Description:SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MANAGING LEASING OF CONSUMER APPLIANCES

FIELD OF THE PRESENT DISCLOSURE
[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to consumer appliances, and more particularly to a system and a method for managing leasing of consumer appliances.

BACKGROUND
[0002] Traditionally, purchasing an appliance may cost a consumer significant capital which must usually be paid up-front. Many individuals, or even institutions such as corporate offices, hotels, hospitals, nursing homes or other such facilities who may benefit from the acquisition of such appliances may not have the financial wherewithal to incur the significant up-front capital costs to purchase such appliances. Loan arrangements, from traditional banks, can be arranged for the appliances that would require fixed periodic (typically monthly) payments to be made. These payments have to be made regardless of the cash flow or revenue derived by the consumer during the period of the arrangement. Further, such transactions are generally defined as credit sale or a financing arrangement, and thereby incur debt or the long-term financial obligations associated with credit sales. For example, in part due to the credit lending industry's reliance on traditional credit bureaus, many potential customers are precluded from acquiring desired appliances through traditional credit financing methods because they do not meet credit approval standards.
[0003] As an alternative, leasing (also, sometimes known as "rent to own") are agreements for the use of an appliance by a consumer for personal, family, or household purposes, that are automatically renewable with each payment, and that permit the consumer to become the owner of the appliance after complete payment has been made. However, enforcing payment schedule of leased appliances is a challenge for appliance seller (usually, manufacturer, or sometimes assembler). In particular, payments on items including appliances such as, air-conditioners, washing machines, and the like are often difficult to enforce because repossession is far too expensive in relation to the value of the item itself, and because the item loses much of its value once it is used.
[0004] The present disclosure has been made in view of such considerations, and it is an object of the present disclosure to provide systems and methods for managing leasing of at least one consumer appliance.

