AU2007203523A1 - Electronic rental system, method and apparatus - Google Patents

Description

P/00/011 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Invention Title: "ELECTRONIC RENTAL SYSTEM, METHOD AND APPARATUS" The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us:

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TITLE

ELECTRONIC RENTAL SYSTEM, METHOD AND APPARATUS

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FIELD OF THE INVENTION C 5 The present invention relates to an electronic rental system, method and Cc apparatus. In particular, but not exclusively, the present invention relates to an electronic system, method and apparatus for renting vehicles, such as trailers.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION The rental or hiring of all manner of equipment, vehicles and property, such as housing is a common practice. Vehicles, such as cars, trucks, pick-ups, trailers, bicycles, motorbikes, mopeds and boats are commonly rented or hired to transport goods or for recreational purposes. Equipment and particularly specialist equipment is commonly hired to complete a task, such as home renovation. Renting/hiring typically occurs where the hirer does not own the piece of equipment/vehicle and would not purchase the equipment/vehicle due to the prohibitive cost of the equipment/vehicle and/or because the task is undertaken infrequently such that purchasing the equipment/vehicle is not justifiable. The rental of property typically occurs for day-to-day living, work purposes or for vacations where purchase of the property is not desirable or possible.

The procedure for hiring or renting a vehicle, piece of equipment or property is reasonably standard irrespective of the nature of the article being rented. For example, once the nature of the article is identified, a source of the article is located and arrangements are made to hire the article. The O arrangements typically include reaching agreement upon a hiring/rental period and associated cost, insurance details, return requirements, such as the location, the filling of the fuel tank, cleaning requirements and penalties for

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failure to adhere to the terms and conditions, such as late return or damage t 5 penalties.

The aforementioned procedure can be carried out in a number of conventional ways. For example, the hirer can visit a venue in person and arrange the hire of the vehicle or equipment or conduct the same process over the telephone. The hiring of vehicles, such as hire cars over the Internet is also a common practice.

Many of the existing systems and methods for renting a vehicle or equipment are inefficient, labour intensive and often require the repetition of tasks by either the customer and/or the staff of the hiring organisation. Also, hiring organisations often lose revenue through theft by customers and/or employees. This is particularly the case where payment is made in cash and there is no record of the transaction. Furthermore, accounting aspects and forecasting availability of articles for hire in present systems are either deficient or non-existent.

In this specification, the terms "comprises", "comprising", "including" or similar terms are intended to mean a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a method, system or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include those elements solely, but may well include other elements not listed.

In this specification, the term "article" is used to refer to anything that can be rented or hired, such as, but not limited to, vehicles, equipment, property and other goods.

3 In this specification, the terms "rent" and "hire" and derivates thereof are used interchangeably to refer generally to the temporary use of an article in exchange for consideration.

5 OBJECT OF THE INVENTION t' It is an object of the present invention to provide a rental system, method and/or apparatus that addresses or at least ameliorates one or more of the Saforementioned problems of the prior art and/or provides users with a useful commercial alternative.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In one form, although it need not be the only or indeed the broadest form, the invention resides in an electronic rental system comprising: at least one user interface at each location at which articles can be collected for and/or returned from rental; a processor coupled to be in real-time communication with each user interface and a payment gateway via a communications network; wherein each said user interface enables a user to select and arrange for payment of at least one article to be rented.

Preferably, the user interface accepts a payment card to enable the user to pay for rental of the at least one article.

Alternatively, the system further comprises a location card that electronically stores information relating to the location of the user interface to enable the user to pay for the rental of the at least one article in cash.

The system enables the user to collect the at least one article from the b location at which the at least one article was rented or from a different location at which articles can be rented, ordered for rental and/or returned from rental.

In another form, the invention resides in an electronic rental method

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including the steps of: selecting at least one article for rental via a user interface at a location at Swhich articles can be collected for and/or returned from rental, said user interface coupled to be in real-time communication with a server via a 0communications network; and arranging for payment of the at least one article to be rented via the user interface.

In a further form, the invention resides in an electronic rental method including the steps of: processing a request for rental of at least one article in response to receiving a selection made by a user via a user interface situated at a location at which articles can be collected for and/or returned from rental; and processing a request for payment of the article to be rented via the user interface.

In a yet further form, the invention resides in an apparatus for an electronic rental system comprising: computer program code components configured to execute the selection of at least one article for rental by a user via a user interface situated at a location at which articles can be collected for and/or returned from rental; and computer program code components configured to execute payment of the at least one article to be rented via the user interface.

Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the O following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS By way of example only, preferred embodiments of the invention will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: FIG 1 is a schematic representation of an electronic rental system caccording to an embodiment of the present invention; FIGS 2-19 are screenshots of images displayed by a user interface of the electronic rental system of FIG 1; and FIG 20 is a screenshot of part of an application used for telephone bookings as part of the system of FIG 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to FIG 1, there is provided an electronic rental system 100 according to embodiments of the present invention. System 100 comprises at least one apparatus in the form of a user interface 110 at each location at which articles can be collected for and/or returned from rental. Such locations can be petrol stations, hardware stores, supermarkets or any other outlet, venue or location where articles can be collected for and/or returned from rental. System 100 also comprises a processor in the form of a server 120 coupled to be in communication with each user interface 110 via a communications network 130 and an administration terminal 140 coupled to be in communication with the server 120. Communications network 130 can be any communications network D familiar to one skilled in the art and can comprise the Internet, local and/or wide

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_area networks, wired and/or wireless communication channels or combinations thereof. The system 100 is coupled to be in communication with financial

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institutions or payment gateways 150 to facilitate payment via payment cards, 5 such as credit cards or debit cards. FIG. 1 also shows personal computers 160 t' coupled to be in communication with the communications network 130, "location cards" 170 associated with each location and a fingerprint and/or retina scanner 0 180 for each user interface 110, which will be described in more detail hereinafter.

The present invention will now be described with reference to the screenshots in FIGS 2-20 in relation to the hiring of a trailer. However, it will be appreciated that the present invention can be used for the hiring of any article, such as a vehicle, vessel, piece of equipment, property or any other item.

With reference to the screen shot in FIG 2, each user interface 110 enables a user to select and arrange for payment of at least one article to be rented. Each user interface 110 includes a conventional arrangement of input means, such as a keyboard or keypad and output means, such as a screen 200 and a printer coupled to a processing means, such as a CPU optionally coupled to a microcontroller where necessary and a card reader. Such an arrangement is familiar to one skilled in the art.

The card reader can read payment cards, such as credit/debit cards and the "location cards" 170 associated with each location.

According to one embodiment, the input and output means are integrated to an extent such that the screen is in the form of a touch screen that enables O users to make selections by touching the screen. For example, with reference to FIG 7, a keyboard 300 is displayed that enables user to enter data.

Returning to FIG 2, a user is presented with the options of hiring/renting a

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trailer 210, booking a trailer in advance 220, picking up a pre-booked trailer 230, obtaining a quote for hiring a trailer, 240 or returning a trailer 250. Selecting the option by touching the screen causes the appropriate information to be displayed.

Referring to FIG 3, the user interface 110 at each location is configured to store details of the trailers available at that location and the screen 200 displays the complete range of products 300 available at that location. The customer can choose from the trailers displayed on screen by touching the relevant product image or an icon located adjacent the image or view trailers available at other sites by selecting option 310. A customer can book a trailer at another location from the user interface 110 at the present location and then drive to the other location. According to one embodiment, the minimum duration of hire of a trailer is 3 hours. However, it will be appreciated that this can vary in other embodiments and can depend on the article being hired.

With reference to FIG 4, the customer can change the hire period 400 by simply touching the screen using the and options 410, 420 respectively or the units of time 430 between hours, days and weeks. The cost of hire is calculated automatically according to the duration selected.

Referring to FIG 5, if the customer has used the system 100 before at any location within the country or other region within which the system 100 is located, the customer does not need to re-enter their personal details. The system 100 allows for storage and retrieval of customers details.

O Referring to FIG 6, this option is displayed when a customer has previously used the system. There is then a choice to use a credit card or other payment card or pay with cash. The latter option utilises a "location card" 170

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that electronically stores information relating to the location of the user interface as described further herein. If the customer is a credit card customer all that is Srequired is to swipe their credit card to retrieve the customer's details from the system 100. If the customer chooses to use cash, the customer will select the "cash" option 600 and the customer's details are retrieved from the previous cash sale.

With reference to FIG 7, where the customer selects the cash payment option 600, the customer is only required to enter their driver's licence number.

In an alternative embodiment, if the article being hired is not a vehicle, the customer may not require a driver's licence. Therefore, an alternative unique identifier for the customer can be entered and stored by the system 100.

