SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ELECTRONIC SEARCHING OF AUTOMOTIVE PARTS DATABASE
First Claim
1. A method for searching an electronic catalog for automobile parts, the method comprising:
- receiving a search request having one or more terms that describe or attempt to describe an automobile part;
comparing said one or more terms with a standard vocabulary; and
identifying one or more matched words, each of said one or more matched words being a part of said standard vocabulary and corresponding to at least one of said one or more terms, such that said one or more matched words are used for conducting a search for information about said automobile part in an electronic database.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods for preparing electronic searches are disclosed. In situations involving large number of items for many models of products, searches can be burdensome to the database. Moreover, variations in user skills can make many search requests inefficient and even meaningless. In one embodiment, search requests from users are prepared at a web server so as to form a more focused and meaningful search query for the database. Because such computing resource investments can be made at one or more servers, burden of heavy search loads can be distributed to the servers from the database. Various techniques for forming search queries can include translating abbreviations, nomenclatures, and misspellings. Moreover, use of standardized words allows for more efficient searches. In one embodiment, large number of automobile parts can be searched efficiently by prioritized matching of vehicle model information and part information from a search request in forming the search query.
32 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method for searching an electronic catalog for automobile parts, the method comprising:
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receiving a search request having one or more terms that describe or attempt to describe an automobile part;
comparing said one or more terms with a standard vocabulary; and
identifying one or more matched words, each of said one or more matched words being a part of said standard vocabulary and corresponding to at least one of said one or more terms, such that said one or more matched words are used for conducting a search for information about said automobile part in an electronic database. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A system for searching an electronic catalog for automobile parts, the system comprising:
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a standard vocabulary component having a plurality of standardized words with respect to information in an electronic database about parts for automobiles; and
a processor configured so as to;
receive a search request having one or more terms that describe or attempt to describe an automobile part;
compare said one or more terms with said plurality of standardized words; and
identify one or more matched words, each of said one or more matched words being a part of said plurality of standardized words and corresponding to at least one of said one or more terms, such that said one or more matched words are used for conducting a search for information about said automobile part in said electronic database. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method for searching an electronic catalog for parts that depend on models of products, the method comprising:
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receiving a search request having one or more terms that describe a model of a product and a part for said product;
determining which of said one or more terms are for describing said model, and which are for describing said part;
identifying one or more standardized words based on said model-terms;
identifying one or more standardized words based on said part-terms;
forming a search query based on said one or more standardized model-words and said one or more standardized part-words; and
transmitting said search query to an electronic database for conducting a search for information about said part for said product. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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22. A system for searching an electronic catalog for parts that depend on models of products, the system comprising:
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a first standard vocabulary having words for identifying product models;
a second standard vocabulary having words for identifying product parts;
a processor configured so as to;
receive a search request having one or more terms that describe a model of a product and a part for said product;
determine which of said one or more terms are for describing said model, and which are for describing said part;
identify one or more standardized words based on said model-terms;
identify one or more standardized words based on said part-terms;
form a search query based on said one or more standardized model-words and said one or more standardized part-words; and
transmit said search query to an electronic database for conducting a search for information about said part for said product. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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24. An apparatus, comprising:
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means for receiving a search request having one or more terms that describe or attempt to describe an automobile part;
means for comparing said one or more terms with a standard vocabulary; and
means for identifying one or more matched words, each of said one or more matched words being a part of said standard vocabulary and corresponding to at least one of said one or more terms, such that said one or more matched words are used for conducting a search for information about said automobile part in an electronic database.
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25. An apparatus, comprising:
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means for receiving a search request having one or more terms that describe a model of a product and a part for said product;
means for determining which of said one or more terms are for describing said model, and which are for describing said part;
means for identifying one or more standardized words based on said model-terms;
means for identifying one or more standardized words based on said part-terms;
means for forming a search query based on said one or more standardized model-words and said one or more standardized part-words; and
means for transmitting said search query to an electronic database for conducting a search for information about said part for said product.
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26. A method for searching an electronic database for possible applications of automobile parts, the method comprising:
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receiving a search request from a user;
forming a search query, said search query including a model identifier and one or more part identifiers;
determining possible applications by forming combinations of said one or more part identifiers with one or more attributes of said model identifier; and
providing said possible applications to said user. - View Dependent Claims (27)
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28. A method for configuring a database server for an automobile parts catalog, the method comprising:
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providing a list of identifiers for automobile parts;
providing a list of identifiers for attributes of automobile models;
forming an index of selected combinations of said identifiers for parts and attributes; and
providing said index on said database server so that said index provides addresses of database entries corresponding to said identifiers for parts or attributes. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30)
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Specification