Method and system for inspecting rental vehicles

• US 20080183535A1
• Filed: 03/29/2008
• Published: 07/31/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/20/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Automoti Group, Inc. (Herc Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Automoti Group, Inc. (Herc Holdings, Inc.)
• Inventors: Kahana, Mordechai
• Application Number:
  US12/080,064
• Publication Number:
  US 20080183535A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 Auctions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083

Abstract

A system for inspecting rental vehicles includes an image capture booth coupled to a rental car computer. In one embodiment, the image capture booth includes a first camera mounted on a first tower, a second camera mounted on a second tower, and a path defined between the first tower and the second tower for the rental vehicle to pass through. When a rental vehicle travels down the path, the first camera and the second camera configured to capture images of the rental vehicle as it drives down the path. The rental car computer is configured to receive the images of the rental vehicle.

Claims

1. A system for tracking damages in a rental vehicle comprising:

an image capture booth configured to capture images of the rental vehicle, the images including an indication of damage to the rental vehicle; and

a rental computer coupled to the image capture booth, the rental computer configured to receive the images of the rental vehicle.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the image capture booth is further configured to capture identification information, the identification information comprising data concerning the rental vehicle.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein the image capture booth further comprises an RFID reader configured to interrogate an RFID tag on the rental vehicle to retrieve identification information stored on the RFID tag.

4. The system of claim 2 wherein the image capture booth comprises at least two towers spaced apart to allow the rental car vehicle to pass between the two towers.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein a digital camera is mounted on each of the at least two towers, the cameras configured to capture images of the rental vehicle.

6. The system of claim 2 wherein the rental computer is configured to receive the images of the rental vehicle and the identification information upon the renting of the vehicle.

7. The system of claim 2 wherein the rental computer is configured to receive the images of the rental vehicle and the identification information upon return of the rental vehicle.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the images of the rental vehicle are compared with one or more previous images to determine if there is damage to the rental vehicle.

9. The system of claim 1 further comprising a remarketer computer coupled to the rental computer, the remarketer computer configured to receive the images of the rental vehicle and the identification information and list the rental vehicle as available for sale while the rental vehicle is still part of a rental vehicle fleet.

10. A method for tracking damages to a rental vehicle comprising:

capturing images of the rental vehicle at an image capture booth;

determining the identification of the rental vehicle at the image capture booth; and

sending the captured images and the identification of the vehicle to a rental car computer system.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising the step of sending data including the captured images to a remarketer computer, the rental vehicle offered for sale while simultaneously available for rent.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the step of determining the identification of the rental vehicle further comprises the step of interrogating an RFID tag mounted on the vehicle using an RFID reader mounted in the image booth.

13. The method of claim 10 wherein the step of capturing images of the rental vehicle further comprises the step of driving the rental vehicle between two towers, each of the two towers having a digital camera mounted thereon.

14. The method of claim 10 further comprising the step of comparing the captured images of the rental vehicles with one or more previous images to determine if there is damage to the rental vehicle.

15. An image capture booth comprising:

a first camera mounted on a first tower;

a second camera mounted on a second tower; and

a path defined between the first tower and the second tower for the rental vehicle to pass through, the first camera and the second camera configured to capture images of the rental vehicle as it drives down the path.

16. The image capture booth of claim 15 further comprising an RFID reader coupled to the first tower, the RFID reader configured to interrogate an RFID tag mounted on the rental vehicle to determine vehicle identification information.

17. The image capture booth of claim 16 further comprising a rental car computer configured to receive the images of the rental vehicle.

18. The image capture booth of claim 17 wherein the rental car computer is further operable to receive vehicle information and associate the vehicle information and images of the rental vehicle with a rental contract.

19. The image capture booth of claim 18 wherein the images of the rental vehicle are compared with previous images of the rental vehicle stored at the rental car computer to determine if there is damage to the rental vehicle.

20. The image capture booth of claim 17 further comprising a remarketer computer coupled to the rental computer, the remarketer computer configured to receive the images of the rental vehicle and the identification information and list the rental vehicle as available for sale while the rental vehicle is still part of a rental vehicle fleet.