Automated appliance registration
View Patent ↗A system for automatically registering an appliance, including a storage housed within an electrical appliance for storing identifying information about the electrical appliance and its purchase, and a communication card including a controller, an interface connector for connecting the communication card to the electrical appliance, a wireless cellular modem for transmitting data, and a card memory for storing program code, wherein when the communication card is connected to the electrical appliance via the interface connector, the program code automatically instructs the controller to collect the identifying information about the electrical appliance and its purchase, to collect owner information and to transmit at least a portion of the collected information to at least one remote recipient using the cellular modem. A method is also described and claimed.
1. A method for registering change of ownership of an appliance, comprising:
connecting a first communication card to an electrical appliance, wherein usage information about the electrical appliance is stored within a memory in the electrical appliance;
issuing a notification to the electrical appliance, via the communication card, that its ownership is being relinquished;
connecting a second communication card to the electrical appliance, wherein information about a new owner is stored within a memory in the second communication card;
detecting that the second communication card is connected to the electrical appliance and that the ownership of the electrical appliance is currently relinquished;
automatically collecting (i) the usage information about the electrical appliance, and (ii) the information about the new owner;
automatically opening a connection with a remote recipient, by the second communication card; and
automatically transmitting at least a portion of the collected information to the recipient, by the second communication card.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the electrical appliance is an automobile, and wherein the usage information includes cumulative mileage of the automobile.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the electrical appliance is a copier machine, and wherein the usage information includes the cumulative number of copies made on the copier machine.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the remote recipient is a member of the group consisting of a seller of the electrical appliance, a manufacturer of the electrical appliance, and a service provider for the electrical appliance.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the usage information about the appliance relates to the term of a warranty for the appliance that is provide by the remote recipient.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the electrical appliance is a member of the group consisting of a home entertainment center, a video game console, a multimedia player, a television, an audio system and a DVD player.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein the electrical appliance is a member of the group consisting of a telephone, a fax machine and a cell phone.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein the electrical appliance is a member of the group consisting of a computer, a printer and a scanner.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein the electrical appliance is a member of the group consisting of a refrigerator, a microwave oven, a stove, a washing machine, a drying machine and an air conditioner.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein the electrical appliance is a member of the group consisting of a personal data assistant, a treadmill and a camera.