Abstract:
An Internet wire-mesh merchandising system comprises a webserver for generating a web presence. Potential customers log-on to a website operated by a wire-mesh retailer, distributor, and manufacturer. An HTML product page includes navigation buttons that link to other HTML product pages. Each page includes pictures that allow the shopper to see a particular wire mesh product corresponding to a presently displayed HTML product page. Alternate-view buttons link to other pictures of the same product that show variations or different perspectives. Navigation buttons permit the shopper to hyperlink to product pages where the wire mesh is finer, coarser, thinner, and thicker. Once the link is taken, a graphic is presented that corresponds to the selected wire-mesh.

Description:
CLAIM BENEFIT OF RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This Application is a Continuation Application which claims the benefit of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/357,803, filed Feb. 3, 2003, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,207,013, issued 17 Apr. 2007, which is a Continuation Application claiming the benefit of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/507,474, filed 17 Feb. 2000, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,552,739, issued 22 Apr. 2003. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present invention relates to Internet websites, and more specifically to web pages organized in such a way that a user can browse through all the available types of wire mesh products of a particular supplier and select one for purchase. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Wire mesh and wire cloth come in many different combinations of weave, material, mesh sizes, wire diameters, and welding. Although hundreds or thousands of different combinations are possible, it may not be practical for a particular supplier to offer all the combinations. Some combinations of weave, material, mesh sizes, wire diameters, and welding are also not manufacturable e.g., a wire diameter that is so large the mesh openings are closed up or exceeded. 
     Buyers can often make ordering mistakes in selecting a wire mesh or wire cloth because the impossible or unavailable combinations are sometimes too subtle to understand. Ordering he wrong thing can be frustrating for all those involved. The Internet now makes it possible for users to log onto a business&#39; website to select and order products. 
     Suppliers like TWP, Inc. (Berkeley, Calif.) offer at least three families of mesh materials, e.g., woven wire mesh, welded stainless steel mesh, and galvanized hardware cloth. The woven wire mesh includes a range of traditional to ultra-fine, high-tech alloy, screen materials. The welded stainless steel mesh is a strong, precise material with an accurate grid pattern and relatively large holes. The galvanized hardware cloth includes a range of steel mesh protected by a heavy-duty zinc coating, erg., for use in outdoor and industrial environments. Such materials are conventionally stocked in 36-inch and 48-inch wide rolls in 100-foot lengths. But rolls up to 300-inches wide can be bought on special order. 
     Wire cloth is the proper name for what is commonly called screen or mesh. Such material is known for its high strength, wear resistance, ability to withstand high temperatures, and long service life. Wire cloth is woven like textile cloth. So-called market grade wire cloth are woven wire meshes suitable for general purpose work. 
     Materials that can be used include stainless steel type 304, brass, copper. A line of special woven meshes are available in stainless steel type 316, aluminum, bronze, inconel, nickel, steel and epoxy-coated steel. The user&#39;s choice of metal is determined by the product-operation environment and constraining cost considerations. 
     The wire-mesh hole size, e.g., the distance between two adjacent parallel wires, is a function of both the mesh count and wire diameter. Changing either will change the opening size. The usual opening sizes vary from one-inch openings down to microscopic. The choice of a wire-mesh opening size is determined by the desired sizes of objects to be retained or allowed to pass through. The mesh is the number of openings in a linear inch, measured from the center of one wire to a point one-inch distant. 
     Two weaves are conventionally available, plain and twilled. The plain weave has an over-one/under-one weave. Such type of wire cloth has square or rectangular openings, and is the simplest and most common weave used in screening and separating applications. The twilled weave is woven with an over-two/under-two weave with wedge-shaped openings. Such weave is generally considered stronger than plain weave and is often used in filtration. 
     The typical welded stainless steel wire mesh is formed of wires that are fused together at their junctions into a grid. Automatic welding looms are used that accurately position all the shorter (weft) wires over the longer (warp) wires and spot-weld the intersections. These special looms can produce strong, consistent welds without any burning or discoloration. 
