Wireless electronic menu device and ordering system containing the same device
The present invention discloses a wireless electronic menu device, which comprises a menu body and a menu base, wherein a plurality of menus is placed on the menu body; a photo-sensor is used to automatically detect the menu the customer is reading; an induction stylus is pointed to the menu and emits a signal to indicate the coordinates of the position it is pointed to; the menu body collects the related data and transfers the data to the menu base with a wired communication device or a wireless communication device; the menu base retrieves the data corresponding to the coordinates, such as voice, audio, text, image and video data, from its storage device or an external storage device; the menu base presents the multimedia data to aid the customers to acquire meal information and order meals. The present invention also discloses an ordering system containing the abovementioned wireless electronic menu device. The present invention can provide more detailed and consistent meal information for customers to help customers order meals by themselves. Thereby, the present invention can reduce the manpower cost of the food-service industry.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wireless electronic menu device and an ordering system containing the same device.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the population of wireless networks, all the various professions zealously utilize information technology and wireless communication to reduce manpower cost and promote customers' satisfaction.
In the food-service industry, the general e-business solution is that a waitperson takes a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), which is cooperated with a computer management system, to order meals for customers; thereby, the time of waiting for meals to be served is shortened, and the utilization rate of dining tables is increased.
However, such a solution has the following problems:
- 1. As PDA has a small screen, a complicated operating steps and a high price and is easy to drop, wireless PDA meal-ordering devices are not operated by customers but by waitpersons. Consequently, the objective of reducing manpower cost is not achieved in the solution.
- 2. The interaction between waitpersons and customers in the solution does make no progress. Customs still have to read traditional paper-based menus and ask waitpersons about the special meal of the day, the special offers, etc. Consequently, customers are less likely to learn the contents of the menu leisurely before they order meals. Thus, customers' satisfaction is not effectively promoted in the solution.
- 3. The cooking description, such as the cooking style, cooking procedures, calorie and flavor, needs narrating by waitpersons. As a matter of fact, the employees of the food-service industry are usually part-time workers and have a high labor turnover rate. They are hard to effectively accumulate the professional knowledge of food and drink. Consequently, different waitpersons have different descriptions of food and drink. Sometime waitpersons cannot answer the questions.
- 4. In the solution, customers can neither review the contents of the ordered meals nor preview the total price and the total calorie of ordered meals.
- 5. As PDA's do not stay with customers, the incidental services during dining, such as cutleries, paper towels, seasonings, or free beverages, usually cannot be timely served.
The objective of the present invention is to provide a wireless electronic menu device to overcome the abovementioned problems.
The objective of the present invention is realized with a scheme of a wireless electronic menu device, which comprises the following components:
a menu base further comprising a storage device and a second communication device;
a menu body further comprising a microprocessor, a first communication device connected to the microprocessor, a photo-sensation processing device connected to the microprocessor, and at least one photo-sensor connected to the photo-sensation processing device, wherein the first communication device and the second communication device interconnect the menu base and the menu body;
an electromagnetic induction device further comprising an electromagnetic induction panel installed on one surface of the menu body, an induction stylus, and an electromagnetic induction controller connected to the microprocessor, wherein the induction stylus emits an electromagnetic signal to induct a specified position on the electromagnetic induction panel, and the electromagnetic induction controller calculates the coordinates corresponding to the specified position and transfers the coordinates to the microprocessor, and then the microprocessor obtains the data corresponding to the coordinates from the storage device; and
at least one menu connected to the menu body and each having a tag used to indicate a food category, wherein one the photo-sensor can detect one corresponding the tag of the menu, and then transfers the detection result to the photo-sensation processing device.
In one embodiment of the wireless electronic menu device of the present invention, the menu base further comprises an audio-video output device able to output the audio-video data of the menus. The audio-video output device further comprises a display device, a speaker and an earphone interface device. The audio-video output device may further comprise an operating device installed on the menu base and used to operate the audio-video output device.
In another embodiment of the wireless electronic menu device of the present invention, the menu base further comprises a status indicating unit used to indicate the operating status of the wireless electronic menu device. The status indicating unit further comprises a connectivity status indicator used to indicate the connectivity status between the first communication device and the second communication device, and the connectivity status indicator is a light-emitting diode or a liquid crystal display.
