Carwash With Smartphone Proximity Detection
First Claim
1. A carwash method for washing a vehicle for a customer at a carwash, wherein the customer has a portable digital device in the vehicle, and the carwash method involves the use of at least one of a vendor computer system and a carwash controller, the carwash method comprising:
- submitting a request for a carwash operation at the carwash;
determining whether the carwash is available for the carwash operation;
determining whether the portable digital device in the vehicle is within a predetermined distance of the carwash;
if the portable digital device is within the predetermined distance and the carwash is available for the carwash operation, allowing the request and the carwash subsequently performing the carwash operation on the vehicle; and
if the portable digital device is beyond the predetermine distance, disallowing the request and inhibiting the carwash operation for the vehicle.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An example carwash method involves a customer using a smartphone with an app for finding participating carwash locations, making online payments for select carwash options, and then using the smartphone app to start the washing process when the customer arrives at the carwash. Various means can be used for determining when the vehicle is at the carwash entrance. Examples of such means include, but are not limited to, reading the GPS coordinates of the smartphone in the vehicle; establishing Bluetooth, WiFi or some other limited-range wireless communication link between the smartphone and the local carwash controller; displaying and manually entering a code or password at the carwash; and scanning a QR code displayed on the smartphone. During the carwash operation, in some examples, the smartphone app provides the customer with an emergency stop option.
4 Citations
9 Claims
-
1. A carwash method for washing a vehicle for a customer at a carwash, wherein the customer has a portable digital device in the vehicle, and the carwash method involves the use of at least one of a vendor computer system and a carwash controller, the carwash method comprising:
-
submitting a request for a carwash operation at the carwash; determining whether the carwash is available for the carwash operation; determining whether the portable digital device in the vehicle is within a predetermined distance of the carwash; if the portable digital device is within the predetermined distance and the carwash is available for the carwash operation, allowing the request and the carwash subsequently performing the carwash operation on the vehicle; and if the portable digital device is beyond the predetermine distance, disallowing the request and inhibiting the carwash operation for the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
-
Specification