Mobile device-enhanced user selection of specific rental vehicles for a rental vehicle reservation

• US 9,499,128 B2
• Filed: 03/15/2013
• Issued: 11/22/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Crawford Group Incorporated (Jack Taylor Family Voting Trust U A D 4 14 99)
• Original Assignee: The Crawford Group Incorporated (Jack Taylor Family Voting Trust U A D 4 14 99)
• Inventors: Reh, E. Paul, Harmon, Michele Muscarella, Connors, Robert
• Primary Examiner(s): Chen, George
• Application Number:
  US13/840,711
• Publication Number:
  US 20140278599A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,348 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2325/101 Bluetooth
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2325/103 Near field communication [NFC]
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2325/105 Radio frequency identification data [RFID]
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2325/205 Mobile phones
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/24 using electronic identifiers containing a code not memorised by the user
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/245 where the antenna reception area plays a role
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/51 Relative positioning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/016 After-sales
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0645 Rental transactions; Leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 17/02 using a radio link
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/47 using near field communication [NFC] or radio frequency identification [RFID] modules
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/63 Location-dependent; Proximity-dependent
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 : Terminal devices

Abstract

A number of techniques are disclosed for making it more convenient and efficient for customers to conduct various rental vehicle transactions. As an example, a technique for performing an automated pickup of a rental vehicle using a mobile device is disclosed. As another example, a technique for performing an automated return administration of a rental vehicle using a mobile device is disclosed. As another example, a technique for permitting customer to select a particular rental vehicle for a rental vehicle transaction using a mobile device is disclosed. Also disclosed is a technique for permitting a customer to keylessly start a rental vehicle using a machine-sensible item such as his/her mobile device without requiring the customer to possess a smart key.

Claims

1. A method of linking wireless mobile computing devices with control hardware in rental vehicles to provide users of the wireless mobile computing devices with automated access to selected rental vehicles for pickup, the method comprising:

storing a rental vehicle reservation in a database in association with a customer;

storing data about a plurality of rental vehicles in a database, wherein each of a plurality of rental vehicles includes control hardware configured to automate a rental vehicle pickup process, the control hardware comprising (1) a processor, (2) a memory, (3) a wireless I/O component, (4) a sensor, and (5) a vehicle interface;

a server communicating with a wireless mobile computing device used by the customer prior to an initial pickup by the customer of a rental vehicle in accordance with the rental vehicle reservation, wherein the server communicating step comprises;

the server processing the stored rental vehicle data to identify a plurality of specific rental vehicles that are available for pickup based on the stored rental vehicle reservation for the customer;

the server communicating a list of a plurality of the identified specific rental vehicles to the customer'"'"'s wireless mobile computing device for presentation thereon; and

the server receiving a selection of a specific rental vehicle from the list from the customer'"'"'s wireless mobile computing device in response to customer input via the wireless mobile computing device;

the server determining from the database of stored rental vehicle data whether the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection is still available for initial pickup by the customer;

in response to a determination that the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection is still available for initial pickup by the customer, the server (1) placing a time-limited hold on the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection, and (2) communicating a signal to the control hardware in the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection, the signal including authorization information for the customer to pickup that rental vehicle;

the wireless I/O component of the control hardware in the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection receiving the communicated signal from the server;

the processor of the control hardware in the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection interacting with the wireless I/O component and storing the authorization information in the received signal in the memory of the control hardware in the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection;

enforcing the time-limited hold by (1) if a time limit corresponding to the time-limited hold has expired before the customer has picked up the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection, releasing the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection from the time-limited hold, and (2) if a time limit corresponding to the time-limited hold has not yet expired, retaining the time-limited hold with respect to the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection;

the sensor of the control hardware in the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection sensing data corresponding to the customer'"'"'s wireless mobile computing device when the customer'"'"'s wireless mobile computing device is in proximity to the sensor;

the processor of the control hardware in the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection (1) reading the sensed data from the sensor, (2) checking for stored authorization information, (3) determining whether the customer is authorized to pickup the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection based on the sensed data and the stored authorization information, and (4) in response to a determination that the customer is authorized to pickup the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection, sending an access command instruction to the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection via the vehicle interface of the control hardware in the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection; and

