Retail sales and dispensing fuel management system

• US 7,478,747 B2
• Filed: 02/23/2005
• Issued: 01/20/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 02/26/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ifuel LLC
• Original Assignee: Kristen Call, William Call
• Inventors: Call, William, Call, Kristen
• Primary Examiner(s): Labaze; Edwyn
• Application Number:
  US11/064,276
• Publication Number:
  US 20050192832A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,427 Days
• Field of Search: 235/375, 235/379, 235/380, 235/381, 235/487, 705/39, 705/44, 705 72- 79, 705/69
• US Class Current: 235/375
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/085 involving remote charge determination or related payment systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3678 e-cash details, e.g. blinded, divisible or detecting double spending
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce

Abstract

The present invention extends to managing the dispensing of petroleum products. A kiosk (e.g., at a gas station) and fuel management system are connected over a network. The fuel management system maintains balances for fuel purchasing accounts that can be debited to purchase fuel. To purchase fuel, a customer enters credentials identifying a fuel purchasing account at the kiosk. After fueling is complete, the fuel purchasing account is debited by the amount of the fuel purchase. Embodiments of the fuel system can also include networked (e.g., Internet) based payments into a fuel purchasing account, either from a kiosk or from a personal computer. Consumers can pay for increased amounts of fuel, such as, for example, multiple tanks of gasoline, in a single payment, potentially reducing or even eliminating returned check losses and/or card fees associated with “tank-at-a-time” purchases.

Claims

1. At a kiosk that is network connectable to a petroleum product management system, the kiosk located at a retail location to control the dispensing of petroleum products at one or more petroleum product dispensers at the retail location, the petroleum product management system located separately from the retail location, the petroleum management system configured to remotely monitor and maintain contact with kiosks at a plurality of different geographically remote retail locations via network communication, a method for dispensing a petroleum product at the retail location, the method comprising:

an act of the kiosk receiving an indication of a petroleum product that is to be purchased at the retail location;

an act of the kiosk receiving account credentials corresponding to a registered petroleum purchasing account for a registered user of the separately located petroleum management system, the registered petroleum purchasing account having an account balance representing funds from previously cleared deposit transactions submitted to the separately located petroleum product management system, the previously cleared deposit transactions electronically depositing funds into the registered petroleum purchasing account, the account balance indicating funds available within the separately located petroleum management system to minimize the risks associated with settling transactions for the purchase of petroleum products without reference to external authorization networks;

an act of the retail location submitting the received account credentials for the registered petroleum purchasing account to the separately located petroleum product management system;

an act of the retail location receiving the account balance for the registered petroleum purchasing account from the separately located petroleum product management system, the separately located petroleum product management system handling petroleum product purchases for a variety of different, geographically remote retail locations, reception of the account balance indicating to the retail location that the registered user has an account with the fuel management system such that payment for purchased petroleum products is to be made from previously cleared funds so as to thereby further indicate to the retail location the minimized risk associated with settling transactions involving the registered user;

an act of the kiosk configuring a petroleum product dispenser to dispense the petroleum product based on the account balance for the petroleum purchasing account;

an act of receiving monitoring from the separately located petroleum management system to monitor the dispensing of the petroleum product in essentially real time to assure that the account balance is sufficient to pay for the dispensed petroleum product as the petroleum product is dispensed so as to prevent the account balance from going below a limit;

an act of receiving an indication that the dispensing of petroleum product is completed resulting in a dispensed petroleum product quantity that was dispensed at the petroleum product dispenser, the indication being either an indication from the fuel management system that the account balance has reached the limit or an indication from the petroleum product dispenser that dispensing is complete;

an act of calculating an amount for the cost of the dispensed petroleum product quantity; and

an act of sending a debit message to the separately located petroleum product management system in response to and upon completion of dispensing the petroleum product quantity, the debit message sent to directly debit the calculated amount from the account balance of the registered petroleum purchasing account by transferring the calculated amount out of the registered petroleum purchasing account to settle the transaction for the purchase of the dispensed petroleum product quantity, without reference to any other external authorization networks.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

an act of submitting a payment to the petroleum product management system prior to configuring the petroleum product dispenser to dispense a petroleum product, the amount of the payment being large enough to cover the price of one or more petroleum product purchases; and

an act of receiving an indication that the payment was credited to the petroleum purchasing account.

3. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein the act of submitting a payment to the petroleum product management system comprises an act of submitting a credit or debit card number to the petroleum product management system.

4. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein the act of submitting a payment to the petroleum product management system comprises an act of initiating an electronic funds transfer to the petroleum product management system.

5. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein the act of submitting a payment to the petroleum product management system comprises an act of submitting a cash payment to the petroleum product management system.

6. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein the act of submitting a payment to the petroleum product management system comprises an act of submitting a command that causes funds to be transferred from one petroleum purchasing account to another petroleum purchasing account.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of receiving account credentials corresponding to a petroleum purchasing account comprises an act of receiving a user-id and pass code.

8. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of receiving account credentials corresponding to a petroleum purchasing account comprises an act of receiving credentials that correspond to a fleet account sub-account.

9. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of receiving account credentials corresponding to a petroleum purchasing account comprises an act of receiving account credentials that were submitted from an input device, the input device being selected from among a keypad, a virtual keyboard, and a keyboard.

10. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of submitting the account credentials to the petroleum product management system comprises an act of sending the credentials to a network address corresponding to the petroleum product management system such that the credentials are transferred across the Internet to the petroleum product management system.

11. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

an act of receiving a touch screen selection indicating that payment for a dispensed petroleum product is to be debited from the petroleum purchasing account prior to receiving the account credentials.

12. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of receiving an account balance for the petroleum purchasing account from the petroleum product management system comprises an act of receiving an electronic message that was transferred over the Internet to the kiosk.

13. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

an act of receiving a touch screen selection indicating a fuel grade prior to configuring the petroleum product dispenser.

14. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of sending a debit message to the petroleum product management system comprises an act of sending the debit message to a network address corresponding to the petroleum product management system such that the debit message is transferred across the Internet to the petroleum product management system.

15. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

an act of submitting a request for account information corresponding to the petroleum product purchasing account;

an act of receiving account information for the petroleum product purchasing account from the petroleum product management system; and

an act of presenting the account information at a touch screen.

16. At a petroleum product management system that is network connectable to one or more computer systems, the one or more computer systems including one or more separately located retail location kiosks, each retail location kiosk controlling the dispensing of petroleum products at a retail location, the petroleum management system configured to remotely monitor and maintain contact with retail location kiosks at a plurality of different retail locations via network communication, a method for authorizing the dispensing of a petroleum product at a retail location, the method comprising:

an act of the petroleum product management system receiving account credentials from a kiosk at a retail location, the account credentials being indicative of an attempt to purchase petroleum products at the retail location against the balance of a registered petroleum purchasing account;

an act of the petroleum product management system identifying a registered petroleum purchasing account assigned to the received account credentials, the registered petroleum purchasing account previously registered to the registered user of the petroleum product management system, the registered petroleum purchasing account having an account balance representing funds from previously cleared deposit transactions submitted to the petroleum product management system, the previously cleared deposit transactions electronically depositing funds into the registered petroleum purchasing account, the account balance indicating funds available within the petroleum management system to significantly reduce the risks associated with settling transactions for the purchase of petroleum products without reference to external authorization networks;

an act of the petroleum product management system accessing account information for the assigned registered petroleum purchasing account from an account database;

an act of the petroleum product management system sending at least an account balance for the assigned registered petroleum product purchasing account to the retail location kiosk at the retail location, the account balance indicating to the retail location that the registered user has an account with fuel management system such that payment for purchased petroleum products is to be made from previously cleared funds so as to further thereby indicate to the retail location the minimized risk associated with settling transactions involving the registered user;

an act of the petroleum product management system monitoring dispensing of the petroleum product at the retail location in essentially real time to assure that the account balance is sufficient to pay for the dispensed petroleum product as the petroleum product is dispensed so as to prevent the account balance from going below a limit;

if the account balance reaches the limit;

an act of sending an indication to the retail location that dispensing of the petroleum product is complete;

an act of the petroleum product management system receiving a debit message from the retail location kiosk at the retail location in response to and upon completion of dispensing petroleum product at the retail location, the debit message for debiting a calculated cost amount for dispensed petroleum product, dispensed at the retail location, from the account balance of the assigned registered petroleum purchasing account; and

an act of debiting the calculated amount from the assigned registered petroleum purchasing account in response to receiving the debit message by transferring the calculated amount out of the assigned registered petroleum purchasing account to settle the transaction for the purchase of the dispensed petroleum product quantity, without reference to any external authorization networks, wherein the petroleum product management system is configured to debit the assigned registered petroleum purchasing account for petroleum product purchases made at any of a variety of different, geographically remote retail locations.

17. The method as recited in claim 16, further comprising:

an act of receiving a payment from a computer system, the amount of the payment being large enough to cover the price of one or more petroleum product purchases; and

an act of crediting the petroleum purchasing account by the amount of the payment.

