Wallcoverings storage and retrieval system

Abstract

A system and method for presenting, selecting and retrieving actual samples of wallcoverings based upon selected criteria generated by the user. The user is provided with an input card or brochure listing a number of design characteristics. This input card or brochure includes a chart of color-range cells, each cell representing a range of shades of a base color. Based upon these characteristics, the system would produce a listing of all design patterns, such as wallcoverings which meet these characteristics. The computer system would generate a listing of these patterns. Additionally, the system could include a warehouse/storage facility operatively connected to the computer so as to physically provide the user with the design patterns which were chosen.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A system for storing and retrieving one or more physically textured pattern materials, said materials each provided with at least one design characteristic, comprising:

an input device provided with a comprehensive listing of design characteristics, allowing an individual to limit the said comprehensive listing of design characteristics to a grouping of design characteristics less in number than said comprehensive listing of design characteristics;

a computer provided with a database containing said comprehensive listing of design characteristics and software for determining which of a plurality of design patterns corresponding to the physically textured pattern materials satisfy a particular criteria based upon said grouping of design characteristics inputted to said computer, said computer generating a listing of design patterns which satisfy said particular criteria based upon said grouping of design characteristics inputted to said computer, each design pattern corresponding to a physically textured pattern material; and

a storage location associated with said system containing said physically textured pattern materials, each of said physically textured pattern materials associated with a specific indicia and each of said physically textured pattern materials being separated from other physically textured pattern materials, said listing of design patterns and said specific indicia utilized to retrieve said physically textured pattern materials.

2. The system in accordance with claim 1 wherein each of said physically textured pattern materials is provided within individual carriers provided with said indicia.

3. The system in accordance with claim 1 wherein said comprehensive listing of design characteristics includes color characteristics.

4. The system in accordance with claim 3, wherein said input device is provided with a plurality of color cells, each color cell displaying a base color blended with tints or shades of the base color to create a continuum of said base color.

5. The system in accordance with claim 1, wherein said storage location is directly connected to said computer, allowing automatic retrieval of said physically textured pattern materials based upon said grouping of design characteristics inputted to said computer.

6. A system for storing and retrieving one or more design patterns, each of said design patterns provided with at least one design characteristic, comprising:

an input device provided with a comprehensive listing of design characteristics, allowing an individual to limit said comprehensive listing of design characteristics to a grouping of design characteristics less in number than said comprehensive listing of design characteristics, said comprehensive listing of design characteristics including a plurality of color cells, each color cell displaying a base color blended with tints or shades of the base color to create a continuum of said base color;

a computer provided with a database containing a comprehensive listing of design characteristics and software for determining which of a plurality of design patterns satisfy a particular criteria based upon a grouping of design characteristics inputted to said computer, said computer generating a listing of design patterns which satisfy said particular criteria based upon said grouping of design characteristics inputted to said computer, each design pattern corresponding to a physically textured pattern materials, said listing of design patterns and said specific indicia utilized to retrieve said physically textured pattern materials.

7. The system in accordance with claim 6 wherein said design patterns are physically textured pattern materials.

8. The system in accordance with claim 7, wherein said physically textured pattern materials are provided within individual carriers.

9. The system in accordance with claim 8, wherein each of said individual carriers are provided with indicia representing the type of design characteristics embodied in said design characteristics.

10. The system in accordance with claim 7, wherein said physically textured pattern materials represent wall coverings.

11. The system in accordance with claim 6, wherein said storage location is directly connected to said computer, allowing automatic retrieval of said physically textured pattern materials based upon said grouping of design characteristics inputted to said computer.

12. A method of selecting and retrieving particular physically textured pattern materials, said materials each provided with at least one design characteristic, comprising the steps of:

providing a computer system having a database containing a comprehensive listing of design characteristics and software for determining which of a plurality of design patterns corresponding to the physically textured pattern materials satisfy a particular criteria based upon a grouping of design characteristics inputted to said computer;

choosing, from said comprehensive listing of design characteristics provided on an input device, a grouping of design characteristics less in number than said comprehensive listing of design characteristics;

inputting said grouping of design characteristics to said computer;

providing a listing of design patterns which satisfy said grouping of design characteristics;

retrieving one or more of said physically textured pattern materials based upon said listing of design patterns, each of said design patterns corresponding to one of said physically textured pattern materials and each of said physically textured pattern materials being separated from other physically textured pattern materials.

