1. A loyally transactions system including
a. defining a plurality of teams of service or product providers having at least two favourable or selectable forms,
b. providing a customer with a choice of having loyally to one of the at least two teams of service or product providers in one of the favourable or selectable forms;
c. wherein loyalty by the customer with one of the service or product providers of one team provides loyalty offers and will allow redemption of accepted loyally offers with that or any other of the service or product providers of the one team.
2. A loyally transactions system according to claim 1 wherein the plurality of teams are geographically defined, such that the system is engendering loyalty but competition to community commercial centres.
3. A loyally transactions system according to claim 1 wherein the plurality of teams are defined by personal characteristics such that the system is engendering loyalty but competition due to different perceived gender styles.
4. A loyalty transactions system according to claim 1 wherein the plurality of teams are defined by social or moral issues such that the system is engendering loyalty but competition due to different perceived social or moral styles.
5. A loyalty transactions system according claim 1 wherein the plurality of teams is a combination of selection criteria.
6. A loyalty transactions system according to claim 1 wherein the plurality of teams comprises three teams whereby two teams are defined by different favourable or selectable forms and the third team wishes to not be limited by the different favourable or selectable forms but rather is inclusive of both different favourable or selectable forms.
7. A loyalty transactions system according to claim 1 wherein the customer is aligned with the service or product providers of one team.
8. A loyalty transactions system according to claim 1 wherein the customer earns loyalty offers by purchases at a product or service providers of their team.
9. A loyalty transactions system according to claim 1 wherein the customer can receive bonus loyally offers from product or service provider of their team.
10. A loyalty transactions system according to claim 9 wherein the bonus loyalty offers can have an expiry date and must be accepted before that date.
11. A loyalty transactions system according to claim 1 including a register which is used to register customers and product or service providers.
12. A loyalty transactions system according to claim 1 including a register which is used to register customers and product or service providers.
13. A loyalty transactions system according to claim 1 wherein the customer can receive free loyalty offers.
14. A method for permitting a participant of a loyalty program to transact purchases with a product or service provider of a selected team using accepted andor transferred loyalty offers or a combination of accepted andor transferred loyalty offers and currency rather than currency alone with a product or service provider in the same team whereby a loyalty program participant can purchase products or services according to a desired favourable or selectable form of product or service provider by providing the ability for a system and method which integrates the loyalty system with what the product or service provider of the selected team is attempting to follow in principle.
15. A method according to claim 14 for use by a participant of a program which awards or offers loyalty offers to the participant, wherein the awarded or accepted loyalty offers are maintained in a loyalty offers account for the participant and the system permits the participant to transact a purchase using the awarded or accepted loyalty offers with a product or service provider system which transacts purchases according to the principle of the favourable or selectable feature of the team.
16. A method according to claim 15 including a register which interfaces with the product or service provider system and uses a program account for use in recording transactions between the participant and the register,
a. wherein the register includes instructions for receiving participant loyalty acceptance transactional information from the participant and providing the received participant loyalty acceptance transactional information to the register and further the register is adapted to provide the received participant loyalty acceptance transactional information to the product or service provider system; and
b. the register is adapted to receive product or service provider loyalty offer transactional information from the product or service provider system and adapted to provide the received product or service provider loyalty offer transactional information to the register and the register includes instructions for receiving product or service provider loyalty offer transactional information from the register and for providing the received product or service provider loyalty offer transactional information to the participant,
whereby from the perspective of the participant, the participant uses the register to conduct a purchase transaction with the product or service provider system based in whole or in part on the points in the participant’s accepted loyalty offer account and from the perspective of the product or service provider system, the product or service provider system conducts the purchase transaction with the participant based on the program account.
17. A method for use by a participant of a program which awards loyalty offers to the participant, wherein the awarded loyalty offers are maintained in a loyalty offer account for the participant and the method permits the participant to transact a purchase using the awarded loyalty offer with a product or service provider system which transacts purchases in accordance with the loyalty offer.