In yet another embodiment of the wireless electronic menu device of the present invention, the menu base further comprises a plurality of functional keys, and the functional keys include a promotion key, an ordering key, a service key, a checkout key and a total price key.
In still another embodiment of the wireless electronic menu device of the present invention, either of the first communication device and the second communication device is a wired communication device, a wireless Bluetooth device or an infrared communication device.
In further another embodiment of the wireless electronic menu device of the present invention, the menu body further comprises a status indicating device used to indicate the operating status of the wireless electronic menu device. The status indicating device further comprises a table number/connectivity indicator used to indicate the connectivity status between the menu body and the corresponding menu base, and the table number/connectivity indicator is a light-emitting diode or a liquid crystal display.
In further another embodiment of the wireless electronic menu device of the present invention, the electromagnetic induction device is an electromagnetic digitizer, and the photo-sensor is a reflective photo-sensor.
In further another embodiment of the wireless electronic menu device of the present invention, the menu body further comprises a clipper used to hold the menus.
In further another embodiment of the wireless electronic menu device of the present invention, the material of the menus allows the electromagnetic induction panel to sense the signal emitted by the induction stylus.
The present invention also proposes an ordering system, which comprises the following components:
a wireless electronic menu device as that mentioned above;
a third communication device installed in the menu base of the wireless electronic menu device;
a local area network accessing device, wherein the wireless electronic menu device is linked to a local area network via the third communication device and the local area network accessing device; and
a service terminal further comprising at least one network interface device to connect with the local area network to interact with the wireless electronic menu device.
In one embodiment of the ordering system of the present invention, the menu base further comprises an audio-video output device able to output the audio-video data of the menus. The audio-video output device further comprises a display device, a speaker and an earphone interface device. The audio-video output device may further comprise an operating device installed on the menu base and used to operate the audio-video output device.
In another embodiment of the ordering system of the present invention, the menu base further comprises a status indicating unit used to indicate the operating status of the wireless electronic menu device. The status indicating unit further comprises a connectivity status indicator and a communication status indicator, wherein the connectivity status indicator is used to indicate the connectivity status between the first communication device and the second communication device, and the communication status indicator is used to indicate the communication status between the third communication device and the local area network accessing device/the service terminal. Either of the connectivity status indicator and the communication status indicator is a light-emitting diode or a liquid crystal display.
In yet another embodiment of the ordering system of the present invention, the menu base further comprises a plurality of functional keys, and the functional keys include a promotion key, an ordering key, a service key, a checkout key and a total price key.
In still another embodiment of the ordering system of the present invention, the menu body further comprises a status indicating device used to indicate the operating status of the wireless electronic menu device. The status indicating device further comprises a table number/connectivity indicator used to indicate the connectivity status between the menu body and the corresponding menu base, and the table number/connectivity indicator is a light-emitting diode or a liquid crystal display.
In further another embodiment of the ordering system of the present invention, either of the first communication device and the second communication device is a wired communication device, a wireless Bluetooth device or an infrared communication device.
In further another embodiment of the ordering system of the present invention, the electromagnetic induction device is an electromagnetic digitizer, and the photo-sensor is a reflective photo-sensor.
In further another embodiment of the ordering system of the present invention, the menu body further comprises a clipper used to hold the menus.
In further another embodiment of the ordering system of the present invention, the material of the menus allows the electromagnetic induction panel to sense the signal emitted by the induction stylus.
In further another embodiment of the ordering system of the present invention, the service terminal further comprises a storage device used to store the multimedia data that the wireless electronic menu device needs.
In further another embodiment of the ordering system of the present invention, the third communication device is a wired network communication device or a wireless network communication device, and the local area network accessing device is a wired local area network accessing device or a wireless local area network accessing device.
The present invention has the following novel efficacies:
- 1. Customers can order completely by themselves via the operating interface provided by the present invention, which resembles the traditional paper-based menu;
- 2. The audio-video output device can provide multi-linguistic texts, audio and video to customers for food information;
- 3. Customers can review the contents of ordered meals and preview the total price from the display device of the present invention;
- 4. Customers can call waitpersons to provide incidental services via the calling device of the present invention, and the waitpersons can inform customers of the processing status of their demands via the service terminal of the present invention; and
- 5. The menu of the present invention may have a format for customers' satisfaction investigation to improve skills of the restaurant management.