13. The method in accordance with claim 12, wherein each of said physically textured pattern materials are provided within individual carriers.

14. The method in accordance with claim 12 wherein said comprehensive listing of design characteristics include color characteristics.

15. The method in accordance with claim 14, wherein said comprehensive listing of design characteristics includes a plurality of color cells, each color cell displaying a base color blended with tints or shades of the base color to create a continuum of said base color.

16. A method of selecting and retrieving one or more wall coverings mounted in individual carriers, each of said wall coverings mounted in individual carriers provided with at least one design characteristics, comprising the steps of:

providing a computer system having a database containing a comprehensive listing of design characteristics and software for determining which of a plurality of wall coverings mounted in individual carriers satisfy a particular criteria based upon a grouping of design characteristics inputted to said computer;

choosing, from said comprehensive listing of design characteristics provided on an input device, a grouping of design characteristics less in number than said comprehensive listing of design characteristics;

inputting said grouping of design characteristics to said computer;

providing a listing of the wall coverings mounted in the individual carriers which satisfy said grouping of design characteristics;

retrieving the wall coverings mounted in the individual carriers contained on said listing each of said wall coverings mounted in the individual carriers.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the presentation, selection and retrieval of samples of wall-coverings, such as wallpaper. However, the teachings of the present invention can be extended to cover the storage and retrieval of any design provided on a fabric or similar backing.

Presently, the retailing of wallcoverings (wallpapers, borders, fabrics, etc.) is based upon customers searching through wallcovering books provided at a central location, such as a retail outlet, the books containing samples of wallcoverings. Often, this searching occurs within a dismal retail environment, where the store layout, storage and display of the wallcovering books suffers from the same neglect and shortcomings as the wallcovering books themselves.

Each central location is provided with approximately 200 to over 1,000 books, with each book including from 30 to over 100 samples. A specialized wallcovering store having a competitive selection of books would contain approximately 70,000 wallcovering samples. Stores claiming over 1,000 books would have over 100,000 wallcovering samples. These assortments are continually changed as old books are discontinued and new books added.

The books themselves are supplied by the various wallcovering manufacturers and distributors. Each vendor tends to include patterns in each book based on a general theme and/or style. This loose unstructured grouping of patterns would often mean that the customer would have to at least peruse, if not examine, each book.

The customer's task of reviewing each of the store's assortment of patterns may be somewhat facilitated by a knowledgeable salesperson and, by either, excluding or only including the books designed primarily for children's rooms and/or other marginal books. However, in practice, since each store does not include a comprehensive collection of wallcovering books, the prudent customer would be forced to visit many stores and examine many books before selecting a particular wallcovering.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,931,929, issued to Sherman, attempts to solve the problem of forcing an individual to search through many books of wallcoverings before a final selection can be made. This patent is directed to a process for the identification, description and display, on a video monitor, of design components, such as interior decoration products, selected by inputting desired component characteristics to a digital computer. However, while a highly trained decorator may be able to make a final selection of a wallcovering based upon a video image of the wallcovering, most retail customers would not be able to make such a decision. Rather, most customers would be better served by the opportunity to view and touch an actual sample of the wallcovering and perhaps borrow the sample to review in their home. This is important, since presently, most customers would, if possible, borrow a number of books from the retail store so that they can judge how a particular pattern would match with the actual decor of the house of a particular room. Even if the customer is interested in only one wallcovering from a particular book, they are forced to borrow the entire book to make such an assessment.

