Electric appliance renting system

• US 20020128853A1
• Filed: 08/03/2001
• Published: 09/12/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 03/12/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Nakajima, Tadakatsu, Kikuchi, Hiroshige, Fukui, Chihiro, Sasao, Keiji
• Application Number:
  US09/921,141
• Publication Number:
  US 20020128853A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0645 Rental transactions; Leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply

Abstract

In an electric appliance renting system, a use contractor leases an e-information terminal together with an e-air conditioner, an e-refrigerator and an e-television from a service providing company. The work information of these electric appliances is sent from the e-information terminal to a rent managing server, which the service providing company possesses, through the Internet. The rent managing server sends the data relating to the rent inclusive of the electric power rate of the rented electric appliances to the e-information terminal.

Claims

1. An electric appliance renting system in which a use contractor who has made a contract with a service providing company leases an electric appliance rented out from said service providing company,

wherein said electric appliance can send the data exhibiting the work situation thereof to a rent managing server, which said service providing company has, through a communication line, and also can receive the data relating to a rent inclusive of an amount of electric power thereof from said rent managing server.

2. An electric appliance renting system in which a user who has made a contract with a service providing company leases a plurality of electric appliances rented out from said service providing company,

wherein at least one of said plurality of electric appliances can send data exhibiting the work situation of said plurality of electric appliances to a rent managing server, which said service providing company has, through the Internet, and also can receive rents, inclusive of an amount of electric power thereof, of said plurality of electric appliances from said rent managing server.

3. An electric appliance renting system according to claim 2, wherein said plurality of electric appliances have at least one first electric appliance which is connected to the Internet, and a second electric appliance which is connected to said first electric appliance through a communication line.

4. An electric appliance renting system in which a use contractor who has made a contract with a service providing company leases an electric appliance rented out from said service providing company,

wherein said service providing company has a rent managing server for collecting the data relating to the work situation of said electric appliance rented out to a use contractor through a communication network to operate arithmetically a rent inclusive of an amount of electric power, which is to be paid by the use contractor, from the data relating to the work situation of said electric appliance thus collected, and said rent managing server can output the rent to said electric appliance through said communication network.

5. An electric appliance renting system according to claim 4, wherein said rent managing server arithmetically operates the consumed electric power rate of said electric appliance thus rented out for an electric power supplying company for supplying said electric appliance thus rented out with the electric power, and can provide said electric power supplying company with the data relating to the consumed electric power rate through a communication network.

6. An electric appliance renting system according to claim 4, wherein said service providing company pays the consumed electric power rate of said electric appliance thus rented out which is arithmetically operated by said rent managing server to said electric power supplying company for supplying said electric appliance thus rented out with the electric power.

7. An electric appliance renting system according to claim 4, wherein the electric appliances thus rented out has a first information electric appliance which is connected to said rent managing server of said service providing company through a communication network and a second information electric appliance which is connected to said first information electric appliance through a communication line.

8. An electric appliance renting system according to claim 7, wherein said first information electric appliance can display thereon the data relating to the work situation and the consumed electric power rates of said first and second information electric appliances.

9. An electric appliance renting system according to claim 7, wherein said first information electric appliance can carry out the maintenance diagnosis or the replacement diagnosis of said information electric appliance which is connected to said first information electric appliance through said communication line.

10. An electric appliance renting system for renting electric appliances, comprising:

at least one electric appliance which is rented out, inclusively of the electric power rate, from a service providing company to a use contractor; and

a rent managing server for managing the rented electric appliance(s) which said service providing company has,

wherein said electric appliance has communication means for sending work result data to said rent managing server, and said rent managing server has communication means for receiving the work result data sent from said electric appliance.

11. An electric appliance renting system according to claim 10, wherein said rent managing server includes means for calculating a charge which is to be charged for a use contractor leasing said electric appliance in accordance with the work result data and for calculating the electric power rate which is to be paid to an electric power supplying company in accordance with the work result data.

12. An electric appliance renting system according to claim 10, wherein said rent managing server records and manages thereat the work result data.

13. An electric appliance renting system according to claim 10, further comprising an information terminal through which the rent is carried out inclusively of the electric power rate, and said electric appliance, said information terminal and said rent managing server have communication means for communicating with said information terminal, communication means for communicating with said electric appliance and said rent managing server, and communication means for communicating with said information terminal, respectively, and said information terminal has means for recording the work result data, means for operating arithmetically an amount of consumed electric power from the work result data, and means for sending the data relating to an amount of consumed electric power thus arithmetically operated to said rent managing server.

14. An electric appliance renting system according to claim 11, wherein said electric appliance has operation controlling means for controlling the operation thereof, and said rent managing server has means for obtaining an amount of consumed electric power of said electric appliance on the basis of the control data provided by said operation controlling means and for obtaining the use rate inclusive of an electric power rate which is to be charged for a use contractor and the electric power rate which is to be paid to said electric power supplying company.

15. An electric appliance renting system according to claim 10, further comprising electric power measuring means for measuring the electric power of said electric appliance, wherein said rent managing server has means for operating arithmetically the use charge inclusive of an electric power rate which is to be charged for a use contractor and the electric power rate which is to be paid to said electric power company on the basis of an amount of electric power measured by said electric power measuring means.

16. An electric appliance renting system according to claim 10, wherein said rent managing server can send the data relating to the situation of the half-way progress of use of the electric power to said electric appliance.

17. An electric appliance renting system according to claim 13, wherein said rent managing server can send the data relating to the situation of the half-way progress of use of the electric power to said electric appliance.

18. An electric appliance renting system according to claim 11, wherein said rent managing server carries out the arithmetic operation in such a way that when the operation result data of said electric appliance is equal to or smaller than a predetermined amount, the consumed electric power rate is decided as the fixed amount, while when the operation result data of the electric appliance exceeds the predetermined amount, the consumed electric power rate is increased in accordance with the work result data.

19. An electric appliance renting system according to claim 10, wherein said rent managing server includes judgement means for on the basis of the work result data sent from said electric appliance, carrying out the judgement of abnormality of said electric appliance and for judging on the basis of the judgement result whether or not the maintenance needs to be carried out.

20. An electric appliance renting system according to claim 10, wherein said rent managing server includes means for generating a running pattern on the basis of the work result data sent from said electric appliance to compare the total cost up to the scrapping processing of said electric appliance with the total cost up to the scrapping processing of an electric appliance which is replaceable with said electric appliance to execute the replacement judgement for said electric appliance.