SUMMARY
[0005] In an aspect, a system for managing leasing of at least one consumer appliance is disclosed. The system comprises a server configured to maintain a list of the at least one consumer appliance leased to a consumer. Herein, the at least one consumer appliance comprises a control circuit operable to control operations of the at least one consumer appliance and further configured to lock at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance. The at least one consumer appliance further comprises a communication module operable to connect to a network for establishing connection with the server, the communication module further adapted to be disposed so as to communicate with the control circuit to thereby enable signal communication between the control circuit and the server. The control circuit is configured to lock the at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance in response to the signal communication between the control circuit and the server being inactive.
[0006] In one or more embodiments, the control circuit is configured to lock the at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance in response to the signal communication between the control circuit and the server being inactive by determining communication between the control circuit and the communication module being disabled.
[0007] In one or more embodiments, the control circuit is configured to lock the at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance in response to the signal communication between the control circuit and the server being inactive by determining communication between the server and the communication module being disabled for at least a predefined period.
[0008] In one or more embodiments, the list of the at least one consumer appliance includes information about whether the at least one consumer appliance is leased or not, and next due date of payment, and the at least predefined period ends by the next due date of payment.
[0009] In an embodiment, the list of the at least one consumer appliance includes information about whether the at least one consumer appliance is leased or not, and the control circuit is configured to check, via the communication module, from the server, if the at least one consumer appliance is leased based on the list of the at least one consumer appliance.
[0010] In an embodiment, the server is further configured to maintain a record of one or more payments received from the consumer for the at least one consumer appliance leased thereby.
[0011] In another embodiment, the server is further configured to: determine a pending payment from the consumer for the at least one consumer appliance leased thereby, based on the record of one or more payments received therefrom; and send an instruction to the control circuit to lock the at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance, in response to determination of the pending payment from the consumer therefor.
[0012] In one or more embodiments, the server is further configured to: determine a complete payment from the consumer for the at least one consumer appliance leased thereby, based on the record of one or more payments received therefrom; and send an instruction to the control circuit to disable locking of the at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance, in response to determination of the complete payment from the consumer therefor.
[0013] In one or more embodiments, the server is further configured to maintain a record of credits purchased by the consumer in a virtual credit account for operating the at least one consumer appliance.
[0014] In one or more embodiments, the control circuit is configured to send information about one or more operations performed by the at least one consumer appliance, and wherein the server is further configured to deduct one or more credits from the virtual credit account of the consumer based on the information about the one or more operations performed by the corresponding at least one consumer appliance, as received from the control circuit thereof.
[0015] In one or more embodiments, the server is configured to send an instruction to deny access to at least one of the one or more operations of the at least one consumer appliance based on the credits available in the virtual credit account for the at least one consumer appliance.
[0016] In another aspect, a method for managing leasing of at least one consumer appliance is disclosed. The method comprises maintaining, at a server, a list of the at least one consumer appliance leased to a consumer. The method further comprises configuring the at least one consumer appliance to establish connection with the server to be disposed in signal communication therewith. The method further comprises configuring the at least one consumer appliance to check if the at least one consumer appliance is leased based on the list of the at least one consumer appliance leased to the consumer. The method further comprises configuring the at least one consumer appliance, determined to be leased, to lock at least one of operations thereof in response to the signal communication between a control circuit thereof and the server being inactive.
[0017] In one or more embodiments, the at least one consumer appliance comprises: the control circuit operable to control operations of the at least one consumer appliance and further configured to lock at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance; and a communication module operable to connect to a network for establishing connection with the server, the communication module further adapted to be disposed so as to communicate with the control circuit to thereby enable signal communication between the control circuit and the server. The method further comprises configuring the at least one consumer appliance to check if the communication module is communicating with the control circuit; and locking the at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance if the signal communication with the server is inactive by determining communication between the control circuit and the communication module being disabled.
[0018] In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises locking the at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance by determining communication between the server and the communication module being disabled for at least a predefined period.
[0019] In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises maintaining, at the server, a record of one or more payments received from the consumer for the at least one consumer appliance leased thereby.
[0020] In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises determining a pending payment from the consumer for at least one consumer appliance leased thereby, based on the record of one or more payments received therefrom; and locking the at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliances, in response to determination of the pending payment from the consumer therefor.
[0021] In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises determining a complete payment from the consumer for at least one consumer appliance leased thereby, based on the record of one or more payments received therefrom; and disabling locking of the at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance, in response to determination of the complete payment from the consumer therefor.
[0022] In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises maintaining, at the server, a record of credits purchased by the consumer in a virtual credit account for operating the at least one consumer appliance.
[0023] In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises sending, to the server, information about one or more operations performed by the at least one consumer appliance; and deducting, at the server, one or more credits from the virtual credit account of the consumer based on the information about the one or more operations performed by the at least one consumer appliance, as received from the at least one consumer appliance.
[0024] In yet another aspect, a system for managing leasing of at least one consumer appliance is disclosed. The system comprises a server configured to maintain a list of the at least one consumer appliance leased to a consumer. Herein, the at least one consumer appliance comprises a control circuit operable to control operations of the at least one consumer appliance and further configured to lock at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance. The at least one consumer appliance further comprises a communication module operable to connect to a network for establishing connection with the server, the communication module further adapted to be disposed so as to communicate with the control circuit to thereby enable signal communication between the control circuit and the server. Herein, the list of the at least one consumer appliance includes information about whether the at least one consumer appliance is leased or not, and the control circuit is configured to check, via the communication module, from the server, if the at least one consumer appliance is leased based on the list of the at least one consumer appliance.
[0025] The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0026] For a more complete understanding of example embodiments of the present disclosure, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:
[0027] FIG. 1 illustrates a system that may reside on and may be executed by a computer, which may be connected to a network;
[0028] FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic illustration of the system of FIG. 1 as implemented for managing leasing of at least one consumer appliance, in accordance with one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure;
[0029] FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram illustration of a server, in accordance with one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure;
[0030] FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram illustration of a consumer appliance, in accordance with one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure;
[0031] FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart of a process for managing leasing of at least one consumer appliance, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0032] FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of a process for managing leasing of at least one consumer appliance, in accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure; and
[0033] FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart depicting steps involved in a method for managing leasing of at least one consumer appliance, in accordance with one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0034] In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the present disclosure is not limited to these specific details.
[0035] Reference in this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. The appearance of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Further, the terms “a” and “an” herein do not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denote the presence of at least one of the referenced items. Moreover, various features are described which may be exhibited by some embodiments and not by others. Similarly, various requirements are described which may be requirements for some embodiments but not for other embodiments.
[0036] Furthermore, in the following detailed description of the present disclosure, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, it will be understood that the present disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components, and circuits have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the present disclosure.
[0037] Embodiments described herein may be discussed in the general context of computer-executable instructions residing on some form of computer-readable storage medium, such as program modules, executed by one or more computers or other devices. By way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable storage media may comprise non-transitory computer-readable storage media and communication media; non-transitory computer-readable media include all computer-readable media except for a transitory, propagating signal. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or distributed as desired in various embodiments.