In cooperation with the attached drawings, the preferred embodiments are used to demonstrate the technical schemes of the present invention below. However, the preferred embodiments are not to limit the scope of the present invention but only to exemplify the present invention.
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The appearances of the menu body 102 and the menu base 104 may be designed to be an arbitrary shape according to the practical requirements. The menu base 104 may be fixed to a table or imbedded in a table. Alternatively, the menu base 104 may be portable and placed on the table for usage.
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The abovementioned ordering device of the present invention can take charge of all the ordering tasks traditionally performed by waitpersons. Further, via the functional keys, customers can learn the information of the cooking methods of the food items by the multimedia style, which is a task that waitpersons are hard to undertake. Thus, service strength is increased, and the manpower used in the dining area is decreased. It is to be noted that one functional key can be arbitrarily assigned to a specified service, and that the services that the functional keys are assigned to are not limited to those mentioned above. Similarly, the events of the status indicating unit 128 can indicate are not limited to the cases mentioned above.
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On the surface 514 of the menu body 102, photo-sensors 502 are respectively installed at the positions corresponding to the tags 504 of all the menus 114. The photo-sensor 502 can emit a signal, such as an infrared signal. The signal will be reflected by a barrier and detected by the photo-sensor 502. The photo-sensor 502 may be a reflective photo-sensor or a close proximity detection device. When the photo-sensor 502 detects the reflected signal, the detection result will be transferred to a photo-sensation processing device 508 and then to the second microprocessor 506. Thereby, which menu 114 the customer is reading can be determined according to whether a specified photo-sensor 502 receives the reflected signal emitted by the photo-sensor 502 itself.
In this embodiment, the menus 114 are turned over with the top side being the pivotal axis. When the tags 504 of all the menus 114 respectively cover their corresponding photo-sensors 502, all the photo-sensor 502 receive the reflected signals, and the detection result will be transferred to the photo-sensation processing device 508 and then to the second microprocessor 506, and the second microprocessor 506 will thus determine that the customer is reading the first menu 114. When the customer has turned over the first menu 114 and is reading the second menu 114, all the photo-sensors 502 receive the signals reflected from their corresponding tags 504 except the photo-sensor 502 corresponding to the tag 504 of the first menu 114, and the detection result will be transferred to the photo-sensation processing device 508 and then to the second microprocessor 506, and the second microprocessor 506 will thus determine that the customer is reading the second menu 114. It is to be noted that the menus 114 may also be turned over with another side being the pivotal axis, and the abovementioned determination method still works.
In this embodiment, an electromagnetic induction panel 512 and an electromagnetic induction controller 510 are interconnected and installed inside the menu body 102. An induction stylus 116, which can emit an electromagnetic signal, is used to point to the menu-contents field (to be introduced thereinafter). Due to electromagnetic signal can penetrate non-conductive materials, such as paper and plastic, the electromagnetic signal emitted by the induction stylus 116 will pass through the plurality of menus 114 as well as the surface 514 of the menu body 102 and reach the electromagnetic induction panel 512. After the electromagnetic induction panel 512 detects the electromagnetic signal, the signal will be transferred to the electromagnetic induction controller 510. The electromagnetic induction controller 510 can thus determine the coordinates corresponding to the position the induction stylus 116 is pointing to. The induction stylus 116, the electromagnetic induction panel 512 and the electromagnetic induction controller 510 may be realized with the electromagnetic digitizer technology or a similar technology.
As shown in
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The name of a dish, a dessert, or a coffee is usually printed on the item name region 622 with text. When the induction stylus 116 points to the item name region 622, the display device 120 will present the text of the name, and the speaker 122 may also voice the name.
The item video region 624 is presented on the menu-contents field 600 with text or a figure. When the induction stylus 116 points to the item video region 624, easy-to-understand and vivid visual information, such as pictures or video, will be replayed on the display device 120 to demonstrate the specific food item of the item name region 622. The item option region 625 is also presented on the menu-contents field 600 with texts or figures. Via the item option region 625, the customer can determine the size, quantity, flavor, cooking temperature and completes the ordering procedures. When the induction stylus 116 points to the item description region 623, the cooking style, cooking procedures, materials, calorie, flavor, nutrition ingredients, effects to health, etc. of the food item corresponding to the item name region 622 will be presented with multimedia.
