JP5187975B2 - Search support system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a system that supports this search when a pet, a child, an elderly person, or the like is lost or missing.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a position information transmission device that notifies a center of a current position of a person or a pet is used. In particular, in order to grasp the current position of a child or an elderly person, a position information transmission device using GPS is carried by the child or the elderly person to manage the position information and movement status. Further, position confirmation means using radio waves such as PHS instead of GPS is also used. Specifically, a transmitting device that transmits identification information is mounted on a portable device so that a receiving device and a transmitting device installed at a predetermined position perform wireless communication. The identification information acquired by the receiving device is transmitted to the computer via the network and centrally managed. Thereby, the information of the point where the person carrying the portable device passes is accumulated in the computer. Hereinafter, some conventional examples of position information transmission devices using GPS or the like will be given.

  The “position detection system” disclosed in Patent Document 1 prevents stray children such as elderly people with dementia, children, and pets. A selective call receiver, a transmitter, and a GPS receiver that receives radio waves from an artificial satellite and detects a position on the earth. When the selective call receiver is called, the mobile slave station transmits the position information detected by the GPS receiver using the transmitter. The display device connected to the terminal phone of the public communication line receives the position information transmitted from the mobile station via the public communication line and displays the position information.

  The “position detection method and apparatus” disclosed in Patent Document 2 enables a caregiver to remotely grasp and cope with the current mental and physical condition, position, etc. of an elderly person requiring care. A searcher makes a phone call to a terminal for the elderly equipped with GPS and PHS. The terminal for the elderly who is called detects the position information by GPS and sends it to the PHS side, and the PHS transmits the position of the elderly to the searcher.

  According to the position detection system using GPS or PHS as described above, even when a pet, a child, an elderly person or the like carries a terminal, the position can be detected even when the child is lost or missing. However, although the position detection is effective in the above system, the subsequent protection is not particularly disclosed. In other words, it is desirable to protect immediately if the location is known, but the guardian may not be able to go to the site immediately, and even when using a security company, etc. Due to limitations from the surface, there was a situation where it was impossible to protect immediately even though the position was known.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 6-88819 JP-A-9-247730

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a system that assists in determining, searching for, and protecting the positions of pets, children, elderly people, and the like.

In order to achieve the above object, the search support system of the present invention includes a portable terminal having a position information detection function and a server in which information about the owner of the portable terminal is registered, and the server includes a member database, A receiving mechanism that receives a lost child signal from a member terminal connected via the Internet, and a transmission mechanism that transmits a signal about the owner of the portable terminal to the member terminal connected via the Internet, When the server receives a lost child signal from the member's terminal by the receiving mechanism, the server identifies the mobile terminal associated with the member by referring to the member data in the member database, and the position of the mobile terminal acquires information by the position information detection function with respect to the other members of the terminals located near the obtained positions the portable terminal through the originating mechanism To outgoing information about the holder.

In addition, the server is, when receiving the discovery signal that could not be protected but found the owner of the mobile terminal from the terminal of the other of the plurality of members, of members who originated these findings signal calculates the position obtained by averaging the position information of the terminal location estimation information, if there is a time difference in a plurality of discovery signals, calculated as movement locus of the mobile terminal from the location estimation information, and the movement trajectory and the position estimate information Is sent to the terminal of the member who sent the lost child signal.

  The search support system may include a member terminal.

  According to the search support system of the present invention, a pet, a child, an elderly person, etc. carry a portable terminal, and when lost or missing, a lost child signal is transmitted from a member's terminal to receive the lost child signal. The server refers to this member's data, identifies the mobile terminal linked to this member, acquires the location information of this mobile device using the location information detection function, and other locations located near the obtained location. Since information about the owner of the portable terminal is transmitted to the member's terminal, other members located near the obtained position can obtain information about the owner of the portable terminal. Can find and protect their owners.

  Further, when the server receives a discovery signal from any of the other member terminals, the server calculates position estimation information based on the position information of the member terminal that has transmitted the discovery signal, and the position estimation information If you send a message to a member's terminal that sent a lost child signal, you can obtain position estimation information in addition to the position information, so even if the mobile terminal is turned off, Can be searched.

