JP2020027572A - Item separation position detection method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide techniques of detecting, upon separation of an item from a user, a position where the separation occurred and notifying the user of it with high reliability.SOLUTION: Upon transition of a portable terminal of a user from a state where a signal is effectively received from a transmitter used for an item to a state where it is not effectively received (NO in S3105), the portable terminal measures a present position (S3120) and stores a measured present position in a memory (S3122). At alarming timing associated temporally with the transition (S3123), the portable terminal outputs an alarm for notifying the user of separation of the item from the user (S3124). At display timing (S3126) after the elapse of a temporal interval from completion of the output of the alarm, the portable terminal reads out the present position stored in the memory and displays, on a screen, the read present position as the separation position of the item (3130).SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 31

Description

  The present invention relates to a technology for detecting a separation position where the separation has occurred when the user separates from an item and notifying the user of the separation position, and particularly relates to a technology for performing the detection using a communication terminal of the user having a positioning function.

  Items with which the user is involved (eg, using, managing, or taking care of), ie, tracked or monitored objects (eg, possessions, rentals, possessions by the user, ride on the user) Moving objects, merchandise displayed in stores, merchandise stored in warehouses, personal property, humans such as infants and elderly people, animals such as pets, etc.) There is already an item separation position detection technology that detects a separation position where separation has occurred and notifies the user of the separation position.

  Here, examples of "the user intentionally separates from the item" include a case where the user stops the car and gets off there and parks the car, and a case where the user uses a bicycle (a bicycle owned by the person, a shared bicycle). Bicycles, rental bicycles, etc.), stop there, and park the bicycle.

  On the other hand, cases where the user accidentally separates from the item include cases where the item falls unconsciously from the user, cases where the user leaves or misplaces the item, and cases where the user's item is stolen due to a deposit. There are cases where items are stolen from stores and warehouses due to shoplifting.

  An example of this item separation position detection technology is a technology for managing a rental target, which is an example of a movable property existing in a station as a real estate, using a portable terminal carried by the rental target user.

  One example is a service for lending and returning rental objects that are movables to users at any place or station (or port) that is real estate. Rental objects include vehicles that move people and luggage, and the types of vehicles include automobiles, bicycles, and motorcycles.

  The vehicle rental service of renting and returning rental vehicles is a round trip method in which the rental must be returned at the same station where the rental was made, and a return at a different place from the place where the rental was made Is permitted.

  By the way, as a rental vehicle nomenclature, for example, in the case of a bicycle, it may be referred to as a "rental cycle" or a "share cycle", but there is a substantial difference in meaning between the two. not exist. In this specification, a bicycle as a rental vehicle is referred to as a “rental cycle” or a “rental bicycle” for convenience.

  Similarly, an automobile may be referred to as a “rent-a-car” or a “share car”, but there is no substantial difference between the two. In this specification, a bicycle as a rental vehicle is referred to as a “rent-a-car” for convenience.

  Further, in the one-way vehicle rental service, lending and returning must be performed at any station (or port), respectively, and lending and returning can be performed at any location. It is classified as a free floating type.

  By the way, when the vehicle rental service is carried out in a system in which the rental vehicle is stored in any station (regardless of whether it is a round trip system or a one-way system), the rental vehicle that has been rented is rented. Should be returned to any station by the user after use.

  However, if the user forgets or fails to return the rented rental vehicle to any of the stations for some reason, the rented rental vehicle is abandoned (dropped off) at a place other than the station. there is a possibility.

  Therefore, the rental company needs an additional operation of searching for the abandoned rental vehicle and collecting it at any station.

  On the other hand, when the vehicle rental service is implemented by the free floating one-way system described above, the rented rental vehicle is returned to any station, that is, a fixed place by the user. There is no.

  Therefore, as a rental company that implements a vehicle rental service in a free floating type one-way system, a place where the user actually returns the rented rental vehicle (here, the act of “returning” means that the rental vehicle is one of It does not fall under the act of collecting at the station, so from the viewpoint of the station-type one-way system, it can be expressed as an act of "abandonment."

  Thanks to the search, rental companies that provide free-floating one-way vehicle rental services separate the location where the return was actually made (apparent return station) from the rental vehicle that was returned. This time, it is possible to guide other potential users as a place (apparent lending station) where lending is possible.

  Against the background described above, some techniques for searching for abandoned rental vehicles have already been proposed.

  For example, in the system described in Patent Literature 1, an abandoned bicycle cycle is searched for as an abandoned bicycle, and a position where the abandoned bicycle is abandoned is assigned to a virtual station different from the real station. Route guidance is provided to another potential user to arrive at the virtual station and use the abandoned bicycle as a rental cycle. The virtual station is deleted on the computer when the abandoned bicycle is lent to the user. The abandoned bicycle is collected at any of the actual stations by a user different from the first user.

  Further, in the system described in Patent Literature 1, an in-vehicle device is mounted on a rental cycle. The in-vehicle device has a position acquisition unit (GPS (global positioning system)) for acquiring the position of the rental cycle. The user uses the terminal device. The terminal device also has a position acquisition unit, similarly to the rental cycle.

  In the system described in Patent Document 2, an IC chip (an example of a transmitter) is mounted on a bicycle. Data is read from the IC chip by a terminal (an example of a portable terminal, but not a user's portable terminal) possessed by a manager.

  The terminal has GPS. The terminal acquires position information by the GPS of the terminal at the timing of reading data from the IC chip. The terminal communicates with a bicycle parking management apparatus (an example of a management server) via a terminal installed in the management room of the manager.

  According to the system described in Patent Literature 2, when the position information transmitted from the terminal to the bicycle-parking bicycle management device indicates the same place for a long period of time, the caretaker considers that the bicycle is a parked bicycle. Can be confirmed.

  In the system described in Patent Literature 3, a position acquisition unit (PHS or GPS) is mounted on the bicycle, and the bicycle position acquired by the position acquisition unit is directly transmitted to the server without passing through the user's portable terminal. You.

  In the system described in Patent Document 4, in a field of car sharing in which a vehicle is shared among a plurality of users instead of a bicycle, a unique identification is provided to a station where a vehicle is rented and / or returned to a user. A first transmitter for transmitting a signal is installed, and a second transmitter for transmitting a unique identification signal is installed in the vehicle. In this system, lending and / or returning the vehicle is permitted to the user based on the signal received by the portable terminal of the user from the first transmitter and the signal received from the second transmitter.

  Further, in the system described in Patent Document 4, when the user's portable terminal receives a signal from the second transmitter, but does not receive a signal from the first transmitter, the user operates the vehicle. Is determined to be getting off the road.

  Another example of the above-described item separation position detection technology is a technology for detecting a separation position when a user's portable article is separated from the user against his / her will.

  One conventional example of the technique is disclosed in Patent Document 5. In this conventional example, an IC tag is attached to a user's portable item, the user carries a portable information terminal having a positioning function, and while the communication with the IC tag continues, the portable information terminal keeps its current position. Is measured and stored in a memory. When communication with the IC tag is interrupted, the stored current position is displayed.

  Another conventional example is disclosed in Patent Document 6. In this conventional example, a non-contact IC tag is attached to an object to be monitored, a user carries a portable terminal having a positioning function, and when the IC tag leaves the detection range of the portable terminal, the portable terminal changes its current position. (The last discovered position of the monitored object) is measured, and its current position is stored and displayed.

JP 2012-181773 A JP 2005-352867 A JP 2003-232152 A JP-A-2017-068449 Japanese Patent No. 3532912 JP 2005-011056 A

  According to the system described in Patent Literature 1, the presence and location of an abandoned rental vehicle are detected, and the detected abandoned rental vehicle is lent to another user, thereby eliminating the need for a rental company. Abandoned rental vehicles are collected.

  However, in the system described in Patent Literature 1, it is necessary to mount a GPS on a rental vehicle in order to detect the location of the abandoned rental vehicle. In this system, the GPS is also mounted on the user's terminal device, but in this system, it is not possible to detect the idle position of the rental vehicle using the GPS mounted on the terminal device.

  Similarly, even in the system described in Patent Document 3, it is not possible to detect the position of the bicycle by using the GPS mounted on the user's portable terminal.

  On the other hand, according to the system described in Patent Literature 2, a GPS mounted on a terminal carried by a manager is used to detect the location of an abandoned rental vehicle. As a result, it is unnecessary to mount the GPS on the rental vehicle.

  However, the system described in Patent Document 2 cannot use the mobile terminal of the user of the rental vehicle or the GPS of the mobile terminal to detect the location of the abandoned rental vehicle. Therefore, in this system, even if an abandoned rental vehicle appears, the administrator cannot notice the existence of the abandoned rental vehicle until the manager, not the user, approaches the abandoned rental vehicle.

  Further, in the system described in Patent Literature 4, the management server can detect the possibility that the automobile will get off or be abandoned on the basis of the state of the signal received by the user's portable terminal from the two transmitters. However, in this system, when the management server detects that there is a possibility that the car is left unattended, the management server remotely forcibly locks the door of the car and allows the user to do so. To prevent the user from leaving the vehicle unattended.

  For this reason, Patent Document 4 does not even describe the necessity of detecting an abandoned position of an automobile because a technique for preventing the abandonment of the automobile is employed. That is, there is no reference or suggestion in this document to measure the abandoned position of the car using the GPS of the user's mobile terminal.

  On the other hand, if the position of the rental vehicle can be detected using the user's mobile terminal, for example, in a free floating type one-way rental business, when a user rents a rental vehicle at an arbitrary place, The location and the location when the user returns the rental vehicle to an arbitrary location can be detected using the user's mobile terminal.

  Also, in the system described in Patent Document 5, the portable information terminal sequentially measures and stores the current position during communication with the IC tag, and replaces the past current position with a new current position every time a new current position is measured. The current position is overwritten and saved, and when communication with the IC tag is disabled, the saved current position is displayed as the item separation position.

  Further, in the system described in Patent Literature 6, when communication with the IC tag becomes impossible, the portable terminal measures the current position and displays the position as the item separation position.

  However, the system described in Patent Document 5 has a problem that the portable information terminal consumes a large amount of power because the portable information terminal must constantly activate the positioning function during communication with the IC tag.

  Further, in the systems described in Patent Literatures 5 and 6, in each case, the positioning function of the mobile terminal is GPS, and therefore, the positioning error exists in the mobile terminal. (At the stage when the item is still sufficiently close to the user), the measured current position is displayed as the item separation position.

  Therefore, in this system, if the positioning error is larger than the distance between the item and the user, the difference between the item separation position displayed by the mobile terminal and the position where the item actually exists is caused by the positioning error. There is a problem that the user may have a discomfort with the object, and eventually the user may have a distrust of the performance of the system.

  In view of the above knowledge, the present invention relates to a technology for detecting a separation position at which a user has separated from an item, that is, a tracking target or a monitoring target, and notifying the user of the separation. The object of the present invention is to provide a technology for improving the performance.

  In order to solve the problem, the following plural aspects are provided.

(1) An item separation position detecting method for detecting a separation position where the separation occurs when the user separates from the item and informing the user of the separation position,
The method is performed using a user communication terminal having a positioning function, and a transmitter used in association with the item and transmitting a unique signal,
The method is
An ineffective reception state in which the communication terminal does not effectively receive a signal from the transmitter because the position of the transmitter deviates from the reception range of the communication terminal from an effective reception state in which a signal is effectively received from the transmitter. When the transition to, a storage step of measuring the current position of the communication terminal, and storing the measured current position in a memory,
An alarming step in which the communication terminal visually, audibly and / or tactilely outputs an alarm at an alarm timing temporally associated with the transition to inform the user that the user has left the item; When,
The communication terminal reads out the current position stored in the memory at a display timing that is separated from the end of output of the alarm by a time interval, and uses the read current position as a separation position of the item to perform the communication. An item separation position detecting method, comprising: a step of displaying a separation position displayed on a terminal screen.

(2) The item separation position detection method according to (1), wherein the display timing is defined as a timing at which a duration of the invalid reception state exceeds a time specified by a user.

(3) The display timing is defined as a timing at which a time specified by the user has arrived or a timing that is a predetermined time before the timing, or a timing at which the user has arrived at a location specified by the user or a timing that is a predetermined time before the timing. Item 1 is a method for detecting an item separation position.

(4) The communication terminal further includes a reminder step of outputting an additional alarm visually, audibly, and / or tactilely when the user does not input a confirmation message to the communication terminal in response to the alarm. Item detection method according to any one of (1) to (3).

(5) The item separation position detection method according to any one of (1) to (4), wherein the alarming step and / or the reminder step outputs a corresponding alarm together with information for identifying the item.

(6) The communication terminal further includes a history display step of responding to a history browsing request from the user regarding the separated position, reading the separated position from the memory, and displaying the read position on a screen (1) to (5). Item detection method according to any one of the above items.

(7) Furthermore, the distance between the user and the item when the separated position is displayed on the screen of the communication terminal is determined by the reception range and the display timing. The item separation position detection method according to any one of (1) to (6), further comprising a step of setting the output distance to be longer than a distance existing between the user and the item when the item is output.

(8) A program for functioning as the communication terminal according to any one of (1) to (7).

  Throughout this application, the term "program" will be interpreted to mean, for example, a combination of instructions executed by a computer to perform its functions, Can be interpreted to include, but not limited to, files and data processed according to

  In addition, this program may achieve its intended purpose by being executed by a computer by itself, or may achieve its intended purpose by being executed by a computer together with other programs. Can, but is not limited to. In the latter case, the program according to this section can be mainly composed of data, but is not limited thereto.

(9) A recording medium in which the program according to (8) is recorded in a computer-readable manner.

  Throughout this application, the term "recording medium" means a recording medium adopting any format, for example, a magnetic recording medium such as a flexible disk, and an optical recording medium such as a CD or CD-ROM. , MO, or the like, or an unremovable storage such as a ROM, but is not limited thereto.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, a user's portable terminal can be effectively changed from a reception state in which a signal unique to the transmitter is effectively received from a transmitter mounted on a rented rental vehicle by a short-range communication method. When the state transits to the non-reception non-reception state, the current position measured by the portable terminal at that time is stored in the memory, and the rental vehicle is returned to the user without leaving the current position at the current position. Outputting a visual, audible and / or tactile message or stimulus from the mobile terminal to prompt the user or to inform the user that the rental vehicle may have been left at the current location. The non-reception state lasts longer than a predetermined time or is stored in the memory at a timing before reaching the time or place designated by the user. And that the current position was recognized as a standing position of the rental vehicle, optionally, rental vehicle management method for notifying the left position to the user is provided.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for managing a rental vehicle,
The user who has rented the rental vehicle carries his / her own mobile terminal while using the rental vehicle,
The rental vehicle is equipped with a transmitter that transmits a signal that can specify a unique vehicle identification code,
The mobile terminal is capable of receiving the transmitter by a short-range communication method, and has a positioning function of sequentially measuring its own current position,
The method is
A vehicle identification step of identifying the rental vehicle by the portable terminal acquiring a vehicle identification code specified by a signal received from the transmitter;
When the mobile terminal transitions from a reception state in which a signal is effectively received from the transmitter to a non-reception state in which the signal is not effectively received, a storage step of storing a current position measured by the mobile terminal at that time in a memory,
When the transition occurs, the mobile terminal may prompt the user to return the rental vehicle to a regular position instead of leaving it at the current position, or the mobile terminal may leave the rental vehicle at the current position. An output step of outputting a visual, audible and / or tactile message or stimulus from the portable terminal for notifying a user that the user may have performed the operation,
At a timing before the duration of the non-reception state exceeds a predetermined time or before reaching a time or place designated by the user, the portable terminal recognizes the rental vehicle as an abandoned vehicle and stores the rental vehicle in the memory. A recognition step of recognizing the current location as the abandoned location of the recognized rental vehicle, and, optionally, informing the user of the abandoned location;
Transmitting the abandoned vehicle and the abandoned vehicle-related information on the abandoned position to a management server by the mobile terminal.

  An example of the storing step includes a step of storing the measured current position in the memory in association with a time at which the measurement is performed.

  The following aspects are obtained by the present invention. Each mode is divided into sections, each section is numbered, and if necessary, is described in a form in which the numbers of other sections are cited. This is to facilitate understanding of some of the technical features that can be adopted by the present invention and combinations thereof, and the technical features and the combinations thereof that can be adopted by the present invention are limited to the following aspects. Should not be interpreted as That is, it should be construed that it is not hampered that technical features not described in the following embodiments but described in the present specification are appropriately extracted and adopted as technical features of the present invention.

  Furthermore, listing each section in a form that quotes the number of the other section does not necessarily prevent the technical features described in each section from being separated from and independent of the technical features described in the other sections. It is to be construed that the technical features described in the respective sections can be appropriately made independent according to their properties.

(1) Transition from a reception state in which a user's portable terminal effectively receives a signal unique to the transmitter from a transmitter mounted on a rented rental vehicle by a short-distance communication method to a non-reception state in which the signal is not received effectively. Then, a rental vehicle management method for recognizing the current position measured by the portable terminal within a reference time from the transition as the abandoned position of the rental vehicle.

  In one example, the mobile terminal recognizes the rental vehicle identified by the signal received from the transmitter as the abandoned vehicle before the transition, and recognizes the measured current position as the abandoned position of the abandoned vehicle.

  The invention according to the above item (1) is particularly useful when the vehicle rental business is implemented in a station-type one-way system in which the concept of leaving the rental vehicle more noticeable than in the free floating type can be easily recognized.

(2) A method for managing rental vehicles,
The user who has rented the rental vehicle carries his / her own mobile terminal while using the rental vehicle,
The rental vehicle is equipped with a transmitter that transmits a signal that can specify a unique vehicle identification code,
The mobile terminal is capable of receiving the transmitter by a short-range communication method, and has a positioning function of sequentially measuring its own current position,
The method is
A vehicle identification step of identifying the rental vehicle by the mobile terminal and / or a management server capable of communicating with the mobile terminal acquiring a vehicle identification code specified by a signal received by the mobile terminal from the transmitter; When,
When the portable terminal and / or the management server transitions from a reception state in which the portable terminal effectively receives a signal from the transmitter to a non-reception state in which the portable terminal does not effectively receive a signal, the portable terminal uses the portable terminal within a reference time from the transition. A parked position recognition step of recognizing the measured current position as the parked position of the identified rental vehicle.

(3) A method for managing rental vehicles to be rented and returned to a user at the same station or at a plurality of different stations,
The user who has rented the rental vehicle carries his / her own mobile terminal while using the rental vehicle,
The station is provided with a first transmitter for transmitting a signal capable of specifying a unique station identification code,
The rental vehicle is equipped with a second transmitter for transmitting a signal capable of specifying a unique vehicle identification code,
The mobile terminal is capable of receiving the first and second transmitters by a short-range communication method, and has a positioning function of sequentially measuring its own current position,
The method is
The portable terminal and / or a management server capable of communicating with the portable terminal, wherein the portable terminal receives a signal from the second transmitter and acquires a vehicle identification code specified by the received signal, A vehicle identification process for identifying the rental vehicle;
A reception state in which the portable terminal and / or the management server effectively receives a signal from the second transmitter in a state where the portable terminal is not receiving a signal effectively from the first transmitter; A transition to a non-reception state in which the rental vehicle is not received effectively from the mobile terminal. Vehicle management method.

(4)
The mobile terminal and / or the management server, when transitioning from the reception state to the non-reception state, include a parked vehicle recognition step of recognizing the identified rental vehicle as a parked vehicle,
The abandoned vehicle recognition process,
When the elapsed time from the start time of the non-receiving state exceeds a predetermined time, a step of recognizing the rental vehicle as an abandoned vehicle;
A step of recognizing the rental vehicle as an abandoned vehicle, even if the rental rental time of the rental vehicle permitted by the user has elapsed, if the rental vehicle is not returned to any station;
After the non-receiving state is started, the mobile terminal visually, audibly or tactilely stimulates the user to prompt the user to return the rental vehicle to any station, The rental vehicle management method according to claim 3, further comprising: recognizing the rental vehicle as an abandoned vehicle if the user does not respond to the reminder to the mobile terminal.

(5)
The mobile terminal and / or the management server may go to the abandoned location, borrow the abandoned vehicle, return the abandoned vehicle to any station, for potential mobile terminals of a plurality of other users. The rental vehicle management method according to the above mode (3) or (4), further comprising a collection promotion step of transmitting a request to want at once, thereby promoting collection of the abandoned vehicle.