actuating at least one member of the group consisting of (1) a door locking/unlocking vehicle subsystem, (2) a vehicle immobilizer subsystem, and (3) a vehicle ignition subsystem in the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection in response to the access command instruction so as to provide the customer with pickup access to the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection during the time-limited hold.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the sensing step comprises the sensor of the control hardware in the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection sensing a machine-readable identifier that is presented on a display of the customer'"'"'s wireless mobile computing device.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the machine-readable identifier comprises a barcode.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising defining a time limit for the time-limited hold based on a status level for the customer.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the status level is indicative of whether the customer is a member of a frequent renter program, wherein the defining step comprises providing customers who are members of the frequent renter program with a longer time limit for the time-limited hold than for non-members.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

in response to a determination that the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection is no longer available for initial pickup by the customer, the server communicating a notification to the customer'"'"'s wireless mobile computing device that notifies the customer that the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection is not available.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the releasing step further comprises the server communicating a notification to the customer'"'"'s wireless mobile computing device that notifies the customer that the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection has been released from the time-limited hold.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the reservation is for a vehicle class, the method further comprising:

permitting the customer to change the vehicle class to access, via the customer'"'"'s wireless mobile computing device, a list of specific rental vehicles available for pickup in the changed vehicle class.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the time-limited hold placing step comprises the server assigning a status in the database to the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection that is effective to remove the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection from a pool of rental vehicles available for selection by other customers during the time-limited hold.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the releasing step comprises revoking authorization with respect to the customer for the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the customer'"'"'s wireless mobile computing device is a GPS tracking-enabled wireless mobile computing device, the method further comprising:

detecting based on the enabled GPS tracking for the customer'"'"'s wireless mobile computing device whether the customer'"'"'s wireless mobile computing device is within a specified distance of a pickup location for the rental vehicle reservation; and

conditioning a presentation of the list on the customer'"'"'s wireless mobile computing device on a determination that the customer'"'"'s mobile computing device is within the specified distance of the pickup location for the rental vehicle reservation.

12. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

the server receiving a message from the customer'"'"'s wireless mobile computing device requesting a list of specific rental vehicles available for pickup with respect to the customer'"'"'s rental vehicle reservation;

in response to the received message, the server performing the list communicating step.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the sensor of the control hardware in the specific rental vehicle comprises a near field communication (NFC) sensor, and wherein the sensing comprises the NFC sensor sensing an NFC signal generated by the customer'"'"'s wireless mobile computing device.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the sensor of the control hardware in the specific rental vehicle comprises a BlueTooth sensor, and wherein the sensing comprises the BlueTooth sensor sensing a BlueTooth signal generated by the customer'"'"'s wireless mobile computing device.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the sensor of the control hardware in the specific rental vehicle comprises an RFID sensor, and wherein the sensing comprises the RFID sensor sensing an RFID signal generated by the customer'"'"'s wireless mobile computing device.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein the time-limited hold has a time limit of 30 minutes.

17. The method of claim 1 further comprising defining a time limit for the time-limited hold based on a rental vehicle type for the customer'"'"'s rental vehicle reservation.

18. The method of claim 1 further comprising defining a time limit for the time-limited hold based on a rental duration for the customer'"'"'s rental vehicle reservation.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein the enforcing step comprises the server performing the enforcing step.

28. The system of claim 10 wherein each of a plurality of the mobile computing devices comprise smart phones.

20. A system for linking wireless mobile computing devices with control hardware in rental vehicles to provide users of the wireless mobile computing devices with automated access to selected rental vehicles for pickup, the system comprising:

a plurality of rental vehicles that include control hardware therein, the control hardware for each of the rental vehicles comprising (1) a processor, (2) a memory, (3) a wireless I/O component, (4) a sensor, and (5) a vehicle interface, wherein the wireless I/O component is configured to interface the control hardware with a wireless network, and wherein the vehicle interface is configured to interface the control hardware with at least one member of the group consisting of (i) a door locking/unlocking vehicle subsystem, (ii) a vehicle immobilizer subsystem, and (iii) a vehicle ignition subsystem of the rental vehicle;

a plurality of wireless mobile computing devices associated with a plurality of customers;

a database in which (1) rental vehicle reservation data for a plurality of the customers is stored, and (2) data about a plurality of the rental vehicles is stored; and

a server in cooperation with the database, wherein the server is configured to communicate with (1) the wireless mobile computing devices prior to initial pickups by the customers of rental vehicles in accordance with the rental vehicle reservations and (2) the control hardware in the rental vehicles over a network;

