Patent ID: 7640185
Filing Date: 2009-12-29
Classification: G06Q,G07F,G07G

Abstract:
1. A fuel dispensing method with radio frequency customer identification capabilities for charging a customer for sales transacted by the customer at one of a plurality of fuel dispensers located in a fuel dispensing area in which vehicles may drive through and may stop in order to receive fuel from one of the fuel dispensers, each of the fuel dispensers requiring activation by the customer in order to initiate a transaction resulting in a sale, the method comprising: emitting radio frequency signals from a plurality of first antennas in such a manner that a plurality of first, independent, electromagnetic fields of predetermined operable range are created adjacent the fuel dispensers such that each said first electromagnetic field corresponds to one dispenser and the operable range of each said first electromagnetic field does not overlap the operable range of another said first electromagnetic field corresponding to a different dispenser; determining whether a vehicle-mounted transponder containing customer identification data is within the operable range of one of said first electromagnetic fields whereupon the customer identification data contained in the vehicle-mounted transponder is received by a reader associated with the fuel dispenser corresponding to the electromagnetic field which the vehicle-mounted transponder is within; if a vehicle-mounted transponder is determined to be within the operable range of one of said first electromagnetic fields, providing an in-range indication to the customer that the vehicle-mounted transponder is within the electromagnetic field; determining whether the dispenser has been activated by the customer; if there has been a determination that there has been an activation of the dispenser associating the customer identification data received by the reader from the vehicle-mounted transponder with a transaction at the activated dispenser, whereupon the transaction at the activated dispenser is permitted and charged to the customer according to the customer identification data; emitting radio frequency signals from a plurality of second antennas in such a manner that a plurality of second, independent electromagnetic fields of predetermined operable range are created adjacent said fuel dispensers such that each said second electromagnetic field corresponds to one dispenser and the operable range of each said second electromagnetic field does not overlap the operable range of another said second electromagnetic field corresponding to a different dispenser, and wherein said second electromagnetic fields have relatively small operable ranges in relation to the operable ranges of said first electromagnetic fields; determining whether a hand-held transponder containing customer identification data is within the operable range of one of said second electromagnetic fields whereupon the customer identification data contained in the hand-held transponder is received by a reader associated with the fuel dispenser corresponding to the electromagnetic field which the hand-held transponder is within; if a hand-held transponder is determined to be within the operable range, of one of said second electromagnetic fields, determining whether the fuel dispenser corresponding to the electromagnetic field that the hand-held transponder is within has been activated by the customer; if a hand-held transponder is determined to be within the operable range of one of said second electromagnetic fields and there has been a determination that there has been an activation of the corresponding fuel dispenser, associating the customer identification data received by the reader from the hand-held transponder with a transaction at the activated dispenser, whereupon the transaction at the activated dispenser is permitted and charged to the customer according to the customer identification data from the hand-held transponder; and if a vehicle-mounted transponder is determined to be within the operable range of one of said first electromagnetic fields and if a hand-held transponder is determined to be within the operable range of one of said second electromagnetic fields corresponding to the same fuel dispenser, then overriding the use of the customer identification data from the vehicle-mounted transponder so that the customer identification data from the hand-held transponder may be used to process the transaction at the fuel dispenser.