FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970 (39 of 1970)
& THE PATENTS RULES. 2003
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
[See section 10, Rule 13]
INTEGRATED SITE TOTALS MONITORING SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FUEL DISPENSERS;
LARSEN & TOUBRO LIMITED. A COMPANY INCORPORATED UNDER THE COMPANIES ACT, 1956, WHOSE ADDRESS IS L&T HOUSE, BALLARD ESTATE, MUMBAI - 400 001. MAHARASHTRA. INDIA
THE FOLLOWING SPECIFICATION
PARTICULARLY DESCRIBES THE
INVENTION AND THE MANNER IN WHICH IT IS TO BE PERFORMED.
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FIIELD OF INVENTION:
This invention relates to monitoring systems for fuel dispensers.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Site totals are basically the stored delivery information, where the totals are accumulated based on periods and events. This information is necessary for the fuel reconciliation between a major oil company and its retail marketers. Majority of oil companies require the information from various data sources, including fuel suppliers and carriers.
The fuel reconciliation on site is generally done on the basis of site totals. Site totals are nothing but the volume of fuel dispensed per product through each dispenser that is noted and multiplied by the rate of fuel on the particular day. This information is basically required on a day-to-day basis to the oil company, which in turn then calculates the percentage of commission to the dealer. Thus the storing and monitoring of transaction values that take place at a given fuel outlet.
Figure 1 shows the traditional method of fuel reconciliation on site. In a typical retail oil infrastructure, the transaction values are collated at various site back office outlets (Outlet 1, Outlet 2, Outlet 3, and Outlet n) and then uploaded to various regional offices (20). Each Outlet may have a plurality of dispensers (Dispenser 1, Dispenser 2, and Dispensed) and a Point of Sale terminal (10). as shown. Finally, these transaction values are forwarded to the financial systems (30) at the head office of .the oil company.
In other words, the site totals are transmitted to the head office indirectly via a regional office. This generally accounts to the problem of delay in reporting
sales data to the oil company thereby resulting in revenue loss in a competitive environment. Further, dealers may be able to source fuel from the sources other than the oil company. Furthermore, it may be quite tedious for an oil company to reconcile the tanker delivery data versus site totals of any retail outlets.
Thus there is a need for a platform that can be used to enhance the intelligence of a fuel dispenser.
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:
The present invention provides a system and a method for monitoring site totals in the field of fuel reconciliation.
As per the present invention, at least one fuel dispenser is provided that have a built-in pump controller. The pump controller is provided with a memory for storing site totals and other details. The pump controller is communicatively coupled to at least one host business organization via a communication port. Said pump controller within the fuel dispenser directly forwards the stored site totals to said host business organization without requiring any intermediate organization for fuel reconciliation. Since the pump controllers within the dispensers are directly coupled to the oil company, it provides current sales data to the oil company, which is as good as a real-time data
The fuel dispenser can be located in a fuel outlet and one outlet may have plurality of such fuel dispensers. In case of multiple dispensers within an outlet and multiple such outlets, all dispensers are connected to each other via the communication port in order to send and receive messages regarding the fuel transactions amongst themselves. The fuel transactions details are basically the site totals records that are being collated at a fuel site-office.
As per the present invention one or more host business organization can be coupled to the pump controller by configuring each host business organization. This is accomplished by receiving various messages sent from each host business organization. These messages may include the site totals records being transmitted to the host, request for any outstanding site totals stored in the pump, time at which the site totals have to be created, and record identification key value to clear a specific site totals record from the pump memory.
The site totals stored in the pump controller can be updated periodically by replacing the oldest records with the new records or entries. This enhances the fuel dispenser intelligence and sales data can be reported to the oil company without any delay and any revenue loss.
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One of the advantage of the preserit invention is that the dealers are prevented to obtain fuel from sources other than an oil company and it becomes comparatively easy for an oil company to reconcile the tanker delivery data v/s STMs of any retail outlets. Further, customers need not spend on expensive automation system per outlet to obtain sales data periodically. There is also no need of being online continuously or uploading the transaction details per delivery. The transactions details may be uploaded once or twice in a day as required.
Other features, advantages and objects of the invention will be apparent from the following description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:
Figure 1 shows the traditional method of fuel reconciliation on site.
Figure 2 shows the site total monitoring system for providing fuel reconciliation on site as per the present invention.
Figure 3 illustrates the architecture of the pump controller according to one embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS:
The present invention describes a system and a method for providing fuel reconciliation on sites. It is known in the art that site totals monitor (STM) records are the stored delivery information of the fuel, essentially required for fuel reconciliation.
