FR2980881A1 - METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MANAGING RENTAL SITES, AND AUTOMATED RENTAL INSTALLATION USING SUCH METHOD AND / OR SYSTEM. - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a method (200) for managing parking locations on one or more sites, said rental sites, each comprising at least one parking location, said method (200) comprising the following steps for each rental site: determining (216) a status of at least one parking location of at least one rental site; determination (218), according to said status of at least one location of at least one status of said at least one rental site, relating to the presence or not of a location having a predetermined status in said rental site; and - control (220), according to said at least one status of said rental site, at least one signaling means, said site, at said rental site. The invention also relates to a system implementing such a method and an application of such a method and such a system to the automated rental of vehicles.

Description

The present invention relates to a method for managing vehicle rental sites. It also relates to a system implementing such a method and a rental vehicle installation incorporating such a method and system. The field of the invention is the field of automated rental of vehicles, and more particularly the field of management of rental sites offering one or more vehicles for rent and one or more parking spaces for these vehicles. "Rental site" means any site that allows the rental of a vehicle or the deposit of a vehicle at the end of the lease, and includes at least one parking space for these vehicles. State of the art Automated vehicle rental is a growing field. Agglomerations wishing to reduce the number of vehicles on their territory are implementing automated vehicle rental systems. Bicycle rental facilities are currently known. These facilities include several rental sites, scattered in a geographical area, and allowing users to take a bike rental or deposit a bike at the end of rental. Thus, a user can take a bike rental on a first site, use it for the duration of the lease, and deposit it, at the end of the lease, on a second rental site different from the first rental site. Known rental sites include locations arranged to receive a vehicle when the latter is no longer rented. Each location is designed to receive a single vehicle. The reason for such a design is to ensure an automated individual rental of vehicles offered for rent without human intervention. Thus, each rental site can receive more vehicles than parking space. However, such a situation can lead to an overload of a rental site, no longer allowing a user to deposit a rented vehicle.

The user in such an embarrassing situation is then led to look for another rental site to deposit his vehicle and end the lease. During this time, the vehicle is still rented and the user will be charged the corresponding amount. In addition, the search for an available parking space is a waste of time that can be significant, especially when no other rental site is close to the overloaded rental site. In addition, in the current processes and rental systems the user is also not informed about the availability of a vehicle for rent on a particular rental site. Thus, such a situation can also occur when the user wishing to rent a vehicle goes to a rental site that has no vehicle available for rent. An object of the present invention is to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks.

Another object of the invention is to propose a method and a rental site management system as part of an automated rental of vehicles for better management of the automated rental of a vehicle. Yet another object of the invention is to propose a method and a rental site management system in the context of an automated rental of vehicles allowing better information to customers concerning the availability or not of a vehicle or of a vehicle. a location in the rental sites. Finally, another object of the invention is to propose a method and a system for managing rental sites as part of an automated rental of vehicles making it possible to reduce the costs associated with renting vehicles for users. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention proposes to achieve at least one of the above-mentioned objects by a method of managing parking spaces on one or more sites, called rental sites, each comprising at least one location of parking, said method comprising the following steps for each rental site: - determining a status of at least one parking location of at least one rental site; determining, according to said status of at least one location of at least one status of said at least one rental site, relating to the presence or not of a location having a predetermined status in said rental site; and - order, according to said at least one status of said rental site, at least one signaling means, said site, at said rental site. The method according to the invention thus makes it possible to carry out a signaling according to the status or statuses of the rental site, the latter depending on the status of parking spaces or vehicles offered for rental in the rental site.

Thus, the method according to the invention allows a user not to be in the embarrassing situation described above, and to be informed of the availability of rental sites, by far and without having to go there in order on the one hand, to avoid going to a rental site that is not available to pick up a vehicle, and on the other hand to identify an available rental site to drop off his vehicle and end the lease. The method according to the invention thus allows a signaling rental sites allowing users to save time both at the beginning of rental, to identify a vehicle available for rental, and at the end of the rental to deposit a vehicle rented.

The method of the invention thus allows users to better manage the automated rental of vehicles, accompanying them from the search for a vehicle to rent until end of the lease. - 4 - "Available" rental site means a rental site with at least one "available" parking space or a location with a vehicle available for rental.

