (S204). This warranty card screen 250 is a screen for confirming the contents (basic matters) of the warranty card of the purchased product.

  FIG. 4 shows a display example of the warranty card screen on the display unit 201 of the mobile phone 200. The warranty card screen 250 includes product-related information (product ID, model number, product name) 251 of the product newly purchased by the owner of the mobile phone 200 and warranty-related information (purchase date <final date>, warranty period, dealer) Information, warranty details) 252. The purchaser can check the product related information 251 and the warranty related information 252 of the purchased product immediately after purchase by looking at the warranty card screen 250 displayed on his / her mobile phone 200.

[My page browsing process]
In addition, on the warranty card screen 250, a link button 253 to My Page is displayed. The link button 253 can be clicked by, for example, operating the arrow button or the like of the mobile phone 200 to select the link button 253 and pressing the confirm button in that state. When the link button 253 is clicked, the mobile phone 200 transmits a request for access to the warranty information disclosure site to the WWW server 125 together with the device ID of the own device (S205).

  The WWW server 125 receives a request for access to the warranty information disclosure site from the mobile phone 200 (S163). The WWW server 125 checks the device ID sent together with the access request (S164). The WWW server 125 returns a My Page of the URL corresponding to the device ID to the mobile phone 200 (S165).

  The mobile phone 200 receives a My Page from the WWW server 125 (S206). The mobile phone 200 displays the received My Page on the display unit by the Web browser function of the own device (S207).

  The warranty card screen 250 also includes a support center telephone number (“03-1234-5678” in the example shown) and an e-mail address (“support @ xyz in the example shown) on the service provider (dealer, manufacturer, etc.). .jp ") is displayed. The display part of the telephone number is an activation button for calling the telephone function of the mobile phone 200. By clicking this part, a call can be made to the support center of the service provider. The display portion of the mail address is a button for calling the electronic mail function of the mobile phone 200. By clicking this portion, the mail client of the mobile phone 200 is activated and the destination is an electronic service with the service provider as the support center. The new mail creation screen is displayed.

  FIG. 5A shows a display example of a My Page screen on the display unit 201 of the mobile phone 200. On the My Page screen 260, the warranty target product name (name for browsing) of the guarantee data centrally managed in association with the device ID of the mobile phone 200 is in accordance with a certain rule (for example, in order of purchase date, purchase order List in chronological order, alphabetical order, etc.). In the example shown in FIG. A link button (“next list” button) 262 for moving to the next list display is displayed at the lower right of the list display portion of the my page screen 260. The warranty target product name portion of the list display area (a character string display area <product name> “XX bag”, “△△ bag”, etc.>) is a link button 261 to each warranty data. When an arbitrary warranty target product name (that is, the link button 261) is clicked, as shown in FIG. 5 (b), a transition is made to the individual display on the corresponding warranty card screen 270. The warranty screen 270 includes a link button (“detail” button) 273 to detailed information together with a link button (“return” button) 271 to the previous screen and a link button (“forward” button) 272 to the next screen. Is displayed. When the “return” button 271 is clicked, a warranty card screen 270 for the purchased item is displayed. When the “forward” button 272 is clicked, a warranty card screen 270 for the last purchased item is displayed. Then, when the “details” button 273 is clicked, a transition is made to the display of the detail screen 280 showing the detailed contents of the warranty displayed on the current warranty screen 270. FIG. 6 shows a display example of the detail screen 280. The detail screen 280 displays a warranty period, warranty content, warranty range, explanation on paid repair, notes, guarantor, and the like. Since the screen size of the detail screen 280 is larger than the size of the display unit 201 of the mobile phone 200, it is not possible to display and confirm all the details of the detail screen 280 at one time, but the display scroll function of the mobile phone 200 All the contents can be confirmed by moving the display area of the detail screen 280 using. At several places in the scroll direction (vertical direction) of the detail screen 280, a link button to the previous item (“Back” button) 281, a link button to the next item (“Go” button) 282, and a warranty list on the My Page screen 260 A link button (“list display” button) 283 for returning to is displayed. By operating the “return” button 281 and the “forward” button 282, the display area can be moved forward and backward in item units such as “guarantee period” and “guarantee content”. By clicking the “list display” button 283, it is possible to return to the cursor selection state immediately before in the guarantee list on the My Page screen 260.