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The electromagnetic induction device 704 includes an induction stylus 116, an electromagnetic induction controller 510 and an electromagnetic induction panel 512.
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The power supply device 710 is arranged inside the menu body 102. As shown in
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In Step 800, via a computer program, the texts and figures needed by the menu-contents field 600 of the menu 114 are input and linked to the coordinates of the electromagnetic induction panel 512, to construct the correlation between the multimedia data and the positions on the menu-contents field 600. Next, Step 802, Step 804 and Step 806 are undertaken. In Step 802, a microphone 82 of a digital audio recording device 86 is used to record the related voice or audio. In Step 804, a digital camera 84 is used to collect the pictures to be output by the display device 120 of the menu base 104. In Step 806, a digital video camera 85 is used to record the video to be output by the display device 120 of the menu base 104. After Step 802, Step 804 and Step 806 are completed, Step 810 follows.
In Step 808, the text and figures needed by the menu-contents field 600 are printed to obtain the menu 114 with an external printer 96 connected to a personal computer 88.
In Step 810, via a programmer/charger device 94 which is powered by an AC/DC converter 92, the personal computer 88 communicates to the programmer/charger interface device 132 of the menu base 104 and stores the multimedia data into the storage device 204. Thereby, the coordinates of the electromagnetic induction panel 512 corresponding to the text or the figures of the item name regions 622, item description regions 623, item video regions 624 and item option regions 625 of one menu-contents field 600 are correlated with the multimedia data stored in the storage device 204, and the construction of one menu 114 is thus completed. Other menus 114 are also constructed similarly
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Based on the wireless electronic menu device 100 of the first embodiment, the wireless electronic menu device 20 of this embodiment further has the following characteristics:
- 1. The wireless electronic menu device 20 of this embodiment has a communication status indicator used to indicate the communication status between the wireless electronic menu device 20 and the service terminal 70/Wireless LAN accessing device 98. The communication status indicator may be a light-emitting diode. Alternatively, the communication status indicator may be a liquid crystal display, and different signs are alternately presented on the liquid crystal display to indicate the corresponding communication statuses, wherein the liquid crystal display may also be simultaneously used by the display device 120 and/or the table number/connectivity indicator of the first embodiment.
- 2. The wireless electronic menu device 20 of this embodiment has a Wireless LAN transceiver 140 functioning as a third communication device. The menu base 104 is connected to the Wireless LAN transceiver 140 (as shown in
FIG. 4 ) to communicate with the Wireless LAN accessing device 98 established in the restaurant, and the menu base is thus to linked to the LAN 10.
As shown in
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As shown in
The ordering process for the ordering system of the present invention is to be described below.
Firstly, a waitperson guides a customer to his seat. Next, the customer learns the promotion and the special meal of the day via watching the pictures and video presented on the display device 120 and via listening to the audio from the speaker 122 of the menu base 104. Next, the customer turns over the menus 114 to browse all the items in a food category and choose a food category, and the photo-sensors 502 perform detection and transfer the detection results to the photo-sensation processing device 508, which further transfers the results to the second microprocessor 506, and the second microprocessor 506 determines the menu 114 the custom is looking at.
Next, the customer may point the induction stylus 116 to the item name region 622 of the menu 114, and the menu base 104 memorizes the item name and presents the item name on the display device 120, and the speaker 122 voices the item name. Next, the customer may point the induction stylus 116 to the item video region 624 to obtain more information, and the display device 120 and the speaker 122 will replay the audio-video corresponding to the item name. Further, the customer may point the induction stylus 116 to the item description region 623 to obtain the cooking description. Then, the customer points the induction stylus 116 to the item option region 625 to order the item. The ordering process for several items is similar to that described above. The customer turns over the menus 114 to select another food category; next, the customer points the induction stylus to the item name region 622 and then to item option region 625 to order another item.
