VIN scan recall notification

• US 10,325,420 B1
• Filed: 03/09/2017
• Issued: 06/18/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/10/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: United Services Automobile Association
• Original Assignee: United Services Automobile Association
• Inventors: Moon, Dexter
• Primary Examiner(s): Black, Thomas G
• Assistant Examiner(s): Louie, Wae L
• Application Number:
  US15/454,895
• Time in Patent Office: 831 Days
• Field of Search: 701 296
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 17/00 Testing of vehicles testing fluid tightness G01M3/00; testing elastic properties of bodies or chassis, e.g. torsion-testing, G01M5/00; testing alignment of vehicle headlight devices G01M11/06; testing of engines G01M15/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0044 by providing the operator with a computer generated representation of the environment of the vehicle, e.g. virtual reality, maps maps used for automatic navigation G05D1/0274; flight directors G01C23/005
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0088 characterized by the autonomous decision making process, e.g. artificial intelligence, predefined behaviours using knowledge based models G06N5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1095 Meeting or appointment
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/006 Indicating maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/08 Registering or indicating performance data other than driving, working, idle, or waiting time, with or without registering driving, working, idle or waiting time
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/024 Guidance services

Abstract

A system and method are disclosed for helping a user determine whether a vehicle is subject to a safety recall and assisting the user with addressing incomplete safety recalls. A vehicle identification number (VIN) may be extracted from an image of a vehicle captured by a user electronic device and used to request safety recall information from a remote information system, which may provide a list of recalls associated with the vehicle. A list of nearby service centers may be identified based on the physical location of the user electronic device, and service appointments to address any incomplete recalls may be scheduled, either automatically or in response to user input.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a memory; and

a processor in communication with the memory, the processor configured to;

receive an image of a vehicle from a remote user device, the image comprising a vehicle identification number (VIN);

extract the VIN from the image of the vehicle and decode the VIN to determine corresponding vehicle information;

transmit the extracted VIN and corresponding vehicle information to the remote user device;

generate a recall query, in response to a recall request received from the remote user device, requesting safety recall information associated with the vehicle, and submitting the query to a remote information system;

in response to a response to the query that is received from the remote information system;

determine a recall associated with the vehicle;

determine a repair status of the vehicle relative to the recall;

generate a recall history including the repair status of the vehicle based on the determination of the repair status of relative to the recall; and

transmit the recall history report to the remote user device for presentation to a user.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the response to the query comprises a list of one or more recall campaigns associated with the vehicle, a recall campaign number, a list of effected components, or a descriptive summary for each recall campaign on the list.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine, for each recall campaign on the list of one or more recall campaigns associated with the vehicle, whether the vehicle has been repaired; and

indicate a repair status of the vehicle in the recall history based on the determination.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive, from the remote user device, a user selection of a recall campaign identified in the recall history for which a service appointment is desired, and in response to the user selection of the recall campaign automatically;

determine a physical location of the remote user device;

identify service centers that are within a certain distance of the physical location of the remote user device; and

transmit a list of identified service centers to the remote user device for presentation to the user;

receive, from the remote user device, a user selection of a particular service center from the list of identified service centers, and in response to the user selection of the particular service center automatically;

identify a service center system associated with the particular service center that was selected;

submit a service appointment availability request to the associated service center system; and

transmit a list of available service appointments to the remote user device for presentation to the user, the list of available service appointments being generated based on service appointment scheduling information received from the associated service center system in response to the service appointment availability request and comprising selectable links for scheduling each of the available service appointments; and

receive, from the remote user device, a user selection of a particular selectable link from the list of available service appointments, and in response to the user selection of the particular selectable link automatically;

schedule a particular service appointment corresponding to the link with the particular service center using the associated service center system; and

transmit an appointment scheduling confirmation message to the remote user device for presentation to the user.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein the processor is configured to:

for each recall campaign identified in the recall history in need of repair, automatically;

determine a physical location of the remote user device;

identify service centers that are within a certain distance of the physical location of the remote user device;

identify one or more service center systems associated with each of the identified service centers;

submit one or more service appointment availability requests to the one or more service center systems; and

transmit a list of available service appointments to the remote user device for presentation to the user, the list of available service appointments being generated based on service appointment scheduling information received from the one or more service center systems in response to the one or more service appointment availability requests and comprising selectable links for scheduling each of the available service appointments; and

receive, from the remote user device, a user selection of a particular selectable link from the list of available service appointments, and in response to the user selection of the particular selectable link automatically;

schedule a particular service appointment corresponding to the link with a particular service center using a particular associated service center system; and

transmit an appointment scheduling confirmation message to the remote user device for presentation to the user.

6. The system of claim 3, wherein the processor is configured to:

for each recall campaign identified in the recall history in need of repair, automatically;

determine a physical location of the remote user device;

identify service centers that are within a certain distance of the physical location of the remote user device;

identify one or more service center systems associated with each of the identified service centers;

submit one or more service appointment availability requests to the one or more service center systems;

select a particular service appointment from a list of available service appointments generated based on service appointment scheduling information received from the one or more service center systems in response to the one or more service appointment availability requests;

schedule the particular service appointment with a particular service center using a particular associated service center system; and

transmit an appointment scheduling confirmation message to the remote user device for presentation to the user.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive, from the remote user device, an appointment cancellation request responsive to the appointment scheduling confirmation; and

cancel the particular service appointment with the particular service center using the particular associated service center system.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the processor is configured to automatically select an earliest service appointment based on a comparison of a current time to the service appointment scheduling information received from the one or more service center systems.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein the processor is configured to automatically select a most convenient service appointment based on a comparison of a user calendar to the service appointment scheduling information received from the one or more service center systems.

