Method and Apparatus for Driver's License Analysis to Support Rental Vehicle Transactions

• US 20140278555A1
• Filed: 03/14/2014
• Published: 09/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Crawford Group Incorporated (Jack Taylor Family Voting Trust U A D 4 14 99)
• Original Assignee: The Crawford Group Incorporated (Jack Taylor Family Voting Trust U A D 4 14 99)
• Inventors: Johnson, Ryan S., Stephens, Scott, Smith, Dave G., Fitzgerald, Neil, Flynn, Ryan C., Schmitt, Jerome V., McAliney, Tom
• Granted Patent: US 10,059,304 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/3
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2325/101 Bluetooth
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2325/103 Near field communication [NFC]
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2325/105 Radio frequency identification data [RFID]
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2325/205 Mobile phones
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/24 using electronic identifiers containing a code not memorised by the user
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/245 where the antenna reception area plays a role
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/51 Relative positioning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/016 After-sales
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0645 Rental transactions; Leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 17/02 using a radio link
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/47 using near field communication [NFC] or radio frequency identification [RFID] modules
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/63 Location-dependent; Proximity-dependent
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 : Terminal devices

Abstract

A number of techniques are disclosed for making it more convenient and efficient for customers to conduct various rental vehicle transactions. As an example, techniques are disclosed for capturing and analyzing images of driver'"'"'s licenses to assess a validity for the driver'"'"'s licenses in support of various rental transactions.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving image data representative of a driver'"'"'s license;

analyzing the received image data to determine whether the driver'"'"'s license is deemed valid;

in response to the analyzing step, updating a customer record for a customer associated with the driver'"'"'s license with validity data indicative of whether the customer'"'"'s driver'"'"'s license is deemed valid; and

accessing the customer record including the validity data when processing a request from the customer to conduct a rental transaction with respect to a rental vehicle; and

wherein the method steps are performed by a processor.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the processor permitting the customer to pick up a self-rent rental vehicle if the validity data in the customer record for the customer indicates the customer'"'"'s driver'"'"'s license is deemed valid.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the rental transaction comprises an automated pickup for a self-rent rental vehicle with respect to a replacement rental vehicle reservation.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the receiving step comprises the processor receiving the image data via a wireless communication from a mobile device.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the analyzing step comprises the processor analyzing the received image data against a plurality of conditions to determine whether the driver'"'"'s license is deemed valid.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the analyzing step further comprises:

the processor extracting at least one member of the group consisting of a name, a date of birth, a driver'"'"'s license number, and a driver'"'"'s license state of issuance from the received image data;

the processor determining validity for the driver'"'"'s license based on the extracted at least one member.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein the analyzing step further comprises:

the processor extracting patterns that appear in the image data;

the processor assessing whether the extracted patterns conform to a valid driver'"'"'s license.

8. The method of claim 5 wherein the analyzing step further comprises the processor extracting an expiration date for the driver'"'"'s license from the image data, the method further comprising:

the processor storing the extracted expiration date in the customer record; and

the processor comparing the stored expiration date in the customer record with a date for the rental transaction when deciding whether to approve the rental transaction.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the processor comprises a processor resident in a mobile device.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the processor comprises a processor resident in a rental computer system.

11. An apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

a memory, the memory configured to store a customer record for a customer;

wherein the processor is configured to (1) receive image data representative of a driver'"'"'s license for the customer, (2) analyze the received image data to determine whether the driver'"'"'s license is deemed valid, (3) in response to the analysis, update the customer record with validity data indicative of whether the customer'"'"'s driver'"'"'s license is deemed valid, and (4) access the customer record including the validity data when processing a request from the customer to conduct a rental transaction with respect to a rental vehicle.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the rental transaction comprises a rental of a self-rent rental vehicle, and wherein the processor is further configured to condition a communication of authorization data to the self-rent rental vehicle on the validity data in the customer record indicating that the customer'"'"'s driver'"'"'s license is deemed valid.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the processor is further configured to (1) extract data from the received image, the extracted data comprising a name, a driver'"'"'s license state of issuance, and a driver'"'"'s license expiration date, (2) extract patterns that appear in the image data, and (3) determine a validity for the driver'"'"'s license based on the extracted data and based on whether the extracted patterns conform to a valid driver'"'"'s license.

14. A method comprising:

receiving image data representative of a driver'"'"'s license;

analyzing the received image data to determine whether the driver'"'"'s license is deemed valid; and

in response to the analyzing step resulting in a determination that the driver'"'"'s license is deemed valid, permitting a customer associated with the driver'"'"'s license to conduct an automated transaction for a rental vehicle; and

wherein the method steps are performed by a processor.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising the processor, in response to the analyzing step resulting in a determination that the driver'"'"'s license is deemed invalid, not permitting the customer to conduct an automated pick up for a self-rent rental vehicle.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein the automated transaction comprises an automated pick up for a self-rent rental vehicle.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the automated self-rent rental vehicle pick up comprises an automated pick up for a self-rent rental vehicle with respect to a replacement rental vehicle reservation.

18. The method of claim 16 further comprising:

the processor receiving an identifier for the self-rent rental vehicle;

the processor retrieving a rental vehicle reservation record;

the processor determining whether the customer is authorized to pick up the self-rent rental vehicle based on the received identifier, the retrieved rental vehicle reservation record, and the analyzed image data; and

in response to the determining step resulting in a determination that the customer is authorized to pick up the self-rent rental vehicle, the processor sending a rental authorization message to the self-rent rental vehicle to thereby permit the customer to access and pick up the self-rent rental vehicle.