     The standard welded-stainless-steel-wire-mesh material is type 304 stainless steel because of its high corrosion resistance and strength at elevated temperatures. Type 304 stainless steel is also referred to as “18-8”, meaning eighteen percent chromium (18% Cr) and eight percent nickel (8% Ni). TWP, Inc. also provides stainless steel types 304L, 316, 316L and other stainless alloys on request. 
     Standard welded wire mesh openings are always square or rectangular, and range from 0.218 inch to 0.979 inch. Meshes from 4-mesh to 1-mesh are usually stocked, and much larger meshes with up to 10-inch openings and 0.393 inch wire diameter can be obtained on special order. 
     Galvanized hardware cloth is typically used in partitions, grills, vents, cages and guards, wherever economical, sturdy, corrosion-resistant material is required. Galvanized hardware cloth is a lightweight, economical steel mesh that is, protected from atmospheric corrosion by the application of a heavy duty zinc coating,. e.g., hot-dip galvanizing. The zinc coating encapsulates the mesh for excellent corrosion protection and a firm, non-raveling product. 
     The hardware cloth openings are relatively large compared to those of woven mesh, e.g., they range from 0.108 inch to 0.459 inch. The galvanizing process slightly decreases the opening size by about 0.004-0.006 inches. Several special hardware cloth specifications called vent meshes offer larger open areas for increased air flow rates. Readily available galvanized hardware cloth is stocked in 2-mesh, 4-mesh, and 8-mesh. Other special meshes are manufactured as required. The 2-mesh and 4-mesh is available woven or welded and the 8-mesh hardware cloth is woven. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An Internet wire-mesh merchandising system embodiment of the present invention comprises a webserver that generates a web presence. Potential customers looking to select and buy wire mesh are allowed to log-on to a website operated by a wire-mesh retailer, distributor, and manufacturer. An HTML product page includes navigation buttons that link to other HTML product pages. Each page further includes JPG or GIF type pictures that allow the shopper to see a particular wire mesh product corresponding to a presently displayed HTML product page. A group of altemate-view buttons link to other pictures of the same product that show variations or different perspectives. A set of four navigation buttons permit the shopper to hyperlink to HTML product pages where the wire mesh is finer, coarser, thinner, and thicker. Once the ink is taken, a graphic is presented that corresponds to the selected wire-mesh. The list of hyperlinks includes only those HTML product pages that represent available combinations of wire-mesh material, wire size, and mesh count A “price” and an “order” hypertext allow the shopper to see the product price for the selected item and to order it electronically. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a functional block diagram of an Internet wire-mesh merchandising system embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a diagram of a graphical user interface for an HTML product page as it presents on a web browser operated by a user at a network client site; 
         FIG. 3  is a flow diagram that represents the navigation that occurs between HTML product pages as a result of a user clicking on any of four hyperlink buttons for finer, coarser, thicker, and thinner; 
         FIG. 4  is a diagram that represents a design form for a HTML product page, e.g., for a “004X004G035” wire-mesh product, and such is used by a webpage designer as a tool for HTML coding; 
         FIG. 5  is a diagram that represents a design form for a HTML product page, e.g., for a “008X008G017” wire-mesh product, and such is used as a tool for HTML coding; 
         FIG. 6  is a diagram that represents a design form for a HTML product page, e.g., for a “002X002D041” wire-mesh product, and such is used as a tool for HTML coding; and 
         FIG. 7  is a diagram that represents a design form for a HTML product page, e.g., for a “004X004D025” wire-mesh product, and such is used as a tool for HTML coding. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       FIG. 1  illustrates an Internet wire-mesh merchandising system embodiment of the present invention, referred to herein by the reference numeral  100 . The system  100  comprises a webserver  102  connected to the Internet  104  and many clients or shoppers  106 - 112 . The webserver  102  interfaces to the Internet  104  with a network interface controller (NIC)  106 . An interactive webpage user interface  108  provides functionality similar to Microsoft Corporation (Redmond, Wash.) Active Server Pages (ASP). An Internet file and application server  110 , such as Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS), runs under control of an operating system  112 , e.g., Microsoft Windows-NT server. The ASP  108  and IIS  110  together generate a web presence on the Internet. An expansion bus  144  supports a database  116  and a general purpose storage disk  118 . Various Microsoft Windows-NT services can run without requiring a user to be logged on to the system, e.g., Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Exchange Server, Dynamic Host Interface Protocol (DHCP), and even Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) servers. These are preferably stored in disk  118 . 