1-1-3. Effect of First Configuration Example By installing the service providing main device 110 in each store, the product related information of the product is acquired and the mobile phone of the purchaser of the product at the time of purchase settlement of the product in each store Purchaser information (customer information) can be acquired from 200, and the acquired product related information and purchaser information can be transmitted to the guarantee center device 120.

  Warranty card center device 120 includes, on the basis of information received from each service provider main device 110, warranty data including product related information and not including device ID, and warranty data including both product related information and device ID for each product to be guaranteed The warranty data that contains at least both the product related information and the device ID is stored in the generated warranty certificate data, and is centrally managed by the device ID included in the warranty data. Can manage the warranty card.

  The warranty center device 120 transmits the warranty data that includes the product related information and does not include the device ID among the generated warranty data to the service provider 110 that is the source of the purchaser information that is the basis thereof, and the service provider 110 However, since the warranty data received from the warranty card center device 120 is stored and managed by the product related information included in the warranty data, each warranty service provider can change the contents of the warranty data managed by the service provider main device 110. Based on this, it is possible to appropriately carry out a guarantee service relating to a product for which purchase settlement has been made at the store.

  The warranty card center device 120 transmits the generated warranty card data to the mobile phone 200 of the product purchaser of the product to be guaranteed, so that the owner of the mobile phone 200, that is, the product purchaser, provides the warranty content by the received warranty card data. As well as being able to confirm easily, it is possible to reliably receive a guarantee service based on the guarantee contents. The guarantee service provider can appropriately perform a guarantee service regarding the product purchased by the owner of the mobile phone 200, that is, the product purchaser, by receiving the warranty card data using the mobile phone 200 as a medium.

  Accordingly, the warranty service provider subscribes to the warranty system 100 and installs the service provider main unit 110 in his / her store, thereby issuing a warranty for each product and providing a warranty service for the product based on the contents of the warranty. Construction of the security system to be provided can be facilitated.

  According to the guarantee system 100, by using contactless IC settlement using the mobile phone 200 such as “iD”, “Edy”, “FeliCa”, the product guarantee service information is registered at the same time as settlement, and retail Personal information necessary for the store to provide services to consumers can be collected. When the guarantee service is provided, the device ID of the mobile phone terminal 200 can be used for identity authentication, so that identity verification is surely and easily performed. Furthermore, by centrally managing the warranty service data of each retail store, it becomes possible to construct a Web site (“guarantee comparison site”) that allows consumers to compare and review warranty services for each retail store. The warranty service by the warranty system 100 can be applied to any product other than consumables for which the manufacturer has issued an ID.

  In addition, since the warranty service provider can acquire the e-mail address of the mobile phone 200 of the product purchaser, it can carry out sales promotion activities by e-mail. In addition, by grasping the e-mail address of the purchaser of each product, when a recall target product occurs, it is possible to notify the purchaser of the corresponding product quickly and individually.

  Further, when the system is configured so that the warranty card center device 120 can obtain the telephone number of the mobile phone 200 of the product purchaser, the e-mail address of the mobile phone 200 of the product purchaser (Internet-compatible mail arbitrarily set by the user) Even when the (address) is changed, it is possible to notify that a recall target product has occurred by using SMS (Short Message Service) provided by the carrier. In this case, it is desirable that the warranty card center device 120 notifies the relevant product purchaser's mobile phone 200 of the message (proxy notification) in response to a message notification request from the warranty service provider. However, as long as the warranty service provider imposes a strict confidentiality obligation on the personal information of the product purchaser and receives the permission of the applicable product purchaser, the warranty purchase center is the purchaser of the product corresponding to the warranty service provider. The warranty service provider may notify the corresponding product purchaser's mobile phone 200 of the message from the warranty service provider using SMS. Here, it is assumed that the SMS uses the telephone number of the mobile phone 200 (or a character string uniquely derived from the telephone number) as the user name of the mail address.

