# US 2010/0169353 A1 · System and methods for unit of measurement conversion and search query expansion > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2010/0169353 A1 - Document ID: US20100169353A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 12/347,651 - Filed: 2008-12-31 - Published: 2010-07-01 - Earliest claimed: 2008-12-31 - Assignees: eBay Inc. - Inventors: Benny Soetarman - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20100169353A1 ## CPC - G06F 16/951: Indexing; Web crawling techniques - G06F 16/9538: Presentation of query results - G06Q 30/0603: {Catalogue creation or management} - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) - G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR ## Abstract A system and methods for unit of measurement conversion and search query expansion are described. The search query expansion may include identifying an initial unit of measurement associated with a property and an initial numeric value for the initial unit of measurement within a search query, automatically forming an expanded search query by expanding the search query to include at least one related unit of measurement associated with the property, and sending the expanded search query to a search engine to search a database. Other embodiments are described and claimed. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A computer-implemented method comprising: identifying an initial unit of measurement associated with a property and an initial numeric value for the initial unit of measurement within a search query; automatically forming an expanded search query by expanding the search query to include at least one related unit of measurement associated with the property; and sending the expanded search query to a search engine to search a database. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one related unit of measurement comprises an alias of the initial unit of measurement. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein the alias comprises at least one of a contracted form of the initial unit of measurement, a full name of the initial unit of measurement, a language translation of the initial unit of measurement, and an alternate spelling of the initial unit of measurement. ### Claim 4 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, further comprising associating the alias and the initial numeric value for inclusion within the expanded search query. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one related unit of measurement comprises a different unit of measurement associated with the property of the initial unit of measurement. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The method of claim 5, wherein the different unit of measurement is determined in response to receiving at least one of the initial unit of measurement, an alias of the initial unit of measurement, and an identifier associated with the initial unit of measurement. ### Claim 7 (depends on 5) The method of claim 5, wherein the initial unit of measurement and the at least one related unit of measurement are defined by a common unit of measurement system. ### Claim 8 (depends on 5) The method of claim 5, wherein the initial unit of measurement and the at least one related unit of measurement are defined by different unit of measurement systems. ### Claim 9 (depends on 5) The method of claim 5, further comprising: mathematically converting the initial numeric value for the initial unit of measurement into a converted numeric value for the at least one related unit of measurement; and expanding the search query according to the converted numeric value. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, further comprising: calculating an exact value for unit conversion; and mathematically rounding the exact value. ### Claim 11 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, further comprising: calculating a numeric value range comprising the converted numeric value; and expanding the search query according to the numeric value range. ### Claim 12 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, further comprising: determining an alias of the at least one related unit of measurement; and associating the alias and the converted numeric value for inclusion within the expanded search query. ### Claim 13 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, further comprising: identifying at least one other search term within the search query other than the initial unit of measurement and the initial numeric value; determining an alias of the at least one other search term; and including the alias in the expanded search query. ### Claim 14 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein the alias comprises a translation of the at least one other search term in another language. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving search results from the search engine to display on a user interface presented by a computer. ### Claim 16 A system comprising: a computing device to identify an initial unit of measurement associated with a property and an initial numeric value for the initial unit of measurement within a search query, automatically form an expanded search query by expanding the search query to include at least one related unit of measurement associated with the property, and send the expanded search query to a search engine to search a database. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The system of claim 16, wherein the computing device mathematically converts the initial numeric value for the initial unit of measurement into a converted numeric value for the at least one related unit of measurement. ### Claim 18 (depends on 16) The system of claim 16, further comprising the search engine. ### Claim 19 A computer-readable storage medium comprising executable computer program instructions that when executed enable a computing system to: identify an initial unit of measurement associated with a property and an initial numeric value for the initial unit of measurement within a search query; automatically form an expanded search query by expanding the search query to include at least one related unit of measurement associated with the property; and send the expanded search query to a search engine to search a database. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The computer-readable storage medium of claim 19 comprising executable computer program instructions that when executed enable the computing system to mathematically convert the initial numeric value for the initial unit of measurement into a converted numeric value for the at least one related unit of measurement.