       FIG. 2  represents a graphical, user interface (GUI)  200  that is presented to an Internet user on a web browser, e.g., Netscape Communicator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. Such GUI is generated by the ASP  108  and IIS  110  ( FIG. 1 ) when the user logs on to the uniform resource locator (URL) address of the website operator. The GUI  200  includes a navigation window  202 , a sample-picture window  204 , a ruler  206  for scale, and a comments field  208 . The navigation window  202  permits the user to navigate through wire-mesh product samples that have finer mesh, coarser mesh, thicker wires, and thinner wires, e.g., by clicking on a set of hyperlink buttons  210 - 213 , respectively. The materials used in the wire-mesh product pictured in window  204  can be selected by clicking on any of several buttons  214 - 222 , e.g., Brass, Bronze, Copper, Galvanized, Micronic, Sintered, Welded Stainless Steel (S/S), Woven Stainless Steel, and Other. It may occur that meshes and wire sizes available in one material may not be available in another material. Amplifying remarks about the wire-mesh product currently selected are provided in the comments field  208 . 
     The website design is such that the discrete products the user can view are those that the seller operating webserver  102  is offering for sale, or at least are those that the seller can actually produce and deliver. 
     The ruler  206  is a scale provided for the user to understand a picture  224  of a wire-mesh product being presented in window  204 . Alternative views of the product, if available, can be accessed by clicking on a set of alternative view buttons  226 - 228 . Such alternate views are presented instead of an initial sample product in picture  224 . If the user is curious about the price of the product currently displayed in picture  224 , a price button  230  is used to go to a webpage with current pricing. An order button  232  can be clicked-on to take the user to a product ordering webpage. A search button  234  and a help button  236  are provided for navigation help. 
     A dataflow  300  in  FIG. 3  represents the effects of the finer-mesh, coarser-mesh, thicker-wires, and thinner-wires hyperlink buttons  210 - 213  ( FIG. 2 ). For example, a starting position  302  is for a hot-dipped galvanized 4×4 mesh with 0.035″ diameter wire. A finer navigation-direction  304  takes the user to a hot-dipped galvanized 8-mesh with 0.017″ diameter wire in a position  306 . Such represents the only choice for finer mesh from the starting position  302 , a thinner wire is necessitated by requesting a finer (higher count) mesh. A coarser navigation-direction  308  takes the user to a hot-dipped galvanized 2-mesh with 0.041″ diameter wire in a position  310 . Such represents the only choice for coarser mesh from the starting position  302 . A thicker wire is not necessitated by requesting a coarser (lower count) mesh, but the thicker 0.041″ diameter wire represents the only product configuration the seller chooses to produce and sell. A thicker navigation-direction  312  points to a no-link position  314 . Such occurs when there is no available product choice in that direction. A thinner navigation-direction  316  takes the user to a hot-dipped galvanized 4-mesh with 0.025″ diameter wire in a position  318 . Such represents the next choice for thinner-wire mesh from the starting position  302 . The mesh count remains at 4-mesh. 
     The dataflow  300  in  FIG. 3  can be used by a web designer in implementing embodiments of the webserver  102  ( FIG. 1 ). A more detailed implementation would be assisted by creating webpage fill-in forms like those illustrated in  FIGS. 4-7 . A commercially marketed computer program sold by FileMaker, Inc., called FILEMAKER-PRO, provided good results for such forms. 
