WO2003104139A1

WO2003104139A1 - Fuel-dispenser station with display screen displaying bar-code symbol

Info

Publication number: WO2003104139A1
Application number: PCT/IB2003/002800
Authority: WO
Inventors: David M. Dodson
Original assignee: Tokheim Corporation
Priority date: 2002-06-11
Filing date: 2003-06-11
Publication date: 2003-12-18

Abstract

A fuel-dispenser station (10) comprises one or more fuel dispensers (12) for controlling the flow of fuel from a fuel vendor's fuel-storage tank to a customer's fuel reservoir. The fuel dispenser station further includes a display screen (11) such as a CRT or an LCD that is communicatively linked to and controlled by a display-screen controller (13). A bar-code symbol (14), which can be read by a bar-code scanner, is displayed upon the display screen of the fuel-dispenser station.

Description

FUEL-DISPENSER STATION WITH DISPLAY SCREEN DISPLAYING BAR-CODE SYMBOL

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the invention.

The present invention relates to a fuel-dispenser station that includes one or more fuel dispensers, a display screen such as a CRT (cathode ray tube) or a LCD (liquid crystal display) , and a display-screen controller communicatively linked to the display screen for controlling the illumination of all sectors of the display screen.

2. Description of the related art.

Fuel-dispenser stations operated by fuel vendors have had display screens such as CRTs and LCDs for communicating information to customers for some time now. Such display screens have been used to communicate, among other things, prices of different grades of fuel, quantity of fuel purchased by the customer and total price of fuel purchased by the customer. Known

•uses of display screens of fuel-dispenser stations and their display-screen controllers do, however, have certain limitations.

As a result of the temporary nature of the information displayed upon the display screen, a customer wishing to reference that information at a later time must manually record the information either to paper or to some other storage medium. Additionally, the display screen presents an excellent opportunity for advertisement that has only been limitedly utilized to date. It is also known to provide permanent bar-code symbols upon fuel-dispenser stations by such methods as affixing to the fuel- dispenser station a decal with a bar-code symbol displayed thereon or painting upon the fuel-dispenser station a bar-code symbol. Such bar-code symbols permanently attached to fuel- dispenser stations are generally utilized as a unique identifier for the fuel-dispenser station or one of the fuel dispensers of the fuel-dispenser station. An individual typically scans the permanent bar-code symbol with a bar-code scanner that is communicatively linked to an information-processing device in order to identify the fuel -dispenser station or fuel dispenser thereof. Data associated with the fuel-dispenser station or fuel dispenser thereof to which the bar-code symbol is associated and, which data has been previously stored in a linked relationship to the data contained in the bar-code symbol, can, thereafter, be easily retrieved by the information processing device.

Additionally, the information-processing device can store new data associated with the fuel-dispenser station or the fuel dispenser thereof in a linked manner with the data encoded in the bar-code symbol so that an information-processing device may easily retrieve it at a later time. There are opportunities for improvement in the usage of bar-code symbols with fuel-dispenser stations. Permanent bar-code symbols displayed upon fuel dispenser stations degrade over time as a result of exposure to weather and must be reapplied from time to time by labor- intensive means such as affixing new decals or applying new paint to the fuel-dispenser station. Additionally, if it is desired to change the configuration or location of a permanent bar-code symbol upon a fuel-dispenser station the same labor-intensive methods must be employed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a fuel-dispenser station with one or more fuel dispensers has a display screen and a display-screen controller communicatively linked thereto for controlling illumination of all of the segments of the display screen. The display-screen controller of the present invention sends a display-control signal to the display screen, which causes the segments of the display screen to be illuminated in such a way that a bar-code symbol or code is displayed upon the display screen.

An advantage of the present invention is that a bar-code symbol displayed upon a fuel-dispenser station by display upon a display screen thereof is far less susceptible to degradation by exposure to weather than a bar-code symbol upon a decal or painted upon the fuel-dispenser station. A bar-code symbol displayed upon a display screen in such a manner only becomes unusable when the display screen or display-screen controller becomes inoperative. Thus, a bar-code symbol may be displayed upon a fuel-dispenser station's display screen without necessitating any maintenance of the fuel-dispenser station that would not be required were the bar-code symbol not displayed upon the fuel-dispenser station.

Another advantage of the present invention exists for fuel- dispenser stations that have a display screen and display-screen controller configured in such a manner, as most are, that illumination of the segments of the display screen can be reconfigured. In such an embodiment of the present invention, the bar-code symbol displayed upon the display screen may be reconfigured, moved, and even removed from the display screen. Thus, in this embodiment, the bar-code symbol, by being reconfigured, could be utilized to communicate different data for a number of different uses. Additionally, moving or removing the bar-code symbol may free space upon the display screen for communicating other messages to individuals viewing the display screen.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above-mentioned and other features and advantages of this invention, and the manner of attaining them, will become more apparent and the invention will be better understood by reference to the following description of an embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 shows a fuel-dispenser station according to the present invention with part of its casing cutaway, with a display screen upon which a bar-code symbol is displayed; Fig. 2 shows a display screen of a fuel-dispenser station according to the present invention with a bar-code symbol displayed upon the display screen;

Fig. 3 shows a fuel-dispenser station according to the present invention with part of its casing cutaway, with a barcode symbol displayed upon its display screen and its display screen controller communicatively linked by a conductor to a home control-station; and

Fig. 4 shows a fuel-dispenser station according to the present invention with part of its casing cutaway, with a barcode symbol displayed upon its display screen and its display- screen controller communicatively linked through electromagnetic waves to a home control-station.

Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. The exemplification set out herein illustrates one preferred embodiment of the invention, in one form, and such exemplification is not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention in any manner. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now to the drawings and particularly to Fig. 1, there is shown a fuel-dispenser station 10 that includes one or more fuel dispensers 12 for controlling the flow of fuel from a fuel vendor's fuel-storage tank (not shown) to a customer's fuel reservoir (not shown) . The general construction of the fuel- dispenser station 10 and its one or more fuel dispensers 12 may be any of a number of well-known designs. The fuel-dispenser station 10 further includes a display screen 11 such as a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquid crystal display) upon which information may be displayed. The fuel-dispenser station 10 further includes a display-screen controller 13 that is communicatively linked to the display screen 11. The illumination of all of the sectors of the display screen 11 is determined by a display-control signal that is sent from the display-screen controller 13 via its communicative link to the display screen 11. In the figures, the display-screen controller 13 is shown as being disposed within a casing 16 of the fuel-dispenser station 10. Alternatively, the display-screen controller 13 may be disposed outside of and at some distance from the casing 16 of the fuel-dispenser station 10. Figure 1 further shows the display screen 11, of the fuel- dispenser station 10, having its sectors illuminated in such a manner that a bar-code symbol or code 14 is displayed upon it. The bar-code symbol or code 14 may be configured in any of a number of well-known manners for encoding data in a bar code symbol or code 14. The configuration of the display screen 11, the display-screen controller 13 and the display-control signal may be in accordance with any of a number of well-known conventions .

The display-screen controller 13, and the algorithms according to which it operates, are preferably such that the bar- code symbol or code 14 displayed upon the display screen 11 may be reconfigured, moved or removed. In order that the bar-code symbol or code 14 displayed upon the display screen 11 may be reconfigured, moved, or removed, the display-control signal must be dependent at least partially upon changeable data values. If, by contrast, the display-control signal were dependent only upon the hardwired configuration of the display screen controller 13, the image displayed upon the display screen 11 would be unchangeable and the bar-code symbol or code 14 could not be reconfigured, moved, or removed. There are many well-known configurations of display screens 11, display-screen controllers 13, and the algorithms according to which they operate that make the display-control signal reconfigurable and, thus, make the image upon the display screen 11 reconfigurable . Any of these configurations of a display screen 11, display-screen controller 13 , and the algorithms according to which they operate would be acceptable for use in the present invention.

The bar-code symbol or code 14 displayed upon the display screen 11 of the fuel-dispenser station 10 may be scanned by a bar-code scanner to transmit data to an information-processing device such as a PDA (personal digital assistant) or a portable telephone. Of course, once the bar-code symbol or code 14 is successfully scanned by an appropriate bar-code scanner the information encoded therein may be processed by virtually any type of information-processing device configured to process data such as that encoded in the bar-code symbol or code 14. Technology for scanning bar-code symbols from display screens such as a CRT or LCD is known, an example of such technology being disclosed in U.S. patent 4,999,617 to Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha incorporated herein by reference. According to the present invention, the data encoded within the bar-code symbol or code 14 displayed upon the display screen 11 of a fuel-dispenser station 10 may be utilized in many different advantageous ways.

According to one embodiment of the present invention the bar-code symbol or code 14 displayed upon the display screen 11 is a unique identifier for the fuel-dispenser station 10 or one of the fuel dispensers 12 of the fuel-dispenser station 10. Such a unique identifier for the fuel-dispenser station 10 or one of the fuel dispensers 12 thereof, may be utilized by an information-processing device in a number of ways. The unique identifier for the fuel dispenser station 10 or fuel dispenser 12 may be utilized by an information-processing device to retrieve, from memory, additional information about the fuel-dispenser station 10 or the fuel dispenser 12. An information-processing device may store data associated with the fuel-dispenser station 10 or the fuel dispenser 12 in a linked manner with the unique identifier encoded within the bar-code symbol or code 14 so that the data may be easily retrieved at a later time. The unique identifier for the fuel-dispenser station 10 or fuel dispenser 12 may be used by the information-processing device as part of a communication initiating a request to purchase fuel from the fuel-dispenser station 10 or fuel dispenser 12. In such a case a customer could utilize an information-processing device such as a portable telephone with a bar-code scanner to scan the bar-code symbol or code 14 from the display screen 11. Thereafter the customer could operate the information-processing device to send a request, through an information network, to a source of funds, to authorize a purchase of fuel from the fuel-dispenser station 10 or fuel dispenser 12 corresponding to the unique identifier encoded in the bar-code symbol or code 14.

