MULTI STAGE FORECOURT DATA ACQUISITION

Abstract: A system for multistage information vending in a fuelling environment comprises a plurality of retail terminals (44, 46, 48, 51) each equipped with a transmission mechanism. A consumer may purchase data or information at a first retail terminal (40), such as during a fuelling transaction, and then receive the data from a second retail terminal (51).

Description: MULTI STAGE FORECOURT DATA AOUISITION The present invention relates to multistage information acquisition in a fuelling environment typically a service station forecourt. Fuelling environments are becoming more and more sophisticated with multiple retail establishments integrated into a single fuelling forecourt. For example, as disclosed in commonly owned U.S. Patent 5,956,259, which is hereby incorporated by reference, quick serve restaurants, car washes, convenience stores, and the like may all be part of a unified plan to vend products and services to consumers in a fuelling forecourt environment. Additionally, advances are being made in fuel dispensers themselves. For example, some fuel dispensers are now Internet capable. Further, the types of transactions that are now possible over these fuel dispensers that have communicative links to remote computers is ever increasing. As evidenced by US Patents 5,914,654 and 5,806,018, which are hereby incorporated by reference, it is expected that fuel dispensers will soon be able to vend hotel reservations, airline reservations, travel information, and the like. While this vast array of options may seem overwhelming, consumers are also becoming more sophisticated and onboard in-vehicle computers or other comparable devices have also been proposed to facilitate a consumers' selection of options. According to first aspect of the present invention there is provided a fuelling environment comprising a consumer interface at a first location for receiving a consumers request for data, and at a second location apart from the first location a data delivery device adapted to deliver at least a portion of the requested data to the consumer. According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a method of providing information to a consumer in a fuelling environment comprising: receiving a request for information from the consumer at a first location in the fuelling environment; and transmitting the requested information from a location apart from the first location to the consumer for subsequent use in a vehicle. The present invention addresses the problem of the downloading of large amounts of data on the forecourt taking a considerable time, both preventing use of the forecourt for other purposes, such as fuel dispensing, where the data was ordered at a fuel dispenser, and also forcing the customer and their vehicle to remain in that location. The present invention allows the customer to move around the forecourt during a download, and thus exposes them during this period to other products and services offered at the forecourt, encouraging further sales. By way of example, a consumer may purchase information at a fuel dispenser as part of a fuelling transaction, and have the information downloaded to the vehicle computer while having the car washed. This frees up the fuel dispenser traffic lanes and provides a productive use of the time spent in the car wash. Alternatively, the consumer may travel to a dedicated kiosk to download the information therefrom after purchase. Appropriate identification transponders and detectors may track the location of the vehicle in the forecourt such that the purchased information may be properly downloaded wherever the vehicle is located within the forecourt. Still further, the consumer may purchase the information through a fuel dispenser and then receive a broadcast from a central antenna that provides the purchased information to the consumer anywhere on the forecourt Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying figures, of which: Figure 1 shows a vehicle equipped with an onboard computer for use with the present invention; Figure 2 is a block diagram of the onboard computer; Figure 3 shows a simplified retail terminal in use with the present invention; Figure 4 is a block diagram of a fuelling environment in communication with remote computers; Figure 5 is a schematic drawing of a multistage information transaction; Figure 6 is a simplified drawing of an alternate technique to transfer information to the vehicle; and Figure 7 is a flow chart of the method of the present invention. Referring to Figure 1 a vehicle 10 is equipped with an onboard computer 12, an antenna 14, and a receiver 16. The onboard computer 12 is operatively connected to the receiver 16. Additionally, a transmitter 18 may be operatively connected to both the onboard computer 12 and the antenna 14. As seen in Figure 2, the onboard computer 12 includes a central processing unit 20, which in turn is operatively connected to a display 22, an input device 24, a disk drive 26, and a transceiver 28, which includes both the receiver 16 and the transmitter 18. Display 22 may be a conventional video display such as is commonly found on laptop computers or it may be integrated with the input device 24 as a touchscreen or the like. Input device 24 may be a mouse, a keyboard, a joystick, or other well known input device as needed or desired. Disk drive 26 may be any sort of drive, which accepts a portable storage medium and reads data therefrom. Thus, floppy drives, CD-ROM