Referring to FIGS 8 and 9, the retrieved customer details are displayed on screen of the user interface 110 and the customer can update their details in any field if they have changed. This screen is the same irrespective of whether the customer is paying via payment card, cash or is a new customer. However, new customer fields will be blank.

With reference to FIG 10, if the customer is paying via cash, the customer visits a counter or attendant at the location to authorize the rental. Authorization is achieved by swiping the "location card" 170, which is provided to the location, such as a petrol station or the like, as part of the system 100. Either the site attendant swipes the "location card" or the attendant hands the "location card" to the customer to swipe. The "location card" 170 is linked to an account within the O system 100 for the location. The processor in the form of the server 120 acknowledges the rental, records that a cash transaction has taken place and the collection and payment of cash. The server 120 performs a calculation at the

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end of the determined accounting period that reflects and accounts for the cash t 5 transaction.

t Referring to FIG 11, as is standard with conventional rental systems, terms and conditions need to be specified. The terms and conditions of rental are shown on screen and the customer must acknowledge and agree to the same by pressing the relevant confirmation option 1100. The system will not continue the rental process unless the customer agrees to the terms and conditions. The customer can actively not agree with the terms and conditions via option 1110, which terminates the rental process via the system 100.

With reference to FIG 12, irrespective of whether the customer is paying by cash or payment card, the customer is issued with an invoice and a duplicate invoice. The customer takes one of the invoices to the attendant and pays the rental and deposit fee. One copy of the invoice is signed by the customer and is retained by the location and the other is retained by the customer.

Referring to FIGS 13 and 14, where the customer is paying via a payment card, the system 100 prompts the customer to proceed with the rental by printing a confirmation invoice. The system issues a unique reference number for the transaction and instructs the customer to continue the hire process by requesting the attendant at the location to supply the necessary equipment relating to the trailer being rented. In this instance, this is a D-shackle and an adaptor lead.

Obviously such equipment will vary depending on the needs of the customer and the nature of article being hired.

O FIG 15 shows the screen that appears if the trailer the customer requires is not available because one or more trailers of the same model have already been pre-booked or are on hire. The system automatically determines that the (Ni product required for hire is unavailable by reference to an inventory and displays the scheduled return time 1500 of the desired trailer. The user interface 110 Salso displays the alternative options 1510 of booking the same product for another time, option 1520 of selecting another model of trailer and option 1530 of Sdisplaying one or more other locations where the desired trailer or other trailers are available for hire. Since the inventories of all locations are managed by the server 120 of the system 100, the user interface 110 can display the same and/or different trailer models available for hire at alternative sites. In some embodiments, the alternative locations can be prioritised according to different criteria. For example, the nearest location(s) can be displayed first and optionally in order of their proximity. Those locations having the same trailer model as the one requested can be prioritised.

According to one embodiment, the only payment option for booking a trailer in advance is a payment card, such as a credit card. In this embodiment, the customer is the only person to get a print out of the booking in this instance.

This greatly reduces the risks of trailers being hired without being paid for or cash deals being done between customers and staff at the location because they do not know the type of trailer booked.

With reference to FIG 16, a calendar 1600 and clock 1610 are displayed for pre-booking purposes to enable the customer to select the day and time at which they wish to commence hire of a particular product. Subsequently, the 11 O screen requests the customer to swipe their payment card for retrieval of the advance booking.

To pick up a pre-booked trailer the customer has to choose the option

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"pick up pre booked trailer" as shown in FIG 2 at option 230. The customer then swipes their card or selects the cash payment option and a duplicate invoice is Sprinted out. The customer signs both invoices and one is retained by the customer and one is retained by the location of the user interface for their records. The attendant at the location will also verify the number of the customer's driver's license.

Referring to FIGS 2 and 17, upon returning the trailer, the customer chooses the "Return trailer" option 250 on the screen, as shown in FIG 2 and enters the registration number of the hire trailer, as shown in FIG 17. The system automatically identifies the customer and the product from the registration number, as shown in FIG 18. The customer or attendant from the location swipes the "location card" 170 to authorize the return of the trailer. The "location card" is the same card that is used for cash sales.

Referring to FIG 19, the system 100 allows an update of the condition of hired product prior to calculation of the final hire fee. If there are any additional charges, for example, due to damage, this is where they are addressed. The extra costs are taken directly out of the customer's payment card account or, if it is a cash customer, the additional costs are deducted from the deposit that is to be refunded. A new invoice in duplicate is then printed stating the extra charges.