[0038] Some portions of the detailed description that follows are presented and discussed in terms of a process or method. Although steps and sequencing thereof are disclosed in figures herein describing the operations of this method, such steps and sequencing are exemplary. Embodiments are well suited to performing various other steps or variations of the steps recited in the flowchart of the figure herein, and in a sequence other than that depicted and described herein. Some portions of the detailed descriptions that follow are presented in terms of procedures, logic blocks, processing, and other symbolic representations of operations on data bits within a computer memory. These descriptions and representations are the means used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. In the present application, a procedure, logic block, process, or the like, is conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps or instructions leading to a desired result. The steps are those utilizing physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, although not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated in a computer system. It has proven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals as transactions, bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, samples, pixels, or the like.
[0039] In some implementations, any suitable computer usable or computer readable medium (or media) may be utilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. The computer-usable, or computer-readable, storage medium (including a storage device associated with a computing device) may be, for example, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer-readable medium may include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fibre, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a digital versatile disk (DVD), a static random access memory (SRAM), a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such as punch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructions recorded thereon, a media such as those supporting the internet or an intranet, or a magnetic storage device. Note that the computer-usable or computer-readable medium could even be a suitable medium upon which the program is stored, scanned, compiled, interpreted, or otherwise processed in a suitable manner, if necessary, and then stored in a computer memory. In the context of the present disclosure, a computer-usable or computer-readable, storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain or store a program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
[0040] In some implementations, a computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. In some implementations, such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. In some implementations, the computer readable program code may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to the internet, wireline, optical fibre cable, RF, etc. In some implementations, a computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
[0041] In some implementations, computer program code for carrying out operations of the present disclosure may be assembler instructions, instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java®, Smalltalk, C++ or the like. Java and all Java-based trademarks and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. However, the computer program code for carrying out operations of the present disclosure may also be written in conventional procedural programming languages, such as the "C" programming language, PASCAL, or similar programming languages, as well as in scripting languages such as JavaScript, PERL, or Python. In present implementations, the used language for training may be one of Python, TensorflowTM, Bazel, C, C++. Further, decoder in user device (as will be discussed) may use C, C++ or any processor specific ISA. Furthermore, assembly code inside C/C++ may be utilized for specific operation. Also, ASR (automatic speech recognition) and G2P decoder along with entire user system can be run in embedded Linux (any distribution), Android, iOS, Windows, or the like, without any limitations. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user’s computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user’s computer through a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the internet using an Internet Service Provider). In some implementations, electronic circuitry including, for example, programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or other hardware accelerators, micro-controller units (MCUs), or programmable logic arrays (PLAs) may execute the computer readable program instructions/code by utilizing state information of the computer readable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry, in order to perform aspects of the present disclosure.
[0042] In some implementations, the flowchart and block diagrams in the figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of apparatus (systems), methods and computer program products according to various implementations of the present disclosure. Each block in the flowchart and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart and/or block diagrams, may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable computer program instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s)/act(s). These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the computer program instructions, which may execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create the ability to implement one or more of the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks or combinations thereof. It should be noted that, in some implementations, the functions noted in the block(s) may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved.
[0043] In some implementations, these computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks or combinations thereof.
[0044] In some implementations, the computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed (not necessarily in a particular order) on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions/acts (not necessarily in a particular order) specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks or combinations thereof.
[0045] Referring now to the example implementation of FIG. 1, there is shown a system 100 that may reside on and may be executed by a computer (e.g., computer 12), which may be connected to a network (e.g., network 14) (e.g., the internet or a local area network). Examples of computer 12 may include, but are not limited to, a personal computer(s), a laptop computer(s), mobile computing device(s), a server computer, a series of server computers, a mainframe computer(s), or a computing cloud(s). In some implementations, each of the aforementioned may be generally described as a computing device. In certain implementations, a computing device may be a physical or virtual device. In many implementations, a computing device may be any device capable of performing operations, such as a dedicated processor, a portion of a processor, a virtual processor, a portion of a virtual processor, a portion of a virtual device, or a virtual device. In some implementations, a processor may be a physical processor or a virtual processor. In some implementations, a virtual processor may correspond to one or more parts of one or more physical processors. In some implementations, the instructions/logic may be distributed and executed across one or more processors, virtual or physical, to execute the instructions/logic. Computer 12 may execute an operating system, for example, but not limited to, Microsoft® Windows®; Mac® OS X®; Red Hat® Linux®, or a custom operating system. (Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other countries or both; Mac and OS X are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the United States, other countries or both; Red Hat is a registered trademark of Red Hat Corporation in the United States, other countries or both; and Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the United States, other countries or both).
[0046] In some implementations, the instruction sets and subroutines of system 100, which may be stored on storage device, such as storage device 16, coupled to computer 12, may be executed by one or more processors (not shown) and one or more memory architectures included within computer 12. In some implementations, storage device 16 may include but is not limited to: a hard disk drive; a flash drive, a tape drive; an optical drive; a RAID array (or other array); a random-access memory (RAM); and a read-only memory (ROM).
[0047] In some implementations, network 14 may be connected to one or more secondary networks (e.g., network 18), examples of which may include but are not limited to: a local area network; a wide area network; or an intranet, for example.
[0048] In some implementations, computer 12 may include a data store, such as a database (e.g., relational database, object-oriented database, triplestore database, etc.) and may be located within any suitable memory location, such as storage device 16 coupled to computer 12. In some implementations, data, metadata, information, etc. described throughout the present disclosure may be stored in the data store. In some implementations, computer 12 may utilize any known database management system such as, but not limited to, DB2, in order to provide multi-user access to one or more databases, such as the above noted relational database. In some implementations, the data store may also be a custom database, such as, for example, a flat file database or an XML database. In some implementations, any other form(s) of a data storage structure and/or organization may also be used. In some implementations, system 100 may be a component of the data store, a standalone application that interfaces with the above noted data store and/or an applet / application that is accessed via client applications 22, 24, 26, 28. In some implementations, the above noted data store may be, in whole or in part, distributed in a cloud computing topology. In this way, computer 12 and storage device 16 may refer to multiple devices, which may also be distributed throughout the network.
[0049] In some implementations, computer 12 may execute application 20 for managing leasing of at least one consumer appliance (as discussed later in more detail). In some implementations, system 100 and/or application 20 may be accessed via one or more of client applications 22, 24, 26, 28. In some implementations, system 100 may be a standalone application, or may be an applet / application / script / extension that may interact with and/or be executed within application 20, a component of application 20, and/or one or more of client applications 22, 24, 26, 28. In some implementations, application 20 may be a standalone application, or may be an applet / application / script / extension that may interact with and/or be executed within system 100, a component of system 100, and/or one or more of client applications 22, 24, 26, 28. In some implementations, one or more of client applications 22, 24, 26, 28 may be a standalone application, or may be an applet / application / script / extension that may interact with and/or be executed within and/or be a component of system 100 and/or application 20. Examples of client applications 22, 24, 26, 28 may include, but are not limited to, a standard and/or mobile web browser, an email application (e.g., an email client application), a textual and/or a graphical user interface, a customized web browser, a plugin, an Application Programming Interface (API), or a custom application. The instruction sets and subroutines of client applications 22, 24, 26, 28, which may be stored on storage devices 30, 32, 34, 36, coupled to user devices 38, 40, 42, 44, may be executed by one or more processors and one or more memory architectures incorporated into user devices 38, 40, 42, 44.
[0050] In some implementations, one or more of storage devices 30, 32, 34, 36, may include but are not limited to: hard disk drives; flash drives, tape drives; optical drives; RAID arrays; random access memories (RAM); and read-only memories (ROM). Examples of user devices 38, 40, 42, 44 (and/or computer 12) may include, but are not limited to, a personal computer (e.g., user device 38), a laptop computer (e.g., user device 40), a smart/data-enabled, cellular phone (e.g., user device 42), a notebook computer (e.g., user device 44), a tablet (not shown), a server (not shown), a television (not shown), a smart television (not shown), a media (e.g., video, photo, etc.) capturing device (not shown), and a dedicated network device (not shown). User devices 38, 40, 42, 44 may each execute an operating system, examples of which may include but are not limited to, Android®, Apple® iOS®, Mac® OS X®; Red Hat® Linux®, or a custom operating system.
[0051] In some implementations, one or more of client applications 22, 24, 26, 28 may be configured to effectuate some or all of the functionality of system 100 (and vice versa). Accordingly, in some implementations, system 100 may be a purely server-side application, a purely client-side application, or a hybrid server-side / client-side application that is cooperatively executed by one or more of client applications 22, 24, 26, 28 and/or system 100.