10. The system of claim 6, wherein the processor is configured to automatically select the particular service appointment based on a determination that the user has visited the particular service center on a prior service appointment.

11. A system comprising:

an interactive display;

a memory; and

a processor in communication with the memory, the processor configured to;

capture an image of a vehicle comprising a vehicle identification number (VIN);

extract the VIN from the image of the vehicle and decode the VIN to determine corresponding vehicle information;

generate a recall query using the extracted VIN and corresponding vehicle information and submit the query to a remote information system;

in response to a response to the query that is received from the remote information system;

determine a recall associated with the vehicle;

determine a repair status of the vehicle relative to the recall; and

generate a recall history including the repair status of the vehicle based on the determination of the repair status of the vehicle relative to the recall; and

present the recall history to a user via the interactive display.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the response to the query comprises a list of one or more recall campaigns associated with the vehicle, a recall campaign number, a list of effected components, or a descriptive summary for each recall campaign on the list.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine, for each recall campaign on the list of one or more recall campaigns associated with the vehicle, whether the vehicle has been repaired; and

indicate a repair status of the vehicle in the recall history based on the determination.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive, via the interactive display, a user selection of a recall campaign identified in the recall history for which a service appointment is desired, and in response to the user selection of the recall campaign automatically;

determine a physical location of the system;

identify service centers that are within a certain distance of the physical location of the system; and

present a list of identified service centers to the user via the interactive display;

receive, via the interactive display, a user selection of a particular service center from the list of identified service centers, and in response to the user selection of the particular service center automatically;

identify a service center system associated with the particular service center that was selected;

submit a service appointment availability request to the associated service center system; and

present a list of available service appointments to the user via the interactive display, the list of available service appointments being generated based on service appointment scheduling information received from the associated service center system in response to the service appointment availability request and comprising selectable links for scheduling each of the available service appointments; and

receive, via the interactive display, a user selection of a particular selectable link from the list of available service appointments, and in response to the user selection of the particular selectable link automatically;

schedule a particular service appointment corresponding to the link with the particular service center using the associated service center system; and

present an appointment scheduling confirmation message to the user via the interactive display.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the processor is configured to:

for each recall campaign identified in the recall history that has not been repaired, automatically;

determine a physical location of the system;

identify service centers that are within a certain distance of the physical location of the system;

identify one or more service center systems associated with each of the identified service centers;

submit one or more service appointment availability requests to the one or more service center systems; and

present a list of available service appointments to the user via the interactive display, the list of available service appointments being generated based on service appointment scheduling information received from the one or more service center systems in response to the one or more service appointment availability requests and comprising selectable links for scheduling each of the available service appointments; and

receive, via the interactive display, a user selection of a particular selectable link from the list of available service appointments, and in response to the user selection of the particular selectable link automatically;

schedule a particular service appointment corresponding to the link with a particular service center using a particular associated service center system; and

present an appointment scheduling confirmation message to the user via the interactive display.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the processor is configured to:

for each recall campaign identified in the recall history in need of repair, automatically;

determine a physical location of the system;

identify service centers that are within a certain distance of the physical location of the system;

identify one or more service center systems associated with each of the identified service centers;

submit one or more service appointment availability requests to the one or more service center systems;

select a particular service appointment from a list of available service appointments generated based on service appointment scheduling information received from the one or more service center systems in response to the one or more service appointment availability requests;

schedule the particular service appointment with a particular service center using a particular associated service center system; and

present an appointment scheduling confirmation message to the user via the interactive display.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive, via the interactive display, an appointment cancellation request responsive to the appointment scheduling confirmation; and

cancel the particular service appointment with the particular service center using the particular associated service center system.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the processor is configured to automatically select a most convenient service appointment based on a comparison of a user calendar to the service appointment scheduling information received from the one or more service center systems.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein the processor is configured to automatically select the particular service appointment from the list of available service appointments based on a determination that the user has visited the particular service center on a prior service appointment.

20. A system comprising:

a memory; and

a processor in communication with the memory, the processor configured to;

receive an image of a vehicle from a remote user device, the image comprising a vehicle identification number (VIN);

extract the VIN from the image of the vehicle and decode the VIN to determine corresponding vehicle information;

transmit the extracted VIN and corresponding vehicle information to the remote user device;

generate a recall query, in response to a recall request received from the remote user device, requesting safety recall information associated with the vehicle, and submitting the recall query to a remote information system;

in response to a response to the query that is received from the remote information system generate a recall history including a recall repair history for the vehicle; and

transmit the recall history to the remote user device for presentation to a user; and

wherein the processor is further configured to;

receive, via an interactive display, a user selection of a recall campaign identified in the recall history for which a service appointment is desired, and in response to the user selection of the recall campaign automatically;

determine a physical location of the system;

identify service centers that are within a certain distance of the physical location of the system; and

present a list of identified service centers to the user via the interactive display;

receive, via the interactive display, a user selection of a particular service center from the list of identified service centers, and in response to the user selection of the particular service center automatically;

identify a service center system associated with the particular service center that was selected;

schedule a particular service appointment with the particular service center via an associated service center system; and

present an appointment scheduling confirmation message to the user via the interactive display.