Abstract:
A method for purchasing natural stone includes the steps of choosing a stone, measuring pieces of an environment in which the stone is to be placed, laying out measurements of pieces of the environment upon a slab of the stone, virtually cutting pieces of the slab according to the measurements in a first way, and, recreating the environment with the virtually cut pieces of the slab.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0001]    This application relates to stone countertops, and more particularly to the marketing, sales and display of natural stone in a retail store. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Buying granite or other natural stone for the home may be a difficult process. A purchaser usually goes to a wholesaler where stones of different quality, pattern and color are arrayed in long racks. A purchaser may have to wait to find a sales agent to go through the stones. Upon viewing the stones with the sales agent, the purchaser must guess as to whether the stones will be appropriate in their environment such as a kitchen or a bath or a playroom, for instance. A sophisticated purchaser may bring pictures of their environment with them to compare with the stones or the wholesaler may be able to provide a sample. However, the pictures brought by the user may not be truly representative of the environment and the provided sample may not be exact. 
         [0003]    Because the stones are natural materials, stones that are variable over their surfaces in terms of color and pattern, may not translate well when put in the purchaser&#39;s environment. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0004]    According to an example disclosed herein, a method marketing natural stone includes the steps of creating a first acceptable range of parameters in a natural stone, acquiring slabs of the natural stone that allegedly fall within the parameters, testing whether a slab conforms with the parameters and creating first marketing materials depicting the first acceptable range of parameters in the stone. 
         [0005]    According to further example disclosed herein an apparatus for selling natural stone includes a slab displayed at a store and a depiction corresponding to the slab, the depiction showing a range of parameters relating any of hue, brightness or saturation of the slab. 
         [0006]    The various features and advantages of a disclosed example embodiment will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description. The drawings that accompany the detailed description can be briefly described as follows. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]      FIG. 1  is a depiction of a process to market stone to end users. 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is a depiction of a first color having a color range. 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  is a depiction of the color of  FIG. 2  with a different color range. 
           [0010]      FIG. 4  is a depiction of a second color with a color range. 
           [0011]      FIG. 5  is a depiction of a kiosk showing the cards of  FIGS. 2 ,  3 , and  4  and other features. 
           [0012]      FIG. 6  is a lay-out view of a typical kitchen with countertops upon which stone is to be applied. 
           [0013]      FIG. 7  is a depiction of a slab laying out the shapes of the countertops shown in  FIG. 6  upon a chosen slab. 
           [0014]      FIG. 8  is a model view of the kitchen of  FIG. 6  with the chosen slab countertops depicted for purchaser review. 
           [0015]      FIG. 9  is a depiction of a process to sell stone to end users. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0016]    Referring now to step  15  in  FIG. 1 , a reseller for a store communicates with a natural stone vendor to create parameters relative to the quality of the stone surface such as: color including brightness (shading from light to dark), hue (the actual color by wavelength), and saturation (sharp to dull); fissures or pits per given area; variability of color across each slab etc. as will be discussed infra. The reseller than expects the vendor to provide slabs that meet such parameters. 
         [0017]    In step  20 , the natural stone vendor delivers the slabs into the reseller&#39;s warehouse. The slabs are then verified in step  25  in the warehouse to determine whether the stone conforms to the parameters that were set. The reseller may use observation, reference cards, machine vision or the like to determine whether the delivered slabs conforms to the parameters. If the slabs do not conform to the parameters, the slabs are rejected in step  30  and the reseller than communicates with the natural stone vendor to determine whether set parameters should change. If the number of slabs rejected exceeds a certain statistical limit, the parameters are changed and marketing materials will change as will be discussed infra. 
         [0018]    In step  35 , once a slab conforms to the set parameters, a representative color is created by taking an image of that slab so that customers in a store may view marketing materials such as cards or brochures (see  FIGS. 2-5 ) in a way that mimics the look of the slab in a natural environment even if the image is shown, for instance, in a fluorescently lit, big box store. The image is color balanced by correcting the color of the image such that the image, if viewed in the store, is deemed by a user to be in the 5500-6500 Kelvin range. 
