WIRELESS UTILITY METER READING SYSTEM AND METHOD
First Claim
1. A wireless meter reading system comprising:
- (a) at least one utility meter having a housing and a face;
(b) at least one camera or imaging device optionally coupled to the at least one utility meter, wherein the at least one camera or imaging device operates to provide one or more wireless meter reading images of the at least one utility meter from time to time, and wherein the one or more wireless meter reading images comprise utility usage data and identifying data of said at least one utility meter;
(c) a power source coupled to the at least one camera or imaging device;
(d) a communication device for wirelessly receiving the meter reading images from the at least one camera or imaging device; and
(e) a wide area connection with the communication device for communicating the meter reading images to a central location.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A wireless meter reading system and method are provided to facilitate billing a consumer for utility usage. The wireless meter reading system comprises: (a) at least one utility meter; (b) at least one camera or imaging device optionally coupled to the at least one utility meter, wherein the at least one camera or imaging device operates to provide wireless meter reading image(s) of the utility meter from time to time, and wherein the wireless meter reading images comprise utility usage data and identifying data of the utility meter; (c) a power source coupled to the camera or imaging device; (d) a communication device for wirelessly receiving the meter reading images from the camera or imaging device; and (e) a wide area connection with the communication device for communicating the meter reading images to a central location.
18 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A wireless meter reading system comprising:
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(a) at least one utility meter having a housing and a face; (b) at least one camera or imaging device optionally coupled to the at least one utility meter, wherein the at least one camera or imaging device operates to provide one or more wireless meter reading images of the at least one utility meter from time to time, and wherein the one or more wireless meter reading images comprise utility usage data and identifying data of said at least one utility meter; (c) a power source coupled to the at least one camera or imaging device; (d) a communication device for wirelessly receiving the meter reading images from the at least one camera or imaging device; and (e) a wide area connection with the communication device for communicating the meter reading images to a central location. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A system comprising:
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one or more databases configured to store a first set of information including billing activities attributable to a utility provider and payment activities attributable to one or more utility consumers; one or more databases configured to store a second set of information including billing activities attributable to a financial transaction processing entity and purchasing and payment activities attributable to said one or more utility consumers; a processor configured to; analyze the first set of information and the second set of information to identify one or more correlations between utility usage and utility consumers; and generate one or more predictive models based at least in part on the one or more correlations. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A camera or imaging device configured to read a utility meter, the camera or imaging device comprising:
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a housing; and a lens, a memory, a processor, a power source, and a wireless communication transceiver associated with the housing; wherein the camera or imaging device is adapted to be connected to the utility meter. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28)
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Specification