Apex Standards Claim Construction


Patent: USRE46727E1
Filed: 1998-08-18
Issued: 2018-02-20
Patent Holder: (Original Assignee) FARE TECHNOLOGIES LLC     (Current Assignee) FARE TECHNOLOGIES LLC
Inventor(s): David Pomerantz

Title: Taxi trip meter system with indication of fare and distance violations

Abstract: A taxi trip meter system includes a taximeter and a location sensor connected to a computer loaded with street information and driver evaluation software. In a first embodiment, the estimated shortest route and distance between the starting and ending points of a trip are determined. If the estimated shortest trip distance is exceeded by an actual trip distance by a permissible margin, a distance violation is indicated. An actual average speed is calculated based on an actual trip duration and the actually traveled distance. If an estimated average speed limit for the actual route is exceeded by the actual average speed, a speed violation is indicated. In a second embodiment, an estimated taxi fare is calculated based on the estimated shortest route. If the estimated taxi fare is exceeded by an actual taxi fare calculated by the taximeter by a permissible margin, a fare violation is indicated.

The First Claim: 1. A taxi trip meter system for a taxi, comprising: a computer; a trip meter connected to said computer, said trip meter for measuring an actual trip distance traveled by said taxi between a starting point and a destination point; a location sensor providing geographical location information about said taxi to said computer; and instructions loaded in said computer instructing said computer to calculate an estimated shortest trip distance between said starting point and said destination point, to compare said estimated shortest trip distance with said actual trip distance, and to indicate a distance violation when said estimated shortest trip distance is exceeded by said actual trip distance by a predetermined distance margin.