When the customer has completed ordering, the display device 120 of the menu base 104 will present all the ordered item names, the price and quantity of each item. The customer may press one operating key 126 to review the items he ordered. If the customer does not like one ordered item, he may press a deletion key, which has defined on the wireless electronic menu device 20, to cancel the item.
The customer may also order again to add more food items. When the customer confirms the ordered items, he may press the total price key to learn the total price from the display device 120. The total price may be calculated by the wireless electronic menu device 20 of the present invention. Alternatively, the total price may be calculated by the service terminal 70, and then the service terminal 70 transfers the calculation result to the corresponding wireless electronic menu device 20 via the Wireless LAN accessing device 98 and the LAN 10. Then, the customer can consider whether the total price of the spending is within his budget. If the answer is YES, he may press the ordering key, which has defined on the wireless electronic menu device 20, to order the items. The data of the ordered items will be transferred to the service terminal 70 via the Wireless LAN transceiver 140 and then printed, and the waitpersons can thus obtain the full information of the ordered items.
An item-served key may be defined on the wireless electronic menu device 20. Once one item has been placed on the table, the item-served key will be pressed down, and the item name shown in the display device 120 will be highlighted, and the information will be synchronically transferred to the service terminal 70. The waitperson will continue to arrange the items not served yet according to the information until all the ordered items have been placed on the table. During dining, if the customer needs service, he can press a predefined functional key to call the waitpersons.
A check-out key may be defined on the wireless electronic menu device 20. When the customer has paid, the check-out key will be pressed to clear all the ordered information from the display device 120. Alternatively, the service terminal 70 may transfer the information that the customer has paid to the wireless electronic menu device 20 to clear all the ordered information from the display device 120. Further, the display device 120 and the speaker 122 may show a short film and the background music thereof during dining.
In summary, customers can use the wireless electronic menu device proposed by the present invention to order meals similarly to the traditional way. The wireless electronic menu device of the present invention not only provides full and abundant meal information but also enables customers to order meals by themselves. Further, the present invention can overcome the problems occurring in using PDA to order meal, improve ordering correctness as well as customers' satisfaction, and reduce the manpower cost of the food-service industry. Furthermore, the wireless electronic menu device of the present invention can output multimedia with multi-linguistic narration and texts to meet the internationalization trend.
Claims
1. A wireless electronic menu device, characterized in comprising:
- a menu base further comprising a storage device and a second communication device;
- a menu body further comprising a microprocessor, a first communication device connected to said microprocessor, a photo-sensation processing device connected to said microprocessor, and at least one photo-sensor connected to said photo-sensation processing device, wherein said menu base and said menu body are interconnected via said first communication device and said second communication device;
- an electromagnetic induction device further comprising an electromagnetic induction panel installed on one face of said menu body, an induction stylus, and an electromagnetic induction controller connected to said microprocessor, wherein when said induction stylus emits an electromagnetic signal to induct a specified position of said electromagnetic induction panel, said electromagnetic induction controller can calculate coordinates corresponding to said specified position, and then said electromagnetic induction controller transfers the calculation result to said microprocessor, and the data corresponding to said coordinates can thus be obtained from said storage device; and
- at least one menu connected to said menu body and each having a tag used to indicate a food category, wherein one said photo-sensor can detect one corresponding the said tag of said menu and then transfers the detection result to said photo-sensation processing device.
2. The wireless electronic menu device according to claim 1, characterized in that said menu base further comprises an audio-video output device which can output the audio-video data of said menus.
3. The wireless electronic menu device according to claim 2, characterized in that said audio-video output device further comprises a display device, a speaker, an earphone interface device, and an operating device installed on said menu base and used to operate said audio-video output device.
4. The wireless electronic menu device according to claim 1, characterized in that a status indicating unit is installed on said menu base and used to indicate the operational status of said wireless electronic menu device.
5. The wireless electronic menu device according to claim 4, characterized in that said status indicating unit is a connectivity status indicator used to indicate the connectivity status between said first communication device and said second communication device.
6. The wireless electronic menu device according to claim 5, characterized in that said connectivity status indicator is a light-emitting diode or a liquid crystal display.
7. The wireless electronic menu device according to claim 1, characterized in that said menu base further comprises a plurality of functional keys, including a promotion key, an ordering key, a service key, a checkout key, and a total price key.
