U.S. patent application number 12/605319 was filed with the patent office on 2011-04-28 for method and process of billing for goods leveraging a single connection action.
Invention is credited to Edward Butler, Paul S. Levy, John C. Thomas.
Application Number | 20110099111 12/605319 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 43899218 |
Filed Date | 2011-04-28 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110099111 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Levy; Paul S. ; et
al. |
April 28, 2011 |
Method and Process of billing for goods leveraging a single
connection action
Abstract
A method and system provided for a single-action with which the
customer places an order and receives goods by the single action of
connecting an electrical vehicle (EV) to a charging station
according to the business terms associated with this invention, the
affiliated organizations that purchase or support the operation of
the invention participate in a business "franchise" operation
whereby all affiliated organizations increase their revenues as the
volume of EV charging events increases.
Inventors: |
Levy; Paul S.; (Chandler,
AZ) ; Butler; Edward; (Gilbert, AZ) ; Thomas;
John C.; (Beaverton, OR) |
Family ID: |
43899218 |
Appl. No.: |
12/605319 |
Filed: |
October 24, 2009 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
705/63 ; 705/1.1;
705/14.1; 705/34; 705/412 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 30/04 20130101;
G06Q 30/0207 20130101; G06Q 50/06 20130101; H04L 2209/56 20130101;
H04L 2209/80 20130101; H04L 2209/84 20130101; H04L 9/32
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/63 ; 705/1.1;
705/412; 705/34; 705/14.1 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 30/00 20060101
G06Q030/00; H04L 9/00 20060101 H04L009/00; G06F 17/00 20060101
G06F017/00; G06Q 50/00 20060101 G06Q050/00 |
Claims
1. A method of placing an order for an item comprising: a. Under
control of a client system, in response to a single-action being
performed, sending a request to order an electric vehicle charge
event along with a unique identifier of the vehicle owner in
combination with the connected charging service Vendor ID and
vendor's unit unique public key to the server system. b. Under
control of the connected charging service vendor system, in
response to a single-action being performed, sending its unique
Vendor ID, prevailing electricity rates, billing policies, and
public key to the server system via the connection enabled by the
electric vehicle c. Under the control of a single-action ordering
component of the server system receiving the request; retrieving
additional information previously stored for the purchaser
identified by the identifier in the received request in combination
with the unique identifier of the charging service vendor and
public key; generating a secure authentication message to start the
electric vehicle charge event to the charge station and
transmitting billing related information to the charge station as
needed via the connection to the electric vehicle.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the single-action is connecting
the charging station to the electrical vehicle.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein a user of the client system does
not need to explicitly identify themselves when connection the
electric vehicle.
4. A client system for ordering an item comprising: a. an
identifier that identifies a customer; b. a single-action ordering
component that in response to performance of only a single-action,
sends a request to a server system to order an electric vehicle
charge event and vendor ID so that the server system can locate
additional information needed to complete the order and so that the
server system can fulfill the generated order to complete purchase
of the charge event.
5. The client system of claim 4 wherein the predefined
single-action is the connecting of the charging station to the
electrical vehicle.
6. A server system for generating an order comprising: a. a data
storage medium storing information for a plurality of users; b. a
receiving component for receiving requests to order an electric
vehicle charge event, a request including an indication of one of
the plurality of users, the request being sent in response to only
a single action being performed; and c. an order placement
component that retrieves from the data storage medium information
for the indicated electric vehicle owner and electric vehicle
charge service provider and that uses the retrieved information to
place an order for the indicated user for the item; and d. an order
fulfillment component that completes a purchase of the charge event
in accordance with the order placed by the single-action ordering
component which specifies amount of electricity consumed as well as
prevailing rates and billing policies.
7. The server system of claim 6 wherein the request is sent by a
client system in response to a single-action (connecting the
electric vehicle to the charging station) is performed.
8. A method for ordering an item using a client system, the method
comprising: a. displaying information identifying the state of
electric vehicle battery charge and electricity rates and policy
information and displaying an indication of a single-action that is
to be performed to order a charge event (connecting the electric
vehicle to the charging station); and b. in response to only the
indicated single-action being performed, sending to a server system
a request to order an electric vehicle charge event c. whereby
authentication is sent to the vendor to fulfill the order to
complete a purchase of the item.
9. The method of claim 8 wherein the server system uses a client
identifier sent along with the request to identify additional
information needed to generate an authentication for the electric
vehicle charge event.
10. The method of claim 8 wherein the server system uses a vendor
identifier database identifies the charging services vendor
system.