It is a block diagram which shows the search assistance system of embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the utilization procedure of the search assistance system of embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process of the server in the search assistance system of embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the screen displayed on the member terminal in the search assistance system of embodiment of this invention.

  A search support system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention is configured as shown in FIG. 1, and includes a portable terminal 2 equipped with a position information detection device 21 and a server 3 in which information about the owner of the portable terminal 2 is registered. And. The server 3 is connected to the mobile terminal 2 via the Internet 5 and connected to the member database 31 and a receiving mechanism for receiving a lost child signal from the member terminal 6 connected via the Internet. And a transmission mechanism for transmitting a signal about the owner of the portable terminal 2 to the member terminal 6. There may be one server 3 or a plurality of servers. The functions may be distributed, or a plurality of servers may be connected via the Internet.

  Here, the position information detection device 21 may be any device that can determine the current position, such as a GPS receiver or a PHS terminal. In this case, the current position is determined based on the relationship with a GPS satellite and a PHS base station antenna (not shown). The mobile terminal 2 may be any device that can transmit at least detected position information, such as a mobile phone, a PHS, and a pendant transmission device. The owner of the portable terminal 2 is a person who may get lost, such as a pet, a child, an elderly person, and the like. The portable terminal 2 may contain the name of the owner, the telephone number of the guardian, and the like.

  The server 3 is connected to the Internet 5, and a mobile carrier (not shown) may exist between the mobile terminal 2 and the server 3. Further, although only one portable terminal 2 is illustrated, there are at least as many members as there are members. As the position information detection function of the portable terminal 2, the portable terminal 2 includes the position information detection device 21, and the portable terminal 2 only transmits a radio wave, and detects the position information based on the position of the base station that has received the radio wave. You may utilize the mechanism of doing.

  The reception mechanism and the transmission mechanism are usually called a network interface, and may include reception and transmission including other information. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the reception mechanism and the transmission mechanism may be the same communication mechanism, that is, the LAN card 32 that serves as both the reception mechanism and the transmission mechanism. The server 3 has a CPU, an input / output device and the like as appropriate, but the description and illustration are omitted here. The member terminal 6 is a communicable terminal such as a personal computer, a mobile phone, or a game machine that can be connected to the Internet. In particular, when the member terminal 6 is a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone, it may have a function of determining the current position. Although only four member terminals 6 are illustrated, there are at least as many members as there are members.

  The member is, for example, a guardian, and according to the search support system 1 of the embodiment of the present invention, the owner of the mobile terminal 2 linked to the member terminal 6, that is, his own pet, child, elderly person, etc. are lost. If you become a member, you will benefit from being able to request cooperation from other members. Conversely, if other members' pets, children, elderly people, etc. get lost, and they are close to the lost child, they cooperate in finding lost children based on lost child information. You can build mutual help with other members.

  As advance preparations, the member accesses the server 3 and registers member information. The member information is the member number, name, address, telephone number, unique information of the portable terminal 2 to be linked, unique information of the member terminal 6, the name of the pet, child, elderly person, etc. who owns the portable terminal 2, the year of birth The date, photos, features, etc. This registration is normally performed by accessing the server 3 from the member terminal 6, but may be performed from another terminal. In other words, the registration can be performed by a personal computer and the actual use can be performed by a mobile phone. Member information is stored in a member database 31 in the server 3.

  Next, in the search support system 1 of the embodiment, a procedure when a lost child actually occurs will be described with reference to FIGS. The step numbers in parentheses are those in FIG. FIG. 2 is a flow including member operations, and FIG. 3 shows processing of the server. Here, a case where the pet of the member who owns the member terminal 61 is lost will be described as an example. The pet has the portable terminal 2, that is, the portable terminal 2 is attached to the collar, for example.

  When the pet is lost, the owner who notices this clicks the help button 61a displayed on the screen as shown in FIG. 4A at his / her member terminal 61 (step s1). The help button 61a may be a server-side program that is displayed by accessing the server 3 from the member terminal 61, or a client-side program that is always displayed on a so-called standby screen or desktop. It may be.