wherein the server is configured to (1) access rental vehicle reservation data from the database for a customer in response to input over a network from a wireless mobile computing device associated with the customer, (2) determine a rental vehicle class and a rental vehicle pickup location based on the accessed rental vehicle reservation data, (3) generate a list of specific rental vehicles within the determined rental vehicle class that are available for initial pickup at the rental vehicle pickup location based on the stored rental vehicle data, (4) communicate data representative of the list to the customer'"'"'s wireless mobile computing device for display thereon, (5) receive further input from the customer'"'"'s wireless mobile computing device, wherein the further input is indicative of a selection of a specific rental vehicle from the list, (6) place a time-limited hold on the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection to permit a pickup by the customer of the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection within a specified time window, and (7) communicate a signal to the control hardware in the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection, the signal including authorization information for the customer to pickup that rental vehicle;

wherein the wireless I/O component of the control hardware in the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection is configured to receive the communicated signal from the server;

wherein the processor of the control hardware in the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection is configured to (1) interact with the wireless I/O component to process dat representative of the received signal, and (2) store the authorization information in the received signal in the memory of the control hardware in the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection;

wherein the sensor of the control hardware in the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection is configured to sense data corresponding to the customer'"'"'s wireless mobile computing device when the customer'"'"'s wireless mobile computing device is in proximity to the sensor; and

wherein the processor of the control hardware in the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection is further configured to (1) read the sensed data from the sensor, (2) check for stored authorization information, (3) determine whether the customer is authorized to pickup the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection based on the sensed data and the stored authorization information, and (4) in response to a determination that the customer is authorized to pickup the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection, send an access command instruction to the at least one member via the vehicle interface of the control hardware in the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection to thereby actuate the at least one member so as to provide the customer with pickup access to the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection during the time-limited hold.

21. The system of claim 20 wherein the server is further configured to enforce the time-limited hold to require the customer to pick up the held specific rental vehicle within the specified time window.

22. The system of claim 21 wherein the server is further configured to (1) determine whether the customer picks up the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection before expiration of the time-limited hold, and (2) in response to a determination that the customer has not picked up the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection before expiration of the time-limited hold, remove the time-limited hold.

23. The system of claim 22 wherein the server is further configured to perform the time-limited hold removal via a revocation of authorization with respect to the customer for the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection.

24. The system of claim 21 wherein the server is further configured to (1) receive further input from the customer'"'"'s wireless mobile computing device indicative of a request to change the rental vehicle class, and (2) in response to the received request, (i) generate a new list of specific rental vehicles within the changed rental vehicle class that are available for pickup at the rental vehicle pickup location based on the stored rental vehicle data, (ii) communicate data representative of the new list to the customer'"'"'s wireless mobile computing device for display thereon.

25. The system of claim 20 wherein the customer'"'"'s wireless mobile computing device comprises a mobile application configured, upon execution by a processor of the customer'"'"'s wireless mobile computing device, to cause a display of a machine-readable identifier on a display screen of the customer'"'"'s wireless mobile computing device, and wherein the sensor of the control hardware in the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection is configured to sense the machine-readable identifier in order to generate the sensed data.

26. The system of claim 25 wherein the machine-readable identifier comprises a barcode.

27. The system of claim 20 wherein the server is further configured to, in response to the received further input, (1) determine whether the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection is still available for initial pickup by the customer, and (2) perform the time-limited hold placement in response to a determination that the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection is still available for pickup by the customer.

29. The system of claim 20 wherein the server is configured to assign a status in the database to the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the time-limited hold that is effective to remove the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the time-limited from a pool of rental vehicles available for selection by other customers during the time-limited hold.

30. The system of claim 20 wherein the customer'"'"'s wireless mobile computing device is a GPS tracking-enabled wireless mobile computing device, and wherein the customer'"'"'s wireless mobile computing device comprises a mobile application configured, upon execution by a processor of the customer'"'"'s wireless mobile computing device, to cause the customer'"'"'s wireless mobile computing device to wirelessly send a current GPS position for the customer'"'"'s wireless computing device to the server;

and

wherein the server is further configured to (1) receive the current GPS position from the customer'"'"'s wireless mobile computing device, (2) determine a current geographic position for the customer'"'"'s wireless mobile computing device based on the received current GPS position, (3) determine whether the current geographic position for the customer'"'"'s wireless mobile computing device is within a specified distance of the pickup location, and (4) in response to a determination that the customer'"'"'s wireless mobile computing device is within the specified distance of the pickup location, perform the list communication operation.

