INFORMATION PROVISION INTERMEDIATION APPARATUS

• US 20080245859A1
• Filed: 03/28/2008
• Published: 10/09/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/05/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Saito, Motonobu, Takita, Keisuke
• Granted Patent: US 8,123,129 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/380
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0875 Itemisation or classification of parts, supplies or services, e.g. bill of materials
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

An information provision intermediation apparatus is disclosed. An information provision intermediation definition table has stored therein, in correspondence with each other, an address of the information providing site of an information providing unit and an information provision condition required for the traceability data at the time of providing the information of the information providing site. A CPU acquires a traceability data group corresponding to the individual commodity ID acquired from a terminal. Based on the acquired traceability data group and the information provision condition, the CPU acquires the address of the information providing site of the information-available information providing unit, and using the acquired address, acquires the information from the information providing site and transmits it to the terminal.

Claims

1. An information provision intermediation apparatus adapted to be connected, through a communication path, to a terminal used by the consumer and an information providing unit having an information providing site for providing information and adapted to provide the terminal with the information of the information providing site provided by the information providing unit, comprising:

a condition table for storing, in correspondence with each other, an identifier of the information providing site and an information provision condition required for the distribution history information on a commodity in at least a part of the distribution path after manufacture at the time of providing the information of the information providing site;

a distribution history information acquisition unit for acquiring the distribution history information on the commodity designated by the consumer;

an identifier acquisition unit for acquiring the identifier of the information-available information providing site based on the acquired commodity distribution history information and the information provision condition; and

an information intermediation unit for acquiring, with an identifier acquired by the identifier acquisition unit, the information from the information providing site indicated by the identifier and transmitting the acquired information to the terminal.

2. The information provision intermediation apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

an individual commodity ID acquisition unit for acquiring, from the terminal, the individual commodity ID capable of individually identifying the commodity designated by the computer,

wherein the distribution history information acquisition unit acquires the distribution history information of the commodity based on the individual commodity ID.

3. The information provision intermediation apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein the commodity carries a RFID tag, and

wherein the individual commodity ID acquisition unit acquires the individual commodity ID read from the RFID tag by the terminal.

4. The information provision intermediation apparatus according to claim 1, comprising:

a distribution history information collection unit for collecting the distribution history information from a predetermined external device; and

a distribution history information accumulation unit for accumulating the distribution history information collected;

wherein the distribution history information acquisition unit acquires the distribution history information of the predetermined commodity from the distribution history information accumulation unit.

5. The information provision intermediation apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the commodity carries a RFID tag for storing the distribution history information of the commodity;

and

wherein the distribution history information acquisition unit acquires the distribution history information from the terminal.

6. The information provision intermediation apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the distribution history information includes an individual commodity ID of the commodity, a strategic point ID for uniquely identifying the strategic point in the distribution path where the commodity of the individual commodity ID is located, and business event specifying information for specifying a business event engaged in by the commodity of the individual commodity ID at the strategic point, and

wherein the information provision condition includes the condition for at least one of the individual commodity ID, the strategic point ID and the business event specifying information.

7. The information provision intermediation apparatus according to claim 6,

wherein the information provision condition includes the condition for the strategic point ID and the business event specifying information.

8. The information provision intermediation apparatus according to claim 6,

wherein the information provision condition includes the condition for the individual commodity ID and the business event specifying information.

9. The information provision intermediation apparatus according to claim 6,

wherein the distribution history information further includes the date/hour information at which the distribution history information is generated,

wherein the information provision condition includes the condition for the individual commodity ID and the latest business event specifying information, and

wherein the identifier acquisition unit specifies the latest business event specifying information in the distribution history information based on the date/hour information, and based on the condition for the specified business event specifying information and the business event specifying information for the information provision condition, acquires the identifier of the information providing site capable of providing the information.

10. The information provision intermediation apparatus according to claim 9,

wherein the condition for the latest business event specifying information is the business event specifying information for specifying the business event before the sale of the commodity, and

wherein the identifier of the information providing site corresponding to the information provision condition is the identifier of the information providing site providing the information in the commodity description.

11. The information provision intermediation apparatus according to claim 6,

wherein the information provision condition includes the term before which the information in the information providing site can be provided.

