Rental service server and rental service system

• US 20060095286A1
• Filed: 10/19/2005
• Published: 05/04/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Inventors: Kimura, Tsutomu
• Application Number:
  US11/252,727
• Publication Number:
  US 20060095286A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/307
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0645 Rental transactions; Leasing transactions

Abstract

A rental service server includes a storage unit and search unit. The storage unit stores rental product information containing rental product identification information and at least one feature information, rental information containing information representing whether a rental product has been rented, and reservation information containing information representing whether the rental product has been reserved. The search unit receives, as a search condition, at least part of the rental product identification information and rental product feature information from at least one user terminal, searches the storage unit under the search condition, specifies corresponding rental product information and at least one of the rental information and reservation information, and outputs the specified rental product information and rental status information of the rental product to the user terminal. A rental service system is also disclosed.

Claims

1. A rental service server comprising:

storage means for storing rental product information containing rental product identification information and at least one feature information, rental information containing information representing whether a rental product has been rented, and reservation information containing information representing whether the rental product has been reserved; and

search means for receiving, as a search condition, at least part of the rental product identification information and the rental product feature information from at least one user terminal, searching said storage means under the search condition, specifying corresponding rental product information and at least one of the rental information and the reservation information, and outputting the specified rental product information and rental status information of the rental product to the user terminal.

2. A server according to claim 1, wherein

said storage means comprises rental product information storage means for storing audio information of the rental product as rental product information, and

said search means comprises audio search means for searching said rental product information storage means on the basis of the audio information serving as a search condition, and specifying corresponding rental product information and at least one of the rental information and the reservation information.

3. A server according to claim 1, wherein

said storage means comprises rental product information storage means for storing identification information of another rental product relevant to the rental product as rental product information, and

said search means comprises relevant product search means for searching said rental product information storage means on the basis of the specified rental product information, acquiring identification information of said another rental product relevant to the specified rental product, searching said storage means on the basis of the identification information, acquiring rental product information of said another rental product, and outputting the rental product information to the user terminal.

4. A server according to claim 1, further comprising audio/video output means for outputting at least one of music information and video information relevant to the rental product,

wherein said storage means comprises rental product information storage means for storing at least one of the music information and the video information relevant to the rental product as rental product information, and

said audio/video output means receives rental product identification information read from a code added to the rental product by the user terminal, searches said rental product information storage means on the basis of the identification information, acquires either of the music information and the video information relevant to the rental product, and outputs the acquired information to the user terminal.

5. A server according to claim 1, further comprising audio/video output means for outputting at least one of music information and video information relevant to the rental product,

wherein said storage means comprises rental product information storage means for storing, as rental product information, at least one of the music information and the video information relevant to the rental product, and

said audio/video output means receives rental product save location information read from a code added to the rental product by the user terminal, acquires either of the music information and the video information relevant to the rental product from said rental product information storage means on the basis of the save location information, and outputs the acquired information to the user terminal.

6. A server according to claim 1, further comprising fee output means for outputting rental product fee information to the user terminal,

wherein said storage means comprises log information storage means for storing log information of rental information, and

said fee output means calculates fee information containing a discount for the rental product specified by said search means on the basis of the log information of the rental information that is stored in said log information storage means, and transmits the fee information to the user terminal.

7. A server according to claim 1, further comprising:

nonarrival registration means for, when no rental product can be specified by said search means, displaying an unarrived-product registration window on the user terminal, and storing unarrived-product information input from the unarrived-product registration window in said storage means; and

arrival registration means for storing the unarrived-product information as rental product information in said storage means upon input of arrival information on the unarrived-product information stored in said storage means, and storing reservation information corresponding to the rental product information in said storage means.

8. A server according to claim 1, further comprising:

clearance stock monitoring means for, when reservation information is registered in said storage means, referring to rental information on a rental product in the reservation information, when a due date of the rental information is registered in said storage means, referring to reservation information on a rental product in the rental information, and confirming whether a period of not less than a predetermined number of days is present between one of a planned due date and the due date in the rental information and a desired rental start date in the reservation information; and

clearance stock notifying means for, when said clearance stock monitoring means confirms that the period of not less than the predetermined number of days is present for the rental product in the reservation information, transmitting information representing that the rental product will be rented at a reduced rental fee, to either of a user terminal of another user who registers a reservation for the rental product, and user terminals of all users.

