Monitoring system for vehicle automatic accounting device

• US 20040098301A1
• Filed: 07/14/2003
• Published: 05/20/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2000
• 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: Aoki, Yasuyuki, Kakihara, Masaki
• Granted Patent: US 7,053,792 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/13
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 15/063 using wireless information transmission between the vehicle and a fixed station identification of vehicles G08G
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/0042 for hiring of objects
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/20 Monitoring the location of vehicles belonging to a group, e.g. fleet of vehicles, countable or determined number of vehicles

Abstract

When a monitor apparatus judges that a vehicle has stopped at a predetermined position (step 705), the monitor apparatus transmits pseudo position information of the vehicle (dummy data) to an automatic charging apparatus (step 725). The automatic charging apparatus calculates a charge amount on the basis of the dummy data, and transmits the result of the calculation to the monitor apparatus. The monitor apparatus receives the result (step 735) and judges on the basis of the result whether the automatic charging apparatus is in an anomalous state (step 740). Since the above-described successive operations are performed only when the vehicle stays, the status of another automatic charging apparatus not monitored is not misidentified as the status of an automatic charging apparatus to be monitored.

Claims

1. A system for monitoring an automatic charging apparatus for a vehicle, comprising:

an automatic charging apparatus mounted on the vehicle and including charge-amount calculation means for calculating amount to be charged to the vehicle on the basis of at least position information representing position of the vehicle; and

a monitor apparatus disposed on the ground and adapted to monitor a status of said automatic charging apparatus, wherein

said automatic charging apparatus and said monitor apparatus are configured to communicate with each other;

said automatic charging apparatus includes transmission means for transmitting, to the outside of the vehicle, information corresponding to an internal status of said automatic charging apparatus; and

said monitor apparatus includes anomaly judgment means for judging whether said automatic charging apparatus is in an anomalous state, on the basis of information transmitted from said transmission means of said automatic charging apparatus only when the vehicle stays at a predetermined position.

2. A system for monitoring an automatic charging apparatus for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein

said anomaly judgment means of said monitor apparatus comprises vehicle-stoppage judgment means for judging whether the vehicle has stopped at the predetermined position.

3. A system for monitoring an automatic charging apparatus for a vehicle according to claim 1 or 2, wherein

said transmission means of said automatic charging apparatus is configured to receive predetermined information transmitted from said monitor apparatus and transmit to said monitor apparatus information which relates to the result of calculation performed on the basis of the received information and serves as information representing the internal status of said automatic charging apparatus;

and

said anomaly judgment means of said monitor apparatus is configured to transmit the predetermined information to said automatic charging apparatus, receive the information transmitted from said transmission means of said automatic charging apparatus and relating to the result of the calculation, and judge whether said automatic charging apparatus is in an anomalous state on the basis of the received information relating to the result of the calculation.

4. A system for monitoring an automatic charging apparatus for a vehicle according to claim 1 or 2, wherein

said charge-amount calculation means of said automatic charging apparatus is configured to calculate the charge amount on the basis of pseudo position information transmitted from said monitor apparatus and representing position of the vehicle;

said transmission means of said automatic charging apparatus is configured to transmit to said monitor apparatus information which relates to the result of calculation of the charge amount performed on the basis of the pseudo position information and serves as information representing the internal status of said automatic charging apparatus; and

said anomaly judgment means of said monitor apparatus is configured to transmit the pseudo position information to said automatic charging apparatus, receive the information transmitted from said transmission means of said automatic charging apparatus and relating to the result of the calculation, and judge whether said automatic charging apparatus is in an anomalous state on the basis of the received information relating to the result of the calculation.

6. A system for monitoring an automatic charging apparatus for a vehicle according to claim 4 or 5, wherein

said anomaly judgment means of said monitor apparatus is configured to judge that said automatic charging apparatus is in an anomalous state when said anomaly judgment means does not receive the information transmitted from said automatic charging apparatus and relating to the result of the calculation, before a predetermined period of time elapses after transmission of pseudo position information representing position of the vehicle.

