US 9,286,743 B2Granted

Key storage and retrieval

AssigneeSecured Mobility, LLC

InventorEmmanuel Enrique Lopez

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Abstract

Methods and systems for providing key storage and retrieval services to be performed by a service provider. The service provider provides a template to a client and instructs the client to use the template to capture, for each vehicle of a plurality of vehicles, both a vehicle identifier and a key of the vehicle in an image. The service provider stores the image in a computing system, extracts the vehicle identifier from the stored image, and associates the vehicle identifier with a location identifier corresponding to a location where the key is stored. When the service provider receives from the client a request for retrieving a key for a specific vehicle, the service provider searches a vehicle identifier of the specific vehicle in the computing system, retrieves the requested key from the location associated with the vehicle identifier, and sends the requested key to the client.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A method performed by a service provider, the method comprising:

providing a template and a guide to a client, wherein the guide includes instructions for the client to, for each vehicle of a plurality of vehicles, perform operations comprising:
placing a key corresponding to the vehicle in a first section of the template, the key comprising at least one of a physical vehicle key and a key fob;
arranging the template over a portion of the vehicle so that a vehicle identifier of the vehicle is visible through a second section of the template;
capturing a template image of the template so that the key and the vehicle identifier are both visible in the template image;
transmitting the template image to the service provider;
and
sending the key to the service provider;
receiving the template image for each vehicle and storing the template images of the plurality of vehicles in a computing system;
associating, in the computing system, each template image with a corresponding vehicle identifier;
receiving the key corresponding to each vehicle and storing the key into a respective location having a location identifier in a storage facility;
associating, in the computing system, each associated vehicle identifier with the location identifier of the key corresponding to the vehicle identifier;
receiving from the client a request for a specific key corresponding to a specific vehicle, the request including a specific vehicle identifier of the specific vehicle;
and
finding the specific vehicle identifier in the computing system, and in response:
retrieving the specific key associated with the specific vehicle identifier, and
sending the specific key to the client,
wherein retrieving the specific key associated with the specific vehicle identifier comprises:
finding a specific template image for the specific key stored in the computing system associating vehicle identifiers with respective template images;
and
making a new key based on the specific template image, wherein the new key is made to be identical to the specific key and perform functions of the specific key.

17 more elements

A system providing key storage and retrieval services, the system comprising:

a plurality of templates;
a guide including instructions for a client to, for each vehicle of a plurality of vehicles, perform client operations comprising:
placing a key of the vehicle in a first section of a template of the plurality of templates, the key comprising at least one of a physical vehicle key and a key fob;
arranging the template over a portion of the vehicle so that a vehicle identifier of the vehicle is visible through a second section of the template;
capturing a template image of the template so that the key and the vehicle identifier are both visible in the template image;
transmitting the template image to the service provider;
and
sending the key to the service provider;
a storage facility for storing each key into a respective location having a location identifier;
and
a computing system comprising one or more computers, wherein the computing system is configured to perform service operations comprising:
receiving the template image for each vehicle and storing the template images of the plurality of vehicles in the computing system;
associating, in the computing system, each template image with a corresponding vehicle identifier;
associating, in the computing system, the associated vehicle identifier with the location identifier of the key corresponding to the vehicle identifier;
receiving from the client a request for a specific key corresponding to a specific vehicle, the request including a specific vehicle identifier of the specific vehicle;
and
finding the specific vehicle identifier in the computing system, and in response:
retrieving the specific key associated with the specific vehicle identifier, and
sending the specific key to the client,
wherein retrieving the specific key associated with the specific vehicle identifier comprises:
finding a specific template image for the specific key stored in the computing system associating vehicle identifiers with respective template images;
and
making a new key based on the specific template image, wherein the new key is made to be identical to the specific key and perform functions of the specific key.

20 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.