Patent Issued for Systems and methods for recording an accident (USPTO 11049186)

2021 JUL 21 (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 Bueche, Jr., Michael P. (San Antonio, TX, US), Medina, III, Reynaldo (San Antonio, TX, US), Oakes, III, Charles L. (Boerne, TX, US), filed on December 7, 2018, was published online on June 29, 2021.

The assignee for this patent, patent number 11049186, is United Services Automobile Association (San Antonio, Texas, United States).

Reporters obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “An automobile accident is a dynamic event, one in which information leading up to the event may be as important as the resulting accident. Further, as time progresses after the accident, it may be difficult for victims and witnesses of accidents to accurately recount the events leading up to, during, and subsequent to an automobile accident. Additionally, maintaining evidence at the accident may be difficult. For example, in order to let traffic flow again, police may need to perform an expedited investigation and require the removal of potential accident scene evidence to a location that does not impede the flow of traffic.

“The end result may be that the integrity of the facts known and evidence collected involving an accident may degrade over time. This situation can be especially problematic for insurance providers and their customers. For example, in the event of an automobile accident, persons involved in the accident may wish to file a claim with their insurance providers. It could be beneficial to both the insurance providers and their customers if there were a way to reliably capture relevant information at the scene of the accident and communicate this information to the claims processor for use in processing the insurance claim.”

In addition to obtaining background information on this patent, NewsRx editors also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

“The present subject matter provides benefits by providing a way to capture accident information at the scene of the accident, coordinating the capture of the information, and using the accident information to process an insurance claim. Information relating to the accident may be transmitted, stored, and used for various purposes. In one exemplary and non-limiting embodiment for recording accident information, an accident is detected, an electronic accident record storage file is created, audio, or video information, or both, relating to the accident is received, and the audio and video information is stored.

“In another exemplary and non-limiting embodiment, an insurance company may process a claim by receiving a notification that an accident has occurred, transmitting a request to record information relating to the accident, receiving the information, establishing an accident record, and processing an insurance claim.

“In another exemplary and non-limiting embodiment, an accident is detected, primary accident information is transmitted from a first recording apparatus, a communication link is established between the first recording apparatus and a second recording apparatus, and a request is transmitted to the second recording apparatus to transmit secondary accident information.

“Other features of the subject matter are described below.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A system comprising: a first node configured to be installed in a first vehicle, wherein the first node is configured to: receive, from a sensor installed in the first vehicle, an indication of a magnitude of an impact of an accident involving the first vehicle; and cause, based on the magnitude, an accident server external to the first vehicle to transmit a signal to devices proximate to a location of the accident; and a second node configured to be installed in a second vehicle that was not involved in the accident, wherein the second node is configured to: establish, based on the signal from the accident server, an ad hoc network with the first node; wherein the first node is further configured to receive, via the ad hoc network, data associated with the accident and receive, in response to the signal and via the accident server, data associated with the accident from a third vehicle that was involved in the accident.

“2. The system of claim 1, wherein the first node is further configured to transmit, to the accident server, the data associated with the accident.

“3. The system of claim 1, wherein the data associated with the accident comprises at least one of an audio recording, a video recording, or weather information.

“4. The system of claim 3, wherein the audio recording is generated by a mobile device in communication with the second node.

“5. The system of claim 1, wherein the first node is further configured to receive, from a mobile device, additional information associated with the accident.

“6. The system of claim 1, wherein the first node is further configured to receive, from a traffic control device, additional information associated with the accident.

“7. The system of claim 1, wherein the first node is further configured to generate, based at least on the data associated with the accident, an accident record.

“8. A first node configured to be installed in a first vehicle and comprising: a processor; and a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the first node to: receive, from a sensor installed in the first vehicle, an indication of a magnitude of an impact of an accident involving the first vehicle; cause, based on the magnitude, an accident server external to the first vehicle to transmit a signal to devices proximate to a location of the accident; and receive, in response to the signal and via an ad hoc network established by a second node installed in a second vehicle that was not involved in the accident, data associated with the accident receive, in response to the signal and via the accident server, data associated with the accident from a third vehicle that was involved in the accident.

“9. The first node of claim 8, wherein the data associated with the accident comprises at least one of image data, video data or audio data.

“10. The first node of claim 8, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the first node to transmit, to the accident server, data generated by the first node.

“11. The first node of claim 8, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the first node to generate, based at least on the data associated with the accident, an accident record.

“12. The first node of claim 11, wherein the instructions cause the first node to generate the accident record based at least on an indication to expedite insurance claim processing.

“13. The first node of claim 8, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the first node to receive, from a mobile device, additional information associated with the accident.

“14. A method comprising: receiving, by a first node configured to be installed in a first vehicle and from a sensor installed in the first vehicle, an indication of a magnitude of an impact of an accident involving the first vehicle; causing, based on the magnitude, an accident server external to the first vehicle to transmit a signal to devices proximate to a location of the accident; receiving, in response to the signal and via an ad hoc network established by a second node installed in a second vehicle that was not involved in the accident, data associated with the accident; and receiving, in response to the signal and via the accident server, data associated with the accident from a third vehicle that was involved in the accident.

“15. The method of claim 14, further comprising transmitting, to the accident server, the data associated with the accident.

“16. The method of claim 14, wherein the data associated with the accident comprises at least one of an audio recording, a video recording, or weather information.

“17. The method of claim 16, wherein the audio recording is generated by a mobile device in communication with the second node.

“18. The method of claim 14, further comprising receiving, from a mobile device, additional information associated with the accident.

“19. The method of claim 14, further comprising receiving, from a traffic control device, additional information associated with the accident.

“20. The method of claim 14, further comprising generating, based at least on the data associated with the accident, an accident record.”

For more information, see this patent: Bueche, Jr., Michael P. Systems and methods for recording an accident. U.S. Patent Number 11049186, filed December 7, 2018, and published online on June 29, 2021. 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=11049186.PN.&OS=PN/11049186RS=PN/11049186

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