WO2004042634A1

WO2004042634A1 - Internet based drawing tool

Info

Publication number: WO2004042634A1
Application number: PCT/US2003/034922
Authority: WO
Inventors: Randolph Lindel; Suzanne M. Perakis; Jr. Eugene F. O'neill; Timothy Scott O'neil; Douglas E. Snader; Anthony Martiniello; Christopher Funk
Original assignee: Tru Corp
Current assignee: Winchester Interconnect RF Corp
Priority date: 2002-11-01
Filing date: 2003-11-03
Publication date: 2004-05-21
Anticipated expiration: 2005-05-01
Also published as: AU2003287470A1

Abstract

A method of presenting a product (202) to a customer for identification of desired modifications to the product (202). The method includes providing a schematic of the product (240) on a graphical user interface (200), the product (202) being selected by the customer from a plurality of vendor products presented on a vendor internet site; and enabling the customer to modify structural elements identified in the schematic (240) via the graphical user interface to thereby create a modified schematic.

Description

INTERNET BASED DRAWING TOOL

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application Serial No. 60/423,058, filed November 1, 2002, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to an internet-based drawing tool, and in particular to a drawing tool that a user can access to electronically modify product drawings.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In various custom engineering and manufacturing applications, a customer may request a vendor to make modifications to an existing product. Alternatively, the customer may approach an engineering and manufacturing vendor with a particular design and inquire as to whether the vendor can manufacturer a part according to the design. In both instances, a great deal of correspondence occurs between the vendor and customer. Such correspondence may occur through typical avenues such as mail, telephone, and facsimile that can take excessive time at a crucial point in the design process.

Modification of design drawings can require considerable time and effort even if using a software drawing application, e.g., a CAD program. In addition, emailing a drawing file between the customer and vendor can raise compatibility issues. The customer may create the drawing using a drawing software application not recognizable by the vendor's computer system or one that if imported into the vendor's drawing software application is poorly correlated to the original. Accordingly, there is a need for an internet based drawing tool that streamlines this custom design process by enabling a customer to quickly and easily modify a product schematic for a particular product. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A system and method consistent with the invention includes a variety of aspects. According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of presenting a product to a customer for identification of desired modifications to the product including: providing a schematic of the product on a graphical user interface, the product being selected by the customer from a plurality of vendor products presented on a vendor internet site; and enabling the customer to modify structural elements identified in the schematic via the graphical user interface to thereby create a modified schematic. A machine readable medium whose contents cause a computer system to perform such a method and a computer system including such a machine readable medium are also provided.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided an electronic internet based drawing and communication method for streamlining product modification communication between a customer computer system and a vendor computer system, the method including: prompting a user of the customer computer system to select at least one product from a plurality of products presented on a vendor internet site; providing a schematic of the at least one product selected by the user; enabling the user to modify structural elements of the schematic via a graphical user interface to thereby create a modified schematic; and enabling the user to send the modified schematic to the vendor computer system via the internet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments thereof, which description should be considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary internet based drawing system consistent with the invention; FIG. 2 is an exemplary screen display of a vendor internet site illustrating two products with associated dialog boxes for each product for accessing a drawing engine consistent with the invention;

FIG. 3 is flow chart of an internet based drawing method enabled by the drawing engine consistent with the invention;

FIG. 4 is an exemplary screen display enabling a user to modify a schematic in a manner consistent with the invention;

FIG. 5 is an exemplary screen display enabling a user to append text to the schematic illustrated in FIG. 4 in a manner consistent with the invention; and FIG. 6 is an exemplary screen display consistent with the invention that may be presented to a user that selects a send function from the exemplary screen display of FIG. 4 requesting identifying data from the user.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION For simplicity and ease of explanation, the present invention will be described herein in connection with various exemplary embodiments thereof. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the features and advantages of the present invention may be implemented in a variety of configurations. It is to be understood, therefore, that the embodiments described herein are presented by way of illustration, not of limitation.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an internet-based drawing system 100 consistent with the invention. The term "internet" as used herein refers to the well-known, worldwide computer network that interconnects other computer networks, on which end-user services, such as World Wide Web sites or data archives, are located, enabling data and other information to be exchanged. The internet-based drawing system 100 generally includes a plurality of customer computer systems 102a, 102b, 102c configured to communicate with a vendor computer system 130 via the internet 108. A user of any of the customer computer systems 102a, 102b, 102c may access a drawing engine 140, via an internet site of the vendor, for creating and editing various product drawings as further detailed herein. In one embodiment, the vendor may be a connector engineering and manufacturing company.

