Transaction automation and archival system using electronic contract disclosure units

• US 10,133,385 B1
• Filed: 12/19/2017
• Issued: 11/20/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/27/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Reynolds and Reynolds Company
• Original Assignee: Reynolds & Reynolds Holdings, Inc.
• Inventors: Maloney, William C., Singleton, Mark A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Harris, Dorothy
• Application Number:
  US15/846,358
• Time in Patent Office: 336 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1637 Details related to the display arrangement, including those related to the mounting of the display in the housing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03543 Mice or pucks G06F3/03541 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03545 Pens or stylus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0412 Digitisers structurally integrated in a display
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/14 specially adapted for billing systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40145 Biometric identity checks
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/03 Credit; Loans; Processing thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/18 Legal services
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/20 Analysis of motion motion estimation for coding, decoding, compressing or decompressing digital video signals H04N19/43, H04N19/51

Abstract

A system is provided for controlling, real-time logging, and archiving complex commercial transactions such as the purchase and financing of an automobile. An electronic contract disclosure unit or ECDU includes a digitizing display for imaging documents involved in the transaction and a digitizer for manual interaction with images on the display. A computer controls the transaction, and may for instance, control the order of presentation of documents to a vehicle purchaser, receive the purchaser'"'"'s signature on the displayed documents when required, offer choices of various packages that can be accepted or declined by the purchaser, and insures that the entire transaction is carried out properly. The ECDU logs the transaction for future review and preferably records video and audio. Fingerprint readers allow participants to select between options by pressing their thumb or finger on the readers.

Claims

1. A system for managing a business transaction comprising the sale by an automotive dealership of a vehicle and the purchase and financing of the vehicle by a customer, the transaction requiring at least the presentation of documents by a representative of the automotive dealership and the signing of documents presented by the representative on at least one page thereof by the customer, the system comprising:

a housing having a substantially flat upper surface, the housing being sized and configured for placement on the surface of a desk between the representative and the customer with the upper surface being oriented generally horizontally and being physically accessible by the representative while sitting on one side of the desk and by the customer while sitting on an opposite side of the desk during the transaction;

a digitizing display within the housing and visible from above to the representative and to the customer while sitting on opposite sides of the desk, the digitizing display including a video display on which images, including images of pages of documents, can be displayed and a digitizer configured to detect motion of at least one stylus on the upper surface of the housing;

a collaborative volume above the upper surface of the housing within which the representative and the customer, physically at the same location at the same time, interact with each other and with the digitizing display during the business transaction;

a computer operatively coupled to the digitizing display;

the computer being programmed to display images of pages of documents associated with the business transaction on the video display and receive and interpret motion of the at least one stylus on the upper surface of the housing;

the computer being programmed to permit pages of documents associated with the business transaction to be displayed in one orientation for the representative and to be displayed in a different orientation for the customer;

at least one loudspeaker in the housing at a location displaced from the video display, the loudspeaker being operatively coupled to the computer, the computer being programmed to play through the at least one loudspeaker sounds generated by the computer that facilitate the business transaction;

a finance and insurance (F&

I) system separate from the computer, the computer being in communication with the F&

I system during the business transaction so that the F&

I system can facilitate financing for the vehicle by the customer during the transaction;

the computer being programmed to present to the customer add-on and up-sell products and/or services and to allow the customer to accept or reject the presented add-on and up-sell products and/or services by interacting with the digital display using the at least one stylus;

the computer being programmed to communicate at least the cost of accepted add-on and up-sell products and/or services to the F&

I system, which incorporates said cost into the financing of the vehicle for the customer.

2. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein loudspeaker produces sounds during a business transaction from at least a first location adjacent one side of the video display.

3. A system as claimed in claim 2 wherein the at least one loudspeaker comprises at least two loudspeakers that play sounds during a business transaction from the first location and at least a second location adjacent another side of the video display.

4. A system as claimed in claim 3 wherein the second location is on an opposite side of the video display from the first location.

5. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the sounds include a voice reciting information on pages of documents displayed on the video display in one or more languages.

6. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the sounds include sounds related to advertising to the second user.

7. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the housing has a thickness and the upper surface has a width, the width of the upper surface being greater than three times the thickness of the housing.

8. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the computer is programmed to display images of documents associated with the business transaction in a predetermined order on the video display.