Vehicle Fuel Theft Mitigation System and Method
First Claim
1. A method of mitigating fuel theft relating to refueling or recharging a vehicle, including the steps of:
- capturing an image of a unique vehicle identification marker;
comparing one or more features of the image of the unique vehicle identification marker with a record containing features of a number of images of other unique vehicle identification markers;
providing an alert if the one or more features of the unique vehicle identification marker match(es) features of at least one of the number of the other unique vehicle identification markers in the record.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system (10) for mitigating fuel theft relating to refueling or recharging a vehicle by capturing an image of a unique vehicle identification marker (14), such as a an alphanumeric vehicle registration plate, comparing one or more features of the image with a record containing features from a number of images of previously captured unique vehicle identification markers, and providing an alert if the features of the unique vehicle identification marker match features of at least one of the number of unique vehicle identification markers in the record. A request (26) for payment for fuel can be required before fuel delivery is enabled or a debt payment request can be provided if fuel has been delivered but not paid for within a period of time.
14 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method of mitigating fuel theft relating to refueling or recharging a vehicle, including the steps of:
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capturing an image of a unique vehicle identification marker; comparing one or more features of the image of the unique vehicle identification marker with a record containing features of a number of images of other unique vehicle identification markers; providing an alert if the one or more features of the unique vehicle identification marker match(es) features of at least one of the number of the other unique vehicle identification markers in the record. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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- 15. A system for mitigating fuel theft, including at least one imaging device to capture at least one image identifying a vehicle adjacent a fuel pump, electronic storage to maintain a record of the captured images identifying a number of vehicles each previously being at a respective fuel pump, an alert system to provide an alert if image data identifying the vehicle matches previously recorded image data relating to the vehicle and payment for fuel has not been made.
Specification