Each of the customer computer systems 102a, 102b, 102c may include a variety of hardware and software components known in the art to enable a user of the customer computer system to access the drawing engine 140, through the vendor's internet site, to create and edit drawings as further detailed herein. For instance, such software may include browser software such as Netscape Navigator ^{τ M}, Microsoft internet Explorer- and/ or direct real-time Transmission Control Protocol/ internet Protocol (TCP/IP). In particular, an internet browser having embedded Java 2 applets coupled with server side script technology allows users of the customer computer systems 102a, 102b, 102c to create customized drawings using the drawing engine 140 on a wide variety of platforms. For instance, a wide variety of operating systems, e.g., Windows ®, Linux ®, capable of operating with a Java 2 capable browser may be utilized in the customer computer systems 102a, 102b, 102c. The browser may also have encryption capability to ensure secure transmission over the internet 108.

The vendor computer system 130 may include a machine-readable medium 144 that stores, among other things, a drawing engine 140 consistent with the invention. The drawing engine 140 is a software application that enables a user, e.g., a user of the customer computer systems 102a, 102b, 102c, to create customized design product drawings as further detailed herein. Although the drawing engine 140 and machine readable medium 144 are illustrated as being part of the vendor computer system 130, those skilled in the art will recognize that they may be physically located away from the vendor computer system 130 in any variety of computing environments, e.g., in a data computing center, that has access to the internet 108.

The drawing engine 140 includes software routines stored on the machine- readable medium 144 for execution by the processor 146. The processor 146 can be any type of processor capable of providing the speed and functionality required by the embodiments of the invention. For instance, the processor 146 could be a processor from the Pentium® family of processors made by Intel Corporation.

The machine-readable media 144 can be any type of media capable of storing instructions adapted to be executed by the processor 146. Some examples of such media include, but are not limited to, system RAM, read only memory (ROM), programmable ROM, magnetic disk (e.g., floppy disk and hard disk drive), optical disk (e.g., CD/DND ROM), and any other device that can store digital information. As used herein, the phrase "adapted to be executed by a processor" is meant to encompass instructions stored in compressed and/ or encrypted format, as well as instructions that have to be compiled or installed by an installer before being executed by the processor. The processor 146 and machine-readable medium 144 may be part of various components of the vendor computer system 130 or other systems with access to the internet 108 where various combinations of machine- readable media may store combinations of the drawing engine software which are accessible by the processor through various controllers.

In operation, the drawing engine 140 may be accessed by a user of one of the customer computer systems 102a, 102b, 102c by accessing an internet site of the vendor via the internet 108. The vendor's internet site may contain a library of products organized for navigation by the user. Once a product is located by the user, an associated descriptive text portion and accompanying schematic of the product may be provided.

