March 22, 2013
Smart Gas Pump
This morning, I saw this image on Facebook and it got me thinking what if I could fix that?
So I though, what if I could design a gas pump program for this style of gas pump.
Thusly, I spent about a couple of hours this morning using Dia to develop this flowchart.
I assume there are probably several dozen patents on this process already. So there is no point of submitting it to the US Patent and Trademark Office. However, to put these ideas together into a streamlined process that can settle the decision of how much gas is pumped based on the amount you want or how much you can spend is an idea that should be put into practice rather than sit on the shelf at the USPTO.
I guess I could try to send it off to the USPTO. I doubt it will go anywhere, but there are a few distinct features in this process that I would like to point out.
This flow chart was divided up into three sections: 1. Fuel selection and how much you wish to purchase (which I'd like to patent); 2. Payment selection (which probably has been previously patented); and 3. Pumping (a process that likely has patents.). The first question is what fuel you would like to select. Since most stations will have a different station to pump diesel, this process will end and ask the user to pull into the diesel station where a similar program will likely run and ask the same questions. Another selection is the option to pump electric vehicles. Since it probably is not a good idea to charge an electric vehicle near the gasoline or diesel pumps, the electric pumping station will need to be stationed at a different part of the station such as to not spark any fires. Furthermore, this process would consider Gasoline gallon equivalence for alternative fuels including electricity, so that vehicle owners would not need to worry about trying to convert gallons of gasoline into kilowatt-hours. According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, 33.40 kWh is equivalent to 1 gallon of gasoline, but the petroleum industry says "Nay" to such technological innovations since they already fleece Americans billions of dollars daily with the status quo.
Which is probably another reason I've decided to put this flow chart on public display. After all, what's the point of embracing new technology, especially if it involves renewable energy, when it is in their best interest to greenwash things like fracking and shale oil production that is currently sullying the major rivers in this country (namely the Missouri River) that provide drinking water for millions of Americans and squirreling away new technology so curious minds can't develop it?
Perhaps someday, soon, a great ecological event will occur that will force us to use better energy sources that don't destroy the environment. Clearly, climate change and flaming water faucets, and films about this important subject aren't enough to motivate law makers to give a damn. So it will take a very large environmental, meteorological, and geological event to push our species forward.
Speaking of which, I need to get my seeds for my garden going. It's a shame winter doesn't want to leave.