31. The system of claim 20 wherein the customer'"'"'s wireless mobile computing device comprises a mobile application configured, upon execution by a processor of the customer'"'"'s wireless mobile computing device, to cause the customer'"'"'s wireless mobile computing device to wirelessly send, in response to customer input, a message to the server that requests a list of specific rental vehicles available for pickup at the pickup location;

and

wherein the server is further configured to (1) receive the message, and (2) in response to the received message, perform the list communication operation.

32. The system of claim 20 wherein the sensor of the control hardware in the specific rental vehicle comprises a near field communication (NFC) sensor.

33. The system of claim 20 wherein the sensor of the control hardware in the specific rental vehicle comprises a BlueTooth sensor.

34. The system of claim 20 wherein the sensor of the control hardware in the specific rental vehicle comprises an RFID sensor.

35. The system of claim 20 wherein the specified time window for the time-limited hold is 30 minutes.

36. The system of claim 20 wherein the server is further configured to vary the specified time window for the time-limited hold based on a status level for the customer.

37. The system of claim 20 wherein the server is further configured to vary the specified time window for the time-limited hold based on a rental vehicle type for the customer'"'"'s rental vehicle reservation.

38. The system of claim 20 wherein the server is further configured to vary the specified time window for the time-limited hold based on a rental duration for the customer'"'"'s rental vehicle reservation.

39. An apparatus comprising:

a GPS tracking-enabled wireless mobile computing device configured to interact with a remote server and control hardware in a rental vehicle to support a selection and pickup of a specific rental vehicle in fulfillment of a rental vehicle reservation, the GPS tracking-enabled wireless mobile computing device comprising (1) a processor, (2) a wireless I/O component, (3) a memory, and (4) a display screen, wherein the wireless I/O component is configured to interface the processor with a wireless network, and wherein the memory is configured to store a mobile application configured for execution by the processor;

wherein the mobile application, upon execution by the processor, is configured to, (1) cause the wireless I/O component to wirelessly send a current GPS position for the wireless computing device to the remote server, (2) receive data from the remote server via the wireless I/O component, the received data being indicative of a plurality of specific rental vehicles available for pickup by a customer in accordance with a rental vehicle reservation of the customer, (3) generate a graphical user interface (GUI) for display to the customer via the display screen when the current GPS position for the wireless computing device is within a specified distance of a pickup location for the rental vehicle reservation, the GUI being configured to present a list of the available specific rental vehicles, (4) receive a selection of a specific rental vehicle from the list from the customer through the GUI, (5) communicate the selection to the remote server via the wireless I/O component, and (6) generate machine-readable data configured to be read by the control hardware of the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the selection, wherein the machine-readable data is effective, during a specified time window corresponding to a time-limited hold applicable to the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the selection, to cause the control hardware to actuate at least one member of the group consisting of (i) a door locking/unlocking vehicle subsystem, (ii) a vehicle immobilizer subsystem, and (iii) a vehicle ignition subsystem in the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the selection so as to provide the customer with access to the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the selection.

40. The apparatus of claim 39 wherein the mobile application is further configured, upon execution by the processor, to cause the wireless mobile computing device to (1) responsive to the selection communication, receive data from the remote server via the wireless I/O component that is indicative of whether the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the selection is available for pickup by the customer, and (2) in response to the received data indicating that the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the selection is available for pickup by the customer, notify the customer through a GUI for display via the display screen that the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the selection will be held for the customer for the specified time window.

41. The apparatus of claim 40 wherein the mobile application is further configured, upon execution by the processor, to cause the wireless mobile computing device to display a remaining amount of time for the time window on a GUI via the display screen.

42. The apparatus of claim 41 wherein the mobile application is further configured, upon execution by the processor, to cause the wireless mobile computing device to notify the customer through a GUI via the display screen when the specified time window has expired.

43. The apparatus of claim 39 wherein the mobile application is further configured, upon execution by the processor, to cause the wireless mobile computing device to condition the list GUI display screen generation on a current time being within a specified window before a pickup date/time of the rental vehicle reservation.

44. The apparatus of claim 39 wherein the mobile application is further configured, upon execution by the processor, to cause the wireless mobile computing device to permit the customer to access additional information about the specific rental vehicles on the list via a GUI displayed on the display screen.

45. The apparatus of claim 39 wherein the wireless mobile computing device comprises a smart phone with a touchscreen user interface.

46. The apparatus of claim 39 wherein the wireless mobile computing device comprises a tablet computer with a touchscreen user interface.

47. The apparatus of claim 39 wherein the machine-readable data comprises a barcode.