For example, FIG. 2 is an exemplary screen display 200 of a vendor's internet site where a user has navigated to locate two connector products 202, 204. The first connector product 202 contains a descriptive text portion 243 and an associated schematic 240. Similarly, the second connector product 204 also contains a descriptive text portion 245 and an associated schematic 242. The exemplary schematics 240, 242 are structural diagrams of the connector products 202, 204. Those skilled in the art will recognize that a schematic may be any structural or procedural diagram of any variety of products. The drawing engine 140 may be accessed in a variety of ways. In one embodiment, a drawing engine dialog box may be provided for each listed product with an accompanying schematic. For instance, a first drawing engine dialog box 250a may be provided for the first product 202 and second drawing engine dialog box 250b may be provided for the second product 204. In this manner, selecting a dialog box 250a, 250b will enable a user to access the drawing engine to modify the schematic 240, 242 associated with a selected product 202, 204. Those skilled in the art will be aware of a variety of software routines for creating such dialog boxes 250a, 250b. FIG. 3 is a simplified flow chart 300 of an internet based drawing method consistent with the invention enabled by the drawing engine 140. In a first step 302, a schematic of a product selected by a user from a plurality of products on a vendor internet site is provided. For instance, by selecting the drawing tool dialog box 250b the drawing engine 140 is accessed and the schematic 242 of the product 204 is provided. In step 304, the drawing engine 140 enables a user to modify structural elements of the schematic and to thereby create a modified schematic as further detailed herein. Structural elements of the schematic include non aesthetic features of the product. As used herein, to "modify" the schematic means to change the schematic in any way from its original form. This includes adding materials to the schematic where no parts of the original schematic are deleted.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary screen display 400 of a graphical user interface (GUI) created by the drawing engine 140. The drawing engine 400 may contain appropriate code and instructions that builds, or requests another component, e.g., a server, to build, such a GUI. In the exemplary screen display 400, a user has selected a schematic 242 for modification, e.g., by selecting dialog box 250b associated with product 204 of FIG. 2. The drawing engine 140 enables a user to modify structural elements of the schematic 242 to thereby create a modified schematic by adding and/ or deleting various details. In one embodiment, the drawing engine 140 provides a plurality of drawing tools 406 for such purpose. An exemplary, but not exclusive, list of such drawing tools 406 includes a text tool 420, a line tool 421, a free draw tool 422, an eraser tool 423, an arrow line tool 424, a rotate tool 425, a circle tool 426, a filled circle tool 427, a block tool 428, a filled block tool 429, a zoom out tool 430, a zoom in tool 431, a grid tool 432, a print tool 433, an undo tool 434, a clear tool 435, a refresh tool 436, a help tool 437, a pen color red tool 438, a pen color yellow tool 439, a pen color black tool 440, a pen color blue tool 441, a copy/ paste/ cut tool 442, and a save tool 443. Those skilled in the art will recognize software routines for implementing these tool functionalities as further detailed herein. The text tool 420 enables a user to add text comments to the modified schematic. In one text tool embodiment, by selecting the text tool 420, the drawing engine 140 provides a text display screen 500 as illustrated in FIG. 5. The text display screen 500 enables a user to select among a variety of fonts styles via drop down font menu 502, font sizes via drop down font size menu 504, and font characteristics (e.g., regular, bold, underline, italicized, etc.) via drop down font characteristic menu 508. Once a user is finished entering a text message in text area 510, the user may select the "write" dialog box 518 or the "cancel" dialog box 520. Selecting the "write" dialog box 518 enables a user to place the entered text in a desired position about the schematic 242, e.g. by using the mouse to position the text. By clicking the mouse again, the user can reopen the text tool for additional remarks. The line tool 421 enables a user to add lines to the modified schematic. The user may select the line tool 421 and then click on the drawing to enter a starting point for the line. The user clicks again to enter the end point for the line. The user can select a differing line weight by navigating to the extended line menu. The user may be able to select various weights such as a lpt, 2pt, 3pt or dashed line.

The free draw tool 422 enables a user to draw in free form as the cursor behaves like a pencil once the free draw tool is selected. The user can then draw or markup the schematic anywhere using the free draw tool. The eraser tool 423 enables a user to erase any markings or annotations that the user has made to the drawing including annotations added by the user or any parts of the provided schematic such as schematic 242. The user selects the tool and clicks on the location of the drawing they would like to remove. The arrow line tool 424 enables a user to draw a line with an arrowhead on one end. The user selects the tool 424 and clicks on the drawing at the starting point of the line. The user clicks again at the end point of the line. The arrow line tool automatically places the arrowhead at the end point of the line.

The rotate tool 425 enables a user to rotate the drawing clockwise by a predetermined rotation angle, e.g., 45 degrees. Each instance the user clicks on the rotate tool 425, the drawing is rotated by that angle.

The circle tool 426 enables a user to draw a circle. The user clicks on ϋxe drawing at the position where they would like the circle to begin. The user releases at the desired sized circle. The filled circle tool 427 enables a user to draw a filled circle. The user clicks on the drawing at the position where they would like the circle to begin. The user releases at the desired sized filled circle.

The block tool 428 enables a user to draw a block. The user clicks on the drawing to begin the block. The user releases at the desired sized block. The filled block tool 429 enables a user to draw a filled block. The user clicks on the drawing in the location to begin the block. The user releases at the desired sized filled block.