[0052] In some implementations, one or more of client applications 22, 24, 26, 28 may be configured to effectuate some or all of the functionality of application 20 (and vice versa). Accordingly, in some implementations, application 20 may be a purely server-side application, a purely client-side application, or a hybrid server-side / client-side application that is cooperatively executed by one or more of client applications 22, 24, 26, 28 and/or application 20. As one or more of client applications 22, 24, 26, 28, system 100, and application 20, taken singly or in any combination, may effectuate some or all of the same functionality, any description of effectuating such functionality via one or more of client applications 22, 24, 26, 28, system 100, application 20, or combination thereof, and any described interaction(s) between one or more of client applications 22, 24, 26, 28, system 100, application 20, or combination thereof to effectuate such functionality, should be taken as an example only and not to limit the scope of the disclosure.
[0053] In some implementations, one or more of users 46, 48, 50, 52 may access computer 12 and system 100 (e.g., using one or more of user devices 38, 40, 42, 44) directly through network 14 or through secondary network 18. Further, computer 12 may be connected to network 14 through secondary network 18, as illustrated with phantom link line 54. System 100 may include one or more user interfaces, such as browsers and textual or graphical user interfaces, through which users 46, 48, 50, 52 may access system 100.
[0054] In some implementations, the various user devices may be directly or indirectly coupled to communication network, such as communication network 14 and communication network 18, hereinafter simply referred to as network 14 and network 18, respectively. For example, user device 38 is shown directly coupled to network 14 via a hardwired network connection. Further, user device 44 is shown directly coupled to network 18 via a hardwired network connection. User device 40 is shown wirelessly coupled to network 14 via wireless communication channel 56 established between user device 40 and wireless access point (i.e., WAP) 58, which is shown directly coupled to network 14. WAP 58 may be, for example, an IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, Wi-Fi®, RFID, and/or BluetoothTM (including BluetoothTM Low Energy) device that is capable of establishing wireless communication channel 56 between user device 40 and WAP 58. User device 42 is shown wirelessly coupled to network 14 via wireless communication channel 60 established between user device 42 and cellular network / bridge 62, which is shown directly coupled to network 14.
[0055] In some implementations, some or all of the IEEE 802.11x specifications may use Ethernet protocol and carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (i.e., CSMA/CA) for path sharing. The various 802.11x specifications may use phase-shift keying (i.e., PSK) modulation or complementary code keying (i.e., CCK) modulation, for example, BluetoothTM (including BluetoothTM Low Energy) is a telecommunications industry specification that allows, e.g., mobile phones, computers, smart phones, and other electronic devices to be interconnected using a short-range wireless connection. Other forms of interconnection (e.g., Near Field Communication (NFC)) may also be used.
[0056] Referring now to FIG. 2, illustrated is a schematic of the system 100 as implemented in an environment 200 for managing leasing of at least one consumer appliance (such as, a consumer appliance 202), in accordance with one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. In the exemplary illustration, the consumer appliance 202 is shown to be an air conditioning unit, and the two terms “consumer appliance 202” and “air conditioning unit 202” have been interchangeably used hereinafter without any limitations. Although the present embodiments have been described with the consumer appliance 202 being the air conditioning unit 202, it may be appreciated the consumer appliance 202 may be any other type of consumer appliance including, but not limited to, a washing machine, a television, a microwave oven and the like, and the teachings of the present disclosure may be applied to such other types of consumer appliance generally in a similar manner. The system 100 may be part of an Internet-of-Things (IoT) platform, such as a home automation platform (like Panasonic MirAIeTM), for automatically controlling various systems and sub-systems in a building, such as a home or an office building. Although the system 100 has been described as a part of a home automation platform, it may be noted that the system 100 may work independently for controlling the air conditioning unit 202 without any limitations.
[0057] As illustrated in FIG. 2, the exemplary environment 200 has the air conditioning unit 202 installed inside an indoor space 201 therein. The air conditioning unit 202 may include an internal fan, a heat exchanger, a compressing unit, and a filter (not depicted in the FIG. 2). Further, as illustrated, the air conditioning unit 202 may include a control circuit 216, a communication module 218, and a connecting means 220. The connecting means 220 connects the control circuit 216 and the communication module 218 with each other for signal communication. The connecting means 220 might be a physical wire as well as a non-physical connection such as an IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, Wi-Fi®, RFID, BluetoothTM and/or ZigbeeTM. It may be appreciated that some components of the air conditioning unit 202 (such as, the heat exchanger, the compressing unit, etc., not depicted in FIG. 2) may be located outside of the indoor space 201 without any limitations. The air conditioning unit 202 is configured to regulate temperature and other conditions including humidity level, air flow rate and air cleanliness inside the indoor space 201. For this purpose, it may be required to adjust settings of the air conditioning unit 202 based on the ambient conditions (e.g. temperature, weather condition humidity, etc.), inside and/or outside of the indoor space 201. The consumer appliance 202 may also be associated with an input device 204 which is adapted to receive inputs from a user of the consumer appliance 202, and further configured to convert the received inputs into commands to control operations of the consumer appliance 202. In an example, the input device 204 may be in the form of a remote controller, a keypad, a touchpad, a rotating dial, a keyboard, a mice, a joystick, a touch screen, and/or a microphone. In some other examples, the input device 204 may be in the form of a device providing access to one or more virtual assistants (such as, but not limited to, Google Assistant®, Amazon Alexa®, Apple Siri®, etc.) which, in turn, are capable of communicating with and controlling the consumer appliance 202, as may be understood by a person skilled in the art.
[0058] Further as illustrated in FIG. 2, in some embodiments, the indoor space 201 may have an access point 206. The access point 206 may be in the form of a network router (such as, a WiFi router) or the like, as known in the art. The access point 206 enables the consumer appliance 202 to connect to a network, such as a network 208. Herein, the network 208 may be the Internet network. In some implementations, the network 208 may be an Intranet network without any limitations. It may be appreciated that the access point 206 may connect to the network 208 via various nodes, gateways and the like, as may be contemplated by a person skilled in the art. Further, as may be seen, the consumer appliance 202 may connect to the access point 206 at the first place, via a local network 209. Herein, the local network 209 may be a wired network or a wireless network without any limitations.
[0059] Further, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the system 100 includes a server 210. The server 210 may be any computer or hardware on which the services that clients use reside. Services available on the server 210 are transmitted from the server software to the client software over communication lines in packets of data according to defined protocols. Generally, the term "server" means a discrete host computer in a network, and it provides services to other computers or devices, termed "clients". For purposes of the example embodiments described herein, the term “server” includes machines that may be essentially any interconnected computer systems. The use of terms such as “server” is not meant to imply that any particular machine may only be performing host function, or that any particular machine cannot be acting as a client computing platform in any particular circumstance. In some examples, the term “server” as used herein, may also represent a crowd server, a blockchain server, or the like without departing from the spirit and the scope of the present disclosure.
[0060] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example of the server 210 capable of implementing embodiments according to the present disclosure. In the present embodiments, the application 20 as described in reference to FIG. 1 may be implemented on the server 210. In the example of FIG. 3, the server 210 includes a central processing unit 302 (hereinafter, referred to as CPU 302) for running software applications (such as, the application 20 of FIG. 1) and optionally an operating system. As illustrated, the server 210 further includes a memory 304 which stores applications and data for use by the CPU 302. Storage 306 provides non-volatile storage for applications and data and may include fixed disk drives, removable disk drives, flash memory devices, and CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or other optical storage devices. An optional user input device 308 includes devices that communicate user inputs from one or more users to the server 210 and may include keyboards, mice, joysticks, touch screens, etc. A communication interface 310 is provided which allows the server 210 to communicate with other computer systems (including the consumer appliance 202 of FIG. 2) via an electronic communications network, including wired and/or wireless communication and including an Intranet or the Internet (such as, the network 208 of FIG. 2). The communication interface 310 may comprise a transmitter and receiver for communicating with remote devices. An optional display device 312 may be provided which may be any device capable of displaying visual information in response to a signal from the server 210. The components of the server 210, including the CPU 302, the memory 304, the data storage 306, the user input devices 308, the communication interface 310, and the display device 312, may be coupled via one or more data buses 330.
[0061] Further in some examples, as illustrated in FIG. 3, a graphics system 320 may be coupled with the data bus 330 and the components of the server 210. The graphics system 320 may include a physical graphics processing unit (GPU) 322 and graphics memory. The GPU 322 generates pixel data for output images from rendering commands. The physical GPU 322 may be configured as multiple virtual GPUs that may be used in parallel (concurrently) by a number of applications or processes executing in parallel. For example, mass scaling processes for rigid bodies or a variety of constraint solving processes may be run in parallel on the multiple virtual GPUs. Graphics memory may include a display memory 324 (e.g., a framebuffer) used for storing pixel data for each pixel of an output image. In another embodiment, the display memory 324 and/or additional memory 326 may be part of the memory 304 and may be shared with the CPU 302. Alternatively, the display memory 324 and/or additional memory 326 may be one or more separate memories provided for the exclusive use of the graphics system 320. In another embodiment, graphics processing unit 320 includes one or more additional physical GPUs 328, similar to the GPU 322. Each additional GPU 328 may be adapted to operate in parallel with the GPU 322. Each additional GPU 328 generates pixel data for output images from rendering commands. Each additional physical GPU 328 may be configured as multiple virtual GPUs that may be used in parallel (concurrently) by a number of applications or processes executing in parallel, e.g., processes that solve constraints. Each additional GPU 328 may operate in conjunction with the GPU 322, for example, to simultaneously generate pixel data for different portions of an output image, or to simultaneously generate pixel data for different output images. Each additional GPU 328 may be located on the same circuit board as the GPU 322, sharing a connection with the GPU 322 to the data bus 330, or each additional GPU 328 may be located on another circuit board separately coupled with the data bus 330. Each additional GPU 328 may also be integrated into the same module or chip package as the GPU 322. Each additional GPU 328 may have additional memory, similar to the display memory 324 and additional memory 326, or may share the memories 324 and 326 with the GPU 322. It is to be understood that the circuits and/or functionality of GPU as described herein could also be implemented in other types of processors, such as general-purpose or other special-purpose coprocessors, or within a CPU.