11. The method of claim 8 wherein the client system and server
system communicate via the Internet or any network communication
link.
12. The method of claim 8 including the act of sending from the
server system to the client system a confirmation that the order
was generated.
13. The method of claim 8 including the act of sending from the
client system to the vendor charging station system a confirmation
that the order was generated.
14. The method of claim 8 including the act of sending from the
server system to the client system a packet of data that enables
the update of software and/or data, as well as electricity rate and
policy data, electronically stored on the vendor charging
station.
15. The method of claim 8 including the act of sending from the
client system to the vendor charging station a packet of data that
enables the update of software and/or data, as well as electricity
rate and policy data, electronically stored on the vendor charging
station.
16. The method of claim 8 wherein the single-action is connecting
the changing station to the electrical vehicle.
17. A client system for transmitting billing information related to
fulfillment of a fulfilled electric vehicle charging order
comprising: a. an identifier that identifies a customer (electric
vehicle owner); b. a single-action ordering component that in
response to a sequence of events initiated by a single-action sends
a packet of billing information (including customer identifier,
charging station vendor identifier, and data related to the
electric vehicle charging event) to a server system to implement
billing of the customer for the charge event.
18. The method of claim 17 wherein the predefined single-action is
connecting the electric vehicle to the charging station and the
sequence of events initiated by this single-action is the complete
charging of the electric vehicle's batteries or the disconnection
of the electric vehicle from the charging station.
19. The method of claim 17 wherein the client system transmits a
packet of billing information (including customer identifier,
charging station vendor identifier, and data related to the
electric vehicle charging event) to a server system to implement
billing of the customer for the charge event.
20. The method of claim 17 wherein the client system recognizes if
the communication link with the server system has been temporarily
disconnected and continues to send the packet of billing
information until the connection is restored and the packet is
successfully transmitted to the to the server system
21. A server system for implementing billing of fulfilled electric
vehicle charging orders comprising: a. a data storage medium
storing information for a plurality of electric vehicle owners,
charging services vendors, EV manufacturers, and other affiliated
organizations, including the unique affiliations that exists
between manufacturers and owners of electric vehicles; b. a
receiving component for receiving electricity rate information
(including static rates, time of use rate schedules, and dynamic
price signals) and charging policy information (including any
restrictions or conditions placed on charging events) from the
source of this information (e.g. electric power utilities, electric
charge service providers, and other entities). c. a receiving
component for receiving a billing information packet related to an
electric vehicle charge event (including electric vehicle owner
identifier, charging station vendor identifier, and data related to
the electric vehicle charging event) being received in response to
a sequence of events initiated by single-action being performed; d.
a billing fulfillment component that retrieves from the data
storage medium information for the indicated electric vehicle owner
and uses the retrieved information to calculate a service fee (as a
percentage of the billing generated by the charging event and/or on
a per transaction basis) automatically withdraw funds (equal to the
billed value of the charging event plus the service fee) from a
designated EV owner's account (or charge the EV owner's designated
credit account) via a pre-arranged agreement, and e. a franchise
bonus fulfillment component that retrieves from the data storage
medium information for affiliated organizations (the vendor of
charging services, the manufacturer of the EV, and other
organizations) and uses the retrieved information to calculate
bonus payments (as a percentage of the above mentioned service fee)
and disperse said "bonus" payments to these affiliated
organizations (either immediately or accumulated and paid on a
billing schedule as defined with these organizations). and
22. The method of claim 21 wherein the server system uses a client
identifier sent along with the request to identify additional
information needed to calculate billing for an electric vehicle
charge event.
23. The method of claim 21 wherein the server system uses a vendor
identifier database identifies the owner operator of the electric
vehicle charging station (i.e. the charging service vendor) and/or
the affiliated electric service utility that provides electric
service to this vendor.
24. The method of claim 21 wherein the server system communicate
via the Internet or any network communication link.
25. The method of claim 21 wherein the server system automatically
withdraws funds (equal to the billed value of the charging event
plus the service fee) from a designated EV owner's account (or
charges the EV owner's designated credit account) via a
pre-arranged agreement.
26. The method of claim 21 wherein the server system automatically
disperses "bonus" payments to affiliated organizations (either
immediately or accumulated and paid on a billing schedule as
defined with these organizations).
27. The method of claim 21 including the act of sending from the
server system to the client system a confirmation that billing for
the vehicle charging transaction has been completed.
28. The method of claim 21 including the act of sending from the
server system to the vehicle charging services vendor, EV
manufacturer, or other affiliated organizations a transaction
record of the electric vehicle charging event for billing auditing
purposes.
