3-D spatial GUI for querying and manipulating an RDMS for order-entry applications
First Claim
1. A furniture specification system, comprising:
- a furniture specifier adapted to generate a furniture specification which specifies a plurality of furniture products,said furniture specifier being adapted to allow a user to assign destination tags to said furniture products specified by said furniture specification, each of said destination tags specifying a destination to which one of said furniture products is to be delivered, andsaid furniture specifier being adapted to update said furniture specification with data representing said destination tags assigned by the user;
a visual display generator adapted to generate a visual display of said furniture products specified by said furniture specification on a display device; and
a cost generator adapted to generate a cost specification based upon said furniture specification.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A furniture specification system, designed for relatively large scale office furniture projects, having three basic components: 1) means for generating a furniture specification which contains data specifying a plurality of the available furniture products; 2) means for generating a visual display of the furniture products specified by the furniture specification on a display device; and 3) means for generating a cost specification based upon the furniture specification. Since both the visual display of the furniture products and the cost specification are generated from the same furniture specification, the possibility of discrepancies between the visual display and the cost specification is eliminated. The means for generating the furniture specification allows the user to add or delete individual products and to add product clusters to the furniture specification. After the products are selected, the user may select product finishes, such as wood grain finishes, furniture options, product keying information, and destination tags. After the project is specified, a quotation or purchase order may be automatically generated from the furniture specification.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. A furniture specification system, comprising:
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a furniture specifier adapted to generate a furniture specification which specifies a plurality of furniture products, said furniture specifier being adapted to allow a user to assign destination tags to said furniture products specified by said furniture specification, each of said destination tags specifying a destination to which one of said furniture products is to be delivered, and said furniture specifier being adapted to update said furniture specification with data representing said destination tags assigned by the user; a visual display generator adapted to generate a visual display of said furniture products specified by said furniture specification on a display device; and a cost generator adapted to generate a cost specification based upon said furniture specification. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A furniture specification system, comprising:
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a furniture specifier adapted to generate a furniture specification which specifies a plurality of furniture products, said furniture specifier being adapted to allow a user to select a furniture product for which a lock may be provided from a visual display of a plurality of furniture products, said furniture product being specified by said furniture specification, said furniture specifier being adapted to allow the user to input keying information for said furniture product selected by the user, and said furniture specifier being adapted to include said keying information in said furniture specification for said furniture product selected by the user; a visual display generator adapted to generate a visual display of said furniture products specified by said furniture specification on a display device, said visual display including said keying information for said selected furniture product; and a cost generator adapted to generate a cost specification based upon said furniture specification. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
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11. A furniture specification system, comprising:
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a furniture specifier adapted to generate a furniture specification which specifies a plurality of furniture products, said furniture specifier being adapted to allow a user to select a furniture finish for one of said furniture products; a display generator adapted to generate a visual display of said furniture products specified by said furniture specification on a display device, said display generator being adapted to generate a visual display of said selected finish on said one product from a raster image which represents an actual visual appearance of said selected furniture finish; and a cost generator adapted to generate a cost specification based upon said furniture specification. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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14. A furniture specification system, comprising:
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a memory which stores finish data relating to a plurality of furniture finishes and cost data which specifies a cost associated with one of said finishes; a furniture specifier adapted to generate a furniture specification which specifies a plurality of furniture products, said furniture specifier being adapted to allow a user to select one of said furniture finishes for one of said furniture products; a display generator being adapted to generate a visual display of said furniture products specified by said furniture specification on a display device, said visual display including a display of said furniture finish selected by the user; and a cost generator being adapted to generate a cost specification based upon said furniture specification, said cost generator being adapted to determine a cost of said furniture products specified by said furniture specification based on said cost data stored in said memory. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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17. A system as defined in claim wherein 15 said furniture finishes comprise fabric finishes.
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18. A furniture specification system, comprising:
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a furniture specifier adapted to generate a furniture specification for a plurality of offices, said furniture specification specifying a plurality of furniture products including at least one furniture item for each of said offices, said furniture specification including, for each of said furniture products, data specifying a furniture item type for said furniture item, data specifying a plurality of characteristics of said furniture item, and data specifying the cost of said furniture item; a display generator adapted to generate a visual display of said furniture products from said furniture specification on a display device; and a cost generator adapted to generate a cost specification from said furniture specification. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21)
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22. A furniture specification system, comprising:
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a furniture specifier adapted to generate a furniture specification for a plurality of offices, said furniture specification specifying a plurality of furniture products including at least one furniture item for each of said offices, said furniture specification including, for each of said furniture products, data specifying a furniture item type for said furniture item, and data specifying a plurality of characteristics of said furniture item, said furniture specifier being adapted to allow a user to select furniture products to be added to said furniture specification; said furniture specifier being adapted to allow the user to select a cluster from a plurality of clusters of furniture products and add said selected cluster to said furniture specification; said furniture specifier being adapted to allow the user to delete one of said furniture products of said selected cluster from said furniture specification; and said furniture specifier being adapted to transfer data from a product database to said furniture specification in response to the selection of furniture products selected by the user; a display generator adapted to generate a visual display of said furniture products specified by said furniture specification on a display device; and a cost generator adapted to generate a cost specification based upon said furniture specification. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A method of generating a furniture specification and a cost specification for a plurality of furniture products specified by said furniture specification, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) storing in a memory a first set of data representing a plurality of available furniture products, a second set of data representing a plurality of product clusters, each of said product clusters including a plurality of different types of furniture products, and a third set of data representing a stored value for each of a plurality of furniture attributes for each of said product clusters; (b) generating a furniture specification which specifies a plurality of furniture products, said step (b) comprising the steps of; (b1) prompting a user to input an upper value and a lower value for one of said furniture attributes; (b2) searching said memory to locate each of said product clusters for which said stored value for said one furniture attribute input by the user is within a range defined by said upper and lower values for said one furniture attribute input by the user; (b3) generating a visual display to the user which identifies each of said product clusters located by said searching means; (b4) assigning destination tags to said furniture products specified by said furniture specification, each of said destination tags specifying a destination to which one of said furniture products is to be delivered; (b5) updating said furniture specification with data representing said destination tags assigned by the user; (b6) selecting a furniture product for which a lock may be provided and which is specified by said furniture specification; (b7) allowing the user to input keying information for said furniture product selected by the user in said step (b6); and (b8) automatically assigning said keying information to said furniture specification for said product selected in said step (b6); (c) generating a visual display of said furniture products specified by said furniture specification on a display device; and (d) generating a cost specification based upon said furniture specification.
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Specification