IP Library Granted Patent US 11,748,705
Granted Patent B2
US 11,748,705 · App. 17/966,269 · Granted Sep 5, 2023

Automotive asset location management systems and methods

Inventors: William Wappler (Green, OH); David Hampton (Ann Arbor, MI); Robert Fink (Hudson, OH); Michael Curran (Canton, OH)
Assignee: Surgere, LLC
G06Q10/087G06K7/10128G06K19/0723G06Q10/02G06Q10/06G06Q10/10G06Q30/00G06Q50/04
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,748,705
App. No.
17/966,269
Granted
Sep 5, 2023
Kind
B2
Abstract

Disclosed herein are systems and methods for tracking and managing location information for automobile assets. By affixing passive transmitter tags with unique identification information to automobile assets, location information may be associated with designated areas and/or location information by scanning the passive transmitter tags at various scan points. The location and automobile asset information may be stored, read, and updated in a centralized cloud database platform, accessible at varying levels to suppliers, manufacturers, shippers, and others.

Claims (24)

1. An automotive asset management system comprising:

a database in which location information to a plurality of designated regions is assigned, the location information defining a perimeter around each of the plurality of designed regions;

wherein in the database, unique location information is assigned to a plurality of designated areas nested within at least one designated region of the plurality of designated regions, each of the plurality of designated areas sized to receive a singular automotive asset therein;

a scanner configured to scan a passive transmitter tag affixed to the automotive asset during arrangement of the automotive asset within one designated region of the plurality of designated regions, wherein the passive transmitter tag has unique identification information, and the scanner is configured to scan from a perspective of a fixed scan point associated with the one designated region, the fixed scan point being one of a plurality of fixed scan points, each of the plurality of fixed scan points being associated with one of the plurality of designated regions;

wherein in the database, the unique identification information obtained from the scanned passive transmitter tag is associated with the one designated region based on which of the plurality of fixed scan points is associated with the scan of the passive transmitter tag; and

a mobile scanner configured to subsequently automatically scan the passive transmitter tag affixed to the automotive asset once the automotive asset is within a scanning range of the mobile scanner to obtain location information of the mobile scanner at a time the passive transmitter is scanned;

wherein, in the database, the automotive asset is associated with the designated area by a cross reference of the location information of the mobile scanner with the unique location information of the plurality of designated areas; and the database is searchable using information regarding the automotive asset.

2. The automotive asset management system of claim 1 , wherein the location information of the plurality of designated regions, the unique location information of the plurality of designated areas, and the location information of the mobile scanner each includes latitude and longitude information.

3. The automotive asset management system of claim 1 , wherein the unique identification information is associated with the one designated region based on the fixed scan point with respect to the perimeter of the one designated area defined by the location information thereof.

4. The automotive asset management system of claim 1 , wherein the unique identification information obtained from the passive transmitter tag is associated with the one designated region by being stored in a table of the database.

5. The automotive asset management system of claim 1 , wherein the unique identification information obtained from the passive transmitter tag is associated with the one designated region by being uploaded to the database which is stored in a cloud server.

6. The automotive asset management system of claim 1 , wherein the automotive asset is a vehicle.

7. The automotive asset management system of claim 1 , wherein the automotive asset is a container for automobile parts.

8. The automotive asset management system of claim 1 , wherein the container is reusable.

9. The automotive asset management system of claim 1 , wherein the scanner configured to scan the passive transmitter tag affixed to the automotive asset from the perspective of the fixed scan point includes a portable transceiver configured to obtain the unique identification information from the passive transmitter tag.

10. The automotive asset management system of claim 9 , wherein the portable transceiver is a handheld scanner.

11. The automotive asset management system of claim 1 , wherein the scanner is configured to scan the passive transmitter tag with a relative velocity of up to about 60 mph (approximately 97 km/h) between the fixed scan point and the passive transmitter tag.

12. The automotive asset management system of claim 1 , wherein the passive transmitter tag is a radio frequency identification tag.

13. The automotive asset management system of claim 1 , wherein the assignment of location information to the plurality of designated regions includes the location information for at least four points along the perimeter of each of the plurality of designated regions.

14. The automotive asset management system of claim 1 , wherein the system is configured to determine the location information for a virtual central point associated, in the database, with the fixed scan point of the one designated region based on the location information for the at least four points along the perimeter of the one designated region.

15. The automotive asset management system of claim 1 , wherein the fixed scan point includes a fixed transceiver within the one designated region configured to scan the passive transmitter tag when the automotive asset is near.

16. The automotive asset management system of claim 1 , comprising a display to show a representation of the automotive asset on a map based on the associated location information.

17. The automotive asset management system of claim 16 , wherein the system is configured to determine directions to the automotive asset based on a user location relative to the automotive asset.

18. The automotive asset management system of claim 1 , wherein the system is configured to update a status associated with the automotive asset based on the association with the designated region.

Assignments (3)
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jun 25, 2024
From: SURGERE, LLC
To: BANK OF MONTREAL
Reel/Frame 067832/0829 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 14, 2022
From: WAPPLER, WILLIAM; HAMPTON, DAVID; FINK, ROBERT; CURRAN, MICHAEL
To: SURGERE, INC.
Reel/Frame 061428/0230 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 14, 2022
From: SURGERE, INC.
To: SURGERE, LLC
Reel/Frame 061428/0335 →
Continuity (7)
Continuation 16130241 · Sep 13, 2018
Continuation In Part 15950454 · Apr 11, 2018
Provisional Application 62685484 · Jun 15, 2018
Provisional Application 62672661 · May 17, 2018
Provisional Application 62559016 · Sep 15, 2017
Provisional Application 62485236 · Apr 13, 2017
Related Publication 20230051636A1 · Feb 16, 2023