  Further, in the guarantee system 100, the guarantee certificate data is issued only for the product that has undergone the payment process by the service provider apparatus 110, so that it is possible to expect the effect of suppressing criminal acts such as shoplifting and theft. That is, since the guarantee data is not issued for a product that has not undergone the settlement process by the service providing main apparatus 110, the product is subject to disadvantageous treatment at the time of resale or the like because the product is not guaranteed. It can be expected to reduce the willingness to illegally acquire the product for those who try to perform criminal acts such as shoplifting and theft.

A consumer (product purchaser) purchases a product at a store of the warranty service provider who subscribes to the warranty system 100, and can receive a warranty for the product using his / her mobile phone 200 as an ID. At this time, no complicated input operation is required. As soon as the purchase settlement of the product is completed, the warranty data of the product is sent to the mobile phone 200 of the purchaser of the product, so the product purchaser has the contents of the warranty data sent to his mobile phone 200 By confirming, it is possible to confirm the guarantee content of the purchased product on the spot. Therefore, the consumer can purchase the product with peace of mind.
On the other hand, the guarantee service provider's store that subscribes to the guarantee system 100 and provides the guarantee service has a high credit quality through continuous and sincere implementation of the guarantee service for customers who have purchased products at their own store. Will do.

  Further, the product purchaser operates his / her mobile phone 200 and clicks the link button 253 to the My Page on the warranty card screen 250, so that the personally generated My Page is generated for the consumer. Displayed on the telephone 200, it is possible to easily check all the warranty data managed by the warranty center. On My Page, the warranty data of products purchased by the product buyer at various stores is listed along with the product name, purchase date, store name, etc., so the product buyer manages the product warranty by himself / herself. Freed from annoyance.

  This guarantee system 100 is a new owner that grasps the correspondence between a product for which payment has been completed and a purchaser (owner) of the product, using the device ID of the mobile phone 200 of the purchaser of the product as a key, and centrally manages it. It can be said that it is a ship database system. That is, the guarantee center device 120 has a product ID of a product for which payment has been completed (for example, unique information recorded in a read-only RFID embedded in the product) and a device ID of the mobile phone 200 of the purchaser of the product ( For example, since it has a function of managing the telephone number and the contractor information recording IC card in a completely corresponding manner, if the device ID of the mobile phone 200 is known, the owner of the mobile phone 200 All the products for which purchase settlement has been made by the service provider apparatus 110 are immediately identified. On the other hand, if the product ID of the product is known, the device ID of the mobile phone 200 of the person who made the purchase settlement of the product is immediately known, so the owner of the mobile phone 200, that is, the purchaser (owner) of the product. Is immediately identified.

1-2-1. Second Configuration Example FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram showing a second configuration example of the guarantee system according to the present invention (claim corresponding diagram of claim 2). FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram showing an embodiment of the entire system corresponding to FIG. Constituent elements common to the system shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted as appropriate.

  The warranty system 500 is a warranty system that issues a warranty for each product and provides a warranty service for the product based on the contents of the warranty.

  This guarantee system 500 includes a service providing main apparatus 110 and a guarantee card center apparatus 120.

  Between each service providing main apparatus 110 and the warranty card center apparatus 120, relay apparatuses 400D, 400a, and 400S of a plurality of carriers (three carriers of “D”, “a”, and “S” in the illustrated example) are arranged in parallel. Is intervening. Then, the relay information 400D, 400a, 400S of each carrier is the purchaser information acquired from the mobile phone 200 (200D, 200a, 200S) of each service user, and the guarantee data generated based on the purchaser information. Delivery of.