drives, optical drives, and the like are all within the scope of the term "disk drive." The transceiver 28 may operate in the electromagnetic spectrum, preferably in the RF range, and may operate as a cellular communications device, a conventional radio receiver, or other such device. Additionally, the computer 12 may include a Global Positioning System (GPS) locator 29. This may be integrated with computer 12 or merely communicatively connected thereto. It should be appreciated that the onboard computer 12 may be positioned in any number of places within the vehicle 10, and may be dispersed or integrated into a single housing. For example, the display 22 and the input device 24 could be positioned in the steering wheel, with the CPU 20 positioned in the trunk of the vehicle; or the entire computer 12 could be positioned on the passenger side dashboard. Onboard computer 12 may be a separate unit in the vehicle 10, or it may be integrated into a vehicle component such as a radio. Additionally, the onboard computer 12 may be a laptop computer that has a hook up station within the vehicle 10, much like cellular phones have in-vehicle hands free stations. Other placements are possible and within the scope of the present invention. Equipped with such an onboard computer, a consumer 30, as shown in Figure 3, may now purchase information pursuant the present invention. There are at least two techniques by which the information may be purchased. Specifically, the consumer 30 may manually interact with a user input/output device 32 on a retail terminal 34, such as a fuel dispenser. User input/output device 32 may include a display 36 and a keypad 38 or other appropriate input and output mechanisms. It should be appreciated that the display 36 and keypad 38 may be integrated into a unified touch screen or the like. Thus, the consumer 30 may manually enter through the keypad 38 an indication of the information desired to be purchased. The display 36 may provide visual confirmation of the information being purchased, as well as additional information such as cost and expected time required to complete the transaction. While it is assumed that the purchase of information implies that the consumer pays for the information at a time proximate to the transaction, it is possible that the transaction will actually be cost free to the consumer. Alternatively, the consumer may prepay for information purchases and have a device that represents the credit available, much as is presently done with phone cards. In the event that there is a financial transaction associated with the ordering of information, this may be done through a number of techniques, including a credit card, the onboard computer 12 providing prestored account information, the aforementioned prepaid card or the like. Payment authorisation could be entered manually by the consumer 30 at the retail terminal 34 or wirelessly from the onboard computer 12. Alternatively, a consumer positioned within the vehicle 10 may use the onboard computer 12 to initiate the transaction. That is, the consumer may use the input device 24 to instruct the CPU 20 to initiate communication through the vehicle transceiver 18 and antenna 14 with the retail terminal 34 and, specifically, transceiver 40 within the retail terminal 34. This wireless communication passes the same information that would have been manually entered through keypad 38 to the retail terminal 34. Regardless of how the transaction is initiated, either manually or wirelessly, the transaction request is passed to a control system 42, which may be positioned as shown in Figure 3 within the retail terminal 34, or remotely therefrom. The control system 42 may perform additional functions for the retail terminal 34. For example, if the retail terminal 34 is a fuel dispenser, the control system 42 may act as the computer which controls fuel grade selection, accounting for the fuelling transaction, payment authorisation, and the like. While Figure 3 shows the retail terminal 34 embodied in a fuel dispenser, as shown in block format in Figure 4, the retail terminal 34 may be embodied in a number of different permutations, and is broadly defined as including a forecourt peripheral for a fuelling environment 53. Specifically, the retail terminal 34 may be a retail terminal 34 associated with a quick-serve restaurant 44, a fuel dispenser 46, a car wash 48, or the like. A site-controlling computer 50, such as the G-SITE®, sold by assignee of the present invention may be operatively be connected to the various retail terminals 34 and further, may be positioned within a station building 62 (Figure 5). Furthermore, a dedicated terminal 51 may exist within the fuelling environment 53. The site controller 50 may communicate with remote computers 52 over a network connection 54. The network connection 54 may be wireless or, more preferably, a conventional landline, such as the telephone system. Remote computers 52 contain the desired information which is to be purchased through the transaction, and may be associated with the Internet, a proprietary network, or the like. The communication links between the respective retail terminals 34 and the site controller 50 may also be wireless, a dedicated line, a local area network, or the like. In the preferred embodiment, the site controller 50 tracks the movement of the vehicle 10 within the fuelling, environment 53, and activates the appropriate information dispenser within a retail terminal 34 to complete the information transfer. This