  When the help button 61a is clicked, a lost child signal is transmitted from the member terminal 61 to the server 3 via the Internet (step s2). The server 3 refers to the database 31 and identifies the portable terminal 2 associated with the member terminal 61 using the unique information of the member terminal 61 as a key (step s3). Subsequently, the mobile terminal 2 is requested to send position information (step s4). The portable terminal 2 determines the position information by accessing a GPS satellite (not shown) from the position information detection device 21 and sends it to the server 3 (step s5). In this procedure, the portable terminal 2 may always send the position information to the server 3 and identify the position information at that time when the help button 61a is clicked.

  When the server 3 obtains the position information of the portable terminal 2, the server 3 sends this position information to the member terminal 61 to inform the owner of the approximate location of the pet (step s6). Next, another member terminal close to this position is selected from the other member terminals 62, 63, 64, etc. (step s7). The position of the member terminal may be determined from the address of the member information registered in the database 31. When the member terminal is a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone, the position information detection function of the mobile terminal is used. Then you may find out. Once the distance between the mobile terminal 2 and the member terminal 6 is determined, the member terminals located within a certain distance range from the mobile terminal 2 are narrowed down, or a certain number of member terminals are narrowed down from the mobile terminal 2 in order, A terminal of another member close to the position of the mobile terminal 2 is selected. Here, it is assumed that the terminals 63 and 64 of other members are selected.

  Subsequently, the server 3 transmits information about the owner of the mobile terminal 2 to the other member terminals 63 and 64 through the Internet 5. The information transmitted here includes the name of the member who owns the member terminal 61, the telephone number, the name of the pet carrying the mobile terminal 2, the date of birth, the photograph, the characteristics, the location information of the mobile terminal 2, and the like. Other members obtain such information through the terminals 63 and 64. Specifically, for example, such information is displayed on the screen of the mobile phone 63 as shown in FIG. It is possible to know that the pet carrying the portable terminal 2 is lost, close, the characteristics of the pet, and the like, and search for the pet.

  A member who finds a lost pet should protect the pet if possible, and take appropriate measures such as calling the owner member's phone number displayed on the member's terminal, that is, the telephone number of the pet owner, and handing over the pet. Can do. For example, if the owner of the terminal 63 can protect the pet, the owner of the terminal 63 contacts the owner of the terminal 61 and delivers the pet, and the owner of the terminal 63 or the terminal 61 Is transmitted to the server 3 (steps s9, 10). Then, information indicating that the problem has been solved is transmitted from the server 3 to the other member terminal 64 to which the lost child information has been delivered first, and the owner of the terminal 64 can also end the search.

  For example, when the owner of the member terminal 63 finds a lost pet but cannot protect the pet, the owner of the member terminal 63 connects the member terminal 63 to the member terminal 63 as shown in FIG. The displayed notification button 63a is clicked (step s11). Then, a discovery signal is transmitted to the server 3 (step s12). The discovery signal includes the position information of the member terminal 63. Therefore, the server 3 can estimate that the lost pet is near the member terminal 63, that is, can calculate the position estimation information from the position information of the member terminal 63 (step s13).

  In addition, when discovery signals are transmitted from a plurality of member terminals, a position obtained by averaging these pieces of position information can be used as position estimation information. If there are time differences among the plurality of discovery signals, position estimation is performed. The movement trajectory of the pet can be determined from the information. The pet position estimation information and the movement trajectory thus determined are transmitted to the owner's member terminal 61 (step s14). Since the position estimation information and the movement trajectory can be calculated from information from the member terminal, the battery of the mobile terminal 2 attached to the pet collar runs out, and the position can be determined by the position information detection function of the mobile terminal 2. Even if it disappears, you can know the position of your pet. In addition, if it is estimated that the pet is moving from the movement trajectory of the position information or position estimation information, another member's terminal selection is performed again and another member nearby is requested to search. Information may be transmitted.

