WO2005086023A1

WO2005086023A1 - System for reducing drive-off fuel theft

Info

Publication number: WO2005086023A1
Application number: PCT/AU2005/000278
Authority: WO
Inventors: Colin Andrew Priest; Warren James Lewington
Original assignee: Dapsco Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2004-03-04
Filing date: 2005-02-28
Publication date: 2005-09-15

Abstract

A method (300) and system (100) are disclosed for reducing drive-off fuel theft. The method operates by maintaining a database comprising at least licence plate details associated with previous drive-off fuel theft offenders. The licence plate details of a proposed customer are captured when the customer stops at the bowser pumps (240). In the case where it is determined by the system (100) that the licence plate details of the proposed customer appear on the database, an operator is notified.

Description

SYSTEM FOR REDUCING DRIVE-OFF FUEL THEFT

Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to theft prevention and, in particular, to a system for reducing drive-off fuel theft from fuel service stations.

Background Self-service fuel service stations are common in many countries. Typically a customer stops his or her vehicle next to a bowser pump of the service station, and proceeds to fill the tank of the vehicle with fuel to a desired amount. The customer then proceeds to a service counter of the service station and pays for the fuel pumped. Drive-off fuel theft may be defined as the theft occurring when a customer, after filling a tank with fuel, drives off without paying. Industry bodies estimate that drive-off fuel theft amounts to more than $60 million per annum in Australia. The applicant's research suggests that drive-off fuel theft costs the average service station approximately $15,000 per annum. In addition to the direct theft costs, a service station also incurs administrative costs reconciling payments and lost time due to the need to fill out reports for the police. One method adopted by some service stations to prevent drive-off fuel theft is to instruct a staff member of the service station to write down the license plate details of each vehicle attending the service station. Only after the number plate details have been written down is a bowser pump activated for pumping. However, this method becomes impractical when the staff member does not have a clear view of the licence plates of all vehicles. As the staff member is also typically the same staff member that works the service counter, the staff member is often too busy servicing customers to write down licence plate details. Even in the case where licence plate details are captured, a problem is then encountered as to what to do with such details. With the average drive-off fuel theft being in relation to fuel costing between $30 to $50 per occurrence, the police consider such theft as a petty crime, and are understandably reluctant to direct too many resources thereto when there are more pressing crimes requiring their attention. Similarly, debt collectors have little interest in recovering the value of the stolen fuel as it costs more to find an offender and collect the "debt" than the average value of the drive-off fuel theft. A difficulty often experienced is that images of the offender captured with existing surveillance systems installed at service stations are of insufficient quality to positively identify an actual offender, and many offenders hide behind this anonymity. Another solution to drive-off fuel theft adopted by service stations in some regions is to require pre-payment for fuel during certain hours. This requires the customer to pay for fuel at the service counter before a bowser pump is activated. This solution is very unpopular with consumers, and some consumers will even avoid service stations requiring pre-payment for fuel. Thus a need clearly exists for a more efficient and effective system for reducing drive-off fuel theft from fuel service stations.

Summary It is an object of the present invention to substantially overcome, or at least ameliorate, one or more disadvantages of existing arrangements. According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of reducing drive-off fuel theft, said method comprising the steps of: maintaining a database comprising at least licence plate details associated with previous drive-off fuel theft offenders; receiving licence plate details of a proposed customer; determining whether said licence plate details of said proposed customer appear on said database; and notifying an operator when said licence plate details of said proposed customer appear on said database. According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for reducing drive-off fuel theft, said apparatus comprising: database comprising at least licence plate details associated with previous drive- off fuel theft offenders; means for receiving licence plate details of a proposed customer; means for determining whether said licence plate details of said proposed customer appear on said database; and notification means for notifying an operator of said apparatus when said licence plate details of said proposed customer appear on said database. According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for reducing drive-off fuel theft, said system comprising: a server connected to a plurality of sub-systems through a computer network, said server being operative to communicate licence plate details associated with drive-off fuel theft occurrences to said plurality of sub-systems, each said sub-system being operative to maintain a database of licence plate details associated with drive-off fuel theft occurrences, to receive licence plate details of a proposed customer, to determining whether said licence plate details of said proposed customer appear on said database, and to notify an operator of said sub-system when said licence plate details of said proposed customer appear on said database. According to yet another aspect of the present invention there is provided a computer program product including a computer readable medium having recorded thereon a computer program for implementing the method described above. Other aspects of the invention are also disclosed.