may be accomplished with appropriate transponder technology in U.S. Patent 5,956,259. Alternatively, the consumer may be issued a receipt or other indicia that indicates that the consumer has already purchased the information, but still needs to receive the information so purchased. For example, as part of the receipt from a fuelling transaction, the consumer could receive a bar code, or be provided an electronic code number that the vehicle onboard computer 12 then transmits as to secure an information download. While not preferred, the consumer could swipe a credit card, a smart card, or other payment means at the second retail terminal 34 to initiate information downloading. The account number associated with the payment means would then act as authorisation for an information download, even though no additional financial activity took place. Rather the account number is merely an identification mechanism that the fuelling environment 53 could use to make sure that the appropriate person was receiving the information download. The fuelling environment 53 is especially well suited for multistage information vending, as shown in Figure 5. With the advent of intelligent fuelling, a vehicle 10 may be inclined to visit multiple retail establishments within the fuelling environment 53, and this facilitates the multistage information vending. For example, a vehicle 10 may begin a fuelling transaction at the fuel dispenser 46. While dispensing fuel into the vehicle 10, the consumer may purchase information through the fuel dispenser retail terminal 34. However, since a typical fuelling transaction only lasts approximately two minutes, there may be insufficient time to locate and provide the information to the consumer during the fuelling transaction. However, the ' consumer may also have purchased something from the quick-serve restaurant 44 and a car wash from the car wash 48 during the same fuelling transaction. Thus, when the vehicle 10 moves to pick up the food from the quick-serve restaurant 44, the retail terminal 34 associated with the quick-serve restaurant 44 may transmit the information wirelessly through the antenna 14 to the onboard computer 12. If the information has not been completely transmitted during the food pickup part of the consumer's visit to the fuelling environment 53, additional transmissions may be made from the retail terminal 34 associated with the car wash 48. Alternatively, a vehicle, such as vehicle 10A, may purchase fuel from the fuel dispenser 46 and simultaneously purchase information therethrough. Rather than travel about the forecourt completing the various transactions requested at the fuel dispenser 46, vehicle 10A merely pulls up to a dedicated retail terminal 51 and remains in position long enough for the information to be downloaded through the antenna 14 to the onboard computer 12. In addition to the aforedescribed locations from which the information may be received, an antenna 60, positioned in a location such that the entire fuelling environment 53 may be communicatively linked therewith through a wireless transmission, may be used to deliver the information. Thus, the consumer 30 may order the information from one of the retail terminals 34 within the fuelling environment 53 and then receive the information from a second source, namely the antenna 62. In this manner, the site controller 50 does not necessarily have to track the movement of the vehicle 10 within the fuelling environment 53. Turning now to Figure 7, a flow chart of the preferred method of the present invention begins with the consumer entering the fuelling environment 53 (block 100). The consumer 30 then approaches a first retail terminal 34 in his vehicle 10 (block 102). At the first retail terminal 34, the consumer 30 indicates the information that he desires to purchase (block 104). This may be done wirelessly through the onboard computer 12 (block 106A) which may be appropriate for example in a robotic fuelling environment, or it may be done manually (block 106B). Additionally, there may be occasions when the consumer 30 ventured into the fuelling environment 53 for the sole purpose of information purchasing, and in that case, the consumer may have no desire to exit the vehicle 10, and a wireless purchase may also be appropriate in such circumstances. After processing of any other transactions that the consumer 30 may have initiated at the retail terminal 34, the consumer 30 may move his vehicle 10 to a second retail terminal 34 (block 108) at which time the onboard computer 12 receives the purchased information through the second retail terminal 34. Alternatively, the information may be delivered from a second location, remote from the location at which the information was purchased, such as the antenna 60. At some point in the process, either before, during, or after delivery of the information, payment is authorised if this is a financial transaction information purchase (block 112). Finally, the consumer exits the fuelling environment 53 (block 114). Thus, the present invention provides a method and system for vending information in a fuelling environment 53 forecourt that facilitates the transfer of information to the consumer 30 as the consumer 30 travels about the forecourt completing various retail transactions. It should be appreciated that the information may begin to download at the initial retail terminal 34, and then continue at subsequent retail terminals 34 as the consumer 30 travels about the forecourt. Alternatively, the