Shared vehicle port and method and apparatus for controlling the same

• US 6,336,295 B1
• Filed: 09/08/1999
• Issued: 01/08/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 09/09/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Saitou, Tooru, Urushidani, Shinzou, Takei, Akihiko
• Primary Examiner(s): Cuomo, Peter M.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Fisher, Michael J.
• Application Number:
  US09/391,595
• Time in Patent Office: 853 Days
• Field of Search: 521/74, 414/231, 414/232
• US Class Current: 52/174
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/50 using propulsion power supplied by batteries or fuel cells
• CPC Class Codes: E04H 6/42 Devices or arrangements peculiar to garages, not covered elsewhere, e.g. securing devices, safety devices , monitoring and operating schemes; centering devices
• CPC Class Codes: E04H 6/422 Automatically operated car-parks
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 15/00 Arrangements or apparatus for collecting fares, tolls or entrance fees at one or more control points handling coins or valuable papers, e.g. banknotes, G07D; apparatus for vending or hiring articles or services activated by coins, credit cards, paper currency or the like G07F7/00, G07F17/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/0042 for hiring of objects
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries

Abstract

The present invention relates to the shared vehicle port for automatically parking and delivering a shared vehicle used by a plurality of users, comprising: an automatic driving area having a passenger loading area and a passenger unloading area separated from each other and being connected to a vehicle passage via the passenger loading area and the passenger unloading area; and a user waiting area adjacent to the vehicle passage, the passenger loading area, and the passenger unloading area.

Claims

1. A shared vehicle system for automatically parking and delivering a shared vehicle used by a plurality of users, comprising:

an automatic driving area having a passenger loading area and a passenger unloading area separated from each other and being connected to a vehicle passage via said passenger loading area and said passenger unloading area; and

a user waiting area adjacent to said vehicle passage, said passenger loading area, and said passenger unloading area,

wherein said vehicle passage has a guiding device that guides the shared vehicle to be automatically moved from the passenger unloading area to parking spaces and automatically moved from said parking spaces to the passenger loading area.

2. A shared vehicle system according to claim 1, wherein said user waiting area includes a port terminal for performing operations to rent and return said shared vehicle.

3. A shared vehicle system according to any one of claims 1 and 2, wherein an automatic entrance door, which is locked when no shared vehicle is parked in said passenger loading area, is provided between said passenger loading area and said user waiting area, and

an automatic exit door, which is locked when no shared vehicle is parked in said passenger unloading area, is provided between said passenger unloading area and said user waiting area.

4. A shared vehicle system for automatically parking and delivering a shared vehicle according to claim 1, wherein said automatic driving area has a U-shape surrounding said user waiting area.

5. A shared vehicle system for automatically parking and delivering a shared vehicle used by a plurality of users, comprising:

an automatic driving area having a passenger loading area and a passenger unloading area separated from each other and being connected to a vehicle passage via said passenger loading area and said passenger unloading area; and

a user waiting area adjacent to said vehicle passage, said passenger loading area, and said passenger unloading area,

wherein said vehicle passage has a guiding device that guides the shared vehicle to be automatically moved from the passenger unloading area to parking spaces and automatically moved from said parking spaces to the passenger loading area; and

wherein said shared vehicle has a sensor to detect signals from said guiding device to facilitate the automatic parking and delivering of the shared vehicle.

6. A shared vehicle system for automatically parking and delivering a shared vehicle according to claim 5, wherein said guiding device generates magnetic signals and said senor detects said magnetic signals.