Charging system

• US 20020049630A1
• Filed: 10/26/2001
• Published: 04/25/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 04/28/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. (Aisin Corp.), Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. (Aisin Corp.), Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Furuta, Yasuyuki, Aoki, Yasuyuki, Kakihara, Masaki, Terada, Haruhiko
• Granted Patent: US 6,845,362 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/13
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 15/063 using wireless information transmission between the vehicle and a fixed station identification of vehicles G08G
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/207 with respect to certain areas, e.g. forbidden or allowed areas with possible alerting when inside or outside boundaries

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide a charging system which carries out position confirmation of a moving body at a place where there is a radio wave blocked facility, and which carries out automatic detection of GPS antenna blockage for avoiding charging. In a charging system including a GPS positioning device 921 for recognizing a vehicle position, a vehicle speed pulse measuring device 920 for dead reckoning navigating, a monitor device 920, 927, 928 which generates information expressing a current position by using these, and a charging processing 902 which judges whether or not a recognized current position is within a charge area and which carries out data processing for charging, the monitor 920 includes a simple map database 928 which includes positions of facilities or geographical features at which GPS positioning is impossible, and when GPS positioning is impossible, the facility or geographical feature corresponding to the current position is detected, and that position is made to be a current position.

Claims

1. A charging system comprising:

a GPS positioning device for detecting a position of a moving body;

a monitor device which, by using the GPS positioning device, generates information expressing a ground position of the moving body; and

a charging processing device which, by using the information, judges whether or not the ground position is within a charge region, and if the charging processing device judges that the ground position is within a charge region, the charging processing device carries out data processing for charging the moving body, wherein the monitor device has simple data including at least absolute positions and configurations of facilities or geographical features which are a cause of GPS positioning impossibility, and when GPS positioning is impossible, by the information which was generated before GPS positioning became impossible, the monitor device detects, from that data, a facility or geographical feature which is a cause of GPS positioning impossibility this time, and changes the detected absolute position of the facility or the geographical feature to that information and makes that information be the current ground position of the moving body.

2. A charging system according to claim 1, wherein the charging processing device has a storage device which stores:

a plurality of information for identifying a moving body, which information relate to the moving body;

a plurality of charging information which relate to the charge region; and

a plurality of moving history information which relate to movement of the moving body.

3. A charging system according to claim 2, wherein the information for identifying a moving body includes reserve fund information relating to the moving body, and the reserve fund information holds a current amount which allows the moving body to pay a charge of the charging system.

4. A charging system according to claim 3, further comprising a reading and writing device for reading and writing reserve fund information in the storage device.

5. A charging system according to claim 4, wherein when the charging processing device judges, by the monitor device, that the moving body is passing through a charge region, the charging processing device updates the reserve fund information of the storage device by using the reading and writing device.

6. A charging system according to claim 1, further comprising a communications device for communicating with a reporting station which carries out management of the charging system.

7. A charging system according to any one of claims 1 through 6, wherein the geographical data includes data expressing positions of both ends of a radio wave blocked interval of a facility or a geographical feature, and

the monitor device detects one end from the geographical data of the radio wave blocked interval corresponding to the ground position detected by the GPS positioning device immediately before GPS positioning became impossible, and the monitor device makes the detected one end be the ground position of the moving body.

8. A charging system according to claim 7, comprising a detecting device which detects a moved distance of the moving body without using radio waves of a satellite,

wherein, after detecting the one end, the monitor device makes a position of a direction from the one end toward another end which is determined on the basis of the moved distance of the moving body detected by the detecting device, be the ground position.

9. A charging system according to any one of claims 1 through 6, further comprising a detecting device which detects a moved distance of the moving body without using radio waves of a satellite,

wherein the geographical data includes data expressing positions of both ends of a radio wave blocked interval of a facility or a geographical feature, and

the monitor device detects, from the geographical data, one end of the radio wave blocked interval corresponding to the ground position detected by the GPS positioning device and the detecting device immediately before and immediately after GPS positioning became impossible, and the monitor device makes the detected one end be the ground position of the moving body.

10. A charging system according to claim 9, wherein after detecting the one end, the monitor device makes a position of a direction from the one end toward another end which is determined on the basis of the moved distance of the moving body detected by the detecting device, be the ground position.

11. A charging system according to claim 8 or claim 10, wherein in a case in which GPS positioning is impossible by the monitor device, when the radio wave blocked interval cannot be detected and the moved distance of the moving body detected by the detecting device exceeds a predetermined threshold value, the charging processing device stores abnormality information in the storage device.

12. A charging system according to claim 11, wherein the abnormality information stored in the storage device is transmitted to the reporting station by a communications device.

14. A charging method according to claim 13, wherein in step (b), one end is detected from the geographical data of the radio wave blocked interval corresponding to the ground position detected by step (a) immediately before GPS positioning became impossible, and the detected one end is made to be the ground position of the moving body.

15. A charging method according to claim 14, comprising (d) a step of detecting a moved distance of the moving body without using radio waves of a satellite,

wherein, in step (b), after detecting the one end, a position of a direction from the one end toward another end which is determined on the basis of the moved distance of the moving body detected by step (d), is made to be the ground position.

16. A charging method according to claim 13, further comprising (e) a step of detecting a moved distance of the moving body without using radio waves of a satellite,

wherein, in step (b), one end of the radio wave blocked interval corresponding to the ground position detected by step (a) and step (e) immediately before and immediately after GPS positioning became impossible, is detected from the geographical data, and the detected one end is made to be the ground position of the moving body.

17. A charging method according to claim 16, wherein in step (b), after detection of the one end, a position of a direction from the one end toward another end which is determined on the basis of the moved distance of the moving body detected by step (e), is made to be the ground position.

18. A charging method according to claim 15 or claim 17, wherein, in step (c), in a case in which GPS positioning is impossible by step (b), when the radio wave blocked interval cannot be detected and the moved distance of the moving body detected by step (e) exceeds a predetermined threshold value, abnormality information is stored in a storage device.

19. A charging method according to claim 18, wherein the abnormality information stored in the storage device is transmitted to the reporting station.

13. A charging method comprising:

(a) a step of detecting a position of a moving body;

(b) a step of generating information expressing a ground position of the moving body, by using the position of the moving body which was detected in step (a);

(c) a step of judging, by using the information, whether or not the ground position is within a charge region, and in a case in which it is judged that the ground position is within the charge region, carrying out data processing for charging the moving body in accordance with travel through the charge region,

wherein in step (b), when GPS positioning is impossible, by the information generated before GPS positioning became impossible, a facility or geographical feature which is a cause of GPS positioning impossibility this time, is detected from simple data including at least absolute positions and configurations of facilities or geographical features which are a cause of GPS positioning impossibility, and the detected absolute position of the facility or the geographical feature is changed to that information and that information is made to be the current ground position of the moving body.