12. The information provision intermediation apparatus according to claim 1, comprising:

a plurality of the information providing sites,

a select screen transmitter for transmitting a select screen for selecting any one of the plurality of information providing sites to the terminal in the case where the identifier acquisition unit acquires the identifiers of the plurality of the information providing sites, and

a select receiver for receiving the information providing site selected from the select screen by the terminal,

wherein the information intermediation unit acquires the information from the information providing site received by the select receiver and transmits the information to the terminal.

13. The information provision intermediation apparatus according to claim 12,

wherein the information providing site includes an advertisement information providing site for providing the advertisement information, and

wherein he select screen transmitter, upon acquisition of the identifiers of a plurality of the information providing sites other than the advertisement information providing site for providing the advertisement information, transmits the select screen for selecting an information providing site from those other than the one for providing the advertisement information.

14. The information provision intermediation apparatus according to claim 13,

wherein the information intermediation unit, upon acquisition of the identifier of the advertisement information providing site by the identifier acquisition unit, acquires the information from the information providing site received by the select receiver, acquires the information also from the advertisement information providing site, and transmits the information from the information providing site and the information from the advertisement information providing site to the terminal.

15. The information provision intermediation apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the commodity is a book;

wherein the information providing site includes a site for providing the information to receive the character string for retrieving the point of description in the book and the information on the point of description of the character string in the book by retrieving the point of description, and

wherein the information intermediation unit provides the terminal with the information for receiving the character string.

16. The information provision intermediation apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the commodity is a book,

wherein the information providing site includes an advertisement information providing site for providing the advertisement information on the book, and

wherein the information intermediation unit provides the terminal with the advertisement information on the book.

17. An information provision intermediation method using an information provision intermediation apparatus for providing a terminal with the information of the information providing site provided by an information providing unit,

wherein the information provision intermediation apparatus includes a condition table for storing, in correspondence with each other, an identifier of the information providing site and an information provision condition required for the distribution history information in at least a part of the distribution path after manufacture of the commodity at the time of providing the information of the information providing site,

wherein a distribution history information acquisition unit of the information provision intermediation apparatus acquires the distribution history information on the commodity designated by the consumer,

wherein an identifier acquisition unit of the information provision intermediation apparatus acquires the identifier of the information-available information providing site based on the acquired commodity distribution history information and the information provision condition, and

wherein an information intermediation unit of the information providing unit acquires, using the identifier acquired by the identifier acquisition unit, the information from the information providing site indicated by the identifier and transmits the information to the terminal.

18. An information provision intermediation program executed by a computer communicable through a communication path,

wherein the computer includes a condition table for storing, in correspondence with each other, an identifier of the information providing site and an information provision condition required for the distribution history information in at least a part of the distribution path after manufacture of the commodity at the time of providing the information of the information providing site, and

wherein the computer executes the functions including:

a distribution history information acquisition unit for acquiring the distribution history information on the commodity designated by the consumer,

an identifier acquisition unit for acquiring the identifier of the information-available information providing site based on the acquired commodity distribution history information and the information provision condition, and

an information intermediation unit for acquiring, using the identifier acquired by the identifier acquisition unit, the information from the information providing site indicated by the identifier and transmitting the information to the terminal.

19. An information providing system comprising a terminal used by the consumer, an information providing unit having an information-available information providing site and an information provision intermediation apparatus for providing the terminal with the information of the information providing site provided by the information providing unit,

wherein the terminal includes a reader for reading an individual commodity ID capable of identifying a commodity individually from a tag attached to the commodity designated by the consumer, and an individual commodity ID transmitter for transmitting the individual commodity ID read to the information provision intermediation apparatus, and

wherein the information provision intermediation apparatus includes:

a condition table for storing, in correspondence with each other, an identifier of the information providing site and an information provision condition required for the distribution history information in at least a part of the distribution path after manufacture of the commodity at the time of providing the information of the information providing site;

an individual commodity ID acquisition unit for acquiring the individual commodity ID from the terminal;

a distribution history information acquisition unit for acquiring, based on the individual commodity ID, the distribution history information on the commodity corresponding to the individual commodity ID;

an identifier acquisition unit for acquiring the identifier of the information-available information providing site based on the acquired commodity distribution history information and the information provision condition; and

an information intermediation unit for acquiring, using the identifier acquired by the identifier acquisition unit, the information from the information providing site indicated by the identifier and transmitting the information to the terminal.

20. The information providing system according to claim 19,

wherein a RFID tag is attached to the commodity;

wherein the RFID tag stores therein the individual commodity ID of the commodity; and

wherein the reader reads the individual commodity ID from the RFID tag.