9. A server according to claim 1, further comprising delay remedy means for, when information representing that the rental product has been returned has not been registered in the rental information on the rental product on a desired rental start date of the rental product in reservation information, confirming, on the basis of the rental information, whether rental products serving as second and subsequent choices which are registered in the reservation information can be rented, and when the rental products serving as the second and subsequent choices can be rented, outputting rental product information on the rental products serving as the second and subsequent choices to the user terminal.

10. A server according to claim 3, further comprising delay remedy means for, when information representing that the rental product has been returned has not been registered in the rental information on the rental product on a desired rental start date of the rental product in reservation information, searching said storage means on the basis of identification information of another rental product in rental product information of the unreturned rental product, acquiring rental product information of said another rental product, and outputting the rental product information of said another rental product to the user terminal.

11. A server according to claim 1, further comprising:

rental enable notifying means for, when information representing that the rental product has been returned is registered for the rental product in the rental information, confirming whether the rental product has been registered in the reservation information, and when the rental product has been registered, transmitting a rental enable notification to a user terminal of a member who has reserved the rental product in the reservation information;

rental registration means for registering the rental information on the rental product upon reception of a reply to the rental enable notification from the user terminal; and

payment means for, when the rental information is registered, executing a payment process on the basis of member information stored in said storage means for a user in the rental information.

12. A server according to claim 1, further comprising payment means for, when information for specifying reservation information is received from the user terminal, confirming, on the basis of the information for specifying reservation information, whether the reservation information has been registered in said storage means, confirming whether information representing that the rental product has been returned has been registered in the rental information for the rental product in the reservation information, when the information has been registered, registering rental information corresponding to the reservation information on the rental product in said storage means, transmitting a rental fee of rental to the user terminal, subtracting the rental fee from an amount of electronic money in the user terminal, and adding the rental fee of rental to an amount of electronic money in the rental service server.

13. A server according to claim 11, wherein

said storage means comprises rental shop information storage means for storing, for each rental product information of a rental product, information on at least two rental shops which rent the rental product, and

said search means comprises rental shop detection means for, when rental product information is specified, acquiring, from said rental shop information storage means, information on a rental shop which rents a rental product corresponding to the rental product information, and outputting the rental product information and the rental shop information to the user terminal.

14. A server according to claim 13, further comprising reservation registration means for, when a reservation registration request to a rental shop which receives a reply to the information output to the user terminal is input, storing reservation information on the rental shop in said storage means.

15. A server according to claim 13, further comprising delay remedy means for, when information representing that the rental product has been returned has not been registered in the rental information on the rental product on a desired rental start date of the rental product in reservation information, specifying the information on the rental shop which rents the rental product, and at least one of rental information and reservation information of the rental product for each rental shop, and outputting the specified rental product information and rental status information of the rental product to the user terminal.

16. A server according to claim 13, further comprising priority processing means for,

when said storage means stores, for identical rental products, pieces of reservation information on at least two rental shops that are received from a user terminal of a given user, and reservation information on one rental shop among said at least two rental shops that is received from a user terminal of another user, and

when information representing that the identical rental products have been returned within a predetermined time to said one rental shop and a rental shop other than said one rental shop among said at least two rental shops,

causing said rental enable notifying means to transmit a rental enable notification for the reservation information on said one rental shop to the user terminal of said another user, and to transmit a rental enable notification for reservation information on a rental shop other than said one rental shop among said at least two rental shops to the user terminal of the given user.

17. A rental service system comprising:

at least one user terminal; and

a rental service server which specifies a rental product on the basis of information received from said user terminal and performs either of rental and reservation registration,

wherein said user terminal transmits, as a search condition to said rental service server, at least part of rental product identification information and rental product feature information, and

said rental service server comprises

storage means for storing rental product information containing rental product identification information and at least one feature information, rental information containing information representing whether a rental product has been rented, and reservation information containing information representing whether the rental product has been reserved, and

search means for, upon reception of the search condition from said user terminal, searching said storage means under the search condition, specifying corresponding rental product information and at least one of the rental information and the reservation information, and transmitting the specified rental product information and rental status information of the rental product to said user terminal.

