Patent Issued for Systems and methods for ordering a replacement component or repair service (USPTO 11775940): State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company

2023 OCT 24 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- According to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx journalists, a patent by the inventors Davis, Timothy Joel (Warrenville, IL, US), filed on February 7, 2020, was published online on October 3, 2023.

The assignee for this patent, patent number 11775940, is State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (Bloomington, Illinois, United States).

Reporters obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Appliances, vehicles, and other devices may include at least one consumable component whose lifespan may be shorter than the overall lifespan of the device. The consumable component may be subject to wear and/or depletion over time and therefore may require periodic repair or replacement. A user may be unaware that a consumable component has reached or is approaching the end of its lifespan until the consumable component fails and the device ceases to function properly or efficiently. Moreover, it may be impractical in terms of time for a user to manually inspect the consumable component(s) of every device employed by the user.

“When a consumable component fails, it often takes several days or weeks for the user to repair or replace the consumable component. Factors contributing to the delay include, but are not limited to, shipping time, unavailability of the replacement component, ordering errors, installation time, time needed to solicit bids from repair service providers, scheduling conflicts, and even, in some cases, a lack of promptness on behalf of the user in ordering the replacement component or the repair service.

“A device having a consumable component in need of replacement or repair may fail at an inopportune time (e.g., a furnace whose pilot light is defective may be unable to heat a home during a severe winter storm, or a vehicle whose brake pads are severely worn may be unable to stop during a high speed maneuver, etc.). Moreover, the longer it takes to repair or replace the worn, depleted, defective, or otherwise sub-standard consumable component, the higher the risk that such an event will occur.

“The elevated risk associated with a worn, depleted, defective, or otherwise sub-standard consumable component may impact an insurance policy covering, or affected by, the device incorporating the consumable component. Insurance providers generally seek to offer insurance policies that take into account the likelihood of an event triggering a recognizable loss (e.g., damage to a home or vehicle covered by the policy, injury to the policy holder, injury to others, etc.). An insurance provider therefore may have an interest in knowing whether a policy holder has repaired or replaced a worn, depleted, defective, or otherwise sub-standard consumable component of a device that is covered by, or whose failure can otherwise trigger a recognizable loss under, an insurance policy. Also, the insurance provider, as well as the policy holder, may have an interest in being made aware of the worn, depleted, defective, or otherwise sub-standard condition of a consumable component so that repair activities can be begin promptly.”

In addition to obtaining background information on this patent, NewsRx editors also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “In one aspect, a system including a monitored device and an order assistance system may be provided. The monitored device may include a consumable component, a sensor configured detect a condition of the consumable component and generate condition data, and a first communication unit coupled to the sensor and configured to transmit the condition data. The order assistance system may include a second communication unit configured to receive the condition data from the first communication unit, a processing unit, and a storage unit coupled to the processing unit. The storage unit may include non-transitory computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the processing unit, cause the processing unit to: (a) determine whether the consumable component requires at least one of replacement or repair by comparing the condition data with one or more maintenance parameters; and (b) in response to a determination that the consumable component requires at least one of replacement or repair, recommending at least one of a replacement component or a repair service in accordance with one or more order parameters pre-selected by a user.

“In another aspect, a computer-implemented order assistance method may be provided. The method may include: (a) storing, in one or more memories, one or more order parameters pre-selected by a user; (b) detecting a condition of the consumable component with at least one sensor and generating condition data; © comparing, with one or more processors, the condition data with one or more maintenance parameters to determine whether the consumable component requires at least one of replacement or repair; and (d) in response to a determination that the consumable component requires at least one of replacement or repair, recommending at least one of a replacement component or a repair service in accordance with the one or more order parameters.

“In yet another aspect, an order assistance system may be provided. The order assistance system may include a display, a wireless communication unit configured to receive condition data indicating a condition of a consumable component, a processing unit, and a storage unit coupled to the processing unit. The storage unit may include non-transitory computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the processing unit, cause the processing unit to: (a) determine whether the consumable component requires at least one of replacement or repair by comparing the condition data with one or more maintenance parameters stored in the storage unit; and (b) in response to a determination that the consumable component requires at least one of replacement or repair, recommending via the display at least one of a replacement component or a repair service in accordance with one or more order parameters pre-selected by a user.

“The Figures depict preferred embodiments of the present invention for purposes of illustration only. One of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the invention described herein.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. An order assistance system comprising: a display; a wireless communication unit configured to receive condition data indicating a condition of a consumable component; a processing unit; a storage unit coupled to the processing unit, the storage unit including non-transitory computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the processing unit, cause the processing unit to: store one or more order parameters selected by a user of the consumable component; determine whether the consumable component requires at least one of replacement or repair by comparing the condition data with one or more maintenance parameters; and in response to a determination that the consumable component requires at least one of replacement or repair, recommending via the display at least one of a replacement component or a repair service and a source of the at least one of a replacement component or a repair service in accordance with the one or more order parameters selected by the user, wherein the one or more order parameters are selected by the user and stored by the storage unit prior to the determination that the consumable component requires at least one of replacement or repair.

