Fluent material handling – with receiver or receiver coacting mea – With signal – indicator – recorder – inspection means or exhibitor
Reexamination Certificate
1999-04-05
2001-05-29
Jacyna, J. Casimer (Department: 3751)
Fluent material handling, with receiver or receiver coacting mea
With signal, indicator, recorder, inspection means or exhibitor
C141S098000, C141S231000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06237647
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates generally to vehicle refueling stations and, more particularly, to automatic refueling stations using robotic mechanisms to refuel a vehicle without intervention by the vehicle operator.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The advent of self-serve gasoline stations resulted in lower cost for fuel to consumers. However, it also resulted in a reduced level of safety and convenience to the customer, since the customer is required to exit the vehicle to perform the self-serve refueling procedure. This exposes the customer to inclement weather and the safety risks posed by other moving vehicles in the refueling station and criminal activity in the station.
In response to these issues, several automatic refueling systems have been devised. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,581 discloses an automatic refueling system for a vehicle. The system can refuel a vehicle from underneath the vehicle and requires that a special fuel tank be installed in the vehicle or that the existing fuel tank be modified.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,642,036 discloses an automatic refueling system with UV-reflective location spots attached to the windshield of the vehicle to locate the vehicle and the fuel filler cap on the vehicle. UV light floods the windshield and sensors detect reflected UV light from the reflected spots as an aide in positioning a fuel filler nozzle close to the fuel fill opening of the vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,500 describes another automatic refueling system which requires the vehicle operator to monitor and control the refueling operation. The vehicle is outfitted with special communications system, controllable by a foot pedal in the vehicle, which is activated by the operator to transmit information to the refueling system. The transferred information includes the position of the fuel fill cap, the fuel type, fuel filler pipe data as well as customer information including bank account data. Hence, the operator is responsible for both controlling the refueling process and for providing the data necessary for both refueling the vehicle and billing for the transaction.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to an apparatus and method for automatically refueling a vehicle which overcome the drawbacks of the prior art. The apparatus and method of the invention include a detector which receives information from the vehicle to be refueled and uses the received information to identify the vehicle. The invention then accesses one or more sources of stored vehicle data, such as one or more databases, that contain data related to a plurality of vehicles in order to obtain data related to the identified vehicle. The refueling module of the invention automatically refuels the identified vehicle using the data related to the identified vehicle retrieved from the one or more sources of stored vehicle data.
In one embodiment, the apparatus includes an identifying tag transponder mounted to the vehicle, such as on the windshield of the vehicle, which is readable by the system via RF link. The information related to the vehicle is transferred via the RF link to a receiver coupled to the system.
In one embodiment, the information transferred by the transponder identifies both the vehicle and the operator. The information associated with the vehicle can provide a minimum amount of identifying information such as the make, model and year of the vehicle and the vehicle identification number (VIN). In accordance with the invention, the system then uses this information to access a vehicle database of existing vehicles presently on the road. The information stored in the database for each type of vehicle can include the physical location on the vehicle of the fuel filler opening, critical dimensions of the vehicle, the type of fuel filler cap provided with the vehicle, information related to the fuel filler pipe and maximum fuel filling flow rate. This information can be used to assist the system in optimizing its automatic refueling performance. For example, the fuel filler pipe and maximum fuel filling flow rate information can be used by the system to compute an optimum flow rate to be used during refueling. By refueling at the optimum flow rate, the refueling procedure for each vehicle can be performed more quickly and efficiently, resulting in improved vehicle throughput. Also, the type of fuel filler cap is used to determine a procedure for removing the cap. A robotic gripper can be used by the system of the invention to open the cap. Alternatively, where it is determined that the type of cap is difficult to remove, a special cap as described below, which can include a hinged flap opening and which need not be removed for each refueling procedure, can be supplied to the customer to replace the cap provided by the vehicle manufacturer.
The information provided by the transponder can also include customer or operator information. This information can be used to post the present fuel sale to the customer's account. Accordingly, the information can include a customer's account number, social security number, and/or other required billing information.
In one embodiment, the system of the invention includes a vision system used to detect arrival of a vehicle and also to determine position and orientation of the vehicle in the refueling area. Using this information and the retrieved fuel filler cap location information, the actual location of the fuel filler can be calculated. The vision system can then confirm the actual location of the fuel filler by providing an image of the area around the calculated location of the filler. The vision system of the invention is also adapted to be able to locate and read a license plate on the vehicle and/or perform customer facial recognition. This information can be used to confirm the vehicle and operator identification information retrieved from the windshield transponder. In addition to using the vision system to detect the arrival of a vehicle, a conventional pneumatic tube sensor can be used as a back-up.
The system of the invention includes an automatic refueling module which can include a controllable robotic arm. The robotic arm is used to position a fuel filler nozzle, carried by the robotic arm, such that the nozzle docks with the fuel filler opening of the vehicle. After successful docking, the automatic refueling system can be activated to cause fuel to flow through the nozzle into the vehicle. In one embodiment of the invention, the vision system used to detect the position and orientation of the vehicle is also used to control the robotic arm to locate the fuel filler opening of the vehicle. The vision system can include a camera mounted on the robotic arm to provide images of the area near the fuel filler opening as feedback used to control positioning of the arm and nozzle. The robotic arm can first position the nozzle in proximity to the fuel filler door, based on the approximate filler location calculated using the location information retrieved from the database and the actual position and orientation of the vehicle detected by the vision system. The vision system camera on the arm can then provide images to automatically detect the fuel filler and provide feedback to the automatic refueling module to guide the robotic arm such that the nozzle can be docked with the fuel filler opening of the vehicle. If the vehicle includes a hinged fuel filler door, the automatic refueling module of the invention can open the door such as by attaching a suction cup, vacuum gripper and/or a magnet to the door and pulling it open before the docking procedure. If the door is equipped with an interior-controlled latch, the operator can be prompted to unlock the door.
As noted above, in one embodiment, the customer is provided with a special fuel filler cap which replaces the cap provided by the vehicle manufacturer. This special fuel filler cap can be outfitted with a magnetic ring. A magnetic sensor can then be included on the robotic arm to provide location feedback to the refueling module as the robotic arm
Fredkin Edward
Pong William
Jacyna J. Casimer
McDermott & Will & Emery
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