Fuel dispensing and retail system for preventing use of stolen transponders
First Claim
1. A fuel dispensing system for deterring and preventing misuse of a customer'"'"'s remote communications unit in a fueling environment comprising:
- a fuel dispenser, a control system, said control system associated with said fuel dispenser;
a receiver, said receiver associated with said fuel dispenser and adapted to receive signals including identification indicia from the remote communications unit, said receiver operatively associated with said control system to provide said control system with said identification indicia;
said control system determining if the remote communications unit has been lost, stolen or used in an unauthorized manner based on the identification indicia;
said control system adapted to prevent fueling and transaction continuance upon determining the remote communications unit in communication with the dispenser was lost, stolen or used in an unauthorized manner; and
wherein said dispenser is further associated with a transmitter adapted to transmit signals to the remote communications unit and operatively associated with said control system, said control system adapted to provide an unauthorized use signal for transmission to said remote communications unit via said transmitter upon determining the remote communications unit was lost, stolen or used in an unauthorized manner wherein said unauthorized use signal causes the remote communications unit to act in a manner aiding the prevention of subsequent authorizations.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The current invention is a dispensing system for deterring and preventing transponder misuse in a fueling environment. The system includes a fuel dispenser associated with a control system and a receiver adapted to receive signals, including identification indicia from a remote communications unit associated with a customer. The receiver operates in conjunction with the control system to provide the control system with the first indicia and determine if the remote communications unit has been lost, stolen or used in an unauthorized manner. The control system is adapted to prevent fueling and transaction continuance upon determining the remote communications unit in communication if the dispenser was lost, stolen or used in an unauthorized manner. Preferably, the dispenser is further associated with a transmitter operating in conjunction with the control system wherein the control system is adapted to provide an unauthorized use signal for transmission to the remote communications unit via the transmitter upon determining the remote communications unit was lost, stolen or used in an unauthorized manner. The signal may cause the remote communications unit to act in a manner aiding in the prevention of subsequent authorizations by the same or other dispensers in the same or other fueling environments.
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Citations
46 Claims
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1. A fuel dispensing system for deterring and preventing misuse of a customer'"'"'s remote communications unit in a fueling environment comprising:
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a fuel dispenser, a control system, said control system associated with said fuel dispenser;
a receiver, said receiver associated with said fuel dispenser and adapted to receive signals including identification indicia from the remote communications unit, said receiver operatively associated with said control system to provide said control system with said identification indicia;
said control system determining if the remote communications unit has been lost, stolen or used in an unauthorized manner based on the identification indicia;
said control system adapted to prevent fueling and transaction continuance upon determining the remote communications unit in communication with the dispenser was lost, stolen or used in an unauthorized manner; and
wherein said dispenser is further associated with a transmitter adapted to transmit signals to the remote communications unit and operatively associated with said control system, said control system adapted to provide an unauthorized use signal for transmission to said remote communications unit via said transmitter upon determining the remote communications unit was lost, stolen or used in an unauthorized manner wherein said unauthorized use signal causes the remote communications unit to act in a manner aiding the prevention of subsequent authorizations. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of dispensing fuel to deter and prevent customer remote communication unit misuse in a fueling environment comprising;
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receiving signals including identification indicia from said remote communications unit at a fuel dispenser;
determining if said remote communications unit has been lost, stolen or used in an unauthorized manner based on said identification indicia;
preventing fueling,r and transaction continuance upon determining said remote communications unit in communication with said Fuel dispenser was lost, stolen or used in an unauthorized manner;
transmitting signals to the remote communications unit; and
providing an unauthorized use signal for transmission to said remote communications unit upon determining said remote communications unit was lost, stolen or used in an unauthorized manner wherein the unauthorized use signal causes the remote communications unit to act in a manner aiding the prevention of subsequent authorizations.
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16. A method of dispensing fuel to deter and prevent customer remote communication unit misuse in a fueling environment comprising:
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receiving signals including identification indicia from said remote communications unit at a fuel dispenser;
determining if said remote communications unit has been lost, stolen or used in an unauthorized manner based on said identification indicia; and
preventing fueling and transaction continuance upon determining said remote communications unit in communication with said fuel dispenser was lost, stolen or used in an unauthorized manner;
wherein the determining step comprises;
accessing a database having identification indicia of remote communications units; and
receiving indicia from the database that the remote communications unit was lost, stolen or used in an unauthorized manner based on the identification indicia received from the remote communications unit.
