Management of fuel dispenser media

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11860926-B2
Application number	US-202016889544-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 1, 2020
Priority date	May 13, 2016
Publication date	Jan 2, 2024
Grant date	Jan 2, 2024

Abstract

Management of fuel dispenser media is provided. In general, a fuel dispenser can be in communication with a media library configured to facilitate delivery of media to the fuel dispenser for output therefrom. The media library can be on board the fuel dispenser or can be included in a gateway configured to communicate with the fuel dispenser. The media library is configured to query one or more media sources for media information and to retrieve media information therefrom that is specific to the fuel dispenser. Additionally or alternatively, the media library is configured to query the one or more media sources for updates to the retrieved media information and, if updated, to retrieve the updated media content from the media source(s).

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for managing fuel dispenser media, comprising:
a fuel dispenser comprising a media output device, a first communication unit, and a first processor operatively coupled to the first communication unit and configured to cause information to be provided to a user via the media output device; and
a gateway external to the fuel dispenser, the gateway comprising
a media library configured to store media thereon,
a second communication unit configured to communicate with the first communication unit and with a media source that is external to the fuel dispenser, and
a second processor configured to cause
transmission, using the second communication unit, of a request for media to the media source, the transmission of the request for media being triggered in response to a customer beginning a fueling, transaction at the fuel dispenser,
storage in the media library of the media received from the media source in reply to the request, and
transmission, using the second communication unit, of the media received from the media source in reply to the request to the fuel dispenser;

wherein the first processor is configured to cause the media received from the gateway to be output to a user of the fuel dispenser via the media output device without the user having paid for the media output to the user; and
wherein the media output device includes at least one of a display configured to output the media received from the media source by showing the media received from the media source thereon without the user having paid for the media output to the user and a speaker configured to output the media received from the media source by outputting audio therefrom without the user having paid for the audio output to the user.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the request includes identification data that uniquely identifies the fuel dispenser among a plurality of fuel dispensers each configured to communicate with the gateway, and the media transmitted using the second communication unit corresponds to the fuel dispenser's unique identification.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein
the second processor is configured to cause
transmission, using the second communication unit, a second request for media to the media source, the second request querying whether media data stored at the media source has been updated since the transmission of the request for media to the media source from the gateway,
storage of the updated media received from the media source in reply to the second request, and
transmission, using the second communication unit, of the updated media received from the media source in reply to the second request; and

the first processor is configured to cause the updated media received from the gateway to be output to a user of the fuel dispenser via the media output device.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the second request includes identification data that identifies a customer at the fuel dispenser, and the transmitted media corresponds to the customer's identification.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the fuel dispenser and the gateway are located at a fuel dispensing station; and
the media source is a network cloud located remotely from the fuel dispensing station.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the media source is located at a same fuel dispensing station as the fuel dispenser and the gateway.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first communication unit includes at least one of a wired communication unit and a wireless communication unit; and
the second communication unit includes at least one of a wired communication unit and a wireless communication unit.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the media includes at least one of a video file and a still image file;
the media output device includes at least the display; and
outputting the media to the user of the fuel dispenser via the media output device includes the display showing the at least one of the video file and the still image file.

9. A method of managing fuel dispenser media, comprising:
transmitting, from a media library, a plurality of electronic requests for media to a media source, each of the plurality of requests being transmitted according to a preprogrammed schedule of transmission times;
receiving, at the media library, media including at least one image from the media source in reply to each of the requests; and
distributing, using the media library, the received media to each of a plurality of fuel dispensers for display as the at least one image on a media output device of each of the fuel dispensers;
wherein the plurality of fuel dispensers are at a common geographic location;
wherein the media source is remote from the common geographic location; and
wherein the received media is targeted to the common geographic location.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the media library is located at a same fuel dispensing station as at least one of the plurality of fuel dispensers.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the common geographic location includes a fuel dispensing station at which each of the fuel dispensers is located.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the common geographic location includes at least one of a city, a county, and a state in which each of the fuel dispensers is located.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein the media library is included in at least one of the fuel dispensers.

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein the media library is included in a gateway configured to communicate with the fuel dispensers.

15. A method of managing fuel dispenser media, comprising:
transmitting, in response to occurrence of one of (1) a fuel dispenser at a fuel dispensing station being powered on and (2) the fuel dispenser re-gaining network connectivity, a request for media for the fuel dispenser from a media management module at the fuel dispensing station to an external media source that is remote from the fuel dispensing station, the request for media querying whether media data stored at the external media source has been updated since a prior request for media was transmitted to the external media source from the media management module before the occurrence of the one of (1) the fuel dispenser at the fuel dispensing station being powered on and (2) the fuel dispenser re-gaining network connectivity, and the request for media including identification data that identifies the fuel dispenser, the media including at least one of a video file and a still image file, wherein the request for the media is transmitted prior to any customer conducting any fuel dispensing transaction at the fuel dispenser since the occurrence of the one of (1) the fuel dispenser at the fuel dispensing station being powered on and (2) the fuel dispenser re-gaining network connectivity;
receiving at the media management module updated media from the external media source in reply to the request for media, the received media being specific to the fuel dispenser's identification; and
providing the received media to the fuel dispenser for output of the media to a user of the fuel dispenser.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising, after the transmission of the request for media for the fuel dispenser, and in response to the fuel dispenser beginning a fuel dispensing transaction with a customer, transmitting a second request for media for the fuel dispenser from the media management module to the external media source, the second request for media querying whether media data stored at the external media source has been updated since the request for media was transmitted to the ext

Assignees

• Wayne Fueling Systems Llc

Inventors

• Fieglein Henry
• Kulvicki Daniel

Classifications

• G06F16/48 Primary

  Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually · CPC title

• G06F16/43

  Querying · CPC title

• G06F16/9535

  Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation · CPC title

• G06Q30/0241

  Advertisements · CPC title

• H04L67/10

  in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network (software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46) · CPC title