“2. The order assistance system of claim 1, the one or more order parameters including at least one of: a website for ordering the replacement component or the repair service, a price range for the replacement component or the repair service, a telephone number for ordering the replacement component or the repair service, a geographical area for locating a repair service provider, a delivery date for the replacement component, a time period for a repair service provider to be available, or a minimum aggregate consumer rating for the replacement component or the repair service.

“3. The order assistance system of claim 1, the order assistance system including a smartphone.

“4. The order assistance system of claim 1, wherein the condition of the consumable component depends on use of the consumable component by the user.

“5. The order assistance system of claim 1, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable instructions include instructions that cause the processing unit, in response to the determination that the consumable component requires at least one of replacement or repair, to search the Internet for sellers of the replacement component or providers of the repair service in accordance with the one or more order parameters and generate a list of search results to be displayed to the user.

“6. The order assistance system of claim 1, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable instructions include instructions that cause the processing unit, in response to the determination that the consumable component requires at least one of replacement or repair, to solicit bids from a plurality of repair service providers and generate a list of the bids to be displayed to the user.

“7. The order assistance system of claim 1, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable instructions include instructions that cause the processing unit, in response to the determination that the consumable component requires at least one of replacement or repair, to automatically order the replacement component or the repair service via the Internet without input from the user.

“8. The order assistance system of claim 1, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable instructions include instructions that cause the processing unit, in response to an indication that the user has authorized an order for the replacement component or the repair service, to place the order for the replacement component or the repair service via the Internet.

“9. The order assistance system of claim 1, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable instructions include instructions that cause the processing unit, in response to a determination that the consumable component has not been repaired or replaced following the recommendation to repair or replace the consumable component, to generate a reminder notification for display to the user.

“10. The order assistance system of claim 1, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable instructions include instructions that cause the processing unit to store in the storage unit at least one of: (i) an order completion flag indicating that the processing unit has placed an order for the replacement component or the repair service, (ii) a failure to repair or replace flag indicating that the consumable component has not been repaired or replaced following the recommendation to repair or replace the consumable component, (iii) a successful repair or replacement flag indicating that the consumable component has been successfully repaired or replaced, (iv) reminder history information indicating a number of the reminder notifications provided to the user, or (v) repair time information indicating an amount of time between the determination that the consumable component requires at least one of replacement or repair and a determination that the consumable component has been successfully repaired or replaced.

“11. The order assistance system of claim 10, comprising a data analysis system configured to determine one or more risk indicators indicating a likelihood of a recognizable loss under an insurance policy based on at least one of the order completion flag, the failure to repair or replace flag, the successful repair or replacement flag, the reminder history information, or the repair time information.

“12. The order assistance system of claim 11, the data analysis system being configured to adjust the insurance policy based on the one or more risk indicators.

“13. A computer-implemented order assistance method, the method comprising: storing, in one or more memories, one or more order parameters selected by a user of a consumable component; detecting a condition of the consumable component with at least one sensor and generating condition data; comparing, with one or more processors, the condition data with one or more maintenance parameters to determine whether the consumable component requires at least one of replacement or repair; and in response to a determination that the consumable component requires at least one of replacement or repair, recommending at least one of a replacement component or a repair service and a source of the at least one of a replacement component or a repair service in accordance with the one or more order parameters selected by the user, wherein the one or more order parameters are selected by the user and stored in the one or more memories prior to the determination that the consumable component requires at least one of replacement or repair.

“14. The computer-implemented order assistance method of claim 13, comprising, in response to the determination that the consumable component requires at least one of replacement or repair, searching the Internet for sellers of the replacement component or providers of the repair service in accordance with the one or more order parameters and generating a list of search results to be displayed to the user.

“15. The computer-implemented order assistance method of claim 13, comprising, in response to the determination that the consumable component requires at least one of replacement or repair, soliciting bids from a plurality of repair service providers and generating a list of the bids to be displayed to the user.

“16. The computer-implemented order assistance method of claim 13, comprising monitoring whether the consumable component has been successfully repaired or replaced following the determination that the consumable component requires at least one of replacement or repair, and adjusting an insurance policy associated with the consumable component if the consumable component has not been successfully repaired or replaced with a predetermined time period following the determination that the consumable component requires at least one of replacement or repair.

“17. The order assistance system of claim 1, comprising an input unit configured to permit the user of the consumable component to input the one or more order parameters into the order assistance system.

“18. The order assistance system of claim 1, wherein the one or more order parameters are pre-selected by the user of the consumable component.

“19. The computer-implemented order assistance method of claim 13, wherein the one or more order parameters are pre-selected by the user of the consumable component.”

For more information, see this patent: Davis, Timothy Joel. Systems and methods for ordering a replacement component or repair service. U.S. Patent Number 11775940, filed February 7, 2020, and published online on October 3, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(11775940)&db=USPAT&type=ids

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