Weigh scale certification system and associated method

• US 10,460,380 B2
• Filed: 10/25/2017
• Issued: 10/29/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/16/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cat Scale Company
• Original Assignee: Cat Scale Company
• Inventors: Ruud, Eric, Cone, Doyle
• Primary Examiner(s): Ebersman, Bruce I
• Assistant Examiner(s): Anderson, John A
• Application Number:
  US15/793,558
• Publication Number:
  US 20180060952A1
• Time in Patent Office: 734 Days
• Field of Search: 705 35- 39
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/26 Government or public services business processes related to the transportation industry G06Q50/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 90/00 Systems or methods specially adapted for administrative, commercial, financial, managerial or supervisory purposes, not involving significant data processing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/40 for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P]

Abstract

A method and system for remotely exchanging weighment information via a wireless device, such as a cell phone, pertaining to a vehicle, such as truck, at a vehicle weight station. The system and method may include determining a present location of a vehicle to be weighed, verifying identification information of the vehicle to be weighed and receiving a vehicle weight from a server remote from the wireless device. The system and method may also include exchanging payment information between one or more servers and a wireless device.

Claims

1. An improved method of weighing a vehicle, the method comprising:

driving a vehicle having at least two axles onto at least two weight scales, each weight scale having a scale platform and receiving at least one axle of the vehicle, the scale platforms each having a separate communications device;

wherein driving the vehicle onto the scale platforms results in at least one axle resting on each scale platform;

communicating from the communications devices of the scale platforms that the at least one axle of the vehicle are on the scale platform;

providing notification whether the vehicle is being weighed or reweighed, whereby in response to the vehicle being reweighed, the vehicle is eligible for a discounted cost of the weighing;

communicating from the communications devices the vehicle identifying information to place a weighment request;

communicating from the communications device to a communications device on each weight scale to authorize the weighment request,

determining a weighment of the vehicle by the communications devices from weight of the vehicle located on the scale platforms; and

providing notification of the weighment through a communications device once the determining step is complete;

the improvement comprising;

obtaining GPS coordinates of the vehicle through an application on a wireless device;

correlating through the application the GPS coordinates of the vehicle with weight scale locations stored in a memory of the wireless device, whereby the wireless device displays the weight scale location associated with the GPS coordinates;

determining through stored information in the wireless device whether the vehicle is eligible for a discounted weighment, in which case if it is the wireless device automatically populates vehicle identifying information into the application, and in which case if it is not vehicle identifying information is inputted into the application;

communicating vehicle identifying information from the application to the weight scale to place a weighment request;

communicating from the communications devices of the scale platforms that a vehicle on the weight scale needs to be verified for proper placement on the scale platform of each of the at least two weight scales, wherein verification of proper placement on the scale platforms is entered into the weight scale;

replying from the communications devices of the weight scale to a scales server containing a weighment type and providing appropriate weighment fee;

relaying the appropriate weighment fee from the scales server containing a weighment type to the wireless device, whereby a user accepts or rejects the weighment fee on the application;

sending an authorization request from the wireless device to the scales server once the weighment fee has been accepted, whereby the scale server then relays, through a communications network, the authorization request to a credit authorization server to process payment of the weighment fee using payment data provided to the application;

relaying weighment data from the application to a web server once the authorization request is accepted, whereby the scale server then forwards the weighment data to the weight scale; and

relaying weighment data from the weight scale to the web server, whereby a host server stores and archives the weighment data and relays the weighment data to the application for display on the wireless device.

2. The method of claim 1 further including the step of the user selecting an appropriate icon representing the application on a display of the wireless device.

3. The method of claim 1 further including the step of displaying a location number and/or location information of the weight scale location on a display of the wireless device.

4. The method of claim 1 further including the step of the user verifying the weight scale location by activating an ACCEPT icon or button shown on a display of the wireless device.

5. The method of claim 1 further including the step of the user rejecting the weight scale location in the event the weight scale location is not correct.

6. The method of claim 5 whereby the user rejects the weight scale location by entering a correct scale location code into the wireless device.

7. The method of claim 1 further including the step of the weight scale double checking to verify that the vehicle is not eligible for a reweigh.

8. The method of claim 7 further including the step of relaying from the scale a corrected fee to the wireless device if the vehicle is eligible for reweigh.

9. The method of claim 1 further including the step of the application offering the user an option of requesting a printed weigh ticket.

10. The method of claim 1 further including the step of storing weighment history of the vehicle for at least 30 days.

11. The method of claim 1 whereby the determining reweigh step comprises determining whether the vehicle has the same company name, tractor number, and trailer number from a previous weigh within a 24 hour time span.

12. The method of claim 1 further including the step of e-mailing the weighment information to a new contact.

13. The method of claim 1 further including the step of e-mailing the weighment information is e-mailed to one or more recipients from the user'"'"'s e-mail contacts stored in the wireless device.

14. The method of claim 1 further including the step of e-mailing the weighment information to one or more recipients.