Management system and management method for charging object apparatus, management apparatus and charging object apparatus
First Claim
1. A management apparatus, comprising:
- means for storing reservation information including information regarding reservations of exclusive use times of a charging object apparatus by a plurality of users;
means for determining whether an exclusive use time reservation request received from a particular user of the plurality of users should be granted or denied by evaluating whether a proposed exclusive use time specified in the exclusive use time reservation request conflicts with any of the reservations of exclusive use times stored in the means for storing;
updating means for, when the exclusive use time reservation request from the particular user of the plurality of users is granted, updating the reservation information stored in said means for storing to reflect a reservation of an exclusive use time of the charging object apparatus by the particular user of the plurality of users;
accounting means for issuing a request for payment to the particular user of the plurality of users in an amount based upon a measured period of use of the charging object apparatus by the particular user of the plurality of users;
means for calculating the amount based on an adjusted exchange rate Xm, where
Xm=Xs+Ka(Mm−
Ms),Xs is a standard exchange rate, Ka is an exchange coefficient, Mm is an average use time for the plurality of users for a particular month, and Ms is an average cumulative use time for the plurality of users over a time period of use of the charging object apparatus; and
permission information signaling means for signaling, when the exclusive use time reservation request from the particular user of the plurality of users is granted, permission information to outside of the management apparatus for permitting use of said charging object apparatus by the particular user of the plurality of users.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A management apparatus, a charging object apparatus and a management system and method by which a product of an object of use can be used in an efficiency as high as possible when it is used commonly by a plurality of people. In the management system, the management apparatus includes a storage section into which reservation information including information regarding a use time of a charging object apparatus and information regarding a user is stored, an updating section for updating the reservation information stored in the storage section based on information that the user requests for reservation of use of the charging object apparatus, and a permission information signaling section for signaling, when the reservation information updated by the updating section is different from reservation information of any other user stored in the storage section, permission information for permitting use of the charging object apparatus to the outside based on the use reservation information stored in the storage section.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A management apparatus, comprising:
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means for storing reservation information including information regarding reservations of exclusive use times of a charging object apparatus by a plurality of users; means for determining whether an exclusive use time reservation request received from a particular user of the plurality of users should be granted or denied by evaluating whether a proposed exclusive use time specified in the exclusive use time reservation request conflicts with any of the reservations of exclusive use times stored in the means for storing; updating means for, when the exclusive use time reservation request from the particular user of the plurality of users is granted, updating the reservation information stored in said means for storing to reflect a reservation of an exclusive use time of the charging object apparatus by the particular user of the plurality of users; accounting means for issuing a request for payment to the particular user of the plurality of users in an amount based upon a measured period of use of the charging object apparatus by the particular user of the plurality of users; means for calculating the amount based on an adjusted exchange rate Xm, where
Xm=Xs+Ka(Mm−
Ms),Xs is a standard exchange rate, Ka is an exchange coefficient, Mm is an average use time for the plurality of users for a particular month, and Ms is an average cumulative use time for the plurality of users over a time period of use of the charging object apparatus; and permission information signaling means for signaling, when the exclusive use time reservation request from the particular user of the plurality of users is granted, permission information to outside of the management apparatus for permitting use of said charging object apparatus by the particular user of the plurality of users. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 16)
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6. A management apparatus, comprising:
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grouping means for distributing member registration information representing registered members each into one of a plural number of groups equal to a number of charging object apparatuses; means for storing reservation information regarding times at which the members are scheduled to use said charging object apparatuses for each of the groups; means for determining whether an exclusive use time reservation request received from a particular member of the members should be granted or denied by evaluating whether a proposed exclusive use time specified in the exclusive use time reservation request conflicts with any of the times at which other members in the same group as the particular member of the members are scheduled to use one of the charging object apparatuses; updating means for, when the exclusive use time reservation request from the particular member of the members is granted, updating the reservation information stored in said means for storing regarding the group in which the one of the members is included to reflect a reservation of an exclusive use time of the one of the charging object apparatuses by the one of members; accounting means for issuing a request for payment to the particular member of the members in an amount based upon a measured period of use of the one of the charging object apparatuses by the particular member of the members; means for calculating the amount based on an adjusted exchange rate Xm, where
