Abstract:
A system for the ordering and delivery of goods may comprise an ordering system for accepting a selection of the goods for purchase and a pneumatic mechanism for delivering the goods from a first location to a second location. The system may be located in gas stations so that a customer pumping fuel at a fuel delivery pump may be able to purchase and receive goods while at the fuel delivery pump without going inside the store of the gas station.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. provisional patent application No. 61/260,521 filed Nov. 12, 2009, and incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention generally relates to ordering and delivery of goods, and more particularly relates to systems and methods for accepting orders from a customer at a fuel dispenser and delivering the ordered goods from the inside of a store to the customer at the fuel dispenser via a pneumatic mechanism. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    In one aspect of the present invention, a system for ordering and delivery of goods comprises an ordering system for accepting a selection of the goods for purchase; and a pneumatic mechanism for delivering the goods from a first location to a second location. 
         [0004]    In another aspect of the present invention, a method for ordering and delivery of goods comprises accepting, by an ordering system at a remote location, a selection of the goods for purchase; accepting, by the ordering system payment information for the goods; and delivering the goods via a pneumatic mechanism from an inside location within a store to the remote location. 
         [0005]    These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, description and claims. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]      FIG. 1  shows a schematic view of a system for ordering and delivery of goods in a typical installation in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0007]      FIG. 2  shows a front view of a display screen of the system of  FIG. 1  in a first configuration; 
           [0008]      FIG. 3  shows a front view of the display screen of  FIG. 2  in a second configuration; and 
           [0009]      FIG. 4  shows a flowchart of a method for ordering and delivery of goods in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0010]      FIG. 5  shows a continuation of the flowchart of  FIG. 4 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0011]    The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out exemplary embodiments of the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims. 
         [0012]    Various inventive features are described below that can each be used independently of one another or in combination with other features. 
         [0013]    Broadly, embodiments of the present invention generally provide systems and methods for the ordering and delivery of goods. 
         [0014]    Referring now to  FIG. 1 , a system  10  for the ordering and delivery of goods may be implemented in a gas station environment, where a customer fueling his car at a fuel delivery pump  20  may be able to order, pay for, and receive goods while situated at the fuel delivery pump  20  without having to enter a store  22 , such as a convenience store, at the gas station. 
         [0015]    Goods located within the store  22  that are ordered by the customer situated at the fuel delivery pump  20  may be delivered via a pneumatic mechanism that connects the store  22  with the fuel delivery pump  20 . The pneumatic mechanism may include pneumatic transfer tubes  16  that connect a master station  14  at the store  22  to a substation  12  at the fuel pump  20 . The master station  14  may be able to control the sending and receiving of carriers  24  through the transfer tubes  16 , while the substation  12  may be able to receive the carriers  24 . 
         [0016]    A receive-item bin  18  at the fuel pump  20  may allow access to a carrier  24 , so that the customer may be able to place cash into the carrier  24  for sending to the store  22  via the pneumatic transfer tube  16 , or so that the customer may be able to retrieve the ordered goods from the carrier  24 . 
         [0017]    Referring now to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , an ordering system  26  may be located at each fuel pump  20  to be used by the customer to order and pay for goods and services. The ordering system  26  may be a computer, such as a general purpose computer, or may be specialized computerized hardware, and maybe networked, such as to a computer terminal inside the store  22 , to communicate information, such as payment information and the goods purchased by the customer, to the computer terminal inside the store. 
         [0018]    The ordering system  26  may be mounted on each fuel pump  20  via a monitor stand  38 , and the ordering system  26  may include a motion detector so that the ordering system  26  may be turned on only when it senses the motion of a vehicle in front of it, thereby saving energy. The ordering system  26  may also include volume controls  36  to control the volume of any sounds from the ordering system  26 . 
         [0019]    The ordering system  26  may include a monitor  34  having a touchscreen display  28  for accepting input from the customer and for displaying output to the customer. As shown in  FIG. 2 , the ordering system  26  may allow the customer to pay for ordered goods, such as via cash, credit card, or debit card. The ordering system  26  may also include a card reader  30  for reading the credit card or debit card of the customer. As shown in  FIG. 3 , the ordering system may allow the customer to order goods and services, including gas, a car wash, or any goods located inside the store  22 . 
         [0020]    Referring now to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , which show a flowchart of a method  100  for the ordering and delivery of goods, at  102 , when a customer arrives at a fuel pump  20 , at  104  the motion detector  32  on the ordering system  26  at the fuel pump  20  may cause the monitor  28  to turn on and to display payment method options. At  106 , the monitor  28  may accept a selection of the payment method. At  108 , the monitor  28  may display purchase options, such as gas, car washes, or good within the store  22  that are available for purchase. The monitor  28  may also display information such as pictures and prices of the items. At  110 , the monitor  28  may accept a selection of goods and services that the customer wishes to purchase. 
         [0021]    At  112 , a determination may be made of whether the customer is paying with cash or credit. If the customer is paying with credit, at  114  a determination may be made of whether the customer wishes to purchase a product that is inside of the store  22 . If the purchased product is outside of the store  22 , at  116  the monitor  28  may help the customer to complete his transaction via an automated banking process, including having the customer swipe his credit card via the card reader  30  and processing the credit card with the credit card institution. On the other hand, if the purchased product is inside the store  22 , at  118 , the monitor  28  may accept an order placed by the customer. At  120 , the ordering system  26  may send information regarding the order to a computer within the store  22 . An employee within the store  22  may process the order by gathering the purchased items, placing the purchased items in a carrier  24 , and sending the carrier  24  containing the purchased items via the transfer tubes  16  to the fuel delivery pump  20  where the customer is situated. The customer may then retrieve the carrier  24  from the receive-item bin  18  at the fuel delivery pump  20 . At  122 , the monitor  28  may help the customer to complete his transaction via an automated banking process, including having the customer swipe his credit card via the card reader  30  and processing the credit card with the credit card institution. 
         [0022]    On the other hand, if the customer is paying with cash, at  124  a determination may be made of whether the customer wishes to purchase a product that is located inside the store  22 . If the customer wishes to purchase a product that is located outside of the store  22 , at  126  the monitor  28  may accept the order. At  128 , the employee inside the store  22  may send a carrier  24  via the transfer tubes  16  to the fuel delivery pump  20  where the customer is situated. At  130 , the customer may place cash inside the carrier  24  and send it back to the employee. 
         [0023]    If the customer wishes to pay cash to purchase products that are located inside the store  22 , at  132  the monitor  28  may accept the order. At  134 , the employee inside the store  22  may send a carrier  24  via the transfer tubes  16  to the fuel delivery pump  20  where the customer is situated. At  136 , the customer may place cash inside the carrier  24  and send it back to the employee. At  138 , once the employee receives the cash, the employee may process the order by gathering the purchased items, placing the purchased items in a carrier  24 , and sending the carrier  24  containing the purchased items via the transfer tubes  16  to the fuel delivery pump  20  where the customer is situated. At  140 , the customer may then retrieve the carrier  24  from the receive-item bin  18  at the fuel delivery pump  20  and remove the purchased items from the carrier  24 . 
         [0024]    Besides gas station environments, the systems and methods described above may be used in any situations where the ordering and delivery of goods and services may occur. 
         [0025]    It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates to exemplary embodiments of the invention and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.