Additionally, the patent to Sherman indicates that color can be one of the desired component characteristics which can be relayed to the digital computer. Although this is the case, the treatment of color by Sherman is based on a single most dominant color, and up to five sub-dominant color references for each wallcovering. This attempt to establish a dominant color indicates a fundamental failure in the understanding of the use of color in the design of the wallcovering art. Furthermore, Sherman uses a machine-readable color input means which indicates that the colors are digitized quantities of hue, chroma and value so that each color falls within a predetermined block of color coordinates. The use of a color analyzer as part of the process to produce a color match to a required color is an enhancement when the product's ability to match the desired color has an effective equivalent color spectrum, such as when one is matching paints. However, in the case of ready-made wallcoverings, this scenario would prove to be ineffective. For example, if we were to limit the technically possible number of background colors to a fraction of the possible range of colors, e.g. 1,000, and then do the same for the foreground color, and select from among 40 possible motifs and among five possible motif styles and five possible motif patterns, we would require an assortment of approximately 1 billion patterns to ensure at least one match for every possible combination. Even if we were to limit the number of colors to 100, we would require an assortment of approximately 10 million patterns. This should be contrasted to the typically well stocked store which provides approximately 100,000 patterns.

Therefore, based upon the foregoing, a new method and system for choosing wallcoverings or other fabrics containing a particular pattern thereon should be developed and implemented.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The deficiencies of the prior art are overcome by the present invention which is directed to a method and system for creating a set of wallcovering outputs based upon inputting information relating to particular styles, patterns, motifs and colors which should be included in the wallcovering. These particular criteria are inputted into a computer in the usual manner. The output which is produced could consist of one or more numbers which refer to samples of wallcoverings provided on individually mounted carriers. The customer would then take these numbers to a storage section in the retail establishment and would be able to physically examine and borrow these samples of the wallcoverings. Alternatively, the computer could be connected to a warehousing unit for the storage of these individually mounted wallcovering carriers. Therefore, based upon the input introduced to the computer, the customer would be provided with a listing of the wallcoverings which met the customer's criteria along with the carriers themselves provided with the particular wallcoverings thereon.

Furthermore, with respect to the choice of color, the customer would be provided with a color chart having a plurality of color cells thereon. Each of the color cells is provided with a base color modified as to its shade or tint so as to represent a range of shades of a color. Each color-range cell is differentiated from another cell through variations of hue, shade and/or tint. This differs from the color samples that are readily available, such as paint samples which represent a uniform solid color.

These additional features and advantages of the present invention would become further apparent from the following detailed description thereof which is to be read with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the wallcovering carrier provided with a wallcovering thereon; and

FIG. 3 is a front view of a color range wall chart according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for providing the consumer with a number of wallcovering options based upon a number criteria which are chosen by the consumer. This system 10 is described with respect to FIG. 1 which includes a computer 14 having an input device 12. This input device could consist of a keyboard, an input disc, a means for visually inputting data, or the like. Once this data is introduced to the computer 14, data storage information and software programs provided in the computer's memory would be utilized to provide an output indicating the set of possible wallcoverings which would meet the customer's criteria. The data storage would include information relating to all of the wallcoverings which are on file. The output might be in the form of a computer printout which would list a particular stock number or numbers which would meet the criteria developed by the customer. At this point, the customer or a salesperson would be able to retrieve the various wallcoverings based upon this stock number.

A typical wallcovering carrier 20 is illustrated with respect to FIG. 2. Each of these wallcoverings 24 would be individually mounted on a carrier 22 made of paperboard, or other suitable materials which would be sturdy enough to stand on its end. The carriers would have such dimensions of height and width so as to provide for the display of the wallcoverings repeat. Utilizing one of the numeric color-coded file label systems, a unique storage and retrieval number 32 is assigned to each wallcovering and affixed to the carrier. Additional numbers 30 could also be affixed to the carrier 22, each number representing a particular color, style, pattern or motif. For example, wallcovering 24 contains a plurality tulips 26 and a plurality of circles 28. Each of these designs or patterns would be assigned a particular number. Additionally, these numbers could also represent various objective information, such as vendor and book identity, physical dimensions, how the wallcovering is packaged, physical characteristics such as washability and material composition, pattern of the art such as repeated match.

