SYSTEM FOR ALLOCATING FUEL STATIONS TO MOVABLE BODIES

• US 20060086406A1
• Filed: 10/17/2005
• Published: 04/27/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/22/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Abe, Hiroyuki, Kobayashi, Junichi, Hayashi, Masanori, Nagaoka, Hisashi, Takeshita, Toshiaki, Sato, Kazuhisa
• Granted Patent: US 7,066,216 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 141/94
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 Auctions

Abstract

A system for allocating fuel stations to movable bodies includes an onboard unit, a station unit and a server. The onboard unit stores and updates information about a movable body. The station unit disposed at a fuel station which supplies fuel to the movable body stores and updates information about the fuel station. The server, which is connected to the onboard unit and the station unit through networks, allocates certain fuel stations to the movable body which requires fueling, based on the information about the movable body and the fuel station. When a difference of distance resulting from a subtraction, a movable distance minus a station distance, is smaller than a certain threshold, the server determines a necessity of supplying fuel to the movable body, allocating a fuel station which keeps an amount of stored fuel necessary for fuelling the movable body.

Claims

1. A system for allocating fuel stations to movable bodies comprising:

an onboard unit which is mounted on a movable body, the onboard unit storing and updating information about the movable body;

a station unit disposed at a fuel station which supplies fuel to the movable body, the station unit storing and updating information about the fuel station; and

a server which is connected to the onboard unit and the station unit through networks, the server allocating certain fuel stations to the movable body which requires fueling, based on the information about the movable body received from the onboard unit and the information about the fuel station received from the station unit;

wherein the information about the movable body comprises an amount of remaining fuel and a position of the movable body,

wherein the information about the fuel station comprises an amount of stored fuel and a position of the fuel station,

wherein the server calculates not only a movable distance for the movable body based on information comprising the amount of remaining fuel, but also a station distance, which represents a distance between the movable body and the fuel station, based on the positions of the movable body and the fuel station, and

wherein when a difference of distance resulting from a subtraction, the movable distance minus the station distance, is smaller than a certain threshold, the server determines a necessity of supplying fuel to the movable body, allocating a fuel station which keeps an amount of stored fuel necessary for fuelling the movable body.

2. A system according to claim 1, further comprising a display unit:

wherein the server transmits information about allocation of the fuel station to the onboard unit, and

wherein the onboard unit is connected to the display unit, and when the onboard unit receives the information from the server, the onboard unit indicates the information on the display unit.

3. A system according to claim 2, wherein when number of fuel stations which the server allocates to the movable body is smaller than a certain threshold, the onboard unit indicates an alarm for fuel shortage on the display unit.

4. A system according to claim 1, further comprising a fuel unit for producing fuel:

wherein when the server is not able to allocate the fuel station which keeps the amount of stored fuel necessary for fuelling the movable body whereas the difference of distance is smaller than the certain threshold, the server transmits a message commanding production of fuel to the station unit, and

wherein the station unit is connected to the fuel unit, and when the station unit receives the message from the server, the station unit starts the fuel unit for producing fuel.

5. A system according to claim 1, wherein the information about the movable body further comprises a destination of the movable body, and

wherein the server searches for a route extending from a position of the movable body to a destination thereof, so that the server not only allocates one or more fuel stations to the movable body based on the route, a distance of the route, the position of the fuel station and the movable distance, but also settles order of priority for fueling the movable body at each fuel station.

6. A system according to claim 1 further comprising a display unit, wherein the display unit is connected to the onboard unit mounted on the movable body, and displays one of an alarm for fuel shortage and information about allocation of a fuel station which the onboard unit has received from the server.