         [0019]    In step  40 , marketing materials, as will be discussed infra, are printed using the color balancing in step  35  and made readily available to consumers in the store. The marketing materials include color range labels to be displayed on each granite sample displayed at a point of purchase kiosk, color range brochures, video screens and color range cards or the like. These marketing materials are then sent to the store so that natural stone may be sold from the warehouse directly to a consumer. 
         [0020]    Because slab may be rejected in step  30  or because of the communication with the natural stone vendor in step  15 , the reseller may know if stone cannot be provided that meet specified parameters. If the specified parameters cannot be met, new parameters are created. 
         [0021]    Referring now to  FIG. 2  sample color range card  50  is shown. The color card  50  relates to, for instance, the brightness characteristic of color and shows a light color A in  55  on the left side of the card. A medium color A on the center part of the card  60  and a dark color A is shown on the right side of the color card  65 . This color card tells a buyer that even though they may order color A, because natural stone is variable, they may get a lighter shade  55 , a medium shade  60  or a dark shade  65 . Referring now to  FIG. 2 , a new color card  70  is shown that replaces the color card  50 . Because of communication with the vendor in step  15  or rejection of a significant number of slabs in step  30 , it is determined the color shades (or other parameters) shown in color card  50 , can no longer be provided so that a new color card has to be created, for example, that still shows the availability of the medium color A- 60 , the dark color A- 65 , and the very dark color A- 75 . This means that the light color A is no longer available given the natural stone that is coming into the reseller&#39;s warehouse. 
         [0022]    Referring to  FIG. 4 , one can see that a different color B is very light  85  and light in  90  and medium in  95 . A worker of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that there are other colors  105 ,  110 ,  115  (see  FIG. 5 ) with other ranges that may be available to consumers. One of ordinary skill in the art will also recognize from the teachings herein that the cards may exhibit other parameters besides brightness, including hue or saturation or others. 
         [0023]    Referring now to  FIG. 5 , one can see a kiosk  100  having plurality of cards are shown with different colors with different ranges of color  50 ,  80 ,  105 ,  110 , and  115 . It should be noted that  50  could also be  70  if the color range in color  50  has changed. These color cards may be placed upon a representative center portion of an actual piece of a slab  117 ,  119 ,  121 ,  123 ,  127  so that the consumer can see the ranges up and down for that particular piece of stone. These color cards  50  or labels are placed on the color sample pieces of granite (or other stone) that are delivered to the store and, as noted above, the labels, cards and brochures  120  when shown in fluorescent light that which is observable in natural light in the buyer&#39;s kitchen or bath (not shown). 
         [0024]    By providing a color range, a consumer is made aware of the color and character variances in the natural stone before a purchase is made thereby increasing customer satisfaction. This minimizes the need for a buyer to select their slab in person at an off-site fabricator, increasing the potential to close the sale in-store. By being able to view industry accepted variances in the color and character of each granite sample, under corrected lighting conditions, the homeowner is able to confidently select a stone choice that best works for his or her particular needs, style and taste. Also, the ability to select the stone in-store saves the homeowner the hassle, time and cost involved in traveling to an off-site fabricator. This is most often the case with traditional granite selection. Furthermore, the color corrected marketing materials allows the homeowner to more accurately visualize and project how each granite selection will look in his or her space. 
         [0025]    Once the customer has determined that shade and color (or other parameter) of stone desired, that customer contacts the reseller who comes out to their kitchen  200  as shown in  FIG. 6  so that accurate measurements of the countertops  203  can be made. Measurements are made of the stove  205 , the sink cutout  210 , the faucet hole  215 , the soap dispenser hole  220 , the island  225 , the L-shaped countertop  230 , which has a long portion  231 , including the sink cutout  210  and a short portion  232  extending perpendicularly to the long portion  231 , and the back ledge  235 , are entered into a CAD program. 