Figure 2 shows the site total monitoring system for providing fuel reconciliation on site as per the present invention. The system comprises at least one host business organization (50) such as Oil Company Head Office Financial System; and one or more outlets (40) communicatively coupled to each other by leased lines (41) such as PSTN/VSAT etc. Each outlet (40) within the system may have one or more fuel dispensers (Dispenser 1. Dispenser 2, and Dispensed), which are connected to each other. Each dispenser (Dispenser 1, Dispenser 2, and Dispensed) within an outlet 40 consists of a fuel pump (not shown) having a pump-controller (not shown) residing in it. The pump controller may have a communication port such as
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LAN, TCP/IP for enabling said pump controller to communicate with the host business organization (50). The pump-controller keeps the record of all fuel transaction values that are collated at a site-office. Holding the site totals within the pump eventually allows direct communication of pump activity to the host business organization herein after referred to as 'host', without requiring any intermediary regional organization or regional office for fuel reconciliation.
The pump controller of various dispensers at an outlet communicates to the host for directly forwarding fuel transaction values to the financial systems of the host business organization such as an oil company. As per the present invention, there may be multiple hosts present in the system. The communication of one or more hosts with one or more pump controllers in a given outlet is described as below.
Firstly, address and security information of each host is provided to the pump controller in order to configure pump controller and host and provide connectivity between pump controller and host. A database is then created for storing the site totals monitoring records herein after referred to as STM records. This database may exist in a memory provided in the pump-controller. The size of the database may be determined through configuration parameters such as the number of hosts, number of dispensers, fuel transactions records etc. The database may be updated regularly by replacing the oldest records present in the database with the new records or entries.
The status of each STM record is maintained in the pump-controller in order to indicate whether a record has been sent to the host, has been received by the host (acknowledged) or is unsent. Records which are sent and acknowledged by host' are deleted within a predetermined period (preferably 24 hours) of obtaining this status.
As soon as a host requests for the current STM records, the pump controller within the dispenser responds by sending all the records having an 'unsent status. Further, if an event occurs wherein the records are overwritten without being extracted; an additional record may be added for indicating that said event has happened.
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Furthermore, the present invention provides a provision of allowing the host to request for a time/date for the next record to be closed off or created and sent back. These records may also be deleted by the host according to the requirement.
A stored record corresponding to a site total may undergo any one of the following status including "new record (unsent)", "sent record", and "sent and acknowledged record". As soon as the host receives a record from the pump, it acknowledges it and then the record is tagged by the pump as being able to be overwritten. Site Totals records are transmitted as early as possible once the records are closed off depending on the connection availability.
The configuration of the host by the pump may be achieved by receiving various messages from the host or other remote system. This is called as "site totals messaging". Various messages communicating between the pump and host are described as follows:
• Site Totals Data (Pump to Host): This message contains all of the Site Totals records being transmitted to the host.
• Site Totals Request Current Data (Host to Pump): This message requests any outstanding Site Totals stored on the pump. The message may optionally include the time and date that the current record is to be closed off and sent to the Host.
• Site Totals Download Time Periods (Host to Pump): This message loads a time profile into the pump designating what times of the day Site Totals records are to be created.
• Clear Site Totals Record (Host to Pump):This message sends a record identification key value to clear a specific Site Totals record from the pump memory.
As per the present invention the site totals are structured in a special data format before being communicated between the host and the pump. The structure of the site totals contains various data fields in XML format and the
explanation of the same is as follows.
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(a) Key value: this is a unique key being a composite of the grade, date and time fields.
(b) Fuelling position: this may be a side number or a logical pump number. It is unique across a given site.
(c) Grade ID: the product being dispensed.
(d) Record created: the date and time record was created
(e) Record Closed: the date and time the record was closed off
(f) Product price: the unit price for all of the deliveries in the record. Note that this means that a record must be closed of during a price change.
(g) Number of Deliveries, the total number of deliveries for the given product since the creation of this record.
(h) Total Volume: the total volume of the product dispensed since the creation of this record.
(7) Total Value: the total price value of the product dispensed since the creation of this record.
(j) Record Close Reason: a descriptive field giving the reason for the closure of this site totals record. The reasons include:
(i) 'Predetermined time reached'
(ii) 'Requested by host'
(Hi) 'Product price change'
(iv) 'Terminal startup'
(v) 'Product/pump configuration changed'
(k) Electronic Totalizer, the totalized value of the product since the creation of this record.
As explained earlier the current STM records can be replaced by the newly created records. This replacement is based on the occurrence of a Cause Code A cause code represents the reason for updating/replacement of an old record with a new one. The reasons may include
• Pump configuration changed
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• Product price changed
• Meter changed
• Time and date.
For blenders, the STM records are maintained individually for each product dispensed. Blenders are basically pumps which blends (mixes) two or more different grades or products at the time of delivery
Figure 3 illustrates the architecture of the pump controller according to one embodiment of the present invention. The controller board residing within the dispenser (60) comprises internal communication network (70), external communication network (80) and other interfaces (90). The internal communication network (70) may include devices such as encoder (71), display (72), keypad (73) and I/O board (74).