Although the present invention should not be so limited, one type of input means would take the form of a brochure containing all of the possible objective characteristics of the wallcovering as well as the subjective characteristics of style, pattern, motif as well as color. Each of these characteristics is assigned a particular input number or code which is then transmitted and introduced to the computer.

FIG. 3 illustrates a portion 34 of this brochure which represent the colors available to the customer. In this instance, the color chart includes a number of color-range cells 36, each cell provided with a base color modified as to its shade or tint so as to represent a range of shades of a particular color. The use of this color chart would allow the customer to choose a range of colors and not be forced to choose only a single color, which would hinder the development of an acceptable number of wallcoverings. This computerized system employs a particular schema designed to specifically accommodate the requirements of wallcoverings as art and support the inclusion of the subjective as well as objective information in a nonlimiting structure. These schema incorporates a relational database system and makes extensive use of parent (e.g. design) and children (e.g. element) relationships.

It is this aspect of this component of the invention that permits the assignment of a non-definitive and often contradictory set of elements for a wallcovering. For example, a wallcovering having design including intersecting squares, might be assigned the following elements from the motif category: squares, triangles, four-sided figures, geometrics, etc.

Since the objective information provided to the consumer as indicated previously as well as the subjective information of the wallcovering, such as background color, foreground/motif color, motif, motif style, motif pattern, motif size, etc. are not standard, the schema structure of the database and related software is designed to provide for new categories of attributes, new elements within the categories, and an undefined number of elements that can be assigned within each category to each wallcovering without the need to modify the schema and the information entry and retrieval software.

The number or numbers 30 assigned to each wallcovering will be based on an analysis of the design attributes of each wallcovering. This allows storage and retrieval of a wallcovering by specifying any combination of subjective and objective requirements with any desired level of specificity. For example, stylized red roses and yellow squares arranged in a vertical pattern on a white ground.

Although not complete, the following is a core of the schema as it relates to the present invention and should not be construed as a full listing as it will be implemented in a retail store setting.