18. The method as recited in claim 17, wherein the act of receiving a payment from a computer system comprises an act of receiving a payment from a kiosk.

19. The method as recited in claim 17, wherein the act of receiving a payment from a computer system comprises an act of receiving a transfer of funds from a second fuel purchasing account.

20. The method as recited in claim 16, wherein the act of receiving account credentials from a kiosk comprises an act of receiving an electronic message, containing the account credentials, that was transferred over the Internet.

21. The method as recited in claim 16, wherein the act of receiving account credentials from a kiosk comprises an act of receiving a user-id and pass code.

22. The method as recited in claim 16, wherein the act of receiving account credentials from a kiosk comprises an act of receiving credentials corresponding to a fleet account sub-account.

23. The method as recited in claim 16, wherein the act of sending at least an account balance for the petroleum purchasing account to the kiosk comprises an act of sending the account balance to an electronic address corresponding to a kiosk such that the account balance is transferred across the Internet to the kiosk.

24. The method as recited in claim 16, wherein the an act of sending at least an account balance for the petroleum purchasing account to the kiosk comprises an act of sending an activating command for activating advertisements at a kiosk touch screen along with the account balance.

25. The method as recited in claim 16, wherein the act of debiting the petroleum purchasing account by the specified amount in response to receiving the debit message comprises an act of debiting the balance of fleet account.

26. The method as recited in claim 16, further comprising:

an act of receiving a Web based account sign-up request from a computer system;

an act sending a Web based account sign-up screen to the computer system;

an act of receiving account information that was entered at the Web based account sign-up screen; and

an act of creating a petroleum purchasing account based on the received account information.

27. The method as recited in claim 16, further comprising:

an act of receiving a request for account information corresponding to the petroleum purchasing account; and

an act of sending account history information in response to the request.

28. A computer program product for use at a kiosk that is network connectable to a petroleum product management system, the kiosk located at a retail location to control the dispensing of petroleum products at one or more petroleum product dispensers at the retail location, the petroleum product management system located separately from the retail location, the petroleum management system configured to remotely monitor and maintain contact with kiosks at a plurality of different geographically remote retail locations via network communication, the computer program product of implementing a method for dispensing a petroleum product at the retail location, the computer program product comprising one or more computer-readable media have stored thereon computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the kiosk to perform the following:

receive, at the kiosk, an indication of a petroleum product that is to be purchased at the retail location;

receive, at the kiosk, account credentials corresponding to a registered petroleum purchasing account for a registered user of the separately located petroleum management system, the registered petroleum purchasing account having an account balance representing funds from previously cleared deposit transactions submitted to the separately located petroleum product management system, the previously cleared deposit transactions electronically depositing funds into the registered petroleum purchasing account, the account balance indicating funds available within the separately located petroleum management system to minimize the risks associated with settling transactions for the purchase of petroleum products without reference to external authorization networks;

submit, by the retail location, the received account credentials for the registered petroleum purchasing account to the separately located petroleum product management system;

receive, at the retail location, the account balance for the registered petroleum purchasing account from the separately located petroleum product management system, the separately located petroleum product management system handling petroleum product purchases for a variety of different, geographically remote retail locations, reception of the account balance indicating to the retail location that the registered user has an account with the fuel management system such that payment for purchased petroleum products is to be made from previously cleared funds so as to thereby further indicate to the retail location the minimized risk associated with settling transactions involving the registered user;

configure, at the kiosk, a petroleum product dispenser to dispense the petroleum product based on the account balance for the petroleum purchasing account;

receive monitoring from the separately located petroleum management system to monitor the dispensing of the petroleum product in essentially real time to assure that the account balance is sufficient to pay for the dispensed petroleum product as the petroleum product is dispensed so as to prevent the account balance from going below a limit;

receive an indication that the dispensing of petroleum product is completed resulting in a dispensed petroleum product quantity that was dispensed at the petroleum product dispenser, the indication being either an indication from the fuel management system that the account balance has reached the limit or an indication from the petroleum product dispenser that dispensing is complete;

calculate an amount for the cost of the dispensed petroleum product quantity; and

send a debit message to the separately located petroleum product management system in response to and upon completion of dispensing the petroleum product quantity, the debit message sent to directly debit the calculated amount from the account balance of the registered petroleum purchasing account by transferring the calculated amount out of the registered petroleum purchasing account to settle the transaction for the purchase of the dispensed petroleum product quantity, without reference to any other external authorization networks.