Brief Description of the Drawings One or more embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings, in which: Fig. 1 shows a system for reducing drive-off fuel theft from service stations; Fig. 2 shows a schematic flow diagram of a process 300 performed by a computer of a sub-system of the system shown in Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a schematic block diagram of a general-purpose computer upon for use in the system of Fig. 1.

Detailed Description Fig. 1 shows a system 100 for reducing drive-off fuel theft from service stations. The system includes a server 150 and a number of sub-systems 200, each sub-system 200 being installed at a participating service station and connected to the server 150 through a network 180. The network 180 may be the Internet or any other network system such as a Local Area Network (LAN) or a Wide Area Network (WAN). Each sub-system 200 includes an integration unit 210 connected to one or more cameras 220, a number of bowser pumps 240, a digital video recorder (DVR) 230, a point-of-sale terminal 215, and a computer 250. The integration unit 210 integrates data received from the point-of-sale system 215 and bowser pumps 240, and also controls the cameras 220. The cameras 220 are pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras, and the operations of the cameras 220 are controlled by the integration unit 210. The digital video recorder 230 records video images captured by the cameras 220. Each bowser pump 240 includes a sensor (not illustrated) for sensing when a nozzle of the bowser pump 240 has been lifted. The state of the sensor is communicated to the integration unit 210. The amount and type of fuel pumped is also communicated to the integration unit 210. Fig. 3 is a schematic block diagram showing the computer 250 in more detail. A process 300 performed by the computer 250 will also be described in detail below with reference to Fig. 2. The process 300 may be implemented as software, such as an application program executing within the computer 250. In particular, the steps of the process 300 may be effected by instructions in the software that are carried out by the computer. The instructions may be formed as one or more code modules, each for performing one or more particular tasks. The software may also be divided into two separate parts, in which a first part performs the process 300 and a second part manages a user interface between the first part and the user. The software may be stored in a computer readable medium, including the storage devices described below, for example. The software is loaded into the computer from the computer readable medium, and then executed by the computer. A computer readable medium having such software or computer program recorded on it is a computer program product. The use of the computer program product in the computer preferably effects an advantageous apparatus for implementing the process 300.

