Bicycle rental system and station
First Claim
1. An integrated automated multi-service metering system for automobile parking and bicycle rental comprising:
- a multi-service meter configured to display user selectable options for metered parking of an automobile in at least one automobile parking space and for metered rental of at least one bicycle from at least one bicycle rental unit;
a remote station;
an energy source for the meter configured to provide energy harvested from solar radiation to the meter; and
a transmitter configured to communicate to the remote station;
payment information related to an amount of time that a vehicle is placed into a parking space of the at least one automobile parking space andother information related to an amount of time that a bicycle is used while removed from the at least one bicycle rental unit,wherein the remote station is configured to receive the payment information and other information and process common aspects of bicycle rental and parking payment transactions based on the received payment information and other information.
8 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A bicycle rental system and automated station that may be integrated with an automobile parking payment and management system. Users may pay for parking and/or rent and pickup bicycles at the station. The station has a meter, bicycle docks, and power plant. Transaction formalities for parking payment and rental may be handled at the meter. The bicycle docks each are adapted to secure a bicycle. The power plant uses a solar panel to collect power and stores it in energy storage device. Low-power operation may be achieved by placing some electronics in a low-power mode. Each bicycle dock may have a trigger mechanism that when activated powers on associated electronics. The bicycle docks may be divided among a number of bicycle modules. The bicycle modules provide flexibility and modularity so that the number of bicycle docks at a station may be changed.
25 Citations
25 Claims
-
1. An integrated automated multi-service metering system for automobile parking and bicycle rental comprising:
-
a multi-service meter configured to display user selectable options for metered parking of an automobile in at least one automobile parking space and for metered rental of at least one bicycle from at least one bicycle rental unit; a remote station; an energy source for the meter configured to provide energy harvested from solar radiation to the meter; and a transmitter configured to communicate to the remote station; payment information related to an amount of time that a vehicle is placed into a parking space of the at least one automobile parking space and other information related to an amount of time that a bicycle is used while removed from the at least one bicycle rental unit, wherein the remote station is configured to receive the payment information and other information and process common aspects of bicycle rental and parking payment transactions based on the received payment information and other information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. At least one manufactured computer readable medium including computer readable instructions that when executed by at least one processor adapts the at least one processor to perform acts comprising:
-
displaying, at a multi-service meter, user selectable options for metered parking of an automobile in at least one automobile parking space and user selectable options for metered rental of at least one bicycle from at least one bicycle rental unit; receiving status information from at least one bicycle module, the status information identifying availability of at least one bicycle docked at the at least one bicycle module; and transmitting to a remote hosting center; payment information related to an amount of time that a vehicle is placed into a parking space of the at least one automobile parking space and other information related to an amount of time that a bicycle is used while removed from the at least one bicycle rental unit. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
-
-
22. A system for managing automated multi-service metering stations for automobile parking and bicycle rental, the system comprising:
-
a plurality of multi-service metering stations distributed over a wide geographic area, each configured to display user selectable options for metered parking of an automobile in at least one automobile parking space and for metered rental of at least one bicycle from at least one bicycle rental unit, and each comprising; an energy source for the meter configured to provide energy harvested from solar radiation to the meter; and a transmitter configured to communicate; payment information related to an amount of time that a vehicle is placed into a parking space of the at least one automobile parking space and other information related to an amount of time that a bicycle is used while removed from the at least one bicycle rental unit; and a hosting center configured to receive the payment information and the other information to manage payments relating to parking and bicycle rental. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25)
-
Specification