18. A method according to claim 14 comprises the steps of:
a. providing an interface between the participant and the product or service provider system;
b. converting a loyalty offer from the product or service provider to an acceptance request from the participant, based in whole or in part on history of loyalty, into a corresponding acceptance of loyalty offer based on whether the panicipant’s loyalty account has sufficient loyalty credits to qualify for the loyalty offer; and
c. causing the acceptance of the loyalty offer to be deducted from the participant’s account in response to a purchase of product or service from the product or service provider;
whereby the amount of loyalty offers able to be accepted by a participant is limited due to time limitations andor value limitations.
19. A method according to claim 17 for permitting a participant to transact a purchase using awarded loyalty offers with a product or service provider system which transacts purchases in accepted loyalty offers and currency, the system comprising:
a. a loyalty program which awards or offers loyalty offers to a participant, wherein the awarded or offered loyalty offers are maintained in a loyalty offer account for the participant;
b. the loyalty program allowing trading of accepted loyalty offers to another participant, wherein the traded loyalty offers are maintained in a loyalty offer account for the another participant;
c. a register for interfacing with the product or service provider system;
d. a loyalty account for use in recording accepted and traded loyalty transactions;
e. a user interface for providing an interface between the participants and the register;
whereby a participant can purchase a product or service from the product or service provider using awarded, accepted or traded accepted loyalty offers and currency.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A rolling stock having a car body formed by joining a cab end structure having a streamlined shape and an end structure respectively to opposite ends of an underframe, side structures, and a roof structure,
the rolling stock comprising:
an upper reinforcement beam provided in a railroad-tie direction between joint portions of an upper end portion of the cab end structure and upper end portions of the side structures; and
post members coupling the upper reinforcement beam and an end beam of the underframe, wherein
each of the post members includes: a lower post portion having a lower end joined to a reinforcement post provided on the end beam; an upper post portion having a rear end joined to the upper reinforcement beam; and a window opening post portion provided between an upper end portion of the lower post portion and a lower end portion of the upper post portion in an inclined manner to conform to an inclination of a front window provided in the cab end structure,
the reinforcement post and the lower post portion are formed from plate materials having the same thickness,
the window opening post portion is formed by laminating two plate materials having the same thickness as that of the reinforcement post and the lower post portion, and
the window opening post portion is formed to have a smaller width dimension in a rail direction than a width dimension of the lower post portion in the rail direction.
2. The rolling stock according to claim 1, wherein
each post member is formed from a solid member.
3. The rolling stock according to claim 2, wherein
the cab end structure is provided with a driver’s cabin in a center portion in a width direction of the car body, and is provided with a pair of corner posts respectively in opposite end portions in the width direction of the car body, and
the post members are a pair of end posts provided in opposite side portions of the driver’s cabin, and on inner sides of the car body relative to the corner posts.
4. The rolling stock according to claim 3, wherein
each post member has a lower end portion joined to a front face of the end beam and has an upper end portion joined to a front face of the upper reinforcement beam.
5. The rolling stock according to claim 1, wherein
the cab end structure is provided with a driver’s cabin in a center portion in a width direction of the car body, and is provided with a pair of corner posts respectively in opposite end portions in the width direction of the car body, and
the post members are a pair of end posts provided in opposite side portions of the driver’s cabin, and on inner sides of the car body relative to the corner posts.
6. The rolling stock according to claim 2, wherein
each post member has a lower end portion joined to a front face of the end beam and has an upper end portion joined to a front face of the upper reinforcement beam.
7. The rolling stock according to claim 5, wherein
each post member has a lower end portion joined to a front face of the end beam and has an upper end portion joined to a front face of the upper reinforcement beam.
8. The rolling stock according to claim 1, wherein
each post member has a lower end portion joined to a front face of the end beam and has an upper end portion joined to a front face of the upper reinforcement beam.