29. The method of claim 21 wherein the single-action is
disconnecting the electrical vehicle from the changing station and
the sequence of events initiated by this single-action is the
complete charging of the electric vehicle's batteries or the
disconnection of the electric vehicle from the charging station.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefited of our earlier filled
provisional application titled: Method and process of
administrating recharging of electric vehicles using low cost
charge stations filed on Oct. 9, 2009 and filled provisional
application titled: Method and Process of billing for goods
leveraging a single connection action filed on Oct. 9, 2009.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to a single-action fully
automated method and system for placing an order and delivering
goods leveraging pre-arranged agreements over the Internet (or
other networks) and enabling multiple parties to share in the
revenues generated from the sales of said goods.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] The rising cost of hydrocarbon based fuels and environmental
factors will require a massive transformation of society's
transportation infrastructure from fossil fuel to electricity as
the primary means of powering vehicles. As electrical vehicles (EV)
enter mass production a new infrastructure that consists of
numerous, conveniently located electrical charging stations will be
required such that drivers can reliably re-charge their EV's
batteries while away from home. Furthermore, EV battery charging
technology that is simple to use (i.e. does not require human
supervision nor the use of cash, credit cards, debit cards, and/or
digital "smart" cards) and least costly to manufacture, install,
and maintain (because it is not burdened with network
communications technologies) is most likely to achieve wide-spread
adoption. Such charging stations will enable the EV driver to
experience the same ease of re-charging their EV remotely that they
experience while re-charging at home, with the convenience of
having the electricity cost for all EV re-charging (whether done at
home or away from home) charged to a credit account, consolidated
onto the regular monthly invoice, or automatically deducted from a
bank account of their choice. The introduction of EV charging
technology will require inherent business risks on the part of the
manufacturers of EVs and the owner operators of EV charging
facilities. Because of these risks, the EV charging technology
which offers such entities the opportunity to establish a business
"franchise" based on fees associated with EV charging events is
most likely to be adopted. The combined attraction of such EV
charging technology for EV owners (for convenience), EV charge
service providers (for the for the cost of ownership of the
charging technology) and EV Manufacturers and EV charge service
providers (for the business value offered by the "franchise") would
create the greatest likelihood for accelerated adoption of this
technology in the market.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] The objective of this invention is to provide a method that
in response to a Single Action Event; initiates, establishes, and
completes an end-to-end transaction based solution for charging
Electric Vehicles via networked connected infrastructure.
[0005] The Single Action Event occurs when an Electric Vehicle is
coupled to an Electric Vehicle Charging Station. This coupling
initiates an automated sequence of events that encompasses consumer
and charging service provider identification and authorization,
utility company electricity rates and policy, cost assessment of
services rendered, method of payment via electronic billing
transaction, and distribution of billing fees across interested
parties such as Electric Vehicle Manufacturers and Charging Station
Service Providers etc.
[0006] Consumer and charging service provider identification and
authorization collateral is determined via prearranged agreements.
Said agreements and contracts are individually established between
interested parties where identification and authorization data is
collected, secured, and is used in the end-to-end Electric Vehicle
charging transaction based solution.
[0007] Utility Company electricity rates and policy are dynamically
accessed and implemented "real-time" to calculate and determine the
exact electricity rates and policy during the active charge cycle
for billing fee determination.
[0008] Method of payment via electronic billing transaction, and
distribution of billing fees across interested parties such as
Electric Vehicle Manufacturers and Charging Station Service
Providers etc is predetermined via agreements. When the Electric
Vehicle charging cycle terminates billing information and fees are
registered and interested parties accounts are modulated
accordingly
[0009] The Single Action Event is not limited to having an internet
and/or network connection at the immediate time the Electric
Vehicle connects to an Electric Charging Station having charging
services rendered. Intelligence is comprehended and built-in to
"store and forward" relevant information when a network connection
is eventually established. This store and forward capability
establish a uniqueness that allows the Electric Vehicle Charge
Stations to be placed in locations where a network connection may
not be feasible thus allowing the Electric Vehicle to "Roam" and
attaining a charge anywhere there is a Utility Company service
available, i.e. power lines
[0010] In summary, the invention provides a method that on a Single
Action Event establishes an end-to-end infrastructure and billing
environment that seamlessly allows Electric Vehicles and consumers
to charge vehicles without complexity and enables Electric Vehicle
"roaming" flexibility
[0011] In other aspects, the invention provides a system and method
having features and advantages corresponding to those discussed
above
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] Having thus described the invention in general terms,
reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are
not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:
[0013] FIG. 1 Shows a flow chart outlining unique identifier of the
client to the billing system.