8. The wireless electronic menu device according to claim 1, characterized in that either of said first communication device and said second communication device is a wired communication device, a wireless Bluetooth device or an infrared communication device.
9. The wireless electronic menu device according to claim 1, characterized in that a status indicating device is installed on said menu body and used to indicate the operational status of said wireless electronic menu device.
10. The wireless electronic menu device according to claim 9, characterized in that said status indicating device further comprises a table number/connectivity indicator used to indicate the connectivity status between said menu body and the corresponding said menu base.
11. The wireless electronic menu device according to claim 10, characterized in that said table number/connectivity indicator is a light-emitting diode or a liquid crystal display.
12. The wireless electronic menu device according to claim 1, characterized in that said electromagnetic induction device is an electromagnetic digitizer.
13. The wireless electronic menu device according to claim 1, characterized in that said photo-sensor is a reflective photo-sensor.
14. The wireless electronic menu device according to claim 1, characterized in that said menu body further comprises a clipper used to, hold said menus.
15. The wireless electronic menu device according to claim 1, characterized in that the material of said menus allows said electromagnetic induction panel to sense the signal emitted by said induction stylus.
16. An ordering system, characterized in comprising:
- a wireless electronic menu device according to claim 1;
- a third communication device installed in said menu base of said wireless electronic menu device;
- a local area network accessing device, wherein said wireless electronic menu device is linked to a local area network via said third communication device and said local area network accessing device; and
- a service terminal further comprising at least one network interface device used to link to said local area network to interact with said wireless electronic menu device.
17. The ordering system according to claim 16, characterized in that said menu base further comprises an audio-video output device which can output the audio-video data of said menus.
18. The ordering system according to claim 17, characterized in that said audio-video output device further comprises a display device, a speaker, an earphone interface device, and an operating device installed on said menu base and used to operate said audio-video output device.
19. The ordering system according to claim 16, characterized in that a status indicating unit is installed on said menu base and used to indicate the operational status of said wireless electronic menu device.
20. The ordering system according to claim 19, characterized in that said status indicating unit further comprises a connectivity status indicator used to indicate the connectivity status between said first communication device and said second communication device, and a communication status indicator used to indicate the communication status between said third communication device and said local area network accessing device/said service terminal.
21. The ordering system according to claim 20, characterized in that either of said connectivity status indicator and said communication status indicator is a light-emitting diode or a liquid crystal display.
22. The ordering system according to claim 16, characterized in that said menu base further comprises a plurality of functional keys, including a promotion key, an ordering key, a service key, a checkout key, and a total price key.
23. The ordering system according to claim 16, characterized in that a status indicating device is installed on said menu body of said wireless electronic menu device and used to indicate the operational status of said wireless electronic menu device.
24. The ordering system according to claim 23, characterized in that said status indicating device further comprises a table number/connectivity indicator used to indicate the connectivity status between said menu body and the corresponding said menu base.
25. The ordering system according to claim 24, characterized in that said table number/connectivity indicator is a light-emitting diode or a liquid crystal display.
26. The ordering system according to claim 16, characterized in that either of said first communication device and said second communication device is a wired communication device, a wireless Bluetooth device or an infrared communication device.
27. The ordering system according to claim 16, characterized in that said electromagnetic induction device is an electromagnetic digitizer.
28. The ordering system according to claim 16, characterized in that said photo-sensor is a reflective photo-sensor.
29. The ordering system according to claim 16, characterized in that said menu body further comprises a clipper used to hold said menus.
30. The ordering system according to claim 16, characterized in that the material of said menus allows said electromagnetic induction panel to sense the signal emitted by said induction stylus.
31. The ordering system according to claim 16, characterized in that said service terminal further comprises a storage device used to store the multimedia data needed by said wireless electronic menu device.
32. The ordering system according to claim 16, characterized in that said third communication device is a wired network communication device or a wireless network communication device, and said local area network accessing device is a wired local area network accessing device or a wireless local area network accessing device.
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 15, 2007
Publication Date: Jun 28, 2007
Inventor: Ying-fu Zhang (Taipei City)
Application Number: 11/706,250
International Classification: E04H 3/04 (20060101);