7. A system for monitoring an automatic charging apparatus for a vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein

said monitor apparatus comprises report means for reporting information regarding the vehicle to the outside when said monitor apparatus judges that said automatic charging apparatus is in an anomalous state.

5. A system for monitoring an automatic charging apparatus for a vehicle, comprising:

an automatic charging apparatus mounted on the vehicle and including charge-amount calculation means for calculating amount to be charged to the vehicle on the basis of at least position information representing position of the vehicle; and

a monitor apparatus disposed on the ground and adapted to monitor a status of said automatic charging apparatus, wherein

said automatic charging apparatus and said monitor apparatus are configured to communicate with each other;

said charge-amount calculation means of said automatic charging apparatus is configured to receive pseudo position information transmitted from said monitor apparatus and representing position of the vehicle, calculate the charge amount on the basis of the received pseudo position information, and transmit to said monitor apparatus information which relates to the result of the calculation; and

said anomaly judgment means of said monitor apparatus is configured to transmit the pseudo position information to said automatic charging apparatus, receive the information transmitted from said automatic charging apparatus and relating to the result of the calculation, and judge whether said automatic charging apparatus is in an anomalous state on the basis of the received information relating to the result of the calculation.

8. An automatic charging apparatus mounted on the vehicle and including charge-amount calculation means for calculating amount to be charged to the vehicle on the basis of at least position information representing position of the vehicle, said apparatus comprising:

communication means for communicating with a monitor apparatus disposed on the ground and adapted to judge whether the automatic charging apparatus is normal; and

diagnosis calculation means for receiving via said communication means predetermined information which is transmitted from said monitor apparatus only when the vehicle stays at a predetermined position, performing calculation on the basis of the received, predetermined information, and transmitting information regarding the result of the calculation to said monitor apparatus via said communication means.

9. An automatic charging apparatus mounted on the vehicle and including charge-amount calculation means for calculating amount to be charged to the vehicle on the basis of at least position information representing position of the vehicle, said apparatus comprising:

communication means for communicating with a monitor apparatus disposed on the ground and adapted to judge whether the automatic charging apparatus is normal, wherein

said charge-amount calculation means is configured to receive via said communication means pseudo position information transmitted from said monitor apparatus, calculate the charge amount on the basis of the received pseudo position information, and transmit information relating to the result of the calculation to said monitor apparatus via said communication means.

10. A monitor apparatus disposed on the ground and adapted to judge whether an automatic charging apparatus is in an anomalous state, said automatic charging apparatus being mounted on a vehicle and adapted to calculate amount to be charged to the vehicle on the basis of at least position information representing position of the vehicle, said monitor apparatus comprising:

communication means for communicating with said automatic charging apparatus; and

anomaly judgment means for exchanging information with said automatic charging apparatus via said communication means only when the vehicle stays at a predetermined position, and judging whether said automatic charging apparatus is in an anomalous state, on the basis of information obtained from said automatic charging apparatus.

11. A monitor apparatus disposed on the ground and adapted to judge whether an automatic charging apparatus is in an anomalous state, said automatic charging apparatus being mounted on a vehicle and adapted to calculate amount to be charged to the vehicle on the basis of at least position information representing position of the vehicle, said monitor apparatus comprising:

communication means for communicating with said automatic charging apparatus; and

anomaly judgment means for transmitting pseudo position information to said automatic charging apparatus via said communication means, receiving via said communication means information relating to the result of charge-amount calculation which is performed by said automatic charging apparatus on the basis of the pseudo position information, and judging whether said automatic charging apparatus is in an anomalous state, on the basis of the received information relating to the result of the calculation.

12. A monitor apparatus according to claim 11, wherein

said anomaly judgment means transmits the pseudo position information to said automatic charging apparatus only when the vehicle has stopped at a predetermined position.