Reservation management device, reservation management system, and reservation management method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10600116-B2
Application number	US-201615759220-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 2, 2016
Priority date	Nov 17, 2015
Publication date	Mar 24, 2020
Grant date	Mar 24, 2020

Abstract

A reservation management device ( 50 ) is a reservation management device configured to manage reservations for the exchange of battery packs ( 10 ) at a charging device ( 30 ) where battery packs ( 10 ) are exchanged, said reservation management device ( 50 ) comprising a reservation number acquisition component ( 53 ), a return number acquisition component ( 54 ), and a reservation possibility determination component ( 55 ). The reservation number acquisition component ( 53 ) is configured to acquire number of battery packs ( 10 ) to be reserved at the charging device ( 30 ). The return number acquisition component ( 54 ) is configured to acquire number of battery packs ( 10 ) to be returned to the charging device ( 30 ). The reservation possibility determination component ( 55 ) is configured to determine whether or not the exchange of the battery packs ( 10 ) can be reserved at the charging device ( 30 ) on the basis of reservation number acquired by the reservation number acquisition component ( 53 ) and return number acquired by the return number acquisition component ( 54 ).

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A reservation management device configured to manage reservations for exchange of batteries in a charging device configured to charge a plurality of batteries, the reservation management device comprising a processor configured to perform operations comprising operation as:
a reservation number acquisition component that acquires a number of batteries to be reserved at the charging device;
a return number acquisition component that acquires a number of batteries to be returned to the charging device; and
a reservation possibility determination component that determines whether or not it is possible to reserve the exchange of the batteries at the charging device based on a number of reservations acquired by the reservation number acquisition component and a number of returns acquired by the returned number acquisition component, wherein
the charging device comprises a plurality of battery disposition components in which the batteries are capable of being disposed, and
the processor configured to perform operations such that operation as the reservation possibility determination component comprises operation as the reservation possibility determination component that determines that it is possible to reserve the exchange of the batteries by:
determining whether or not a number of empty battery disposition components is greater than or equal to the number of returns;
in response determining that the number of empty battery disposition components is greater than or equal to the number of returns, determining whether or not the number of charged battery packs is greater than or equal to the number of reservations; and
in response to determining that the number of charged battery packs is greater than or equal to the number of reservations, determining that the number of reservations can be reserved.

2. The reservation management device according to claim 1 , wherein
the processor is configured to perform operations
further comprising operation as a charged battery number acquisition component that acquires the number of charged batteries in the charging device, and
the processor is configured to perform operations such that such that operation as the reservation possibility determination component comprises operation as the reservation possibility determination component that determines whether or not reservation is possible based on a number of charged batteries, the number of reservations, the number of returns, and the number of empty battery disposition components.

3. The reservation management device according to claim 2 ,
wherein the processor is configured to perform operations such that such that operation as the charged battery number acquisition component comprises operation as the charged battery number acquisition component that acquires the number of charged batteries by sensing batteries whose charge is greater than or equal to a specific amount, and counting the number of said batteries.

4. The reservation management device according to claim 2 , wherein the processor is configured to perform operations such that such that operation as the charged battery number acquisition component comprises operation as the charged battery number acquisition component that acquires the number of charged batteries by sensing batteries that are fully charged, and counting the number of said batteries.

5. The reservation management device according to claim 2 , wherein the processor is configured to perform operations
further comprising operation as a charge-at-exchange calculator that calculates a charge of the batteries in the charging device at a scheduled exchange time,
such that such that operation as the charged battery number acquisition component comprises operation as the charged battery number acquisition component that acquires the number of charged batteries by sensing the batteries whose charge at the scheduled exchange time is greater than or equal to a specific amount, and counting the number of said batteries.

6. The reservation management device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the batteries are configured to be removably installed in a power consumption element, and
the power consumption element comprises an electric motorcycle, an electric bicycle, an electrically assisted bicycle, or an electric power tool.

7. The reservation management device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the battery is configured to be removably installed in a moving body, and
a plurality of the batteries are connected in parallel in a state of being installed in the moving body.

8. A reservation management system configured to manage reservations for exchange of batteries in a charging device configured to charge a plurality of batteries, the reservation management system comprising:
a reservation management device comprising a processor configured to perform operations comprising operation as
a reservation number acquisition component that acquires a number of batteries to be reserved at the charging device;
a return number acquisition component that acquires a number of batteries to be returned to the charging device; and
a reservation possibility determination component that determines whether or not it is possible to reserve the exchange of the batteries at the charging device based on a number of reservations acquired by the reservation number acquisition component and a number of returns acquired by the returned number acquisition component; and

an information terminal comprising a processor configured to perform operations comprising operation as
a reservation number input component for inputting the number of reservations;
a return number input component for inputting the number of returns;
an information transmitter that transmits the inputted number of reservations to the reservation number acquisition component and transmits the inputted number of returns to the return number acquisition component; and

a display component that displays information related to reservation possibility determined by the reservation possibility determination component, wherein
the charging device comprises a plurality of battery disposition components in which the batteries are disposed, and
the processor of the reservation management device is configured to perform operations such that operation as the reservation possibility determination component comprises operation as the reservation possibility determination component that determines that it is possible to reserve the exchange of the batteries by:
determining whether or not a number of empty battery disposition components is greater than or equal to the number of returns;
in response determining that the number of empty battery disposition components is greater than or equal to the number of returns, determining whether or not the number of charged battery packs is greater than or equal to the number of reservations; and

in response to determining that the number of charged battery packs is greater than or equal to the number of reservations, determining that the number of reservations can be reserved.

9. The reservation management system according to claim 8 ,
wherein, the processor of the reservation management device is configured to perform operations such that when it is determined by the reservation possibility determination component that the exchange of batteries at a specific charging device cannot be reserved, the display component displays a message indicating that the exchange of batteries cannot be reserved at the specific charging device.

10. The reservation management system according to claim 8 ,
further comprising a plurality of the charging devices,
the reservation management system manages reserva

Assignees

• Omron Tateisi Electronics Co

Inventors

• Takatsuka Hiromasa
• Wada Junichi
• KASAI Kazuki

Classifications

• G06Q10/02

  Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events · CPC title

• G06Q30/0645 Primary

  Rental transactions; Leasing transactions · CPC title

• G06Q50/06

  Energy or water supply · CPC title

• B60L53/665

  Methods related to measuring, billing or payment · CPC title

• B60L50/60

  using power supplied by batteries (in combination with fuel cells B60L50/75) · CPC title