Xm=Xs+Ka(Mm−
Ms),Xs is a standard exchange rate, Ka is an exchange coefficient, Mm is an average use time for the plurality of members for a particular month, and Ms is an average cumulative use time for the members over a time period of use of the charging object apparatus; and permission information signaling means for signaling, when the exclusive use time reservation request of the particular member of the members is granted, permission information to outside of the management apparatus for permitting use of the one of the charging object apparatuses by the particular member of the members and identifying a time at which the one of the charging object apparatuses is scheduled to be used by the particular member of the members. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 17)
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14. A method, comprising steps of:
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using a management apparatus to perform a method comprising steps of; storing, by a web server, reservation information including at least information regarding reservations of exclusive use times of a charging object apparatus by a plurality of users; determining by a management apparatus whether an exclusive use time reservation request received from a particular user of the plurality of users should be granted or denied by evaluating whether a proposed exclusive use time specified in the exclusive use time reservation request conflicts with any of the stored reservations of exclusive use times; and based on said determination that the exclusive use time reservation request from the particular user of the plurality of users is granted, updating the stored reservation information to reflect a reservation of an exclusive use time by the particular user of the plurality of users; determining by the charging object apparatus an amount of payment to request based upon a measured period of use of the charging object apparatus by the particular user, and calculated based on an adjusted exchange rate Xm,
Xm=Xs+Ka(Mm−
Ms),wherein Xm is the adjusted exchange rate, Xs is a standard exchange rate, Ka is an exchange coefficient, Mm is an average use time for the plurality of users for a particular month, and Ms is an average cumulative use time for the plurality of users over a time period of use of the charging object apparatus; issuing by the charging object apparatus a request for payment to the one of the plurality of users for the amount and and further based on the determination that the exclusive use time reservation request from the particular user of the plurality of users is granted by the management apparatus, signaling permission information to outside of the management apparatus for permitting use of said charging object apparatus by the particular user of the plurality of users; and using said charging object apparatus to perform a method comprising steps of; acquiring the permission information signaled from said management apparatus; discriminating, based on the permission information, whether or not use of said charging object apparatus by the user should be permitted; measuring a period of actual substantial use of the charging object apparatus by the user; and communicating payment amount information by the charging object apparatus to the management apparatus. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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15. A method, comprising steps of:
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using a management apparatus to perform a method comprising steps of; distributing by a web server member registration information representing registered members each into one of a plural number of groups equal to a number of charging object apparatuses; storing by the web server reservation information regarding times at which the members are scheduled to use said charging object apparatuses for each of the groups; determining by the management apparatus whether an exclusive use time reservation request received from particular member of the members should be granted or denied by evaluating whether a proposed exclusive use time specified in the exclusive use time reservation request conflicts with the times at which other members in the same group as the particular member of the members are scheduled to use one of the charging object apparatuses; determining by the charging object apparatus an amount of payment to request based upon a measured period of use of the charging object apparatus by the particular user, and calculated based on an adjusted exchange rate,
Xm=Xs+Ka(Mm−
Ms),wherein Xm is the adjusted exchange rate, Xs is a standard exchange rate, Ka is an exchange coefficient, Mm is an average use time for the plurality of users for a particular month, and Ms is an average cumulative use time for the plurality of users over a time period of use of the charging object apparatus; issuing by the charging object apparatus a request for payment to the one of the plurality of users for the amount and and further based on the determination that the exclusive use time reservation request from the particular user of the plurality of users is granted by the management apparatus, signaling permission information to outside of the management apparatus for permitting use of said charging object apparatus by the particular user of the plurality of users; and using said charging object apparatus to perform a method comprising steps of; acquiring the permission information signaled from said management apparatus; discriminating, based on the permission information, whether or not use of said charging object apparatus by the user should be permitted; measuring a period of actual substantial use of the charging object apparatus by the user; communicating information which makes an object of charging based on the measured period of use of the charging object apparatus by the member to the management apparatus. - View Dependent Claims (19)
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Specification