Transparent fuel dispenser

• US 10,346,015 B2
• Filed: 03/31/2017
• Issued: 07/09/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 05/27/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Wayne Fueling Systems LLC (Dover Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Wayne Fueling Systems LLC (Dover Corporation)
• Inventors: Martensson, Mattias G., Larsson, Bengt I., Gustafsson, Gustaf, Kjellberg, Henrik
• Primary Examiner(s): Brahmachari, Mandrita
• Application Number:
  US15/476,218
• Publication Number:
  US 20170344233A1
• Time in Patent Office: 830 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B67D 2007/044 Customer interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: B67D 2007/0442 interface for orders and payments
• CPC Class Codes: B67D 7/04 for transferring fuels, lubricants or mixed fuels and lubricants
• CPC Class Codes: B67D 7/14 responsive to input of recorded programmed information, e.g. on punched cards
• CPC Class Codes: B67D 7/145 by wireless communication means, e.g. RF, transponders or the like
• CPC Class Codes: B67D 7/22 Arrangements of indicators or registers indicating or recording in fluid meters G01F15/06
• CPC Class Codes: B67D 7/228 using digital counting
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/32 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/84 output devices, e.g. displays or monitors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04108 Touchless 2D- digitiser, i.e. digitiser detecting the X/Y position of the input means, finger or stylus, also when it does not touch, but is proximate to the digitiser's interaction surface without distance measurement in the Z direction
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04804 Transparency, e.g. transparent or translucent windows
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04845 for image manipulation, e.g. dragging, rotation, expansion or change of colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/145 Payments according to the detected use or quantity
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/18 involving self-service terminals [SST], vending machines, kiosks or multimedia terminals
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0233 Method of redeeming a frequent usage reward
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/20 in augmented reality scenes
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/52 Surveillance or monitoring of activities, e.g. for recognising suspicious objects recognising microscopic objects G06V20/69
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/10 : Human or animal bodies, e.g. vehicle occupants or pedestrians; Body parts, e.g. hands
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/168 : Feature extraction; Face representation
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/172 : Classification, e.g. identification
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/28 : Recognition of hand or arm movements, e.g. recognition of deaf sign language static hand signs G06V40/113
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 13/025 : wherein the volume is determined during delivery
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0861 : using biometrical features, e.g. fingerprint, retina-scan cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication using biological data H04L9/3231
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3231 : Biological data, e.g. fingerprint, voice or retina network architectures or network communication protocols for supporting authentication of entities using biometrical features in a packet data network H04L63/0861

Abstract

In general, transparent fuel dispensers are provided, and in particular methods and devices are provided for increasing visibility on a fuel dispensing device. In one embodiment a fuel dispenser is provided having a display that is at least partially transparent at least during certain modes of operation. The display can display information on portions thereof during certain modes of operation as well.

Claims

1. A fuel dispenser, comprising:

a housing having fuel dispensing components disposed therein;

a control system in the housing for controlling the dispensing of fuel;

a graphical display located on the housing, the graphical display comprises a front graphical display on a front side of the housing, and the graphical display having

a transparent mode in which at least a portion of the display is transparent to allow viewing from a front of the housing, through the display, to outside a rear of the housing, and

a media mode in which graphical information is present on the display and is visual to a user; and

a rear graphical display on a back side of the housing configured to be transparent simultaneously with the front graphical display being in the transparent mode to allow an unobstructed view through the front and rear graphical displays.

2. The fuel dispenser of claim 1, wherein the graphical display is configured to transition between the transparent mode and the media mode in response to a trigger.

3. The fuel dispenser of claim 2, wherein the trigger comprises a touch screen on the graphical display that, when touched, causes the graphical display to transition from the transparent mode to the media mode.

4. The fuel dispenser of claim 2, wherein the trigger comprises a fixed amount of time after a last interaction between a customer and the fuel dispenser that, when activated, causes the graphical display to transition from the media mode to the transparent mode.

5. The fuel dispenser of claim 2, wherein the trigger is selected from a button on the fuel dispenser, a switch on the fuel dispenser, a keyboard on the fuel dispenser, a motion sensor, a pressure sensor, a sound sensor, a video camera, and a payment device on the fuel dispenser that, when touched, causes the graphical display to transition from the transparent mode to the media mode.

