1. A visitor information gathering apparatus for a facility, comprising:
a display;
one or more input devices;
a storage;
a processor; and
one or more sensors;
wherein said processor is configured to gather information provided by a visitor to the facility using at least one input device from said one or more input devices responsive to prompts provided by said processor through said display;
wherein said processor is configured to substantially contemporaneously gather information about said visitor using at least one sensor from said one or more sensors;
wherein said processor is configured to store said information about said visitor gathered from said at least one input device and said at least one sensor into said storage; and
wherein the processor is configured to communicate at least a portion of the information provided by the visitor using the at least one input device and the information about the visitor gathered by the at least one sensor to one or more appliances located within the facility wherein an appliance from the one or more appliances uses the information received from the processor to determine whether the visitor is permitted to use the appliance.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said information about said visitor is gathered using said at least one sensor without said visitor being aware of said gathering.
3. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an audio output device configured to output audio information to said visitor, said audio information determined based upon said information about said visitor gathered from said at least one input device and said at least one sensor.
4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said information gathered about said visitor comprises at least one of information about a name of said visitor, an organization represented by said visitor, a purpose of a visit, a date of a visit, a time of a visit, a person to be visited, and an identity of a group of visitors visiting together.
5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said display is configured to display to said visitor at least one of a greeting, a slide show of product images, advertising, stock values, daily cartoons, and news.
6. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a scanner that is configured to scan at least one of a first side and a second side of a business card having printing on at least one of said first side and said second side; and wherein, responsive to detecting text on said at least one of said first side and said second side, said processor processes said text in accordance with a language of said text.
7. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a microphone, wherein said microphone provides input of speech of said visitor.
8. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a video camera configured to capture an image of said visitor.
9. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a speaker, wherein said information gathered about said visitor comprises information indicating a person to be visited and wherein said speaker is configured to output directions to reach said person to be visited.
10. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a visitor wand configured to record experiences of said visitor.
11. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the one or more sensors include a biometric sensor configured to gather biometric information about said visitor.
12. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a handwriting tablet configured to provide a sample of handwriting of said visitor.
13. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said one or more sensors include a security sensor configured to provide information about potential threats.
14. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a telephone interface configured to communicate a telephone message to a person to be visited that said visitor has arrived.
15. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said processor is configured to determine additional information about said visitor using a web interface, wherein the additional information is determined based upon said information about said visitor gathered from said at least one input device or said at least one sensor, the additional information comprising information about the visitor that is not provided by the visitor using the one or more input devices and is not gathered by the one or more sensors.
16. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the processor is configured to communicate a portion of the information provided by the visitor using the at least one input device or the information gathered about the visitor using the at least one sensor to a person that said visitor intends to visit.
17. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the processor is configured to determine information about said visitor’s previous visit, the information identifying at least one person visited by the visitor during the previous visit.
18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the information about the visitor’s previous visit is determined from a database accessible to said processor and storing information about said visitor.
19. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the processor is configured to assign a web page for the visitor, the web page storing information indicative of one or more persons visited by the visitor, wherein the web page is updated after each visit of the visitor to the facility.
20. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein the web page is communicated to a person to be visited by the visitor prior to the visitor’s visit to the facility.
21. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising an output device configured to output information to the visitor, the information output by the output device being customized for the visitor based upon the information provided by the visitor using the one or more input devices and the information about the visitor captured by the one or more sensors.
22. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the appliance uses the information received from the processor to determine an identify the visitor upon receiving a request from the visitor to use the appliance.
23. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the appliance is a copy machine.
24. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
a set of one or more locators situated at locations within the facility; and
a portable device provided to the visitor while the visitor is visiting the facility, the portable device configured to communicate with the set of locators using wireless communication;
wherein the set of locators are configured to track the visitor’s location within the facility by wirelessly communicating with the portable device provided to the visitor.
25. The apparatus of claim 24 wherein the portable device is configured to record information identifying one or more locations visited by the visitor at the facility and information identifying one or more persons met by the visitor at the facility.
26. The apparatus of claim 25 wherein the portable device is configured to record information spoken during a meeting between the visitor and a person from the one or more persons.
27. The apparatus of claim 24 wherein the portable device is configured to:
store an itinerary for the visitor’s visit to the facility, the itinerary identifying at least one location within the facility to be visited by the visitor; and
display the itinerary to the visitor; and
display direction information for reaching the at least one location.
28. A method for collecting information about visitors to a facility, said method comprising:
gathering information about a visitor in an interactive session with an automated kiosk located at the facility;
placing said information for the visitor gathered in the interactive session into a format in which said information may be stored;
storing said information for retrieval; and
based upon said gathered information about said visitor, automatically obtaining additional information about said visitor from one or more sources, the additional information comprising information that is not provided during the interactive session; and
communicating at least a portion of said gathered information and at least a portion of said additional information to a user; and
communicating a portion of the information for the visitor gathered in the interactive session to one or more appliances located within the facility, wherein an appliance from the one or more appliances uses the information received from the automated kiosk to determine whether the visitor is permitted to use the appliance.
29. The method of claim 28, wherein gathering information about said visitor at said automated kiosk comprises obtaining information from said visitor using a process of which said visitor is aware and obtaining information about said visitor using a process of which said visitor is not aware.
