Reefer fuel tax reporting for the transport industry
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A mobile system for measuring fuel consumption of a mobile refrigeration unit in a transportation unit operable to connect to a vehicle for transportation, the mobile system comprising:
- an untethered system for measuring fuel consumption of the mobile refrigeration unit in an untethered transportation unit operable to attach to the vehicle, the untethered system measuring fuel consumption of the mobile refrigeration unit separately from measurement of fuel consumption of the vehicle used to transport the mobile refrigeration unit, the untethered system comprising;
an ultrasonic flow meter coupled to a passageway supplying fuel to a refrigeration unit engine, of said mobile refrigeration unit, from a gas tank, wherein the ultrasonic flow meter ultrasonically measures a flow rate of said fuel supplied through said passageway to said refrigeration unit engine;
from said gas tank;
a processor, coupled to said ultrasonic flow meter, being programmed to detect a location of said mobile refrigeration unit, derive up-to-the-minute fuel consumption data of the mobile refrigeration unit using said flow rate received from said ultrasonic flow meter, and derive fuel tax data using said detected location and said fuel consumption data; and
a transmitter, coupled to said processor, operable to transmit said fuel consumption data and said fuel tax data to a remote location, wherein the transmitter is operable to directly transmit the fuel consumption data and the fuel tax data to the remote location and to forward the fuel consumption data and the fuel tax data to an attached vehicle for reporting in combination with the vehicle'"'"'s fuel data.
16 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A fuel tax measuring and reporting tool is provided for a mobile refrigeration unit that is capable of providing state-by-state fuel tax reporting, automatically, relating to fuel consumed by a mobile refrigeration unit. Fuel use of an engine powering the refrigeration unit is measured based on either power consumption by, or fuel flow to, the engine. Processing of this data locally or remotely allows accurate fuel tax reporting in connection with transmission of this data from the site of the mobile refrigeration unit.
-
Citations
30 Claims
-
1. A mobile system for measuring fuel consumption of a mobile refrigeration unit in a transportation unit operable to connect to a vehicle for transportation, the mobile system comprising:
an untethered system for measuring fuel consumption of the mobile refrigeration unit in an untethered transportation unit operable to attach to the vehicle, the untethered system measuring fuel consumption of the mobile refrigeration unit separately from measurement of fuel consumption of the vehicle used to transport the mobile refrigeration unit, the untethered system comprising; an ultrasonic flow meter coupled to a passageway supplying fuel to a refrigeration unit engine, of said mobile refrigeration unit, from a gas tank, wherein the ultrasonic flow meter ultrasonically measures a flow rate of said fuel supplied through said passageway to said refrigeration unit engine;
from said gas tank;a processor, coupled to said ultrasonic flow meter, being programmed to detect a location of said mobile refrigeration unit, derive up-to-the-minute fuel consumption data of the mobile refrigeration unit using said flow rate received from said ultrasonic flow meter, and derive fuel tax data using said detected location and said fuel consumption data; and a transmitter, coupled to said processor, operable to transmit said fuel consumption data and said fuel tax data to a remote location, wherein the transmitter is operable to directly transmit the fuel consumption data and the fuel tax data to the remote location and to forward the fuel consumption data and the fuel tax data to an attached vehicle for reporting in combination with the vehicle'"'"'s fuel data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
-
12. A mobile system for measuring fuel consumption of a mobile refrigeration unit in a transportation unit operable to connect to a vehicle for transportation, the mobile system comprising:
an untethered system for measuring fuel consumption of the mobile refrigeration unit in an untethered transportation unit operable to attach to the vehicle, the untethered system measuring fuel consumption of the mobile refrigeration unit separately from measurement of fuel consumption of the vehicle used to transport the mobile refrigeration unit, the untethered system comprising; an ampere meter, coupled to a refrigeration unit engine of said mobile refrigeration unit, to measure current usage of said refrigeration unit engine, wherein the current usage measured represents power used by said refrigeration unit engine; a processor, coupled to said ampere meter, being programmed to detect a location of said mobile refrigeration unit, derive up-to-the-minute fuel consumption data of the mobile refrigeration unit using said current usage measured by said ampere meter, and derive fuel tax data using said detected location and said derived fuel consumption data; and a transmitter, coupled to said processor, operable to transmit said fuel consumption data and said fuel tax data to a remote location, wherein the transmitter is operable to directly transmit the fuel consumption data and the fuel tax data to the remote location and to forward the fuel consumption data and the fuel tax data to an attached vehicle for reporting in combination with the vehicle'"'"'s fuel data. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
-
24. A method of reporting fuel consumption of a mobile refrigeration unit in a transportation unit operable to connect to a vehicle for transportation, the method comprising:
-
ultrasonically measuring a flow rate of fuel supplied through a passageway between a refrigeration unit engine of said mobile refrigeration unit and a gas tank via an ultrasonic flow meter via an untethered system, the untethered system measuring fuel consumption of the mobile refrigeration unit separately from measurement of fuel consumption of the vehicle used to transport the mobile refrigeration unit; detecting a location of said mobile refrigeration unit; calculating up-to-the-minute fuel consumption data of the mobile refrigeration unit using said flow rate through said passageway that was ultrasonically measured, and fuel tax data using said detected location and said fuel consumption data; and automatically reporting said fuel consumption data associated with the detected location to a remote location via a transmitter operable to directly transmit the fuel consumption data to the remote location and to forward the fuel consumption data to an attached vehicle for reporting in combination with the vehicle'"'"'s fuel data. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27)
-
-
28. A method of reporting fuel consumption of a mobile refrigeration unit in a transportation unit operable to connect to a vehicle for transportation, the method comprising:
-
measuring current usage of a refrigeration unit engine of the mobile refrigeration unit, wherein the current usage measured represents power used by said refrigeration unit engine via an ampere meter of an untethered system, the untethered system measuring fuel consumption of the mobile refrigeration unit separately from measurement of fuel consumption of the vehicle used to transport the mobile refrigeration unit; detecting a location of said mobile refrigeration unit; calculating, by a processor, up-to-the-minute fuel consumption data of the mobile refrigeration unit using said current usage measured, and fuel tax data using said detected location and said fuel consumption data; and automatically reporting said fuel consumption data associated with the detected location to a remote location via a transmitter operable to directly transmit the fuel consumption data to the remote location and to forward the fuel consumption data to an attached vehicle for reporting in combination with the vehicle'"'"'s fuel data. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30)
-
Specification