Fuel pump monitoring system and associated method
First Claim
1. An apparatus (10, 26, 170, 176) for monitoring a component (16) associated with a vehicle, including:
- a display device (22) external to the vehicle for displaying information associated with the monitoring; and
a monitoring device (12) in operative communication with the display device and disposed within an operative vicinity of the component being monitored for selectively sensing at least one environmental parameter associated with the component being monitored and selectively communicating data associated with the monitoring to the display device, wherein the monitoring device is adapted to selectively transmit the data associated with the monitoring to the display device via a data communication network (18) and also adapted to receive command and control information via the data communication network, at least one environmental sensor for selectively sensing the at least one environmental parameter associated with the component being monitored and providing sensor data to the monitoring device, wherein the monitoring device includes the sensor data in the data communicated to the display device, and wherein the display device and the monitoring device are electrically isolated from the vehicle and the component being monitored and inoperative from equipment associated with the vehicle; and
a component information server (14) for command and control of the monitoring device, wherein the component information server is adapted to selectively transmit command and control information to the monitoring device via the data communication network, wherein the component information server is adapted to receive the data associated with the monitoring from the monitoring device via the data communication network, wherein the component information server is adapted to selectively receive command and control information from the display device via a component information network (20), wherein the component information server is adapted to selectively process the data associated with the monitoring based on preprogrammed instructions and command and control information to produce the component information associated with the monitoring, wherein the component information associated with the monitoring is selectively accessible to the display device via the component information network; and
wherein the preprogrammed instructions include a predetermined monitoring device profile, wherein the component information server is adapted to transmit the preprogrammed instructions to the monitoring device via the data communication network, wherein the monitoring device is adapted to receive the preprogrammed instructions via the data communication network.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A fuel pump monitoring system (10) for monitoring fuel pumps (16) and a method for using the system are provided. The fuel pump monitoring system includes a display device (22), an information network (20), a data communication network (18), a monitoring device (12), and an information server (14). The monitoring device collects environmental parameters and operates independent from the vehicle. In one embodiment, the monitoring device uses GPS technology. The fuel pump information server provides fuel pump information and related information to a subscriber. In one embodiment, the monitoring device is in communication with an Iridium satellite constellation (28) and the information is displayed to the subscriber when the fuel pump is substantially anywhere in the world. In another embodiment, the display device is in communication with the Iridium satellite constellation and the information is displayed to the subscriber when the subscriber is substantially anywhere in the world, preferably via the Internet (36).
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Citations
44 Claims
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1. An apparatus (10, 26, 170, 176) for monitoring a component (16) associated with a vehicle, including:
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a display device (22) external to the vehicle for displaying information associated with the monitoring; and a monitoring device (12) in operative communication with the display device and disposed within an operative vicinity of the component being monitored for selectively sensing at least one environmental parameter associated with the component being monitored and selectively communicating data associated with the monitoring to the display device, wherein the monitoring device is adapted to selectively transmit the data associated with the monitoring to the display device via a data communication network (18) and also adapted to receive command and control information via the data communication network, at least one environmental sensor for selectively sensing the at least one environmental parameter associated with the component being monitored and providing sensor data to the monitoring device, wherein the monitoring device includes the sensor data in the data communicated to the display device, and wherein the display device and the monitoring device are electrically isolated from the vehicle and the component being monitored and inoperative from equipment associated with the vehicle; and a component information server (14) for command and control of the monitoring device, wherein the component information server is adapted to selectively transmit command and control information to the monitoring device via the data communication network, wherein the component information server is adapted to receive the data associated with the monitoring from the monitoring device via the data communication network, wherein the component information server is adapted to selectively receive command and control information from the display device via a component information network (20), wherein the component information server is adapted to selectively process the data associated with the monitoring based on preprogrammed instructions and command and control information to produce the component information associated with the monitoring, wherein the component information associated with the monitoring is selectively accessible to the display device via the component information network; and wherein the preprogrammed instructions include a predetermined monitoring device profile, wherein the component information server is adapted to transmit the preprogrammed instructions to the monitoring device via the data communication network, wherein the monitoring device is adapted to receive the preprogrammed instructions via the data communication network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An apparatus (10, 26, 170, 176) for monitoring a component (16) associated with a vehicle, including:
