Survey technique for readership of publications
First Claim
1. An electronic apparatus for monitoring a selected magazine as to its readership by individuals acting as test subjects involving a survey issue having a first unique code affixed to its front cover and a second unique code affixed to its back cover, comprising:
- sensing means manipulable by the test subjects for detecting said first and second codes;
first memory means for storing a reference code related to said first and second codes;
means for comparing the detected first and second codes with said reference code to generate a control signal when a correspondence is found therebetween, respectively;
second memory means for storing a data signal in response to generation of the control signal by said comparing means,time determining means coupled to the comparing means to determine the time difference between a time when a control signal is generated, respectively, for the first and second unique codes; and
time threshold means for preventing the retention in the second memory means of said data signal when said determined time difference does not exceed a preset time threshold.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A technique for surveying the readership of selected magazines. Individuals acting as test subjects carry a light portable device capable of detecting bar codes printed on at least the front cover of the magazine copy. The bar code acquired by the pen includes circuitry for comparing it with stored bar codes. The comparison is utilized to determine whether the magazine of interest, and certain portions of interest in it, for which codes have been stored in the pen, are being read. If so, then this information is stored in the pen for later retrieval and analysis.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. An electronic apparatus for monitoring a selected magazine as to its readership by individuals acting as test subjects involving a survey issue having a first unique code affixed to its front cover and a second unique code affixed to its back cover, comprising:
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sensing means manipulable by the test subjects for detecting said first and second codes; first memory means for storing a reference code related to said first and second codes; means for comparing the detected first and second codes with said reference code to generate a control signal when a correspondence is found therebetween, respectively; second memory means for storing a data signal in response to generation of the control signal by said comparing means, time determining means coupled to the comparing means to determine the time difference between a time when a control signal is generated, respectively, for the first and second unique codes; and time threshold means for preventing the retention in the second memory means of said data signal when said determined time difference does not exceed a preset time threshold. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for monitoring a selected magazine as to its readership by individuals selected as test subjects involving a survey issue having a first code associated therewith, comprising the steps of:
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applying said first code to at least one page of a magazine; manually manipulating a sensor to detect said first code of a magazine; storing a reference code related to said first code; comparing the detected first code with said reference code to generate a control signal when a correspondence is found therebetween; storing a data signal in response to generation of the control signal; and determining the time difference between the generation of a control signal related to front and back covers of the survey issue, respectively, and comparing said time difference with a predetermined time threshold to prevent storage of a data signal if the time difference is less than said time threshold. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. An electronic apparatus for monitoring a selected magazine as to its readership by individuals acting as test subjects involving a survey issue having a first code associated therewith, comprising:
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sensing means manipulable by the test subjects for detecting said first code of a magazine; first memory means for storing a reference code related to said first code; means for comparing the detected first code with said reference code to generate a control signal when a correspondence is found therebetween; second memory means for storing a data signal in response to a generation of the control signal by said comparing means; time determining means for determining the time difference between two occurrences of a generation of a control signal related to the front cover of said survey issue, and means for comparing said time difference with a predetermined time threshold to actuate said inhibiting means to prevent storage of a data signal if the time difference is less than said time threshold.
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23. A method for monitoring a selected magazine as to its readership by individuals selected as test subjects involving a survey issue having a first code associated therewith, comprising the steps of:
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applying said first code to at least one page of a magazine; manually manipulating a sensor to detect said first code of a magazine; storing a reference code related to said first code; comparing the detected first code with said reference code to generate a control signal when a correspondence is found therebetween; storing a data signal in response to generation of the control signal; and determining the time difference between two occurrences of a generation of a control signal related to the front cover of said survey issue, and comparing said time difference with a predetermined time threshold to prevent storage of a data signal if the time difference is less than said time threshold.
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Specification