According to the invention, at least one status of the rental site indicates the presence at the site: of at least one available location, or at least one location associated with an available vehicle. Thus, the method according to the invention makes it possible to signal all the rental sites available. At least one rental site may comprise at least one light signal element, called a site, the control step of the method according to the invention may comprise a control of said light signaling element site. Such a luminous signaling element may preferably be arranged in height, in particular at the top of a device, called a rental terminal, installed in the rental site. Thus, users can access information from a distance.

In this first embodiment, when the status of the rental site indicates the presence of a location having the predetermined status, the site light signaling element can be activated to emit a light signal, the light signal being lit when the predetermined status is reached for at least one site location and turned off when the site status indicates that no site location has the predetermined status. Preferably, the control step can be carried out so that the light-signaling element displays a certain color, for example green, when the predetermined status is reached for at least one parking space, and another color, for example red, when the predetermined status is reached for no location. At least one rental site may also include several signaling elements, including bright, so-called site. In this case, a first signaling element being controlled according to a first status of the site, relating to the presence or not of a location having a predetermined first status, a second signaling element being controlled as a function of a second status of the site, distinct from the first and relating to the presence or not of a location having a second predetermined status. Indeed, each parking space can include several statuses. It may include, in addition to the statuses "available location" and "location associated with an available vehicle", a status stating "location associated with a vehicle unavailable", "location associated with a reserved vehicle", "location reserved", etc. . In this case, several statuses of the rental site likely to be of interest to users may be reported and each status of the rental site may be signaled by a different signal element. For example, it is possible to indicate whether there are available locations and whether there are available vehicles using two different signaling elements operating independently of one another. Alternatively, one could of course take into account the information related to the availability of locations and vehicles and / or any other status of the locations using a single site status and therefore a signaling element. Advantageously, the step of determining the status of a rental site may be performed by a central server, remote from said rental site. The method may then include transmitting from the rental site to said central site data relating to at least one status of a location. Thus, the central site can determine the status of several rental sites in a centralized manner and can possibly transmit the status information of each rental site to users or vehicles being rented to inform users about the statuses of the rental site. each rental site. Such transmission of information to the users or to the vehicles can be done at the request of the latter or at a specific frequency or at each change of the status of a site.

According to the invention, the status of at least one parking space can be determined as a function of: data relating to the state of a sensor disposed at said parking space, such a sensor possibly comprising a presence sensor such as as a camera, infrared sensor or weight sensor; and / or - data transmitted by a vehicle disposed on said parking space, for example data relating to the charge level of a battery of the vehicle; and / or - data extracted from a database and relating to said location, for example to the reserved status or not of the location, or to a vehicle disposed at said location, for example to the status "reserved", "not reserved" or "out of order" of the vehicle. This data can be stored in one or more databases in association with an identifier of the location, the vehicle and / or the rental site, on the rental site or preferably at a central site. Advantageously, at least one parking space comprises one or more signaling elements, including bright, said location. In this case, the method according to the invention may further comprise a step of controlling said at least one location signaling element according to the status of said parking space. Advantageously, when the parking space comprises an electric car charging terminal, the location light signaling element or elements may be arranged on said charging terminal and preferably on an upper part of the charging terminal so as to to be visible from afar. The location light signaling element may be configured to output a multicolour signal, a color being associated with a location status among a plurality of location statuses.

According to the invention, the status of at least one location and / or the status of at least one site is updated: - on request, and / or - at a predetermined frequency and / or - when said status changes. According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a parking location management system on one or more sites, said rental, each comprising at least one parking location, said system comprising for at least one rental site: means for determining a status for at least one parking location of at least one rental site; means for determining, according to said status of said at least one location, at least one status of said at least one rental site, relating to the presence or not of a location having a predetermined status in said rental site; and at least one signaling means, said site, at said rental site intended to be controlled according to said at least one status of said site. According to the invention, the system may further comprise at least one signaling means, said location, at each parking location, and provided to be controlled according to a status of the parking location. The location signaling means and / or the site signaling means may comprise: - a single luminous signaling element for signaling at least one status of the location or of the site, or - several luminous signaling elements each signaling element being relative to a particular status among a plurality of possible statuses for said location or said site. In the case of the site, this is particularly advantageous because several statuses can exist simultaneously for the same rental site (for example, if two locations of the site do not have the same status).

