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

Claim 0:
1. A method of controlling access of a vehicle to carwash equipment at a carwash service location, the method comprising:
providing a carwash service location including a lane controller configured to control access to a plurality of carwash lanes by selective movement of an associated carwash gate, 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 that automatically controls access to carwash equipment via automated selective movement of the carwash gate between an open position and a closed position,
capturing, with a camera, an image of a vehicle license plate of a vehicle in one of the plurality of carwash lanes;
processing, with a carwash service location computer processor configured to process license plate images, 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 associated with the vehicle license plate, a state of origin associated with the vehicle license plate, and a make and model associated with the vehicle license plate;
comparing, with a carwash service location computer processor configured to compare vehicle characteristics, 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;
detecting a vehicle coming within view of a camera in the registration lane and in response to the lane controller confirming a lack of association with a carwash subscription service profile in the carwash subscription service database:
generating, with a carwash service location computer processor, a new carwash subscription service profile in memory;
associating, with a carwash service location computer processor, the set of vehicle characteristics with the new carwash subscription service profile in memory;
receiving user input indicative of customer identification for the new carwash subscription service profile at a user interface of a point-of-sale computer;
receiving user input indicative of a selection of a carwash subscription service configuration for the new carwash subscription service profile at the user interface of the point-of-sale computer;
receiving user input indicative of initial carwash service payment information at the user interface of the point-of-sale computer;
associating, with a carwash service location computer processor, the initial carwash service payment information with the new carwash subscription service profile; and
setting, with a carwash service location computer processor, the new carwash service subscriber profile to an unclaimed status;
transmitting 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;

detecting a vehicle coming within view of a camera in the app lane and in response to the lane controller confirming association with a carwash subscription service profile in the carwash subscription service database and the associated carwash subscription service profile having the unclaimed status:
permitting, by the lane controller automatically moving the carwash gate of the app carwash lane to the open position, vehicle access to the carwash equipment during an initial time period based upon the associated carwash subscription service configuration and the initial carwash service payment information;
restricting, by the lane controller maintaining the carwash gate of the app carwash lane in the closed position, vehicle access to carwash equipment after the initial time period;
preventing 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
transmitting a reminder message to the customer mobile device based on the customer identification, the reminder message reminding the customer the associated carwash subscription service profile has an unclaimed status;

detecting a vehicle coming within view of a camera in the app lane and in response to the lane controller confirming association with a carwash subscription service profile in the carwash subscription service database and the associated carwash subscription service profile having the claimed status, permitting, by automatically moving the carwash gate of the app carwash lane to the open position, vehicle access to the carwash equipment based upon the associated carwash subscription service configuration.