The zoom out tool 430 provides a wide view of the drawing. With each click of the zoom out tool, the user shrinks the drawing by a predetermined percentage. The zoom in tool 431 provides a narrow or close-up view of the drawing.

With each click of the zoom in tool 431 the user magnifies the drawing by a predetermined percentage.

The grid tool 432 enables a user to map the drawing to a grid for a proportional relationship. The drawing snaps to the grid for alignment. The print tool 433 enables a user to print the created drawing. The undo tool 434 enables a user to undo their last action. The user can undo up to a predetermined number of actions. The clear tool 435 enables a user to clear all the markings they have made to return to the original part drawing. The refresh tool 436 enables a user to refresh the original part drawing in the applet window.

The help tool 437 offers support in using any of the plurality of drawing tools 406. It may include an overview of all the functionality for each of the plurality of drawing tools 406 as well as email contact for support.

A pen color palette tool enables a user to select a variety of colors by selecting a variety of tools such as the pen color red tool 438, the pen color yellow tool 439, the pen color black tool 440, and the pen color blue tool 441. A user can select any of these color palette tools before selecting another tool with which to work. For example, a user can draw a red arrow by first selecting the pen color red tool 428 and then selecting the arrow line tool 424. A copy/ paste/ cut tool 442 enables a user to copy, paste, or cut parts of the original part drawing to illustrate their drawing modifications. Additionally, the user is able to break apart the lines of the drawing for resizing or to create permutations to the original drawing.

Finally, a save tool 443 enables a user to save a version of the drawing they have created. For instance, a user could utilize this tool 443 to save an incomplete drawing as a work in progress and reopen or import it into the tool at a later time. The drawing engine 140 may also provide a method for routing a modified schematic to the vendor computer system 130. For instance, a "send" dialog box 444 may be provided on screen display 200. After a user creates or modifies a drawing using the aforementioned drawing tools 406, the user may select the send dialog box 444 to send the modified schematic to the vendor computer system 130.

Once the user selects the send dialog box 444, the drawing engine 140 may prompt creation of a screen display 600 as illustrated in FIG. 6. Such a display 600 may include dialog boxes 602, 604, 606, 608, 610, 612, 614, 616, 618, and 620 for a user to enter identifying data. Such identifying data that may be entered in the respective dialog boxes 602, 604, 606, 608, 610, 612, 614, 616, 618, and 620 includes, respectively, name, company, title, address, city, state, zip code, email address, phone number, and a text box for appending additional notes to the modified schematic. In addition, such identifying data may also include the identity of the original schematic chosen for modification, e.g., a model number 622 for a particular product chosen for modification.

Once the user sends the message with the identifying information and modified schematic, the drawing engine 140 may then route the message to an appropriate computer or computers of the vendor computer system 130 in response to identifying data in the message. Appropriate personnel of the vendor utilizing the vendor computer system 130 may be notified that a modified schematic has been received from a customer. A review of the proposed design can be readily and efficiently examined by appropriate personnel. Correspondence between the vendor and customer may continue via email using the drawing engine to make further modifications as necessary thus streamlining the custom design process.

Those skilled in the art will recognize the drawing engine 140 may be configured to route incoming messages to one or more computers of the vendor computer system 130 by analyzing any variety of identifying data of the message and various combinations thereof. The identifying data may include any of the data entered via dialog boxes 602, 604, 606, 608, 610, 612, 614, 616, 618, and 620 or the product selected for modification. For instance, the drawing engine 140 may be configured to route all incoming messages from a particular company to the computers of the customer representatives for such company. The drawing engine 140 may also be configured to route all corning messages modifying a certain set of products to those personnel most familiar with such products.

