Patent ID: 11878664
Assignee: VQ, INC.
Field: IT methods for management (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC B  G | IPC B  G

Claim 12:
13. A system for controlling access of a vehicle to carwash equipment at a carwash service location, the system comprising:
a plurality of carwash lanes, wherein at least one of the plurality of carwash lanes is a registration carwash lane for registering a new carwash service account and at least one of the plurality of carwash lanes is an app carwash lane having a carwash gate;
a lane controller configured to control access to carwash equipment by selective movement of the carwash gate between an open position and a closed position;
a camera configured to capture an image of a vehicle license plate of a vehicle in one of the plurality of carwash lanes;
a point-of-sale computer having a user interface;
a carwash service location computer processor configured to:
process the image of the vehicle license plate with license plate recognition software to determine a set of vehicle characteristics associated with the vehicle license plate including a license plate number, a state of origin, and a make and model;
compare the set of vehicle characteristics associated with the vehicle license plate to vehicle characteristics of carwash subscription service profiles registered in a carwash subscription service database to determine whether the vehicle is registered for the carwash subscription service;
detect a vehicle coming within view of a camera in the registration lane;
confirm a lack of association with a carwash subscription service profile in the carwash subscription service database, and in response:
generate a new carwash subscription service profile in memory;
associate the set of vehicle characteristics with the new carwash subscription service profile in memory;
receive user input indicative of customer identification for the new carwash subscription service profile from the user interface of the point-of-sale computer;
receive user input indicative of a selection of a carwash subscription service configuration for the new carwash subscription service profile from the user interface of the point-of-sale computer;
receive user input indicative of initial carwash service payment information at the user interface of the point-of-sale computer;
associate the initial carwash service payment information with the new carwash subscription service profile; and
set the new carwash service subscriber profile to an unclaimed status; and
transmit a message to a customer mobile device based on the customer identification, the message including a deep link to download a carwash subscription service app;

confirm association with a carwash subscription service profile in the carwash subscription service database and the associated carwash subscription service profile having the unclaimed status, and in response:
permit vehicle access to the carwash equipment by instructions to the lane controller to open the carwash gate during an initial time period based upon the associated carwash subscription service configuration and the initial carwash service payment information;
restrict vehicle access to carwash equipment by lack of instructions to the lane controller to open the gate after the initial time period;
prevent submission of an automatic renewal payment for the carwash subscription service of the associated carwash subscription service profile based upon the initial carwash service payment information in the associated carwash subscription service profile; and
transmit a reminder message to the customer mobile device based on the customer identification, whereby the reminder message reminds the customer that the associated carwash subscription service profile has an unclaimed status;

confirm association with a carwash subscription service profile in the carwash subscription service database and the associated carwash subscription service profile having the claimed status, and in response permit vehicle access to the carwash equipment by instructions to the lane controller to open the carwash gate, based upon the associated carwash subscription service configuration.