  The warranty card center device 120 has a warranty data central storage function 120d for centrally managing the warranty data generated by the warranty data generation function 120a using the telephone number included in the warranty data, that is, the telephone number of the mobile phone 200 of the product purchaser. Yes.

1-2-2. Advantages of Second Configuration Example This guarantee system 500 can manage the guarantee certificate data in a unified manner based on the telephone number of the mobile phone 200 of the product purchaser, and therefore can cope with the number portability system. That is, even if a product purchaser (mobile phone subscriber) whose warranty card data is stored in the warranty card center device 120 switches the contract to another carrier using the number portability system, the original number ( The warranty data can be centrally managed using the same number as it is. The number portability system is a system in which the original number can be used as it is even if the subscriber switches the contract to another carrier (carrier).

  Further, even when the e-mail address of the mobile phone 200 of the product purchaser is changed due to the change of the carrier, notification that the recall target product has occurred can be performed using the SMS in the carrier after the change. .

1-3-1. Third Configuration Example In the warranty system shown in the first or second configuration example, the warranty data central storage function 120d of the warranty card center device 120 is replaced with a function for centrally managing basic data for generating warranty data. . The basic data includes product related information and template data for a guarantee. The model data is associated with each service provider, each product, or each customer. The warranty card center device 120 centrally manages the product related information and the template data of the warranty card by the device ID by using the warranty data central storage function 120d (see FIGS. 9 and 10). When there is a guarantee data transmission request (including a My Page transmission request) from the service providing main apparatus 110 or the mobile phone 200, the guarantee center apparatus 120 generates the guarantee data by the guarantee data generating function 120a each time, The generated guarantee certificate data is configured to be transmitted to the request source by the guarantee certificate data transmission functions 120b and 120c.

1-3-2. Effect of the third configuration example Instead of centrally managing the generated guarantee data itself, it is necessary to centrally manage the basic data for generating the warranty data and to transmit the guarantee data to the basic data. By using a system configuration that generates warranty data based on this, the capacity of the storage device (database) required to store the warranty data is reduced compared to a system configuration that stores the warranty data itself. (Save) can be.

1-4-1. Fourth Configuration Example In the warranty system shown in any one of the first to third configuration examples, the warranty card center apparatus 120 manages the manufacturer's authorized image of each product such as a bag or watch in association with the product ID. Then, a thumbnail of the manufacturer's authorized image of each product is displayed on My Page 201 (see FIG. 11) instead of the product name or together with the product name, and clicking on the thumbnail of the manufacturer's authorized image (bag image in the example shown) corresponds. The system is configured to transit to the individual display (FIG. 5B) of the warranty card screen 270 to be performed. Further, when a predetermined area in the warranty card screen 270, for example, the product ID portion (“HJ001122” in the example of FIG. 5B) is clicked, the system is configured so that the manufacturer's official image is displayed in full size ( (See FIG. 12). You may use the brand mark of goods as a manufacturer official recognition image.

1-4-2. Advantages of Fourth Configuration Example Thumbnails of manufacturer-approved images of each product are displayed in a list on My Page 201, so that the user can easily confirm the product he / she owns with the image. Further, by selecting and clicking an arbitrary thumbnail from thumbnails displayed in a list on My Page 201 (see FIG. 11), the manufacturer's official image of the corresponding product can be displayed in full size (detailed display). Therefore, it is possible to check and confirm the details of the manufacturer-authorized image of the product that you own at any time. According to this system configuration, only a purchaser or owner of a genuine product can obtain a genuine image related to the product, such as an image of the product or a brand mark of the product, and display it on his / her mobile phone 200. An article distribution prevention system can be constructed (see JP 2004-303196 A).

1-5-1. Fifth Configuration Example In the first configuration example, the system configured to transmit the warranty data of the product to the mobile phone 200 of the purchaser of the product after completing the purchase settlement of the product has been described as an example. Before the purchase settlement of the product is completed, a sample of the warranty data is transmitted to the mobile phone 200 of the prospective purchaser of the product (or a person considering the purchase), and after the purchase settlement of the product is completed, the regular warranty The system may be configured to transmit data.

