Luggage management system and luggage management method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10609347-B2
Application number	US-201816214534-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 10, 2018
Priority date	Dec 12, 2017
Publication date	Mar 31, 2020
Grant date	Mar 31, 2020

Abstract

A luggage management system includes: a locking/unlocking device mounted in a vehicle and configured to lock and unlock the vehicle in response to a request from a terminal, the terminal being used by a user who delivers luggage; an imaging device configured to capture an image of an inside of a predetermined area located in the vehicle, the predetermined area being used as a delivery place of the luggage; a control device configured to cause the imaging device to capture the image in the predetermined area when the locking/unlocking device locks or unlocks the vehicle in response to the request, and store the image; and a determination unit configured to determine, based on a result of comparison between a reference image and a comparison image, whether the luggage has been carried away from the predetermined area.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A luggage management system comprising:
a locking/unlocking device mounted in a vehicle and configured to lock and unlock the vehicle in response to a request from a terminal, the terminal being used by a user who delivers luggage;
an imaging device configured to capture an image of an inside of a predetermined area located in the vehicle, the predetermined area being used as a delivery place of the luggage; and
processing circuitry configured to
cause the imaging device to capture the image of the inside of the predetermined area when the locking/unlocking device locks or unlocks the vehicle in response to the request,
store the image,
determine, based on a result of comparison between a reference image representing the inside of the predetermined area and a comparison image representing the inside of the predetermined area when the vehicle is locked, whether the luggage has been carried away from the predetermined area,
acquire the comparison image by causing the imaging device to capture a first image of the inside of the predetermined area at a locking-associated time, the locking-associated time being associated with a time at which the vehicle is locked, and
acquire the reference image by determining the comparison image as the reference image after determining whether the luggage has been carried away from the predetermined area.

2. The luggage management system according to claim 1 , further comprising a detection unit configured to detect opening and closing of the predetermined area,
wherein the locking-associated time is a time at which the detection unit detects that the predetermined area is closed.

3. The luggage management system according to claim 1 , wherein the locking-associated time is a time at which the locking/unlocking device locks the vehicle in response to the request.

4. The luggage management system according to claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to determine a previous image as the reference image, the previous image being captured by the imaging device at a previous locking-associated time and a current image as the comparison image, the comparison image being captured by the imaging device at a current locking-associated time.

5. The luggage management system according to claim 4 , further comprising a request user terminal, the request user terminal being used by a user who receives the luggage, and the request user terminal being configured to request the locking/unlocking device to lock and unlock the vehicle,
wherein the processing circuitry is configured to
inquire of the request user terminal about whether the luggage has been taken out from the predetermined area when the request user terminal requests locking/unlocking of the vehicle, and
reset the previous image, when the request user terminal returns a response indicating that the luggage has been taken out in response to an inquiry from the processing circuitry.

6. The luggage management system according to claim 5 , further comprising a notification unit configured to perform a predetermined notification process to the request user terminal when the processing circuitry determines that the luggage has been carried away from the predetermined area.

7. The luggage management system according to claim 5 , further comprising a notification unit configured to perform a predetermined notification process to a terminal other than the request user terminal when the processing circuitry determines that the luggage has been carried away from the predetermined area.

8. The luggage management system according to claim 4 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to
inquire of a request user terminal, the request user terminal being used by a user who receives the luggage, and the request user terminal being configured to request the locking/unlocking device to lock and unlock the vehicle, about whether the luggage has been taken out from the predetermined area when the locking/unlocking device is requested by the request user terminal, and
reset the previous image, when a response indicating that the luggage has been taken out is returned by the request user terminal.

9. The luggage management system according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a mass acquiring unit configured to acquire an acquired mass of the luggage to be delivered to the predetermined area before delivery of the luggage; and
a mass detecting unit configured to detect a detected mass of the luggage in the vehicle,
wherein the processing circuitry is configured to determine, based on a result of comparison between the acquired mass of the luggage and the detected mass of the luggage, whether the luggage has been carried away from the predetermined area.

10. A luggage management system comprising:
a locking/unlocking device mounted in a vehicle and configured to lock and unlock the vehicle in response to a request from a terminal, the terminal being used by a user who delivers luggage;
an imaging device configured to capture an image of an inside of a predetermined area located in the vehicle, the predetermined area being used as a delivery place of the luggage; and
processing circuitry configured to
cause the imaging device to capture the image of the inside of the predetermined area when the locking/unlocking device locks or unlocks the vehicle in response to the request,
store the image,
determine, based on a result of comparison between a reference image representing the inside of the predetermined area and a comparison image representing the inside of the predetermined area when the vehicle is locked, whether the luggage has been carried away from the predetermined area,
acquire the comparison image by causing the imaging device to capture a first image of the inside of the predetermined area at a locking-associated time, the locking-associated time being associated with a time at which the vehicle is locked, and
acquire the reference image by causing the imaging device to capture a second image of the inside of the predetermined area at an unlocking-associated time, the unlocking-associated time being associated with a time at which the vehicle is unlocked.

11. The luggage management system according to claim 10 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to cause the imaging device to capture a moving image from the unlocking-associated time to the locking-associated time.

12. The luggage management system according to claim 10 , further comprising a detection unit configured to detect opening and closing of the predetermined area,
wherein the unlocking-associated time is a time at which the detection unit detects that the predetermined area is opened.

13. The luggage management system according to claim 12 , wherein the locking-associated time is a time at which the detection unit detects that the predetermined area is closed.

14. The luggage management system according to claim 10 , wherein the unlocking-associated time is a time at which the locking/unlocking device unlocks the vehicle in response to the request.

15. The luggage management system according to claim 10 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to determine the second image as the reference image, the second image being captured by the imaging device at the unlocking-associated time and the first image as the comparison image, the first image being captured by the imaging device at the locking-associated time.

16. A luggage management method, comprising:
using a predetermined area located in a vehicle as a delivery place of luggage;
locking and unlocking the vehicle in response to

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kanaoka Kei
• Maeda Shun
• Murozaki Yoshihiro
• Tsujimura Hiroko
• Kaneichi Daiki
• Jinnai Kuniaki

Classifications

• G08B13/196

  using television cameras · CPC title

• B60R25/01 Primary

  operating on vehicle systems or fittings, e.g. on doors, seats or windscreens · CPC title

• G07C2009/0092

  for cargo, freight or shipping containers and applications therefore in general · CPC title

• G07C9/00896

  specially adapted for particular uses · CPC title

• B60R25/102

  a signal being sent to a remote location, e.g. a radio signal being transmitted to a police station, a security company or the owner · CPC title