Automated unmanned rental system and method

A method for an automated unmanned rental station for use in cooperation with a plurality of pieces of rental equipment stored in the automated unmanned rental station, each of the plurality of pieces of rental equipment having a radio frequency identification tag attached thereto, the method comprising:

• (a) receiving user input through a user interface of a computer system associated with the automated unmanned rental station;
• (b) receiving in an antenna in communication with said computer system, and located near a portal of the automated unmanned rental station, a first radio frequency identification signal from a first one of the plurality of pieces of rental equipment having the radio frequency identification tag moved through said portal;
• (c) comparing a first unique data interpreted from said first radio frequency identification signal for said first one of the plurality of pieces of rental equipment moved through said portal to a plurality of rental transaction records in an inventory database stored in said computer system that matches said first unique data;
• and
• (d) altering a status in said inventory database of said first one of the plurality of pieces of rental equipment.

A method for an automated unmanned rental station for use in cooperation with a plurality of pieces of rental equipment stored in the automated unmanned rental station, each of the plurality of pieces of rental equipment having a radio frequency identification tag attached thereto, the method comprising:

• (a) receiving in an antenna in communication with a computer system associated with the automated unmanned rental station, and located near a portal of the automated unmanned rental station, a first radio frequency identification signal from a first one of the plurality of pieces of rental equipment having a radio frequency identification tag moved through said portal;
• (b) comparing a first unique data interpreted from said first radio frequency identification signal for said first one of the plurality of pieces of rental equipment moved through said portal to a plurality of rental transaction records in an inventory database stored in said computer system that matches said first unique data;
• and
• (c) altering a status in said inventory database of said first one of the plurality of pieces of rental equipment.

A method for an automated unmanned rental station for use in cooperation with a plurality of pieces of rental equipment stored in the automated unmanned rental station, each of the plurality of pieces of rental equipment having a radio frequency identification tag attached thereto, the method comprising:

• (a) receiving in an antenna in communication with a computer system associated with the automated unmanned rental station, and located near a portal of the automated unmanned rental station, a first radio frequency identification signal from a first one of the plurality of pieces of rental equipment having the radio frequency identification tag moved through said portal;
• (b) comparing a first unique data interpreted from said first radio frequency identification signal for said first one of the plurality of pieces of rental equipment moved through said portal to an inventory list of a plurality of pieces of rental equipment in an inventory database stored in said computer system that matches said first unique data;
• and
• (c) creating a first rental transaction record for said first one of the plurality of pieces of rental equipment moved through said portal utilizing data from said inventory database stored in said computer system that matches said first unique data;
• and
• (d) altering a status in said inventory database of said first one of the plurality of pieces of rental equipment.

A method for an automated unmanned rental station for use in cooperation with a plurality of pieces of rental equipment stored in the automated unmanned rental station, each of the plurality of pieces of rental equipment having a radio frequency identification tag attached thereto, the method comprising:

• (a) receiving in an antenna in communication with a computer system associated with the automated unmanned rental station, and located near a portal of the automated unmanned rental station, a first radio frequency identification signal from a first one of the plurality of pieces of rental equipment moved through said portal;
• (b) receiving a user identification input through a user interface of said computer system;
• (c) comparing a first unique data interpreted from said first radio frequency identification signal for said first one of the plurality of pieces of rental equipment moved through said portal to a plurality of rental transaction records in an inventory database stored in said computer system that matches said first unique data;
• and
• (d) altering a status of said first one of the plurality of pieces of rental equipment in said inventory database.

A method for an automated unmanned rental station for use in cooperation with a plurality of pieces of rental equipment stored in the automated unmanned rental station, each of the plurality of pieces of rental equipment having a radio frequency identification tag attached thereto, the method comprising:

• (a) receiving in an antenna in communication with a computer system associated with the automated unmanned rental station, and located near a portal of the automated unmanned rental station, a first radio frequency identification signal from a first one of the plurality of pieces of rental equipment moved through said portal;
• (b) receiving a user identification input through a user interface of said computer system;
• (c) receiving a check-out equipment input through said user interface of said computer system;
• and
• (d) creating a first rental transaction record for said first one of the plurality of pieces of rental equipment moved through said portal utilizing data from said inventory database stored in said computer system that matches a first unique data interpreted from said first radio frequency identification signal;
• and
• (e) altering a status of said first one of the plurality of pieces of rental equipment in an inventory database stored in said computer system.

An automated unmanned rental station for use in cooperation with a plurality of pieces of rental equipment stored in the automated unmanned rental station, each of the plurality of pieces of rental equipment having a radio frequency identification tag attached thereto, the automated unmanned rental station comprising:

• at least one antenna for tracking the movement of the plurality of pieces of rental equipment through a portal of the automated unmanned rental station, wherein said at least one antenna receives a radio frequency identification signal for each of the plurality of pieces of rental equipment having the attached radio frequency identification tag when moved through said portal;
• and
• a computer system in communication with said at least one antenna, said computer system having a user interface for allowing interaction between at least one user and an equipment rental software loaded into a memory of said computer system, said equipment rental software further comprising,
• a radio frequency identification tracking module for interpreting a unique data from each of said radio frequency identification signals received by said at least one antenna,
• an inventory database module for storing a data on each of the plurality of pieces of rental equipment, wherein each of said unique data corresponds to a one of said data for a one of said plurality of pieces of rental equipment, and
• a reporting module for generating at least one report regarding a rental activity of the plurality of pieces of rental equipment.

An automated unmanned rental system, the system comprising:

• at least one unmanned rental site, said at least one unmanned rental site further comprising,
• a plurality of pieces of rental equipment stored in an automated unmanned rental station located at said at least one unmanned rental site, wherein each of the plurality of pieces of rental equipment has a radio frequency identification tag attached thereto,
• at least one antenna for tracking the movement of the plurality of pieces of rental equipment through a portal of the automated unmanned rental station, wherein said at least one antenna receives a radio frequency identification signal for each of the plurality of pieces of rental equipment having the attached radio frequency identification tag when moved through said portal, and
• a computer system in communication with said at least one antenna, said computer system having a user interface for allowing interaction between at least one user and an equipment rental software loaded into a memory of said computer system;
• a central rental processing center, said central rental processing center further comprising a central rental processing center computer system having a central rental processing center software loaded into a memory of said central rental processing center computer system;
• and
• a communications medium for allowing communication between said computer system at said at least one unmanned rental site and said central rental processing center computer system at said central rental processing center, wherein said central rental processing center computer system at said central rental processing center receives over said communications medium at least one report regarding a rental activity generated by said computer system at said at least one unmanned rental site.

A method for an automated unmanned rental system for use in cooperation with at least one unmanned rental site having a plurality of pieces of rental equipment, wherein each of the plurality of pieces of rental equipment has a radio frequency identification tag attached thereto, the method comprising:

• (a) loading a central rental processing center software on a central rental processing center computer;
• (b) receiving in said central rental processing center computer a plurality of data uploaded from the at least one unmanned rental site;
• (c) processing said plurality of data and posting a portion of said plurality of data to at least one subsystem;
• (d) adding at least one additional piece of equipment having a radio frequency identification tag attached thereto to an inventory database, and assigning said at least one additional piece of equipment to a one of the at least one unmanned rental site;
• (e) removing at least one of the plurality of pieces of rental equipment having a radio frequency identification tag attached thereto from said inventory database;
• and
• (f) generating at least one management report based on said plurality of data uploaded from the at least one unmanned rental site.