[0014] FIG. 2 Shows a flow of a unique identifier associated with
the EV Charging Station.
[0015] FIG. 3 Shows a flow chart which associates the rate schedule
for power to the billing system.
[0016] FIG. 4 Shows a flow chart detailing the process of
associating the Client ID with the Charge Station and sending the
charge amount to the Billing System.
[0017] FIG. 5 Shows a flow chart detailing the process of
calculating the Charging Station bill and recovering payment from
the Client.
[0018] FIG. 6 Shows a flow chart detailing updating the Charge
Station with updated billing information.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0019] The present invention provides a method and system for a
single-action ordering method based on pre-arranged agreements
between the electric vehicle owner and service provider (electric
power utility and/or third party charging service) to charge the
vehicle leveraging integrated client and Internet server
environment. The single action is the connection of the electrical
vehicle (EV) to a charging station. The single-action ordering
system of the present invention reduces the number of purchaser
interactions needed to place an order and reduces the amount of
sensitive information that is transmitted between a vehicle client
system and an Internet server authentication system. In one
embodiment, the vehicle client is assigned a unique vehicle client
identifier and is unique to each vehicle client system. The server
system also stores purchaser-specific and vendor-specific billing
information which is used for remote billing for services rendered.
The server system maps each client identifier to a purchaser which
is mapped to the billing account. Along with the order information,
a unique identifier of the vendor is also sent so to the billing
server so the client is mapped to the vendor and the vendor's
electricity rates and policies in order to process billing.
[0020] The single action ordering method is initially enabled when
a consumer purchases an EV vehicle. The EV vehicle, when consumer
owned, is referred to as the EV Client in the following
figures.
[0021] Referring to FIG. 1 (EV Client Identifier/Cloud
Registration), shows the EV Client being assigned a unique
identifier. The unique identifier 1 can be assigned to the EV
Client 2 prior or post delivery to the consumer. A Public/Private
Key pair is also assigned to the EV Client. Upon consumer EV Client
ownership, the EV Client unique identification and relevant
consumer billing information are registered, 3, with a billing
transaction service provider 4.
[0022] Referring to FIG. 2 (EV Charge Station Identifier), shows a
relative unique identifier 5 being assigned to an EV Charge Station
6. This unique identifier is utilized when the EV Client is
connected to the EV Charge Station and is used during the billing
transaction process as shown in FIG. 3 (EV Client/Charge Station
Billing). A Public/Private Key pair is also assigned to the EV
Charge Station during this step (FIG. 2 (A)).
[0023] Referring to FIG. 3 (Electricity Rates and Policies Update
Process), shows the process through which a source of electricity
rates and policies 7, such as an electric power utility, an EV
Charge Service Provider (EVCSP), or other entities transmit current
electricity rates and policies 8 to the Cloud Billing Transaction
Service 9. The rates component of the Electricity Rates and
Policies 8 can be static price schedules (such as fixed rates or
time-of-use schedules) which are transmitted infrequently, i.e.
only when these schedules change. Rates might also include dynamic
price signals (such as critical peak pricing) which are only
transmitted for specific days and timeframes, for example, when the
electric utility is experiencing an excessive demand for
electricity. Pricing policies might include any number of policies
which might be applied according to local government regulations,
for example, restricting the amount of charge that might be
provided during critical peak periods.
[0024] Referring to FIG. 4 (EV Client/Charge Station Billing),
shows the process for authenticating the EV client prior to
charging the EV and enabling the charging transaction to occur. The
EV Client is connected to the EV Charge Station 10. The EV client
checks for the charging station ID to determine if it is compliant
with the invention 11. If the charging station is not compliant to
the single-action ordering system of the present invention (for
example, if charging in the EV owner's home) then the EV billing
module is not engaged and the billing process is terminated 12 and
charging of the EV client can resume. If the charging station is
complaint a connection is achieved and both units exchange public
key information 13 and initiate a validation procedure 14. If key
validation process fails the EV Client transaction is disconnected
from the EV Charge Station, the EV Client account is disabled, and
all processing is terminated 15. If the key validation process is
successful 14 a connection between the EV Client and the billing
transaction service provider is established 16 to update and
exchange electricity consumption related information such as charge
station ID, kilowatts consumed, current policy and rates, etc. The
EV client in turn updates the stored rates and policy information
(previously stored in the Cloud Billing Transaction Service as
described above in FIG. 3) in the charging station 17. The EV
Client checks to see if it still has a connection to the billing
transaction service provider 18. If it does the EV Client battery
is charged 19. Upon charge completion the EV Client disconnects
from the EV charge station 20 and communicates all data relevant to
assessing fees for service rendered to a billing transaction
service provider 21. Should the EV client and the billing
transaction service provider lose their connection, the EV client
continues to reestablish its connection until all billing data is
transmitted. Upon services rendered the EV Client is disconnected
from the EV Charge Station, 18.
