Bicycle rental and security system
First Claim
1. A bicycle rental and security system comprising:
- one or more individually identifiable rental bicycles;
a number of security racks with specific locations to place a rental bicycle;
bi-directional communication means, capable of data verification, for signaling the individual identity of a rental bicycle and its presence when placed in a security rack, comprised of, a semi conductor circuit, which is attached to the rental bicycle and is programmed with data to individually identify the particular rental bicycle to which it is attached and the communication protocol to be utilized, having a link to a system controller, thereby establishing bi-directional communication between the semi conductor circuit and the system controller when a rental bicycle is present at the location on the security rack;
customer input means for providing customer identification and payment information; and
data memory means;
wherein the system controller, monitors the bi-directional communication means for each rental bicycle, monitors the customer input means, and communicates with the data memory means for comparing changes in the presence and location of each rental bicycle and recording changes in the presence and location of each rental bicycle with corresponding customer identification and payment information.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An unattended bicycle rental and security system, utilizing bi-directional communications with data verification between the individual bicycles and the system is provided which is equipped with an alarm, and can individually identify a number of bicycles and attribute their rental with corresponding customers. The unattended bicycle rental and security system is able to identify if a rental bicycle has sustained an impact during a rental that is sufficient to damage it and identify the customer whose care the rental bicycle was in at the time. The system also allows the integration of several rental locations allowing a bicycle to be rented at one location and returned at another.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. A bicycle rental and security system comprising:
- one or more individually identifiable rental bicycles;
a number of security racks with specific locations to place a rental bicycle;
bi-directional communication means, capable of data verification, for signaling the individual identity of a rental bicycle and its presence when placed in a security rack, comprised of, a semi conductor circuit, which is attached to the rental bicycle and is programmed with data to individually identify the particular rental bicycle to which it is attached and the communication protocol to be utilized, having a link to a system controller, thereby establishing bi-directional communication between the semi conductor circuit and the system controller when a rental bicycle is present at the location on the security rack;
customer input means for providing customer identification and payment information; and
data memory means;
wherein the system controller, monitors the bi-directional communication means for each rental bicycle, monitors the customer input means, and communicates with the data memory means for comparing changes in the presence and location of each rental bicycle and recording changes in the presence and location of each rental bicycle with corresponding customer identification and payment information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
- one or more individually identifiable rental bicycles;
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14. A bicycle rental and security system comprising:
- one or more individually identifiable rental bicycles;
a number of security racks with specific locations to place a rental bicycle;
bi-directional communication means, capable of data verification, for signaling the individual identity of a rental bicycle and its presence when placed in a security rack, comprised of, a semi conductor circuit, which is attached to the rental bicycle and is programmed with data to individually identify the particular rental bicycle to which it is attached and the communication protocol to be utilized, having a link to a system controller, thereby establishing bi-directional communication between the semi conductor circuit and the system controller when a rental bicycle is present at the location on the security rack; and
data memory means;
wherein the system controller, monitors the bi-directional communication means for each rental bicycle, and communicates with the data memory means for comparing changes in the presence and location of each rental bicycle and recording changes in the presence and location of each rental bicycle, whereby the desirability of relocating one or more rental bicycles to different security rack locations may be ascertained.
- one or more individually identifiable rental bicycles;
Specification