Motor vehicle data collection system
First Claim
1. A method of preventing revenue theft in a motor vehicle service business comprising:
- detecting, as an event, the presence of a motor vehicle in a motor vehicle service bay;
recording the event of the presence of said motor vehicle in said motor vehicle service bay;
time-stamping the recorded event of the presence of said motor vehicle in said motor vehicle service bay;
comparing the time-stamped recorded events against a corresponding set of time-stamped invoices; and
determining if there are any discrepancies between the time-stamped recorded events and the time-stamped invoices.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for use in motor vehicle service facilities that deters theft of services. A motor vehicle is detected through the use of a cooperating pair of pressure sensors. The pressure sensors are positioned such that the tires of the motor vehicle roll over the pressure sensors as the motor vehicle enters a bay area for service work. A camera situated in the bay area is coupled with the sensors and takes a time-stamped photo of any motor vehicle that triggers the sensors. In order to reduce the number of false positive triggering events, the camera will only take a photo if both sensors are triggered within a predetermined time of one another. The photos are time-stamped and archived for later auditing purposes. The photos are used in conjunction with invoice data for services provided. A computer system reconciles the number of invoices against the number of photos. If a discrepancy is found, a comparison is made between the time-stamp on the invoices and the time-stamp on the photos. Photos without corresponding invoices are flagged for further investigation.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method of preventing revenue theft in a motor vehicle service business comprising:
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detecting, as an event, the presence of a motor vehicle in a motor vehicle service bay;
recording the event of the presence of said motor vehicle in said motor vehicle service bay;
time-stamping the recorded event of the presence of said motor vehicle in said motor vehicle service bay;
comparing the time-stamped recorded events against a corresponding set of time-stamped invoices; and
determining if there are any discrepancies between the time-stamped recorded events and the time-stamped invoices. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A system for preventing revenue theft in a motor vehicle service business comprising:
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a physical detection subsystem that detects the presence of a motor vehicle in a service bay area;
an event recordation subsystem coupled with the physical detection subsystem that time-stamps and records the detection of a motor vehicle in a service bay area;
an invoice subsystem that generates time-stamped invoice data pertaining to motor vehicle services provided; and
a processing subsystem coupled with the event recordation subsystem and the invoice subsystem that compares data from the event recordation subsystem with data from the invoice subsystem in order to determine whether the number of motor vehicles recorded by the event recordation subsystem matches the number of invoices generated by the invoice subsystem. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification