WO1999042962A1

WO1999042962A1 - Fuel dispenser

Info

Publication number: WO1999042962A1
Application number: PCT/GB1999/000554
Authority: WO
Inventors: Joseph D. Long; Paul D. Miller; Dolan F. Blalock
Original assignee: Marconi Commerce Systems Inc.
Priority date: 1998-02-23
Filing date: 1999-02-23
Publication date: 1999-08-26
Also published as: US20020074344A1; US6380853B1; AU2631599A; US6690275B2

Abstract

The present invention provides a fuel dispenser capable of sensing the proximity and/or location of a customer relative to the fuel dispenser without requiring direct customer contact and controlling the display or aspects of the display accordingly to conserve energy, reduce heat generation or draw the customer's attention to the display once the customer is within a relative proximity to the fuel dispenser.

Description

1 FUEL DISPENSER

The present invention relates to fuel dispensers.

In recent years, traditional fuel dispensers have evolved into elaborate point-of-sale (POS)

devices having sophisticated control electronics and user interfaces with large displays and

touch-pads or screens. The dispensers include various types of payment means, such as

card readers, to expedite and further enhance fuelling and retail ordering transactions.

Nowadays, a customer is not limited to the purchase of fuel at the dispenser. More recent

dispensers allow the customer to purchase services, such as car washes, and goods such

as fast food or convenience store products at the dispenser. Once purchased, the customer need only to pick up the goods and services at the station store or at the outlet of a vending machine.

In order to make customer interfaces more efficient and easy to use, the fuel dispenser

displays have grown larger and the menu and instruction interfaces have become more

complicated. The resulting increase in size and complexity has led to significant increases

in power consumption and heat buildup, primarily due to the large displays, and, in

particular, the back- lighting associated with these displays. The increase in heat buildup

has resulted in the need to add auxiliary cooling systems to cool the multiple displays in

each fuel dispenser.

In addition to the increased power consumption and heat generation, station operators have found that many customers fail to recognize the need to interact with the customer 2 interface to initiate dispenser operation and card authorisation, even though various

stickers and decals have been used to provide initial instructions, such as "press here to

begin." Many customers fail to recognise or even read the information on the display and

search for other "hard" buttons to initiate fuelling.

The present invention provides a fuel dispenser comprising: a housing and delivery

hardware for delivery of fuel to a vehicle; display means within said housing having a first

and second mode; proximity sensing electronics associated with said housing and adapted

to sense proximity of a customer relative to said housing; and a control system coupled

with said display means and said proximity sensing electronics and adapted to operate said

display means in the first mode and operate said display means in the second mode when a customer is in a predetermined position relative to said dispenser.

Advantageously, the dispenser is arranged so that the position is within a predetermined

proximity relative to said dispenser.

The fuel dispenser is capable of sensing the proximity or location of a customer relative

to the fuel dispenser without requiring direct customer contact and controlling the display

or aspects of the display accordingly to conserve energy, reduce heat generation or draw

the customer's attention to the display once the customer is within a relative proximity to

the fuel dispenser.

The control system may provide a dimmer display in the first mode and a brighter display

for the second mode. The first and second modes may correspond to inactive and active 3 display states, respectively. If the display is a liquid crystal display, or like display, having

back-lighting, the control system may be adapted to operate the back-lighting in a reduced

level in the first mode and at an increased level in the second mode. The back-lighting may

be turned completely off or reduced in some fashion to conserve energy. Reducing or

eliminating back-lighting during non-fuelling periods helps avoid the need to add active

cooling systems to the dispensers. These systems require additional energy for operation

and add significant expense to the cost of manufacturing dispensers.

Alternatively, the control system may provide a first display having graphics and/or video

information pertaining to periods between transactions in the first mode, and a second

display pertaining to periods of transaction, especially the beginning of a transaction, in the second mode. The information displayed may be graphics information from a graphic

generator associated with the control system or new video information from a video source

associated with or controlled by the control system.

Another aspect of the present invention integrates the proximity sensing electronics and

the display electronics wherein the display is configured to operate in a highly sensitive

mode to sense customers proximate to the display in the first mode and in a less sensitive

mode to provide a touch screen display in the second mode. Alternatively, the proximity

sensing electronics may include one or more proximity sensors located at various points

on the fuel dispenser to sense the proximity of a customer relative to the fuel dispenser.

The sensors may be used to simply sense the approach and/or presence of a customer

relative to the fuel dispenser or may be configured to provide signals to the control system indicative of varying degrees of relative proximity. In the latter case, the control system 4 may be adapted to determine the approximate relative location of a customer with respect

to the fuel dispenser and adjust aspects of the display accordingly. For example, the

location information determined by the control system may be used to adjust the viewing

angle to optimize customer viewing or may be used to change the font or point size of text

appearing on the display.

Another aspect of the present invention provides a method of operating a fuel dispenser.

The method includes the steps of operating a fuel dispenser display means in a first mode;

sensing a customer within a predetermined proximity relative to the fuel dispenser; and operating the fuel dispenser display means in a second mode upon sensing the customer within the predetermined proximity.

In those embodiments having dedicated proximity sensors, any type of proximity sensing

devices are acceptable. These devices include infrared sensors and radio frequency (RF)

sensors, such as radar systems. When the touch screen display is used to sense proximity,

a touch screen display capable of operating at various frequencies and sensitivities is

preferred.

These and other aspects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in

the art after reading the following description of the preferred embodiments when

considered with the drawings, in which :-

Figure 1 is a schematic representation of a fuel dispenser constructed according to the present invention; 5 Figure 2 is a schematic representation of a display and associated dispenser electronics

constructed according to the present invention;

Figure 3 is a schematic representation of a display associated with plural proximity sensors

constructed according to the present invention;

Figure 4 is a flow chart of a basic process of controlling a display based on proximity of

a customer according to the present invention; and

Figures 5 A and 5B are a flow chart of a basic process of controlling a fuel dispenser display based on proximity and location of a customer according to the present invention.

In the following description, like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts

throughout the several figures. It should be understood that the illustrations are for the

purpose of describing preferred embodiments of the invention and are not intended to limit

the invention thereto.

As best seen in Figure 1, a fuel dispenser, generally designated 10, is shown constructed

according to the present invention. The fuel dispenser provides a fuel delivery path from

an underground storage tank to a vehicle (not shown). The delivery path includes a fuel

delivery line 12 having a fuel metering device 14. A fuel delivery line 12 communicates

with a fuel delivery hose 16 outside of the dispenser 10 and a delivery nozzle 18. The

nozzle 18 provides manual control of fuel delivery to the vehicle. 6 The dispenser 10 generally includes a control system (hereinafter referred to as controller

20) and associated memory 22. The controller 20 may receive volume data from the

metering device 14 through cabling 24 as well as provide control of fuel delivery. The

controller 20 may provide audible signals to an audio module and speaker 26 in order to

provide various beeps, tones and audible messages to an operator. These messages may

include warnings, instructions and advertising.

The dispenser 10 may be equipped with a card reader 28 or a cash acceptor 30 and a

receipt printer 32. With these options, the dispenser controller 20 may read data from a

magnetic strip when a card is inserted in the card reader 28 and communicate to a

service-station-based controller, such as the G-site controller sold by Gilbarco, Inc. of

Greensboro, North Carolina. The service station based controller generally communicates with a remote credit card verification authority to ascertain whether a transaction proposed

to be charged to or debited from the account associated with the card inserted in the card

reader 28, is authorised.

The dispenser 10 may also include various types of displays, preferably, one or more alpha

numeric displays 36 in addition to a high resolution graphics display 40. Preferably, the

graphics display 40 will have an associated graphics display keypad 42 adjacent the

display or integrated with the graphics display 40 to provide a touch screen interface. The

display will preferably receive video and graphics images from one or more video sources

52 and graphics generator 50 through video mixer and driver electronics 46 (as shown in

Figure 2). The dispenser may have an additional general keypad 44. Notably, the displays 36, 40 and keypads 42, 44 may be integrated into a single device. The controller 20 is 7 desirably comparable to the microprocessor based control systems used in CRIND (card

reader in the dispenser) and TRIND (tag or transponder reader in the dispenser) type units

sold by Gilbarco, Inc. under the trademark THE ADVANTAGE.

The fuel dispenser will include proximity sensing means adapted to provide a signal to the

control system indicating a customer is within (1) a predetermined proximity of the

dispenser, (2) a relative proximity with respect to the dispenser, or (3) a relative location

with respect to the dispenser. The proximity sensing means may be provided by one or

more proximity sensors 48 or a highly sensitive touch screen display configuration, such

as display 40.

In the first embodiment, the proximity sensors 48 may be mounted anywhere on or near the fuel dispenser 10 and configured to provide a signal to the controller 20 indicative of

the proximity of a customer with respect to the fuel dispenser. In the second embodiment,

the touch screen 40 will operate in a highly sensitive mode wherein the display is sensitive

to a customer's presence near the display. A customer need not touch the display to alert

the control system to his or her presence in this highly sensitive mode.

Once a customer is detected using the proximity sensing means, the controller 20 may

operate in several ways including alerting the customer that interaction with the touch

screen display is necessary for conducting the fuelling operation, exiting out of a power

saving mode, altering the graphics or video provided at the display 40, and/or changing

the display's viewing angle to optimize customer viewing based on customer location.

Although these actions are preferred, the scope of the invention should not be limited 8 thereto. Those of ordinary skill in the art will quickly recognize various dispenser control

functions that could be facilitated upon sensing the approach and/or location of a customer

relative to a fuel dispenser. For example, audio instructions or a greeting may be provided

through the audio module 26.

Referring now to Figure 2, a schematic for a basic control system and touch screen display

is shown. The control system includes controller 20 and memory 22 coupled to the video

mixer and driver electronics 46, touch screen electronics 58, and back-lighting control

electronics 56. The video mixer and driver electronics are coupled to the graphics

generator 50, which provides graphics for display on the touch screen display 40, and the

video source 52, which provides running audio and/or video for display. The video source may include, but is not limited to, laser disks, DVD's, the Internet and video cameras. The

touch screen electronics 58 typically provide signals to the controller 20 indicative of where the display 40 has been touched in order to differentiate customer inputs and

selections.

As noted above, the display 40 and touch screen electronics 58 may be configured to

operate in a highly sensitive mode wherein the display and touch screen electronics 58 are

able to sense changes in a field emitted from the display 40 without requiring an actual

touching of the display. Preferably, this field will extend up to several feet in front of the

display over a respective fuelling position in front of the dispenser 10.

In the preferred embodiment, the display is a capacitive touch screen display capable of

operating at various frequencies to provide various sensitivity levels. Typically, the 9 increased frequencies provide higher sensitivity. An exemplary capacitive touch screen

display is manufactured by Micro touch™. This display could sense a customer coming

within four (4) feet of the display. Thus, in the preferred embodiment, the controller 20

could increase the frequency and, therefore, the display's sensitivity between fuelling

operations in order to sense the approach and/or presence of a customer at the beginning

of a new fuelling operation.

The controller 20 may be adapted to control display back-lighting 54 through back-lighting

control electronics 56. Depending on the application, the back-lighting may be decreased

from a nominal operating level or turned completely off between fuelling operations, to reduce heat and conserve energy. Preferably, once a customer is detected within a relative

proximity to the fuel dispenser, the back-lighting is increased or turned on to the normal operating level in order to make the display content readily visible to the customer as well

as draw the customer's attention to the display.

As shown in Figure 3, the controller 20 may also be coupled to one or more proximity

sensors 48 located at various positions in numerous possible configurations about the

display 40. These proximity sensors 48 may be used instead of or in addition to a display

40 for sensing proximity. Notably, when multiple proximity sensors 48 are used, the

controller 20 may be configured to monitor the relative proximity of a customer measured

at each of the proximity sensors 48 to determine a relative location of the customer with

respect to the dispenser and display 40. This information may be used to control the

viewing angle on an LCD display and/or change fonts or text sizes accordingly to enhance visibility. 10 For example, if proximity sensors 48 were located on either side of the display 40, the

display could be adjusted so that the horizontal viewing angle is properly adjusted. In other

words, if a person were standing to the right of the display, the control system would

determine that the customer was more proximate to the proximity sensor 48 to the right

of the display than to the proximity sensor 48 to the left of the display. The viewing angle

of the display could be adjusted accordingly. Likewise, proximity sensors 48 located at the

top and bottom of the display may be used to adjust the vertical viewing angle based on

the height of the individual. Combining proximity sensors on either side and the top and

bottom of the display provides a more enhanced control of viewing angles on both the horizontal and vertical planes.

As noted, if the dispenser is equipped with a touch screen display 40 capable of operating

at a higher sensitivity to detect customer proximity, various control capabilities are

available. An exemplary process is shown in Figure 4. The process begins (block 100) wherein the controller 20 operates the display 40 at a high sensitivity (block 102). The

controller 20 will preferably turn off or reduce the back-lighting (block 104) to conserve

energy and reduce heat buildup during this period. Alternatively, the controller 20 may

provide a first video/graphic display. Preferably, this display occurs during periods

between fuelling operations (block 106).

The controller 20 will monitor the display 40 and associated touch screen electronics 58

for an indication of a customer's presence (block 108). If a customer is detected (block

110), the controller 20 will turn on or increase the back-lighting to a preferred level (block 112) and/or provide a second video/graphics display (block 114). The second display is 11 preferably adapted to provide instructions or welcoming information corresponding to the

beginning or start of a fuelling operation. The controller 20 will typically reduce the

sensitivity of the display 40 to provide normal touch-sensitive operations (block 116). The

fuelling operation will continue and the controller 20 will monitor for an end of the

fuelling operation (block 118). At the end of the fuelling operation (block 120), the

process begins anew (block 102) wherein the display is operated at a high sensitivity, the

back-lighting is reduced or turned off, and the first video/graphics display is provided. The

controller 20 will monitor for the presence of a customer to start a new fuelling operation.

Figures 5 A and 5B are a flow chart representing the basic process of providing advanced control based on determining the location of a customer relative to the dispenser and/or

display. This process typically requires at least two proximity sensors, one of which may

be the display 40 operated in a high-sensitivity mode. The Microtouch™ display may control sensitivity by varying the operational frequency.

The process begins (block 200) wherein the display is operated in a first mode. The display

mode may relate to the type of information displayed, whether the display is in an active

or inactive mode, or whether back-lighting is turned off or decreased from a normal

operating level. Typically, the first mode relates to display operation during non- fuelling

periods.

At this point, the controller 20 monitors for the presence of a customer relative to the fuel

dispenser (block 204). Once a customer is detected (block 206), the controller 20 monitors

the proximity signals received at each sensor (block 208) and calculates the relative 12 customer location (block 210) based on these proximity signals. Once the customer is

detected or determined to be in a certain location, the controller 20 operates the display in

a second mode, which typically attracts the attention of a customer, provides instructions

or welcoming information, and/or awakens from an inactive mode. The controller 20 may

change the video/graphic display (block 214), change back-lighting levels (block 216), and

preferably adjust the viewing angle (block 218) based on customer location as discussed

above.

The controller 20 will continue to monitor customer location throughout the fuelling operation (block 220). If a change in location is detected (block 222), the controller 20 will

determine whether the fuelling operation is at an end (block 224) and adjust the viewing angle if the operation is not at an end (block 226 and 218). The end of a fuelling operation may be determined by sensing the nozzle handle being pulled down, detecting the absence

of a detection signal for a select period, or sensing the end of fuel delivery. The modes

may include various audio modes instead of, or in addition to, the video modes. For

example, once a customer is within a certain proximity, an audible message may be

provided alone or in combination with a different display mode.

