Patent Issued for Mobile System For Generating A Damaged Vehicle Insurance Estimate (USPTO 10,748,216)

2020 AUG 31 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- According to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx journalists, a patent by the inventors Smith, Jr., John Martin (Escondido, CA), filed on October 13, 2014, was published online on August 31, 2020.

The assignee for this patent, patent number 10,748,216, is Audatex North America Inc. (Addison, Texas, United States).

Reporters obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “The subject matter disclosed generally relates to a method and system for generating an insurance estimate for a damaged vehicle.

“When a vehicle such as an automobile is damaged the owner may file a claim with an insurance carrier. A claims adjuster typically inspects the vehicle to determine the amount of damage and the costs required to repair the automobile. The owner of the vehicle or the vehicle repair facility may receive a check equal to the estimated cost of the repairs.

“The repair costs and other information may be entered by the adjuster into an estimate report. After inspection the adjuster sends the estimate report to a home office for approval. To improve the efficiency of the claims process there have been developed computer systems and accompanying software that automate the estimate process. By way of example, the assignee of the present invention, Audatex, Inc., (‘Audatex’) provides a software product under the trademark Audatex Estimating that allows a claims adjuster to enter estimate data. The data includes a list of damaged parts. The parts can be selected by entering text describing the part(s) or by selection of a graphical depiction of the vehicle part(s). The Estimating product includes a database that provides the cost of the selected parts and the labor cost associated with repairing the parts. The Estimating product is utilized by an estimator who must visit the damaged vehicle to generate the estimate. It would be desirable to provide a product that would allow a consumer to remotely provide information to an insurance estimator.”

In addition to obtaining background information on this patent, NewsRx editors also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “An apparatus and method for generating a damaged vehicle estimate for a damaged vehicle. A mobile device is used to capture a photo image of a damaged vehicle and receive vehicle information from a user. The mobile device displays a graphical image of the damaged vehicle. A user can provide input on the graphical image that indicates a location of damage on the damaged vehicle. The photo image, marked graphical image and the vehicle information are transferred from the mobile device to a computer where a damaged vehicle estimate is generated. The damaged vehicle estimate is transferred to the mobile device and displayed to a user.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“What is claimed is:

“1. A method for generating a damaged vehicle estimate for a damaged vehicle, comprising: capturing, by a mobile device, a photo image of the damaged vehicle; displaying, by the mobile device, a graphical overlay that is in a shape that has an outline of the damaged vehicle, the graphical overlay being located at a predetermined orientation relative to a screen of the mobile device, the predetermined orientation including a standardized horizontal angle and a standardized vertical height; displaying, by the mobile device, a graphical image of the damaged vehicle; receiving, by the mobile device, user input on the graphical image that indicates a location of damage on the damaged vehicle; determining that the user input on the graphical image comprises a plurality of taps on a particular part of the damaged vehicle; determining a level of severity of the damage on the damaged vehicle based on the determined plurality of taps; creating, by the mobile device using the user input and the graphical image, a marked graphical image; receiving, by the mobile device, user input regarding vehicle information; and displaying, by the mobile device, the damaged vehicle estimate, wherein the damaged vehicle estimate is created using the photo image, the marked graphical image, the determined level of severity of the damage, and the vehicle information.

“2. The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle information comprises a vehicle make, a vehicle model and a vehicle year.

“3. The method of claim 1, wherein the graphical overlay is generated from a three dimensional model of an undamaged vehicle.

“4. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying on the mobile device a listing of repair shops for the damaged vehicle.

“5. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device is a cell phone.

“6. A non-transitory computer program storage medium, comprising computer-readable instructions for generating a damaged vehicle estimate for a damaged vehicle, execution of said computer-readable instructions by at least one processor of a mobile device performs the steps of: capturing a photo image of the damaged vehicle; displaying a graphical overlay that is in a shape that has an outline of the damaged vehicle, the graphical overlay being located at a predetermined orientation relative to a screen of the mobile device, the predetermined orientation including a standardized horizontal angle and a standardized vertical height; displaying a graphical image of the damaged vehicle; receiving user input on the graphical image that indicates a location of damage on the damaged vehicle; determining that the user input on the graphical image comprises a plurality of taps on a particular part of the damaged vehicle; determining a level of severity of the damage on the damaged vehicle based on the determined plurality of taps; creating, using the user input and the graphical image, a marked graphical image; receiving user input regarding vehicle information; and displaying the damaged vehicle estimate, wherein the damaged vehicle estimate is created using the photo image, the marked graphical image, the determined level of severity of the damage, and the vehicle information.

“7. The non-transitory computer program storage medium of claim 6, wherein the vehicle information comprises a vehicle make, a vehicle model and a vehicle year.

“8. The non-transitory computer program storage medium of claim 6, wherein the graphical overlay is generated from a three dimensional model of an undamaged vehicle.

“9. The non-transitory computer program storage medium of claim 6, further comprising displaying on the mobile device a listing of repair shops for the damaged vehicle.

“10. The non-transitory computer program storage medium of claim 6, wherein the mobile device is a cell phone.

“11. A system, comprising: a camera; a screen; one or more memory devices; and a processor communicatively coupled to the one or more memory devices, the processor operable to: capture, using the camera, a photo image of a damaged vehicle; display, on the screen, a graphical overlay that is in a shape that has an outline of the damaged vehicle, the graphical overlay being located at a predetermined orientation relative to the screen of the mobile device, the predetermined orientation including a standardized horizontal angle and a standardized vertical height; display, on the screen, a graphical image of the damaged vehicle on the mobile device; receive user input on the graphical image that indicates a location of damage on the damaged vehicle; determine that the user input on the graphical image comprises a plurality of taps on a particular part of the damaged vehicle; determine a level of severity of the damage on the damaged vehicle based on the determined plurality of taps; create, using the user input and the graphical image, a marked graphical image; receive user input regarding vehicle information; and display, on the screen, a damaged vehicle estimate, wherein the damaged vehicle estimate is created using the photo image, the marked graphical image, the determined level of severity of the damage, and the vehicle information.”

For more information, see this patent: Smith, Jr., John Martin. Mobile System For Generating A Damaged Vehicle Insurance Estimate. U.S. Patent Number 10,748,216, filed October 13, 2014, and published online on August 31, 2020. Patent URL: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=10,748,216.PN.&OS=PN/10,748,216RS=PN/10,748,216

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