Patent Issued for Systems And Methods For Weather-Related Vehicle Damage Prevention (USPTO 10,417,583)

2019 SEP 26 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A patent by the inventors Chan, Aaron (Bloomington, IL); Mullen, Christina P. (Bloomington, IL); Grant, Rosemarie (Bloomington, IL); Nepomuceno, John (Bloomington, IL); Garretson, Cynthia L. (Bloomington, IL), filed on April 20, 2016, was published online on September 30, 2019, according to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx correspondents.

Patent number 10,417,583 is assigned to State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (Bloomington, Illinois, United States).

The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Weather conditions, such as hail, may cause damage to infrastructure and vehicles in an effected area. In particular, vehicles may be in an uncovered location (e.g., a road, a driveway, or an uncovered parking lot) that may increase the risk of damage caused by weather conditions. Damage to a vehicle may reduce the value of the vehicle, result in replacement costs for parts (e.g., broken windows), and/or increases insurance costs. Some vehicles may be substantial investments for vehicle owners, and therefore it may be desired to prevent damage to the vehicles. To reduce the risk of vehicle damage from weather conditions, a vehicle owner may park his or her vehicle in a covered location. A covered location may include, for example, a garage, a covered public parking lot, and/or another location with overhead protection.

“However, some vehicle owners may not have access to a covered location. For example, a vehicle owner living in an apartment building may only have access to street parking in close proximity to the apartment building. Moreover, some vehicle owners may not be aware of a covered location. In one example, a vehicle owner may not be aware that a nearby parking garage with restricted access during business hours is available for public parking outside of business hours.

“In addition, many vehicle owners may not be able to predict weather conditions that may cause vehicle damage, e.g., hail. Some vehicle owners may not be aware of a damaging weather condition until the weather condition occurs. If a vehicle owner attempts to move his or her vehicle to a covered location, the vehicle may still be damaged. In the event of weather conditions such as hail, the vehicle owner may risk being injured while moving the vehicle.”

In addition to the background information obtained for this patent, NewsRx journalists also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “The present embodiments may relate to a vehicle weather damage-prevention system. The system may include a vehicle computing device associated with a vehicle, a covered parking location (CPL) computing device associated with a covered parking location, and an insurance computing device. The vehicle computing device may receive weather data and determine whether the vehicle is affected by inclement weather, such as hail, snow, fog, ice, lightning, wild fires, floods, and/or rain. The vehicle computing device may receive a location identifier for the covered parking location and a communication address to contact the CPL computing device. The vehicle computing device may receive information from the CPL computing device indicating whether the covered parking location has available parking spots. The vehicle computing device may transmit a request to the CPL computing device to reserve a parking spot in addition to a vehicle user profile and payment information if necessary. The vehicle user profile includes information regarding the vehicle and/or a vehicle user of the vehicle. The CPL computing device may selectively permit the vehicle access to the covered parking location. In some embodiments, the CPL computing device may be in communication with an access terminal and/or a barricade of the covered parking location to selectively permit the vehicle access. The insurance computing device may monitor the vehicle computing device and/or the CPL computing device and determine if an insurance policy is eligible for insurance-related benefits based upon a usage profile associated with a policyholder of the vehicle or the covered parking location. The usage profile indicates how often the vehicle computing device and/or the CPL computing device use the vehicle weather damage-prevention system during inclement weather.

“In one aspect, a vehicle computing device associated with a vehicle may be provided. The vehicle computing device may include a processor and a memory. The processor may be programmed to receive weather data that may include current weather data and/or predicted weather data of a region that includes the vehicle. The processor may be further programmed to determine from the weather data that the region will experience inclement weather within a period of time and/or identify a covered parking location that includes an available parking spot. The processor may also be programmed to transmit a request to reserve the available parking spot to a covered parking location (CPL) computing device and/or receive permission to access the covered parking location. The vehicle computing device may include additional, less, or alternate functionality and components, including those described herein.