[0062] Referring back to FIG. 2, as discussed, the system 100 is implemented for managing the consumer appliance 202. Further as discussed, in embodiments of the present disclosure, the consumer appliance 202 may embody a standalone appliance, like an air-conditioner, a washing machine, a television, a microwave, and the like. FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustration of the consumer appliance 202 capable of implementing embodiments according to the present disclosure.
[0063] As illustrated in FIG. 4, the consumer appliance 202 includes a control circuit 402 (similar to the control circuit 216) for running software applications (such as, the application 20 of FIG. 1) and optionally an operating system. The control circuit 402 is operable to control operations of the corresponding consumer appliance 202. Herein, the control circuit 402 may be any processing device, system or part thereof that controls operations of the consumer appliance 202. The control circuit 402 may be implemented in hardware, firmware or software, or some combination of at least two of the same. It should be noted that the functionality associated with any particular controller may be centralized or distributed, whether locally or remotely. The control circuit 402 may be a multi-core processor, a single core processor, or a combination of one or more multi-core processors and one or more single core processors. For example, the one or more processors may be embodied as one or more of various processing devices, such as a coprocessor, a microprocessor, a controller, a digital signal processor (DSP), a processing circuitry with or without an accompanying DSP, or various other processing devices including integrated circuits such as, for example, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a microcontroller unit (MCU), a hardware accelerator, a special-purpose computer chip, or the like. Further, the memory may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media that may be read or accessed by other components in the device. The memory may be any computer-readable storage media, including volatile and/or non-volatile storage components, such as optical, magnetic, organic or other memory or disc storage, which may be integrated in whole or in part with the device. In some examples, the memory may be implemented using a single physical device (e.g., optical, magnetic, organic or other memory or disc storage unit), while in other embodiments, the memory may be implemented using two or more physical devices without any limitations.
[0064] Further, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the consumer appliance 202 includes a communication module 404 (similar to the communication module 218) which allows the consumer appliance 202 to communicate with other computer systems (e.g., the server 210 of FIG. 2) via an electronic communications network, including wired and/or wireless communication and including the Internet (such as, the network 208 via the local network 209 of FIG. 2). Herein, the communication module 404 may be in the form of a network interface card which may implement a WAP, for example, an IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, Wi-Fi®, RFID, and/or BluetoothTM (including BluetoothTM Low Energy) for establishing wireless communication channel (such as, the local network 209 of FIG. 2) between the consumer appliance 202 and the access point 206. As shown in FIG. 2, the consumer appliance 202 is shown wirelessly coupled to the local network 208 via the communication module 404 established with the access point 206, which is shown coupled to the network 208. In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the communication module 404 is operable to connect to a network (such as, the network 208 of FIG. 2) for establishing connection with the server 210. In the present system 100, the communication module 404 is further adapted to be disposed so as to communicate with the control circuit 402 to thereby enable signal communication between the control circuit 402 and the server 210.
[0065] Referring back to FIG. 4, as illustrated, the consumer appliance 202 may further include a user input controller 406 is provided which is disposed in connection with the control circuit 402, and includes devices that communicate user inputs or commands from one or more users as received from the input device (such as, the input device 204 of FIG. 2). In some examples, the consumer appliance 202 may also include a display device 408 which may be any device capable of displaying visual information, including information received from the communication module 404. In some examples, as will be described later in the description, the display device 408 may be implemented for displaying visual information as received from the server 210 of FIG. 2. The consumer appliance 202 further includes an operation mechanism (generally represented as a block 410) which may provide the necessary functionality of the consumer appliance 202, such as regulating temperature in case of the consumer appliance 202 being the air conditioner unit 202 as described above. The components of the consumer appliance 202 may be coupled via one or more data buses 412, as shown in FIG. 4.
[0066] In embodiments of the present disclosure, the control circuit 402 is further configured to lock at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance 202. By locking of at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance 202, it means that the one of the operations of the consumer appliance 202 may be temporarily disabled. In one example, one such operation may be disabling an operating mechanism (such as, the operating mechanism 410) of the consumer appliance 202. In other examples, the locking of at least one of the operations may include disabling processing of the commands as received from the input device 204 of the corresponding consumer appliance 202, as associated therewith. In yet other examples, the locking of at least one of the operations may include starting a timer for a preset time whenever the consumer appliance 202 may be operated, such that the consumer appliance 202 may automatically turn OFF after the completion of the preset time, and lock any commands from the input device 204. In still other examples, the locking of at least one of the operations may include disabling some of the functions of the consumer appliance 202, such as regulating temperature control or the like in case of the consumer appliance 202 being the air conditioner unit 202.
[0067] Referring back to FIG. 2, as illustrated, the system 100 further includes a database 212. As shown, the database 212 is connected to the server 210. As used herein, the term “database” generally refers to a collection of data arranged for ease and speed of search and retrieval. While the following description focuses on generating transaction statements for relational databases, those skilled in the art will recognize the methods described herein may be used with any type of database including an object-relational database and an XML-based database. The database 212 may include any physical or logical arrangement of records. In some embodiments, one or more of the databases share content with one or more other databases. Thus, the databases are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Indeed, some databases may be entirely contained by other databases. In embodiments of the present disclosure, the server 210 is configured to maintain a list of the at least one consumer appliance leased to a consumer. In particular, such list is stored in the database 212 for later retrieval, as required.
[0068] Further, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the system 100 further includes a payment gateway 214. As shown, the payment gateway 214 is connected to the server 210. As used herein, the term “payment gateway” refers to a payment processing service that verifies authenticity of a consumer's credit account associated with a transaction request and processes the transaction request. The payment gateway is, for example, an acquiring bank, a credit card processor, acquiring bank and credit card associations, etc. For the purposes of the present disclosure, the term “payment gateway” will be taken to include any party that acquires transactions from a further party, and processes such transactions through a financial system (e.g., a banking or credit card system). Merely for example, a payment gateway may be used to link a banking network with the Internet. A payment gateway may furthermore link a number of banking systems together (e.g., Visa, MasterCard and American Express), and may typically not be vendor or bank specific, although occasionally this is the case. On successful verification of the transaction request, the payment gateway verifies and approves the transaction request and transmits an approved message to the merchant entity, via the network.
[0069] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the system 100 of the present disclosure is implemented for managing leasing of at least one consumer appliance (such as, the consumer appliance 202). Hereinafter, sometimes, the term “appliance” has simply been used instead of the term “consumer appliance” without any limitations. In the context of the present disclosure, the term “lease” has been used for a contract by which one party (business, like the appliance seller or the appliance manufacturer) conveys the appliance to another party (consumer) for a specified time, usually in return for a periodic payment. The leasing of the appliance 202 can provide benefits to a consumer by offering the appliance without a minimum qualifying credit score subject to the terms of agreement, with an option of making or establishing automated payments to meet the renewal obligations of the agreement, and with an option to acquire ownership of that appliance subject to complete payment as per the agreement. The leasing of the appliance enables consumer to gain access to goods and services who do not qualify for traditional financing or do not wish to accumulate debt or impair available credit. As used herein, a consumer can include a potential or pending customer or multiple customers, including an individual or a group of individuals. The customer or customers can represent themselves, or the customer or customers can be representatives of a company or group of companies. It may be noted that the terms “lease” and “agreement” are broad terms and are used herein in their ordinary sense and further include without limitation aspects of some embodiments disclosed herein.
[0070] Referring now to FIG. 5, illustrated is a flow chart 500 of a process depicting steps involved in managing leasing of at least one consumer appliance, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. As illustrated, the flow chart 500 of FIG. 5 is divided into two sections including, a section 502 providing steps involved at the server 210 due to one or more action of the consumer, and a section 504 providing steps involved at the consumer appliance 202 particularly at the control circuit 402 and the communication module 404 of the consumer appliance 202. It may be appreciated that although the steps involved in managing leasing of the consumer appliance 202 as per the embodiment of the present disclosure have been shown to be executed in either the section 502 or the section 504; in other examples, one or more steps may be executed in other of the section as described herein without departing from the scope and the spirit of the present disclosure.
[0071] Herein, as illustrated in FIG. 5, at step 510, the consumer may rent the consumer appliance 202; or at step 512, the consumer may purchase the consumer appliance 202 on equated monthly instalments (EMIs). Based on fulfilling either of conditions of the steps 510 or 512, it is confirmed in step 514 that the consumer appliance 202 is leased. As discussed, the server 210 is configured to maintain a list of the at least one consumer appliance leased to a consumer. Such confirmation, as in step 514, may be made at the server 210 by associating a unique identification code of the consumer appliance 202 to the said list of leased consumer appliances at the server 210. In one example, the unique identification code may be a bar code of the consumer appliance 202. In preferred examples, the unique identification code may be a MAC address or the like of the communication module 404 of the consumer appliance 202.