18. A system according to claim 17, wherein

said storage means comprises rental product information storage means for storing audio information of the rental product as rental product information, and

said search means comprises audio search means for, upon reception of the audio information as a search condition, searching said rental product information storage means on the basis of the audio information, and specifying corresponding rental product information and at least one of the rental information and the reservation information.

19. A system according to claim 17, wherein

said storage means comprises rental product information storage means for storing identification information of another rental product relevant to the rental product as rental product information, and

said search means comprises relevant product search means for searching said rental product information storage means on the basis of the specified rental product information, acquiring identification information of said another rental product relevant to the specified rental product, searching said storage means on the basis of the identification information, acquiring rental product information of said another rental product, and transmitting the rental product information to said user terminal.

20. A system according to claim 17, wherein

said rental service server further comprises audio/video output means for outputting at least one of music information and video information relevant to the rental product,

said storage means comprises rental product information storage means for storing at least one of the music information and the video information relevant to the rental product as rental product information, and

said audio/video output means receives rental product identification information read from a code added to the rental product by said user terminal, searches said rental product information storage means on the basis of the identification information, acquires either of the music information and the video information relevant to the rental product, and transmits the acquired information to said user terminal.

21. A system according to claim 17, wherein

said rental service server further comprises audio/video output means for outputting at least one of music information and video information relevant to the rental product,

said storage means comprises rental product information storage means for storing, as rental product information, at least one of the music information and the video information relevant to the rental product, and

said audio/video output means receives rental product save location information read from a code added to the rental product by said user terminal, acquires either of the music information and the video information relevant to the rental product from said rental product information storage means on the basis of the save location information, and transmits the acquired information to said user terminal.

22. A system according to claim 17, wherein

said rental service server further comprises payment means for, when information for specifying reservation information is received from said user terminal, confirming, on the basis of the information for specifying reservation information, whether the reservation information has been registered in said storage means, confirming whether information representing that the rental product has been returned has been registered in the rental information for the rental product in the reservation information, when the information has been registered, registering rental information corresponding to the reservation information on the rental product in said storage means, transmitting a rental fee of rental to said user terminal, and adding the rental fee of rental to an amount of electronic money in said rental service server, and

said user terminal subtracts the rental fee from an amount of electronic money in said user terminal upon reception of the rental fee from said rental service server.

23. A system according to claim 17, wherein

said storage means comprises rental shop information storage means for storing, for each rental product information of a rental product, information on a rental shop which rents the rental product, and

said search means comprises rental shop detection means for, when rental product information is specified, acquiring, from said rental shop information storage means, information on a rental shop which rents a rental product corresponding to the rental product information, and transmitting the rental product information and the rental shop information to said user terminal.

24. A system according to claim 23, wherein said rental service server further comprises reservation registration means for, when a reservation registration request to a rental shop which receives a reply to the information transmitted to said user terminal is input, storing reservation information on the rental shop in said storage means.

25. A system according to claim 17, further comprising:

at least one rental service server which is arranged for each rental shop; and

a management server which is connected to said rental service server via a communication line, and stores information on a rental shop that rents a rental product, for each rental product information containing rental product identification information and at least one feature information,

wherein said user terminal transmits a search condition to said management server, receives, from said management server, rental product information which is specified under the search condition, and information on a rental shop which rents a rental product corresponding to the rental product information, and transmits, to said rental service server in the rental shop, rental product identification information in the rental product information on the basis of the selected/input rental shop information,

upon reception of the search condition from said user terminal, said management server specifies rental product information under the search condition, acquires the information on the rental shop which rents the rental product corresponding to the specified rental product information, and transmits the rental product information and the rental shop information to said user terminal, and

upon reception of the rental product identification information from said user terminal, said rental service server specifies at least one of rental information and reservation information on the basis of the identification information, and transmits the specified rental product information and rental status information of the rental product to said user terminal.

26. A system according to claim 17, wherein said user terminal comprises

reception means for receiving, from said rental service server, a predetermined signal in rental product information which meets the search condition, and a signal from a radio tag added to the rental product,

terminal-side storage means for storing the received predetermined signal in the rental product information, and

signal determination means for comparing the predetermined signal stored in said terminal-side storage means with the signal from the radio tag, and when the predetermined signal and the signal from the ratio tag coincide with each other, transmitting a predetermined output.