1-5-2. Effect of Fifth Configuration Example The consumer confirms in advance the warranty content of the product scheduled for purchase (or under consideration for purchase) by confirming the content of the warranty data sample sent to his mobile phone 200 be able to. Therefore, the consumer can purchase the product with peace of mind after confirming the guarantee details in advance.

2. Genuine product distribution management system 2-1. Sixth Configuration Example FIG. 13 is a conceptual diagram showing a configuration example of a genuine product distribution management system using the guarantee system 100 of the present invention. The genuine product distribution management system 600 associates the product ID with the device ID (in this example, a telephone number) of the mobile phone 200 of the owner of the product to which the product ID is attached, thereby attaching the product ID. The distribution of manufactured products is consistently managed from manufacturers to consumers. A service providing main device 110 is installed in a manufacturer, a wholesaler, and a retail store, which are the main distributors of products in the genuine product distribution management system 600. Manufacturers, wholesalers, retail stores, and consumers have mobile phones 200. The outline of the operation of this system will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the following description, the device ID of the mobile phone 200 contracted with the carrier by the manufacturer is “manufactured mobile ID”, and the device ID of the mobile phone 200 contracted by the wholesaler with the carrier is “wholesale mobile ID”. The device ID of the mobile phone 200 with which the retail store has contracted with the carrier is “retail store mobile ID”, and the device ID of the mobile phone 200 with which the consumer has contracted with the carrier is “consumer mobile ID”. , Respectively.

  The manufacturer associates the product ID assigned to the company product with the portable ID of the manufacturer and registers the information in the warranty center (S301). This registration process (S301) is performed using the service provider main device 110 of the manufacturer. Product warranty data is transmitted to the manufacturer's service provider main unit 110 (S302).

  The wholesaler purchases (purchases) products from the manufacturer. At that time, the manufacturer uses the service providing main unit 110 to associate the product ID of the product wholesaled to the wholesale store with the portable ID of the wholesale store and register the information in the warranty center (S304). In the registration process (S304), a process (S303) for deleting the warranty data issued to the manufacturer is performed. After the registration process (S304), product warranty data is transmitted to the service provider main apparatus 110 of the wholesaler (S305).

  Retail stores purchase (purchase) products from wholesalers. At that time, the wholesaler uses the service providing main unit 110 to associate the product ID of the product wholesaled to the retail store with the portable ID of the retail store, and registers the information in the warranty center (S307). In the registration process (S307), a process (S306) for deleting the guarantee data issued to the wholesaler is performed. After the registration process (S307), product warranty data is transmitted to the service provider apparatus 110 of the retail store (S308).

  A consumer purchases (purchases) a product from a retail store (corresponding to A store, B store,... In FIG. 2). At that time, the retail store uses the service providing apparatus 110 to associate the product ID of the product sold to the consumer (product purchaser) with the mobile ID of the consumer (product purchaser), and the information. Is registered in the warranty center (S310). In the registration process (S310), a process (S309) for deleting the guarantee data issued to the retail store is performed. After the registration process (S310), product warranty data is transmitted to the mobile phone 200 of the consumer (product purchaser) (S311). This transmission process (S311) corresponds to the transmission process (S154) in FIG. 3, and the process performed between the mobile phone 200 of the consumer (product purchaser) and the warranty center is the same as in FIG. is there.

  Through the above series of flows, the guarantee data of the same product is delivered from the manufacturer to the final consumer through the intermediate trader (wholesaler, retail store). The warranty center device 120 deletes (deletes from the database) the current warranty data (old warranty data) when generating new warranty data for the same product, that is, a product with the same product ID, but the product ID and the mobile phone 200 are deleted. The information (see FIG. 15) indicating the opposing relationship with the device ID (phone number) of the device (see FIG. 15) and the information (see FIG. 16) indicating their registration date and time are retained for a considerable period. The term “equivalent period” refers to a period from when a product is purchased by a consumer (purchase settlement date) until at least the warranty period of the product expires. “The date when the consumer purchased the product (purchase settlement date)” is the date when information indicating the correspondence between the product ID of the product and the mobile ID of the consumer is registered in the warranty center (example in FIG. 16). Is defined as “February 8, 2007”).

