Patent ID: 7254563

Claim:
A method for automatically ordering a supply item which is consumed during operation of a device, comprising the steps of: electronically monitoring, in a device, a consumption quantity associated with consumption of a supply item during operation of said device and repeatedly electronically comparing said consumption quantity to a threshold representing consumption of said supply item before complete depletion of said supply item; upon said consumption quantity reaching said threshold, automatically electronically generating an ordering message at said device representing an order for a requested supply item, and including an identification code in said ordering message, and only thereafter establishing a communication between said device and a data center and communicating said ordering message from said device to said data center; at said data center, electronically identifying, based on said identification code, an entity which has placed said ordering message; at said data center, electronically compiling a data bank containing respective identification codes for a plurality of different ordering entities, each ordering entity having at least one permissible supply item associated therewith; upon receipt of said ordering message at said data center, electronically conducting an ordering routine at said data center including searching said data bank to find the ordering entity associated with the identification code in the ordering message and filling said order only if said requested supply item conforms to said at least one permissible supply item, and otherwise not filling said order; and generating a confirmation message at said data center when said order is filled, and transmitting said confirmation message from said data center to said device.