There is thus provided an internet based electronic drawing method including: providing a schematic of a product selected by a user from a library of products presented on a vendor internet site; and enabling the user to modify structural elements of the schematic and to thereby create a modified schematic. As such, a customer is able to quickly and efficiently prepare a proposed product design schematic. Such proposed schematic then may be quickly and efficiently routed to appropriate personnel of the vendor. The embodiments that have been described herein, however, are but some of the several which utilize this invention and are set forth here by way of illustration but not of limitation. It is obvious that many other embodiments, which will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, may be made without departing materially from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A method of presenting a product to a customer for identification of desired modifications to the product, said method comprising: providing a schematic of the product on a graphical user interface, said product being selected by the customer from a plurality of vendor products presented on a vendor internet site; and enabling said customer to modify structural elements identified in said schematic via said graphical user interface to thereby create a modified schematic.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said enabling step comprises providing a plurality of drawing tools on said graphical user interface to enable said customer to modify said structural elements of said schematic.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said plurality of drawing tools is selected from the group consisting of: a text tool, a line tool, a free draw tool, an eraser tool, an arrow line draw tool, a rotate tool, a filled circle tool, a block tool, a filled block tool, a zoom out tool, a zoom in tool, a grid tool, an undo tool, a clear tool, a refresh tool, a pen color red tool, a pen color yellow tool, a pen color block tool, and a pen color blue tool.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: enabling said customer to send said modified schematic via the internet to a vendor computer system.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising: routing said modified schematic to at least a first computer of said vendor computer system in response to identifying data of said modified schematic.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said identifying data comprises a corporate identity provided by said customer.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein said identifying data comprises an identity of said product.

8. A machine readable medium whose contents cause a computer system to perform a method, said method comprising: providing a schematic of a product on a graphical user interface, said product being selected by from a plurality of vendor products presented on a vendor internet site; and enabling a user to modify structural elements identified in said schematic via said graphical user interface to thereby create a modified schematic.

9. The machine readable medium of claim 8, wherein said enabling step comprises providing a plurality of drawing tools on said graphical user interface to enable said user to modify said structural elements of said schematic.

10. The machine readable medium of claim 9, wherein said plurality of drawing tools is selected from the group consisting of: a text tool, a line tool, a free draw tool, an eraser tool, an arrow line draw tool, a rotate tool, a filled circle tool, a block tool, a filled block tool, a zoom out tool, a zoom in tool, a grid tool, an undo tool, a clear tool, a refresh tool, a pen color red tool, a pen color yellow tool, a pen color block tool, and a pen color blue tool.

11. The machine readable medium of claim 8, wherein said method further comprises: enabling said user to send said modified schematic to a vendor computer system.

12. The machine readable medium of claim 11, wherein said method further comprises: routing said modified schematic to at least a first computer of said vendor computer system in response to identifying data of said modified schematic.

13. The machine readable medium of claim 12, wherein said identifying data comprises a corporate identity provided by said user.

14. The machine readable medium of claim 12, wherein said identifying data comprises an identity of said at least one product.

15. A computer system comprising: a machine readable medium whose contents cause said computer system to perform a method, said method comprising: providing a schematic of a product on a graphical user interface, said product being selected by from a plurality of vendor products presented on a vendor internet site; and enabling a user to modify structural elements identified in said schematic via said graphical user interface to thereby create a modified schematic.

16. The computer system of claim 15, wherein said enabling step comprises providing a plurality of drawing tools on said graphical user interface to enable said user to modify said structural elements of said schematic.

17. The computer system of claim 16, wherein said plurality of drawing tools is selected from the group consisting of: a text tool, a line tool, a free draw tool, an eraser tool, an arrow line draw tool, a rotate tool, a filled circle tool, a block tool, a filled block tool, a zoom out tool, a zoom in tool, a grid tool, an undo tool, a clear tool, a refresh tool, a pen color red tool, a pen color yellow tool, a pen color block tool, and a pen color blue tool.

18. The computer system of claim 15, wherein said method further comprises: enabling said user to send said modified schematic to a vendor computer system.

19. The computer system of claim 15, wherein said method further comprises: routing said modified schematic to at least a first computer of said vendor computer system in response to identifying data of said modified schematic.

20. The computer system of claim 19, wherein said identifying data comprises a corporate identity provided by said user.

21. The computer system of claim 19, wherein said identifying data comprises an identity of said at least one product.

22. An electronic internet based drawing and communication method for streamlining product modification communication between a customer computer system and a vendor computer system, said method comprising: prompting a user of said customer computer system to select at least one product from a plurality of products presented on a vendor internet site; providing a schematic of said at least one product selected by said user; enabling said user to modify structural elements of said schematic via a graphical user interface to thereby create a modified schematic; and enabling said user to send said modified schematic to said vendor computer system via the internet.

23. A method according to claim 22, said method further comprising routing said modified schematic to at least a first computer of said vendor computer system in response to identifying data of said modified schematic.