Since, interfacing too many peripherals, devices and giving lot of customization may give rise to a constraint of requiring a number of ports on the controller. Hence, a bus architecture may be provided for internal communication and having distributed intelligence in all the modules. This allows identification of various devices on the same lines. Also each module then becomes a smart device which can monitor itself and communicate with the controller on its own.
The external communication network (80) may include data management system (81), POS/Forecourt Controller (82) and outdoor payment terminal (83) etc.
The data management system (81) may include various options such as the
oil company data management system. These can be connected on any of the physical ports like the TCP/IP, LON and RS485 (100) etc.
Thus the internal dispenser architecture is flexible enough so that any add-on device is not restricted to a particular physical port on the controller.
The present invention further provides a user interface that can be customized
and configured by the customers depending upon their financial systems. The
data can be directly loaded into the customer database.
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Thus the application of the present invention enhances the fuel dispenser intelligence and solves the problems of delay in reporting sales data to the oil company thereby preventing any revenue loss. Further, dealers sourcing fuel from sources other than an oil company can also be prevented and it becomes comparatively easy for an oil company to reconcile the tanker
delivery data v/s STMs of any retail outlets. The data obtained is as good as a real-time data since the dispensers being directly integrated with the oil company database, provides current sales data to the oil company.
Furthermore, the need of an automation system on sites may be avoided by the application of the present invention. Customers need not spend on expensive automation system per outlet to obtain sales data periodically. There is also no need of being online continuously or uploading the transaction details per delivery. The transactions details may be uploaded once or twice in a day as required.
The foregoing description of the invention has been described for purposes of clarity and understanding. It is not intended to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Various modifications may be possible within the scope and equivalence of the appended claims.
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WE CLAIM
1. A site total monitoring system comprising:
at least one fuel dispenser having a pump controller that stores site totals;
at least one host business organization communicatively coupled to said pump controller;
wherein said pump controller within the fuel dispenser directly forwards the site totals to said host business organization without requiring any intermediate organization for fuel reconciliation.
2. A site total monitoring system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the fuel dispenser is located in a fuel outlet.
3. A site total monitoring system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the host business organization is communicatively coupled to the pump controller via a communication port.
4. A site total monitoring system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the site totals are the fuel transaction details being collated at a fuel site-office.
5. A site total monitoring system as claimed in claim 1 wherein host business organization is configured by the pump controller depending upon various messages being sent from said host business organization.
6. A site total monitoring system as claimed in claim 1 and claim 5 wherein various messages include:
the site totals records being transmitted to the host;
request for any outstanding site totals stored in the pump;
time at which the site totals have to be created; and
record identification key value to clear a specific site totals record from the pump memory.
7. A site total monitoring system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the site
totals stored in the pump controller are updated periodically.
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8. A method for monitoring site totals comprising the steps of:
storing site totals in the memory of a pump controller within a fuel dispenser;
communicatively coupling at least one host business organization to at least one said pump controller; and
forwarding the stored site totals from the pump controller within the fuel dispenser directly to said host business organization without requiring any intermediate organization for fuel reconciliation.
9. A method for monitoring site totals as claimed in claim 8 wherein the fuel dispenser is located in a fuel outlet.
10. A method for monitoring site totals as claimed in claim 8 wherein the host business organization is communicatively coupled to the pump controller via a communication port.
11. A method for monitoring site totals as claimed in claim 8 wherein the site totals are the fuel transaction details being collated at a fuel site-office.
12. A method for monitoring site totals as claimed in claim 8 wherein host business organization is configured by the pump controller depending upon various messages being sent from said host business organization.
13. A method for monitoring site totals as claimed in claim 8 and claim 12
wherein various messages include:
the site totals records being transmitted to the host;
request for any outstanding site totals stored in the pump;
time at which the site totals have to be created; and
record identification key value to clear a specific site totals record from the pump memory.
II

14. A method for monitoring site totals as claimed in claim 8 further comprising the step of updating the site totals stored in the pump controller periodically.
Dated this :\^th day of February, 2007.
FOR LARSEN & TOUBRO LIMITED By their Agent
(GIRISH VIJAYANAND SHETH) KRISHNA & SAURASTRI
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ABSTRACT
A system and a method for providing site total monitoring in the field of fuel reconciliation is disclosed, one or more fuel dispenser, each having a pump controller is provided wherein each pump controller stores site
totals. At least one host business organization is communicatively coupled to each pump controller. The stored site totals in the pump controller within the fuel dispenser is directly forwarded to the host business organization without requiring any intermediate organization for fuel reconciliation.
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