Patent Application Titled “System For Preventing Texting While Driving And Offering Usage-Based Insurance Benefits” Published Online (USPTO 20230208960): Patent Application

2023 JUL 19 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- According to news reporting originating from Washington, D.C., by NewsRx journalists, a patent application by the inventor GRUNFELD, Eric (Alpine, NJ, US), filed on March 6, 2023, was made available online on June 29, 2023.

No assignee for this patent application has been made.

Reporters obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “In the U.S.A. 390,000 accidents a year, a 1/4 of all car accidents, involve texting while driving. Youths or inexperienced drivers are highly correlated with this behavior leaving them as riskier drivers with higher auto insurance policies. A system that more effectively prevents texting while driving and reduces the emotional and financial concerns amongst parents is needed.

“Providing an auto owner (e.g. a parent) with the empowerment to monitor in real time and restrict a driver’s (e.g., a child) poor and distracted driving behavior will mitigate these concerns. From an emotional perspective, a child’s safety is a top prioritization for parents. Therefore, what is needed is a system to assist parents in recognizing any poor or distracted driving behaviors. Simultaneously, a secondary financial concern amongst parents is expressed as they seek a reduction in their high auto insurance policy costs. Accordingly, what is needed is a system to assist with ensuring drivers do not engage in any poor or distracted driving behaviors and give the auto owner an opportunity to minimize the cost of a shared insurance policy through reliably calculating usage-based insurance benefits in a variety of real-world scenarios. Overall, what is needed is a system to provide an owner oversight and accountability upon the vehicle driver activity (e.g., their child’s use of the car) to ensure that other authorized drivers are accruing usage-based insurance benefits by not engaging in texting and driving.

“From an insurance company’s perspective, what is needed is a system that can collect actuary sound data in a variety of scenarios in order to accurately attribute insurance ratings on an individual level with driver to vehicle identification. Further, what is needed is a system that provides the ability to differentiate a driver from a passenger in a vehicle which enables the system to accurately capture vehicle driver activity and provide usage-based rewards. Additionally, what is needed is a system that can collect vehicle and driver phone usage data and that can integrate with the data already collected by the insurance company (e.g., number of tickets, accidents and the like) to further inform carriers what an optimal insured premium is.

“It is with respect to these and other considerations that the disclosure made herein is presented.”

In addition to obtaining background information on this patent application, NewsRx editors also obtained the inventor’s summary information for this patent application: “Technologies are presented herein in support of a system and method for preventing unsafe usage of a smartphone by a driver while the driver is operating a vehicle and providing usage-based benefits.

“According to a first aspect, a system for preventing unsafe usage of a smartphone by a driver while the driver is operating a vehicle and providing usage-based benefits is provided. The system comprises an application enabled on the driver’s smartphone wherein the application includes instructions in the form of code that are executable by a processor of the smartphone. The system also comprises a smartphone holder arranged to be mounted inside the vehicle. In particular, the holder comprises a body configured to receive and support the smartphone during normal operation of the vehicle and a mount connected to the body. The mount is adapted to attach to an interior surface of the vehicle such that a screen of the smartphone being supported by the base is facing the driver of the vehicle.

“The holder further includes an NFC tag provided within the body, wherein the NFC tag is programmed to launch an instance application enabled on the smartphone. Additionally, the application enabled on the smartphone is configured to launch upon communication with the NFC tag and, upon launch of the application, configures the smartphone to wirelessly transmit identification information to a control circuit of the holder.

“The holder further includes a control circuit disposed within the body. In particular, the control circuit comprises a processor, a wireless communication interface in electronic communication with the processor and an accelerometer in electronic communication with the processor. The control circuit further comprises a sensor for detecting the presence of the smartphone resting on the body wherein the is in electronic communication with the processor.

“Additionally, the control circuit comprises a computer-readable storage medium accessible by the processor, wherein instructions are stored in the storage medium. In particular, the instructions are executable by the processor and configure the processor to determine, based on a signal output by the accelerometer, whether the vehicle is moving at a speed in excess of a prescribed threshold. The processor is further configured to determine, based on a signal output by the pressure sensor, whether the smartphone is resting against the body of the phone dock.

“The instructions stored in the storage medium further configure the processor of the control circuit to receive identification information from the smartphone via the wireless communication interface and determine, based on the identification information and information identifying entitled drivers stored in the storage medium, whether the smartphone is associated with a driver that is entitled to drive the vehicle.

“Furthermore, one or more of the application enabled smartphone and the processor of the control circuit are configured to record usage data including information relating to operation of the vehicle and any usage of the smartphone during vehicle operation. The recording of usage-data is performed as a function of determining whether the smartphone is associated with a driver that is entitled to drive the vehicle, determining whether the phone is resting against the body of the phone dock and determining whether the vehicle is moving at a speed in excess of a prescribed threshold.

