Vehicular Data Exchange System And Method Therefor

• US 20070130052A1
• Filed: 01/19/2007
• Published: 06/07/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/1997
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: VNS Corp. (Builders Firstsource Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: VNS Corp. (Builders Firstsource Incorporated)
• Inventors: Schaukowitch, Carl, Seretti, Harry
• Application Number:
  US11/625,067
• Publication Number:
  US 20070130052A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/37
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 Auctions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• 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

Abstract

The vehicular data exchange system of the present invention includes a plurality of computer terminals and a processor. Each of the computer terminals include an input device for inputting the vehicular data and a display device for visually displaying the inputted vehicular data which include vehicular characteristics data units and vehicular financial data units. The processor controls the vehicular data whereby the vehicular characteristics data units inputted into a first one of the computer terminals are transmitted to a plurality of other ones of the computer terminals for display on respective ones of the display devices associated with the other ones of the computer terminals. The processor also controls the vehicular data whereby vehicular financial data units inputted to at least a responding one of the other ones of the computer terminals in response to the vehicular characteristics data units displayed on the display device of the at least responding one of the other ones of the computer terminals are transmitted to the first one of the computer terminals for display on the display device associated with the first one of the computer terminals. A method of implementing the present invention is also described.

Claims

1. A method of exchanging vehicular data of a vehicle, comprising the steps of:

selecting any one of at least three computer terminals operative to transmit to each other and receive from one another the vehicular data for display on respective display devices associated with said terminals as a data inquiring computer terminal;

deeming the remaining ones of the at least three computer terminals as data responsive computer terminals;

receiving vehicular characteristics data units of the vehicle that have been input at any time into the data inquiring computer terminal for display on its display device;

processing the vehicular characteristics data units immediately after inputting the vehicular characteristics data units by transmitting the vehicular characteristics data units to the data responsive computer terminals for display thereon;

receiving vehicular financial data units that have been input into at least one of the data responsive computer terminals for display on its display device in response to the vehicular characteristics data received by the data responsive computer terminals; and

transmitting the vehicular financial data units immediately after inputting the vehicular financial data units to said inquiring computer terminal for display on the display device of said inquiring computer terminal.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the step of processing the vehicular characteristics data units includes selecting select ones of said plurality of said data responsive computer terminals to which the vehicular characteristics data units are transmitted.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein the vehicular characteristics data units include a make, a model and a year of the vehicle.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein the vehicular characteristics data units include a description of the vehicle.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein the vehicular financial data units of the vehicle include at least one of a bid price amount, an assessment price amount, a wholesale price amount, and a retail price amount.

6. A method according to claim 5, wherein the vehicular financial data units of the vehicle include identifying information identifying a source of each data responsive computer terminal transmitting the vehicular financial data units.

7. A method of exchanging vehicular data of a vehicle, comprising the steps of:

processing vehicular characteristics data units of the vehicle that have been input into a data inquiring computer terminal, by

selecting select ones of a plurality of data responsive computer terminals to which the vehicular characteristics data units are to be transmitted, and

transmitting the vehicular characteristics data units to the selected responsive computer terminals for display thereon;

receiving vehicular financial data units that have been input into at least one of the plurality of data responsive computer terminals in response to the vehicular characteristics data received by the responsive computer terminals;

transmitting the vehicular financial data units to said inquiring computer terminal for display on said inquiring computer terminal; and

repeating transmission of said vehicular characteristics data units to said select ones of said plurality of responding computer terminals until said select ones of the data responding computer terminals receive the vehicular characteristics data units.

8. A method according to claim 7, wherein the vehicular characteristics data units include a make, a model and a year of the vehicle.

9. A method according to claim 7, wherein the vehicular characteristics data units include a description of the vehicle.

10. A method according to claim 7, wherein the vehicular financial data units of the vehicle include at least one of a bid price amount, an assessment price amount, a wholesale price amount, and a retail price amount.

11. A method according to claim 10, wherein the vehicular financial data units of the vehicle include identifying information identifying a source of each responsive computer terminal transmitting the vehicular financial data units.

12. A method for exchanging vehicular data of a vehicle, comprising the steps of:

processing vehicular characteristics data units of the vehicle that have been input into a data inquiring computer terminal by transmitting the vehicular characteristics data units to a plurality of data responsive computer terminals for display thereon;

receiving vehicular financial data units that have been input into at least one of the plurality of data responsive computer terminals in response to the vehicular characteristics data received by the responsive computer terminals;

transmitting the vehicular financial data units to said inquiring computer terminal for display on said inquiring computer terminal; and

repeating transmission of said vehicular characteristics data units to said select ones of said plurality of responding computer terminals until expiration of a first predetermined period of time occurs.

13. A method according to claim 12, further comprising the step of stopping the repeating step upon expiration of a second predetermined period of time which is longer than the first predetermined period of time.