The means for determining at least one status of a location may comprise: at least one presence sensor disposed at said location, for example a camera or weighing means, at least one presence sensor of a electrical connection with a vehicle disposed at said parking place, such as for example a pilot wire in a cable carrying out said electrical connection, and / or - at least one database storing the status of at least one location or status at least one vehicle disposed on said location. In a preferred version of the system according to the invention, the means for determining the status of several rental sites are common to rental sites, for example databases and a management server, said means being arranged at a level of one or more locations. central site remote said rental sites and connected to said rental sites through at least one communication network. These means are notably implemented in a service management server.

In the common databases, each rental site can be identified by an identifier associated with said rental site. In a similar manner, each vehicle and parking space may be identified by an identifier associated with said vehicle or said parking location.

According to yet another aspect of the invention there is provided an automated vehicle rental facility comprising a plurality of rental sites each comprising at least one parking space, said installation comprising a management system according to the invention or comprising the means to implement the method according to the invention. Other advantages and characteristics will appear on examining the detailed description of non-limitative embodiments, and the appended drawings in which: FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a vehicle rental installation implementing the method according to the invention; FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic representation in the form of a diagram of a management method according to the invention; and FIG. 3 is a representation of a summary table of the data processed to determine the status of a parking space.

It is understood that the embodiments which will be described in the following are in no way limiting. In particular, it will be possible to imagine variants of the invention comprising only a selection of characteristics described subsequently isolated from the other characteristics described, if this selection of characteristics is sufficient to confer a technical advantage or to differentiate the invention from the state of the prior art. This selection comprises at least one preferably functional feature without structural details, or with only a part of the structural details if it is this part which is only sufficient to confer a technical advantage or to differentiate the invention from the invention. state of the art. In particular, all the variants and embodiments described are combinable with each other if nothing stands in the way of this combination at the technical level. In the figures and in the following description, the elements common to several figures retain the same reference.

The examples described below relate to an automated rental of electric cars on several rental sites. FIGURE 1 is a schematic representation of an automated rental facility for electric cars.

The installation 100 represented in FIG. 1 comprises a central site 102 connected to several sites - or stations - 1041-104n, said to be leased through a wireless communication network 106, for example GPRS, or a network wired, for example of the DSL or LAN type. Preferably, each site 104 is connected to the central site via the two separate networks, which allows a continuous connection even if one of the networks is faulty. Each rental site 104 includes a subscription terminal 108 for the registration of a new subscriber, a rental terminal 110 for the rental of a vehicle and a plurality of charging terminals 112-116, each charging terminal being provided for charging a vehicle with an electric battery to a parking location, namely parking spaces 118-122. Each parking location of a rental site 104 includes a presence detector module 124-128, namely weighing means, a camera and / or an electrical connection detector with a vehicle, connected to the rental terminal 110. The central site 102 may be directly connected to each of the terminals of a rental site 104 through the network 106 or only at the subscription terminal and / or at the rental terminal and or at charging terminals 112-116. At least two terminals of a rental site are connected to each other through a wired connection (not shown).

Each rental terminal 110 includes a site-specific light-signaling element 130 that can display multiple colors, each color being associated with a status that the rental site 104 can assume.

Each charging terminal 112-116 of each parking slot 118-122 also has a location light element 132-136 capable of displaying multiple colors, each color being associated with a status that the parking location can assume. 122.

Each vehicle present on each rental site 104 is in communication with the central site, for example using a communication module (not shown) through the GPRS or 3G wireless telephone network, or more generally through a wireless communication network. The central site 102 includes a central management server 132, several databases, namely: a database 140, called status, memorizing the status of each location and the status of each rental site, in association with a identifier of each location and an identifier of each site, - a reservation database 142, called location, storing for each location a data relating to the reservation or not of this parking space in association with the identifier of this location, - a reservation database 144, said vehicle, storing for each vehicle data relating to the reservation or not of this vehicle in association with an identifier of this vehicle, and - a database 146, said maintenance, storing for each vehicle data relating to the integrity (in other words, the availability) of the vehicle in association with an identifier of this v vehicle. Alternatively, all these data can be stored in a single database.

The central site 102 is also in communication with electric vehicles being leased through a wireless communication network, for example GPRS, which may be the same as the communication network 106.

FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of a rental site management method 200 according to the invention, for example in the context of the installation of FIG. 1. The steps of the method 200 are carried out for each rental site 20 independently, at the same time or one after the other. The method 200 firstly comprises a data collection step 202 for each rental site. This step 202 includes a step 204 determining for each parking location of the rental site if the location is occupied. To do this, the site may include a presence sensor assigned to each parking location of the site, for example a current loop located on the track, under the parking space or, more likely, a detection sensor located by example on a charging terminal assigned to the parking location. The connection of a vehicle to the charging terminal of each parking space can also be determined by a sensor for detecting the connection of a vehicle to the charging means of the charging terminal assigned to the location of - 13 - parking. Such a sensor may be a pilot wire, a sensor for detecting the position of a connector, etc. The various sensors are particularly capable of sending a signal when they detect a change of state. The shipment is made from the charging station to the rental terminal. Using these sensors, the following data can be obtained for each parking location: - "free location" or "occupied location", "connected vehicle", or "vehicle not connected".

The rental terminal then sends this information to the central server during a step 206. This transmission is carried out in particular using a wired LAN type network that connects each rental terminal to the central server. The message emitted by the rental terminal includes at least one item of data making it possible to identify the charging station and, in fact, the associated location and, if the location includes a vehicle, the identifier of the vehicle. This data is stored in a database, called status, in the central server in step 208.

The central server queries, in step 210, a database, called location database, to determine if a reservation is recorded for a location of the rental site, and more particularly to determine if a free parking space is reserved. or not.

From this interrogation, step 210 provides the following data: "reserved location" or "non-reserved location". For each free location, the status database is updated with data concerning the reservation or not of this location. The central server then queries, at step 212, a database, called a vehicle database, to determine whether a reservation is recorded for a vehicle, and more particularly to determine if, a vehicle being at a parking space busy the rental site is reserved or not. From this interrogation, step 212 obtains the following information: "reserved vehicle" or "non-reserved vehicle". For each occupied location comprising a vehicle, the status database is updated with data concerning the reservation or not of the vehicle.

The "reserved" status of a vehicle or a location can not be effective without the rental terminal storing data to this effect in its database and therefore it is not necessary to carry out checks. at the charging station and / or the vehicle. The method also determines in step 214 whether a vehicle at a parking location of the rental site is considered "available" or "unavailable". For this, the method queries a maintenance database updated from data entered by an operator concerning the state of the vehicle (non-rolling, for example, if it has suffered a failure), and / or data collected. from the vehicle or from the charging station, particularly concerning the charge level of the vehicle battery. The data collected from the vehicle is transmitted to the central server via a wireless network, such as a GPRS network, and stored in the vehicle database. From this interrogation, step 214 obtains the following data: "available vehicle" denoting a loaded moving vehicle or "unavailable vehicle" designating a non-loaded vehicle or a non-rolling vehicle. Each of the databases can be updated individually at a given frequency or whenever a change occurs.

The step 202 of collecting data relating to each parking space is then completed. Using all these data, in step 216, the method according to the invention determines and stores in the status database the status of each parking space. An example of a summary table of all the data obtained is given in Figure 3. The field storing the location status in the location status database is updated regularly and revised if necessary as soon as data relating to the location and stored in one of the specified databases changes. A step 218 then determines the status of the rental site according to the status of each parking space, for example "rental site includes at least one available location" or "rental site includes at least one location occupied by an available vehicle" "Rental site includes at least one available space and a space occupied by an available vehicle" or "rental site containing neither vehicle nor available space".

The method 200 then commands, in step 220, a light-signaling element of a site, located on the rental site for example on the site rental terminal, the signaling element displaying a different color depending on the status of the site, eg green for the status "rental site includes at least one available location and a location occupied by an available vehicle", yellow for "rental site includes at least one location occupied by an available vehicle", blue for "site rental includes at least one available location "or red for" rental site that does not include a vehicle or available space ". The control of the light-signaling element of the site is carried out by the management server possibly via the rental terminal.

The method also includes a step 222 for controlling a location light signaling element disposed at each location, for example at the charging terminal associated with each location and displaying a color according to the status of the location. The element can also display the same color for different statuses: green for example if vehicle or available location, blue for example if vehicle or placeholder, the distinction being made by the user depending on the presence or the absence of the vehicle.

The control of the luminous location signaling element is carried out by the management server possibly via the rental terminal and the charging terminal. Of course, the signaling means may also be other than light and the combinations of color or state on / off of the light element or elements are not limited to what has been described here. Alternatively, the rental terminal may be provided with two separate light elements. Step 220 then determines two site statuses comprising only two values indicating the presence or absence of a location having a predetermined status in the rental site (for example a status "location occupied by available vehicle?" And a "location available?" status). The first signaling element is controlled according to the status value "location occupied by available vehicle? (Eg, green if YES and red if NO), the second signaling element being controlled according to the status value "available location?" (For example, blue if YES, orange if NO). One can obviously also determine a status with only two values per rental site.