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17. A method of dispensing fuel to deter and prevent customer remote communication unit misuse in a fueling environment comprising:
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receiving signals including identification indicia from said remote communications unit at a fuel dispenser;
determining if said remote communications unit has been lost, stolen or used in an unauthorized manner based on said identification indicia; and
preventing fueling and transaction continuance upon determining said remote communications unit in communication with said fuel dispenser was lost, stolen or used in an unauthorized manner;
wherein the determining step further comprises;
receiving additional indicia from said remote communications unit indicating that said remote communications unit was lost, stolen or used in an unauthorized manner.
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18. A fuel dispenser comprising:
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an interrogator, a dispenser controller, and a user interface controlled by said dispenser controller, said dispenser controller adapted to communicate with a central site control system located apart from said fuel dispenser;
said interrogator adapted to communicate with a transponder associated with a customer in order to facilitate a transaction, said interrogator adapted to receive transponder identification of said dispenser controller;
said dispenser controller adapted to determine whether the transponder has been lost, stolen or used in an authorized manner based on the transponder identification and prevent fueling and furtherance of the transaction upon determining the transponder has been lost or stolen. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21)
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22. A fuel dispensing system for deterring and preventing misuse of a customer'"'"'s remote communications unit in a fueling environment comprising:
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a fuel dispenser;
a control system, said control system associated with said fuel dispenser;
a receiver, said receiver associated with said fuel dispenser and adapted to receive signals including identification indicia from the remote communications unit, said receiver operatively associated with said control system to provide said control system with said identification indicia;
said control system determining if the remote communications unit has been lost stolen or used in an unauthorized manner based on the identification indicia;
said control system adapted to prevent fueling and transaction continuance upon determining the remote communications unit in communication with the dispenser was lost, stolen or used in an unauthorized manner; and
a database, wherein said control system determines the remote communications unit was lost, stolen or used in an authorized manner by operating to access said database, said database having identification indicia of remote communications units, said control system receiving indicia from said database that the remote communications unit was lost or stolen based on the identification indicia received from the remote communications unit. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A fuel dispensing system for deterring and preventing misuse of a customer'"'"'s remote communications unit in a fueling environment comprising:
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a fuel dispenser, a control system, said control system associated with said fuel dispenser;
a receiver, said receiver associated with said fuel dispenser and adapted to receive signals including identification indicia from the remote communications unit, said receiver operatively associated with said control system to provide said control system with said identification indicia;
said control system determining if the remote communications unit has been lost, stolen or used in an unauthorized manner based on the identification indicia;
said control system adapted to prevent fueling and transaction continuance upon determining the remote communications unit in communication with the dispenser was lost, stolen or used in an unauthorized manner; and
wherein said control system determines the remote communications unit was lost, stolen or used in an unauthorized manner by receiving second indicia from the remote communications unit indicating that the remote communications unit was lost, stolen or used in an unauthorized manner. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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45. fuel dispensing system for deterring and preventing misuse of a customer'"'"'s remote communications unit in a fueling environment comprising:
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a fuel dispenser;
a control system, said control system associated with said fuel dispenser;
a receiver, said receiver associated with said fuel dispenser and adapted to receive signals including identification indicia from the remote communications unit, said receiver operatively associated with said control system to provide said control system with said identification indicia;
said control system determining if the remote communications unit has been lost, stolen or used in an unauthorized manner based on the identification indicia;
said control system adapted to prevent fueling and transaction continuance upon determining the remote communications unit in communication with the dispenser was lost, stolen or used in an unauthorized manner; and
wherein said control system is associated with an operator indicator and adapted to actuate said indicator upon determining tie remote communications unit was lost, stolen or used in an unauthorized manner.
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46. A fuel dispensing system for deterring and preventing misuse of a customer'"'"'s remote communications unit in a fueling environment comprising;
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a fuel dispenser;
a control system, said control system associated with said fuel dispenser;
a receiver, said receiver associated with said fuel dispenser and adapted to receive signals including identification indicia from the remote communications unit, said receiver operatively associated with said control system to provide said control system with said identification indicia;
said control system determining if the remote communications unit has been lost, stolen or used in an unauthorized manner based on the identification indicia;
said control system adapted to prevent fueling and transaction continuance upon determining the remote communications unit in communication with the dispenser was lost, stolen or used in an unauthorized manner, and wherein said control system is associated with a security indicator and adapted to actuate said indicator upon determining the remote communications unit was lost, stolen or used in an unauthorized manner.
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Specification