Systems and methods for automated equipment rental

Abstract

An equipment rental system comprising a kiosk, the kiosk comprising a user interface configured to receive user input and provide outputs to a user, a processor configured to receive the user input from the user interface, generate user output and control a locker system; and a locker system configured to store the equipment and allow access to the equipment under control of the processor, the processor configured to: receive log in and credential information form a user via the user interface, present the user a choice of equipment, receive a selection of equipment through the user interface, gather payment information from the user through the user interface, wherein the payment information corresponds to a period of use for the selected equipment, and control the locker system to make the selected equipment available to the user.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . An equipment rental and purchase system comprising:
 a kiosk, the kiosk comprising a user interface configured to receive user input and provide outputs to a user, a processor configured to receive the user input from the user interface, generate user output and control a locker system; and   a locker system for storing a plurality of pieces of golf equipment, the locker system comprising:
 a plurality of discrete positions each configured to store at least one piece of golf equipment and allow access to the plurality of golf equipment under control of the processor, 
 each of the plurality of discrete locations is a locker, at least two or more of the lockers having a non-uniform shape adapted to store golf clubs, the non-uniform shape comprising a first part, from which the golf club is accessible, connected to a tubular second part, the first part having a width larger than a diameter of the tubular second part, wherein the first part is adapted to receive a head of the one golf club and the tubular second part is adapted to receive a shaft of the one golf club, 
   the processor configured to:
 receive log in and credential information from a user via the user interface, 
 present the user a choice of golf equipment from the plurality of pieces of golf equipment, 
 receive a selection of one or more pieces of golf equipment through the user interface, wherein the selection of one or more pieces of golf equipment corresponds to one or more discrete positions of the plurality of discrete positions, 
 gather payment information from the user through the user interface, wherein the payment information corresponds to a period of use for the selected one or more pieces of golf equipment, 
 control the locker system to allow access to the corresponding one or more discrete positions to make the selected one or more pieces of golf equipment available to the user, 
 receive a user selection to return at least one of the accessed one or more pieces of golf equipment, and, based on said selection to return, verify that the returned pieces of golf equipment matches one of the accessed one or more pieces of golf equipment and 
   control the locker system to receive the returned pieces of golf equipment, and receive a user selection to provide a piece of golf equipment owned by the user, separate from the plurality of pieces of golf equipment, to the equipment rental and purchase system, and, based on said selection to provide the piece of golf equipment owned by the user, control the locker system to receive the piece of golf equipment from the user for storage and provide a credit to the user based on the received golf equipment, wherein the credit is toward controlling the locker system to allow access to the corresponding one or more discrete positions to make the selected one or more pieces of golf equipment available to the user.