Method and apparatus for facilitating the repair of malfunctioning or inoperable products
First Claim
1. A network sever for facilitating the repair of a product, the server being adapted to:
- receive information from the network identifying the product to be repaired;
receive information from the network identifying a repair class for the product, the repair class having been selected from among a predetermined set of repair classes and characterizing a level difficulty of repair for the product;
determine an estimated cost of repair for the product, based upon a metric that considers the repair class for the product;
track an actual amount of time required to repair the product; and
selectively modify the metric based upon the actual amount of time tracked.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A network sever for facilitates the repair of a product. The server receives information from the network identifying the product to be repaired and receives information from the network identifying a repair class for the product, the repair class having been selected from among a predetermined set of repair classes and characterizing a level difficulty of repair for the product. The server determines an estimated cost of repair for the product, based upon a metric that considers the repair class for the product, tracks the actual amount of time required to repair the product and selectively modifies the metric based upon the actual amount of time tracked.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. A network sever for facilitating the repair of a product, the server being adapted to:
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receive information from the network identifying the product to be repaired;
receive information from the network identifying a repair class for the product, the repair class having been selected from among a predetermined set of repair classes and characterizing a level difficulty of repair for the product;
determine an estimated cost of repair for the product, based upon a metric that considers the repair class for the product;
track an actual amount of time required to repair the product; and
selectively modify the metric based upon the actual amount of time tracked. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 5, 6)
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4. A network server according to claim 4, wherein the metric is selectively modified by selectively reassigning a new price class to at least one type of product.
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7. A system for facilitating the repair of a product, the system comprising:
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means for receiving information identifying the product to be repaired;
means for receiving information identifying a repair class for the product, the repair class having been selected from among a predetermined set of repair classes and characterizing a level difficulty of repair for the product;
means for determining an estimated cost of repair for the product, based upon a metric that considers the repair class for the product;
means for tracking an actual amount of time required to repair the product; and
means for selectively modifying the metric based upon the actual amount of time tracked. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. Computer code for facilitating the repair of a product, the system comprising:
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code for receiving information identifying the product to be repaired;
code for receiving information identifying a repair class for the product, the repair class having been selected from among a predetermined set of repair classes and characterizing a level difficulty of repair for the product;
code for determining an estimated cost of repair for the product, based upon a metric that considers the repair class for the product;
code for tracking an actual amount of time required to repair the product; and
code for selectively modifying the metric based upon the actual amount of time tracked. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method for facilitating the repair of a product that is received from a consumer, the product having been assigned a price class from among a predetermined set of price classes, the method comprising the steps of:
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inputting product information and consumer information to a client computer;
transmitting the product information and consumer information to a network server;
inspecting the product to determine a difficulty of repairs;
characterizing the difficulty of repairs in terms of a repair class;
transmitting the repair class to the network server;
computing an estimated cost of repair for the product based upon the repair class for the product and the price class for the product; and
communicating the estimated cost of repair to the consumer. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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23. A system for facilitating the repair of a product that is received from a consumer, the product having been assigned a price class from among a predetermined set of price classes, comprising:
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a client computer that receives product information, consumer information and a repair class for the product, the repair class having been determined following a inspection of the product and characterizing the difficulties of repairs; and
a network server that;
receives the product information and the consumer information from the client computer, computes an estimated cost of repair for the product based upon the repair class for the product and the price class for the product, and communicates the estimated cost of repair to the consumer. - View Dependent Claims (24)
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Specification