         [0026]    These measurements are coordinated with a slab  240  (See  FIG. 7 ) exhibiting the chosen parameters, including color and shade. The measurements are then laid up on the slab  240  to maximize use of the slab and to comply with the customer&#39;s wishes. For instance pieces relating to the sink cutout  210 C, the faucet hole  215 C, the soap dispenser hole  220 C, the island  225 C, the L-shaped countertop  230 C, which has a long portion  231 C, a short portion  232 C, are shown. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that other layout patterns are available from each slab  240 . 
         [0027]    Once the slab is laid out, as shown in  FIG. 8 , slab with its actual cut lines as would be seen in the purchaser&#39;s kitchen, for instance, is shown. The cutout backsplash  235 C is placed behind the stove  205 . The L-shaped countertop  230  with its long portion  231  and a short portion  232  are shown connected to each other as if they were in the kitchen. Similarly, the island cutout  225 C is placed where the island should be placed. As such, the purchaser can see an accurate representation of the kitchen they are purchasing with its stone countertops  203  installed. The lay-out shown in  FIG. 8  may be e-mailed to the buyer. As an alternative, a life-size depiction (as represented in  FIG. 8 ) of the lay-out may be sent to the buyer so that the lay-out may be actually placed on the buyers countertops to maximize a buying experience. The depiction may also be smaller. In either case the depiction as shown in  FIG. 8  is color balanced to show the color and shade of the slab in natural light at about 5500-6500 Kelvin. The e-mailed or real depictions may also show appliances in the environment such as the stove  205 , faucet, soap spigot etc. 
         [0028]    Furthermore, the purchaser has the opportunity to go back to the store to re-layout the slab to get the look they prefer out of the slab  240 . For instance as shown in  FIG. 7 , if a purchaser requires or desires a darker portion, the slab  231 C and the slab  232 C long portion and short portion could be slid farther to the right to utilize the darker portions of the slab  245  as opposed to the lighter portions of the slab where  245  the back ledge  35  portion of the island  225  are located. Once the purchaser has determined that slab is appropriately laid out for their kitchen  200 , the slab  240  for the countertop  203  is then cut and installed. The countertop  203  may have seams  245  to make handling the slab easier to minimize a possibility of breakage. 
         [0029]    Referring now to  FIG. 9 , step  300 , the consumer picks the stone color with a promise of a particular shade from the marketing materials shown in  FIG. 2-5 . The store sends a worker to measure the kitchen  200  in step  310 . Particularly as shown in  FIG. 6 , the worker measures the L-shaped countertop  230  including the long portion  231  and the short portion  32 , the island  225 , the placement of the soap dispenser  220 , the placement of the faucet hole  215 , the placement of the sink  210  and the back ledge  235 . In step  320 , the worker then inputs the measurements to a computer and lays out the required pieces of the slab, including the island  225 C, backsplash  235 C, and the L-shaped countertop  230  including the long portion  231 C and the short portion  232 C on a slab  240 . The worker may attempts to lay the pieces out to comply with the purchaser&#39;s wishes in terms of shade and other parameters, such as veining or other parameters, and may include seams  245  to allow for ease of installation and to minimize breakage. 
         [0030]    Referring now to step  330  a picture of the lay-out on the slab  240  is cut to create an image of the required pieces (e.g., the island  225 , backsplash  235 , and the L-shaped countertop  230  including the long portion  231  and the short portion  232 ). In step  335 , the required pieces are reassembled with the stove  205 , a faucet, and a soap dispenser included and with the island  225  place in the right place in relation to the L-shaped countertop  230  (see  FIG. 8 ) to create an electronic depiction of how a user&#39;s actual kitchen will look. In step  340 , this reassembled layout is then sent to the purchaser. If the layout meets the purchaser&#39;s expectations in step  350 , the slab is then cut and installed as shown in  360  or the process may end. However, if the purchaser desires changes, the reseller may have the opportunity to layout the slab again in step  330  if iterations of the process are desired. 
         [0031]    The preceding description is exemplary rather than limiting in nature. Variations and modifications to the disclosed examples may become apparent to those skilled in the art that do not necessarily depart from the essence of this invention. The scope of legal protection given to this invention can only be determined by studying the following claims.