       FIG. 4  diagrams a form  400  that corresponds to the implementation of position  302  ( FIG. 3 ). A folder name  402  is filled-in with “004X004G035.HTML”, e.g., the hypertext mark-up language (HTML) for 4×4 mesh galvanized 0.035″ diameter. A URL  404  designates where the HTML file will be found on the Internet. This is read, using hypertext transfer protocol, within the world wide web. In actuality, a domain name server (DNS) converts the URL to a four-place Internet protocol (IP) address in the form “00.00.00.00”. A category box  406  allows for a common grouping, e.g., “Hot Dipped Galvanized Wire Mesh”. A description box  408  is used to enter the common product name, e.g., “4-Mesh 0.035 Wire Diameter”. A part number box  410  provides information necessary to order this product, e.g., “004X004G035”. A photo-ID box  412  identifies which GIF or JPG picture file relates to this particular product, e.g., “252”. Such information is used to control what appears in product picture  224  ( FIG. 2 ). A ruler-size box  414  is filled in with information that corresponds to the scale used in the picture file recited in photo-ID box  412 . For example, “3 by 2 inches”. A horizontal dimension box  416  is filled-in with the number of holes, left-to-right, represented in the product picture. A vertical dimension box  418  is filled-in with the number of holes, top-to-bottom, represented in the product picture. A photo-comment box  420  provides for comments about the product picture. A photo-comment link box  422  provides for a file or URL link to information about the product picture. A comments-done? box  424  allows work-in-progress to be marked. 
     A four-way navigation symbol  426  signals the four directions a user can navigate, and corresponds to navigation window  202 , especially buttons  210 - 213  ( FIG. 2 ). 
     A next-finer weave box  428  indicates a product description, file, or URL to be taken, e.g., “008X008G017”. A next-link photo box  430  corresponds to the item in the next-finer weave box  428 . A next-lighter-wire box  432  indicates a product description, file, or URL to be taken, e.g., “004X004D025”. A next-link photo box  434  corresponds to the item in the next-lighter-wire box  432 . A next-heavier-wire box  436  indicates a product description, file, or URL to be taken, e.g., “no-link”. See, position  314  ( FIG. 3 ). A next-link photo box  438  corresponds to the item in the next-heavier-wire box  436 . A next-coarser weave box  440  indicates a product description, file, or URL to be taken, e.g., “002X002D041”. A next-link photo box  442  corresponds to the item in the next-coarser weave box  440 . A comments box  444  includes remarks that the webpage designer wants to appear in the comments field  208  ( FIG. 2 ). Similarly, a price-table comments box  446  includes remarks that the webpage designer wants to appear when prices are quoted. An alternate view- 1  box  448  is used for alternative product photos that will be displayed as picture  224  in response to clicking on button  226  ( FIG. 2 ). An alternate view- 2  box  450  is used for alternative product photos that will be displayed as picture  224  in response to clicking on button  228  ( FIG. 2 ). An Excel spreadsheet name box  452  is used to link to a corresponding data file. A pricing Excel spreadsheet name box  454  is used to link to a corresponding prices file, e.g., as would be invoked in response to clicking button  230  ( FIG. 2 ). A disc Excel spreadsheet name box  456  is included. 
       FIG. 5  diagrams a form  500  that corresponds to the implementation of position  306  ( FIG. 3 ). A folder name  502  is filled-in with “008X008G017.HTML”, e.g., the hypertext mark-up language (HTML) file for 8×8 mesh galvanized 0.017″ diameter. A URL  504  designates where the HTML file will be found on the Internet. The rest of the form  500  is similar to that represented in  FIG. 4 . 
       FIG. 6  diagrams a form  600  that corresponds to the implementation of position  310  ( FIG. 3 ). A folder name  602  is filled-in with “002X002G041.HTML”, e.g., the hypertext mark-up language (HTML) file for 2×2 mesh galvanized 0.041″ diameter. A URL  504  designates where the HTML file will be found on the Internet. The rest of the form  600  is similar to that represented in  FIG. 4 . 
       FIG. 7  diagrams a form  700  that corresponds to the implementation of position  318  ( FIG. 3 ). A folder name  702  is filled-in with “004X004D025.HTML”, e.g., the hypertext mark-up language (HTML) file for 4×4 mesh galvanized 0.025″ diameter. A URL  504  designates where the HTML file will be found on the Internet. The rest of the form  700  is similar to that represented in  FIG. 4 . 
     Although the invention is preferably described herein with reference to the preferred embodiment, one skilled in the art will readily appreciate that other applications may be substituted for those set forth herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the invention should only be limited by the Claims included below.