(6) When the user's portable terminal transitions from a non-receiving state in which a signal inherent to the transmitter is not received by the short-range communication method from a transmitter mounted on the rental vehicle before borrowing to a receiving state in which the signal is received, A rental vehicle management method for recognizing a current position measured by the portable terminal within a reference time as a rental position of the rental vehicle.

  According to this method, a vehicle rental business that allows a user to rent a rental vehicle at any station and a vehicle rental business that allows a user to rent a rental vehicle at any location are realized. You.

  In one example of this method, the reception range of the transmitter is set to a short range described later, whereby the transition from the non-reception state to the reception state is performed by the user holding the portable terminal over the transmitter. Done.

  In another example, the reception range of the transmitter is a medium range described below (as long as the user is in a rental vehicle, the mobile terminal can receive the transmitter without having to hold the mobile terminal over the transmitter. (A range of about), so that the user approaches the rental vehicle and the transmitter together with the portable terminal, so that the transition from the non-receiving state to the receiving state is performed.

(7) When the user's portable terminal transits from a receiving state in which a signal inherent to the transmitter is received from the transmitter mounted on the rented rental vehicle by the short-range communication method to a non-receiving state in which the signal is not received, the transition is made. And a rental vehicle management method for recognizing a current position measured by the portable terminal within a reference time as a return position of the rental vehicle.

  According to this method, a vehicle rental business that allows a user to return a rental vehicle to any station, or a vehicle rental business that allows a user to return a rental vehicle to any location. Is achieved.

  In one example of this method, the reception range of the transmitter is set to the medium range, whereby the user moves away from the rental vehicle and the transmitter together with the portable terminal or withdraws from the transmission state, so that the reception state is set. The transition to the non-receiving state is performed.

(8) When the user's portable terminal changes from a non-receiving state in which a signal unique to the transmitter is not received by the short-range communication method to a receiving state in which the signal is received from the transmitter mounted on the rented rental vehicle, the transition is made. And a rental vehicle management method for recognizing a current position measured by the portable terminal within a reference time as a return position of the rental vehicle.

  According to this method, a vehicle rental business that allows a user to return a rental vehicle to any station, or a vehicle rental business that allows a user to return a rental vehicle to any location. Is achieved.

  In one example of this method, the reception range of the transmitter is set to the short range, whereby the user approaches the rental vehicle and the transmitter together with a portable terminal, thereby changing the non-reception state from the non-reception state. Transition to the reception state is performed.

(9) The rental vehicle management method according to any one of (1) to (7), wherein the rental vehicle includes at least one of a bicycle, a car, and a motorcycle.

(10) A program for functioning as the mobile terminal according to any one of (1) to (9).

(11) A program for functioning as the management server according to any one of (2) to (5).

(12) A recording medium on which the program according to (10) or (11) is recorded in a computer-readable manner.

(13) A system for managing rental objects,
A transmitter mounted on the rental target and transmitting a unique signal,
The user to be rented is a portable terminal to be carried while using the object to be rented, and is capable of measuring its current position and receiving the signal from the transmitter in a short-range communication method. And those that are capable of
The mobile terminal and / or a management server capable of communicating with the mobile terminal,
From the reception state in which the mobile terminal effectively receives a signal from the transmitter because the user is approaching the rented object being borrowed, the mobile terminal receives a signal from the transmitter because the user has left the rental object. A rental object management system including a parked position recognition unit that recognizes, as a parked position of the rental object, a current position measured by the portable terminal within a reference time after the transition to a non-reception state in which is not received effectively.

  In one example, the portable terminal further includes a leaving object recognition unit that recognizes a rental object identified by a signal received from the transmitter before the transition as a leaving object.

(14) A system for managing rental objects,
A transmitter mounted on the rental target and transmitting a unique signal,
The user to be rented is a portable terminal to be carried while using the object to be rented, and is capable of measuring its current position and receiving the signal from the transmitter in a short-range communication method. And those that are capable of
The mobile terminal and / or a management server capable of communicating with the mobile terminal,
From the non-reception state in which the mobile terminal does not effectively receive a signal from the transmitter because the user is away from the rental object on standby, the mobile terminal changes the transmitter when the user approaches the rental object. When the mobile terminal transitions to a reception state in which a signal is received effectively, a rental target recognition unit that recognizes the rental target identified by the signal received from the transmitter as a rental target to be lent to a user,
A rental position recognition unit that recognizes a current position measured by the mobile terminal within a reference time from the transition as the rental target rental position.

(15)
A lending permission unit that permits lending the rental target to a user on condition that a predetermined condition is satisfied;
When the rental is permitted, an unlock signal is transmitted to a lock device in a locked state that prohibits use of the rental target by a user, thereby permitting the lock device to use the rental device. The rental target management system according to the above mode (14), further comprising: an unlock command section that automatically switches to a permission state.

(16) A system for managing rental objects,
A transmitter mounted on the rental target and transmitting a unique signal,
The user to be rented is a portable terminal to be carried while using the object to be rented, and is capable of measuring its current position and receiving the signal from the transmitter in a short-range communication method. And those that are capable of
The mobile terminal and / or a management server capable of communicating with the mobile terminal,
From the reception state in which the mobile terminal effectively receives a signal from the transmitter because the user is approaching the rented object being borrowed, the mobile terminal is not transmitted from the transmitter because the user has left the rental object. When the mobile terminal transitions to the non-reception state in which the signal is not received effectively, the mobile terminal recognizes the rental object identified by the identification signal received from the transmitter as a rental object returned by the user. Department and
A return position recognition unit that recognizes a current position measured by the portable terminal within a reference time from the transition as the return position of the rental target.

(17) Furthermore,
A return permitting unit that permits a user to return the rental target, on condition that a predetermined condition is satisfied;
A lock confirmation unit that confirms that the user has manually switched the lock device in a state in which the use of the rental object is permitted to a lock state in which the use of the rental object is prohibited. .

(18) The rental object management system according to any one of (13) to (17), wherein the rental object includes movable property or real estate.

(19) The rental object management system according to mode (18), wherein the movable object includes a mobile object.

(20) The rental object management system according to (19), wherein the moving object includes a bicycle, a car, a motorcycle, a go-kart for entertainment or competition, a shopping cart, a stroller, a wheelbarrow, a wheelchair, or a golf cart.

(21) The movable object is furniture, clothing, an electric product, an accessory (for example, a battery or a charger) detachably attached to the electric product, or a recording medium (for example, a CD) on which audiovisual content is recorded. The rental object management system according to item (18), including a system that can be reproduced by a user.

(22) The real estate includes rooms of accommodation facilities (for example, hotels) where the user can stay for a short period of time, rooms of accommodation facilities (for example, apartments) where the user can stay for a long time, and individuals settled. Rooms that are temporarily rented to another person (eg, a room for a private residence), coin lockers, public or private parking lots, or private residences. Parking lots that are temporarily rented to others (rental between privately owned parking lots, or parking lots that can temporarily share a privately owned parking lot with others) The rental target management system according to item (18).

(23) A first transmitter for transmitting a unique identification signal is installed in a station, and a second transmitter for transmitting a unique identification signal is set as a rental target to be rented and / or returned to a user at the station. Rental object management that is installed and permits the user to lend and / or return the rental object to the user based on the signal received from the first transmitter and the signal received from the second transmitter by the portable terminal of the user. Method.

(24) The rental target for the user is detected on the condition that the mobile terminal of the user receives both the signal from the first transmitter and the signal from the second transmitter. The rental object management method according to the mode (23), wherein the rental and / or return is permitted.

(25) The rental target management method according to (23) or (24), wherein the effective reception radius of the effective reception area of the second transmitter is variably controlled in accordance with the behavior of the user.

(26) To the user based on a signal received by the user's portable terminal from a transmitter installed on the rental object to be rented and / or returned to the user and transmitting a unique identification signal A rental object management method for permitting the rental and / or return of the rental object and variably controlling a reception range of the transmitter according to a user's behavior.

(27) The rental object management method according to (26), wherein the reception range is controlled so as to be longer when the user's lending process is completed.

(28) The rental target management method according to (26) or (27), wherein the reception range is controlled so as to be shortened when the user's return processing ends.

(29) In a reception state in which a user's mobile terminal is effectively receiving a signal unique to the transmitter from a transmitter mounted on the rented rental vehicle by the short-distance communication method, the measurement is performed by the mobile terminal. If the absolute value of the speed and / or acceleration is greater than or equal to the reference value, it is determined that the user is moving on the rental vehicle, and from the reception state, the mobile terminal transmits a signal from the transmitter. When transitioning to the non-receiving state where reception is not effective, it is determined that the user has got off the rental target, and in this state, when the absolute value of the speed and / or acceleration measured by the mobile terminal is equal to or greater than a reference value, A rental vehicle management method for determining that a user is away from the rental vehicle.

  According to this method, it is easy to relatively easily and accurately grasp whether the user is in the rental vehicle or away from the rental vehicle, and to manage the rental vehicle with different contents according to the result. Becomes

(30) A method for managing rental vehicles to be rented and returned to a user at the same or different stations,
The user who has rented the rental vehicle carries his / her own mobile terminal while using the rental vehicle,
The rental vehicle is equipped with a transmitter that transmits a signal that can specify a unique vehicle identification code,
The mobile terminal is capable of receiving the transmitter by a short-range communication method, and has a positioning function of sequentially measuring its own current position,
The method is
The mobile terminal and / or a management server communicable with the mobile terminal, wherein the mobile terminal receives a signal from the transmitter and obtains a vehicle identification code specified by the received signal, thereby obtaining the rental vehicle. A vehicle identification process for identifying
The portable terminal and / or the management server may be configured such that, in a state where the user, the portable terminal and the rental vehicle are not present at any station, the portable terminal may receive a signal from the transmitter effectively. A transition to a non-receiving state where reception is not effectively performed, a parked position recognition step of recognizing a current position measured by the portable terminal within a reference time from the transition as a parked position of the identified rental vehicle. Management method.

FIG. 1A is a perspective view showing equipment installed at a certain station in the bicycle rental system according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. It is a side view which expands and shows some rental bicycles shown to a).

FIG. 2 shows the bicycle rental system shown in FIG. 1 (a), in which a first transmitter installed at a certain station, a second transmitter installed on a bicycle existing at the same station, and the same station. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an example of a state in which a portable terminal of a user who is present and a management server operated by a management center located at a remote place communicate with each other.

FIG. 3 shows a short-distance one-way communication between the first and second transmitters shown in FIG. 2 and the portable terminal, and a long-distance bidirectional communication between the portable terminal and the management server shown in FIG. It is a figure which represents communication notionally.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram conceptually showing the first and second transmitters shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart conceptually illustrating an example of a program (hereinafter, also referred to as an “application”; the same applies to other programs) executed by the computers of the first and second transmitters illustrated in FIG. .

FIG. 6A is an enlarged plan view showing the first and second transmitters shown in FIG. 1A together with the station where the first and second transmitters are installed. FIG. 6B conceptually shows an example of first and second effective reception areas respectively assigned to the first and second transmitters. FIG. 6B shows the first effective reception area. FIG. 6C is a plan view conceptually showing a first modification of the area, and FIG. 6C is a plan view conceptually showing a second modification of the first effective reception area.

FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram conceptually showing the mobile terminal shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a diagram conceptually showing a station data file stored in the station data memory in FIG. 7 in a table format.

FIG. 9 is a diagram conceptually showing a bicycle data file stored in the bicycle data memory in FIG. 7 in a table format.

FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram conceptually showing the management server shown in FIG.

FIG. 11A shows a list showing a plurality of modules of the bicycle rental program executed by the computer of the portable terminal shown in FIG. 7, and FIG. 11B shows a computer of the management server shown in FIG. 3 shows a list showing a plurality of modules of a bicycle rental program executed by the company.

FIG. 12A is a diagram exemplarily showing a reservation status table used in the reservation sequence to explain a reservation sequence in the bicycle rental method executed in the bicycle rental system. FIG. 12B is a diagram exemplifying a user-specific reservation content file used in the reservation sequence.

FIG. 13A is a plurality of time charts for exemplifying a main sequence realized when there is a reservation in the bicycle rental method, and FIG. 5 is a plurality of time charts for exemplifying a main sequence realized when there is no reservation.

FIG. 14 is a reservation sequence flow achieved by the execution of the reservation module shown in FIG. 11A by the portable terminal and the execution of the reservation module shown in FIG. 11B by the management server.

FIGS. 15A, 15B and 15C are reservation sequence diagrams for explaining the reservation sequence flow shown in FIG. 14 in a time-series manner.

FIG. 16 shows the lending with reservation achieved by the execution of the lending processing module with reservation shown in FIG. 11A by the portable terminal and the execution of the lending processing module with reservation shown in FIG. 10B by the management server. It is a sequence flow.

FIG. 17 shows the non-reservation lending achieved by the mobile terminal executing the non-reservation lending processing module shown in FIG. 11A and the management server executing the non-reservation lending processing module shown in FIG. 11B. It is a processing sequence flow.

FIG. 18 is a return processing sequence flow achieved by executing the return processing module shown in FIG. 11A by the portable terminal and executing the return processing module shown in FIG. 11B by the management server.

FIG. 19 is an abandoned bicycle search sequence flow achieved by executing the abandoned bicycle search module shown in FIG. 11A by the portable terminal and executing the abandoned bicycle search module shown in FIG. 11B by the management server. .

FIG. 20 is an abandoned bicycle collection sequence flow achieved by executing the abandoned bicycle collection module shown in FIG. 11A by the portable terminal and executing the abandoned bicycle collection module shown in FIG. 11B by the management server. .

FIG. 21A shows an example of a state in which a certain user X is riding in a rental cycle to explain a process in which abandoned bicycles are searched and collected in the bicycle rental system shown in FIG. 1A. FIG. 4B shows an example of a situation in which the user X abandons the bicycle rental and leaves the bicycle, and FIG. 4C shows an example of a situation in which another user Y is approaching to rent the bicycle. FIG. 4D shows an example of a state in which the user Y starts renting the abandoned bicycle and getting on the bicycle.

FIG. 22 is a plurality of time charts for exemplifying a parked bicycle search / collection sequence in which a parked bicycle is searched for and collected in the bicycle rental system shown in FIG.

FIG. 23 shows an example of an abandoned bicycle list registered by executing the abandoned bicycle search module shown in FIG. 11B by the management server.

FIG. 24 is a plan view showing an example of a state where the parked bicycle position is displayed on the screen of the portable terminal of another user by the execution of the parked bicycle collection module shown in FIG. 11B by the management server.

FIG. 25 is a perspective view conceptually showing an example of how a rental cycle is rented out and returned in the bicycle rental system according to the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 26 is a lending processing sequence flow achieved by executing the lending processing module of the plurality of modules in the bicycle rental system shown in FIG. 25 by the portable terminal and executing the lending processing module by the management server.

FIG. 27 is a return processing sequence flow achieved by executing the return processing module of the plurality of modules in the bicycle rental system shown in FIG. 25 by the portable terminal and executing the return processing module by the management server.

FIG. 28 is a plurality of time charts for explaining the relationship between a change in signal reception level of the second transmitter and a change in user behavior in the bicycle rental system shown in FIG.

FIG. 29 is an example of a page displayed on a screen of a portable terminal of a user who wants to track his / her own item using a transmitter in the item tracking system according to the third exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a front view showing a plurality of examples of items for which a transmitter is used.

FIG. 30 is a diagram showing an example of the item tracking system shown in FIG. 29 in which, when a user's item is separated from the user, the location of the item and the user's current position are displayed together with a map together with the map at a timing after a time interval from the separation. It is a front view showing an example of a mode displayed on a screen of a terminal.

FIG. 31 is a flowchart exemplarily and conceptually showing a part of an item tracking program executed by a user's mobile terminal in the item tracking system shown in FIG.

FIG. 32 is a flowchart exemplarily and conceptually showing the rest of the item tracking program shown in FIG.

FIG. 33 is a diagram conceptually illustrating information stored in the memory of the mobile terminal illustrated in FIG. 31.

FIG. 34 is a conceptual plan view for explaining a relative positional relationship between the alarm output timing and the two examples of the separation position display timing in the item tracking system shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, some exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

<First embodiment>

  FIGS. 1A and 2 show a bicycle rental system (hereinafter simply referred to as “system”) 10 according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The system 10 is an example of a rental vehicle management system according to the present invention, and the system 10 implements a rental cycle management method that is an example of a rental vehicle management method according to the present invention.

  According to the system 10, a rental business for renting out a rental bicycle (rental bicycle) 12, which is an example of a rental vehicle, to the user for a fee is provided to the user.

  The rental business employs a one-way system in which a user is permitted to return the bicycle 20 to a station 20 different from the station 20 from which the bicycle 12 was lent.

  In addition, the rental business employs a station-type one-way system. Therefore, according to this rental business, the user is prohibited from dropping the bicycle 12 borrowed at any of the stations 20 to an arbitrary place and leaving it unattended.

  However, according to the rental business, a bicycle 12 that has been abandoned at an arbitrary location, that is, a parked bicycle is automatically searched for, and as a result of the search, the parked bicycle 12 is found. Are then enlisted (distributed or broadcast) to potential other users as places where they can rent their abandoned bicycle 12 and begin riding.

  Thereby, it is promoted that the abandoned bicycle 12 is returned to any of the stations 20 and collected by any of the other users. As a result, the renter is at least partially relieved of the additional work of retrieving and returning the abandoned bicycle 12 to any of the stations 20 on a business trip.

  According to the rental business, if the management server 50 confirms that the user leaves the borrowed bicycle 12, the penalty is imposed, but the bicycle 12 is regarded as returned. Therefore, paying attention to this, it can be considered that this rental business partially adopts a free floating type one-way system.

  In short, it can be considered that this rental business adopts a hybrid one-way system in which a station type and a free floating type are combined.

  In the present embodiment, when the user who has borrowed the bicycle 12 gets off the bicycle 12 at an arbitrary place other than the station 20 and stops there, the action is expressed by the term “neglect”. However, when the bicycle 12 is abandoned, the abandoned location functions as if it were a new station 20, and another user may borrow the abandoned bicycle as if it were a legitimately returned bicycle. is there.

  Then, in this embodiment, when another user rents a parked bicycle and returns it to any of the stations 20, the term “left” is synonymous with “return”, which is a legitimate act. On the other hand, if the rental dealer collects the abandoned bicycle because there is no such user, the term varies depending on the situation, such as meaning "parking" as fraud. It is interpreted that there is.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the term “neglect” may be interpreted as synonymous with “return”.

  As shown in FIGS. 1A and 2, the system 10 includes a plurality of stations 20 each capable of storing a plurality of bicycles 12 (FIG. 1A includes one of the stations 20). (Only the representative station 20 is shown), a system for providing a service for lending and returning the bicycles 12 to the user. Each station 20 is assigned to a corresponding bicycle parking lot 22. The bicycle parking lot 22 is a rental bicycle storage site, and in the illustrated example, has a rectangular shape in plan view.

  The management method of the stations 20 includes an independent management method in which each station 20 is managed independently (individually or self-contained) using only the equipment installed in the station 20, and a plurality of stations 20. There is a centralized management system that centrally manages the stations 20 by communicating with a remote management server. The system 10 according to the present embodiment employs the latter centralized management method.

  In order to realize the centralized management system, the system 10 includes a plurality of first transmitters 30 installed in a plurality of stations 20 and a plurality of second transmitters (in-vehicle devices) mounted on a plurality of bicycles 12, respectively. ) 32 and a management server 50 installed in a management center 40 that centrally manages the plurality of stations 20. The management center 40 is operated by the owner of the land where the station 20 is installed, and the above-mentioned rental agent or bicycle parking lot management agent acting on behalf of the owner.

  Here, the first transmitter 30 is called a station-side transmitter when focusing on the installation position, and is called a fixed transmitter, a stationary transmitter, or a position-invariant transmitter when focusing on the motion characteristics. Similarly, the second transmitter 32 is referred to as a bicycle-side transmitter or a vehicle-mounted transmitter when focusing on the installation position, and the movable transmitter, the mobile transmitter, or the position-variable transmitter when focusing on the movement characteristics. It is called.