Late fees are also automatically calculated and costed by the system 100 at this stage, if the customer is more than a prescribed number of minutes, hours or days late, depending on, for example, the nature of the product and the hire 12 O duration. For example, for a trailer hire, the prescribed period may be minutes. According to one embodiment, for a hire period of 1 day or less, where the product is returned less than 1 hour late, the excess paid by the customer is (Ni equal to the hourly hire rate For example, if the rate is $12/hour and the trailer is returned 1 hour late, the excess or late penalty is $18. If a customer Scontacts the hiring company to inform them that they will be late returning the hired article, this can be recorded and incorporated into the expected return time c for the article.

Where the customer selects the "Quote" option 240 on the screen, as shown in FIG 2, the customer makes their choice of trailer and then has the option to print the quote, hire now or pre-book the trailer. The system automatically calculates and prints the quote if this option is selected. The customer is hence encouraged to rent the product from the system 100 and not seek out a competitor.

With reference to FIG 20, the system 100 also allows for integrated telephone bookings preferably via a free phone telephone number. According to one embodiment, the system 100 allows for trailers to be booked over the telephone, but only with payment cards, such as credit cards. The booking is automatically emailed or faxed to the customer with confirmation of pick up and drop off times, location, invoice number and cost. All the customer then has to do is to visit the location, select the pick up pre-booked trailer option 230 as shown in FIG 2, swipe their credit card at the user interface 110 and follow the prompts as described above.

The server 120 comprises a full accounts program that ensures all funds associated with the rental of articles via the system 100 are recorded. All data O associated with each transaction is recorded and managed by the system 100 so that every transaction is tracked. The extensive collection and storage of data allows analysis and interpretation of all aspects of the rental business to which

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the system 100 is applied. The business operator is then able to ascertain the t 5 source of their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This enables a business operator to then vary and adapt the business accordingly. Examples of analysis include number of hires per article trailer), income generated per article, income generated per location or per company, percentage of payment card/cash sales and the like. Other functionality includes selecting the lowest percentage required on articles or locations for reporting purposes, tracking and analysis of enquiries, e.g. via addresses/postcodes. The system also automatically distributes the funds to the relevant parties, such as the company running the location petrol company, hardware store etc.) agents and the like. The pricing of articles for hire can be updated centrally and the new prices will be reflected at each user interface 110 at each location. Prices may vary between different interfaces 110 in different locations if required.

With reference to FIG 1, according to another embodiment, customers are able to book the product for hire over the Internet (communication network 130) via their personal computers 160 in a similar manner to that described above via the user interface 110.

Hence, according to one aspect, the present invention resides in an electronic rental/hire system, method and apparatus that includes the steps of selecting at least one article, such as, but not limited to, a trailer or other vehicle, piece of equipment or property, for rental via the user interface 110 at a location at which articles can be ordered for and/or returned from rental. The user O interface 110 allows the customer to arrange for payment of the at least one article to be rented via the user interface, whether this be via cash or payment card, such as a credit card.

When viewed from the perspective of the server 120 of the system 100, the present invention resides in an electronic rental method including processing Sa request for the rental/hire of an article in response to receiving selections made by a customer via the user interface 110 at a location at which articles can be Srented, ordered for rental and/or returned from rental. The method includes the server 120 processing a request for payment of the article to be rented via the user interface 110, whether payment be made via cash or payment card.

According to another aspect, the invention resides in an apparatus for an electronic rental system comprising computer program code components configured to execute the selection of at least one article for rental by a user via a user interface situated at a location at which articles can be collected for and/or returned from rental and computer program code components configured to execute payment of the at least one article to be rented via the user interface.

The computer program code components can be stored in memory and retrieved for execution as will be familiar to one skilled in the art.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, it is envisaged that verification of the identity of the user can be performed using retina and/or fingerprint scanning technology. Such technology is currently available and is employed, for example, at airports and secure installations. Such technology would help to minimize, if not eradicate, payment card fraud in the present system 100. With reference to FIG 1, a fingerprint and/or retina scanner 180 can be incorporated in the user interface 110, for example, adjacent the screen to O scan the users fingerprint/retina. Features of the image can then be compared with a database of such images stored in the server 120 to verify the identity of Ithe user. Combined with the payment card data, the system 100 can ensure that only the true owner of the payment card is using it. In FIG 1, only one of the user interfaces 110 is shown comprising the fingerprint and/or retina scanner 180 however it will be appreciated that in some embodiments the fingerprint r- and/or retina scanner 180 is provided on each user interface 110 within the system 100.