29. The computer program product as recited in claim 28, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the kiosk to perform the following:

submit a payment to the petroleum product management system prior to configuring the petroleum product dispenser to dispense a petroleum product, the amount of the payment being large enough to cover the price of one or more petroleum product purchases; and

receive an indication that the payment was credited to the petroleum purchasing account.

30. The computer program product as recited in claim 29, wherein the computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the kiosk to submit a payment to the petroleum product management system comprise computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the kiosk to submit a credit or debit card number to the petroleum product management system.

31. The computer program product as recited in claim 29, wherein the computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the kiosk to submit a payment to the petroleum product management system comprise computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the kiosk to initiate an electronic funds transfer to the petroleum product management system.

32. The computer program product as recited in claim 29, wherein the computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the kiosk to submit a payment to the petroleum product management system comprise computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the kiosk to receive a cash payment.

33. The computer program product as recited in claim 29, wherein the computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the kiosk to submit a payment to the petroleum product management system comprise computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the kiosk to submit a command for transferring funds from one petroleum purchasing account to another petroleum purchasing account.

34. The computer program product as recited in claim 28, wherein the computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the kiosk to receive account credentials corresponding to a petroleum purchasing account comprise computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the kiosk to receive a user-id and passcode.

35. The computer program product as recited in claim 28, wherein the computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the kiosk to receive account credentials corresponding to a petroleum purchasing account comprise computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the kiosk to receive credentials for a fleet account.

36. A system for authorizing petroleum product purchases and tracking petroleum product purchases made at any of a number of different geographically remote retail locations that each have one or more petroleum product dispensers, the system comprising:

a centralized fuel management system configured to authorize petroleum product purchases and facilitate user tracking of individual purchases, the centralized fuel management system including;

a web portal having a sign-up module for creating new petroleum purchasing accounts for users, wherein the sign-up module is adapted to receive account credentials input for identification of a respective registered petroleum purchasing account;

an account details module for enabling a user associated with the registered petroleum purchasing account to access the registered petroleum purchasing account, wherein access is provided when the user inputs the account credentials received by the sign-up module to create the registered petroleum purchasing account, and wherein the account details module provides the user with access to data that includes a prepaid account balance as well as purchase history information that includes itemized information on past petroleum product purchases;

a database storing account information for the registered petroleum purchasing account, wherein the account information stored by the database includes the account credentials, the prepaid account balance, and the purchase history information; and

an authorization module for receiving the account credentials from any of the different, geographically remote retail locations, the account credentials being those entered into the sign-up module and being indicative of an attempt to purchase petroleum products at a respective retail location against the prepaid account balance, the authorization module being configured to identify the registered petroleum purchasing account in the database using the account credentials and determine a sufficiency of funds for requested fuel purchases, such that each of account authorization, sign-up, and itemized purchase history information are controlled by the same, central fuel management system; and

a financial module configured to;

monitor dispensing of the petroleum product at the retail location in essentially real time to assure that the account balance is sufficient to pay for the dispensed petroleum product as the petroleum product is dispensed so as to prevent the account balance from going below a limit;

send an indication to the retail location that dispensing of the petroleum product is complete if the account balance reaches the limit;

debiting a calculated amount from the assigned registered petroleum purchasing account in response to receiving a debit message by transferring a calculated amount out of the assigned registered petroleum purchasing account to settle the transaction for the purchase of the dispensed petroleum product quantity, without reference to any external authorization networks, wherein the petroleum product management system is configured to debit the assigned registered petroleum purchasing account for petroleum product purchases made at any of a variety of different, geographically remote retail locations.

37. The system as recited in claim 36, further comprising a financial module for receiving prepayments for deposit into the registered petroleum purchasing account, and for receiving debits from any of the different, geographically remote retail locations and thereafter debiting the registered petroleum purchasing account, such that the same central fuel management system also controls prepayments and purchase debits.

38. The system as recited in claim 37, wherein the financial module is further configured to secure prepayments using credit cards, such that a credit card is used to secure one or more other forms of prepayment into the registered petroleum purchasing account, thereby making funds available in the registered petroleum purchasing account before the prepayment from the one or more other forms of prepayment clear.

39. The system as recited in claim 36, further comprising a station control module for updating software in petroleum product dispensers and changing prices of petroleum products at the retail locations, such that the same central fuel management system also controls updating of petroleum product dispensers.

40. The system as recited in claim 36, wherein the account details module is further adapted to present to a user, upon entering the account credentials, an amount of petroleum products used over a defined period of time, and budgeting information for future petroleum product purchases.