Wireless electronic vehicle window display system

• US 8,510,155 B2
• Filed: 05/30/2008
• Issued: 08/13/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cdmdata LLC
• Original Assignee: Cdmdata LLC
• Inventors: Hoang, Tony, Lucas, Scott
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Hai
• Application Number:
  US12/130,761
• Publication Number:
  US 20080300988A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,901 Days
• Field of Search: 705 1- 80, 345/107, 345/121, 349/86, 349/141, 349/147, 359/296
• US Class Current: 705/14
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0265 Vehicular advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0267 Wireless devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement

Abstract

The invention of the wireless electronic vehicle window display system employs the latest technology in electronic paper and low power consumption wireless networking devices. One contemplated embodiment of the present invention consists of three main components: A vehicle information portal, an electronic vehicle window display system subscriber, and the electronic paper. The invention is intended to provide an effective method of displaying pricing, vehicle specifications, promotions, and warranties on vehicles at the dealer'"'"'s lot. The invention removes the time-consuming and costly tasks of updating information on the current paper-based window sticker.

Claims

1. An electronic vehicle window display system for marketing vehicles to a user, the system comprising:

a vehicle information portal including a server and a database of an inventory;

an information subscriber having a signal sending unit, and the information subscriber is connected to the vehicle information portal via the network;

an electronic vehicle window display coupled to a vehicle on the automobile dealership and configured to display vehicle information regarding the vehicle, wherein the electronic vehicle window display includes a wireless signal receiving unit that receives a wireless signal regarding the vehicle from the information subscriber;

at least one electronic device connected to the vehicle information portal and the information subscriber via the network;

wherein the electronic vehicle window display receives personal information from the user, wherein the at least one electronic device dynamically modifies the vehicle information displayed on the electronic vehicle window display based at least in part on the personal information received from the user; and

wherein the wireless signal is received by the electronic vehicle window display via at least one of Wi-Fi, WiMax, or radio frequency.

2. The vehicle window display system of claim 1, wherein the electronic vehicle window display is an electronic paper.

3. The vehicle window display system of claim 2, wherein the network is at least one of Internet, cellular network, or satellite network.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the electronic paper is self powered.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein the electronic paper has a flexible display substrate.

6. The vehicle window display system of claim 1, wherein the at least one electronic device has a software application capable of changing and modifying the vehicle information displayed on the electronic vehicle window display.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the electronic vehicle window display contains a unique identifier (ID) associated with a vehicle identification number (VIN) of the vehicle, and wherein the wireless signal received by the electronic vehicle window display is routed to the electronic vehicle window display based at least in part on the unique ID associated with the VIN of the vehicle.

8. A method of displaying vehicle information for vehicles at a dealership to a user, the method comprising:

receiving, at a client system with user interface and signal-sending unit, vehicle information from a vehicle information portal;

processing the received vehicle information to determine information to display on at least one of a plurality of electronic vehicle window displays, each electronic vehicle window display having a signal-receiving unit for receiving signals sent from the client system wirelessly;

wherein each electronic vehicle window display has an identifier so that signals are selectively sent to each electronic vehicle window display;

under control of the client system, sending a signal to at least one of the plurality of electronic vehicle window displays, wherein the signal displays an image on the electronic vehicle window display;

receiving personal information from a user of the at least one electronic vehicle window display;

sending, by the client system, the personal information from the electronic vehicle window display to the vehicle information portal;

and

sending an updated signal to the at least one electronic vehicle window display, wherein the updated signal changes the image being displayed on the at least one electronic vehicle window display based at least in part on the received personal information of the user.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the client sends the signal wirelessly to the electronic vehicle window display via at least one of Wi-Fi, WiMax, or radio frequency.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the electronic vehicle window display has a rechargeable battery, embedded software application.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the signal-sending unit is a low-power base transmitter hosted at the dealership.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising the steps of displaying multiple pages of information on the electronic vehicle window display, and wherein the low-power transmitter compresses and encrypts data before sending to the electronic vehicle window display.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the electronic vehicle window display has an attachment element to attach to an inside of a vehicle'"'"'s window.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the signal is sent via Wi-Fi.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the information shown on the electronic vehicle window display is specifically related to the vehicle to which the electronic vehicle window display is attached.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the information shown on the electronic vehicle window display includes at least one of pricing information, vehicle specifications, or promotional information.