Product delivery system, product delivery device, and computer readable recording medium

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12079763-B2
Application number	US-202217830341-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 2, 2022
Priority date	Jun 4, 2021
Publication date	Sep 3, 2024
Grant date	Sep 3, 2024

Abstract

A product delivery system includes: a center server; a store server; a driver configured to be coupled with and decoupled from a carriage; and a terminal. A processor of the center server is configured to: acquire a scheduled loading time representing a completion time of loading of a product onto the carriage at the store, when order information on the product is output from the terminal to the store server; output, to the driver, an instruction for causing the driver to depart from a current position to the store in time for the scheduled loading time; and output, to the driver, an instruction for causing the driver coupled with the carriage to depart from the store to a delivery destination of the product, when acquiring, from the store server, a loading completion notification indicating that loading of the product onto the carriage has been completed at the store.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A product delivery system, comprising:
a center server comprising a processor;
a store server provided in a store selling a product to be delivered;
a moving body including:
a carriage configured to carry the product to be loaded at the store, and
a driver configured to autonomously travel under control of the center server, and configured to be coupled with and decoupled from the carriage; and

a terminal held by a user purchasing the product, wherein
the processor of the center server is configured to:
in response to order information on the product being output from the terminal to the store server, acquire, from the store server, a scheduled loading time representing a completion time of loading of the product onto the carriage at the store;
output, to the driver, a first instruction for causing the driver to depart from a current position to the store in time for the scheduled loading time; and
in response to acquiring, from the store server, a loading completion notification indicating that loading of the product onto the carriage has been completed at the store, output, to the driver, a second instruction for causing the driver coupled with the carriage to depart from the store to a delivery destination of the product; and

the processor is further configured to
in response to acquiring, from the terminal, a receipt completion notification indicating that receipt of the product has been completed, output, to the driver, a third instruction for causing the driver decoupled from the carriage to depart from the delivery destination of the product to a preset place;
after delivering the product to the delivery destination, and in response to (i) receiving waste or a returned product onto the carriage decoupled from the driver and (ii) loading of the waste or the returned product onto the carriage decoupled from the driver being completed at the delivery destination, acquire, from the terminal, a carriage collection instruction for requesting collection of the carriage;
in response to acquiring, from the terminal, the carriage collection instruction, output, to the driver, a fourth instruction for causing the driver to depart from a current position to the delivery destination of the product; and
in response to the driver arriving at the delivery destination of the product, output, to the driver, a fifth instruction for causing the driver coupled with the carriage to depart from the delivery destination of the product to the preset place.

2. The product delivery system according to claim 1 , wherein
the processor is further configured to, in response to acquiring the loading completion notification from the store server, output, to the terminal, a scheduled arrival time representing an arrival time of the driver at the delivery destination of the product.

3. The product delivery system according to claim 1 , wherein
the processor is further configured to:
acquire inventory information on the product held by the user from the terminal;
determine whether or not an inventory of the product held by the user is insufficient based on the inventory information, and
in response to determining that the inventory of the product held by the user is insufficient, output, to the store server, order information for ordering the product with the insufficient inventory from the store.

4. The product delivery system according to claim 1 , wherein
the processor is further configured to determine the moving body to be sent to the store based on a current position of the moving body and a remaining amount of a battery of the moving body.

5. A product delivery device, comprising:
a processor configured to:
in response to order information on a product being output from a terminal to a store server provided in a store selling the product to be delivered, acquire, from the store server, a scheduled loading time representing a completion time of loading of the product onto a carriage of a moving body at the store, wherein the terminal is held by a user purchasing the product, and the moving body includes:
the carriage configured to carry the product to be loaded at the store, and
a driver configured to autonomously travel, and configured to be coupled with and decoupled from the carriage;

output, to the driver, a first instruction for causing the driver to depart from a current position to the store in time for the scheduled loading time; and
in response to acquiring, from the store server, a loading completion notification indicating that loading of the product onto the carriage has been completed at the store, output, to the driver, a second instruction for causing the driver coupled with the carriage to depart from the store to a delivery destination of the product, wherein

the processor is further configured to
in response to acquiring, from the terminal, a receipt completion notification indicating that receipt of the product has been completed, output, to the driver, a third instruction for causing the driver decoupled from the carriage to depart from the delivery destination of the product to a preset place;
after delivering the product to the delivery destination, and in response to (i) receiving waste or a returned product onto the carriage decoupled from the driver and (ii) loading of the waste or the returned product onto the carriage decoupled from the driver being completed at the delivery destination, acquire, from the terminal, a carriage collection instruction for requesting collection of the carriage;
in response to acquiring, from the terminal, the carriage collection instruction, output, to the driver, a fourth instruction for causing the driver to depart from a current position to the delivery destination of the product; and
in response to the driver arriving at the delivery destination of the product, output, to the driver, a fifth instruction for causing the driver coupled with the carriage to depart from the delivery destination of the product to the preset place.

6. The product delivery device according to claim 5 , wherein
the processor is further configured to, in response to acquiring the loading completion notification from the store server, output, to the terminal, a scheduled arrival time representing an arrival time of the driver at the delivery destination of the product.

7. The product delivery device according to claim 5 , wherein
the processor is further configured to:
acquire inventory information on the product held by the user from the terminal;
determine whether or not an inventory of the product held by the user is insufficient based on the inventory information, and
in response to determining that the inventory of the product held by the user is insufficient, output, to the store server, order information for ordering the product with the insufficient inventory from the store.

8. The product delivery device according to claim 5 , wherein
the processor is further configured to determine the moving body to be sent to the store based on a current position of the moving body and a remaining amount of a battery of the moving body.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium on which a program is recorded, the program instructing a processor of a computer to execute:
in response to order information on a product being output from a terminal held to a store server provided in a store selling the product to be delivered, acquiring, from the store server, a scheduled loading time representing a completion time of loading of the product onto a carriage of a moving body at the store, wherein the terminal is held by a user purchasing the product, and the moving body includes:
the carriage configured to carry the product to be loaded at the s

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kimura Kayo
• Shimada Yoshihiro
• Kobayashi Hiroyuki
• Nishimura Takashi
• Mei Zixun

Classifications

• G06Q10/087

  Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders · CPC title

• B65G35/00

  Mechanical conveyors not otherwise provided for · CPC title

• G06Q30/0639

  Locating goods or services, e.g. based on physical position of the goods or services within a shopping facility · CPC title

• G06Q10/0835 Primary

  Relationships between shipper or supplier and carriers · CPC title

• G06Q10/083 Primary

  Shipping · CPC title