  Each of the plurality of stations 20 is assigned a unique station ID in advance. Similarly, each of the plurality of bicycles 12 is assigned a unique bicycle ID in advance. The first transmitter 30 and the management server 50 installed in each station 20 are not directly communicated but communicated via the user's portable terminal 90. Similarly, the second transmitter 32 installed on each bicycle 12 and the management server 50 are not directly communicated but communicated via the user's portable terminal 90.

  In the present embodiment, each first transmitter 30 is configured to transmit a local identification signal capable of identifying a station ID unique to the corresponding station 20. In addition, each second transmitter 32 is configured to transmit a local identification signal capable of identifying a bicycle ID unique to the corresponding bicycle 12. The same station ID is commonly used for a plurality of bicycles 12 stored in the same station 20.

  The number and types of the bicycles 12 to be stored in the same station 20 are predetermined and may not change every day, but in the present embodiment, they are not predetermined and change every day. It is possible.

  Therefore, in the former case, the same bicycle ID always corresponds to the same station ID, whereas in the present embodiment, the same bicycle ID corresponds to a plurality of different station IDs.

  Specifically, in the present embodiment, for example, the same bicycle ID corresponds to the station ID of station A when renting out, but corresponds to the station ID of station B when returning it. In this way, each user's action of lending and returning the bicycle 12 is defined by the combination of the station ID and the bicycle ID.

  As shown in FIG. 1B, a corresponding second transmitter 32 is mounted on a specific part of each bicycle 12. Examples of the specific portion include a front portion (for example, a car portion), a rear portion (for example, a loading bed), and a center portion (for example, a saddle 62 of the bicycle 12 and a saddle 62 of the bicycle 12) of each bicycle 12. Are supported from below.

  The part of each bicycle 12 to which the second transmitter 32 is attached is in a state where the user is riding the bicycle 12 (a state where the user starts sitting on the saddle 62 of the bicycle 12 (also referred to as a “riding state”). And a state in which the user is sitting on the saddle 62 of the bicycle 12 and driving the bicycle 12 to move (also referred to as a “riding state”, “riding”, or a “riding state and moving”). And the mobile terminal 90 carried by the user is a portion (for example, the car portion, the cargo bed, or the like) that is highly likely to be able to receive the signal transmitted from the second transmitter 32 without obstacles. To be selected.

  As shown in FIG. 1A, the system 10 stores the first transmitter 30 and a plurality of bicycles 12 at each station 20 as fixed objects installed in a corresponding bicycle parking lot 22. And a bicycle rack (bicycle accommodating device) 70.

  In the example shown in FIG. 1A, one first transmitter 30 is installed in one station 20. For example, as shown in FIG. One first transmitter 30 may be installed.

  As shown in FIG. 1A, the bicycle rack 70 includes a plurality of bicycle stalls (small sections) 72 for accommodating one bicycle 12 at a time. In one example, a bicycle rack 70 is divided into a plurality of bicycle stalls 72 by a frame 74 installed in the bicycle parking lot 22. Prior to lending to the user, each bicycle 12 is stored (stored) in each bicycle stall 72.

  In one example, not shown, each bicycle 12 is fitted with a lock that can selectively lock its wheels (front and / or rear wheels) or handle relative to the bicycle frame. In another example, although not shown, each bicycle stall 72 is provided with a lock capable of selectively locking the bicycle 12 to each bicycle stall 72.

  In any of the examples, the lock may be, for example, a password type (such as a dial lock or a push button lock) in which a user inputs a password and unlocks the password, or a password from the user's mobile terminal 90 or the management server 50. There are a remote type that unlocks with a signal, a mechanical lock that operates without using a power supply (electric power), and an electronic lock that operates using a power supply (electric power).

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, in this system 10, the user uses his / her own portable terminal 90 to identify the user from the first transmitter 30 installed in the station 20 where the user is currently staying. A signal and an identification signal from a second transmitter 32 installed on a user-reserved or locally-selected one of the plurality of bicycles 12 currently stored in the station 20, At the same time, it receives in a contact state or a non-contact state with the first and second transmitters 30 and 32 (performs short-distance one-way wireless communication). The mobile terminal 90 further performs long-distance two-way wireless communication with the management server 50 of the management center 40.

  The user's mobile terminal 90 is a device carried by the user and having a wireless communication function, such as a mobile phone, a smartphone, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, and a PDA.

<First and second transmitters>

  The first transmitter 30 installed at each station 20 and the second transmitter 32 mounted on each bicycle 12 have a common hardware configuration (see FIG. 4) and a software configuration (see FIG. 5). Therefore, for convenience of explanation, the configuration of the first and second transmitters 30 and 32 will be described by treating them as the same transmitter.

  Each of the transmitters 30 and 32 transmits a unique identification signal actively, locally, and permanently as long as the supplied power is sufficient, without requiring an external trigger signal.

  Each of the transmitters 30 and 32 is generally a device known as a beacon device for transmitting a beacon signal as an identification signal, or a radio beacon. In one example, each of the transmitters 30 and 32 generates an identification signal indicating a corresponding station ID by modulating the original signal, and converts the generated identification signal into an IR signal, a Bluetooth (registered trademark) signal, It is locally transmitted as an NFC (Near Field Communication) signal or the like.

  Next, the hardware configuration will be described with reference to FIG. 4 which is a functional block diagram. Each of the transmitters 30 and 32 has a processor 100 and a memory 102 which stores a plurality of applications executed by the processor 100. The computer 104 is mainly configured.

  Each of the transmitters 30 and 32 further has a replaceable disposable battery 106 as a power source. Instead of the battery 106, a rechargeable battery, a commercial power supply as an external power supply, or a solar cell as a renewable energy can be used instead of or in addition to them. is there.

  Each of the transmitters 30 and 32 further includes a transmitter 108 that generates and transmits an identification signal representing a proper transmitter ID (an example of a “transmitter code”) unique to itself. Each first transmitter 30 emits an identification signal representing a unique regular first transmitter ID, while each second transmitter 32 emits an identification signal representing a unique regular second transmitter ID. .

  Transmitting section 108 is operated by battery 106 and controlled by controller 110. The controller 110 is controlled by the computer 100.

  Next, the software configuration of each of the transmitters 30 and 32 will be described with reference to FIG. 5. The processor 100 of each of the transmitters 30 and 32 repeats the program conceptually represented by the flowchart in FIG. To run.

  At the time of execution of each program, first, in step S1, a regular transmitter ID corresponding to each of the transmitters 30 and 32 (that is, a regular first transmitter ID corresponding to the first transmitter 30, Among the regular second transmitter IDs corresponding to the second transmitters 32, those corresponding to the program described this time are read. The regular first transmitter ID corresponds to one station ID on a one-to-one basis, and the regular second transmitter ID corresponds to one bicycle ID on a one-to-one basis.

  Next, in step S2, the remaining amount of the battery 106 is estimated.

  Subsequently, in step S3, a signal for modulating an original signal (for example, a carrier signal) is transmitted to the controller 110 so that the read normal transmitter ID and the estimated remaining battery level are reflected. Output to The controller 110 controls the transmitting unit 108, and as a result, the transmitting unit 108 generates an identification signal to be transmitted this time.

  Thereafter, in step S4, the generated identification signal is transmitted from transmitting section 108. Then, it returns to step S1.

  It should be noted that, in each of the transmitters 30 and 32, an algorithm or an algorithm for generating an identification signal so that at least the corresponding ID among the corresponding one of the station ID and the bicycle ID (the corresponding ID) and the remaining battery level is reflected. The procedure may be different from the algorithm or procedure shown in FIG.

<Hardware configuration of user's mobile terminal>

  Here, one function of the user's portable terminal 90 will be described in relation to each of the transmitters 30 and 32. The portable terminal 90 receives the identification signal from each of the transmitters 30 and 32, When a certain program pre-installed in the computer of the terminal 90, that is, a dedicated application for transmitter processing (hereinafter referred to as “transmitter application”) is started (login), the received identification signal is demodulated. Thus, the station ID and the bicycle ID are decrypted.

  Specifically, the portable terminal 90 acquires the station ID from the identification signal received from the first transmitter 30 and acquires the bicycle ID from the identification signal received from the second transmitter 32.

  The mobile terminal 90 further transmits the decrypted station ID and bicycle ID to the management server 50.

  Further, when the portable terminal 90 activates the transmitter application while receiving the identification signal from each of the transmitters 30 and 32, the portable terminal 90 transmits the identification signal based on the received identification signal. The distance between the position of each of the transmitters 30 and 32 and the position of the portable terminal 90 when the identification signal is received is also measured. The measurement of the distance is performed based on, for example, the strength of a signal received by the portable terminal 90 from each of the transmitters 30 and 32.

  That is, based on the identification signal received from each of the transmitters 30 and 32, the portable terminal 90 determines the station ID unique to the station 20 where the first transmitter 30 is actually installed and the bicycle 12 selected by the user. In addition, both the bicycle ID unique to the one in which the second transmitter 32 is installed and the distance to each of the transmitters 30 and 32 at that time are obtained.

<Setting the receiving range of each transmitter>

  As shown conceptually in a plan view in FIG. 6A, each of the transmitters 30 and 32 is assigned two types of reception areas. These are a receivable area (not shown) and an effective reception area (hereinafter, also referred to as “reception range”).

  Each of these areas is generally defined by a circle originating from each transmitter 30,32. The coverage area has a maximum reception radius (for example, about 50 m), while the effective reception area has an effective reception radius (for example, a range from a radius of 0 m to a radius of about 50 m or less). While the maximum reception radius is a constant value, the effective reception radius is a variable value that can be changed at any time by the portable terminal 90 as described later.

  The receivable area is an area where the identification signal from each of the transmitters 30 and 32 can reach when the power supply of each of the transmitters 30 and 32 is normal, that is, as long as the mobile terminal 90 exists in the area. Means an area where the identification signal can be received.

  On the other hand, the effective reception area has an effective reception radius smaller than the maximum reception radius of the receivable area. While the maximum reception radius cannot be set arbitrarily, the effective reception radius can be set arbitrarily by the portable terminal 90.

  In other words, the maximum reception radius means a reception limit determined by hardware, while the effective reception radius means a reception limit determined by software.

  As described above, the portable terminal 90 measures the distance to each of the transmitters 30 and 32 when the portable terminal 90 transmits the received identification signal. The distance measurement may or may not exceed the effective reception radius. When the measured distance does not exceed the effective reception radius, the portable terminal 90 is present in the effective reception area. On the other hand, when the measured distance exceeds the effective reception radius, the portable terminal 90 does not. Exists in the receivable area but does not exist in the effective reception area.

  By activating the transmitter processing application, the mobile terminal 90 determines whether or not the distance measurement value is equal to or less than a set value of the effective reception radius, and determines that the distance measurement value is equal to or less than the set value. Since the mobile terminal 90 is currently located within the effective reception area (reception range), the mobile terminal 90 “effectively receives the identification signal from each of the transmitters 30 and 32 (hereinafter, simply referred to as“ the identification signal is received ”). ")."

  On the other hand, when the mobile terminal 90 determines that the distance measurement value is larger than the set value, the mobile terminal 90 is currently located outside the effective reception area of each of the transmitters 30 and 32. It is determined that "the identification signals from the transmitters 30 and 32 have not been effectively received (hereinafter, also simply referred to as" no identification signal received ")".

  That is, in the present embodiment, when the portable terminal 90 is located outside the effective reception area, the portable terminal 90 may be apparently in spite of the fact that the portable terminal 90 has received the identification signal. The software will treat it as not receiving the identification signal.

  Here, the geometric relationship of the effective reception area between the first transmitter 30 and the second transmitter 32 will be described.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6A, one first transmitter 30 is installed in one station 20, and the first effective reception area (first transmission area) of the first transmitter 30 is set. The reception range is set so as to be arranged inside the second effective reception area (second reception range) of the second transmitter 32 as long as the corresponding bicycle 12 is present on the premises of the station 20 (inside the boundary line). The first reception radius of the first effective reception area and the second reception radius of the second effective reception area are set relatively.

  Specifically, the second reception radius is set to be shorter than the first reception radius. As a result, the second effective reception area becomes a short range or a medium range, and the first effective reception area becomes a long range.

  Here, specific examples of these three reception ranges will be described.

1) Short range

  A reception range in which the portable terminal 90 cannot receive the transmitter effectively unless the user brings the portable terminal 90 into contact with the transmitter of the transmitter or holds it in a non-contact state (the setting value is, for example, approximately 0 cm to (Within about 30cm)

2) Medium range

  As long as the user is riding on the bicycle 12 or pushing and moving the bicycle 12, the user can bring the portable terminal 90 into contact with the transmitter of the transmitter or hold it (in a non-contact / close state). No, the reception range in which the portable terminal 90 can effectively receive the transmitter (the set value is, for example, in the range of about 0 m to about 2 m)

3) Long range

  As long as the user is at any position in the station 20, the user can keep the portable terminal 90 in contact with the transmitter of the transmitter, and the portable terminal 90 can receive the transmitter effectively. Range (for example, the set value is in a range of about 0 m to about 10 m)

  In the example shown in FIG. 6A, the first effective reception area is set so as to completely cover the entire area of the station 20 and partially have an area deviating from the boundary line of the station 20 in plan view. Have been. Alternatively, in another example, as shown in FIG. 6B, the first effective reception area may be set so as not to have an area that deviates from the boundary of the station 20 in plan view. Good.

  In the two examples shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, one first transmitter 30 is installed in one station 20, but instead shown in FIG. 6C. As such, the present invention can be implemented in a mode in which a plurality of first transmitters 30 are installed in one station 20.

  In the present embodiment, the site of the station 20 has a rectangular shape. On the other hand, the first effective reception area is three-dimensionally spherical and two-dimensionally circular. Therefore, if one first effective reception area is assigned to the station 20, as shown in FIG. 6B, there is a gap between the boundary line of the site of the station 20 and the boundary line of the first effective reception area. (Leakage reception area) remains.

  On the other hand, in still another example, as shown in FIG. 6C, if a plurality of first effective reception areas are assigned to the station 20, a combination of the effective reception areas will result in an apparent effective reception. It becomes an area, and the gap between the boundary line of this area and the boundary line of the station 20 decreases.

  As a result, a so-called reception loss that the portable terminal 90 cannot effectively receive the signal from the first transmitter 30 even when the user carrying the portable terminal 90 exists in the station 20 is prevented.

  In the example illustrated in FIG. 6C, the plurality of second transmitters 30 are assigned different transmitter IDs, while being assigned a common station ID. Therefore, when the portable terminal 90 receives the signal from at least one of the first transmitters 30, the transmitter ID represented by the received signal is associated with the corresponding station ID (converted). As a result, the portable terminal 90 can identify the current station 20.

  Here, the mobile terminal 90 identifies (recognizes) the current station 20 by the fact that the user carrying the mobile terminal 90 exists in the station 20 by the cooperation of the mobile terminal 90 and the transmitter 30. This is equivalent to detection.

<Software configuration of user's mobile terminal>

  Next, the hardware configuration of the user's portable terminal 90 will be described with reference to FIG. 7 which is a functional block diagram. The portable terminal 90 includes a processor 130 and a memory for storing a plurality of applications executed by the processor 130. The computer 134 mainly includes a computer 134.

  The portable terminal 90 further includes a display unit (for example, a liquid crystal display) 136 that displays information on a screen (having a window whose area is finite and is variable or invariable) indicated by reference numeral “135” in FIG. , A receiving unit 138 for receiving signals from the first transmitter 30, the second transmitter 32, and the management server 50, and a transmission unit 140 for generating a signal and transmitting the signal to the management server 50.

  The mobile terminal 90 further has an input unit 150 for inputting data and commands from the user. The input unit 150 includes, for example, an operation unit that can be operated by a user to input desired information (for example, commands, data, and the like) to the mobile terminal 90.

  The operation unit includes a touch screen that displays an icon (for example, a virtual button) that can be operated by the user, a physical operation unit (for example, a keyboard, a keypad, a button, and the like) that can be operated by the user, and a sound. There are, but are not limited to, microphones that sense.

  The mobile terminal 90 further has a GPS (satellite positioning system) receiver 152. As is well known, the GPS receiver 152 receives a plurality of GPS signals from a plurality of GPS satellites, and determines the position (latitude, longitude, and altitude) of the GPS receiver 152 on the earth based on the GPS signals. Measure by triangulation. That is, the portable terminal 90 has a positioning function using a satellite.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the memory 132 has a plurality of data memories including a map data memory 161, a station data memory 163, a bicycle data memory 165, and a reservation status table memory 167.

  The map data memory 161 temporarily stores map data downloaded by the user's portable terminal 90 from the management server 50 or another map database (not shown) according to the user's current position. Based on the map data, a map (an example of a “partial map”) is displayed on a screen 135 (see FIG. 15) of the display unit 136. The map displayed on the screen 135 changes every moment as the user moves.

  As conceptually shown in FIG. 8, the station data memory 163 downloads the correspondence between the plurality of station IDs, the plurality of regular first transmitter IDs, and the plurality of station position data from the management server 50. It can be stored. The plurality of station IDs respectively correspond to the plurality of stations 20 that are centrally managed by the system 10. Each of the plurality of station position data represents the latitude and longitude (latitude x, longitude y) of the ground position of the corresponding station 20.

  The station data memory 163 temporarily stores a plurality of station position data corresponding to the plurality of stations 20 together with a plurality of station IDs corresponding thereto and a plurality of authorized first transmitter IDs.

  On the mobile terminal 90, a map based on the map data is displayed on the screen 135, and a plurality of station positions stored in the station data memory 163 at that moment are displayed on the map at each moment. Based on the data, the positions of a small number of candidate stations 20 located near the current position of the portable terminal 90 among the plurality of downloaded stations 20 are displayed as overlays (see FIG. 15).

  Here, the “small number of candidate stations 20” are the plurality of stations 20 displayed on the screen 135 because of the geographical reason that they are close to the current position of the mobile terminal 90 among the plurality of downloaded stations 20. Means that the station 20 is off the screen 135 because of geographical reasons that it is far from the current position of the mobile terminal 90.

  As conceptually shown in FIG. 9, the bicycle data memory 165 of FIG. 7 has a plurality of station IDs and a plurality of bicycle IDs (for example, “2001”, which are printed in FIG. 1B). , Painting, a sticker, etc., and the correspondence between the plurality of regular second transmitter IDs and the plurality of regular second transmitter IDs can be downloaded from the management server 50 and stored. If any one of the plurality of bicycles 12 is selected by the user, one corresponding bicycle ID is determined, and one corresponding regular second transmitter ID is determined accordingly.

  In the reservation status table memory 167, a reservation status table described later is downloaded from the management server 50 as appropriate and stored.

  As shown in FIG. 11A, a bicycle rental program for the mobile terminal 90 is stored in the memory 132 of the mobile terminal 90. The bicycle rental program has the following plurality of modules. I have.

1) Reservation module

  This is a module that assists the user to book any bicycle 12 before arriving at the station 20, as will be described in detail later with reference to FIG. Here, "to make a reservation" means that the user inputs the location information of the desired station 20, the identification information of the desired bicycle 12 (an example of the rental target identification information), and the time information of the scheduled lending time and the scheduled return time. It is equivalent to work.

2) Lending processing module with reservation

  This module assists the user to rent out the reserved bicycle 12 at the reserved station 20 according to his / her reservation, as will be described later in detail with reference to FIG.

3) Lending processing module without reservation

  This means that, as will be described later in detail with reference to FIG. 17, the user can select any available bicycle 12 at any of the stations 20 without reservation and rent out the selected bicycle 12. It is a module that supports receiving.

4) Return processing module

  This allows the user to return the rented bicycle 12 at the same or another station 20 from which the bicycle 12 was rented, as will be described in detail with reference to FIG. This is a supporting module.

5) Abandoned bicycle search module

  This is, as will be described later in detail with reference to FIG. 19, after lending the bicycle 12 to the user, the user leaves the bicycle 12 at an arbitrary place (parking position) to which no station 20 is assigned. It is a module that determines whether or not it has been performed.

