JP2002257615A - New charging system for fuel in rental car business - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a charging system for fuel employing a new measuring method in place of metering at a gas station in a car sharing industry such as a rental car business or the like. SOLUTION: The shape of a fuel tank of a vehicle is designated, and a displacement sensor is installed at a specified position of the tank for detecting a liquid surface. Then, the displacement of the liquid surface is accurately measured, and the amount of consumed or supplied fuel for the vehicle is directly measured from the displacement. The adjustment of cost about the fuel is carried out between an owner and a user of the vehicle.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a means for detecting the amount of fuel held in a vehicle or the like, and further relates to a method for trading the amount of fuel used and the amount of supply using the means.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the rent-a-car industry, the measurement of the amount of fuel used and the amount of replenishment is rarely performed by the rent-a-car industry itself. It is done in. Therefore, for example, a customer who has rented a rental car stops at a gas station in the vicinity before returning the vehicle to the rental car dealer, refuels up to the reference line of the fuel tank, and then returns to the rental car base again. The vehicle has been returned.

According to this method, if all customers refuel and return to the reference line of the fuel tank, the rental company does not need to refuel and the amount of fuel used is limited to gas stations and other specialized facilities. It has the advantage of being able to pay at weighing stations. For this reason, this system is widespread in almost all of the rental car industry in Japan, and is referred to in the industry as a "full tank" system.

[0004] In recent years, a car sharing system has been studied as a measure for preventing global warming by a local government and a group improving transportation means mainly. This method reduces the number of vehicles that flow into the city by arranging a plurality of low-emission vehicles at major locations in the city and making one vehicle available to multiple customers. It is an attempt to reduce the amount of exhaust gas emitted by such vehicles and to prevent the deterioration of air pollution.

[0005] For example, in the July 7, 1997 issue of the Kyoto Shimbun, a car sharing organization was born in Mainz, Germany since the late 1980's, and at present, about 100 members cooperate with a plurality of vehicles. News that they use it has been reported. Also in Japan, Inagi City, Ebina City (Kanagawa Prefecture), Toyota City (Aichi Prefecture), etc. are considering introducing this method for the same purpose. A major problem in the spread of car sharing is how to arrange vehicles. An electric vehicle equipped with a battery is the most prominent low-emission vehicle.However, when an electric vehicle is used, it is essential to develop an infrastructure such as a power supply as a power source. It has the disadvantage that the distance cannot be lengthened. As alternative low-emission vehicles, for example, electric vehicles equipped with a fuel cell and hybrid vehicles using a combination of a battery and an engine are rising as one of the promising candidates.

Another problem in the spread of the car sharing is that if a vehicle using a liquid fuel such as gasoline or methanol as a power source such as a fuel cell vehicle or a hybrid vehicle is employed, the problem may occur. The problem is how to know the amount of fuel used and the amount of replenishment. If we had to rely on the conventional "full tank return" method, customers would have to stop by the gas station in the vicinity each time they returned, and at the car sharing base, the fuel It requires human resources to confirm that is full and to settle the price. This departs from the goal of car sharing: "I want to make a smooth payment for multiple customers with one card."

As described above, a car including a car rental business
In the sharing industry, it is desired to grasp the amount of fuel consumption by a new method that is not restricted by the “full tank” method.
A common problem in the industry is how to accurately and safely measure the amount of fuel used and supplied while in a vehicle. Conventionally, there is no measuring instrument for measuring the amount of fuel used, such as a rotary fuel flow meter used in a test course of an automobile manufacturer. Since it is a contact type, considering the possibility of fuel leakage and clogging of flow passages, there remains a problem in terms of safety when applied to general vehicles, and there was no case where the meter was mounted on general vehicles.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and uses a non-contact type liquid level detecting device using light, sound waves, etc., and uses fuel from displacement of the liquid level. Detecting the quantity and replenishment quantity and knowing these quantities from the driver's seat with the same precision as that used in conventional fueling stations eliminates the need for the conventional "full tank return" method of fuel. It is another object of the present invention to perform a fuel transaction with a simpler method.

[0009]

The present inventors have previously proposed a method for accurately measuring the liquid level (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
-220311), the center point of the fuel tank volume measurement perpendicular to the straight body of the fuel tank (hereinafter referred to as the "capacity center of gravity").
(Abbreviated as) and a method of non-contact detection of the liquid surface position on a line passing through. According to this method, even if the vehicle stops or shakes in an inclined state, the amount of fuel held in the fuel tank can be detected with a precision of three or more significant figures, and the fuel supply path can be completely eliminated. It is possible to measure the amount of fuel used and replenished without any modification. The use of the liquid level signal from the fuel tank eliminates the need for the driver to stop at the gas station, and can input the amount of fuel used directly to the card or the like from the driver's seat.