[0072] At step 516, the consumer onboard the consumer appliance 202. This is achieved by connecting the communication module 404 of the consumer appliance 202 to the access point 206. For example, if the access point 206 is a WiFi access point with the communication module 404 being a WiFi network interface card, then the communication module 404 is connected to the access point 206 by inputting a password of the local network 209 as provided by the access point 206. In other examples, the communication module 404 may have cellular connectivity; and in such case, the consumer appliance 202 may be connected directly to the network 208 and the onboarding step may involve activation of such cellular connectivity of the communication module 404. It may be appreciated that the onboarding step may be performed by the consumer or personnel of the appliance supplier. At step 518, the consumer appliance 202 is connected to the network 208, such that the communication module 404 is operable to connect to the network 208 for establishing connection with the server 210, and thereby enable signal communication between the control circuit 402 and the server 210.
[0073] At step 520, the communication module 404 is configured to check with the server 210 whether the corresponding consumer appliance 202 is leased or not (i.e., ownership status of the corresponding consumer appliance 202). For this purpose, the communication module 404 may send a request to the server 210 including the unique identification code of the corresponding consumer appliance 202. At step 522, the server 210 may verify if the consumer appliance 202 for which the request is received is leased or not, based on matching of the unique identification code to one of the codes in the list of the at least one consumer appliance leased to the consumer, as maintained thereby. At step 524, it is determined by the control circuit 402 of the consumer appliance 202 if the corresponding consumer appliance 202 is leased or not. As discussed, the server 210 is configured to maintain the list of the at least one consumer appliance leased to the consumer. In the present embodiments, the list of the at least one consumer appliance includes information about whether the at least one consumer appliance is leased or not, and the control circuit 402 is configured to check, via the communication module 404, from the server 210, if the at least one consumer appliance 202 is leased based on the list of the at least one consumer appliance. If NO, at step 526, the control circuit 402 disables locking of the at least one of the operations of the at least the corresponding consumer appliance 202. In such case, at step 528, the control circuit 402, and thereby the consumer appliance 202, is able to accept all commands as received from an input device (such as, the input device 204) associated with the consumer appliance 202. On the other hand, if YES at step 530, the communication module 404 sends an instruction to the control circuit 402 to enable locking of the at least one of the operations of the at least the corresponding consumer appliance 202. Further, at step 532, the control circuit 402 enables locking of the at least one of the operations of the at least the corresponding consumer appliance 202, based on the received instruction from the communication module 404 of the corresponding consumer appliance 202.
[0074] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the control circuit 402 is configured to lock the at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance 202 in response to the signal communication between the control circuit 402 and the server 210 being inactive. It may be appreciated based on the architecture/configuration of the system 100 as described, the signal communication between the control circuit 402 and the server 210 may be inactivated either if the communication between the control circuit 402 and the communication module 404 being disabled, or signal communication between the control circuit 402 and the server 210 being disabled.
[0075] In an embodiment, the control circuit 402 is configured to lock the at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance 202 in response to the signal communication between the control circuit 402 and the server 210 being inactive by determining communication between the control circuit 402 and the communication module 404 being disabled. It may be appreciated that such disconnection between the control circuit 402 and the communication module 404 may take place if the connecting means 220 (as described in reference to FIG. 2) between the two may be broken, due to some fault, or tampered with (i.e., cut) accidentally or deliberately by the consumer. For this purpose, at step 534 of FIG. 5, it is determined if the control circuit 402 and the communication module 404 are connected to each other or not. This may be determined by either one of the control circuit 402 and the communication module 404 sending a test signal to the other, and the said other of the control circuit 402 and the communication module 404 sending an acknowledgement back in response to receipt of the said test signal. If YES (i.e., if the acknowledgement is received), then at step 536, the communication module 404 is configured to wait for further commands from the server 210. If NO, (i.e., if the acknowledgement is not received), then at step 538, the control circuit 402 enables locking of the at least one of the operations of the at least the corresponding consumer appliance 202. In such case, the control circuit 402 may turn OFF the corresponding consumer appliance 202 in an instance, and afterward stop processing at least some of the commands as received from the input device 204 associated with the consumer appliance 202.
[0076] In another embodiment, the control circuit 402 is configured to lock the at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance 202 in response to the signal communication between the control circuit 402 and the server 210 being inactive by determining communication between the server 210 and the communication module 404 being disabled for at least predefined period. It may be appreciated that such disconnection between the control circuit 402 and the server 210 may take place if the communication module 404 may be disconnected from the local network 209 of FIG. 2 (i.e., the connection between the communication module 404 and the access point 206 being broken), or disconnection between the access point 206 and the network 208 of FIG. 2. Herein, the connection between the communication module 404 and the access point 206 may be broken, e.g., due to disabling of the access point 206 or change in password of the local network 209, or the like. Further, the disconnection between the access point 206 and the network 208 may be due to, e.g., access to the network 208 being disabled at the access point 206 or some disruption in the network 208. For this purpose, at step 540 of FIG. 5, it is determined if the communication module 404 and the server 210 are connected to each other or not. This may be determined by configuring the server 210 to periodically send a check signal to the communication module 404. If YES (i.e., if the check signal is received), then at step 542, the communication module 404 is configured to wait for further commands from the server 210. If NO, (i.e., if the check signal is not received), then the process moves to the step 538 in which the control circuit 402 locks the at least one of the operations of the at least the corresponding consumer appliance 202, as described in the preceding paragraph.
[0077] In particular, the control circuit 402 is configured to lock the at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance 202 if the communication between the server 210 and the communication module 404 being disabled (as determined in step 540) for the at least predefined period. That is, in case it is determined (as in step 540) that the communication between the server 210 and the communication module 404 is disabled, the control circuit 402 may not immediately lock the at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance 202, but rather wait till the said predefined period has passed and if the connection is not restored even till the completion of the said predefined period, then the control circuit 402 may proceed to lock the at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance 202. In an example, the at least predefined period may be a predefined operational time of the consumer appliance 202. That is, the control circuit 402 may check the operational (running) time of the consumer appliance 202, and if the consumer appliance 202 is running for the predefined operational time while the connection between the server 210 and the communication module 404 is disabled, only then the control circuit 402 may lock the at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance 202. In the present example, such predefined operational time may be in the range of 1 hour to 100 hours, preferably close to 10 hours.
[0078] In an embodiment, the list of the at least one consumer appliance includes information about whether the at least one consumer appliance 202 is leased or not, and next due date of payment, and the at least predefined period ends by the next due date of payment. As discussed, in case of the leasing of the consumer appliance 202, the consumer may have to pay regular payment usually as per a defined payment plan of the lease agreement. Herein, the server 210 is configured to determine when the next due date of payment may be scheduled, based on the defined plan. Now, if it is determined that the communication between the server 210 and the communication module 404 is disabled but the next due date is after the at least predefined period, then the control circuit 402 may not immediately lock the at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance 202, but rather wait till the at least predefined period is over.
[0079] In the present embodiments, the server 210 is further configured to maintain a record of one or more payments received from the consumer for the at least one consumer appliance 202 leased thereby. For this purpose, the server 210 may receive all the payment confirmations from the payment gateway 214 and keeps a record of such payments. Referring again to FIG. 5, at step 544, the server 210 is further configured to determine a pending payment from the consumer for the at least one consumer appliance 202 leased thereby, based on the record of one or more payments received therefrom. That is, the server 210 may determine if the consumer may have failed to make required payment (in case of not receiving any such payment confirmation from the payment gateway 214) by the said next due date of payment. In such case, at step 546, the server 210 is configured to send an instruction to the control circuit 402 to lock the at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance 202, in response to determination of the pending payment from the consumer therefor. At step 548, the control circuit 402 receives, from the server 210, the instruction to lock the at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance 202, and then the process moves to the step 538 in which the control circuit 402 locks the at least one of the operations of the at least the corresponding consumer appliance 202, as described in the preceding paragraph.
[0080] Further, in an embodiment, at step 550, the server 210 may determine if the consumer may have made the required payment within a threshold time period post the said next due date of payment (based on payment confirmations from the payment gateway 214) as per the lease agreement. In such case, at step 552, the server 210 is configured to send an instruction to the control circuit 402 to disable locking of the at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance 202, in response to determination of the complete payment from the consumer therefor. At step 554, the control circuit 402 receives, from the server 210, the instruction to disable locking of the at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance 202. At step 556, the control circuit 402 disables locking of the at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance 202. In such case, the control circuit 402 may start processing each of the commands as received from the input device 204 associated with the consumer appliance 202.