  More specifically, in the abandoned bicycle search module, the mobile terminal 90 of the user transits from a reception state in which the identification signal is effectively received from the second transmitter 32 by the short-range communication method to a non-reception state in which the identification signal is not effectively received. Then, before the transition, the portable terminal 90 recognizes the bicycle 12 identified by the signal received from the second transmitter 32 as an abandoned bicycle.

  Further, a predetermined time (for example, 1 minute, 2 minutes, 5 minutes, etc.) elapses within a reference time from the transition (for example, substantially simultaneously with the transition, immediately after the transition, or from the transition). Up to this point, the current position measured by the portable terminal 90 is recognized as the parked position of the parked bicycle.

  Here, the “reception state in which the portable terminal 90 effectively receives the identification signal from the second transmitter 32 by the short-range communication method” is set such that the effective reception area of the second transmitter 32 is smaller than the receivable area. In this case, it means that the portable terminal 90 is in the effective reception area of the second transmitter 32 and the portable terminal 90 is receiving the identification signal from the second transmitter 32.

  On the other hand, when the effective reception area of the second transmitter 32 is set to be the same as the receivable area, the above-mentioned “reception state” indicates that the portable terminal 90 is in the receivable area of the second transmitter 32. Means that the portable terminal 90 is receiving the identification signal from the second transmitter 32.

  When the effective reception area of the second transmitter 32 is set smaller than the receivable area, the “non-reception state” indicates that the portable terminal 90 is within the receivable area of the second transmitter 32 and the effective reception area. The mobile terminal 90 is receiving the identification signal from the second transmitter 32 because it is outside, or the mobile terminal 90 is in the second state because the mobile terminal 90 is outside the receivable area of the second transmitter 32. This means that the identification signal cannot be received from the transmitter 32.

  On the other hand, when the effective reception area of the second transmitter 32 is set to be the same as the receivable area, the portable terminal 90 sets the receivable area of the second transmitter 32 to the “non-reception state”. It means that the portable terminal 90 cannot receive the identification signal from the second transmitter 32 because it is outside.

6) Abandoned bicycle collection module

  As will be described later in detail with reference to FIG. 20, when the abandoned bicycle 12 is found, the portable terminal 90 of a plurality of potential users is moved to the abandoned position of the bicycle 12. This is a module that simultaneously sends a request to borrow the abandoned bicycle 12 and return it to any of the stations 20, thereby supporting the user to collect the abandoned bicycle 12 using the user. .

<Management server>

  Next, the hardware configuration of the management server 50 will be described with reference to FIG. 10 which is a functional block diagram. The management server 50 includes a processor 160 and a memory 162 for storing a plurality of applications executed by the processor 160. And a computer 164 as a main component.

  The management server 50 further includes a display unit (for example, a liquid crystal display) 166 for displaying information, a receiving unit 168 for receiving a signal from the mobile terminal 90, and generating a signal and transmitting the signal to the mobile terminal 90. And a clock 172 for measuring the current time. The management server 50 does not directly receive from the transmitter 30 but, in effect, performs the reception via the portable terminal 90.

  As shown in FIG. 11B, a bicycle rental program for the management server 50 is stored in the memory 162 of the management server 50. The bicycle rental program has the following plurality of modules. I have.

1) Reservation module

  This is a module having the same function as the reservation module of the portable terminal 90, as will be described later in detail with reference to FIG.

2) Lending processing module with reservation

  This is a module having the same function as the reserved-time lending processing module of the mobile terminal 90, as described later in detail with reference to FIG.

3) Lending processing module without reservation

  This is a module having the same function as the reservationless lending processing module of the portable terminal 90, as will be described later in detail with reference to FIG.

4) Return processing module

  This is a module having the same function as the return processing module of the mobile terminal 90, as described later in detail with reference to FIG.

5) Abandoned bicycle search module

  This is a module having the same function as the abandoned bicycle search module of the portable terminal 90, as described later in detail with reference to FIG.

6) Abandoned bicycle collection module

  This is a module having the same function as the abandoned bicycle collection module of the portable terminal 90, as described later in detail with reference to FIG.

<Overview of reservation sequence>

  FIG. 12A shows an example of a reservation status table for managing the reservation status of a plurality of bicycles 12 by a plurality of users for each station 20 by executing the reservation module by the mobile terminal 90 and the management server 50. It is shown.

  This reservation status table is created and updated in the management server 50, and the latest version is shared with the mobile terminal 90. This reservation status table displays whether or not there is a reservation and the scheduled rental time zone (including the date and time) for each station 20 and for each bicycle 12.

  The user looks at the reservation status table on the screen 135 of his / her mobile terminal 90, refers to the reservation status table, searches for a station 20 where at least one bicycle 12 is waiting, and searches at least one of the stations 20. One of the bicycles on standby 12 is searched for a vacant time, and a desired date and time and a time zone are designated.

  In FIG. 12A, on the time axis (from 0:00 to 23:59) of each bicycle 12 in the reservation status table, at the latest update time of the reservation status table, a horizontal bar hatched with oblique lines is shown. The time zone where there is already indicates the time zone where the reservation already exists, that is, the time zone where there is a reservation, while the time zone where the bar does not exist, the time zone where there is no reservation yet, that is, the time zone where there is no reservation The belt is displayed.

  The user inputs the identification information of the selected station 20, the identification information of the selected bicycle 12, the lending date and time, and the return date and time to his / her mobile terminal 90 as illustrated in FIG. Thereby, both the corresponding station 20 and the bicycle 12 are reserved.

  FIG. 11B illustrates an example of a user-specific reservation content file for managing the reservation content of a plurality of users by executing the reservation module by the mobile terminal 90 and the management server 50.

  The user-specific reservation content file is created and updated in the management server 50. This user-specific reservation content file is selected for each user, such as personal authentication information (user ID, password, etc.), location information for identifying the location of the selected station 20 (ID unique to the selected station 20), and Information (ID unique to the selected bicycle 12) for specifying the location of the selected bicycle 12, and time information (scheduled start time, scheduled end time, and scheduled use time) for defining the scheduled use time zone of the selected bicycle 12 Length, etc.), and the type of penalty imposed on the user for violating the rules required by the user to receive the bicycle rental service this time.

<Overview of main sequence>

  An outline of a main sequence performed by the system 10 and executed after the above-described reservation sequence will be described with reference to FIG.

  In FIG. 13, the time chart labeled “Reception for station recognition” indicates whether the portable terminal 90 has received the regular first transmitter ID from the first transmitter 30 at each moment. For the sake of convenience, the pulse signal is expressed as a low level when the portable terminal 90 does not receive the regular first transmitter ID and becomes a high level when the portable terminal 90 is receiving the normal first transmitter ID.

  Similarly, in the same figure, the time chart labeled “Reception for Bicycle Recognition” indicates that the portable terminal 90 receives the regular second transmitter ID from the second transmitter 32 at each moment. For convenience of description, a pulse signal that indicates a low level when the portable terminal 90 has not received the regular second transmitter ID and a high level when the portable terminal 90 is receiving the same is indicated for convenience of description.

<Summary of main sequence when there is reservation>

  In FIG. 13A, the user makes a reservation for the reserved bicycle 12 in the reserved station 20 with the scheduled rental start time (rental time) at 15:00 and the scheduled rental end time (return time) at 18:00. In this case, the outline of the main sequence is illustrated in a plurality of time charts.

1) Lending process

  First, it is assumed that the user enters the reserved station (rental station) 20 at 15:30 on a certain day to rent the reserved bicycle 12, so that the mobile terminal 90 enters the first effective reception area. Then, the portable terminal 90 starts to receive the first transmitter 30 effectively (the “recognition signal for station recognition” in the figure rises).

  Next, the user approaches the reserved bicycle 12 existing in the current station 20 and holds the portable terminal 90 over the second transmitter 32 installed on the bicycle 12, so that the portable terminal 90 Assuming that the mobile terminal 90 has entered the effective reception area, the portable terminal 90 starts to receive the second transmitter 32 effectively (the “reception signal for bicycle recognition” in the figure rises).

  As a result, at a time of 15:30, the portable terminal 90 transits to a state in which it receives signals from the first transmitter 30 and the second transmitter 32 at the same time. That is, from the non-simultaneous reception state in which the mobile terminal 90 does not effectively receive a signal from any of the transmitters 30 and 32 or receives a signal only from any of the transmitters 30 and 32, , 32 to a simultaneous reception state in which signals are effectively received.

  Here, “the state in which the mobile terminal 90 is receiving signals from the first transmitter 30 and the second transmitter 32 at the same time” means that the mobile terminal 90 has received the signal from the first transmitter 30 and the second transmitter 32. Means that the mobile terminal 90 starts receiving a signal from the first transmitter 30 and the mobile terminal 90 receives a signal from the second transmitter 32. It is not always required that the reception start timings coincide with each other.

  At this time, the mobile terminal 90 (or the management server 50) determines that the user has actually started using the bicycle 12 (rented).

  Subsequently, the user inputs a lending request to the portable terminal 90 within a first time limit of, for example, 5 minutes from the use start time.

  In response to the lending request, the management server 50 permits the user to lend the bicycle 12. The time is the start time of the actual rental time. In principle, charging to the user starts at 15:00, which is the scheduled rental time. Specifically, from the scheduled lending time, counting of the total rental time referred to for calculating the final rental fee amount for the user is started.

  Thereafter, the user exits from the lending station 20 while riding the bicycle 12, and at this time, the mobile terminal 90 exits from the first effective reception area, so that the mobile terminal 90 transits to a state where the first transmitter 30 cannot be effectively received ( The station recognition reception signal falls).

  On the other hand, as long as the user is riding on the bicycle 12, the portable terminal 90 receives the second transmitter 32 effectively, so that the received signal for bicycle recognition is maintained at a high level.

2) Return processing

  Since the user has returned to the same or different station (return station) 20 as the current lending station 20 at 17:30 on the same day to return the bicycle 12 in use, the mobile terminal 90 Assuming that the station has entered the first effective reception area, the reception signal for station recognition rises. Since the user has been riding the bicycle 12 before that time, the portable terminal 90 is in a state of continuously receiving the second transmitter 32 effectively.

  As a result, at a time of 17:30, the mobile terminal 90 transits to a state where signals are simultaneously received from the first transmitter 30 and the second transmitter 32 (both reception states). That is, the mobile terminal 90 changes from the non-simultaneous reception state in which the signal is effectively received only from the second transmitter 32 to the simultaneous reception state in which the signal is received from any of the transmitters 30 and 32.

  At this time, the mobile terminal 90 (or the management server 50) determines that the user has actually finished using the bicycle 12.

  Subsequently, the user inputs a return request to the portable terminal 90 within a second time limit of, for example, 5 minutes from the use end time.

  In response to the return request, the management server 50 permits the user to return the bicycle 12. The time is the end time of the actual rental time. In principle, however, charging to the user is continued until 18:00 which is the scheduled return time. Specifically, the count of the total rental time ends at the scheduled return time.

  Thereafter, assuming that the mobile terminal 90 has exited from the second valid reception area due to getting off the bicycle 12, the user transits to a state where the mobile terminal 90 cannot receive the second transmitter 32 effectively, and Received signal falls. The received signal for bicycle recognition is thereafter maintained at a low level because the user has not been on the bicycle 12 this time.

  Subsequently, assuming that the user moves away from the bicycle 12 and leaves the return station 20 this time, the mobile terminal 90 leaves the first valid reception area, and the mobile terminal 90 activates the second transmitter 32. To a state where reception is not possible (the reception signal for station recognition falls).

  When the management server 50 completes the calculation of the rental fee based on the length of the entire rental time, the user electronically setstles the rental fee via the mobile terminal 90.

<Overview of main sequence when there is no reservation>

  FIG. 13B shows an example of a case where the user enters one of the stations 20 and selects one of the bicycles 12 in the station 20 to start the rental service. This is exemplified by a plurality of time charts. These time charts are basically the same as those shown in FIG. 13A except for the billing process and the like, and thus the common elements will be briefly described.

1) Lending process

  First, the user entered one of the stations (rental stations) 20 at 15:30 on a certain day to rent one of the bicycles 12, and the mobile terminal 90 entered the first effective reception area. Assuming that, the portable terminal 90 starts to receive the first transmitter 30 effectively.

  Next, the user approaches one of the bicycles 12 and holds the mobile terminal 90 over the second transmitter 32 installed on the bicycle 12, so that the mobile terminal 90 enters the second effective reception area. Assuming that, the portable terminal 90 starts to receive the second transmitter 32 effectively.

  As a result, at a time of 15:30, the portable terminal 90 transits to a state in which signals are simultaneously received from the first transmitter 30 and the second transmitter 32 (both reception states).

  At this time, the mobile terminal 90 (or the management server 50) determines that the user has actually started using the bicycle 12 (rented).

  Subsequently, the user inputs a lending request to the portable terminal 90 within the first time limit from the use start time.

  In response to the lending request, the management server 50 permits the user to lend the bicycle 12. That time is the start time of the actual rental time, and in this case, charging to the user is started from 15:30 which is the actual rental time. Specifically, counting of the total rental time is started from the actual rental time.

  Thereafter, the user leaves the lending station 20 while riding the bicycle 12, and at this time, the mobile terminal 90 leaves the first valid reception area, so that the mobile terminal 90 transits to a state where the first transmitter 30 cannot be received effectively.

  On the other hand, as long as the user is riding on the bicycle 12, the portable terminal 90 receives the second transmitter 32 effectively, so that the received signal for bicycle recognition is maintained at a high level.

2) Return processing

  Since the user has returned to the same or different station (return station) 20 as the current lending station 20 at 17:30 on the same day to return the bicycle 12 in use, the mobile terminal 90 Assuming that the station has entered the first effective reception area, the reception signal for station recognition rises. Since the user has been riding the bicycle 12 before that time, the portable terminal 90 is in a state of continuously receiving the second transmitter 32 effectively.

  As a result, at a time of 17:30, the mobile terminal 90 transits to a state where signals are simultaneously received from the first transmitter 30 and the second transmitter 32 (both reception states).

  At this time, the mobile terminal 90 (or the management server 50) determines that the user has actually finished using the bicycle 12.

  Subsequently, the user inputs a return request to the portable terminal 90 within the second time limit from the use end time.

  In response to the return request, the management server 50 permits the user to return the bicycle 12. That time is the end time of the actual rental time, and charging to the user is continued until 17:30, which is the actual return time. Specifically, the counting of the total rental time ends at the actual return time.

  Thereafter, assuming that the mobile terminal 90 has exited from the second valid reception area due to getting off the bicycle 12, the user transits to a state where the mobile terminal 90 cannot receive the second transmitter 32 effectively, and Received signal falls. The received signal for bicycle recognition is thereafter maintained at a low level because the user has not been on the bicycle 12 this time.

  Subsequently, assuming that the user moves away from the bicycle 12 and leaves the return station 20 this time, the mobile terminal 90 leaves the first valid reception area, and the mobile terminal 90 activates the second transmitter 32. To a state where it cannot be received.

  When the management server 50 completes the calculation of the rental fee based on the length of the entire rental time, the user electronically setstles the rental fee via the mobile terminal 90.

<Reservation sequence>

  FIG. 14 shows that the user connects the mobile terminal 90 to the management server 90 at a location away from the station 20 to be reserved (for example, at home as shown in FIG. 1), and An example of communication performed between the portable terminal 90 and the management server 50 located at a remote place in order to reserve 12 is shown in a time-sequential sequence flow.

  When the user starts the bicycle rental program (already downloaded from the management server 50 and installed in the memory 132 of the mobile terminal 90) at the mobile terminal 90, the user issues a plurality of modes and a plurality of requests. A plurality of buttons (display targets that can be selected by the user) operated to emit are displayed on the screen of the mobile terminal 90.

  The modes and the requests include:

1) Reservation mode

  Run mode selected by the user to reserve station 20 and bicycle 12

2) Lending processing mode with reservation

  The execution mode selected by the user to activate the reservation-based lending processing module to rent the bicycle 12 at the station 20 with the reservation.

3) Lending processing mode without reservation

  An execution mode selected by the user to activate the no-reservation lending module to rent a bicycle 12 at station 20 without a reservation.

4) Return processing mode

  Execution mode selected by the user to activate the return processing module for returning the bicycle 12 to the station 20

5) Lending request

  A request issued by the user to allow the user to lend the bicycle 12 after starting the reservation-time lending processing module or the reservation-less lending processing module.

6) Return request

  A request issued by the user to allow the user to return the bicycle 12 after the activation of the return processing module

  In this case, when the button “reservation mode” is selected by the user, the reservation module of the bicycle rental program for the mobile terminal 90 is executed by the processor 130 of the mobile terminal 90 and the bicycle for the management server 50 is The reservation module of the rental program is executed by the processor 160 of the management server 50.

  When the reservation module for the mobile terminal 90 is executed by the processor 130 of the mobile terminal 90, first, in step 101, the mobile terminal 90 uses the GPS receiver 152 to receive the current position ( (Latitude and longitude) are measured.

  Next, in step S102, the measured current position of the user is referred to by the processor 130 to display a map on the screen 135 of the display unit 136 (position of display reference point (longitude and latitude)). It is said. Further, in the whole map, a portion having a size that can be displayed at a time in a window on the screen 135 and having the reference position exists in a map display range (that is, the window in the whole map). In the area displayed at each moment).

  As illustrated in FIG. 15A, when the user moves on the ground with time, the reference position 202 (shown by a black triangle in FIG. 15) also moves with time so as to follow the movement. As a result, with the movement of the user, the display range of the map also moves with time on the entire map, and the image of the map displayed in the window also changes with time.

  Subsequently, in step S103, a login request (an example of a “service start signal”) for logging in to the management server 50 is transmitted to the management server 50 together with a user ID and a password for identifying the current user.

  On the other hand, when the reservation module for the management server 50 is executed by the processor 160 of the management server 50, the management server 50 receives the login request together with the user ID and the password in step S201. In S202, station data relating to the plurality of stations 20 (refer to FIG. 8 for a plurality of components of the station data) and bicycle data relating to a plurality of bicycles 12 belonging to the stations 20 (a plurality of bicycle data of the For the components, the memory 162 (or another memory) of the management server 50 searches the reservation status table (see FIG. 12A) with the reservation status table (see FIG. 12A).

  Thereafter, in step S203, the searched station data, bicycle data, and reservation status table are transmitted to the portable terminal 90.

  On the other hand, the portable terminal 90 receives the station data, the bicycle data, and the reservation status table in step S104. The received station data is stored in the station data memory 163 shown in FIG. 7, and as a result, the table shown in FIG. 8 is constructed. The received bicycle data is stored in the bicycle data memory 165 shown in FIG. 7, and as a result, the table shown in FIG. 9 is constructed. The received reservation status table (see FIG. 12A) is stored in the reservation status table memory 167.

  Subsequently, in step S105, based on the stored station data, a small number of candidate stations located on the map displayed on the screen 135 near the current position among the plurality of stations 20 are displayed. 20 is displayed as an overlay.

  In this step 105, all the plurality of stations 20 (all the stations 20 stored in the memory 162 of the management server 50) represented by the received plurality of station data are displayed on the screen 135. Do not mean. Only a plurality of stations 20 smaller than the plurality of stations 20 determined by the current position of the user and the size of the screen 135 are displayed on the screen 135. That is, the plurality of stations 20 received from the management server 50 are further narrowed down to a small number of candidate stations 20 according to the current position of the user and the size of the screen 135.

  In one example, as shown in FIG. 15A, the current position of the user is displayed on a map displayed on a screen 135 using an overlay using a black triangle 202, and a plurality of candidate stations 20 are displayed. An overlay display is performed using a plurality of station display icons 204. In this example, the three station display icons 204 are configured as figures in which the alphabets “A”, “B”, and “C” are surrounded by a rectangular frame.

  In the present embodiment, for convenience of explanation, the part of the system 10 that executes step S105 constitutes an example of the “candidate station display section” and an example of the “candidate station display step” in the above section (8). It is possible to think that there is.

  The same thing as step S105 is the same as step S105 in FIG. 18 in which the user uses a plurality of stations 20 as the return destination of the bicycle 12 by using advance information. For example, it is possible to adopt from among the candidates in consideration of the distance to the user's current position, the distance to the nearest station to the user, and the like.

  Subsequently, in step S106, the user selects one of the candidate stations 20 as the current selected station 20 by touching the display position of any of the candidate stations 20 on the screen 135 with a finger.