30. The method of claim 28, further comprising determining a person to be visited by said visitor based upon said information gathered about said visitor and wherein communicating said portion of said gathered information and said portion of said additional information to said user comprises communicating said portions to said person to be visited.
31. The method of claim 28, wherein obtaining said additional information comprises at least one of performing a search on the Internet, searching a publicly available database, searching a database of visitor information obtained from said automated kiosk, and searching a local document database.
32. A computer programming product for collecting information about visitors to a facility, said computer programming product comprising:
code for gathering information about a visitor in an interactive session with an automated kiosk;
code for placing said information into a format in which said information may be stored;
code for storing said information for retrieval;
code for obtaining, based upon said gathered information about said visitor, additional information about said visitor from one or more sources, the additional information comprising information that is not provided during the interactive session;
code for providing said additional information about said visitor and said information about said visitor gathered at said kiosk to a person interested in said information;
code for communicating a portion of the information gathered about the visitor in the interactive session to one or more appliances located within the facility, wherein an appliance from the one or more appliances uses the information received from the automated kiosk to determine whether the visitor is permitted to use the appliance; and
a computer readable storage medium for holding the codes.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
What is claimed is:
1. A hollow rack shaft processed plastically to use for an automotive steering system, in which the width of a hollow inner surface side of the rack tooth portion at the cross section of the hollow rack shaft is wider than the width to be determined by such dimensions as the inside diameter of the hollow rack shaft, the position of the rack tooth bottom, and the plate thickness of the rack tooth bottom.
2. A hollow rack shaft according to claim 1, wherein said rack tooth portion of said rack shaft formed is provided with a greater deformation at both ends of inner rack teeth than the central portion, at the cross section cut at right angles with the shaft at the tooth top portion in the direction of the tooth width.
3. A method of forming rack teeth by press-forming rack teeth on a hollow rack shaft of a plate to use for an automotive steering system, wherein, to form the inner side of said rack teeth, press-forming is performed by the use of a die which has a larger tooth width of said rack teeth than the width of the flat bottom portion of a workpiece on which said rack teeth are formed.
4. A rack tooth forming die for press-forming rack teeth on a hollow rack shaft of a plate to use for an automotive steering system, wherein, in the direction of tooth width of rack teeth of said die for forming said rack teeth on the inner side, the central portion is recessed, and has projections on both ends, to thereby provide said both ends of teeth with a greater deformation than the central portion.
5. A hollow rack shaft for a steering system having rack teeth at the central portion, a cylindrical portion in the vicinity of both ends, and a lengthwise hollow in said cylindrical portion, wherein said hollow rack shaft is manufactured through the following processes in order of mention:
a first process, in which an approximately rectangular plate having a wide area for rack tooth forming is bent lengthwise; said plate thus bent having, at the central portion, a flat bottom portion on which rack teeth are formed in a later process and a pair of mutually facing leg portions, and, in the vicinity of both ends, a semi-circular bottom portion and a pair of mutually facing leg portions; and said mutually facing leg portions of the central portion being of a gutter-like cross section having a larger space than the space between said mutually facing leg portions in the vicinity of the both ends;
a second process, in which rack teeth are formed on said flat bottom portion by admitting the plastic flow of said flat bottom portion of said plate that has passed through the first process, and a part of the material of said pair of leg portions of said flat bottom portion; and
a third process, in which said rack shaft is formed into a shape of tube having a hollow inner surface by bending to butt-joined edges of said leg portions of said plate that has passed through the second process.
6. A hollow rack shaft according to claim 5, wherein the tooth width of said rack teeth is formed larger than the length of chord formed by a plane including said tooth bottom and intersecting said semi-circle.
7. A hollow rack shaft according to claim 5 or 6, wherein teeth are formed nearly along the form of said rack tooth on the inner surface of said hollow.
8. A hollow rack shaft according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein said edge portion butt-joined in the third process is partly or fully mutually welded.
9. A method of manufacturing a hollow rack shaft for a steering system having rack teeth at the central portion, a cylindrical portion in the vicinity of both ends, and a lengthwise hollow in said cylindrical portion; said method of manufacturing a hollow rack shaft includes the following processes in order of mention:
a first process, in which an approximately rectangular plate having a wide area for rack tooth forming is bent lengthwise; said plate thus bent having, at the central portion, a flat bottom portion on which rack teeth are formed in a later process and a pair of mutually facing leg portions, and, in the vicinity of both ends, a semi-circular bottom portion and a pair of mutually facing leg portions; and said mutually facing leg portions of the central portion being of a gutter-like cross section having a larger clearance than the clearance between said mutually facing leg portions in the vicinity of the both ends;
a second process, in which rack teeth are formed on said flat bottom portion by admitting the plastic flow of said flat bottom portion of said plate that has passed through the first process, and a part of the material of said pair of leg portions of said flat bottom portion; and
a third process, in which said rack shaft is formed into a shape of tube having a hollow inner surface by bending to butt-joined edges of said leg portions of said plate that has passed through the second process.
10. A method of manufacturing a hollow rack shaft according to claim 9, wherein a fourth process is further performed to mutually weld a part of, or all, the edge portions of both side walls butt-joined in the third process.