Hence, the system 100, methods and apparatus of the present invention thus provide solutions to the aforementioned problems of the prior art by providing a user interface 110 at each rental location to enable customers to select and pay for an article for rent. Payment can be made via cash or via payment card and all transactions are tracked for auditing purposes. Articles can be selected, paid for and collected at the same location of rental or selected and paid for at one location and collected at another location. Articles can alternatively be collected at one location and returned to another location. If a desired article is not available at one location, its availability at another location can be determined because the inventory is constantly updated at each location across the system 100. Articles can be pre-booked where available, taking into account expected return times if necessary. Quotes are also available. The "location card" 170 ensures that even cash transactions are accounted for, which reduces the opportunities for fraud and helps maintain an accurate inventory.

Throughout the specification the aim has been to describe the invention without limiting the invention to any one embodiment or specific collection of features. Persons skilled in the relevant art may realize variations from the specific embodiments that will nonetheless fall within the scope of the invention.

Claims (19)

1. An electronic rental system comprising: Z ~at least one user interface at each location at which articles can be IND collected for and/or returned from rental; and 5 a processor coupled to be in real-time communication with each user I€' t' interface and a payment gateway via a communications network; wherein each said user interface enables a user to select and arrange for payment of at least one article to be rented.

2. The rental system of claim 1, wherein the at least one user interface accepts a payment card to enable the user to pay for rental of the at least one article.

3. The rental system of claim 1 or 2, further comprising a location card that electronically stores information relating to the location of the at least one user interface to enable the user to pay for the rental of the at least one article in cash.

4. The rental system of any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the system enables the user to collect the at least one article from the location at which the at least one article was rented or from a different location.

The rental system of claim 4, wherein the different location is also a location at which articles can be rented, ordered for rental and/or returned from rental.

6. The rental system of any preceding claim, wherein the at least one user interface further comprises one or more of the following for verification of IND the identity of the user: a fingerprint scanner; a retinal scanner.

7. An electronic rental method including: O processing a request for rental of at least one article in response to N receiving a selection made by a user via a user interface situated at a location at which articles can be collected for and/or returned from rental; and processing a request for payment of the article to be rented via the user interface, said user interface coupled to be in real-time communication with a payment gateway via a communications network.

8. The method of claim 7, further including the at least one user interface accepting a payment card to enable the user to pay for rental of the at least one article.

9. The method of claim 7 or 8, further including electronically storing a information relating to the location of the at least one user interface on a location card to enable the user to pay for the rental of the at least one article in cash.

The method of any of claims 7 to 9, further including enabling the user to collect the at least one article from the location at which the at least one 18 article was rented or from a different location. r1-, 5

11. The method of any of claims 7 to 10, further including displaying via the user interface one or more of the following if the selection made by a user is unavailable at the location of the user interface: one or more alternative locations at which the user's selection is available; one or more alternative times at which the user's selection is available; one or more alternatives to the user's selection.

12. The method of claim 11, further including prioritising the alternative locations at which the user's selection is available based on proximity of the alternative locations to the location of the user interface.

13. The method of any of claims 7 to 11, further including verifying the identity of the user via the user interface using one or more of the following: a fingerprint scanner; a retinal scanner.

14. An apparatus for an electronic rental system comprising: computer program code components configured to execute the selection of at least one article for rental by a user via a user interface situated at a location at which articles can be collected for and/or returned from rental; and computer program code components configured to execute payment of the at least one article to be rented via the user interface. O

15. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising computer program code components configured to display via the user interface one or more of the nfollowing if the selection made by a user is unavailable at the location of the IND user interface: one or more alternative locations at which the user's selection is available; one or more alternative times at which the user's Sselection is available; one or more alternatives to the user's selection. c

16. The apparatus of claim 14 or 15, further comprising computer program code components configured to prioritise the alternative locations at which the user's selection is available based on proximity of the alternative locations to the location of the user interface.

17. An electronic rental method including: selecting at least one article for rental via a user interface at a location at which articles can be collected for and/or returned from rental, said user interface coupled to be in real-time communication with a processor via a communications network; and arranging for payment of the at least one article to be rented via the user interface.

18. An electronic rental method substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

19. An electronic rental system substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. r-- An apparatus for an electronic rental system substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. ON r--