  Specifically, when the user touches the display position of any of the candidate stations 20 on the screen 135 with a finger, the touch position is detected by the touch screen of the display unit 136, and the touch position is, for example, a map. It is converted into map coordinate information (position information) which is the above longitude and latitude (defined by the global coordinate system which is an absolute coordinate system) or the corresponding xy coordinate information (defined by the device coordinate system which is a relative coordinate system). Is done. One of the candidate stations 20 is specified based on the map coordinate information.

  Then, in step S107, the reservation status table is displayed on the screen 135 as illustrated in FIG.

  Subsequently, in step S108, as illustrated in FIG. 15C, the user identifies the station (rental station) 20 to be reserved and the identification information of the bicycle (rented bicycle) 12 to be reserved. (For example, a number), a lending date and time (scheduled), and a return date and time (scheduled). Here, inputting the identification information of the bicycle 12 to be reserved to the mobile terminal 90 by the user is equivalent to performing an operation on the mobile terminal 90 by the user to select one of the bicycles 12.

  Thereafter, in step S109, the portable terminal 90 transmits the inputted reservation content to the management server 50 in association with the user (for example, together with the user ID).

  As a result, the identification information of the rental station 20 and the identification information of the rental bicycle 12 are paired (associated), and the pair is associated with the identification information of the current user, and the information is stored in the portable terminal. 90 to the management server 50.

  On the other hand, in step S204, the management server 50 receives the reservation content in association with the user (for example, together with the user ID). Subsequently, in step S205, the management server 50 registers the received reservation content in a file associated with the current user among the plurality of user-specific reservation content files (see FIG. 12B). Further, the reservation status table stored in the memory 162 is updated so that the received reservation content is reflected.

  Then, the management server 50 transmits a message to the effect that the reservation has been completed to the portable terminal 90 in step S206.

  On the other hand, the portable terminal 90 displays the received message on the screen 135 or outputs it by voice. This display informs the user that his or her reservation has been made.

<Lending process sequence with reservation>

  FIG. 16 shows that the user enters the reserved station 20, then approaches the reserved bicycle 12, and moves to the reserved station 20 in order to permit the rental of the bicycle 12. An example of communication performed between the first transmitter 30 to be performed, the second transmitter 32 installed on the bicycle 12, the user's portable terminal 90, and the management server 50 is a sequence flow in chronological order. It is represented by

  Each of the first and second transmitters 30 and 32 spontaneously and continuously transmits its own identification signal. When the user enters the reserved station 20, the mobile terminal 90 is present in the first effective reception area of the first transmitter 30 (see FIG. 6), and the mobile terminal 90 1 The identification signal from the transmitter 30 is effectively received. Eventually, when the user holds the mobile terminal 90 over the second transmitter 32 of the bicycle 12 for which the reservation has been made, the mobile terminal 90 is present in the second effective reception area of the second transmitter 32 ( See FIG. 6).

  In the present embodiment, the reception range of the first effective reception area of the first transmitter 30 is set to the long range regardless of the presence or absence of the reservation, while the reception range of the second effective reception area of the second transmitter 32 is set. Is the short range. This setting is valid regardless of whether the process is a lending process or a return process.

  This time, the user selects the button “lending processing mode with reservation” on the screen of the mobile terminal 90. In response, the mobile terminal 90 executes the lending processing module for the mobile terminal 90 when there is a reservation. As a result, first, in step 151, a log-in request for the mobile terminal 90 to log in to the management server 50 is transmitted to the management server 50 together with a user ID and a password for identifying the current user.

  On the other hand, when the management server 50 executes the reserved-time lending processing module for the management server 50, the management server 50 receives the login request together with the user ID and the password in step S251.

  Subsequently, in step S252, the file associated with the current user among the plurality of user-specific reservation content files is searched in the memory 162. Further, in the retrieved reservation content file for each user, information on the reserved station 20 (renting station) among the plurality of stations 20 and the reserved bicycle 12 among the plurality of bicycles 12 of the station 20 are displayed. The information on (rented bicycle) is searched as the user reservation related information this time.

  After that, in step S253, the searched user reservation related information is transmitted to the portable terminal 90.

  On the other hand, the portable terminal 90 receives the current user reservation related information in step S152. Subsequently, in step S153, in the current user reservation related information, the transmitter code pre-assigned to the legitimate first transmitter 30 which should be installed in the reserved station 20 is replaced with the legitimate first transmitter code. In addition to being searched for as a transmitter code, a transmitter code previously assigned to a legitimate second transmitter 32 supposed to be installed on the reserved bicycle 12 is searched for as a legitimate second transmitter code. . The authorized first and second transmitter codes for the user are obtained.

  Subsequently, in step S154, the mobile terminal 90 receives a signal from at least one of the at least one first transmitter 30 and the at least one second transmitter 32 present in the station 20 this time.

  On the other hand, as described above, when the mobile terminal 90 is currently located outside the first receivable area of the first transmitter 30, the mobile terminal 90 cannot receive the identification signal from the first transmitter 30 at all. On the other hand, when the mobile terminal 90 is currently located in the first receivable area of the first transmitter 30, the mobile terminal 90 can receive the identification signal from the first transmitter 30.

  Further, even if the portable terminal 90 receives the identification signal from the first transmitter 30, the portable terminal 90 may be located outside the first effective reception area of the first transmitter 30 at present. May also exist within.

  Such a situation applies to the second transmitter 32 as well.

  The mobile terminal 90 can receive a plurality of signals from a plurality of transmitters simultaneously and identifiably from each other. Each transmitter emits a unique signal. For example, the source address (corresponding to the transmitter ID) in the header of each packet of the signal is different from those of other transmitters. Focusing on this, the mobile terminal 90 can individually handle a plurality of signals received simultaneously.

  Therefore, after step S154, in step S155, the mobile terminal 90 performs the following three types of determination.

1) The first valid reception determination as to whether the portable terminal 90 has effectively received the identification signal from the first transmitter 30, that is, the measured value of the distance between the portable terminal 90 and the first transmitter 30 is the first valid Judge whether the area is smaller than the effective reception radius (long range) of the reception area

2) The second valid reception determination as to whether the portable terminal 90 has effectively received the identification signal from the second transmitter 32, that is, the measured value of the distance between the portable terminal 90 and the second transmitter 32 is the second valid Judgment as to whether it is smaller than the effective reception radius (short range) of the reception area

3) The simultaneous reception determination as to whether or not the portable terminal 90 has received simultaneously from the first transmitter 30 and the second transmitter 32, that is, the timing when the first valid reception determination of the first transmitter 30 is affirmed and the second Determination of whether or not the timing at which the first valid reception determination of the transmitter 32 is affirmed is made at substantially the same time.

  The portable terminal 90 can determine which transmitter corresponds to the first transmitter 30 (station-side transmitter) with reference to the already stored station data (FIG. 8), and can also determine which transmitter is already stored. By referring to the stored bicycle data (FIG. 9), it is possible to determine which transmitter corresponds to the second transmitter 32 (bicycle-side transmitter). Therefore, the portable terminal 90 applies the effective reception radius (for example, the long range) of the first effective reception area to the valid reception determination of which transmitter, and the validity of the second effective reception area to the valid reception determination of which transmitter. It can also be determined whether a reception radius (for example, the short range) is applied.

  If any one of the first valid reception determination, the second valid reception determination, and the simultaneous reception determination is negative during the execution of step 155, the determination in step 155 is NO, and the process returns to step S154. On the other hand, if any of the first valid reception determination, the second valid reception determination, and the simultaneous reception determination is affirmative, the determination in step 155 is YES, and the process proceeds to step S156.

  In step S156, the portable terminal 90 demodulates the received identification signal. Subsequently, in step S157, the portable terminal 90 sets the transmitter ID represented by the demodulated identification signal to the actual transmitter ID. To be deciphered. Specifically, the portable terminal 90 has an actual first transmitter ID represented by a signal received from the first transmitter 30 and an actual second transmitter ID represented by a signal received from the second transmitter 32. And get.

  In the case where the demodulated identification signal is a code represented by a plurality of binary numbers, for example, the code is prepared in a conversion table prepared in advance (for example, a code downloaded from the management server 50 in advance). Is converted to a transmitter ID. However, in terms of usage, the difference between "code" and "ID" is insignificant as long as its use is identification.

  Subsequently, in step S158, the portable terminal 90 compares the actual first and second actual transmitter IDs decrypted in this way with the regular first and second transmitter IDs obtained by executing step S153. It is determined whether or not they match each other. That is, ID collation is performed.

  Here, the “real first transmitter ID” is the first transmitter (the selected real first transmitter) that is actually installed in the station that is actually selected and visited by the user among the plurality of stations 20. Means the first transmitter ID corresponding to the (device) 30, while the “regular first transmitter ID” is virtually selected by the user operating the mobile terminal 90 among the plurality of stations 20. It means the first transmitter ID corresponding to the first transmitter (the selected virtual first transmitter) 30 that should be installed in the object.

  Similarly, the “real second transmitter ID” is the second transmitter (the selected real second transmitter) 32 actually installed in the bicycle 12 that is actually selected by the user. Meanwhile, the “regular second transmitter ID” is set to the one virtually selected by the user operating the mobile terminal 90 among the plurality of bicycles 12. This means the transmitter ID corresponding to the second transmitter (the selected virtual second transmitter) 32 that should have been performed.

  After that, in step S159, the mobile terminal 90 determines whether or not each of the actual transmitter IDs and each of the regular transmitter IDs match each other, that is, whether or not the ID collation is successful.

  If the ID collation has not been successful, the determination in step S159 is NO, and then, in step S160, the portable terminal 90 sends the first transmitter 30 and the second transmitter to the user again using the portable terminal 90. The user is prompted to retry detecting the device 32, for example, by displaying an appropriate message on the screen 135 or outputting a sound. Thereafter, the process returns to step S154.

  On the other hand, if the ID collation is successful, the determination in step S159 is YES, and then, in step S161, the mobile terminal 90 determines that the bicycle 12 before lending is present in the current station 20 at the current time. It is determined that there is. This determination is equivalent to the determination that the user has started using the bicycle 12 this time at the station 20 this time (rented out).

  In one example, after the user activates the lending processing module, the user arrives at the station 20 this time, but the determination in step S155 is NO until the user arrives at the reserved bicycle 12 yet. When the user eventually arrives at the bicycle 12, the determination in step S155 transits from NO to YES.

  At this time, if the portable terminal 90 has received the signal indicating the authorized second transmitter ID, the ID collation is successful, and the determination in step S159 is YES. Thereafter, in step S161, it is determined that the first transition has occurred at the current time.

  Here, the timing at which the determination in step S159 is YES is the timing at which the portable terminal 90 transitions from a state in which the regular second transmitter ID is not received to a state in which the portable terminal 90 receives the regular second transmitter ID ("reception for bicycle recognition" in the example of FIG. (Corresponds to the temporal position of the "rising edge" of the signal).

  Thereafter, in step S162, a lending request is input from the user to the portable terminal 90 (for example, a virtual button (for example, a "lending button") operated to instruct the "lending request" is operated by the user). Is determined. If a lending request has been input, the determination in step S162 is YES.

  Subsequently, in step S163, the lending request is issued from the user, and the determination result that the user has actually started using the reserved bicycle 12 at the currently reserved station 20 Is transmitted to the management server 50 in association with the user (for example, together with the user ID).

  On the other hand, in step S254, the management server 50 receives the information transmitted by the mobile terminal 90 by executing the step S163.

  Thereafter, in step S255, the current time is measured using the clock 172. Subsequently, in step S256, the current time is recognized as the actual lending time. Subsequently, in step S257, the current rental of the bicycle 12 to the user is permitted.

  Thereafter, in step S258, a charging start time is determined for the user. In principle, charging starts at the scheduled lending time, and an amount corresponding to the length of time (use time, lending time, rental time) from the scheduled lending time is calculated as the rental amount.

  As described above, the case has been described in which the user has normally issued the lending request immediately after the portable terminal 90 has effectively received the two valid transmitters 30 and 32 simultaneously (both receiving states have been established). If not, the determination in step S162 is NO, and then in step S164, it is determined whether the elapsed time from the execution time of step S161 is within the first time limit (for example, 5 minutes). Is done.

  If it is within the first time limit, the determination in step S164 is YES, and in step S165, inputting a lending request to the user is performed, for example, by displaying an appropriate message on the screen 135 or by voice. It is prompted by output being performed. Subsequently, the process returns to step S162.

  On the other hand, if the elapsed time from the execution time of step S161 exceeds the first time limit, the determination in step S164 is NO, and then, in step S166, the first violation occurs to the user. It is determined that it has been done.

  Subsequently, in step S167, the fact that the first violation has occurred to the user is transmitted to the management server 50 this time. The transmitted content is received by the management server 50 in step S254, and the rental of the bicycle 12 is prohibited this time.

<Lending process sequence without reservation>

  FIG. 17 shows that the user enters one of the stations 20 without reservation, and then approaches one of the bicycles 12 and asks the user to permit the rental of the bicycle 12. , A second transmitter 32 installed on the bicycle 12, a user's portable terminal 90, and an example of communication performed between the management server 50 are chronologically sequenced. -It is represented by a flow. Since this flow has many elements common to the flow shown in FIG. 16, only different elements will be described in detail.

  This time, the user selects a button “lending processing mode without reservation” on the screen of the mobile terminal 90. In response, the non-reservation lending processing module for the mobile terminal 90 is executed by the mobile terminal 90.

  As a result, first, in step 201, as in step S151, a login request for logging in to the management server 50 is transmitted to the management server 50 together with a user ID and password for identifying the current user. You.

  On the other hand, when the no-reservation lending processing module for the management server 50 is executed by the management server 50, the management server 50 transmits the login request to the user ID and the user ID in step S271 in the same manner as in step S251 described above. Receive with password.

  Subsequently, in step S272, the reservation status table (FIG. 12A) is searched in the memory 162. Then, in step S273, the searched reservation status table is transmitted to the portable terminal 90.

  On the other hand, the portable terminal 90 receives the reservation status table in step S202. Subsequently, in step S203, the received reservation status table is displayed on the screen 135.

  Subsequently, in step S204, as in step S154 described above, the portable terminal 90 sets at least one of the at least one first transmitter 30 and the at least one second transmitter 32 existing in the current station 20. Receiving a signal from one.

  After that, in step S205, the portable terminal 90 performs the first valid reception determination, the second valid reception determination, and the simultaneous reception determination similarly to the above-described step S155.

  If the determination in step 205 is NO, the process returns to step S204, but if the determination in step 205 is YES, the process proceeds to step S206.

  In this step S206, the portable terminal 90 demodulates the received identification signal as in the above-described step S156, and then in step S207, as in the above-described step S157, the portable terminal 90 performs demodulation of the demodulated signal. The real first transmitter ID of the first transmitter 30 and the real second transmitter ID of the second transmitter 32 are acquired from the identification signal thus obtained.

  Subsequently, in step S208, the user has selected the current station (rental station) 20 and the current bicycle (rented bicycle) 12 as a result of reception from the first transmitter 30 and the second transmitter 32. Are displayed on the screen 135 together with the reservation status table. Thereby, the user confirms the station 20 and the bicycle 12 selected by the user.

  Further, in step S208, the user inputs the current scheduled return time of the bicycle 12 to the portable terminal 90.

  Thereafter, in step S209, the mobile terminal 90 extracts the individual reservation status corresponding to the current station 20 and the current bicycle 12 from the reservation status table, and the reserved time zone in the individual reservation status is It is determined whether or not the scheduled use time period from the current actual lending time to the scheduled return time does not overlap, that is, whether or not there is a prior contract.

  If there is a prior agreement, the determination in step S209 is NO, and then in step S210, as in step S160, the portable terminal 90 prompts the user again with the first transmitter 30 and the portable terminal 90 using the portable terminal 90. Prompts to retry detecting the second transmitter 32. Thereafter, the process returns to step S204.

  On the other hand, if there is no prior agreement, the determination in step S209 is YES, and then in step S211 the mobile terminal 90 determines that the bicycle 12 before lending is present in the current station 20 at the current time. It is determined that there is. This determination is equivalent to the determination that the user has started using the bicycle 12 this time at the station 20 this time (rented out).

  Thereafter, in step S212, it is determined whether a lending request has been input from the user to the portable terminal 90, as in step S162 described above. If a lending request has been input, the determination in step S212 is YES.

  Subsequently, in step S213, the determination result that the user actually started using the bicycle 12 at the current station 20 (rented out) at the current station 20 is associated with the user in accordance with step S163 described above. And transmitted to the management server 50 (for example, together with the user ID).

  As a result, the identification information of the rental station 20 and the identification information of the rental bicycle 12 are paired (associated), and the pair is associated with the identification information of the current user, and the information is stored in the portable terminal. 90 to the management server 50.

  On the other hand, in step S274, the management server 50 receives the information transmitted by the mobile terminal 90 by executing step S213, as in step S254 described above.

  Subsequently, in step S275, the current time is measured using the clock 172 as in step S255. Subsequently, in step S276, the current time is recognized as the actual lending time, as in step S256. Subsequently, in step S277, as in step S257, the user is permitted to lend the bicycle 12 this time.

  Then, in step S278, the billing start time is determined for the user as in step S258. Subsequently, in step S279, the contents of the current lending, that is, the identification information of the lending station 20, the identification information of the rental bicycle 12, the actual lending time, and the scheduled return time are stored in the plurality of user-specific reservations. The content file (see FIG. 12B) is registered in the file associated with the current user.

  Further, in this step S278, the reservation status table stored in the memory 162 is updated so that the current lending content is reflected.

  The case where the determination in step S212 is YES has been described above. However, if the determination is NO, in step S214, as in step S164 described above, the elapsed time from the execution time in step S211 is the first limit. It is determined whether it is within the time.

  If it is within the first time limit, the determination in step S214 is YES, and in step S215, as in step S165, the user is prompted to input a lending request. Subsequently, the process returns to step S212.

  On the other hand, if the elapsed time from the execution time of step S211 is longer than the first time limit, the determination in step S214 is NO, and then in step S216, as in step S166 described above, It is determined that the first violation has occurred to the user.

  Subsequently, in step S217, similarly to step S167, the fact that the first violation has occurred to the user is transmitted to the management server 50 this time. The transmitted content is received by the management server 50 in step S254 in step S254, and the rental of the bicycle 12 is prohibited this time.

<Return processing sequence>

  FIG. 18 shows that the user is riding on the borrowed bicycle 12 while driving or pushing the borrowed bicycle 12 and is the same as or different from the lending station (return station). 20 and then, in order to have the bicycle 12 returned, a first transmitter 30 located at the station 20 and a second transmitter 32 installed on the bicycle 12 are reserved. An example of communication performed between the mobile terminal 90 of the user and the management server 50 in order to have the returning process of the bicycle 12 allowed is represented in a time series in a sequence flow.

  This time, the button “return processing mode” is selected by the user on the screen of the mobile terminal 90. In response, the return processing module for the mobile terminal 90 is executed by the mobile terminal 90.

  As a result, first, in step 300, a login request for logging in to the management server 50 is transmitted to the management server 50 together with the user ID and password for identifying the current user, as in step S151 described above. You.

  On the other hand, when the return processing module for the management server 50 is executed by the management server 50, the management server 50 receives the login request together with the user ID and the password in step S400, as in step S251 described above. I do.

  In contrast, in step S302, the mobile terminal 90 performs the first valid reception determination, the second valid reception determination, and the simultaneous reception determination, as in step S155 described above.

  If the determination in step 302 is NO, the process returns to step S301, but if the determination in step 302 is YES, the process proceeds to step S303.

  In this step S303, the portable terminal 90 demodulates the received identification signal in the same manner as in step S156, and then in step S304, the portable terminal 90 performs demodulation of the demodulated signal in the same manner as in step S157. The real first transmitter ID of the first transmitter 30 and the real second transmitter ID of the second transmitter 32 are acquired from the identification signal thus obtained.

  Subsequently, in step S305, the user has selected the current station (return station) 20 and the current bicycle (return bicycle) 12 as a result of reception from the first transmitter 30 and the second transmitter 32. It is displayed on the screen 135. Thereby, the user confirms the station 20 and the bicycle 12 selected by the user.