[0081] Again, referring to FIG. 5, in an embodiment, at step 558, the server 210 is further configured to determine a complete payment from the consumer for the at least one consumer appliance 202 leased thereby, based on the record of one or more payments received therefrom. That is, the server 210 may determine if the consumer may have made all the required payments (based on payment confirmations from the payment gateway 214) as per the payment plan of the lease agreement. In such case, at step 560, the server 210 is configured to send an instruction to the control circuit 402 to permanently disable locking of the at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance 202, in response to determination of the complete payment from the consumer therefor. At step 562, the control circuit 402 receives, from the server 210, the instruction to permanently disable locking of the at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance 202. At step 564, the control circuit 402 permanently disables locking of the at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance 202. In such case, the control circuit 402 may process each of the commands as received from the input device 204 associated with the consumer appliance 202 thereafter.
[0082] In an aspect of the present disclosure, the system 100 may be employed for pay-per-use operations of the consumer appliance 202. The system 100, as described above, can be implemented for such purpose without need of any new components or any architectural change. In general, there has been an increasing interest in the sharing economy and collaborative consumption in recent years which enables shared use of appliances that otherwise must be purchased by each individual. For example, public laundry facilities are commonly used by many people for washing and drying articles of clothes, such as at apartments, laundromats, and dormitories. Although the following specification has described in terms of the consumer appliance 202 being a washing machine as a typical example, it may be appreciated that the given example of washing machine is applicable to other kinds of consumer appliances 202 as described above without any limitations. The said aspect of the system 100 has been described in reference to FIG. 6.
[0083] Referring to FIG. 6, illustrated is a flow chart 600 of a process depicting steps involved in managing leasing of at least one consumer appliance 202, in accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure. As illustrated, the flow chart 600 of FIG. 6 is divided into two sections including, a section 602 providing steps involved at the server 210 due to one or more action of the consumer, and a section 604 providing steps involved at the consumer appliance 202 particularly at the control circuit 402 and the communication module 404 of the consumer appliance 202. It may be appreciated that although the steps involved in managing leasing of the consumer appliance 202 as per the embodiment of the present disclosure have been shown to be executed in either the section 602 or the section 604; in other examples, one or more steps may be executed in other of the section as described herein without departing from the scope and the spirit of the present disclosure.
[0084] In the present aspect, as illustrated in FIG. 6, at step 612, the server 210 is configured to maintain a record of credits purchased by the consumer in a virtual credit account for operating the at least one consumer appliance. The server 210 may receive information about payment for purchase of credits by the consumer via the payment gateway 214. The server 210 may maintain record of such credits in the database 212 associated therewith. At step 614, the server 210 sends information about the available credits to the communication module 404 of the consumer appliance 202. Then, the process moves to step 616 where the control circuit 402 of the consumer appliance 202 waits for the consumer to start operation of the consumer appliance 202. At step 618, the consumer initiates the operation of the consumer appliance 202. Herein, the operation may be one cycle of operation of consumer appliance 202, such as one wash cycle of the washing machine 202 or only a dry cycle of the washing machine 202. Further, at step 620, the control circuit 402 of the consumer appliance 202 receives command from the user to start the operation thereof. In particular, such command may be received from the input device 204 of the consumer appliance 202. Further, at step 622, the communication module 404 of the consumer appliance 202 receives command from the control circuit 402 to start the operation of the consumer appliance 202.
[0085] At this point, at step 624, the control circuit 402 confirms based on record of the credits, as received by the communication module 404 from the server 210, whether the consumer has sufficient credits available in the virtual credit account, for operating the at least one consumer appliance 202 for performing the desired operation as per the received command. For instance, different operations of the consumer appliance 202 may require different amounts of credits for performing the corresponding operation. In an example of the washing machine 202, a dry cycle only may require ‘1 credit’, a wash cycle only may require ‘2 credits’ and a combined wash and dry cycle may require ‘3 credits’. Now If YES at step 624 (i.e., it has been determined that the sufficient credits are available), the process moves to step 626. At step 626, the control circuit 402 is configured to send information about one or more operations performed by the at least one consumer appliance 202, to the server 210 via the communication module 404. The server 210 is further configured to deduct one or more credits from the virtual credit account of the consumer based on the information about the one or more operations performed by the corresponding at least one consumer appliance 202, as received from the control circuit 402 thereof. That is, as per the given example, if the consumer chooses to perform the wash only cycle, then this information is sent to the server 210 and the server deducts 2 credits from the virtual credit account of the consumer. Further, on confirmation that the required credits have been deducted as received from the server 210 via the communication module 404, at step 628, the control circuit 402 completes the operation as per the command. Also, If NO at step 624 (i.e., it has been determined that the sufficient credits are not available), the process moves to step 630. At step 630, the control circuit 402 lock the at least one operation of the consumer appliance 202. Further, at step 632, the control circuit 402 may configure the display device 408 of the consumer appliance 202 to display an error message, such as “Operation could not be started because of insufficient balance,” or the like.
[0086] In an aspect, the system 100 of the present disclosure may be implemented only for verifying whether a given consumer appliance (such as, the consumer appliance 202) is leased or not, for managing leasing of at least one consumer appliance. Herein, the list of the at least one consumer appliance (as described above) includes information about whether the at least one consumer appliance 202 is leased or not, and the control circuit 402 is configured to check, via the communication module 404, from the server 210, if the at least one consumer appliance 202 is leased based on the list of the at least one consumer appliance (as maintained by the server 210).
[0087] The present disclosure further provides a method for managing leasing of at least one consumer appliance (such as, the consumer appliance 202). FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart 700 listing steps involved in the said method for managing leasing of at least one consumer appliance. Various embodiments and variants disclosed above, with respect to the aforementioned system 100, apply mutatis mutandis to the present method for managing leasing of at least one consumer appliance as described hereinafter. At step 702, the method comprises maintaining, at a server (such as, the server 210), a list of the at least one consumer appliance leased to a consumer. At step 704, the method further comprises configuring the at least one consumer appliance to establish connection with the server to be disposed in signal communication therewith. At step 706, the method further comprises configuring the at least one consumer appliance 202 to check if the at least one consumer appliance 202 is leased based on the list of the at least one consumer appliance leased to the consumer. At step 708, the method further comprises configuring the at least one consumer appliance 202, determined to be leased, to lock at least one of operations thereof in response to the signal communication between a control circuit (such as, the control circuit 402) and the server being inactive.
[0088] In one or more embodiments, the at least one consumer appliance comprises: the control circuit operable to control operations of the at least one consumer appliance and further configured to lock at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance; and a communication module (such as, the communication module 404) operable to connect to a network (such as, the network 208) for establishing connection with the server, the communication module further adapted to be disposed so as to communicate with the control circuit to thereby enable signal communication between the control circuit and the server. The method further comprises configuring the at least one consumer appliance to check if the communication module is communicating with the control circuit; and locking the at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance if the signal communication with the server is inactive by determining communication between the control circuit and the communication module being disabled.
[0089] In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises locking the at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance by determining communication between the server and the communication module being disabled for at least a predefined period.
[0090] In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises maintaining, at the server, a record of one or more payments received from the consumer for the at least one consumer appliance leased thereby.
[0091] In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises determining a pending payment from the consumer for at least one consumer appliance leased thereby, based on the record of one or more payments received therefrom; and locking the at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliances, in response to determination of the pending payment from the consumer therefor.
[0092] In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises determining a complete payment from the consumer for at least one consumer appliance leased thereby, based on the record of one or more payments received therefrom; and disabling locking of the at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance, in response to determination of the complete payment from the consumer therefor.
[0093] In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises maintaining, at the server, a record of credits purchased by the consumer in a virtual credit account for operating the at least one consumer appliance.
[0094] In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises sending, to the server, information about one or more operations performed by the at least one consumer appliance; and deducting, at the server, one or more credits from the virtual credit account of the consumer based on the information about the one or more operations performed by the at least one consumer appliance, as received from the at least one consumer appliance.
[0095] The system and method as described in the embodiments of the present disclosure allow for managing leasing of consumer appliances. The present disclosure enables to prevent possible tampering with the consumer appliance by the consumer to enable continuous operation of the respective consumer appliance even if the conditions of the lease agreement, such as making payment on time or the like, are not fulfilled. The present disclosure also enables to transfer unrestricted ownership of the consumer appliance to the consumer if the complete payment for the respective consumer appliance has been made by the consumer as per the lease agreement. The present disclosure further enables to allow for using the consumer appliance on a pay-per-use basis.
[0096] The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present disclosure have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present disclosure to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The exemplary embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the present disclosure and its practical application, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the present disclosure and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.