6. The fuel dispenser of claim 1, wherein a curtain is located in the housing and is configured to extend behind the graphical display in the media mode and retract in the transparent mode.

7. The fuel dispenser of claim 1, further comprising a biometrics reader;

and

a processor configured to receive biometrics data from the biometrics reader, configured to determine identity information of a customer using the biometrics data, and configured to cause the fuel dispenser to perform an action using the identity information.

8. The fuel dispenser of claim 7, wherein the biometrics reader is configured to read at least one of a fingerprint, an eye pattern verification, a palm print, DNA, hand geometry, and vein pattern.

9. The fuel dispenser of claim 7, wherein the processor is configured to cause the biometrics data to be transmitted to a remote database for determining whether the biometrics data matches a customer identity.

10. The fuel dispenser of claim 7, wherein the processor is configured to determine whether the biometrics data matches a customer identity.

11. The fuel dispenser of claim 7, wherein, based on the determined identity information of the customer, a characteristic of the customer including at least one of age, height, gender, and disability status is identified.

12. The fuel dispenser of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured to dynamically reconfigure at least one graphical user interface (GUI) element in the graphical display, the GUI element having at least one of a reconfigured location and a reconfigured size determined using the determined characteristic of the customer.

13. The fuel dispenser of claim 7, wherein the processor is configured to provide the determined identity information of the customer to a remote processor for determining the customer'"'"'s identity that includes a name or unique identifier.

14. The fuel dispenser of claim 1, wherein the graphical display in the transparent mode also allows viewing from the rear of the housing, through the display, to outside the front of the housing.

15. A fuel dispenser for dispensing fuel to a vehicle, comprising:

a housing having a mechanical base portion including at least one fuel dispensing component; and

an electronic head including

a processor configured to control the at least one fuel dispensing component,

a front graphical display mounted on a front side of the housing, and

a rear graphical display mounted on a rear side of the housing, the front and rear graphical displays being configured to selectively display media, and being configured to be simultaneously transparent to allow viewing from a front of the housing, through the front graphical display and the rear graphical display, to a rear of the housing.

16. The fuel dispenser of claim 15, wherein the media is displayed on a portion of the front and rear graphical displays and a portion of the front and rear graphical displays are transparent.

17. The fuel dispenser of claim 15, further comprising a trigger configured to cause the front and rear graphical displays to become transparent.

18. The fuel dispenser of claim 15, further comprising at least one curtain in the electronic head and configured to prevent viewing from the front of the housing, through the front graphical display and the rear graphical display, to the rear of the housing when the front and rear graphical displays are displaying media, and configured to allow viewing from the front of the housing, through the front graphical display and the rear graphical display, to the rear of the housing when the front and rear graphical displays are simultaneously transparent.

19. The fuel dispenser of claim 15, wherein, with the front and rear graphical displays simultaneously transparent, the view is unobstructed from outside the front side of the housing to outside the rear side of the housing.

20. A method of interacting with a fuel dispenser display, comprising:

activating a fuel dispenser to cause a graphical display on the fuel dispenser to display media, and to cause the fuel dispenser to dispense fuel, the graphical display being transparent, when no media is being displayed, to allow viewing from outside a front side of the dispenser, through the dispenser, to outside a rear side of the dispenser;

wherein the graphical display comprises a front graphical display on a front side of the housing, and wherein a rear graphical display on a back side of the housing is configured to be transparent simultaneously with the front graphical display being transparent to allow an unobstructed view through the front and rear graphical displays.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein activating the fuel dispenser includes activating a trigger to cause the graphical display to display media.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein activating the trigger includes touching a touch screen.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein the trigger is selected from a button on the fuel dispenser, a switch on the fuel dispenser, a keyboard on the fuel dispenser, a motion sensor, a pressure sensor, a sound sensor, a video camera, and a payment device on the fuel dispenser.

24. The method of claim 20, wherein activating the fuel dispenser includes activating a trigger including waiting a fixed amount of time after a last interaction between a customer and the fuel dispenser that, when activated, causes the graphical display to become transparent.

25. The method of claim 20, wherein activating the fuel dispenser also activates a curtain that blocks a back of the graphical display when displaying media, the curtain configured to retract into the fuel dispenser when the graphical display is transparent.

26. The method of claim 20, wherein the view is unobstructed from outside the front side of the dispenser, through the dispenser, to outside the rear side of the dispenser.