information may not begin to download until the consumer has moved from the first location from which the information was ordered. The present invention relies on the technology disclosed in commonly owned U.S. Patent No. 5,956,259 to track the location of the vehicle 10 within the fuelling environment 53, and relies on the technology of the patent to Smith, U.S. Patent No. 5,914,654, to facilitate the transfer of information from the retail terminal 34 to the onboard computer 12. While it is presumed that the information will be transferred through the antenna 14 to the onboard computer 12 directly, it is also possible to interpose a portable storage medium, such as a disk, that may be consumer provided or generated by the retail terminal 34 on which the information is placed and then uploaded to the onboard computer 12 through the disk drive 26.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A fuelling environment (53) comprising a consumer interface (32) at a first location (46) for receiving a consumers request for data, and at a second location apart from the first location a data delivery device (51) adapted to deliver at least a portion of the requested data to the consumer. 2. The environment of claim 1 wherein the data is provided for consumption in a vehicle (10A). 3. The environment of claim 1 or 2 wherein the data delivery device comprises an antenna (60) the signal from which can be received over substantially all of the fuelling environment. 4. The environment of any preceding claim comprising a retail terminal (48) in the fuelling environment at a second location separate from the first, at which terminal the requested data is delivered. 5. The environment of any preceding claim wherein at least a portion of the requested data is initially delivered from a retail terminal at the first location (46). 6. The environment of any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the consumer interface (32) comprises a manual input device through which the consumer may request data. 7. The environment of any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the consumer interface comprises at the first location a wireless receiver (40) for receiving a consumer request for data via a wireless signal. 8. The environment of any preceding claim comprising a forecourt peripheral (46) at the first location associated with the consumer interface (32). 9. The environment of claim 8 wherein the forecourt peripheral (46) at the first location comprises a retail terminal (46) on which the consumer interface (32) is located. 10. The environment of claim 9 wherein the retail terminal is a fuel dispenser (46). 11. The environment of claim 8, 9 or 10 comprising a site controller (50) communicatively coupled to the forecourt peripheral (46), the controller being adapted to process the request for data, retrieve the data and provide the data to the consumer through the data delivery device (51). 12. The environment of any preceding claim wherein a retail terminal (46) at the first location provides a consumer with identifying indicia and wherein the data delivery device (51) at a second location delivers requested data in response to receiving said identifying indicia. 13. The environment of any preceding claim wherein the consumer interface (32) comprises means for accepting payment or payment authorisation for the requested data. 14. The environment of claim, 13 comprising a retail terminal (46) on which the consumer interface is located, the terminal being arranged to permit a payment in respect of other goods to be combined with payment for the requested data. 15. The environment of any one of claims 1 to 12, accept when dependent on claim 3, wherein the data delivery device comprises means for accepting payment or payment authorisation for the requested data. 16. The environment of claim 15 wherein the delivery device (51) is a forecourt peripheral and accepts combined payment for the requested data and at least one other transaction conducted in the fuelling environment. 17. A method of providing information to a consumer in a fuelling environment (53) comprising: receiving a request for information from the consumer at a first location (46) in the fuelling environment; and transmitting the requested information from a location (51) apart from the first location to the consumer for subsequent use in a vehicle (10A). 18. The method of claim 17 comprising receiving the request for information at a retail terminal. 19. The method of claim 18 comprising receiving the request for information at a retail terminal in the form of a fuel dispenser. 20. The method of claim 17, 18 or 19 further comprising receiving payment or payment authorisation for the requested data. 21. The method of claim 20 comprising receiving combined payment or payment authorisation for the data requested and at least one other transaction conducted within the fuelling environment. 22. A fuelling environment substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and/or as illustrated in, one or more of the accompanying figures. 23. A method of providing data in a fuelling environment substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and/or as illustrated in, one or more of the accompanying figures.

Inventors: QUARENDON BRIAN L, TERRANOVA STEVEN N, QUARENDON, BRIAN, L., TERRANOVA, STEVEN, N.
Applicants: MARCONI COMMERCE SYSTEMS LTD, MARCONI COMMERCE SYSTEMS LTD.
Application year: 2001
Main classification: G07F7
IPC codes: G07F7, G07F13, G07F17