“In another aspect, a CPL computing device associated with a covered parking location may be provided. The CPL computing device may include a processor and a memory. The processor may be programmed to transmit a location identifier of the covered parking location and a communication address of the CPL computing device to a vehicle computing device and/or an insurance computing device. The processor may be further programmed to transmit a signal to the vehicle computing device indicating a number of available parking spots of the covered parking location when the vehicle computing device contacts the CPL computing device. The processor may also be programmed to receive a request from the vehicle computing device to reserve a parking spot of the covered parking location, determine whether to accept the request, and/or transmit a response to the vehicle computing device. Accepting the request from the vehicle computing device may cause the CPL computing device to permit a vehicle associated with the vehicle computing device access to the covered parking location. The CPL computing device may include additional, less, or alternate functionality and components, including those described herein.

“In yet another aspect, an insurance computing device may be provided. The insurance computing device may include a processor and a memory. The processor may be programmed to receive a registration request from a vehicle computing device associated with a vehicle and/or a CPL computing device associated with a covered parking location. The processor may be further programmed to generate a usage profile associated with the vehicle and/or the covered parking location. The processor may also be programmed to monitor the vehicle computing device and/or the CPL computing device for any requests to reserve an available parking spot of the covered parking location and/or update the usage profile. The processor may be programmed to determine if an insurance policy associated with the vehicle and/or the covered parking location is eligible for insurance-related benefits based upon the usage profile. The insurance computing device may include additional, less, or alternate functionality and components, including those described herein.

“In a further aspect, a computer-implemented method for identifying a covered parking location may be provided. The method may implemented by a vehicle computing device associated with a vehicle. The method may include receiving weather data including current weather data and/or predicted weather data of a region that includes the vehicle. The method may further include determining from the weather data that the region will experience inclement weather within a predetermined period of time and/or identifying a covered parking location that includes an available parking spot. The method may also include transmitting a request to reserve the available parking spot to a CPL computing device and/or receiving permission to access the covered parking location. The method may include additional, less, or alternate actions, including those discussed elsewhere herein.

“In yet another aspect, a computer-implemented method for providing covered parking to vehicles may be provided. The method may be implemented by a CPL computing device. The method may include transmitting a location identifier of the covered parking location and a communication address of the CPL computing device to at least one of a vehicle computing device and an insurance computing device. The method may further include transmitting a signal to the vehicle computing device indicating a number of available parking spots of the covered parking location when the vehicle computing device contacts the CPL computing device and/or receiving a request from the vehicle computing device to reserve a parking spot of the covered parking location. The method may also include determining whether to accept the request and/or transmitting a response to the vehicle computing device. Accepting the request may cause the CPL computing device to permit the vehicle access to the covered parking location. The method may include additional, less, or alternate actions, including those discussed elsewhere herein.

“In another aspect, a computer-implemented method for providing insurance-related benefits may be provided. The method may be implemented by an insurance computing device. The method may include receiving a registration request from a vehicle computing device associated with a vehicle and/or a CPL computing device associated with a covered parking location. The method may further include generating a usage profile associated with the vehicle and/or the covered parking location. The method may also include monitoring the vehicle computing device and/or the CPL computing device for any requests to reserve an available parking spot of the covered parking location and/or updating the usage profile. The method may include determining if an insurance policy associated with the vehicle and/or the covered parking location is eligible for insurance-related benefits based upon the usage profile. The method may include additional, less, or alternate actions, including those discussed elsewhere herein.

“In a further aspect, at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon may be provided. The computer-executable instructions, when executed by at least one processor, may cause the processor to receive weather data of a region that includes a vehicle, the weather data including at least one of current weather data and predicted weather data and/or determine from the weather data that the region will experience inclement weather within a predetermined period of time. The computer-executable instructions may further cause the processor to identify a covered parking location that includes an available parking spot, transmit a request to reserve the available parking spot to a CPL computing device, and/or receive permission to access the covered parking location. Additional, less, or alternate instructions may be provided such as instructions directing the functionality discussed elsewhere herein.

