Car-sharing system, information processing apparatus, information processing method, information processing program

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11586990-B2
Application number	US-201916375229-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 4, 2019
Priority date	Apr 16, 2018
Publication date	Feb 21, 2023
Grant date	Feb 21, 2023

Abstract

A car-sharing system for vehicles including private and/or corporate-owned vehicles receives, from a user's terminal, a use reservation for one of the vehicles available at a parking station in the vicinity of the departure location during the user's desired period, and one of parking stations located in the vicinity of the destination location where the vehicle can be returned at the user's desired time, to register the use reservation in vehicle/parking station schedule information; and makes a use reservation, with respect to a period registered in the vehicle schedule information for the owner to use the vehicle, for another vehicle different from the vehicle from among the vehicles available during the period, and for a predetermined parking station from among the parking stations at which said another vehicle can be returned within the period, to register the use reservation in the vehicle/parking station schedule information.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A car-sharing system for a car-sharing service in which a plurality of vehicles are shared to be used among a plurality of users, the car-sharing system comprising:
a first storage configured to store vehicle schedule information on respective use schedules of the plurality of vehicles;
a second storage configured to store parking station schedule information on respective use schedules of a plurality of parking stations arranged in advance for parking the vehicles;
a processor programmed to:
based on the vehicle schedule information and the parking station schedule information, receive, from a user through a user terminal, a use reservation for a vehicle from among the plurality of vehicles available at a parking station in a vicinity of a departure location of the user during a period desired by the user, and for a parking station from among the plurality of parking stations located in a vicinity of a destination location of the user at which the vehicle can be returned at a time desired by the user, and register the use reservation in the vehicle schedule information in the first storage and in the parking station schedule information in the second storage;
deliver key information for using the vehicle corresponding to the use reservation registered in the vehicle schedule information, to a mobile terminal of the user corresponding to the use reservation;
determine, based on preset schedule information, that an owner of the vehicle or a person connected with the owner requires a replacement vehicle when the vehicle is subject to the use reservation by the user who is different from the owner or the person connected with the owner;
automatically make a second use reservation, with respect to a period registered in the vehicle schedule information for the owner of the vehicle or the person connected with the owner to use the vehicle, for the replacement vehicle, the replacement vehicle being different from the vehicle from among the plurality of vehicles, and for a predetermined parking station from among the plurality of parking stations at which said replacement vehicle can be returned within the period;
automatically register the second use reservation in the vehicle schedule information in the first storage and in the parking station schedule information in the second storage; and
deliver key information for using said replacement vehicle to a mobile terminal of the owner of the vehicle or the person connected with the owner,

wherein the processor prioritizes, when registering the vehicle schedule information in the first storage and the parking station schedule information in the second storage, the second use reservation with respect to the period for the owner of the vehicle or the person connected with the owner to use the vehicle, by first making the second use reservation before making the use reservation received from the user terminal of the user, and
wherein the car-sharing system further comprises:
(i) the mobile terminal of the user corresponding to the use reservation, and the mobile terminal of the user corresponding to the use reservation is configured to unlock the vehicle corresponding to the use reservation after receiving the key information for using the vehicle, or
(ii) the mobile terminal of the owner of the vehicle or the person connected with the owner, and the mobile terminal of the owner of the vehicle or the person connected with the owner is configured to unlock the replacement vehicle after receiving the key information for using said replacement vehicle.

2. The car-sharing system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the processor makes the second use reservation, with respect to the period registered in the vehicle schedule information for the owner of the vehicle or the person connected with the owner to use the vehicle, for a vehicle that is parked at a parking station in the vicinity of a home location of the vehicle as said replacement vehicle, and for a parking station in the vicinity of the home location of the vehicle as the predetermined parking station; and registers the second use reservation in the vehicle schedule information in the first storage and in the parking station schedule information in the second storage.

3. The car-sharing system as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the processor changes, in response to a request from a user terminal corresponding to the owner of the vehicle or the person connected with the owner, said replacement vehicle of the second use reservation having been registered in the vehicle schedule information with respect to the period for the owner of the vehicle or the person connected with the owner to use the vehicle, to another replacement vehicle being parked in the parking station in the vicinity of the departure location different from the home location of the vehicle during the period.

4. The car-sharing system as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the processor changes, in response to a request from a user terminal corresponding to the owner of the vehicle or the person connected with the owner, the predetermined parking station of the second use reservation having been registered in the parking station schedule information with respect to the period for the owner of the vehicle or the person connected with the owner to use the vehicle, to a parking station in the vicinity of the destination location different from the home location of the vehicle.

5. The car-sharing system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the processor makes the second use reservation, in response to a request from a user terminal corresponding to the owner of the vehicle or the person connected with the owner, with respect to the period registered in the vehicle schedule information for the owner of the vehicle or the person connected with the owner to use the vehicle, for a vehicle being parked at the parking station in the vicinity of the departure location specified in the request as said replacement vehicle, and for a parking station in the vicinity of the destination location specified in the request as the predetermined parking station; and registers the second use reservation in the vehicle schedule information in the first storage and in the parking station schedule information in the second storage.

6. The car-sharing system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the processor makes the second use reservation, with respect to the period registered in the vehicle schedule information for the owner of the vehicle or the person connected with the owner to use the vehicle, for a vehicle being parked at the parking station in the vicinity of the departure location registered in advance as said replacement vehicle, and for a parking station in the vicinity of the destination location registered in advance as the predetermined parking station; and registers the second use reservation in the vehicle schedule information in the first storage and in the parking station schedule information in the second storage.

7. The car-sharing system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the plurality of parking stations include parking stations corresponding to home locations of at least some of the plurality of vehicles registered in advance.

8. An information processing method executed by an information processing apparatus for a car-sharing service in which a plurality of vehicles are shared to be used among a plurality of users, the information processing apparatus including a first storage and a second storage, the information processing method comprising:
reserving by, based on vehicle schedule information stored in the first storage and parking station schedule information stored in the second storage, receiving, from a user through a user terminal, a use reservation for a vehicle from among the plurality of vehicles

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Sakurada Shin

Classifications

• G01C21/3697

  Output of additional, non-guidance related information, e.g. low fuel level (G01C21/3679 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G06Q30/0645

  Rental transactions; Leasing transactions · CPC title

• G01C21/3438

  Rendezvous; Ride sharing · CPC title

• G07C9/00309

  operated with bidirectional data transmission between data carrier and locks · CPC title

• G06Q10/02 Primary

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