The computer 250 is formed by a computer module 401, input devices such as a keyboard 402 and mouse 403, output devices including a printer 415, a display device 414 and loudspeakers 417. A Modulator-Demodulator (Modem) transceiver device 416 is used by the computer module 401 for communicating to and from the network 180, for example connectable via a telephone line 421 or other functional medium. The modem 416 may be incorporated into the computer module 401 in some implementations. The computer 250 may communicate with the server 150 or one of the other sub-systems 200 via the network 180. The computer module 401 typically includes at least one processor unit 405, and a memory unit 406, for example formed from semiconductor random access memory (RAM) and read only memory (ROM). The module 401 also includes an number of input/output (I O) interfaces including an audio- video interface 407 that couples to the video display 414 and loudspeakers 417, an I/O interface 413 for the keyboard 402 and mouse 403 and optionally a joystick (not illustrated), and an interface 408 for the modem 416 and printer 415. In some implementations, the modem 416 may be incorporated within the computer module 401, for example within the interface 408. A storage device 409 is provided and typically includes a hard disk drive 410 and a floppy disk drive 411. A magnetic tape drive (not illustrated) may also be used. A CD-ROM drive 412 is typically provided as a non- volatile source of data. The components 405 to 413 of the computer module 401, typically communicate via an interconnected bus 404 and in a manner which results in a conventional mode of operation of the computer system 400 known to those in the relevant art. Examples of computers on which the described arrangements can be practised include IBM-PC's and compatibles, Sun Sparcstations or alike computer systems evolved therefrom. Typically, the application program implementing the process 300 is resident on the hard disk drive 410 and read and controlled in its execution by the processor 405. Intermediate storage of the program and any data fetched from the network 420 may be accomplished using the semiconductor memory 406, possibly in concert with the hard disk drive 410. In some instances, the application program may be supplied to the user encoded on a CD-ROM or floppy disk and read via the corresponding drive 412 or 411, or alternatively may be read by the user from the network 420 via the modem device 416. Still further, the software can also be loaded into the computer system 400 from other computer readable media. The term "computer readable medium" as used herein refers to any storage or transmission medium that participates in providing instructions and/or data to the computer system 400 for execution and/or processing. Examples of storage media include floppy disks, magnetic tape, CD-ROM, a hard disk drive, a ROM or integrated circuit, a magneto-optical disk, or a computer readable card such as a PCMCIA card and the like, whether or not such devices are internal or external of the computer module 401. Examples of transmission media include radio or infra-red transmission channels as well as a network connection to another computer or networked device, and the Internet or Intranets including e-mail transmissions and information recorded on Websites and the like. The server 150 and integration unit 210 may also be implemented using a computer module similar to the computer module 401. The process 300 may alternatively be implemented in dedicated hardware such as one or more integrated circuits performing the functions or sub functions of the described methods. Such dedicated hardware may include graphic processors, digital signal processors, or one or more microprocessors and associated memories. The computer 250 includes a database configured within the hard disk 410 or memory 406 of the computer 250. The database contains at least the number plate details of previous offenders of drive-off fuel theft, the value of fuel stolen, as well as the location and date of the offence. The database may be communicated to the computer 250 from the server 150 over the network 180. The integration unit 210 is operative to, when receiving a signal from one of the sensors that a nozzle of an associated bowser pump 240 has been lifted, control one of the cameras 220 to capture a first image of the front or rear of a vehicle at the associated bowser pump 240, to capture a second image of the number plate region of the vehicle, and to capture a third image of the person that lifted the nozzle of the bowser pump 240. The images are then communicated to the computer 250. Fig. 2 shows a schematic flow diagram of a process 300 performed by the computer 250. Process 300 starts in step 310 when the computer 250 receives the first, second and third images from the integration unit 210. The computer 250, in step 320 that follows, performs image analysis on the second image, that is the image of the number plate region of the vehicle, to extract the licence plate details from the licence plate of the vehicle. Any method of image analysis known to a person skilled in the relevant art may be used to extract the licence plate details from the second image. In step 330 the computer 250 determines whether the licence plate details were successfully extracted. If for some reason the computer 250 was unable to extract licence plate details from the second image, for example because the licence plate is obscured or not properly captured, an operator is notified in step 333 and the process 300 ends. In the case where the computer 250 determines that the licence plate details were successfully extracted, the computer 250 then determines in step 340 whether the licence plate details appear in the database containing the number plate details of previous offenders of drive-off fuel theft. If it is determined that the licence plate details appear in the database, then the operator is notified of such in step 343 before process 300 ends. The notification may include details of the previous offence(s) including date, location and value of fuel stolen. The actions taken by the operator in response are determined by the policies of the particular service station, and may include actions such as: refusal of service; requiring pre-payment for fuel before the bowser pump 240 is activated; requiring a payment of the fuel "debt" as recorded on the database; giving a warning (to well known and regular customers); and providing details of how the existing fuel "debt" can be settled. Once existing fuel "debt" has been paid, either at the service counter to the operator, or tlirough an intermediary, the database entry is removed. This is preferably done by communicating the fact that the debt has been cleared to the server 150, which then communicates with all the computers 250 of each of the sub-systems 200 to remove that entry from their respective databases. In the case where the computer 250 determines in step 340 that the licence plate details do not appear in the database, the process 300 continues to step 350 where the associated bowser pump 240 is activated. The computer 240 then waits in step 360 for input from the operator as to whether or not a new drive-off fuel theft has occurred. This may for example be by means of a signal from the point of sale terminal 215 connected to the integration unit 210 indicating that the fuel has been paid for. When the computer 250 determines that the fuel has been paid for, then the process 300 ends. Alternatively, if the computer 250 determines in step 360 that a new drive-off fuel theft has occurred, then the computer 250 records data associated with the new offence in step 370. The data typically includes: the licence plate details of the vehicle extracted in step 320; the first image received from the integration unit 210 of the vehicle; the second image received from the integration unit 210 of the licence plate region; the third image received from the integration unit 210 of the person lifting the nozzle of the bowser pump 240; the quantity of fuel pumped; the value of fuel pumped; and the time and the date of the new drive-off theft. Process 300 then proceeds to step 380 where the computer 380 communicates data associated with the new drive-off fuel theft to the server 150 before process 300 ends. Upon receipt of data associated with the new drive-off fuel theft by the server 150, the server 150 communicates the details to all the computers 250 of each of the subsystems 200 so that the details are added as an entry in their respective databases. The system 100 has the advantage that drive-off fuel theft is reduced by virtu of the fact that the service station operator is notified of previous offenders. Previous offenders are also encouraged to pay off previous incurred "debt" in order to prevent the inconvenience of pre-payment for fuel, and the embarrassment of being identified as requiring special treatment. The system 100 also prevents the alienation of regular honest customers who are opposed to pre-payment for fuel. The foregoing describes only some embodiments of the present invention, and modifications and/or changes can be made thereto without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention, the embodiments being illustrative and not restrictive. In the context of this specification, the word "comprising" means "including principally but not necessarily solely" or "having" or "including", and not "consisting only of. Variations of the word "comprising", such as "comprise" and "comprises" have correspondingly varied meanings.