Similarly, the status of the site and the site are not limited to what has been described. Other statuses may exist. The statuses described here may also not exist. The statuses reported by the light-signaling elements may also vary from what is described here. The step of determining the status of the location or site can also be performed directly by the rental terminal, within the rental site without using the central site or a central management server. It is still more interesting to do it at the level of a management server, which can also transmit the status data to each vehicle being rented or to users wishing to rent a vehicle for example through their phone, their PDA or more generally a telecommunication device. Of course, the invention is not limited to the examples which have just been described.

Claims (11)

REVENDICATIONS1. A method (200) for managing parking spaces (118-122) at one or more locations (1041-140n), said rental locations, each comprising at least one parking location (118-122), said method (200 ) comprising the following steps for each rental site (1041-140n) determining (216) a status of at least one parking space (118-122) of at least one rental site (104), said determining comprising, for at least one location, a detection of presence or absence of a vehicle at said parking location and / or detection of an electrical connection of the vehicle to a charging terminal associated with the parking space, by a sensor disposed at said parking location, said status being determined in accordance with one or at least one of said detections; determining (218), based on said status of said at least one location (118-122), at least one status of said at least one rental site (104), relating to the presence or not of a location having a status predetermined in said rental site (104); and controlling (220), based on said at least one status of said rental site (104), at least one light signaling means (130), said site, at said rental site (104). 25 Method (200) according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one status of the rental site indicates the presence at the site of: at least one available location (118-122), or at least one a location (118-122) associated with an available vehicle. 30 A method (200) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that when the status of the rental site indicates the presence of a location having the predetermined status, the site light signaling element (130) is activated to emit a light signal. 4. Method (200) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one rental site (104) comprises a plurality of signaling elements, including luminous, so-called site, a first signal element being controlled in according to a first status of the site, relating to the presence or not of a location having a first predetermined status, a second signaling element being controlled according to a second status of the site, distinct from the first and relating to the presence or not a location with a second predetermined status. 5. Method (200) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the step (218) for determining the status of a rental site (104) is performed by a central server (138), remote said rental site (104), said method (200) including a transmission (206) from the rental site (104) to said central site (102) of data relating to at least one status of a location (118-122 ). A method (200) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the status of at least one parking space (118-122) is further determined based on data emitted by a vehicle parking space. , and / or - data extracted from a database (142-146) and relating to said location or to a vehicle located on said location. 7. Method (200) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, at least one parking space (118-122) comprises signaling means, in particular one or more elements (132-136) of light signaling, said method, said method further comprising a step (222) of controlling the location signaling means (132-136) according to the status of said parking location (118-122). disposed on said 8. Parking management system (118-122) on one or more sites (1041-140,), said rental, each comprising at least one parking space (118-122), said system comprising for at least a site: means (124-128, 138, 142-148) for determining a status for at least one parking location (118-122) of at least one rental site (104), said means comprising, for at least one parking space, at least one presence sensor and / or a presence sensor of an electrical connection of a charging terminal associated with the parking space with a vehicle disposed at said parking space; determining means (138, 140) according to said status of said at least one location (118-122), of at least one status of said at least one rental site (104), relating to the presence or not of a location having a predetermined status in said rental site (104); and at least one light signaling means (130), said site, at said rental site (104) scheduled to be controlled according to said at least one status of said rental site (104). 9. System according to claim 8, characterized in that it further comprises at least one signaling means (132-136), said location, at each parking slot (118-122) intended to be controlled. depending on the status of the location. 10. System according to any one of claims 8 and 9, characterized in that the means (138,140) for determining the status of several rental sites (1041-140,) are common audits rental sites (104 / -1400, said means (138,140) being disposed at a central site (102) remote from said rental sites (1041-140n) and connected to said rental sites (1041-140n) through at least one network (106); ) of communication.- 21 - 11. Installation (100) of automated rental of electric vehicles comprising several rental sites (1041-104n), each of said rental sites (1041-104n) comprising at least one rental location (118-122), said facility (100 ) comprising a system according to any one of claims 8 to 10, or means for carrying out the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7.