The present invention provides a fuel dispenser capable of sensing the approach, relative

proximity and/or location of a customer relative to the fuel dispenser and controls the fuel

dispenser accordingly without requiring customer input. The invention draws customers'

attention to the display on approach, provides information to a customer in order to start

the fuelling operation, reduces heat, saves energy, and reduces the number of components necessary to manufacture dispensers providing high-quality, multimedia displays. 13 Certain modifications and improvements will occur to those skilled in the art upon reading

the foregoing description. It should be understood that all such modifications and

improvements have been deleted herein for the sake of conciseness and readability, but are

properly within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

14 CLAIMS

1. A fuel dispenser comprising: a housing and delivery hardware for delivery of fuel

to a vehicle; display means within said housing having a first and second mode; proximity

sensing electronics associated with said housing and adapted to sense proximity of a

customer relative to said housing; and a control system coupled with said display means

and said proximity sensing electronics and adapted to operate said display means in the

first mode and operate said display means in the second mode when a customer is in a predetermined position relative to said dispenser.

2. A fuel dispenser as claimed in claim 1 wherein said position is within a predetermined proximity relative to said dispenser.

3. A fuel dispenser as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein said first mode for said display means is an inactive state and said second mode for said display means is an active

state.

4. A fuel dispenser as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein said first mode for said

display means provides a dimmer display and said second mode for said display means

provides a brighter display.

5. A fuel dispenser as claimed in claim 4 wherein said display means is a liquid

crystal display with back-lighting, said control system being adapted to operate said back-lighting at a reduced level in said first mode and at an increased level in said second 15 mode.

6. A fuel dispenser as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein said control system

provides a first display on said display means in said first mode and a second display on

said display means in said second mode.

7. A fuel dispenser as claimed in claim 6 wherein said first display is a

non-transaction display and said second display is a pre-transaction display providing

content aiding the customer in beginning a transaction.

8. A fuel dispenser as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7 wherein said control system

is associated with a video source for generating video information on said display means.

9. A fuel dispenser as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8 wherein said control system

is associated with a graphics generator for generating graphics for display on said display

means.

10. A fuel dispenser as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9 wherein said display means

includes a touch screen display comprising said proximity-sensing electronics, wherein

said touch screen display is arranged to operate in a highly sensitive mode in the first mode

to sense proximity of a customer relative to said display means and operate in a less

sensitive mode to provide a touch screen display in said second mode.

11. A fuel dispenser as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9 wherein said proximity 16 sensing electronics includes a proximity sensor coupled to said control system.

12. A fuel dispenser as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the proximity sensing electronics

comprises a second proximity sensor, wherein said control system compares said signals

from said proximity sensors to determine a location of the customer relative to said

housing.

13. A fuel dispenser as claimed in claim 12 wherein said second display mode is

operated to adjust viewing in dependence on the detected location of the customer.

14. A fuel dispenser as claimed in any preceding claim wherein said display means displays text, said text having a text point size being one size in said first mode and a

larger size in said second mode.

15. A fuel dispenser as claimed in any preceding claim further comprising an audio

system and wherein said second mode includes providing audible information through said

audio system.

16. A method of operating a fuel dispenser comprising: operating a fuel dispenser

display means in a first mode; sensing a customer in a predetermined position relative to

the fuel dispenser; and operating the fuel dispenser display means in a second mode upon

sensing the customer in the predetermined position.

17. A method as claimed in claim 16 wherein the first operating step includes 17 displaying a first display on the display means and the second operating step includes

displaying a second display on the display means.

18. A method as claimed in claim 17 wherein the first display includes a

non-transaction display and the second display includes a pre-transaction display.

19. A method as claimed in any one of claims 16 to 18 wherein the first operating step

includes operating the display means in a dim mode and the second operating step includes operating the display means in a bright mode.

20. A method as claimed in any one of claims 16 to 19 wherein the first operating step includes operating the display means in an inactive state and the second operating step includes operating the display means in an active state.

21. A method as claimed in any one of claims 16 to 20, further comprising determining

a location of the customer relative to the fuel dispenser.

22. A method as claimed in claim 21, further comprising operating the display means

to adjust a viewing angle of the display in dependence on the detected location of the

customer.

┬½

23. A customer interaction device comprising: a housing; display means within said

housing having a first and second mode; proximity sensing electronics associated with said housing and adapted to sense proximity of a customer relative to said housing; and a 18 control system coupled with said display means and said proximity sensing electronics and

adapted to operate said display means in the first mode and operate said display means in

the second mode when a customer is in a predetermined position relative to said housing.