“In another aspect, at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon may be provided. The computer-executable instructions, when executed by at least one processor, may cause the processor to transmit a location identifier of a covered parking location and a communication address of a CPL computing device to a vehicle computing device and/or an insurance computing device. The computer-executable instructions may further cause the processor to transmit a signal to the vehicle computing device indicating a number of available parking spots of the covered parking location when the vehicle computing device contacts the CPL computing device and/or receive a request from the vehicle computing device to reserve a parking spot of the covered parking location. The computer-executable instructions may also cause the processor to determine whether to accept the request and/or transmit a response to the vehicle computing device. Accepting the request may cause the CPL computing device to permit the vehicle access to the covered parking location. Additional, less, or alternate instructions may be provided such as instructions directing the functionality discussed elsewhere herein.

“In a further aspect, at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon may be provided. The computer-executable instructions, when executed by at least one processor, may cause the processor to receive a registration request from a vehicle computing device associated with a vehicle and/or a CPL computing device associated with a covered parking location. The computer-executable instructions may further cause the processor to generate a usage profile associated with the vehicle and/or the covered parking location and/or monitor the vehicle computing device and/or the CPL computing device for any requests to reserve an available parking spot of the covered parking location. The computer-executable instructions may also cause the processor to update the usage profile and/or determine if an insurance policy associated with at least one of the vehicle and the covered parking location is eligible for insurance-related benefits. Additional, less, or alternate instructions may be provided such as instructions directing the functionality discussed elsewhere herein.

“Advantages will become more apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description of the preferred embodiments which have been shown and described by way of illustration. As will be realized, the present embodiments may be capable of other and different embodiments, and their details are capable of modification in various respects. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“We claim:

“1. A vehicle comprising: a vehicle body; and a processor coupled to the vehicle body, the processor in communication with a memory, the processor programmed to: receive weather data of a region that includes the vehicle, the weather data including at least one of current weather data and predicted weather data; generate one or more weather condition scores based on the weather data, wherein the one or more weather condition scores represent a likelihood of inclement weather affecting the vehicle; determine, based on the one or more weather condition scores, that the region will experience the inclement weather within a predetermined period of time; identify a covered parking location, wherein the covered parking location includes an available parking spot, the covered parking location having a covered parking location (CPL) computing device associated therewith; transmit, to the CPL computing device, a location identifier request for the covered parking location; receive, from the CPL computing device, a location identifier of the covered parking location and a communication address of the CPL computing device; transmit a request to reserve the available parking spot to the CPL computing device; and receive, from the CPL computing device, an access code to permit access to the vehicle to the covered parking location.

“2. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the access code is at least one of a text code, a quick recognition (QR) code, a biometric code, a bar code, a radio frequency identification (RFID) code, an audible code, and an electronic token.

“3. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the processor is further programmed to: present the access code to an access terminal of the covered parking location, wherein presenting the access code causes a barricade of the covered parking location to actuate from a closed position to an open position.

“4. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the processor is further programmed to: receive a location identifier and a communication address associated with the covered parking location and the CPL computing device; determine that the covered parking location is within a predefined distance from the vehicle based upon the location identifier; communicate with the CPL computing device in response to determining that the covered parking location is within the predefined distance using the communication address; and receive information about the covered parking location from the CPL computing device, the information including a number of available parking spots.

“5. The vehicle of claim 4, wherein the location identifier and the communication address are received from at least one of the CPL computing device, an insurance computing device, and a remote computing device.

“6. The vehicle of claim 4, wherein the information about the covered parking location further includes at least one of a price to park in the covered parking location, a capacity of the covered parking location, and a type of the covered parking location.

“7. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the processor is further programmed to: transmit a registration request to an insurance computing device, the registration request including an insurance policy identifier associated with the vehicle, wherein the insurance computing device is configured to generate a usage profile for a policyholder of the vehicle; and receive from the insurance computing device a notification that an insurance-related benefit is applied to an insurance policy associated with the insurance policy identifier based upon the usage profile.

“8. The vehicle of claim 7, wherein the registration request further comprises a vehicle user profile.