According to another embodiment of the present invention the bar-code symbol or code 14 displayed upon the display screen 11 may be encoded with data that can be interpreted by an information-processing device to display transaction data for a user of the information-processing device. For instance, the barcode symbol or code 14 may have encoded within it data such as the quantity of fuel purchased, the price of fuel purchased, the total purchase price of fuel purchased, and a date of purchase. A bar-code symbol or code 14 encoded with such data could enable a customer to scan the bar-code symbol or code 14 with a bar-code scanner of a portable information-processing device and to store the data within the information-processing device as an electronic receipt for printing or viewing later. Of course, there are many types of transaction data other than those listed above which could be encoded within the bar-code symbol or code 14.

According to yet another embodiment of the present invention the bar-code symbol or code 14 displayed upon the display screen 11 of the fuel-dispenser station 10 may have a URL (Unique Resource Locater) encoded within it. In this embodiment the data encoded within the bar-code symbol or code 14 is useable by an information-processing device to locate, within an information network, a HTML (HyperText Markup Language) document (also known as a website of an internet or intranet) . An individual would transfer the URL encoded in the bar-code symbol or code 14 to an information-processing device by scanning the bar-code symbol or code 14 with a bar-code scanner that is communicatively linked to the information-processing device. Once the URL encoded in the bar-code symbol or code 14 is transferred to the information- processing device, it may be used by that information-processing device or another information processing device, to which the URL is subsequently transferred, to locate a web site associated with the URL. Once the website associated with the URL encoded in the bar-code symbol or code 14 is located by an information- processing device, the contents of the website may be displayed upon a display screen communicatively linked to the information- processing device or printed upon paper by a printer communicatively linked to the information processing device. A system for accessing websites by scanning bar-code symbols that have URLs encoded within them, and thereafter utilizing the URLs to locate websites is disclosed in U.S. patent 6,068,188 to Metrologic Instruments, Inc., which patent is incorporated herein by reference. Any system that operates in a manner similar to the one disclosed in U.S. patent 6,068,188 and that includes a barcode scanner capable of reading the bar-code symbol or code 14 from the display screen 11, would be suitable to enable an individual to access a website assigned to a URL encoded within the bar-code symbol or code 14. Display of a bar-code symbol or code 14, with a URL encoded within it, upon the display screen 11 of a fuel-dispenser station 10 is an effective way for a fuel vendor to promote websites to customers. This method of enabling a customer to access a website is more convenient under these circumstances for the customer than the more widely used method of displaying the URL in human readable form, which the customer must then manually enter into an information-processing device in order to access the website. The scanning of a bar-code symbol or code 14 with a URL assigned to it is particularly beneficial in the environment a customer is in when they are operating a fuel- dispenser station 10 because the weather is often inclement and the customer often has a lack of resources for manually recording a human readable URL.

As was mentioned above, in any embodiment of the present invention in which the bar-code symbol or code 14 displayed upon the display screen 11 is reconfigurable, the bar-code symbol or code 14 may be used for multiple purposes. In such an embodiment of the present invention, therefore, a bar-code symbol or code 14 displayed upon the display screen 11 of the fuel-dispenser station 10 may be reconfigured so that it may be utilized for any of the different purposes described above. Additionally there may be more than one bar-code symbol or code 14 displayed upon the display screen 11 of the fuel-dispenser station 10 and each of the multiple bar-code symbols or code 14 in such a situation may be used for any of the purposes mentioned above or other purposes not mentioned.

As is illustrated in Figures 3 and 4 the display-screen controller 13 of the fuel-dispenser station 10 may be communicatively linked to a home control -station 15 which is disposed remote from the display-screen controller 13. In such an embodiment of the present invention in which the display-screen controller 13 is communicatively linked to a home control-station 15 and in which the display-control signal may be reconfigured, it is possible to reconfigure the display-control signal from the home control -station 15. Thus, in such an embodiment of the invention, the bar-code symbol or code 14 displayed upon the display screen 11 can be reconfigured, moved or removed by an individual operating the home control-station 15 miles away from the fuel-dispenser station 10. Additionally, such a home control- station 15 may be communicatively linked to a plurality of remotely located display-screen controllers 13 of fuel-dispenser stations 10. Thus, in such an embodiment, an individual operating the home control-station 15 could control the display of bar-code symbols or code 14 upon the display screens 11 of numerous remotely located fuel-dispenser stations 10. A display-screen controller 13 could be communicatively linked to a home control- station 15 by a conductor 17 as is shown in Figure 3 or by transceivers 18 which communicate via electromagnetic waves as is shown in Figure 4.