Claims

Claims:

1. A method of reducing drive-off fuel theft, said method comprising the steps of: maintaining a database comprising at least licence plate details associated with previous drive-off fuel theft offenders; receiving licence plate details of a proposed customer; determining whether said licence plate details of said proposed customer appear on said database; and notifying an operator when said licence plate details of said proposed customer appear on said database.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein said receiving step comprises the sub-steps of: receiving an image of a vehicle of said proposed customer; and performing image analyses of said image to extract said licence plate details.

3. Apparatus for reducing drive-off fuel theft, said apparatus comprising: database comprising at least licence plate details associated with previous drive- off fuel theft offenders; means for receiving licence plate details of a proposed customer; means for determining whether said licence plate details of said proposed customer appear on said database; and notification means for notifying an operator of said apparatus when said licence plate details of said proposed customer appear on said database.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein said means for receiving licence plate details receives an image of a vehicle of said proposed customer and analyses said image to extract said licence plate details.

5. A system for reducing drive-off fuel theft, said system comprising: a server connected to a plurality of sub-systems through a computer network, said server being operative to communicate licence plate details associated with drive-off fuel theft occurrences to said plurality of sub-systems, each said sub-system being operative to maintain a database of licence plate details associated with drive-off fuel theft occurrences, to receive licence plate details of a proposed customer, to determining whether said licence plate details of said proposed customer appear on said database, and to notify an operator of said sub-system when said licence plate details of said proposed customer appear on said database.

6. The system according to claim 5 wherein said sub-system is further operative to record at least licence plate details associated with new drive-off theft occurrences and to communicate said at least licence details associated with new drive-off theft occurrences to said server.

7. A computer program recorded on a computer readable medium for reducing drive-off fuel theft, said program comprising: code for maintaining a database comprising at least licence plate details associated with previous drive-off fuel theft offenders; code for receiving licence plate details of a proposed customer; code for determining whether said licence plate details of said proposed customer appear on said database; and code for notifying an operator when said licence plate details of said proposed customer appear on said database.

8. A method of reducing drive-off fuel theft, said method being substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

9. Apparatus for reducing drive-off fuel theft, said apparatus being substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

10. A system for reducing drive-off fuel theft, said system being substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.