Patent ID: 6644455
Filing Date: 2003-11-11
Classification: G06Q,G07F,H04N

Abstract:
A rental system comprising:a rental-item providing machine which contains at least one rental item, and provides the at least one rental item to a user; a management device which is connected to said rental-item providing machine through a communication line, and manages the at least one rental item using information supplied from said rental-item providing machine through said communication line; and an inquiry center which makes a credit inquiry about a user; wherein said rental-item providing machine includes: a container which contains the at least one rental item; an identification section which is installed in said container and identifies the at least one rental item contained inside said container; a first transmitter which transmits identification information representing the at least one rental item identified by said identification section to said management device, through said communication line; a first determiner which determines whether to rent the at least one rental item to the user based on a result of the credit inquiry made by said inquiry center; an opener which provides the user with the at least one rental item by opening said container, in a case where said first determiner determines to rent the at least one rental item to the user; a memory which stores rental information representing the at least one rental item rented to the user and user identification information in association with each other; a second determiner which determines whether a returned rental item is the same as the at least one rental item rented to the user, based on the rental information stored in said memory; and a requesting device which requests the user to return the at least one rental item rented by the user, in a case where said second determiner determines that the returned rental item is not the same as the at least one rental item rented to the user; wherein said first determiner includes: a card reader which reads out personal information of the user from a card possessed by the user; and a second transmitter which sends the personal information read by said card reader to said inquiry center; wherein said management device stores the identification information sent from said first transmitter through said communication line, to thereby manage the at least one rental item; wherein said management device includes: a position detector which detects a position of the at least one rental item rented to the user; a third determiner which determines whether the at least one rental item is positioned outside a predetermined area, based on a detection result of said position detector; and a warning transmitter which transmits a warning to the user to which the at least one rental item is rented, in a case where said third determiner determines that the at least one rental item is positioned outside the predetermined area.