Method for controlling the occupancy of vehicle seats by passengers, and associated devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12246759-B2
Application number	US-202117302817-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 12, 2021
Priority date	May 18, 2020
Publication date	Mar 11, 2025
Grant date	Mar 11, 2025

Abstract

A method is for controlling the occupancy of the seats of one or more vehicle(s) by passengers using a control device for controlling the occupancy of the seats. The vehicle includes a number of seats equipped with a reading light. The control device includes each reading light, a control system for controlling the reading lights and a controller. The method includes an emission of at least one piece of data related to the seat toward an electronic device of a passenger of the vehicle. The piece of data is emitted using a wireless optical communication technique, which is a technique of visible light communication. The emission of the at least one piece of data related to the seat is carried out by the reading light of the seat controlled by the control system.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for controlling the occupancy of the seats of one or more vehicle(s) by passengers using a device controller for controlling the occupancy of the seats,
the vehicle comprising a plurality of seats, each of the seats equipped with a reading light, the device controller comprising the reading lights, a modulator for controlling the reading lights, and a server,
the method comprising:
the reading light associated with one of the seats emitting a first piece of data related to a reservation status of the one of the seats toward an electronic device of a passenger of the vehicle, the piece of data being emitted using a wireless optical communication technique, the technique being the technique of visible light communication, the emission of the at least one piece of data related to the seat being carried out by the reading light of the seat controlled by the modulator;
the server receiving an identifier of the passenger and an identifier of the one of the seats from the electronic device;
the server generating a second piece of data related to the reservation status of the at least one seat for the passenger; and
the reading light associated with the one of the seats emitting an indication of the reservation status of the one of the seats for the passenger toward the passenger based on the second piece of data.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein, when the seat is reserved, the method comprises emitting a piece of data related to the reservation status of the seat for the passenger, carried out by the device controller, said piece of data being either a piece of data authorizing the use of the seat by the passenger when the passenger is the passenger having reserved the seat, or a piece of data prohibiting the use of the seat by the passenger when the passenger is different from the passenger having reserved the seat.

3. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising, when the seat is not reserved, emitting a piece of data related to the reservation status of the seat, indicating that the seat is not reserved.

4. The method according to claim 2 , further comprising:
receiving the identifier of the passenger emitted by the electronic device of the passenger for the controller; and
generating the second piece of data related to the reservation status of the seat for the passenger, carried out by the controller, the generation comprising a comparison between the identifier of the passenger having reserved the seat and the identifier of the passenger.

5. The method according to claim 4 , further comprising, when the seat is not reserved, receiving a seat reservation request from the passenger, carried out by the controller, and an association of the identifier of the seat with the identifier of the passenger, carried out by the controller.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein, when the passenger is different from the passenger having reserved the seat, the method further comprises emitting toward the electronic device of the passenger at least one piece of location data of another, unreserved seat, carried out by the controller.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the electronic device is an intelligent mobile terminal, and the controller is a remote server.

8. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the electronic device is a smartphone.

9. A device controller for controlling an occupancy of a plurality of seats of a vehicle by passengers, the vehicle comprising the plurality of seats equipped with reading lights, wherein the device controller comprising:
a modulator configured to control the reading lights and the device controller,
wherein the modulator is configured to control one of the reading lights corresponding to one of the plurality of seats to emit data related to said one of the plurality of seats toward an electronic device of a passenger of the vehicle, wherein the data is related to an indication of a reservation status of the passenger,
wherein the data is emitted using a wireless optical communication technique, the wireless optical communication technique being a technique of visible light communication.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein, when the seat is reserved, the method comprises emitting a piece of data related to the reservation status of the seat for the passenger, carried out by the reading light, said piece of data being either a piece of data authorizing the use of the seat by the passenger when the passenger is the passenger having reserved the seat, or a piece of data prohibiting the use of the seat by the passenger when the passenger is different from the passenger having reserved the seat.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein when the seat is not reserved, the method comprises emitting a piece of data related to the reservation status of the seat for the passenger, carried out by the reading light, said piece of data being a piece of data indicating that the seat is not reserved.

12. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
when the seat is not reserved, emitting by a light source of the reading light a light with a first color; and
when the seat is reserved, emitting by the light source of the reading light
a light with a second color when the passenger is the passenger having reserved the seat;
a light with a third color when the passenger is different from the passenger having reserved the seat.

13. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the light source of the reading light is configured to emit at least a first color, a second color, and a third color as the indication of the reservation status of the at least one seat,
(i) when the one of the seats is reserved, the light source emits:
the first color toward the electronic device of the passenger when the passenger is a person having a reservation for the one of the seats,
the second color toward the electronic device of the passenger when the passenger is different from a person having the reservation for the one of the seats,
(ii) when the seat is not reserved, the light source emits the third color toward the electronic device of the passenger,
wherein the first color, the second color, and the third color are different colors with each other such that the passenger recognizes condition of the one of the seats without any operation in the electronic device.

14. The device controller according to claim 9 , wherein the reading light associated with one of the seats emits a first piece of data related to a reservation status of the one of the seats toward the electronic device of the passenger of the vehicle, wherein the device controller is configured to receive an identifier of the passenger and an identifier of the one of the seats from the electronic device, the device controller is configured to generate a second piece of data related to the reservation status of the at least one seat for the passenger, and the reading light associated with the one of the seats is configured to emit an indication of the reservation status of the one of the seats for the passenger toward the passenger based on the second piece of data.

Assignees

• Alstom Holdings

Inventors

• Simoni Bastian
• Jung Luc

Classifications

• G08B5/00

  Visible signalling systems, e.g. visible personal calling systems or remote indication of seats occupied · CPC title

• H04B10/116

  Visible light communication · CPC title

• G06Q10/02

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

• B60Q3/233

  Seats; Arm rests; Head rests · CPC title

• Y02T30/00

  Transportation of goods or passengers via railways, e.g. energy recovery or reducing air resistance · CPC title