2-2. Effect of Sixth Configuration Example According to the genuine product distribution management system 600, the distribution process until a product (genuine product) manufactured by a manufacturer is purchased by a consumer through a wholesaler and a retail store is analyzed. It is possible to accurately grasp the change (history) of the device ID of the mobile phone 200 registered in association with the product ID. In addition, it is possible to immediately know which stage in the distribution process the product is in, that is, who owns the product.

Accordingly, even if a product with a fake product ID is distributed in the market, the product ID is genuine by inquiring the device ID of the mobile phone 200 currently registered in correspondence with the product ID to the warranty center. It is possible to know exactly whether or not the product has been leaked from a genuine manufacturer and who is the current owner of the product.
In the above example, the telephone number is exemplified as the device ID of the mobile phone 200, but it is needless to say that the phone ID or the user ID may be used as the device ID.

Functional block diagram showing a first configuration example of the guarantee system of the present invention FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing an embodiment of the entire system corresponding to FIG. Flow chart showing the flow of a series of processing in the guarantee system of the first configuration example Figure showing a display example of the warranty screen (A): Explanatory diagram showing a display example of the My Page screen (b): Explanatory diagram illustrating a state of transition from the My Page screen to the individual display of the warranty card screen Explanatory drawing about the details screen of the warranty card The functional block diagram which shows the 2nd structural example of the guarantee system of this invention Conceptual diagram showing an embodiment of the entire system corresponding to FIG. Conceptual diagram showing a configuration example of a management table for centrally managing basic data for generating warranty data by device ID Conceptual diagram showing a configuration example of the management table for the template data of warranty Explanatory drawing showing a display example of My Page screen Explanatory drawing showing a display example of a manufacturer-authorized image The conceptual diagram which shows the structural example of the genuine article distribution management system using the guarantee system of this invention Flowchart showing the flow of a series of processing in the genuine product distribution management system of FIG. Conceptual diagram illustrating a management table of a counter relationship between a product ID and a device ID of a mobile phone Conceptual diagram illustrating a management table of registration date and time of the counter relationship between product ID and mobile phone device ID

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Guarantee system 110 Main apparatus of service provision 120 Warranty card center apparatus 200 Mobile phone 400 Relay apparatus 500 Guarantee system 600 Genuine product distribution management system

Claims (1)

A warranty system that issues a warranty for each product and provides a warranty service for the product based on the contents of the warranty,
A service provider device for which the service provider providing the warranty service is authorized to use;
A warranty center device communicating with a plurality of service providing main devices,
Each service provider main unit
A product-related information acquisition function for acquiring product-related information that can identify the product accompanying the purchase payment of the product;
A purchaser information acquisition function for acquiring purchaser information including the device ID of the mobile phone terminal from the mobile phone terminal of the purchaser of the product;
A purchase information transmission function for transmitting the acquired product related information and purchaser information to the guarantee center device;
A warranty data reception function for receiving warranty data including product-related information from the warranty center device;
A service providing warranty data storage function for storing received warranty data and managing it according to product related information included in the warranty data,
Warranty center equipment
Warranty data generation function for generating warranty data including product related information and not including device ID and warranty data including both product related information and device ID based on information received from each service provider device for each warranty target product When,
Service provider warranty data transmission function for transmitting the warranty data including product related information and not including the device ID to the service provider device that is the source of the purchaser information based on the generated warranty data,
A warranty data transmission function for a purchaser that transmits the warranty data including both the product-related information and the device ID among the generated warranty data to the mobile phone terminal having the device ID;
A warranty data central storage function for storing warranty data including at least both product-related information and device ID in the generated warranty data, and centrally managing by the device ID included in the warranty data;
Having a security system.