Method and apparatus for the automation of rental procedures
First Claim
1. A method for the automation of rental procedures, the method comprising the steps of:
- in an on-line contract initiation phase between a user and a rental company;
remotely browsing resources of the rental company;
when it is established by the user that the rental company has a resource required for rental by the user, remotely checking availability of the required resource;
electronically transferring a rental agreement contract from the rental company to a user device for inspection by the user;
if following inspection the user agrees with the contract terms, then electronically signalling acceptance by the user;
at the resource location;
reading the contract from a hand-held user device and determining the state of fulfilment of the contract; and
when all necessary contract terms have been complied with by the user, releasing the rental resource to the user.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The invention concerns an apparatus and method for the automation of rental procedures. In one aspect of the invention, there is provided a method comprising the steps of: (1) in an on-line contract initiation phase between a user and a rental company (a) remotely browsing resources of the rental company; (b) when it is established by the user that the rental company has a resource required for rental by the user, remotely checking availability of the required resource; (c) electronically transferring a rental agreement contract from the rental company to a user device for inspection by the user; (d) if following inspection the user agrees with the contract terms, then electronically signalling acceptance by the user. Whilst (2) at the resource location there are performed the further steps of: (a) reading the contract from a hand-held user device and determining the state of fulfilment of the contract; and (b) when all necessary contract terms have been complied with by the user, releasing the rental resource to the user.
-
Citations
31 Claims
-
1. A method for the automation of rental procedures, the method comprising the steps of:
-
in an on-line contract initiation phase between a user and a rental company;
remotely browsing resources of the rental company;
when it is established by the user that the rental company has a resource required for rental by the user, remotely checking availability of the required resource;
electronically transferring a rental agreement contract from the rental company to a user device for inspection by the user;
if following inspection the user agrees with the contract terms, then electronically signalling acceptance by the user;
at the resource location;
reading the contract from a hand-held user device and determining the state of fulfilment of the contract; and
when all necessary contract terms have been complied with by the user, releasing the rental resource to the user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. An apparatus for the automation of rental procedures, the apparatus comprising a user device, an information server, a contract reader and a rental resource, wherein:
-
during an on-line contract initiation phase;
the user device is utilised by a user to browse resources of a rental company held on the information server;
when it is established that the rental company has a resource required for rental by the user, remotely checking availability of the required resource;
electronically transferring a rental agreement contract from the information server to the user device for inspection by the user;
if following inspection the user agrees with the contract terms, then signalling acceptance by the user from the user device; and
at the resource location;
using a contract reader, reading the contract from a hand-held user device and determining the state of fulfilment of the contract; and
when all necessary contract terms have been complied with by the user, releasing the rental resource to the user. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
-
21. An apparatus for the automation of rental procedures, the apparatus comprising:
-
a user device at a user location, the user device comprising a controller, memory, input/output interface for interaction with the user and a communications interface;
an information server held by or on behalf of a rental company at a location remote from the user, the information server comprising a controller, a communications interface and a database, the database being arranged for storing details regarding;
(I) rental resources normally available for rental from the rental company;
(II) details concerning their availability for rental on particular dates; and
(III) rental agreements;
a contract reader at the location of a rental resource arranged to read a contract from a portable device and dependent upon the read contract release the rental resource to the contract bearer;
wherein;
under control of the controller of the user device, the input/output interface and communications interface of the user device respectively facilitate the input of user selection criteria and the remote browsing for rental resources held by the rental company, details of which are contained in the database of the information server;
under control of the controller of the information server, the communications interface of the information server is arranged to support user browsing of details of the rental resources contained on the database and to provide such details, including details as to the availability of particular rental resources on particular dates, to the user device and, where requested, to submit a rental agreement relating to user rental of the rental resource to the user device; and
, if the terms of said rental agreement are acceptable to the user, the user device is arranged to electronically signal acceptance to the information server and comply with requested contract terms in the rental agreement, the state of fulfilment of the contract terms of said rental agreement being transmitted to the user device from the information server; and
, at the rental resource location, presentation of a portable device containing details of the rental agreement and the state of fulfilment of the contract terms of said rental agreement to the contract reader enables reading of said agreement and fulfilment state by said contract reader and, when all necessary contract terms have been complied with by the user, the contract reader is arranged to authorise the release of said rental resource to the user. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
-
Specification