“According to a further aspect, a method for preventing unsafe usage of a smartphone by a driver while the driver is operating a vehicle and providing usage-based benefits. The method comprises providing an application enabled on the driver’s smartphone, the application comprising instructions in the form of code that are executable by the smartphone. The method also includes providing a smartphone holder arranged to be mounted inside the vehicle. In particular, the holder includes a body configured to receive and support the smartphone during normal operation of the vehicle, an NFC tag provided within the body, wherein the NFC tag is programmed to launch an instance of the application enabled on the smartphone. The holder also includes a control circuit disposed within the body, wherein the control circuit comprises a processor, a computer-readable storage medium accessible by the processor, a wireless communication interface in electronic communication with the processor, an accelerometer in electronic communication with the processor, and a sensor for detecting the presence of the smartphone resting on the body, the sensor being in electronic communication with the processor. Also included in the holder control circuit are instructions stored in the storage medium and are executable by the processor.

“The method further includes the step of determining, by the processor using the accelerometer, whether the vehicle is moving at a speed in excess of a prescribed threshold and determining, by the processor using the pressure sensor, whether the smartphone is resting against the body of the phone dock. The method also includes the step of launching the application responsive to receipt of a signal from the NFC tag, wherein the application enabled on the smartphone is configured to launch upon communication with the NFC tag.

“Additionally, the method includes wirelessly transmitting, by the launched application via a wireless communication interface of the smartphone, identification information to the control circuit and receiving, at the processor of the holder, identification information from the smartphone via the wireless communication interface. Furthermore, the method includes the step of determining, with the processor based on the received identification information and information identifying entitled drivers stored in the storage medium, whether the smartphone is associated with a driver that is entitled to drive the vehicle. The method also includes the step of recording, by one or more of the application enabled smartphone and the processor of the control circuit, usage data including information relating to operation of the vehicle and any usage of the smartphone during vehicle operation. In particular, the recording of usage-data is performed as a function of determining whether the smartphone is associated with a driver that is entitled to drive the vehicle, determining whether the phone is resting against the body of the phone dock and determining whether the vehicle is moving at a speed in excess of a prescribed threshold.

“These and other aspects, features, and advantages can be appreciated from the accompanying description of certain embodiments of the invention and the accompanying drawing figures and claims.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A system for preventing unsafe usage of a smartphone by a driver while the driver is operating a vehicle and providing usage-based benefits, the apparatus comprising: an application enabled on the driver’s smartphone, the application comprising instructions in the form of code that are executable by the smartphone; a smartphone holder arranged to be mounted inside the vehicle, the holder including: a body configured to receive and support the smartphone during normal operation of the vehicle; a mount connected to the body, wherein the mount is adapted to attach the body to an interior surface of the vehicle such that a screen of the smartphone being supported by the body is facing the driver of the vehicle; an NFC tag provided within the body, wherein the NFC tag is programmed to launch an instance of the application enabled on the smartphone, and wherein the application enabled on the smartphone is configured to launch upon communication with the NFC tag; a control circuit disposed within the body, the control circuit comprising: a processor, a computer-readable storage medium accessible by the processor, a wireless communication interface in electronic communication with the processor, an accelerometer in electronic communication with the processor, a sensor for detecting the presence of the smartphone resting on the body, the sensor being in electronic communication with the processor, and instructions stored in the storage medium and executable by the processor, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, configure the processor to: determine, based on a signal output by the accelerometer, whether the vehicle is moving at a speed in excess of a prescribed threshold, determine, based on a signal output by a sensor, whether the smartphone is resting against the body of the phone dock, and wherein, upon launch of the application responsive to the NFC tag, the application configures the smartphone to wirelessly transmit identification information to the control circuit; wherein the instructions further configure the processor of the control circuit to: receive identification information from the smartphone via the wireless communication interface, and determine, based on the identification information and information identifying entitled drivers stored in the storage medium, whether the smartphone is associated with a driver that is entitled to drive the vehicle; and wherein, one or more of the application enabled smartphone and the processor of the control circuit are configured to record usage data including information relating to operation of the vehicle and any usage of the smartphone during vehicle operation, wherein the recording of usage-data is performed as a function of determining whether the smartphone is associated with a driver that is entitled to drive the vehicle, determining whether the phone is resting against the body of the phone dock and determining whether the vehicle is moving at a speed in excess of a prescribed threshold.

“2. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a cloud-based server device in communication with the application enabled smartphone, wherein server computing device is configured to receive the usage data from the smartphone, and wherein the cloud based server computing device is configured to calculate, based on the received usage data, usage-based rewards for the driver or an owner of the vehicle.

“3. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensor for detecting the presence of the smartphone resting on the body is one of a pressure sensor and a photoelectric sensor.