  Further, in step S305, the portable terminal 90 determines that there is a bicycle 12 (a bicycle that the user is about to return) in the current station 20 at the current time. This determination is equivalent to the determination that the user has finished using the bicycle 12 at this time at the station 20 (returned).

  Thereafter, in step S306, a return request is input from the user to the portable terminal 90 in accordance with step S162 described above (for example, a virtual button operated to instruct the "return request" (for example, a "return button"). ) Is operated or not). If a return request has been input, the determination in step S306 is YES.

  Subsequently, in step S307, the user issues a return request according to step S163 described above, and the user actually ends the current use of the bicycle 12 at the current station 20 (when the return is performed). The determination result (the identification information of the current returning station 20 and the identification information of the current returning bicycle 12) is transmitted to the management server 50 in association with the user (for example, along with the user ID).

  As a result, the identification information of the return station 20 and the identification information of the returned bicycle 12 are paired (associated), the pair is associated with the identification information of the current user, and the information is stored in the mobile terminal. 90 to the management server 50.

  In contrast, in step S401, the management server 50 receives the information transmitted by the mobile terminal 90 by executing step S307, as in step S254 described above.

  Then, in step S402, the current time is measured using the clock 172. Subsequently, in step S403, the current time is recognized as the actual return time. Thereafter, in step S404, the user is permitted to return the bicycle 12 this time.

  After that, in step S405, the charging start time determined individually for each user as described above and the charging end time (scheduled return time when there is a reservation, actual return time when there is no reservation) in step S405. Time is calculated as total rental time.

  Subsequently, in step S406, the current rental amount is calculated based on the calculated total rental time length and the charge rate (increase rate) according to a charge table (not shown).

  Thereafter, in step S407, the reservation status table is updated so that the rental information on the current bicycle 12 is deleted from the reservation status table. Subsequently, in step S408, information such as the calculated rental amount is transmitted to the mobile terminal 90.

  On the other hand, the portable terminal 90 receives information such as the rental amount from the management server 50 in step S308, and subsequently displays the rental amount on the screen in step S309. Thereafter, in step S310, electronic payment is performed by the user.

  Subsequently, the mobile terminal 90 transmits a logout request for requesting logout from the management server 50 to the management server 50 in step S311.

  On the other hand, the management server 50 receives the logout request in step S409. Subsequently, in step S410, an acknowledgment signal ACK indicating that the reception of the logout request has been normally completed is transmitted to portable terminal 90.

  On the other hand, the portable terminal 90 receives the acknowledgment signal ACK from the management server 50 in step S312.

  The case where the determination in step S306 is YES has been described above. However, if the determination is NO, in step S313, the elapsed time from the execution time of step S305 is the second time limit according to step S164 described above. It is determined whether it is within.

  If it is within the second time limit, the determination in step S313 is YES, and in step S314, the user is prompted to input a return request according to step S165. Subsequently, the process returns to step S306.

  On the other hand, if the elapsed time from the execution time of step S305 is longer than the second time limit, the determination in step S313 is NO, and then, in step S315, the second violation occurs to the user. It is determined that it has been done. Subsequently, in step S316, the fact that the second violation has occurred to the user is transmitted to the management server 50.

<Abandoned bicycle search sequence>

  In FIG. 19, it is determined whether or not the user got off the bicycle 12 at a place other than the station 20 for some reason and left the vehicle after riding the borrowed bicycle 12 for driving. An example of communication performed between the second transmitter 32 installed on the bicycle 12, the user's portable terminal 90, and the management server 50 is represented in a time-sequential sequence flow.

  The abandoned bicycle search sequence is started when the user borrows any bicycle 12 and completes the lending process.

  First, in step S1901, the user's portable terminal 90 attempts to receive from the first and / or second transmitters 30 and 32. Next, in step S1902, the data is effectively received from any one of the first transmitters 30 (for example, the portable terminal 90 is in the first reception range (for example, the distance from any one of the first transmitters 30 is about 10 m)). Is determined).

  When the portable terminal 90 is receiving the signal from any of the first transmitters 30 effectively, it means that the user is staying in one of the stations 20 together with the bicycle 12. It is not necessary to execute the parked bicycle search sequence.

  If the mobile terminal 90 is receiving data from any of the first transmitters 30 effectively, the determination in step S1902 is YES and the process returns to step S1901, but as shown in FIG. Is not effectively received from any of the first transmitters 30, the determination in step S1902 is NO.

  Here, the fact that the portable terminal 90 is not effectively receiving from any of the first transmitters 30 means that the reception signal from the first transmitter 30 is not shown in the time chart of FIG. Is a low level L. This notation is the same for other time charts for the second transmitter.

  Subsequently, in step S1903, the mobile terminal 90 attempts to receive the data from the first and / or second transmitters 30 and 32. After that, in step S1904, this time, the mobile terminal 90 has received a valid signal from one of the second transmitters 32 (for example, the portable terminal 90 has received a second reception range shorter than the first reception range (for example, any of the second transmitters). It is determined whether or not the distance from P.32 is within about 5 m).

  When the mobile terminal 90 is effectively receiving from any of the second transmitters 32, it means that there is a high possibility that the user is riding on the bicycle 12, as illustrated in FIG. However, also in this case, it is unnecessary to execute the abandoned bicycle search sequence.

  If the mobile terminal 90 has not received the signal from any of the second transmitters 32 effectively, the determination in step S1904 is NO, and the process returns to step S1903. If it has been received effectively, the determination in step S1904 is YES.

  That the determination in step S1904 is YES is equivalent to the determination that the current user is riding on the current bicycle 12.

  However, based on a time differential value (speed equivalent value) of the GPS measurement position of the mobile terminal 90 and / or a detection value of an acceleration sensor (not shown) mounted on the mobile terminal 90 (for example, the absolute value is equal to or more than a reference value). It is determined whether or not the user is moving (by determining whether or not the user is moving), and if the determination in step S1904 is YES, on the condition that it is determined that the user is moving, It is possible to determine that the user is moving on the bicycle 12 this time.

  Subsequently, in step S1905, the portable terminal 90 obtains the actual second transmitter ID represented by the identification signal effectively received from any of the second transmitters 32, and obtains the obtained actual second transmitter ID. The machine ID is converted into a bicycle ID corresponding to the actual second transmitter ID according to the correspondence shown in FIG. Thereby, the bicycle 12 detected by the mobile terminal 90, that is, the bicycle 12 borrowed by the user is identified.

  After that, in step S1906, the portable terminal 90 attempts to receive from the first and / or second transmitters 30 and 32. Subsequently, in step S1907, the portable terminal 90 has been effectively received from the same second transmitter 32 that has been determined to be effectively received in step S1904 (for example, the portable terminal 90 has the same transmitter 32 as the previous one). (Located within the second reception range).

  That is, in step S1907, the portable terminal 90 transmits a signal representing the same bicycle ID as the bicycle ID represented by the signal that the portable terminal 90 has effectively received from the second transmitter 32 in step S1904 to the second transmitter ( It is determined whether or not the portable terminal 90 is effectively receiving from the same transmitter 32 as the previous time.

  As illustrated in FIG. 21 (b), when the user abandons the bicycle 12 this time and leaves it, the user's portable terminal 90 moves away from or retreats from the second transmitter 32 mounted on the bicycle 12. As a result, the portable terminal 90 deviates from the second reception range. Then, the portable terminal 90 shifts from the reception state in which the portable terminal 90 can be effectively received from the second transmitter 32 to the non-reception state in which the portable terminal 90 cannot be effectively received.

  If the mobile terminal 90 is still effectively receiving from the same second transmitter 32 as the previous time, the determination in step S1907 is YES and the process returns to step S1906. If the determination in step S1907 is YES, it means that the current user is riding on the current bicycle 12 (in a state where the user is sitting on the saddle 62 of the bicycle 12, or in a state where the user is driving / moving while riding the bicycle 12). Is).

  On the other hand, if the mobile terminal 90 has not effectively received the same signal from the second transmitter 32 as the previous time, the determination in step S1907 is NO.

  As shown in FIGS. 22 (a) and (b), this determination result indicates that the mobile terminal 90 has not received the signal from the first transmitter 30 effectively (during the period), and the same This is equivalent to a determination that a transition has been made from a reception state in which signals are effectively received from the transmitter 32 to a non-reception state in which signals are not effectively received.

  The determination result further indicates that the user has got off the bicycle 12 from the state of riding on the bicycle 12 during a period in which the user, the mobile terminal 90, and the bicycle 12 are not present in any of the stations 20 (for example, This state is equivalent to the determination that the state has shifted to the state in which the state is separated from the bicycle 12).

  In the present embodiment, whether the user, the mobile terminal 90, and the bicycle 12 are not present in any of the stations 20 is determined by using the first transmitter 30 installed in each of the stations 20. Alternatively, the GPS of the mobile terminal 90 may be used to determine whether the current position of the user and the mobile terminal 90 measured by the GPS does not match any of the stations 20 on the map. The present invention may be implemented in a mode in which it is determined whether or not the operation is performed.

  After that, in step S1908, the mobile terminal 90 measures the current position by GPS. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 22C, in step S1909, the measured current position (x, y) (x: longitude, y: latitude) is stored in the memory 132 as a temporary leaving position.

  Then, in step S1910, the mobile terminal 90 does not leave the bicycle 12 unattended, but moves to any station 20 on the bicycle 12 and returns it to the user who has left the bicycle 12 in step S1910. Is displayed on the screen 135 to notify the user of the message.

  Subsequently, in step S1911, the portable terminal 90 determines whether the portable terminal 90 has started to receive data effectively from the second transmitter 32 this time because the user got on the bicycle 12 again. . If the valid reception from the second transmitter 32 has started this time, this determination becomes YES, and the process returns to step S1901.

  On the other hand, if valid reception from the second transmitter 32 has not been started this time, the determination in step S1911 is NO, and the portable terminal 90 determines in step S1912 as shown in FIG. It is determined whether a predetermined time limit (for example, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 1 hour) has elapsed. That is, it is determined whether or not the time during which the same determination result has continued from the time when the determination result of step S1911 is initially NO has reached the threshold time.

  If the determination in step S1912 is NO, the process returns to step S1910. However, if the determination in step S1912 is YES, portable terminal 90 determines in step S1913 that the current bicycle has been set as shown in FIG. It is determined that 12 is an abandoned bicycle. As a result, an abandoned bicycle is found.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the portable terminal 90 determines that the elapsed time from the start time of the non-receiving state of the second transmitter 32 exceeds the time limit (the “predetermined time” in the above-described item (4)). Then, the current bicycle 12 is recognized as an abandoned bicycle.

  Here, the length of the “time limit” may be set for the convenience of the rental company, but the time at which the user stops the bicycle 12 and gets off and starts waiting for the bicycle 12 (from the reception state to the non- The length of the waiting time from the time of transition to the reception state) to the time of returning to the bicycle 12 and riding the bicycle 12 and restarting use of the bicycle 12 (time of transition from the non-reception state to the reception state) is determined by the user. May be set according to the circumstances or schedule.

  During the waiting time, the original user locks the electronic lock of the bicycle 12 before leaving the bicycle 12 in order to prevent another person from starting using the bicycle 12 without permission. When the use of the bicycle 12 is resumed, the portable terminal 90 or the management server 50 may transmit an unlock signal to the electronic lock to unlock the electronic lock.

  Instead of or in addition to such an abandonment determination method, the mobile terminal 90 may determine whether the rental time of the rental vehicle permitted by the user has elapsed, that is, even if the scheduled return time has elapsed. If this bicycle 12 is not returned to any of the stations 20, the current bicycle 12 may be recognized as an abandoned bicycle.

  Instead of or in addition to the neglected determination methods, the mobile terminal 90 may provide the user with a visual, audible, or tactile sensation after the non-receiving state of the second transmitter 32 is started. Is stimulated to return the current bicycle 12 to any of the stations, and if the user does not respond to the mobile terminal 90 in response to the prompt, even if the current bicycle 12 is recognized as an abandoned bicycle, Good.

  Subsequently, in step S1914, the portable terminal 90 finally sets the temporary idle position (x, y) stored in the memory 132 as the idle position (x, y), as shown in FIG. handle. After that, in step S1915, the personal authentication information of the current user, the current bicycle ID representing the abandoned bicycle, and the final abandoned position (x, y) are transmitted to the management server 50 as the abandoned bicycle information. I do.

  On the other hand, in step S1951, the management server 50 receives the abandoned bicycle information transmitted by the mobile terminal 90 by executing the step S1915.

  After that, in step S1952, the management server 50 determines that the bicycle 12 has not been actually returned to any of the stations 20, but the abandoned position of the bicycle 12 is actually a rental station 20 that temporarily appears. Since the same bicycle 12 is lent to another user and is handled, the determination that the abandoned bicycle 12 is present is regarded as that the bicycle 12 has been returned. That is, the act of neglect is treated as the act of deemed return.

  Subsequently, the management server 50 measures the current time using the clock 172 in step S1953. Subsequently, in step S1954, the current time is recognized as the deemed return time. After that, in step S1955, the time from the charging start time individually determined for each user as described above to the charging end time (this time, the deemed return time) is calculated as the total rental time.

  Subsequently, in step S1956, the management server 50 calculates the current rental amount based on the calculated total rental time length and the fee rate (increase rate) according to a fee table (not shown).

  Thereafter, in step S1957, the management server 50 calculates a penalty imposed on the user because the user did not return the bicycle 12 to any of the stations 20.

  Subsequently, in step S1958, as illustrated in FIG. 23, the management server 50 identifies the user who has left the bicycle 12 this time, the bicycle ID that identifies the bicycle 12, and the abandoned position of the bicycle 12 ( x, y), the start time of the neglect (that is, for example, the deemed return time or the transition time from the reception state of the second transmitter 32 to the non-reception state), and the operation of collecting the bicycle 12 by another user Indicating whether or not has been started and information indicating whether or not the work has been completed are stored in the memory 162 in association with each other. As a result, the abandoned bicycle list is registered in the memory 162.

  Further, in this step S1958, the management server 50 updates the reservation status table so that the rental information on the current bicycle 12 is deleted from the reservation status table.

  Subsequently, in step S1959, the management server 50 transmits to the mobile terminal 90 information such as the total value of the calculated rental amount and the surcharge, that is, the total rental amount to be paid by the user.

  On the other hand, the portable terminal 90 receives information such as the total rental amount from the management server 50 in step S1916, and subsequently displays the total rental amount on the screen 135 in step S1917. Then, in step S1918, electronic payment by the user is enabled.

<Abandoned bicycle collection sequence>

  FIG. 20 shows that when a parked bicycle 12 is found, the bicycle 12 is set on the bicycle 12 in order to lend it to another user at the parked position and have the user return the bicycle to any of the stations 20. An example of the communication performed between the second transmitter 32, the portable terminal 90 of another user, and the management server 50 is shown in a time-sequential sequence flow.

  The abandoned bicycle collection sequence is started when the abandoned bicycle 12 is found by the above-described abandoned bicycle search sequence.

  First, in step S2051, the management server 50 reads the bicycle ID of each parked bicycle 12 before collection and the parked position of the parked bicycle 12 from the abandoned bicycle list illustrated in FIG. Next, in step S2052, for each abandoned bicycle 12, the abandoned bicycle data in which the bicycle ID and the abandoned position are associated with each other is simultaneously transmitted to the portable terminals 90 of a plurality of potential users. The abandoned bicycle data is stored in the memory 132 of the portable terminal 90 of each of the other users.

  In contrast, the portable terminal 90 of each of the other users receives the abandoned bicycle data transmitted from the management server 50 in step S2001. Subsequently, in step S2002, the current position of the terminal is measured by GPS. Then, in step S2003, a map near the current position (indicated by a black triangle 202 in the figure) is displayed on the screen 135 as illustrated in FIG.

  Subsequently, in step S2004, the portable terminal 90 of each of the other users, as shown in the figure, displays the parked position of each parked bicycle 12 represented by the parked bicycle data (in FIG. D) is displayed on the screen 135 over the map.

  Thereafter, the portable terminal 90 of each of the other users tries to receive the first and / or second transmitters 30 and 32 effectively in step S2005. Subsequently, in step S2006, it is determined whether or not the mobile terminal 90 has been effectively received from any of the second transmitters 32 (the mobile terminal 90 is within the second reception range).

  If the portable terminal 90 of each of the other users does not effectively receive from any of the second transmitters 32, the determination in step S2006 is NO, and the process returns to step S2005.

  On the other hand, as exemplified in FIG. 21C, one of the plurality of potential other users (hereinafter, referred to as “other user”) is the portable terminal 90 of another user. It is assumed that, based on the above-described guide information displayed on the screen 135, the user approaches to rent one of the abandoned bicycles 12.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 21D, another user gets on the abandoned bicycle 12 and, as a result, the portable terminal 90 of the other user is effectively received from one of the second transmitters 32. Suppose that In this case, the determination in step S2006 is YES.

  After that, in step S2007, the portable terminal 90 of another user determines, based on the identification signal effectively received from any of the second transmitters 32, of the abandoned bicycle 12 on which the second transmitter 32 is to be mounted. Obtain a bicycle ID.

  Subsequently, in step S2008, the portable terminal 90 of another user determines whether the acquired bicycle ID matches one of the bicycle IDs of the at least one abandoned bicycle 12 stored in the memory 132. Is determined. If the bicycle ID does not match any of the abandoned bicycles 12, the determination in step S2008 is NO, and the process returns to step S2005. If the bicycle ID matches any of the abandoned bicycles 12, the determination in step S2008 is made. Is YES.

  Thereafter, in step S2009, the portable terminal 90 of the other user sets the time at which the user plans to return the bicycle 12 to one of the stations 20 after borrowing and using the bicycle 12, that is, a certain abandoned bicycle 12. Help typing.

  Subsequently, in step S2010, the mobile terminal 90 of another user inputs a lending request for the bicycle 12 (for example, a virtual button operated to instruct a “lending request” (for example, a “lending button”). ) Is operated by the user). If a lending request has been input, the determination in step S2010 is YES.

  Thereafter, in step S2011, the portable terminal 90 of another user associates that the user has issued a lending request and that the user has started using the bicycle 12 this time with the user (for example, the user (Together with the ID) to the management server 50.

  On the other hand, in step S2053, the management server 50 receives the information transmitted by the portable terminals 90 of the other users by executing the step S2011. Thereafter, in step S2054, the abandoned bicycle table is updated so that the information on the current bicycle 12 is deleted from the abandoned bicycle table illustrated in FIG.

  Subsequently, in step S2055, the management server 50 measures the current time using the clock 172, as in step S255 described above. Subsequently, in step S2056, the current time is recognized as the actual lending time, as in step S256 described above. Subsequently, in step S2057, as in step S257, the user is permitted to lend the current bicycle 12 (this time, abandoned bicycle).

  After that, in step S2058, the management server 50 determines the charging start time for the user in the same manner as in step S258. Subsequently, the management server 50 transmits necessary information to the portable terminal 90 of another user, whereby the user can know that the bicycle 12 has been rented out at the abandoned position and charging has started.

  As described later, the present invention can be implemented in a mode in which the first transmitter 30 is not installed in each station 20. In the present embodiment, the first transmitter 30 is installed in each station 20. Since it is installed, effects resulting from it are obtained.

  That is, in the present embodiment, when renting and returning the bicycle 12 at each station 20, each bicycle 12 is linked to the station 20 where the bicycle 12 actually exists. Therefore, the management server 50, that is, the rental agent, can remotely monitor the number of bicycles 12 actually present in each station 20 in real time.

  Therefore, the rental agent can remotely monitor the number of stored bicycles 12 for each station 20 remotely in real time, and make sure that the user uses the station 20 where the number of stored bicycles 12 tends to be short. On the other hand, potential users can be guided to encourage users to use stations 20 where the number of stored bicycles 12 is excessive.

  In this way, a plurality of users perform the work of optimally distributing the stored bicycles 12 among the plurality of stations 20 on behalf of the rental trader, so that the rental trader has to bother with each station 20. The necessity of going out and performing work for eliminating excess or deficiency of the storage bicycle 12 in each station 20 is reduced.

  In the present embodiment, the first transmitter 30 is installed at each station 20, and therefore, whether the user is currently staying at any of the stations 20 or is staying at a place other than the station 20 (ie, , Or not staying at any one of the stations 20), and it is also possible to know which station 20 the user is currently staying at.

