Device and method of calculating a residual value of an apparatus based on a history of use of the apparatus as well as an electrical apparatus including the device

A residual value calculating device for calculating a residual value of an electrical apparatus, comprising:

• a detecting circuit for detecting a state of said electrical apparatus, and for issuing an electrical signal corresponding to the detected state;
• a determining circuit, connected to said detecting circuit, for determining a history of use of said electrical apparatus based on the electrical signal sent from said detecting circuit;
• a calculating circuit, connected to said determining circuit, for calculating the residual value remaining in said electrical apparatus based on the determined history of use of said electrical apparatus;
• an output circuit, connected to said calculating circuit, for outputting the calculated residual value;
• and
• a storage circuit, connected to said calculating circuit, for distinguishing parts forming the electrical apparatus based on patterns of variations of residual values during an elapsed time, and for storing said patterns of variations of residual values and the distinguished parts forming the electrical apparatus based thereon, wherein said calculating circuit includes a circuit, connected to said determining circuit and said storage circuit, for integrating values remaining in the respective parts forming said electrical apparatus based on the history of use determined using said determining circuit and the patterns of variations of the residual values stored in said storage circuit, and for calculating the residual value remaining in said electrical apparatus.

A history storing device for storing a history of use of an electrical apparatus, comprising:

• means for detecting a state of said electrical apparatus, and issuing an electrical signal corresponding to the detected state, wherein
• said detecting means includes means for detecting an elapsed time from at least one of the date of manufacture of said electrical apparatus and the date of first use of said electrical apparatus, and for issuing an electrical signal corresponding to the detected elapsed time;
• means, connected to said detecting means, for determining a history of use of said electrical apparatus based on the electrical signal sent from said detecting means;
• and
• storage means, connected to said determining means, for storing the determined history.

A residual value calculating device for calculating a residual value of an electrical apparatus, comprising:

• means for detecting a state of said electrical apparatus, and for issuing an electrical signal corresponding to the detected state;
• means, connected to said detecting means, for determining a history of use of said electrical apparatus based on the electrical signal sent from said detecting means;
• means, connected to said detecting means, for storing the determined history of use;
• means, connected to said determining means, for calculating the residual value remaining in said electrical apparatus based on the determined history of use;
• means, connected to said calculating means, for outputting the calculated residual value remaining in said electrical appliance;
• means, connected to said calculating means, for distinguishing parts forming the electrical apparatus based on patterns of variations of residual values during an elapsed time, and for storing said patterns of variations of residual values and the distinguished parts based thereon,
• wherein said calculating means includes means, connected to said determining means and said storage means, for integrating values remaining in the respective parts forming said electrical apparatus based on the history determined by said determining means and the patterns of variations of residual values stored in said storage means, and calculating the residual value remaining in said electrical apparatus.

A history storing method for storing a history of use of an electrical apparatus including a history storing device, said history storing device including a detecting circuit, a determining circuit, and a storage circuit, the method comprising the steps of:

• detecting a state of said electrical apparatus using said detecting circuit, and issuing an electrical signal corresponding to the detected state;
• wherein said step of issuing said electrical signal includes the sub-steps step of
• detecting an elapsed time from at least one of the date of manufacture of said electrical apparatus and the date of first use of said electrical apparatus, and
• issuing an electrical signal corresponding to the detected elapsed time;
• determining the history of use of said electrical apparatus based on said electrical signal using said determining circuit;
• and
• storing the history determined in said step of determining the history using said storage circuit.

A residual value calculating method of calculating a residual value remaining in an electrical apparatus including a residual value calculating device, said residual value calculating device including a detecting circuit, a determining circuit, a calculating circuit, a storage circuit, and an output circuit, the method comprising the steps of:

• detecting a state of said electrical apparatus using said detecting circuit, and issuing an electrical signal corresponding to the detected state;
• determining a history of use of said electrical apparatus based on said electrical signal using said determining circuit;
• calculating a residual value remaining in said electrical apparatus using said calculating circuit based on the history of use determined in said step of determining the history of use;
• outputting the residual value calculated in said step of calculating said residual value using said output circuit;
• and
• distinguishing parts forming the electrical apparatus based on patterns of variations of residual values with respect to time elapsing, and preparing said patterns of variations of residual values and the parts based thereon, wherein
• said step of calculating the residual value includes the step of integrating values remaining in the respective parts forming said electrical apparatus based on said history of use and said patterns of variations of residual values, and calculating the residual value remaining in said electrical apparatus.

A recording medium for recording in a computer-readable fashion a program achieving a history storing method of storing a history of use of an electrical apparatus including a history storing device, said history storing device including a detecting circuit, a determining circuit, and a storing circuit;

• and said recording medium having instructions to perform the following steps on a microprocessor:
• detecting a state of said electrical apparatus using said detecting circuit, and issuing an electrical signal corresponding to the detected state;
• wherein said step of issuing said electrical signal includes the sub-steps of
• detecting an elapsed time from at least one of the date of manufacture of said electrical apparatus and the date of first use of said electrical apparatus;
• and
• issuing an electrical signal corresponding to the detected elapsed time;
• determining the history of use of said electrical apparatus based on said electrical signal using said determining circuit;
• and
• storing the history of use determined in said step of determining the history of use using said storage circuit.

A recording medium for recording in a computer-readable fashion a program achieving a residual value calculating method of calculating a residual value remaining in an electrical apparatus including a residual value calculating device, said residual value calculating device including a detecting circuit, a determining circuit, a calculating circuit, a storage circuit, and an output circuit;

• and said recording medium having instructions to perform the following steps on a microprocessor:
• detecting a state of said electrical apparatus using said detecting circuit, and issuing an electrical signal corresponding to the detected state;
• wherein said step of issuing said electrical signal includes the sub-steps of:
• detecting an elapsed time from at least one of the date of manufacture of said electrical apparatus and the date of first use of said electrical apparatus, and
• issuing an electrical signal corresponding to the detected elapsed time;
• determining a history of use of said electrical apparatus based on said electrical signal using said determining circuit;
• calculating a residual value remaining in said electrical apparatus using said calculating circuit based on the history of use determined in said step of determining the history of use;
• and
• outputting the residual value calculated in said step of calculating the residual value using said output circuit.