Next, regarding the center of gravity of the capacitance

Description will be made with reference to FIG. The volume center of gravity refers to the position indicating the height when measuring the liquid volume in the fuel tank.For example, when the fuel tank is a rectangular box, the position corresponding to the front, rear, left and right center points A to A '. Even if the fuel tank is tilted back and forth (θ ₁ ) or right and left (θ ₂ ), the height of the liquid level at this position does not change as long as the liquid volume in the fuel tank is constant. −
It has the characteristic of being in the position. The shape of the fuel tank to which the present invention is applied must be a shape having this volume center of gravity.

In FIG. 2, the shape of the container is a box shape, but it may be a cylindrical shape or a conical shape as long as the shape has a center of gravity of the capacity, or a combination of these shapes.

The present inventor has separately proposed (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
0-378174), the liquid surface is irradiated with at least three or more light beams, one of which is a reference line perpendicular to a horizontal reference line set in a part of the fuel tank, and the other two or more light lines. The light ray is a tilted light ray that is symmetrical with respect to the reference line and has a predetermined angle (α), receives reflected light rays of these three or more light rays, and tilts the reflected light ray from a reflection point on the liquid surface by the reference light ray. (D ₁ ,
d ₂ , d ₃ ,...) may be used. According to this method, there is no need to move the light receiving unit that receives the reflected light, and there is an advantage that the measurement can be performed even when the liquid surface undulates due to vibration. The detection accuracy of this method is equivalent to the case where ultrasonic waves are used. Knowing the exact liquid level, the amount of fuel used can be calculated from the displacement by simple calculation.
The points that can be entered in the field are the same as the previous section.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

This will be described with reference to FIG. When the driver departs from the rental car base, an electric signal indicating the position of the liquid level from the liquid level detector 4 of the fuel tank 1 in the figure is sent to an arithmetic unit 2 attached to the vehicle, where it is known. Is converted to the amount of fuel held using the macro computer. When the driver has completed a certain traveling and returned to the rental car base, the electric signal from the liquid level detector 4 of the fuel tank 1 is sent again to the same arithmetic unit 2 and converted into the fuel holding amount. You. If the amount of fuel possessed at the time of departure and return is known, the amount of fuel used can be determined from the displacement of both. When the fuel is replenished during traveling, the displacement of the fuel holding amount before and after the refueling is the replenishment amount. The amount of fuel used and the amount of replenishment thus obtained can be sent to the output device 3 on the spot and input to a card or the like. From the data input to the card, the usage fee is automatically calculated in accordance with the type of the vehicle, the usage time, and the fuel consumption, and the amount is deducted from the customer's designated account. As a result, it is possible to trade the fuel amount and settle the fuel price without requiring any labor for the driver and the clerk of the rental car business. The same is true when the car rental business replaces car sharing.

[0013]

According to the present invention, in the car-sharing industry such as the rental car industry, when calculating the amount of fuel used and the amount of replenishment, conventionally, the "full-back" method of fuel is generally used. However, this is no longer necessary, and the user can return the vehicle only by inputting the fuel consumption and the like to the card or the like. On the other hand, when refueling a vehicle that has returned to the base, the rental company only needs to replenish the fuel that it has purchased.
If there is a difference between the fuel purchase price and the commercial price, the difference will be a disadvantage for the rental company. The accuracy of detecting the amount of fuel used and the amount of replenishment by this method is three or more significant figures, and has the same accuracy as that of the conventional fuel filling station method. Further, if this system is used, it is possible to trade fuel between a rental car company and its users with a single card, and the amount of work of both cars is greatly reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a capacitance center of gravity.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Fuel tank 2 Computing device 3 Output device 4 Liquid level detector A-A 'Capacity center of gravity

Claims (4)

[The claims] In a fuel tank of a mobile vehicle, a liquid level position of fuel is converted into an electric signal and taken out, and a means for detecting a fuel holding amount in the fuel tank from the electric signal is used to obtain a fuel consumption amount. And a refueling amount is detected, and a fuel price is settled between the owner and the user of the vehicle. 2. A device for detecting the amount of fuel held in a fuel tank, converting the amount of held fuel into electric signals, extracting the signals, and detecting the amount of fuel used and the amount of fuel replenished from these electric signals. Means for detecting the amount of fuel held in the fuel tank is determined by detecting the amount of fuel on a line perpendicular to the straight body of the fuel tank and passing through a center point (hereinafter, abbreviated as “capacity center point”) for measuring the capacity of the fuel tank. A fuel trading method using a method characterized by detecting a liquid level position in a non-contact manner. 3. The fuel trading method according to claim 1, wherein the means for detecting the fuel level in a non-contact manner uses ultrasonic waves. 4. The fuel trading method according to claim 1, wherein the means for detecting the fuel level in a non-contact manner uses a laser.