  However, instead of the first transmitter 30, a display (a fixed display or a variable display) displaying a graphic visualizing a code (for example, a bar code or a QR code (registered trademark)) capable of identifying each station 20 is provided. The present invention may be carried out in a mode in which is installed at each station 20.

<Second embodiment>

  Next, a system 10 according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. However, portions common to the system 10 according to the first embodiment will be referred to using the same reference numerals and names, and redundant description will be omitted, and only different portions will be described in detail.

  In the first embodiment described above, a plurality of bicycles 12 are temporarily transferred to a plurality of stations 20 which are permanently assigned to land in order to implement a one-way bicycle rental business which is basically a station type. At each station 20, the bicycle 12 is rented and returned. Further, a first transmitter 30 is installed in each station 20.

  On the other hand, in the present embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 25, the rental and return of the bicycle 12 are performed at an arbitrary place in order to implement a free floating one-way bicycle rental business. Of course, the first transmitter 30 is not installed in such an arbitrary place.

  In the example shown in FIG. 25, a certain user X selects a road bicycle parking lot 300 which is one of a plurality of road bicycle parking lots (bicycle parking dedicated for bicycle rental) allocated to both side zones on a public road, and rents the bicycle 12 there. . When the purpose is finally reached, the user X selects another on-street bicycle parking lot 300 and returns the bicycle 12 there.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the concept of leaving the bicycle 12 absent does not exist, but in the above-described first embodiment, as described above, the term “left” may be synonymous with the term “return”. There was sex.

  Therefore, the term "return" in the present embodiment is referred to as "return (return to one of the stations 20 by the person) in the first embodiment, and a preparatory action for lending the bicycle 12 to another person at the station 20. )) And the term "abandonment (a preparatory act for lending the bicycle 12 to another person at the abandoned place)".

<Lending sequence>

  In FIG. 26, a lending processing module executed by the user's portable terminal 90 to execute a lending process, and a lending processing module executed by the management server 50 to execute a lending process are shown in a lending sequence. Expressed as a flow.

  Specifically, the portable terminal 90 transmits a request to log in to the website of the management server 50 to the management server 50 in step S2601.

  In response to this, the management server 50 receives the login request in step S2651. Subsequently, in step S2652, the management server 50 searches the memory 162 for storage position data indicating the positions of the plurality of storage locations 300 where the bicycle 12 is currently stored.

  The plurality of storage locations 300 effectively function as a plurality of temporary stations for the user (an arbitrary place where the rental and return of the bicycle 12 are temporarily performed). After that, in step S2653, the management server 50 transmits the storage location data indicating the location (x, y) of the storage location 300 on the map to the mobile terminal 90 in association with each temporary station ID.

  In response, the portable terminal 90 receives the transmitted storage position data and stores it in the memory 132 in step S2602. Subsequently, in step S2603, the mobile terminal 90 measures its own current position, that is, the current position of the user, using the GPS.

  Thereafter, in step S2604, the portable terminal 90 displays a map near the current position on the screen 135, and further, is located near the current position among the plurality of stored storage locations 300 (that is, the temporary stations 300). The objects are displayed in an overlay on the displayed map.

  Thereby, the user can know some temporary stations 300 existing near his / her current position. Thereafter, the user selects one of the temporary stations 300 and moves toward that location, and eventually the user approaches the temporary station 300 and the bicycle 12 present therein.

  Subsequently, in step S2605, the mobile terminal 90 requests the user to contact or hold the mobile terminal 90 with the second transmitter 32 for reception from the second transmitter 32 mounted on any of the bicycles 12. Requesting that the short range (or the mobile terminal 90 not approach the second transmitter 32 but approach the second transmitter 32) (or if the user is on the bicycle 12, Even if the mobile terminal 90 is not held over the second transmitter 32, the portable terminal 90 can effectively receive the signal from the second transmitter 32).

  Thereafter, in step S2606, the mobile terminal 90 determines whether or not a transition has been made from a non-receiving state in which a signal is not effectively received from any of the second transmitters 32 to a receiving state in which the signal is effectively received. If there is no such transition, the determination in step S2606 is NO, and the process returns to step S2605. However, if there is such a transition and the determination in step S2606 is YES, the process proceeds to step S2607.

  As illustrated in FIG. 28, before the user gets on the bicycle 12 and the user is away from the second transmitter 32, the portable terminal 90 cannot effectively receive from the second transmitter 32. The received signal at that time is conceptually at the low level L. Eventually, when the user approaches the second transmitter 32 or gets on the bicycle 12, the portable terminal 90 starts to receive effectively from the second transmitter 32. The received signal at that time is conceptually at the high level H.

  The mobile terminal 90 determines “start lending” in the above-described step S2607. Subsequently, in step S2608, the current position of the terminal is measured by GPS. The position is either the current position of the user, the position of one temporary station 300 where the user is actually present (this time it functions as a lending station), or one vehicle that is stopped (parked) at the temporary station 300. Is also the location of the bicycle 12.

  Thereafter, in step S2609, the portable terminal 90 acquires the bicycle ID corresponding to the current bicycle 12 from the signal received effectively. The bicycle ID is stored in the memory 132 as a rental bicycle ID. Subsequently, in step S2610, the rental bicycle ID is displayed on screen 135, and a “rent button”, which is an icon operated to allow the user to borrow the bicycle 12, is displayed on screen 135. I do.

  Thereafter, in step S2611, the portable terminal 90 displays the bicycle ID (for example, “2001” in the example shown in FIG. 1B) displayed on the bicycle 12 selected by the user and the screen 135 on the screen 135. It is determined whether or not the user has operated the “rent button” because the displayed bicycle IDs match each other.

  If the user has not operated the “rent button”, the determination in step S2611 is NO, and the process returns to the same step S2611, but if the user has operated the “rent button”, the determination in step S2611 is YES, and In S2612, the user's request to borrow the current bicycle 12 is sent to the current bicycle ID, the current location of the temporary station 300 on the map (this time, the rental station position), and the user ID. It is transmitted to the management server 50 in association with it.

  In response, the management server 50 receives the lending request in step S2654, and subsequently measures the current time using the clock 172 in step S2655. Subsequently, in step S2656, the current time is recognized as the actual lending time. Subsequently, in step S2657, the current rental of the bicycle 12 to the user is permitted.

  After that, in step S2658, the management server 50 determines the charging start time to the actual lending time for the user. Subsequently, in step S2659, data indicating that the lending is permitted and the charging start time is transmitted to the mobile terminal 90.

  In response, portable terminal 90 receives the transmitted data in step S2613.

  At the same time, the portable terminal 90 transmits an unlock signal to an electronic lock (for example, a wheel lock, a steering wheel lock) mounted on the bicycle 12 this time by a short-range communication method, and thereby the electronic lock is transmitted. It is possible to unlock. After unlocking, the user can use the bicycle 12 this time. Instead, the management server 50 may transmit the same unlocking signal by the long-distance communication method.

  Thereafter, in step S2614, the mobile terminal 90 displays the data received in the preceding step S2613 on the screen 135.

  As illustrated in FIG. 28, when the rental of the bicycle 12 to the user is permitted as described above and the necessary unlocking is completed, the user can get on the bicycle 12 and start running. In this case, the rental time is strictly calculated from the actual rental time, but is substantially calculated from when the user gets on the bicycle 12.

<Return sequence>

  FIG. 27 shows a return sequence module executed by the user's portable terminal 90 to execute the return process and a return process module executed by the management server 50 to execute the return process. Expressed as a flow.

  This return sequence flow is executed after the above-described lending sequence flow ends. Further, in this return sequence flow, if the user is on the bicycle 12, the mobile terminal 90 can effectively receive from the second transmitter 32 without holding the mobile terminal 90 over the second transmitter 32. Attempts to receive from the second transmitter 32 under the above-mentioned medium range.

  Specifically, in step S2701, the mobile terminal 90 attempts reception from the second transmitter 32 mounted on one of the bicycles 12 in the medium range.

  Thereafter, in step S2702, portable terminal 90 determines whether or not a transition has been made from a reception state in which a signal is effectively received from any of second transmitters 32 to a non-reception state in which the signal is not effectively received. If there is no transition, the determination in step S2702 is NO, and the process returns to step S2701. However, if the transition is made and the determination in step S2702 is YES, the process moves to step S2703.

  As illustrated in FIG. 28, when the user is riding on the bicycle 12 and is approaching the second transmitter 32, the portable terminal 90 effectively receives from the second transmitter 32. The received signal at that time is conceptually at the high level H. Eventually, when the user gets off the bicycle 12 and moves away from the second transmitter 32, a state in which the portable terminal 90 does not receive the signal from the second transmitter 32 effectively is started. The received signal at that time is conceptually at the low level L.

  The mobile terminal 90 determines “return start” in the above-described step S2703. Then, in step S2704, its own current position is measured by GPS. The position is either the current position of the user, the position of one temporary station 300 where the user is actually present (this time it functions as a return station), or one vehicle that is stopped (parked) at the temporary station 300. Is also the location of the bicycle 12.

  After that, in step S2705, the portable terminal 90 acquires the bicycle ID corresponding to the current bicycle 12 from the signal that was effectively received at the time of execution of step S2701. Subsequently, in step S2706, it is determined whether or not the bicycle ID matches the rental bicycle ID stored in the memory 132. If they do not match, the determination in step S2706 is NO and the process returns to step S2701, but if they match, the determination in step S2706 is YES and the process moves to step S2707.

  In step S2707, the portable terminal 90 displays on the screen 135 a "return button" that is an icon operated by the user to return the bicycle 12. Further, it is determined whether or not the user has operated the “return button”.

  If the user has not operated the “return button”, the determination is NO, and the process returns to step S2707. However, if the user has operated the “return button”, the determination is YES, and in step S2708, the user In response to the request to return the current bicycle 12, the management server associates the request with the current bicycle ID, the current location of the temporary station 300 on the map (this time, the return station position), and the user ID. Send to 50.

  In response, the management server 50 receives the return request in step S2751. Subsequently, in step S2752, the management server 50 stores in the memory 162 a list of a plurality of storage locations where the available bicycles 12 are stored. The stored one is updated to reflect the fact that the current bicycle 12 has been returned to the map location of the temporary station 300 this time.

  Thereafter, the management server 50 measures the current time using the clock 172 in step S2753. Subsequently, in step S2754, the current time is recognized as the actual return time. Thereafter, in step S2755, the user is permitted to return the bicycle 12 this time.

  Subsequently, in step S2756, the management server 50 calculates the time from the charging start time to the charging end time (actual return time) determined for the user as the total rental time in step S2756. After that, in step S2775, the rental amount is calculated this time based on the calculated total rental time length and the charge rate (increase rate) according to a charge table (not shown). Subsequently, in step S2758, information such as the calculated rental amount is transmitted to the portable terminal 90.

  On the other hand, the portable terminal 90 receives information such as the rental amount from the management server 50 in step S2709, and subsequently displays the rental amount on the screen 135 in step S2710. Thereafter, in step S2711, the user performs electronic payment.

  For example, the portable terminal 90 may display on the screen 135 a message for instructing the user to manually lock the electronic lock mounted on the bicycle 12 at this time in step S2710. When the user actually locks and the lock is confirmed by the electronic lock, and the mobile terminal 90 or the management server 50 receives the lock, the return stage may be determined to be completed at that time.

  As illustrated in FIG. 28, as described above, when the user stops the bicycle 12 at an arbitrary place and gets off there, and then the user separates from the bicycle 12, the portable terminal 90 outputs a signal from the second transmitter 32. Cannot be received effectively. At that time, the return of the bicycle 12 from the user is permitted, and if the necessary locking and locking are performed, the return stage is completed. In this case, the rental time is strictly added up to the actual return time, but is substantially added until the user gets off the bicycle 12.

  In the present embodiment, the mobile terminal 90 is set so that the reception range of the second transmitter 32 is within the reception range of the second transmitter 32 as long as the user is riding the bicycle 12. Then, when the user moves away from the bicycle 12 and the portable terminal 90 deviates from the reception range of the second transmitter 32 and thereby transitions from the reception state of the second transmitter 32 to the non-reception state, the user It is estimated that the bicycle 12 may be returned.

  Instead of this, according to the present invention, the reception range of the second transmitter 32 is not sufficient when the user is merely riding on the bicycle 12 and the mobile terminal 90 is intentionally held over the second transmitter 32 or the like. Unless the mobile terminal 90 is set to not enter the reception range of the second transmitter 32, the user approaches the mobile terminal 90 by holding the mobile terminal 90 over the second transmitter 32. Assuming that the user may return the bicycle 12 when the terminal 90 enters the reception range of the second transmitter 32 and thereby transitions from the non-reception state of the second transmitter 32 to the reception state. May be implemented.

<Some other modified examples>

  In some embodiments described above, a user ID is used as an example of a user's identification information, whereby the behavior of the user is monitored over time.

  Alternatively or in addition, as another example of the user identification information (identification information), a unique device address such as a telephone number, an e-mail address, and a MAC address of the portable terminal 90 may be used. Is also good.

  Further, some of the above-described embodiments are modified so that the same data processing as at least a part of the data processing by the mobile terminal 90 is performed by the management server 50, and conversely, the data processing by the management server 50 is performed. It is possible to improve the mobile terminal 90 to execute the same data processing as at least a part of them.

  In addition, some of the above-described embodiments are configured to implement a rental business for renting the bicycle 12 to the user for a fee and in a post-payment manner. It can be modified to implement or rent a user for free.

  Further, the above-described some embodiments are exemplary forms when the present invention is applied to a rental cycle as a rental vehicle, that is, a rental bicycle, but other mobile bodies that are lent to a user for a fee or free of charge. However, the present invention may be applied to a device that moves with the user. Such vehicles include, for example, motorcycles, motor vehicles (such as rental cars), engineed boats or jet skis, recreational or competitive go-karts, shopping carts, strollers, wheelbarrows, wheelchairs or golf carts.

  In addition, "bicycle" is a type in which the number of wheels is usually two, but is not limited thereto. For example, even in a type in which the number of wheels is three, the number of wheels is four. It may be in the form.

  Furthermore, when the rental target is furniture, an electric appliance, an accessory detachably attached to the electric appliance, or a recording medium (for example, a rental CD) on which audiovisual content is recorded and which can be reproduced by the user, The present invention can be applied.

  Further, the present invention can be applied to a case where the rental target is a hotel or apartment room where the user can live, an individual storage space in a coin locker, or an individual parking space in a parking lot.

<Third embodiment>

  Next, an item tracking system 10 according to a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 29 to 34. However, portions common to the system 10 according to the first or second embodiment will be referred to using the same reference numerals and names, and redundant description will be omitted, and only different portions will be described in detail.

  In the first and second embodiments, the transmitter 32 is used to allow the rental bicycle 12 as an item, that is, a tracking target or a monitoring target (here, an article) to be used by the borrower (mobile terminal 90 (“communication terminal”). When left unattended by the user of the "terminal"), the unattended position is detected as an item separation position (virtual or temporary lending station).

  On the other hand, in the present embodiment, a wallet or an automobile (for example, a private car, a rental car) (a bicycle or a motorcycle) 12 is also used as an item (here, an article) by using the transmitter 32. If it is accidentally or intentionally separated from the owner, the position of the separation is detected.

  Here, “separated position” means, strictly, the position of the user's portable terminal 90 when the user is separated from the item 12. However, actually, when the separation occurs, the distance between the user and the item 12 is as long as 0.5 m, 1 m, 2 m, 3 m, 4 m, 5 m, depending on the user's request. There is no distance, and the position of the user and the position of the item 12 when the separation occurs can be substantially identified.

  On the other hand, if the item 12 is, for example, a wallet or a car, the position of the item 12 is unchanged from the time when the separation occurs.

  Therefore, in this case, the “separation position” can be considered to be equivalent to the position of the item 12 (for example, the same position where the item 12 continues to stay or stay from the time when the separation occurs). .

  In this case, the “separation position” always matches (or approaches) the position of the item 12 when the separation occurs, and also always matches (or approaches) the current position of the item 12. .

  Therefore, the separated position of the wallet 12 means one position where the wallet 12 continues to exist after the owner (user of the portable terminal 90) loses the wallet 12.

  Similarly, the separated position of the car 12 is determined by the owner (user of the portable terminal 90) of the car 12 (for example, as shown in FIG. 30, any one of the parking lots associated with any store. (Parked in a parking lot) means one position (one parking position in a certain parking lot) where the automobile 12 keeps staying or stopping after getting off the vehicle.

  A user who has parked in any of the car parks of any of the parking lots of the store, for example, when returning to the parking lot in the store after finishing shopping at the store, by referring to the separated position, It is easy to easily identify the place where one's own car 12 is parked and find the car 12.

  On the other hand, if the item 12 is, for example, a human (for example, a child who wants to freely move away from a parent or an elderly person who wanders away from a caregiver) or an animal (for example, a pet), the separation occurs. There is a possibility that the location may change from the time when it is performed.

  In this case, the "separation position" always matches (or approaches) the position of the item 12 when the separation occurs, but does not always match (or approach) the current position of the item 12.

  Nevertheless, if the information of the separated position exists, unlike the case where the information of the separated position does not exist, a clue useful for the user to search for the item 12, that is, that the geographical and / or temporal information is present. Therefore, the user can easily perform the search operation.

<Overview of the overall process>

1. Positioning

  In response to a command from the user, the mobile terminal 90 periodically activates an item tracking program, which will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. Try to receive a signal from any transmitter. Any transmitter may be the user's transmitter 32 (the specific transmitter 32 that the user is using for that item 12 to track his or her item 12), other transmitters of the same user, other users' May include transmitters, etc.

  Then, the mobile terminal 90 does not receive the signal from the transmitter 32 effectively because the position of the transmitter 32 has deviated from the reception range of the mobile terminal 90 from the reception state in which the user effectively receives the signal from the transmitter 32. Upon transition to the reception state, the current position of the portable terminal 90 is measured using, for example, GPS, and the measured current position is stored in the memory 132.

2. Alarming

  The mobile terminal 90 may visually, audibly, and / or tactilely (image, sound, etc.) at the alarm timing temporally associated with the transition to notify the user that the user has left the item 12. And / or by vibration). At this time, the mobile terminal 90 does not read the current position stored in the memory 132 and display the read current position on the screen of the mobile terminal 90 as the separation position of the item 12. As a result, the user does not know the separated position of the item 12 and only uses the alarm as a trigger (without relying on the information of the separated position) to recall the item 12 separated from himself or herself by relying on its own memory or the like. You will be searching.

3. Remote position display

  The portable terminal 90 reads out the current position stored in the memory 132 at a display timing that has passed a time interval from the end of output of the alarm, that is, at a display timing that is later than the alarm output timing, and reads the read current position. Is displayed on the screen of the portable terminal 90 as the separated position of the item 12. At this time, the user is notified of the separated position of the item 12 from the portable terminal 90 for the first time.

  Generally, when the mobile terminal 90 measures the current position using the GPS, it is unavoidable that a positioning error exists due to the GPS mechanism. The positioning error may reach several meters. Then, the separated position of the item 12 measured by the mobile terminal 90 does not always coincide with the actual separated position of the item 12, and the gap between the measured separated position and the actual separated position is not always constant. Exists.

  On the other hand, the distance between the user and the item 12 is generally longer at the display timing when the separated position is displayed by the mobile terminal 90 than at the alarm output timing when the alarm is output from the mobile terminal 90. is there.

  Then, when the alarm is output, when the user is informed of the measured separation position, the user responds sensitively to the fact that the indicated separation position does not match the actual separation position and fails. It is expected to have a high degree of pleasure. This is because the ratio (= E / D) of the positioning error value E to the distance D is high because the actual distance D between the user and the item 12 is short.

  In contrast, when the user is informed of the measured separation position at the display timing later than the alarm output timing, the user reacts insensitively to the fact that the taught separation position does not match the actual separation position. It is expected that it is unlikely to cause discomfort. This is because the ratio (= E / D) of the positioning error value E to the distance D is low because the actual distance D between the user and the item 12 is long.

  Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the feeling that the user has obtained erroneous information from the portable terminal 90 is reduced with respect to the event of the separation of the item 12 and the position where the event occurred, despite the existence of the positioning error. As a result, the reliability of the system 10 is improved.