“9. The vehicle of claim 7, wherein the usage profile indicates a frequency in which the processor locates a covered parking location during the inclement weather.

“10. A covered parking location (CPL) computing device associated with a covered parking location, the CPL computing device comprising a processor and a memory, the CPL computing device in communication with one or more vehicle computing devices, wherein the processor is programmed to: receive, from a vehicle computing device of the one or more vehicle computing devices, a location identifier request for the covered parking location; transmit, in response to receiving the location identifier request, a location identifier of the covered parking location and a communication address of the CPL computing device to the vehicle computing device and an insurance computing device, the vehicle computing device associated with a vehicle, the vehicle computing device configured to: (i) receive weather data of a region that includes the vehicle, and (ii) determine that the region will experience inclement weather affecting the vehicle within a predetermined period of time; transmit a signal to the vehicle computing device indicating a number of available parking spots of the covered parking location when the vehicle computing device contacts the CPL computing device; receive a request from the vehicle computing device to reserve a parking spot of the covered parking location, wherein the request includes a vehicle user profile associated with a user of the vehicle; determine whether to accept the request based upon the vehicle user profile, wherein accepting the request causes the CPL computing device to permit the vehicle associated with the vehicle computing device access to the covered parking location; transmit a response to the vehicle computing device, wherein the response includes an access code if the request is accepted, and wherein the access code permits access to the vehicle to the covered parking location; and transmit information including the determination of the request to the insurance computing device.

“11. The CPL computing device of claim 10, wherein the processor is further programmed to: Detect the one or more vehicle computing devices within a predefined distance from the covered parking location; and transmit the location identifier to each vehicle computing device within the predefined distance.

“12. The CPL computing device of claim 10, wherein the communication address is configured to enable the vehicle computing device to contact the CPL computing device.

“13. The CPL computing device of claim 10, wherein the CPL computing device is in communication with an access terminal of the covered parking location, the access terminal being configured to control a barricade of the covered parking location to selectively permit the vehicle access to the covered parking location.

“14. The CPL computing device of claim 13, wherein the processor is further programmed to transmit the access code to the access terminal and the vehicle computing device, wherein the vehicle computing device presents the access code to the access terminal to cause the access terminal to control the barricade.

“15. The CPL computing device of claim 13, wherein the processor is further programmed to transmit a signal to the access terminal to cause the access terminal to manipulate the barricade and permit the vehicle access to the covered parking location.

“16. The CPL computing device of claim 13, wherein the processor is further programmed to receive a notification from the access terminal that the vehicle has entered or exited the covered parking location.

“17. The CPL computing device of claim 10, wherein the processor is further programmed to: transmit a registration request to the insurance computing device, the registration request including an insurance policy identifier associated with the covered parking location, wherein the insurance computing device is configured to generate a usage profile for a policyholder of the covered parking location; and receive from the insurance computing device a notification that an insurance-related benefit is applied to an insurance policy associated with the insurance policy identifier based upon the usage profile.

“18. The CPL computing device of claim 10, wherein the processor is further programmed to receive the request from the vehicle computing device to reserve a parking spot of the covered parking location, wherein the request includes payment information.

“19. The CPL computing device of claim 10, wherein the processor is further programmed to selectively restrict access to at least a portion the covered parking location and an infrastructure associated with the covered parking location by at least one of activating a security system and locking doors of the covered parking location or the infrastructure.

“20. The CPL computing device of claim 10, wherein the vehicle user profile includes a background check of the user of the vehicle, peer reviews, ratings, and a make and model of the vehicle.”

URL and more information on this patent, see: Chan, Aaron; Mullen, Christina P.; Grant, Rosemarie; Nepomuceno, John; Garretson, Cynthia L. Systems And Methods For Weather-Related Vehicle Damage Prevention. U.S. Patent Number 10,417,583, filed April 20, 2016, and published online on September 30, 2019. 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=10,417,583.PN.&OS=PN/10,417,583RS=PN/10,417,583

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