Method and means for collecting highway tolls
First Claim
1. The method of extending credit to, and thereafter billing, individual customers of a credit grantor for fees incurred by operation of a vehicle indentified with the customer past any one of a plurality of given scanning locations, that comprises the steps of:
- (a) providing each customer with a machine-readable bar code element that is issued by the credit grantor, bears an account identification, and is adapted to be attached to an exteriorly visible surface of the customer'"'"'s vehicle;
(b) machine-reading said element while the vehicle is in movement past said location;
(c) transmitting the machine-read data from said locations through a computer system common to all of said locations, to a central billing authority of the credit grantor; and
(d) transferring said data, at the location of the billing authority, to billings addressed to the customers in the amounts chargeable for operation of their vehicles past said point.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system especially adapted for facilitating the collection of tolls on highways, includes the provision of exteriorly visible bar codes or other machine-readable customer account identifications, on vehicles using toll roads. Issuance of the account identification elements enables the customer to pass assigned scanning locations where the elements are machine-read, and verified at a computerized station serving a selected number of scanning locations. Through a computerized network, the scanned data is ultimately transmitted to credit-issuing companies, for billing to the customers who have used the machine-readable elements. The system permits a vehicle to continue past the scan point without stopping, thus offering maximum convenience to motorists, speeding up the flow of traffic, and reducing the number of personnel required at highway toll plazas.
104 Citations
19 Claims
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1. The method of extending credit to, and thereafter billing, individual customers of a credit grantor for fees incurred by operation of a vehicle indentified with the customer past any one of a plurality of given scanning locations, that comprises the steps of:
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(a) providing each customer with a machine-readable bar code element that is issued by the credit grantor, bears an account identification, and is adapted to be attached to an exteriorly visible surface of the customer'"'"'s vehicle; (b) machine-reading said element while the vehicle is in movement past said location; (c) transmitting the machine-read data from said locations through a computer system common to all of said locations, to a central billing authority of the credit grantor; and (d) transferring said data, at the location of the billing authority, to billings addressed to the customers in the amounts chargeable for operation of their vehicles past said point. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A credit-type system for the collecting of tolls and like fees required for vehicle use on toll roads, parking areas, and the like, comprising:
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(a) a card-like element on which is imprinted a bar code containing in coded form account identification indicia individual to a credit customer'"'"'s account, said element being secured to an exteriorly visible surface of a vehicle; (b) a machine for reading said code, said machine being mounted at a scanning location past which the vehicle is required to be driven and being adapted to read the code while the vehicle is in motion; (c) a computer network having input and output ends, said network adapted to receive as input the date read from the element by said machine; and (d) a billing authority receiving said data from the output end of said network for billing the customer account corresponding to said account identifying indicia. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. The method of charging, billing and collecting tolls that are incurred by participating customers of credit grantors by reason of the operation of the customers'"'"' vehicles over toll highways, bridges, and like toll facilities, that comprises the steps of:
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(a) providing each participating customer with a bar code element that is attachable to an exteriorly visible surface of the customer'"'"'s vehicle and that is coded to provide at least that customer'"'"'s account number; (b) providing machines at selected locations passed by vehicles operated upon the facility, that will read the bar codes of passing vehicles while they are in movement, and that will feed to a station computer the data coded on said element together with supplementary data needed to establish the amount of the toll and to provide records relating thereto usable advantageously by the customer, the credit grantor which issued the bar code element, and the authority controlling the facility; (c) transmitting said data to a central computer of said authority adapted to receive the data from the station computer and other station computers like it that are under the control of said authority and that are in use upon the facility; (d) transmitting said data to a main frame computer adapted to receive the data from the central computer of said authority and from the central computers of other toll facility control authorities; and (e) at the main frame computer, separating said data according to the individual credit grantors that have issued the bar code elements to their respective customers, and transmitting to each credit grantor the data respecting the use of the toll facilities of the several control authorities by the customers of that credit grantor.
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Specification