    ______________________________________
    TABLE/
    FIELD  REF      TYPE       LENGTH  LONG NAME
    ______________________________________
    vendor                             vendor
     *vencod        STRING     6       vendor
      vennam        STRING     30      name
      vendba        STRING     30      dba
      venadd        STRING     30      address
      vencit        STRING     20      city
      vensta        STRING     2       state
      venzip        STRING     5       zip
      venpri        STRING     25      principal
      venpph        STRING     12      pri-phone
      venrep        STRING     25      rep
      venrph        STRING     12      rep-phone
      venapc        STRING     25      ap-contact
      venapp        STRING     12      ap-phone
      venour        STRING     20      our-acc
      vengla        STRING     5       gl-acc
      venssn        STRING     11      ss-number
      venfid        STRING     10      fid
      venfac        STRING     3       factor
      ventyp        STRING     3       type
    book                               book
     *boocod        STRING     6       book
      booven
           vencod   STRING     6       vendor
      boonam        STRING     25      name
      boovno        STRING     10      number
      boorec        DATE               received
      boodis        DATE               discon
    price                              price
      priboo
           boocod   STRING     6       book
      pricod        STRING     3       price-code
      pricos        AMOUNT     2       cost
      priret        AMOUNT     2       retail
      pripri        AMOUNT     2       price
    type                               type
     *typcod        STRING     5       type
      typdes        STRING     15      descr
    material                           material
     *matcod        STRING     5       material
      matdes        STRING     15      descr
      matcom        STRING     15      composition
      matstr        STRING     1       strip
      mattri        STRING     1       trimmed
      matpas        STRING     1       pasted
      matwas        STRING     1       wash
      matfas        STRING     1       fastness
      matadh        STRING     4       adhesive
    surface                            surface
     *surcod        STRING     5       surface
      surdes        STRING     15      descr
    brillance                          brillance
     *bricod        STRING     5       brillance
      brides        STRING     15      descr
    match                              match
     *mchcod        STRING     5       match
      mchdes        STRING     15      descr
    category                           category
     *catcod        STRING     4       category
      catdes        STRING     15      descr
    element                            element
     *elecod        STRING     5       element
      elecat
           catcod   STRING     4       category
      eledes        STRING     15      descr
    number                             number
     *numpri        STRING     5       primary
      numsec        STRING     5       secondary
      numnum        NUMERIC    7       number
    coord                              coord
     *coocod        NUMERIC    7       coord
    design                             design
     *descod        NUMERIC    7       design
      desboo
           boocod   STRING     6       book
      despag        STRING     3       pages
      desnam        STRING     20      name
      desnum        STRING     12      number
      descol        STRING     15      color
      despcd        STRING     3       price-code
      despri        AMOUNT     2       price
      desver        AMOUNT     2       vertical
      deshor        AMOUNT     2       horizontal
      desmch
           mchcod   STRING     5       match
      deswid        AMOUNT     2       wide
      deslen        AMOUNT     2       length
      deswei        AMOUNT     2       weight
      despac        NUMERIC    2       packaged
      desmin        NUMERIC    2       minimum
      descus        AMOUNT     2       custom-charge
      destyp
           typcod   STRING     5       type
      desmat
           matcod   STRING     5       material
      dessur
           surcod   STRING     5       surface
      desbri
           bricod   STRING     5       brillance
      desmot        AMOUNT     2       motif-size
      descoo
           coocod   NUMERIC    7       coord
    desele                             desele
      dedecd
           descod   NUMERIC    5       design
      deelcd
           elecod   STRING     5       element
    cust                               cust
     *cuscod        STRING     12      phone
      cuspre        STRING     6       prefix
      cusla         STRING     15      lat-name
      cusfir        STRING     15      first-name
      cusadd        STRING     30      address
      cuscit        STRING     25      city
      cussta        STRING     2       state
      cuszip        STRING     5       zip
      cuscty        STRING     3       card-type
      cuscnu        STRING     25      card-no
      custyp        STRING     1       cust-type
    firm                               firm
      fircod
           cuscod   STRING     12      firm
      firnam        STRING     30      name
      firdba        STRING     30      dba
      firssn        STRING     11      ss-number
      firfid        STRING     10      fid
      firtax        STRING     10      tax
    search                             search
     *seacod        NUMERIC    5       search
      seacus
           cuscod   STRING     12      cust
      seadat        DATE               day
      seatim        TIME               times
      seaprb        AMOUNT     2       beg-price
      seapre        AMOUNT     2       end-price
      searep        AMOUNT     2       repeat
      seamch
           mchcod   STRING     5       match
      seatyp
           typcod   STRING     5       type
      seamat
           matcod   STRING     5       material
      seasur
           surcod   STRING     5       surface
      seabri
           bricod   STRING     5       brillance
      seamsz        AMOUNT     2       motif-size
    seaele                             seaele
      sesecd
           seacod   NUMERIC    5       search
      seelcd
           elecod   STRING     5       element
    ______________________________________