  As illustrated in FIG. 30, in the present embodiment, at the display timing, the separated position of the item 12, that is, the location of the item 12 is the current position of the user on the screen of the mobile terminal 90, and Along with what is measured, it is displayed on a nearby map.

  Therefore, the user can grasp the location of the lost wallet 12 or his / her car 12 parked in any of the parking lots relative to his / her current position.

  The mobile terminal 90 expresses the separated position of the item 12 by the coordinate values of longitude and latitude of the corresponding point, by the place name assigned to the point, or by one point on the map on the screen. Is also good.

  Further, the portable terminal 90 also displays on the screen the time at which the separation of the item 12 has occurred. Additionally and / or alternatively, the mobile terminal 90 calculates the time elapsed from the separation occurrence time to the current time as the elapsed time and displays the elapsed time on the screen of the mobile terminal 90. Is also good. The display allows the user to immediately know how old the past time when the item 12 was separated, which is convenient.

<Initial setting of mobile terminal 90>

1. Individual authentication of transmitter

  In order to perform transmitter authentication in which the mobile terminal 90 individually recognizes the transmitters 32 used by the user for the item 12 (a plurality of transmitters 32 may be recognized together as target transmitters), The portable terminal 90 attempts to receive a signal from the transmitter 32 in a state of the single contact with the transmitter 32. The portable terminal 90 extracts the transmitter ID from the signal received from the transmitter 32 at that time, and stores the transmitter ID in the memory 132 as the normal transmitter ID.

  When the mobile terminal 90 subsequently receives a signal from an arbitrary transmitter, the mobile terminal 90 extracts an actual transmitter ID from the received signal, and the same one as the actual transmitter ID is already stored in the memory 132 as a normal transmitter ID. Then, the portable terminal 90 recognizes the current transmitter as the regular transmitter 32. This is the process of transmitter ID verification, which is common to that described above for the first and second embodiments.

  As illustrated in FIG. 29, when the item 12 is a small item such as a purse, a bag, and a commuter pass as belongings of the user, the transmitter 32 is connected to the mooring device (for example, a ring or a chain). Then, it is attached to the item 12. When the item 12 is a car, the transmitter 32 is placed in the cabin of the car.

2. Selection of tracking item 12 (input of item identification information)

  The user inputs the name of the item 12 in which the transmitter 32 is used into the portable terminal 90. As a result, when the alarm is output from the mobile terminal 90, the user associates the alarm with the name of the item 12 displayed on the screen, and associates that the item 12 having the name has been separated from the user. .

  For example, in the example illustrated in FIG. 29, on the screen of the portable terminal 90, a plurality of candidates for the item 12 in which the transmitter 32 is frequently used are statistically enumerated. If the user selects any of the candidates as the name of the item 12 using the transmitter 32, the identification information of the item 12 (“automobile (private car)” in the illustrated example) is input. Will be done.

  If the name of the item 12 for which the user uses the transmitter 32 does not correspond to any of the candidates, the user can input an arbitrary name to the mobile terminal 90 by key input or voice input.

3. Individual setting of reception range and alarm output timing (customization)

  The reception range of the portable terminal 90 is a distance between the portable terminal 90 and the transmitter 32 and means a limit value (set value of the effective reception radius) of the portable terminal 90 that can effectively receive the transmitter 32. .

  In fact, depending on the function or use of the item 12, the item 12 does not leave the user at all in the normal state (use state), and sometimes the item 12 leaves the user for the first time in the abnormal state (lost state). Under normal conditions, item 12 may be used within a radius of some length centered on the user's location, and under abnormal conditions, item 12 may be further away from the user.

  In consideration of such circumstances, in the present embodiment, the reception range is variably set according to the operation of the user. As the reception range is shorter, an alarm is output from the portable terminal 90 even if the user is separated from the item 12 by a shorter distance.

  As a result, the user sets the mobile terminal 90 so that an alarm is output from the mobile terminal 90 when the user slightly moves away from the item 12, or when the user moves away from the item 12 by a certain distance (for example, 5 m) or more, the alarm is carried. The mobile terminal 90 can be set so as not to be output from the terminal 90, and the user can set the output timing of the alarm according to his / her own behavior environment.

4. Individual setting of display timing of item separation position (customization)

  The display timing may include a timing at which the duration of the invalid reception state exceeds a time specified by a user.

  Further, the display timing may include a timing at which a time specified by the user has arrived or a timing that is a predetermined time before the timing, or a timing at which the user has arrived at a location specified by the user or a timing that is a predetermined time before the timing.

  Here, the “time specified by the user” or the “place specified by the user” can be defined, for example, as a temporal or locational boundary point where the behavior pattern of the user is expected to change significantly. It is.

  Specifically, for example, it is possible to define the timing at which the user's moving method changes from walking to moving by train, or the timing at which the user changes from walking to moving by car. If the user attempts to return to the place where he or she was during the period before the change after the user's movement method has changed significantly in order to collect the item 12, the movement method of the user is difficult. It is desirable to inform the user of the separation position of item 12 before it changes.

  The “time specified by the user” is, for example, the time at which the user is scheduled to arrive at a station where the user will take a train (transportation, public transportation, etc.) or the departure time of the train, or when the user goes out by car or bicycle. This is the scheduled time.

  The “place specified by the user” is, for example, a station where the user will get on the train or a place where the user will get on the car.

5. Item separation position reminder function

  The mobile terminal 90 outputs an additional alarm visually, audibly, and / or tactilely when the user does not input a confirmation message to the mobile terminal 90 in response to the output of the alarm. This makes it easy for the user to grasp the fact that the item 12 has been separated.

  The alarm and / or the additional alarm are output from the mobile terminal 90 together with information identifying the item 12.

  In the present embodiment, the user generally sets the reception range and the display timing between the user and the item 12 when the separated position is displayed on the screen of the mobile terminal 90. The distance is set to be longer than the distance between the user and the item 12 when the alarm is output from the mobile terminal 90.

  Next, the item tracking program will be specifically described with reference to FIGS.

  When the item tracking program is started by the processor 130 of the mobile terminal 90 in response to the user's command, first, as shown in FIG. 31, in step S3101, the mobile terminal 90 displays the page illustrated in FIG. Displayed above, it is assumed that the user selects the item 12 to be tracked (input of the name or type of the item 12, for example, input of the name of "car") with respect to the page as described above. Make it possible.

  Thereafter, as illustrated in FIG. 33, the portable terminal 90 stores the input name of the item 12 (for example, an automobile) together with the legitimate transmitter ID of the transmitter 32 at this time in the tracking data memory 139 in the memory 132. To save.

  As shown in FIG. 31, next, in step S3102, the portable terminal 90 enables the user to set the length of the reception range that determines the alarm output timing to an arbitrary value as described above. . The reception range is set to, for example, 0 m, 1 m, 2 m, 3 m, 4 m, 5 m, or the like (up to about 50 m) according to the function and use of the item 12, for example.

  Subsequently, in step S3103, the mobile terminal 90 allows the user to set the time or place for determining the separation position display timing to an arbitrary time or place as described above. The display timing is set, for example, according to the user's time schedule or habitual operation.

  The user inputs the arbitrary place into the portable terminal 90 by tapping one point on the screen, inputs and selects a corresponding postal code, and inputs the longitude and latitude of the corresponding point. Can be entered.

  Thereafter, in step S3104, portable terminal 90 attempts to receive a signal from transmitter 32.

  Subsequently, in step S3105, it is determined whether the portable terminal 90 has effectively received the signal from the transmitter 32. Specifically, the distance between the portable terminal 90 and the transmitter 32 is measured according to the strength of the received signal, and whether or not the measured distance is shorter than the reception range (the set value of the effective reception radius described above) is determined. It is determined that the mobile terminal 90 has effectively received a signal from the transmitter 32 if the signal is short.

  After that, in step S3106, the portable terminal 90 extracts the real transmitter ID from the signal effectively received from the transmitter 32, and the real transmitter ID is stored in the memory 132 in the regular transmitter ID (portable terminal 90). Is determined to match with the transmitter ID of the transmitter 32 registered by the user.

  If the collation (match determination) of the transmitter ID is successful, in step S3107, the portable terminal 90 determines that the reception state of the transmitter 32 is in the valid reception state, and the flag stored in the memory 132 Is switched from OFF to ON, and thereafter, the process returns to step S3104, and it is determined whether the valid reception state is continued.

  When the portable terminal 90 transitions from the valid reception state in which the mobile terminal 90 effectively receives a signal from the transmitter 32 to the non-valid reception state in which the item 12 is separated from the user, the determination in step S3105 is NO. Subsequently, in step S3108, it is determined whether the flag is ON.

  If the flag is OFF, the determination in step S3108 is NO, and the process returns to step S3104. On the other hand, if the flag is ON, the determination in step S3108 is YES, and it is determined that the reception state of the transmitter 32 has transitioned from the valid reception state to the non-valid reception state. It is switched to OFF.

  Thereafter, in step S3120, in response to the transition, the portable terminal 90 measures its current position using the GPS. Subsequently, at substantially the same timing, in step S3121, the portable terminal 90 measures the current time using a clock (not shown).

  Thereafter, in step S3122, the mobile terminal 90 stores the measured current position in the tracking data memory 139 in association with the item 12 as the separation position of the item 12, as illustrated in FIG. The obtained current time is stored in the tracking data memory 139 in association with the item 12 as the separation time of the item 12.

  Subsequently, in step S3123, the mobile terminal 90 determines whether or not the alarm output timing has arrived. In this case, assuming that the alarm output timing is set to be substantially the same as the time when the transition has occurred, the portable terminal 90 determines that the alarm output timing has already arrived at the present time. It is determined that there is.

  Thereafter, in step S3124, the mobile terminal 90 outputs a visual, audible, or tactile alarm. The mobile terminal 90 displays, for example, a message indicating that the item 12 has been separated from the user on the screen as an example of a visual alarm.

  Subsequently, in step S3125, the mobile terminal 90 determines whether the user has input a confirmation message to the mobile terminal 90 in response to the output of the alarm. The confirmation message is input to the mobile terminal 90 by, for example, the user operating a specific icon or button displayed on the screen of the mobile terminal 90 with a finger.

  If the confirmation message is not input from the user, the determination in step S3125 is NO, and the process returns to step S3124 to output additional alarms continuously or output additional alarms at a time interval from the previous alarm. You.

  On the other hand, when the confirmation message is input by the user, the determination in step S3125 is YES, and in step S3126, the mobile terminal 90 determines whether or not the separation position display timing has arrived.

  In this case, assuming that the display timing is set to a specific absolute time, the portable terminal 90 determines whether or not the specific time has arrived.

  In contrast, this time, the display timing is set to a specific relative time, that is, a time that is a predetermined time before the time when the user is expected to reach a specific place (for example, the nearest station). Assuming that the mobile terminal 90 is set, the mobile terminal 90 measures the current position of the user every moment using the GPS, estimates the moving speed of the user from the time differential value of the measured position, and uses the moving speed. Thus, the time when the user arrives at the specific place is estimated, and it is determined whether or not the time has reached a time that is a predetermined time (for example, 10 minutes) before the estimated time.

  When the separation position display timing comes, the determination in step S3126 is YES, and in step S3127, the portable terminal 90 reads the separation position from the tracking data memory 139 as illustrated in FIG. Subsequently, in step S3128, the portable terminal 90 reads the separation time from the tracking data memory 139 as illustrated in FIG.

  Thereafter, in step S3129, the portable terminal 90 measures its own current position as the user's current position using the GPS. Subsequently, in step S3130, as illustrated in FIG. 30, the mobile terminal 90 displays the separation position (the location of the item 12), the current location of the user, and the separation time on a screen in association with a neighboring map. I do. This display is automatically terminated after a predetermined time, or terminated after waiting for an instruction from the user.

  Thereafter, in step S3201 of FIG. 32, the mobile terminal 90 determines whether a history browsing request has been input by the user. When the history browsing request is input, the determination in step S3201 is YES, and in step S3202, the contents of the tracking data memory 139 are displayed on the screen, whereby the user browses the history of the item 12 during the past. it can.

  Thereafter, in step S3203, the portable terminal 90 attempts to receive a signal from the transmitter 32 in the same manner as in step S3105 in FIG. Subsequently, in step S3204, it is determined whether or not portable terminal 90 has been restored to an effective reception state in which a signal is effectively received from transmitter 32. If it is not restored, the process returns to step S3203. However, if the reception state of the transmitter 32 is restored from the invalid reception state to the valid reception state because the user has approached and collected the item 12, the determination in step S3204 is YES. Becomes

  Thereafter, in step S3205, the portable terminal 90 extracts the real transmitter ID from the signal effectively received from the transmitter 32, and stores the real transmitter ID in the memory 132, as in step S3106 of FIG. It is determined whether or not the ID matches the valid transmitter ID (transmitter ID of the transmitter 32 registered by the user in the mobile terminal 90).

  If the transmitter ID has been successfully verified, in step S3206, the portable terminal 90 ends the tracking of the item 12, and displays a message indicating that on the screen.

  In response, the mobile terminal 90 displays on the screen a plurality of options including an option to continue tracking for the same item 12 and an option to start tracking for another item 12. The user selects one of the options. If the former option is selected, the process returns to step S3104 in FIG. 31, while if the latter option is selected, the process returns to step S3101 in FIG.

  FIG. 34 is a conceptual plan view for explaining the relative positional relationship between the alarm output timing and the two examples A and B regarding the separated position display timing in the item tracking system 10.

  Since the alarm output timing depends on the position of the transmitter 32 and is determined using the relative position information acquired by the portable terminal 90 from the transmitter 32, any one of the reception range of the transmitter 32 (within the receivable area). Is set in association with the position of. Specifically, the alarm output timing is associated with the position P2 when the portable terminal 90 transitions from the position P1 within the reception range to the position P3 or P4 outside the reception range within the reception range.

  On the other hand, the separation position display timing is determined by using absolute time information and / or position information obtained from the clock of the portable terminal 90 and / or the GPS without depending on the position of the transmitter 32. Irrespective of whether it is within the reception area of the transmitter 32 or out of the reception area, it is set in association with an arbitrary position.

  Specifically, the example A of the separation position display timing is an arbitrary position P3 within the reception range of the transmitter 32 and is set in association with a position outside the reception range. On the other hand, another example B of the separation position display timing is set in association with an arbitrary position P4 outside the reception area of the transmitter 32.

  In the present embodiment, at the alarm output timing, the separated position is not displayed on the screen of the mobile terminal 90, but the present invention may be implemented in a displayed form. That is, the present invention may be implemented in such a manner that the separated position is displayed at least at the separated position display timing of the alarm output timing and the separated position display timing.

Other additional information displayed along with the separation position at the separation position display timing

1. Real estate location information to which the remote location belongs

  At the separation position display timing, the mobile terminal 90 searches for the separation position of the item 12 and a real estate (for example, a building) to which the separation position belongs on the map (the mobile terminal 90 searches the map-place name database (not shown)). In addition, the property may be displayed on the screen in a manner expressed by the name and / or address of the real estate. If the real estate to which the separated position of the item 12 belongs is found on the map, the user can easily identify the separated position as compared to the case where the same separated position is represented by the coordinate values of longitude and latitude or the place name. I can find it.

2. User action trajectory

  Alternatively and / or additionally, the portable terminal 90 may sequentially (time-discretely, periodically) measure the current position using the GPS from the time when the separation of the item 12 occurs, and The user's action trajectory from the separated position to the current position may be displayed on the screen. If the user traces back the action trajectory, the memory regarding the separated position becomes clearer, and it becomes easier to find and collect the item 12 more reliably.

  As described above, the item tracking system 10 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings. The item 12 to which the system 10 is applied is a tangible object, and the tangible object is, other than an article, It may include living things (eg, humans such as children and elderly people, animals such as pets). However, in order to more reliably track and capture the item 12 by the user after the separation is found, it is desirable that the item 12 be a type of object whose position does not change after the separation.

  If the item 12 is a human, the user monitors the human's behavior (unpredictable behavior, sudden behavior, dangerous behavior, such as behavior of a child, behavior of an elderly person, behavior of a disabled person, etc.). This system 10 can be used to perform

  When the item 12 is an article, the article is, for example, a property owned by the user, a rental item, an article temporarily lent to the user for free, an article carried by the user, or a user pushing or pulling to move. A moving body, a moving body on which a user rides, a product displayed in a store, a product stored in a warehouse, and the like.

  The rental item is, for example, a rental cycle, a rental car, a share cycle, a share car, a rental construction machine, a rental agricultural machine, a rental boat, a rental stroller, and the like. The “communication terminal user” for this type of article may be, for example, a manager of the article or a borrower of the article.

  The articles temporarily lent to the user free of charge include, for example, a shopping basket, a shopping cart, a rental umbrella, and the like. The “communication terminal user” for this type of article may be, for example, a manager of the article or a borrower of the article.

  The article carried by the user is, for example, a wallet, a commuter pass, a second communication terminal, or the like. If a transmitter is attached to each of a plurality of communication terminals owned by the same user, the location of each communication terminal can be tracked by another communication terminal.

  The moving object pushed or pulled by the user is, for example, a shopping cart, a stroller, a wheelbarrow, or the like.

  The moving object on which the user rides is, for example, a bicycle, a car, a ship, an airplane, a go-kart for recreation or competition, a wheelchair, an electric cart, a golf cart, and the like. The “communication terminal user” for this type of article may be, for example, a manager of the article or a borrower of the article.

  The “user of the communication terminal” for a product displayed in the store is, for example, a manager of the store. In addition, the “user of the communication terminal” for a product stored in the warehouse is, for example, a manager of the warehouse.

  In any of the above-described embodiments, the mobile terminal 90 acquires the current position using the GPS. Alternatively, and / or in addition to this, the mobile terminal 90 performs communication. The current position may be obtained using the position of one of the closest base stations or access points used during the operation, or the current position may be obtained using the positions of a plurality of base stations or access points, for example, based on the principle of triangulation. May be obtained.

  As described above, some embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, these embodiments are merely examples, and based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art, including the aspects described in the section of [Summary of the Invention]. The present invention can be implemented in other forms with various modifications and improvements.

Claims (9)

An item separation position detection method for detecting a separation position where the separation occurs when the user separates from the item and informing the user of the separation position,
The method is performed using a user communication terminal having a positioning function, and a transmitter used in association with the item and transmitting a unique signal,
The method is
An ineffective reception state in which the communication terminal does not effectively receive a signal from the transmitter because the position of the transmitter deviates from the reception range of the communication terminal from an effective reception state in which a signal is effectively received from the transmitter. When the transition to, a storage step of measuring the current position of the communication terminal, and storing the measured current position in a memory,
An alarming step in which the communication terminal visually, audibly and / or tactilely outputs an alarm at an alarm timing temporally associated with the transition to inform the user that the user has left the item; When,
The communication terminal reads out the current position stored in the memory at a display timing that is separated from the end of output of the alarm by a time interval, and uses the read current position as a separation position of the item to perform the communication. An item separation position detecting method, comprising: a step of displaying a separation position displayed on a terminal screen.   The method according to claim 1, wherein the display timing is defined as a timing at which a duration of the invalid reception state exceeds a time specified by a user.   2. The display timing is defined as a timing at which a time specified by a user has arrived or a timing that is a predetermined time before the timing, or a timing when the user has arrived at a location specified by the user or a timing that is a predetermined time before the timing. Item separation position detection method according to the item.   The communication terminal further includes a reminder step of outputting an additional alarm visually, audibly, and / or tactilely when a user does not input a confirmation message to the communication terminal in response to the alarm. 4. The method for detecting an item separation position according to any one of claims 1 to 3.   The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the alarming step and / or the reminder step output a corresponding alarm together with information for identifying the item.   The communication terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising: a history display step in which the communication terminal responds to a history browsing request from a user regarding the separated position, reads the separated position from the memory, and displays the read position on a screen. Item separation position detection method.   Further, the reception range and the display timing, the distance between the user and the item when the separated position is displayed on the screen of the communication terminal, the alarm is output from the communication terminal. 7. The method of detecting an item separation position according to claim 1, further comprising the step of setting the distance to be longer than a distance between the user and the item.   A program for functioning as the communication terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 7.   A recording medium recording the program according to claim 8 in a computer-readable manner.

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