19. The method of claim 18 further comprising:

the processor determining a time indicative of when the image data was created;

the processor determining a time indicative of when the identifier was captured;

the processor comparing the determined times; and

wherein the customer authorization determining step comprises the processor determining that the customer is not authorized to pick up the self-rent rental vehicle if the comparison indicates that the determined times are not within a defined time window.

20. The method of claim 18 wherein the received identifier is included within the image data.

21. The method of claim 18 wherein the image data receiving step comprises receiving the image data from a mobile device associated with the customer, and wherein the identifier receiving step comprises receiving the identifier from the mobile device.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein the mobile device is a smart phone.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein the processor comprises a processor within a rental computer system.

24. The method of claim 22 wherein the received identifier comprises a QR code.

25. The method of claim 18 further comprising:

the processor creating a replacement rental vehicle reservation for the customer;

the processor sending a message to the customer'"'"'s mobile device to notify the customer that the replacement rental vehicle reservation has been created; and

wherein the processor performs the image data receiving, analyzing, identifier receiving, retrieving, determining, and rental authorization message sending steps after the notification message sending step; and

wherein the retrieved rental vehicle reservation record comprises a rental vehicle reservation record for the created replacement rental vehicle reservation.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein the message includes an activation code for the replacement rental vehicle reservation, the method further comprising:

the processor receiving a request from the customer'"'"'s mobile device to activate the replacement rental vehicle reservation, the received request including an activation code;

the processor comparing the activation code from the received request with the activation code that was included in the message; and

the processor activating the replacement rental vehicle reservation in response to the comparing resulting in a match between the activation code from the received request and the activation code that was included in the message; and

the processor conditioning the rental authorization message sending step on the replacement rental vehicle reservation being activated.

27. The method of claim 26 wherein the creating step comprises the processor creating the replacement rental vehicle reservation in response to input from a business partner of a rental vehicle service provider.

28. The method of claim 18 wherein the processor comprises a plurality of processors.

29. The method of claim 14 wherein the automated transaction comprises a transaction to create a rental vehicle reservation.

30. The method of claim 29 wherein the automated transaction to create the rental vehicle reservation comprises an automated transaction to create a rental vehicle reservation for a self-rent rental vehicle.

31. The method of claim 14 wherein the automated transaction comprises a transaction to enroll a customer associated with the driver'"'"'s license into a rental program.

32. The method of claim 31 wherein the rental program comprises a rental program for renting self-rent rental vehicles.

33. The method of claim 14 further comprising:

the processor updating a customer record for a customer associated with the driver'"'"'s license with validity data indicative of whether the customer'"'"'s driver'"'"'s license is deemed valid.

34. The method of claim 14 wherein the analyzing step comprises the processor (1) extracting at least one member of the group consisting of a name, a date of birth, a driver'"'"'s license number, and a driver'"'"'s license state of issuance from the received image data, and (2) using the extracted at least one member as part of the validity determination.

35. The method of claim 34 further comprising:

the processor updating a customer record for a customer associated with the driver'"'"'s license with the extracted at least one member.

36. The method of claim 34 wherein the analyzing step further comprising the processor extracting a driver'"'"'s license expiration date from the image data.

37. The method of claim 36 further comprising:

the processor updating a customer record for a customer associated with the driver'"'"'s license with the extracted expiration date.

38. The method of claim 37 further comprising:

the processor changing the validity data for the customer record to have a value indicating that the driver'"'"'s license is invalid after the expiration date.

39. The method of claim 14 wherein the analyzing step comprises the processor (1) extracting patterns that appear in the image data, and (2) using the extracted patterns as part of the validity determination to determine whether the patterns conform to the appearance of driver'"'"'s licenses for a state.

40. An apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to (1) receive image data representative of a driver'"'"'s license, (2) analyze the received image data to determine whether the driver'"'"'s license is deemed valid, and (3) in response to the analyzing step resulting in a determination that the driver'"'"'s license is deemed valid, permit a customer associated with the driver'"'"'s license to conduct an automated transaction for a rental vehicle.

41. An apparatus comprising:

a mobile device, the mobile device configured to execute a mobile application, the mobile application configured to (1) present a GUI screen to a user through the mobile device, the GUI screen configured to prompt the user to capture an image of a driver'"'"'s license for the user, (2) capture an image of the user'"'"'s driver'"'"'s license in response to user input, (3) analyze the captured image to determine whether the user'"'"'s driver'"'"'s license is deemed valid, and (4) in response to a determination that the user'"'"'s driver'"'"'s license is deemed valid, enable the mobile device to generate and output a signal that is configured for detection by a sensor on a rental vehicle to perform an automated pickup of the rental vehicle.

42. The apparatus of claim 41 wherein the mobile device further comprises a camera, and wherein the mobile application is further configured capture the image by instructing the camera to take a photograph in response to user input.

43. A computer program product comprising:

a plurality of instructions executable by a processor of a mobile device and resident on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, wherein the instructions, upon execution by the mobile device'"'"'s processor, are configured to cause the mobile device to;

present a GUI screen to a user, the GUI screen configured to prompt the user to capture an image of a driver'"'"'s license for the user;

capture an image of the user'"'"'s driver'"'"'s license in response to user input;

analyze the captured image to determine whether the user'"'"'s driver'"'"'s license is deemed valid;

in response to a determination that the user'"'"'s driver'"'"'s license is deemed valid, generate and output a signal that is configured for detection by a sensor on a rental vehicle to perform an automated pickup of the rental vehicle.