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a display device (22) external to the vehicle for displaying information associated with the monitoring; and a monitoring device (12) in operative communication with the display device and disposed within an operative vicinity of the component being monitored for selectively sensing at least one environmental parameter associated with the component being monitored and selectively communicating data associated with the monitoring to the display device, wherein the monitoring device is adapted to selectively transmit the data associated with the monitoring to the display device via a data communication network (18) and also adapted to receive command and control information via the data communication network, at least one environmental sensor for selectively sensing the at least one environmental parameter associated with the component being monitored and providing sensor data to the monitoring device, wherein the monitoring device includes the sensor data in the data communicated to the display device, and wherein the display device and the monitoring device are electrically isolated from the vehicle and the component being monitored and inoperative from equipment associated with the vehicle, a data communication link (48) adapted to transmit data via the data communication network and adapted to receive data via the data communication network, a storage device (72) for storing the data associated with the monitoring, a monitoring device identification data, and a predetermined monitoring device profile and a controller (68) in communication with the data communication link and the storage device, wherein the controller controls data transmissions in a burst fashion by waiting for a group of the data associated with the monitoring to accumulate in the storage device based on the predetermined monitoring device profile and commands received via the data communication network, wherein the controller includes the monitoring device identification data in each data transmission burst. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. An apparatus (10, 26, 170, 178) for monitoring a component (16) associated with a vehicle, including:
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a display device (22) external to the vehicle for displaying information associated with the monitoring; a monitoring device (12) in operative communication with the display device and disposed within an operative vicinity of the component being monitored for selectively sensing at least one environmental parameter associated with the component being monitored and selectively communicating data associated with the monitoring to the display device, wherein the monitoring device is adapted to selectively receive position and time data from multiple global positioning system satellites (240) of a global positioning system satellite constellation (24), the position data representing a position of each global positioning system satellite from which data was received with respect to center of Earth (37) and the time data representing a time of day associated with the position data, the monitoring device being disposed at a location facilitating reception of the position and time data, the monitoring device combining the position and time data from the multiple global positioning system satellites and the sensor data to form the component data associated with the component being monitored, at least one environmental sensor for selectively sensing the at least one environmental parameter associated with the component being monitored and providing sensor data to the monitoring device; wherein the monitoring device includes the sensor data in the data communicated to the display device; and wherein the display device and the monitoring device are electrically isolated from the vehicle and the component being monitored and inoperative from equipment associated with the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A fuel pump monitoring system (10, 26, 170, 176), including:
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a display device (22) for displaying fuel pump information associated with a fuel pump (16) to be monitored, wherein the fuel pump is used in conjunction with a vehicle; a fuel pump information network (20) in communication with the display device for communicating the information to the display device; a data communication network (18); a monitoring device (12) disposed within an operative vicinity of the fuel pump for selectively sensing at least one environmental parameter associated with the fuel pump for selectively transmitting data associated with the fuel pump via the data communication network, wherein the monitoring device receives command and control information via the data communication network; and a fuel pump information server (14) for command and control of the monitoring device, wherein the fuel pump information server selectively transmits command and control information to the monitoring device via the data communication network, wherein the fuel pump information server receives the data associated with the fuel pump from the monitoring device via the data communication network, wherein the fuel pump information server selectively receives command and control information from the display device via the fuel pump information network, wherein the fuel pump information server selectively processes the data associated with the fuel pump to produce the fuel pump information, wherein the fuel pump information is selectively accessible to the display device via the fuel pump information network, wherein the monitoring device is adapted to selectively receive position and time data from multiple global positioning system satellites (240) of a global positioning system satellite constellation (24), the position data representing a position of each global positioning system satellite from which data was received with respect to center of Earth (37) and the time data representing a time of day associated with the position data, the monitoring device disposed and oriented to facilitate reception of the position and time data, the monitoring device combining the position and time data from the multiple global positioning system satellites with the sensor data to form the data associated with the fuel pump. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. A method for monitoring a fuel pump associated with a vehicle and providing fuel pump information to a subscriber, including the steps:
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a) associating the subscriber with a monitoring device and the monitoring device with the fuel pump, wherein the monitoring device is disposed in an operative vicinity of the fuel pump at a location in which the monitoring device can receive position and time data from multiple global positioning system satellites and sense at least one environmental parameter associated with the fuel pump during normal operation of the vehicle, wherein the monitoring device is electrically isolated from the vehicle and the fuel pump and inoperative from equipment associated with the vehicle; b) granting the subscriber using a display device access to a Web site via a component information network, wherein the Web site includes at least one fuel pump information Web page that displays a map suitable for monitoring environmental parameter, position, and time data associated with the fuel pump; c) receiving position and time data from at least four global positioning system satellites of a global positioning system satellite constellation at the monitoring device, the position data representing a position of each global positioning system satellite from which data was received with respect to center of Earth and the time data representing a time of day associated with the position data; d) sensing at least one environmental parameter associated with the fuel pump; e) communicating the environmental parameter, position, and time data to a component information server via a data communication network; f) processing the position and time data in a trilateration fashion to produce XYZ and time data, the XYZ data representing a latitude, a longitude, and an altitude, respectively, and the time data representing a time of day associated with the XYZ data; g) displaying the environmental parameter, XYZ, and time data on the at least one Web page and overlaying a symbol on the map at a coordinate associated with the XYZ data; and h) repeating steps c) through g) for a predetermined time at a predetermined interval. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44)
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Specification