System for providing information about exhibition objects

• US 5,796,351 A
• Filed: 04/02/1996
• Issued: 08/18/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 04/04/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Inventors: Yabuki, Tsutomu
• Primary Examiner(s): Zimmerman, Brian
• Assistant Examiner(s): WILSON JR, WILLIAM HALL
• Application Number:
  US08/626,517
• Time in Patent Office: 868 Days
• Field of Search: 340/825.69, 340/825.72, 340/825.54, 340/825.35, 340/825.49, 340/825.25, 340/573, 340/572, 364/400, 364/478.03, 364/478.07, 364/478.13, 370/498, 705/20, 705/21, 705/22, 705/26, 705/27, 705/28
• US Class Current: 340/10.6
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/202 Interconnection or interaction of plural electronic cash registers [ECR] or to host computer, e.g. network details, transfer of information from host to ECR or from ECR to ECR
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G09F 27/00 Combined visual and audible advertising or displaying, e.g. for public address

Abstract

A system provides a user with proper information about a target exhibition object among many exhibition objects in exhibition facilities according to a user'"'"'s request. The system has a database system for storing information about exhibition objects, a host computer, and at least one terminal. The host computer has a host transmitter/receiver unit and retrieves information from the database system according to the identification code of a given exhibition object. Each of the exhibition objects has a communication unit that returns an identification code in response to a request signal. The terminal has a terminal transmitter/receiver unit for communicating with the host computer, an operation switch for generating the request signal according to a user'"'"'s operation, an object communication unit for transmitting the request signal to a target exhibition object and receiving an identification code therefrom, an information output unit for providing the user with information about the target, and a control unit. The control unit transmits the request signal toward a target exhibition object through the object communication unit in response to a user'"'"'s operation of the operation switch to select a target exhibition object from the exhibition objects, receives an identification code from the target through the object communication unit, transmits the identification code to the host computer through the terminal transmitter/receiver unit, receives information about the target from the host computer through the terminal transmitter/receiver unit, and provides the user with the information through the information output unit. The host computer retrieves the information about the target from the database system according to the identification code and transmits the information to the terminal through the host transmitter/receiver unit.

Claims

1. A system for providing information about exhibition objects in exhibition facilities, comprising:

a database system storing the information about the exhibition objects;

a host computer, having a host transmitter/receiver, the host computer retrieving the information from the database system based on an identification code of a target exhibition object from the exhibition objects, each of the exhibition objects having communication means that returns the identification code in response to a request signal; and

at least one terminal having;

a terminal transmitter/receiver transmiting the identification code to the host computer and receiving target information about the target exhibition object from the host computer through the host transmitter/receiver;

an operator switch generating the request signal;

object communication means directed at the target exhibition object for selecting the target exhibition object by transmitting the request signal to the target exhibition object and receiving the identification code from the target exhibition object;

information output means for outputting the target information about the target exhibition exhibition object when the host computer retrieves the target information from the information stored in the database system based on the identification code of the target exhibition object transmitted from the terminal and transmits the target information to the terminal through the host transmitter/receiver means.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the host and terminal transmitter/receiver are wireless.

3. The system according to claim 2, wherein the terminal is portable.

4. The system according to claim 3, wherein:

the exhibition objects include goods and services available in the exhibition facilities;

each of the goods and services is provided with the communication means to return the identification code and a price code in response to the request signal;

the object communication means directs the request signal toward a target one of the goods and services; and

the information output means of the terminal outputs the identification code and the price code returned from the target.

5. The system according to claim 4, wherein:

the terminal further includes a purchase switch operated after the information output means has outputted the target information about the target to generate a purchase signal to purchase or reserve the target;

the terminal transmitter/receiver of the terminal transmits the identifiation code and the purchase signal of the target to the host computer in response to the purchase signal; and

the host computer manages user accounts based on the identification code and the purchase signal.

6. The system according to claim 1, further comprising:

stations, each of the stations having a station-host transmitter/receiver communicating with the host computer and a station-terminal transmitter/receiver communicating with the terminal, the terminal communicating with the host computer via one of the stations.

7. The system according to claim 6, wherein the stations are allocated to groups of exhibition objects, respectively, and each of the stations has:

a database system storing information about exhibition objects of the corresponding group; and

control means for retrieving the target information from the database system based on the identification code transmitted from the terminal transmitter/receiver, and for transmitting the target information to the terminal through the station-terminal transmitter/receiver.

8. The system according to claim 1, wherein the communication means of each of the exhibition objects include an indicator, and the indicator on the target exhibition object is activated when the object communication means of the terminal selects the target exhibition object.

9. A system for providing information about exhibition objects in exhibition facilities, comprising:

communication means attached to each of the exhibition objects, for returning an identification code of a target exhibition object from the exhibition objects in response to a request signal directed to the target exhibition object; and

at least one terminal having;

a database system storing the information about the exhibition objects;

an operation switch generating the request signal;

terminal-object communication means directed at the target exhibition object for selecting the target exhibition object by transmitting the request signal to the communication means of the target exhibition object and receiving the identification code from the target exhibition object;

control means for retrieving target information about the target exhibition object from the database system based on the identification code; and

information output means outputting the target information.

10. The system according to claim 9, wherein the communication means of each of the exhibition objects include an indicator, and the indicator on the target exhibition object is activated when the terminal-object communication means selects the target exhibition object.