While this invention has been described as having a preferred design, the present invention can be further modified within the spirit and scope of this disclosure. This application is therefore intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention using its general principles. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains and which fall within the limits of the appended claims.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A fuel-dispenser station operable for transferring fuel from a fuel vendor's fuel-storage tank to a customer's fuel reservoir, comprising: one or more fuel dispensers for controlling flow of the fuel to the customer's fuel reservoir; a display screen; a display-screen controller that is communicatively linked to said display screen and that sends a display-control signal to said display screen, which display-control signal defines .which segments of said display screen are illuminated; and wherein said display-control signal sent to said display screen is such that a bar-code symbol is displayed upon said display screen.

2. The fuel-dispenser station of Claim 1, wherein: said display-screen controller and said display screen are constructed in such a manner and operate according to algorithms such that said display-control signal may be reconfigured and, thus, said bar-code symbol displayed upon said display screen may be reconfigured, moved, or removed from said display screen.

3. The fuel-dispenser station of Claim 2, wherein: said display-screen controller is communicatively linked either by conductor or through electromagnetic waves to a home control-station; and said home control-station may be utilized to modify operation of said display-screen controller and to, thus, reconfigure said display screen control signal and, thus, said bar-code symbol may be reconfigured, moved, or removed from said display screen remotely through operation of said home control- station.

4. The fuel-dispenser station of Claim 3, wherein: said display-screen controller is one of a plurality of display-screen controllers that are communicatively linked to said home control-station.

5. The fuel-dispenser station of Claim 1, wherein: said bar-code symbol displayed upon said display screen is a unique identifier for said fuel-dispenser station or one of said fuel dispensers of said fuel-dispenser station.

6. The fuel-dispenser station of Claim 2, wherein: said bar-code symbol displayed upon said display screen is a unique identifier for said fuel-dispenser station or one of said fuel dispensers of said fuel-dispenser station.

7. The fuel-dispenser station of Claim 3, wherein: said bar-code symbol displayed upon said display screen is a unique identifier for said fuel-dispenser station or one of said fuel dispensers of said fuel-dispenser station

8. The fuel-dispenser station of Claim 4, wherein: said bar-code symbol displayed upon said display screen is a unique identifier for said fuel-dispenser station or one of said fuel dispensers of said fuel-dispenser station

9. The fuel-dispenser station of Claim 1, wherein: a URL for a HTML document located in an information network is encoded within said bar-code symbol displayed upon said display screen.

10. The fuel -dispenser station of Claim 2, wherein: a URL for a HTML document located in an information network is encoded within said bar-code symbol displayed upon said display screen.

11. The fuel-dispenser station of Claim 3, wherein: a URL for a HTML document located in an information network is encoded within said bar-code symbol displayed upon said display screen.

12. The fuel -dispenser station of Claim 4, wherein: a URL for a HTML document located in an information network is encoded within said bar-code symbol displayed upon said display screen.

13. The fuel -dispenser station of Claim 1, wherein: encoded within said bar code symbol is either transaction data relating to a purchase the customer has made from the fuel vendor or identification data useable by an information processing device for locating within an information network said transaction data.

14. The fuel-dispenser station of Claim 13, wherein: said transaction data encoded within said bar code symbol includes a quantity of fuel purchased by the customer and a price of fuel purchased by the customer.

15. The fuel-dispenser station of Claim 2, wherein: encoded within said bar code symbol is either transaction data relating to a purchase the customer has made from the fuel vendor or identification data useable by an information processing device for locating within an information network said transaction data.

16. The fuel -dispenser station of Claim 15, wherein: said transaction data encoded within said bar code symbol includes a quantity of fuel purchased by the customer and a price of fuel purchased by the customer.

17. The fuel-dispenser station of Claim 3, wherein: encoded within said bar code symbol is either transaction data relating to a purchase the customer has made from the fuel vendor or identification data useable by an information processing device for locating within an information network said transaction data.

18. The fuel-dispenser station of Claim 17, wherein: said transaction data encoded within said bar code symbol includes a quantity of fuel purchased by the customer and a price of fuel purchased by the customer.

19. The fuel dispenser station of Claim 4, wherein: encoded within said bar code symbol is either transaction data relating to a purchase the customer has made from the fuel vendor or identification data useable by an information processing device for locating within an information network said transaction data.

20. The fuel-dispenser station of Claim 19, wherein: said transaction data encoded within said bar code symbol includes a quantity of fuel purchased by the customer and a price of fuel purchased by the customer.