Apparatus for issuing commodity codes for commodity model names

• US 7,149,711 B2
• Filed: 04/25/2002
• Issued: 12/12/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/25/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Abe, Masaya, Ohta, Masayuki, Hasegawa, Yukio, Tomita, Atsushi, Kojima, Koichi, Wakabayashi, Yasuo, Kuraoka, Masaomi, Kori, Tatsuya
• Primary Examiner(s): Rosen, Nicholas D.
• Application Number:
  US10/133,918
• Publication Number:
  US 20020169693A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,692 Days
• Field of Search: 705/26, 705/27, 707/3, 707/102, 707/62, 707/10, 709/203
• US Class Current: 705/26.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus which can manage commodities efficiently by unifying and maintaining commodity codes in order for companies to manage commodities. An apparatus according to the present invention manages product names each consisting of multiple levels and model names below them by means of a product family tree management section and issues commodity codes each consisting of multiple levels for model names by means of a commodity code management section.

Claims

1. A code management apparatus comprising:

associating means for associating a commodity group with model names placed below the commodity group;

numbering means for issuing a commodity code to be assigned to said model name, each said commodity code issued by said numbering means having plural levels at least including a first level of displaying information for a detailed commodity registered by an operator having a first access right, and a second level of displaying information concerning management of the commodity registered by an operator having a second access right, the first and second levels being respectively different classes, and the class of the second level being positioned below the class of the first level;

a managing unit for acknowledging, by an operator having a third access right, publication of the commodity code; and

a security managing unit for managing the first, second and third access rights.

2. A code management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said numbering means can independently issue the commodity code with respect to each of the plural levels.

3. A code management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said code management apparatus further has plural operation functions, and the information concerning the management of the commodity is information concerning an access right to the operation function.

4. A code management method comprising:

an associating step of associating a commodity group with model names placed below the commodity group;

a numbering step of issuing a commodity code to be assigned to each said model name, said commodity code issued by said numbering step having plural levels at least including a first level and a second level, the first and second levels being respectively different classes, and the class of the second level being positioned below the class of the first level, wherein said numbering step includes a step of registering a first level of displaying information for a detailed commodity by an operator having a first access right and a step of registering a second level of displaying information concerning management of said commodity registered by an operator having a second access right;

an acknowledgment step of acknowledging, by an operator having a third access right, publication of the commodity code; and

a step of giving the first, second and third access rights to said respective operators.

5. A code management method according to claim 4, wherein said numbering step can independently issue the commodity code with respect to each of the plural levels.

6. A code management method according to claim 4, wherein said code management method further has plural operation functions, and the information concerning the management of the commodity is information concerning an access right to the operation function.