“4. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensor is a strain gauge, and wherein the base further comprises a wall arranged to support the smartphone and configured to move relative to a static portion of the base in response to a weight of the smartphone resting against the wall, and wherein the wall is in physical contact with the strain gauge such that an output of the strain gauge is usable by the processor to determine whether the smartphone is resting against the body of the phone dock.

“5. The system of claim 1, wherein the base and mount are joined by a pivot mechanism configured to allow the base to pivot relative to the mount.

“6. The system of claim 5, wherein the pivot mechanism comprises a ball joint having a limited range of rotational motion about a longitudinal axis.

“7. The system of claim 1, further comprising: an electronic seal arranged to be affixed to an interior surface of a rear window of the vehicle, wherein the seal comprises: an LED light being electronically controlled by a controller, wherein the controller is in wireless electronic communication with the control circuit of the smartphone holder, and wherein the controller is configured to selectively illuminate the LED light in response to a wireless signal received from the holder control circuit or smartphone application.

“8. The system of claim 7, wherein the controller of the seal and the processor of the smartphone holder are configured to exchange identification information and, wherein the controller illuminates the LED light in response to validation of the exchanged identification information by one or more of the processor of the holder and the controller of the electronic seal.

“9. The system of claim 8, wherein the usage data is recorded as a function of the validation.

“10. The system of claim 1, wherein the base further comprises adjustable side rails extending in a direction of a back-wall of the base and configured to extend along a left and right side of the smartphone when placed in the holder, and wherein the adjustable side rails are arranged to resist the smartphone sliding off of the base.

“11. A method for preventing unsafe usage of a smartphone by a driver while the driver is operating a vehicle and providing usage-based benefits, the method comprising: providing an application enabled on the driver’s smartphone, the application comprising instructions in the form of code that are executable by the smartphone; providing a smartphone holder arranged to be mounted inside the vehicle, the holder including: a body configured to receive and support the smartphone during normal operation of the vehicle; an NFC tag provided within the body, wherein the NFC tag is programmed to launch the application enabled on the smartphone; a control circuit disposed within the body, the control circuit comprising: a processor, a computer-readable storage medium accessible by the processor, a wireless communication interface in electronic communication with the processor, an accelerometer in electronic communication with the processor, a sensor for detecting the presence of the smartphone resting on the body, the sensor being in electronic communication with the processor, and instructions stored in the storage medium and executable by the processor, determining, by the processor using the accelerometer, whether the vehicle is moving at a speed in excess of a prescribed threshold; determining, by the processor using the sensor, whether the smartphone is resting against the body of the phone dock; causing, by the NFC tag, the application enabled on the smartphone to launch in response to communication with the NFC tag; receiving, by the processor from the smartphone executing the application over a wireless communication interface, identification information concerning the smartphone; determining, with the processor based on the received identification information and information identifying entitled drivers stored in the storage medium, whether the smartphone is associated with a driver that is entitled to drive the vehicle; and recording, by one or more of the application enabled smartphone and the processor of the control circuit, usage data including information relating to operation of the vehicle and any usage of the smartphone during vehicle operation, wherein the recording of usage-data is performed as a function of determining whether the smartphone is associated with a driver that is entitled to drive the vehicle, determining whether the phone is resting against the body of the phone dock and determining whether the vehicle is moving at a speed in excess of a prescribed threshold.

“12. The method of claim 11, further comprising: calculating, based on the usage data, usage-based rewards for the driver or an owner of the vehicle.

“13. The method of claim 12, further comprising: transmitting, by the smartphone application, the usage data to a cloud-based server device, wherein the cloud-based server computing device is configured to calculate the usage-based rewards based on the received usage data.

“14. The method of claim 11, further comprising: transmitting, by the processor to an electronic seal arranged to be affixed to a rear window of the vehicle, a wireless signal configured to cause the LED light of the electronic seal to illuminate, wherein the wireless signal is transmitted as function of determining whether the smartphone is associated with a driver that is entitled to drive the vehicle, determining whether the phone is resting against the body of the phone dock and determining whether the vehicle is moving at a speed in excess of a prescribed threshold.

“15. The system of claim 7, further comprising: receiving, at the processor from a controller of the electronic seal, identification information of the seal, and wherein the processor transmits the signal to illuminate the LED light in response to validation of the identification information received from the controller of the seal.

“16. The method of claim 15, wherein the usage data is recorded as a function of the validation.

“17. The method of claim 11, wherein the sensor is one or more of a pressure sensor and a photoelectric sensor.”

There are additional claims. Please visit full patent to read further.

For more information, see this patent application: GRUNFELD, Eric. System For Preventing Texting While Driving And Offering Usage-Based Insurance Benefits. U.S. Patent Application Number 20230208960, filed March 6, 2023 and posted June 29, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(20230208960)&db=US-PGPUB&type=ids

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)