Claims:

WE CLAIM:

What is claimed is:

1. A system for managing leasing of at least one consumer appliance, the system comprising:
a server configured to maintain a list of the at least one consumer appliance leased to a consumer,
wherein the at least one consumer appliance comprises:
a control circuit operable to control operations of the at least one consumer appliance and further configured to lock at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance; and
a communication module operable to connect to a network for establishing connection with the server, the communication module further adapted to be disposed so as to communicate with the control circuit to thereby enable signal communication between the control circuit and the server,
the control circuit configured to lock the at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance in response to the signal communication between the control circuit and the server being inactive.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control circuit is configured to lock the at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance in response to the signal communication between the control circuit and the server being inactive by determining communication between the control circuit and the communication module being disabled.

3. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control circuit is configured to lock the at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance in response to the signal communication between the control circuit and the server being inactive by determining communication between the server and the communication module being disabled for at least predefined period.

4. The system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the list of the at least one consumer appliance includes information about whether the at least one consumer appliance is leased or not, and next due date of payment, and the at least predefined period ends by the next due date of payment.

5. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the list of the at least one consumer appliance includes information about whether the at least one consumer appliance is leased or not, and the control circuit is configured to check, via the communication module, from the server, if the at least one consumer appliance is leased based on the list of the at least one consumer appliance.

6. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the server is further configured to maintain a record of one or more payments received from the consumer for the at least one consumer appliance leased thereby.

7. The system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the server is further configured to:
determine a pending payment from the consumer for the at least one consumer appliance leased thereby, based on the record of one or more payments received therefrom; and
send an instruction to the control circuit to lock the at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance, in response to determination of the pending payment from the consumer therefor.

8. The system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the server is further configured to:
determine a complete payment from the consumer for the at least one consumer appliance leased thereby, based on the record of one or more payments received therefrom; and
send an instruction to the control circuit to disable locking of the at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance, in response to determination of the complete payment from the consumer therefor.

9. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the server is further configured to maintain a record of credits purchased by the consumer in a virtual credit account for operating the at least one consumer appliance.

10. The system as claimed in claim 9, wherein the control circuit is configured to send information about one or more operations performed by the at least one consumer appliance, and wherein the server is further configured to deduct one or more credits from the virtual credit account of the consumer based on the information about the one or more operations performed by the corresponding at least one consumer appliance, as received from the control circuit thereof.

11. The system as claimed in claim 9, wherein the server is configured to send an instruction to deny access to at least one of the one or more operations of the at least one consumer appliance based on the credits available in the virtual credit account for the at least one consumer appliance.

12. A method for managing leasing of at least one consumer appliance, the method comprising:
maintaining, at a server, a list of the at least one consumer appliance leased to a consumer;
configuring the at least one consumer appliance to establish connection with the server to be disposed in signal communication therewith;
configuring the at least one consumer appliance to check if the at least one consumer appliance is leased based on the list of the at least one consumer appliance leased to the consumer; and
configuring the at least one consumer appliance, determined to be leased, to lock at least one of operations thereof in response to the signal communication between a control circuit thereof and the server being inactive.

13. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein the at least one consumer appliance comprises: the control circuit operable to control operations of the at least one consumer appliance and further configured to lock at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance; and a communication module operable to connect to a network for establishing connection with the server, the communication module further adapted to be disposed so as to communicate with the control circuit to thereby enable signal communication between the control circuit and the server, wherein the method further comprises:
configuring the at least one consumer appliance to check if the communication module is communicating with the control circuit; and
locking the at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance if the signal communication with the server is inactive by determining communication between the control circuit and the communication module being disabled.

14. The method as claimed in claim 13 further comprising locking the at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance by determining communication between the server and the communication module being disabled for at least predefined period.

15. The method as claimed in claim 12 further comprising maintaining, at the server, a record of one or more payments received from the consumer for the at least one consumer appliance leased thereby.

16. The method as claimed in claim 15 further comprising:
determining a pending payment from the consumer for at least one consumer appliance leased thereby, based on the record of one or more payments received therefrom; and
locking the at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliances, in response to determination of the pending payment from the consumer therefor.

17. The method as claimed in claim 15 further comprising:
determining a complete payment from the consumer for at least one consumer appliance leased thereby, based on the record of one or more payments received therefrom; and
disabling locking of the at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance, in response to determination of the complete payment from the consumer therefor.

18. The method as claimed in claim 12 further comprising maintaining, at the server, a record of credits purchased by the consumer in a virtual credit account for operating the at least one consumer appliance.

19. The method as claimed in claim 18 further comprising:
sending, to the server, information about one or more operations performed by the at least one consumer appliance; and
deducting, at the server, one or more credits from the virtual credit account of the consumer based on the information about the one or more operations performed by the at least one consumer appliance, as received from the at least one consumer appliance.

20. A system for managing leasing of at least one consumer appliance, the system comprising:
a server configured to maintain a list of the at least one consumer appliance leased to a consumer,
wherein the at least one consumer appliance comprises:
a control circuit operable to control operations of the at least one consumer appliance and further configured to lock at least one of the operations of the at least one consumer appliance;
a communication module operable to connect to a network for establishing connection with the server, the communication module further adapted to be disposed so as to communicate with the control circuit to thereby enable signal communication between the control circuit and the server, and
wherein the list of the at least one consumer appliance includes information about whether the at least one consumer appliance is leased or not, and the control circuit is configured to check, via the communication module, from the server, if the at least one consumer appliance is leased based on the list of the at least one consumer appliance.