Delivery support device, system, and delivery support method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12354450-B2
Application number	US-202318346270-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 3, 2023
Priority date	Jul 5, 2022
Publication date	Jul 8, 2025
Grant date	Jul 8, 2025

Abstract

The delivery support device supports delivery of the article. The delivery support device includes a control unit configured to acquire first weight data indicating a weight of an article measured at a first time point in a transportation process of an article and second weight data indicating a weight of the article measured at a second time point after the first time point, and determine whether to notify the user of a warning based on a result of comparing the weight indicated by the first weight data and the weight indicated by the second weight data.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A delivery support device that supports delivery of an article, the delivery support device comprising a control unit that
acquires first weight data indicating a weight of the article measured at a first time point in a transportation process of the article and second weight data indicating a weight of the article measured at a second time point after the first time point,
determines whether to notify a user of a warning, based on a result of comparing the weight indicated by the first weight data with the weight indicated by the second weight data, wherein:
the article is a package containing one or more items inside;
the first time point is any time point in a first period from when the package is sent out from a sender until when the package is mounted on a vehicle that stores and transports the package;
the second time point is any time point in a second period from when the package is delivered from the vehicle to a mobile body that delivers the package to a delivery destination of the package until when the mobile body starts delivering the package;
when the control unit compares the weight indicated by the first weight data with the weight indicated by the second weight data and the control unit determines that the weight indicated by the second weight data is smaller than the weight indicated by the first weight data, the control unit determines to notify the user of a warning,
the control unit further acquires third weight data indicating a weight of the package measured at a third time point that is any time point in a third period from when the mobile body starts delivering the package until when the package is delivered to an addressee of the package; and
the control unit determines whether to notify the user of a warning, further based on a result of comparing the weight indicated by the second weight data and the weight indicated by the third weight data; and
a communication unit that communicates with the mobile body, wherein:
the mobile body is provided with a door sensor that detects that a door of a storage unit that stores the package is opened;
the control unit communicates with the mobile body via the communication unit, and acquires, together with a time stamp, data indicating that the door detected by the door sensor has been opened during the third period;
the control unit specifies a time point at which the door of the storage unit is opened based on the acquired data and the acquired time stamp; and
the control unit determines that the specified time point is a time point at which the item is lost or stolen.

2. The delivery support device according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit generates, as the warning, a message notifying that at least one among the one or more items has been lost or stolen during a period from the first time point to the second time point.

3. The delivery support device according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit generates, as the warning, a message notifying that at least one among the one or more items has been lost or stolen during a period from the second time point to the third time point.

4. The delivery support device according to claim 1 , further comprising a communication unit that communicates with a terminal device held by the user,
wherein the control unit transmits information indicating the warning to the terminal device via the communication unit.

5. A system comprising:
the delivery support device according to claim 4 ; and
the terminal device.

6. The delivery support device according to claim 1 , further comprising a communication unit that communicates with the mobile body, wherein:
the mobile body is provided with a weight sensor for detecting a weight of the package; and
the control unit receives, via the communication unit, data indicating a value detected by the weight sensor and transmitted from the mobile body, and acquires the received data as the second weight data.

7. A system comprising:
the delivery support device according to claim 6 ; and
the mobile body.

8. The delivery support device according to claim 1 , further comprising a communication unit that communicates with the vehicle, wherein the control unit receives data indicating a weight of the package transmitted from the vehicle, as the first weight data.

9. A system comprising:
the delivery support device according to claim 8 ; and
the vehicle.

10. A delivery support method that supports delivery of an article, the delivery support method comprising:
causing a control unit to acquire first weight data indicating a weight of the article measured at a first time point in a transportation process of the article, and second weight data indicating a weight of the article measured at a second time point after the first time point;
causing the control unit to compare the weight indicated by the first weight data with the weight indicated by the second weight data;
causing the control unit to determine whether to notify a user of a warning, based on a determination result acquired by comparing the weight indicated by the first weight data with the weight indicated by the second weight data,
wherein:
the article is a package containing one or more items inside;
the first time point is any time point in a first period from when the package is sent out from a sender until when the package is mounted on a vehicle that stores and transports the package;
the second time point is any time point in a second period from when the package is delivered from the vehicle to a mobile body that delivers the package to a delivery destination of the package until when the mobile body starts delivering the package;
when the control unit compares the weight indicated by the first weight data with the weight indicated by the second weight data and the control unit determines that the weight indicated by the second weight data is smaller than the weight indicated by the first weight data, the control unit determines to notify the user of a warning;
causing the control unit to further acquire third weight data indicating a weight of the package measured at a third time point that is any time point in a third period from when the mobile body starts delivering the package until when the package is delivered to an addressee of the package;
causing the control unit to determine whether to notify the user of a warning, further based on a result of comparing the weight indicated by the second weight data with the weight indicated by the third weight data,
wherein
the mobile body is provided with a door sensor that detects that a door of a storage unit that stores the package is opened, and
the delivery support method further comprises:
causing a communication unit to receive data indicating that the door detected by the door sensor is opened during the third period, the data being transmitted from the mobile body with a time stamp,
causing the control unit to acquire the received data, and specify a time point at which the door of the storage unit is opened based on the acquired data, and

causing the control unit to determine that the specified time point is a time point at which the item is lost or stolen.

11. The delivery support method according to claim 10 , further comprising causing the control unit to generate, as the warning, a message notifying that at least one among the one or more items has been lost or stolen during a period from the first time point to the second time point.

12. The delivery support method according to claim 10 , further comprising causing the control unit to generate, as the warning, a message notifying that at least one among the one or more items has been lost o

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Jikuhara Yoshikazu
• Hioki Jun
• Yamada Kaori
• Watanabe Maiko
• Kuwayama Yuki
• Maruta Shunya
• Okumura Yo

Classifications

• G08B13/1436

  with motion detection · CPC title

• G08B13/02 Primary

  Mechanical actuation · CPC title

• G08B13/1472 Primary

  with force or weight detection · CPC title

• G06Q10/0832 Primary

  Special goods or special handling procedures, e.g. handling of hazardous or fragile goods · CPC title