Administration apparatus for reservation of shared vehicle

• US 20040006498A1
• Filed: 07/03/2003
• Published: 01/08/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 07/08/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Ohtake, Shunsuke, Ogura, Koichi
• Application Number:
  US10/611,876
• Publication Number:
  US 20040006498A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/5
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events

Abstract

An administration apparatus is provided for reservation of a shared vehicle that administrates usage reservations of shared vehicles for the convenience of users. A control unit 11 in a control room 1 accepts an application for reservation time applied for by a user 3 via a mobile phone terminal 4, and then, according to the division of the minimum time unit of the reservation setting time, confirms the available time from one unit before that including the present time, displays it, and confirms whether there is an empty vehicle in a departure port or not with reference to a port master 15 and a reservation master 17. Then, the control unit 11 determines whether the usage start unit input by the user 3 is a unit in the future relative to the present time, including a leading buffer time of the unit, or not. In the case where the usage start unit is a future unit relative to the present time including the leading buffer time, this executes normal usage reservation. Moreover in the case where the usage start unit is not a future unit relative to the present time including the leading buffer time, backdated reservation from one unit back is executed.

Claims

1. An administration apparatus for reservation of a shared vehicle that is used in a shared vehicle system in which a shared vehicle parked in a parking region is lent to a user who has made a usage reservation, comprising:

a reservation confirmation device which can confirm the reservation state of said shared vehicle backdated from the present time to the past;

a vehicle availability detection device which detects whether there is a shared vehicle available that is not reserved for another user in said parking region where said user wishes to start his or her use; and

a reservation administration device which, in the case where it is confirmed that there is a shared vehicle available in said parking region where said user wishes a reservation to use said shared vehicle, accepts the usage reservation using the time division in the past closest to the present time as a reservation start time, backdating the reservation start time to the past.

2. An administration apparatus for reservation of a shared vehicle according to claim 1, wherein in the case where a prescribed time before said time division when usage is accepted to start is defined as a leading buffer time, when said user wishes to make a reservation to use said shared vehicle, in the case where the present time is inside said leading buffer time of said nearest future unit time division, said reservation administrating device processes said usage reservation as a normal usage reservation without backdating it to the past.

3. An administration apparatus for reservation of a shared vehicle that comprises a reservation administration device which administers a user'"'"'s reservation according to unit time divisions, and that is used in a shared vehicle system in which a shared vehicle parked in a parking region is lent to a user who has made a usage reservation, comprising:

a reservation user determination device which determines whether said user is an existing reservation holder who has already made a usage reservation of said shared vehicle;

a reservation time confirmation device which determines whether the present time is before the reservation start time of said existing reservation holder or not; and

a vehicle usage availability determination device which determines whether there is said shared vehicle available in said parking region; and

in the case where there is said shared vehicle available before the reservation start time requested by the existing reservation holder, said reservation administration device permits the existing reservation holder to use said shared vehicle before the reservation start time.