[0025] Instances may arise where a connection to a billing
transaction service provider cannot be initiated (referred to as an
"Occasional" connection) or fully maintained through completion
during a real time EV Client/EV Charge Station exchange 18. In such
cases the EV Client and EV Charge station will authorize charging
services up to a predetermined credit limit 22 and the EV Client
will be charged 23. All associated data and billing information
will be cached within the EV Client and the Charge Station. Upon
next connection availability, the EV Client 23 will transmit the
cached data to a billing transaction service provider 21 and the
process will be terminated 24. Additionally any successful future
Charge Station connection with the billing system will cause the
cache to be transmitted for transaction billing.
[0026] Referring to FIG. 5 (Cloud Billing Process), outlines the
process for billing an EV Client for service rendered and making
"franchise" payments to the EV Charge Station and EV OEMs. The
Cloud Billing Transaction service 25 calculates the total bill for
all EV Client billing for a given period of time. The bill includes
battery charging services and processing fees. (The terms for
billing period and processing fees are established with the EV
Client upon ownership of the vehicle.) At the pre-arranged billing
period the Cloud Billing Transaction service attempts to
automatically withdraw the calculate fees from the EV Client bank
account 26. Note that this withdrawal can be sourced from any type
account, i.e. not limited to a bank account, e.g. an account
established with the Billing Transaction Provider or any other
mutually agreed to source. The EV Client bank 27 determines if
there are sufficient funds to make payment. In the event of
insufficient funds to make payment and an alternate payment method
is not available (such as a credit card) the Cloud Billing Service
revokes the Public Keys and or unique identifier of the EV Client
and the EV Client is notified that service is disqualified 28. If
there are sufficient funds 29 the Cloud Billing Transaction service
withdraws funds from the EV Client Bank account then issues a
billing statement 30 to the EV Client, issues payment to the EV
Charge Station Service Provider (EV CSP) 31, and issues a payment
to the EV OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) 32. The payments to
the EV CSP and EV OEM include Franchise revenue sharing payments
that are calculated as a percentage of the battery charging
transaction value or per event transaction fees as defined by
pre-arranged agreements between all associated parties.
[0027] FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4 show a method of which the customer
places an order and receives services rendered; a complete service
is transacted by the single action of connecting the charging
station to an electrical vehicle. The action of physical connection
(single action) starts an end-to-end sequence of events that bills
the vehicle owner for the charging event, remits payment for
services rendered to the EV CSP as well as franchise payment to the
EV OEM and EV CSP. Termination of the event is as simple as fully
charging the EV batteries or un-plunging the vehicle. Billing is
routed automatically to the owner's account via a pre-arranged
agreement with the billing transaction provider.
[0028] Referring to FIG. 6 (EV Charge Station Service Provider
Update Billing), illustrates the process of direct billing a EV
Charge Station Service Provider for a local EV Charge Station
update. The EV Charge Station can be updated for example with
information such as refreshed keys or polled for maintenance
statistics or any other related information. The EV Client 34 is
connected to the EV Charge Station 35. When connection is achieved
using public key encryption, 36 a validation procedure is
initiated. If validation fails the connection is terminated 40.
Upon validation, the EV Client sends notification to the Cloud
Billing Transaction Provider 41 which in turn notifies the specific
EV Charge Station Service Provider 42 that an update can occur. The
EV Charge Station Service Provider can than send update collateral
to the EV Client 34 via the Cloud Billing Transaction Provider link
and the EV Charge Station is updated 37. Upon EV Charge Station
update complete validation 38 Billing Transaction data processing
occurs and the EV Client sends billing information 39 to the Cloud
Billing Transaction Provider 41 and notification to the EV Charge
Station Service Provider 42 via the Cloud Billing Transaction
Provider 41 with acknowledgement. Also upon EV Charge Station
update complete validation 38 the EV Client to EV Charge Station
connection is terminated 40. In the event of failure of the EV
Charge Station update complete validation 38 the EV Charge Station
Service Provider is notified and Termination 40 occurs. Upon
successful update the EV Client 39 notifies the Cloud Billing
Transaction Provider 41 that billing the local EV Charge Station
Service Provider 42 for the update transaction can occur and the
process is terminated 40.
* * * * *