    ______________________________________
    TYPE
    type        descr
    paper       Papers
    borde       Borders
    fabri       Fabrics
    poste       Posters
    bedsh       Bed Sheets
    bedsh       Bed Covers
    Note:
    May include most home furnishings products
    and/or any other product containing elements of
    design.
    SURFACE
    surface     descr
    smoot       Smooth
    light       Light
    mediu       Medium
    heavy       Heavy
    Note:
    A more rigorous measurement or description of
    the surface texture of the product, may be
    utilized.
    BRILLANCE
    brillance   descr
    dullb       Dull Brillance
    lowbr       Low Brillance
    mediu       Medium Brillance
    highb       High Brillance
    Note:
    A more technical measurement of brillance may
    be utilized.
    MATCH
    match       descr
    rando       Random
    acros       Across
    half        Half Drop
    multi       Multiple Drop
    CATEGORY
    category    descr
    back        Background
    fore        Foreground
    moti        Motif
    patt        Pattern
    styl        Style
    Note:
    The Motif category may be expanded to include
    a separate category for foreground motif, and/or
    background motifs.
    ELEMENT
    element        category    descr
    diago          patt        Diagonal
    diffu          patt        Diffused
    freef          patt        Freeform
    horiz          patt        Horizontal
    solid          patt        Solid
    verti          patt        Vertical
    conte          styl        Contemporary
    tradi          styl        Traditional
    count          styl        Country
    nurse          styl        Nursery
    child          styl        Children
    Note:
    The elements in the category style can be
    expanded to include a more detailed breakdown
    of style, period, and cultural or geographic
    identity.
    ELEMENT
    element        category    descr
    abstr          moti        Abstracts
    airpl          moti        Airplanes
    anima          moti        Animals
    berri          moti        Berries
    birds          moti        Birds
    blend          moti        Blends
    block          moti        Blocks
    bows           moti        Bows
    brush          moti        Brushstrokes
    chick          moti        Chickens
    cloud          moti        Clouds
    clown          moti        Clowns
    dots           moti        Dots
    farms          moti        Farms
    flowe          moti        Flowers
    geome          moti        Geometrics
    grape          moti        Grapes
    heart          moti        Hearts
    kitch          moti        Kitchens
    laces          moti        Laces
    leave          moti        Leaves
    lette          moti        Letters
    milit          moti        Military
    paisl          moti        Paisleys
    peopl          moti        Peoples
    plaid          moti        Plaids
    plast          moti        Plaster
    roses          moti        Roses
    scall          moti        Scallops
    shape          moti        Shapes
    shell          moti        Shells
    ships          moti        Ships
    spray          moti        Spray Flower
    squar          moti        Squares
    stars          moti        Stars
    stick          moti        Sticks
    strip          moti        Stripes
    tiedy          moti        Tyedye
    train          moti        Trains
    trend          moti        Trends
    truck          moti        Trucks
    weath          moti        Weathervanes
    Zigza          moti        ZigZag
    ELEMENT
    element        category    descr
    12345          back        Background
                               Color
    12345          fore        Foreground
                               Color
    The Codes of background and foreground color elements
    are systematized as follows:
    LEVEL 1 Character Use        Values
                                       Descr
            23        Chroma     bl    Blue
                                 gr    Green
                      re         Red
                                 ye    Yellow
                                 or    Orange
                                 re    Red
                                 pu    Purple
    Level 2 Character Use        Values
                                       Descr
            234       Hue        blp   Blue-Purple
                                 blu   Blue
                                 blg   Blue-Green
                                 gre   Green
                                 yeg   Yellow-Green
                                 yel   Yellow
                                 yeo   Yellow-Orange
                                 ora   Orange
                                 reo   Red-Orange
                                 red   Red
                                 rep   Red-Purple
                                 pur   Purple
                                 bro   Brown
                                 gra   Gray
                                 whi   White
                                 bla   Black
                                 gol   Gold
                                 sil   Silver
                                 cop   Copper
                                 brz   Bronze
    Level 3 Character Use        Values
                                       Descr
            1         Shade      w     White
                                 1     Light
                                 m     Medium
                                 d     Dark
            Character Use        Values
                                       Descr
            5         Background b     Background
            5         Foreground f     Foreground
    Level 4 or higher of color can be incorporated by:
     1) providing for additional hues
     2) providing for additional shades/tints
    ______________________________________

• Inventors
  Abecassis, Max;
• Published
  Mar-1-1994
• Current US Classes:
  705/27
  705/28
• Application #
  651810
• International Classes
  G06F 015/24
• Field of Search
  364/400 364/401 364/403 364/522 364/900 364/408 364/478 364/479 434/72 434/80 434/96 434/98 235/383 235/385
• Examiner
  Envall, Jr.; Roy N.
• Agent
  Hoffman, Wasson & Gitler
• US Patent References:
  4318121
  4484288
  4679149
  4786229
  4796209
  4860123
  4887208
  4931929
  4949257
  5011411