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Reference	Claim Element / Subject Matter	Feature	Meaning	Claim Construction & Interpretation
[1]	1 . A taxi trip meter system [1]	taxi trip meter system [1]	[Meaning 1] system [Meaning 2] meter [Meaning 3] device [Meaning 4] controller [Meaning 5] distance monitor [Meaning 6] safety system	[Interpretation 1] trip violation system for taxi trips for taxi drivers and passengers of an airline company to determine the trip violation [Interpretation 2] system for detecting distance violations in taxi trips for taxi drivers and passengers in an airport having an access point [Interpretation 3] trip violation system for taxi trips for taxi drivers and passengers in an automated dispatch system [Interpretation 4] distance violation detection system for taxi trips for taxi drivers and passengers in an operating vehicle [Interpretation 5] system for detecting distance violations in taxi trips and for providing an indication of distance violations [Interpretation 6] system for detecting distance violations in an on board trip management system [Interpretation 7] taxi trip management system for monitoring and managing trip information
[2]	for a taxi , comprising (having, includes, comprises, including, and comprising) : a computer [2]	computer [2]	[Meaning 1] calculator [Meaning 2] microcomputer [Meaning 3] trip computer [Meaning 4] portable computer [Meaning 5] digital computer [Meaning 6] computer system	[Interpretation 1] portable computer connected to said taxi for displaying information about said taxi and for receiving input from an authorized user [Interpretation 2] taxi trip meter system for said taxi comprising at least one computer [Interpretation 3] portable computer connected to said taxi and remotely located from said taxi [Interpretation 4] computer for controlling the operation of said trip meter system [Interpretation 5] calculator for calculating an estimated trip distance for said taxi [Interpretation 6] portable computer for displaying trip information to an authorized user
[3]	; a trip meter [3]	trip meter [3]	[Meaning 1] meter [Meaning 2] trip [Meaning 3] meter operatively [Meaning 4] distance meter [Meaning 5] travel meter [Meaning 6] meter trip meter	[Interpretation 1] gps receiver connected to said computer for receiving gps location information therefrom and trip meter operatively [Interpretation 2] taxi trip meter connected to said computer for displaying trip information about said taxi and also [Interpretation 3] travel meter connected to said computer and having at least one sensor [Interpretation 4] computer input connected to said computer and output to said trip meter [Interpretation 5] meter for measuring the trip traveled by said taxi operatively [Interpretation 6] travel meter located on said taxi and having an output [Interpretation 7] computer memory storing said computer instructions and trip meter operatively
[4]	connected (linked, connecting, communicating, connectable, interconnected) to said computer [2] , said trip meter [3] for measuring (determining, indicating, recording, calculating, displaying) an actual trip distance [4]	trip distance [4]	[Meaning 1] length [Meaning 2] distance [Meaning 3] path [Meaning 4] trip [Meaning 5] distance being [Meaning 6] journey distance
[5]	traveled (made, spent, completed, traversed, covered) by said taxi between a starting point [5]	starting point [5]	[Meaning 1] start [Meaning 2] point [Meaning 3] start point [Meaning 4] departure point [Meaning 5] departure point of departure [Meaning 6] start of said taxi	[Interpretation 1] destination point and an actual trip time elapsed between said starting point [Interpretation 2] start point at which said taxi is to be started [Interpretation 3] point of departure and destination and between said starting point
[6]	and a destination point [6]	destination point [6]	[Meaning 1] point [Meaning 2] destination [Meaning 3] starting point [Meaning 4] goal point [Meaning 5] predetermined destination point [Meaning 6] destination point thereof	[Interpretation 1] point of destination of said taxi based on an actual trip time traveled by said taxi [Interpretation 2] destination point based on an odometer reading of said taxi [Interpretation 3] starting point and measuring an actual trip time of day
[7]	; a location sensor [7]	location sensor [7]	[Meaning 1] device [Meaning 2] receiver [Meaning 3] locator [Meaning 4] location device [Meaning 5] gps for [Meaning 6] system for	[Interpretation 1] gps receiver connected to said computer and located on said taxi for receiving gps signals and
[8]	providing (reporting, connecting, transmitting, communicating, delivering) geographical location information [8]	location information [8]	[Meaning 1] information [Meaning 2] data [Meaning 3] details [Meaning 4] coordinates [Meaning 5] coordinate information [Meaning 6] position information	[Interpretation 1] coordinates about said taxi to said computer or to an external computer for providing geographical coordinates [Interpretation 2] location information about said taxi to said computer and an audio sensor providing audio signal information [Interpretation 3] location information about said taxi and for transmitting said geographical location information
[9]	about said taxi to said computer [2] ; and instructions [9]	instructions [9]	[Meaning 1] software [Meaning 2] code [Meaning 3] program [Meaning 4] software instructions [Meaning 5] program code [Meaning 6] an algorithm	[Interpretation 1] an electronic map database connected to said computer for storing electronic maps of said taxi and for storing map data [Interpretation 2] an electronic map database connected to said computer and said location sensor and having map data [Interpretation 3] at least one program stored in said computer or in another computer system and which when [Interpretation 4] an application program loaded in said computer and executing an operating system [Interpretation 5] at least one program stored in said computer and capable of being [Interpretation 6] program instructions loaded in said computer or stored in memory and when [Interpretation 7] software loaded in said computer and executable by said software
[10]	loaded (stored, contained, included, executable, residing) in said computer [2] instructing (causing, enabling, operating, cause, programming) said computer [2] to calculate (generate, establish, identify, derive, provide) an estimated (average, expected, estimation, updated, assumed) shortest trip distance [4] between said starting (origin, staring, originating, departure, start) point and said destination point [6] , to compare (monitor, match, associate, comparison, combine) said estimated shortest trip distance [4] with said actual trip distance [4] , and to indicate (detect, report, generate, display, flag) a distance violation [10]	distance violation [10]	[Meaning 1] fault [Meaning 2] warning [Meaning 3] signal [Meaning 4] trip [Meaning 5] fault condition [Meaning 6] taxi violation	[Interpretation 1] taxi trip violation in response to said comparison wherein said taxi trip violation is indicated only [Interpretation 2] warning signal to an operator of said taxi or to an alarm [Interpretation 3] predetermined trip distance violation condition for said taxi to said trip meter [Interpretation 4] trip violation to said taxi in response to said geographical location information [Interpretation 5] taxi trip violation to an operator of said taxi trip meter system [Interpretation 6] violation of said estimated shortest trip distance by said taxi
[11]	when said estimated shortest trip distance [4] is exceeded (increased, exceeding, extended, surpassed, less) by said actual trip distance [4] by a predetermined (selected, defined, given, first, certain) distance margin [11]	distance margin [11]	[Meaning 1] amount [Meaning 2] value [Meaning 3] distance [Meaning 4] percentage [Meaning 5] error amount [Meaning 6] maximum amount	[Interpretation 1] amount of time or more than said estimated shortest trip distance by said actual trip distance [Interpretation 2] distance or more and said geographical location information indicates said destination point [Interpretation 3] percentage of the distance traveled by said taxi during said distance violation [Interpretation 4] amount of time or when said actual trip distance exceeds predetermined limits [Interpretation 5] threshold value or to indicate an alarm when said distance violation occurs [Interpretation 6] percentage of the total distance traveled by said taxi trip [Interpretation 7] threshold value or is less than said predetermined threshold value
[12]	.