  As described above, the owner can obtain the pet position information by the position information detection function of the mobile terminal 2 and can also obtain the position estimation information calculated from the discovery signal provided by another member. it can. Of course, more accurate position information may be calculated based on the position information and position estimation information, and if there is a discrepancy between the position information and position estimation information, the collar may have come off. It is possible to make a guess.

  Next, the flowchart of FIG. 3 will be described. First, the server waits for a lost child signal (step s11). If there is a lost child signal, the database 31 is referred to, and the portable terminal associated with the signal source member is specified (step s12). Subsequently, position information is requested from the portable terminal (step s13). The position information is waited (step s14), and when the position information is obtained, the position information is transmitted to the member terminal (step s15). Further, another member close to the position is selected based on the position information (step s16). This is repeated until the selected number of people reaches a specified value (step s17). Subsequently, information about the owner of the portable terminal 2 is transmitted to the selected terminal (step s18). Thereafter, it waits for pet protection information (step s19). When the protection is confirmed, a signal indicating that the problem has been solved is transmitted to each member (step s20). When the protection is not confirmed, a discovery signal is waited (step s21). If there is a discovery signal, position estimation information and a movement trajectory are calculated (step s22), and the position estimation information and movement trajectory are sent to the member terminal 61 (step s23). If it is moving, another member close to that position is selected again (step s16).

  As described above, according to the search support system 1 of the embodiment of the present invention, not only can the owner know the position of the pet, but also position estimation information can be obtained from information from other members. The pet can be searched even when the battery of the pet portable terminal 2 has run out. Furthermore, since other members can cooperate in search and protection, pets can be protected much earlier than when searching by obtaining location information by themselves.

  Moreover, although the search support system 1 has exemplified the case of a pet, it is needless to say that the same system can be applied as a countermeasure for lost children and elderly people. In this case, since the child and the elderly can operate the mobile terminal 2 at their own will, the guardian can call the mobile phone as the mobile terminal 2, or provide an emergency button on the mobile terminal 2. When the emergency button is pressed, the information is transmitted to the server 3, and an application in such a manner that a nearby member or guardian is notified according to the above-described flow or an alarm sounds is possible. In addition, the member terminal can be installed not only at a general member such as a guardian but also at a security company, a school, a local government base, or the like. In this case, the general member's terminal is used to transmit when a child is lost, to receive a notification when another child is lost, and to send a discovery signal. A terminal installed at a base may be used only for receiving and transmitting discovery signals.

  The search support system of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and includes at least a mobile terminal having a position information detection function and a server in which information about the owner of the mobile terminal is registered. A member database, a receiving mechanism for receiving a lost child signal from a member terminal connected via the Internet, and a transmitting mechanism for transmitting a signal about the owner of the portable terminal to the member terminal connected via the Internet. If the receiving mechanism receives a lost child signal from the member's terminal, the mobile terminal associated with the member is identified by referring to the member data in the member database, and the position of the mobile terminal Information is acquired by the position information detection device, and this mobile terminal is connected to another member's terminal located near the obtained position through a transmission mechanism. As long as that of the transmission of the information about the owner, it is possible to various applications.

1 Search support system

2 Mobile devices

3 servers

5 Internet

6, 61, 62, 63, 64 Member terminals

21 Position information detection device

31 Member database

32 LAN card

61a Help button

63a Report button

Claims (2)

A portable terminal having a position information detection function, and a server in which information about the owner of the portable terminal is registered; the server receives a lost signal from a member database and a member terminal connected via the Internet; A receiving mechanism for receiving, and a transmitting mechanism for transmitting a signal about the owner of the portable terminal to a member terminal connected via the Internet, and the server receives a lost signal from the member terminal by the receiving mechanism. When received, the mobile terminal associated with the member is identified by referring to the data of the member in the member database, and the position information of the mobile terminal is obtained by the position information detection function , and obtained. Send information about the owner of this mobile terminal to the other member's terminal located near the location through the transmission mechanism, the server, When receiving the discovery signal that could not be the serial number of other members of the terminal protecting but found the owner of the mobile terminal, the positional information of the member of the terminal which has originated these findings signals The average position is calculated as position estimation information , and if there are time differences between multiple discovery signals, the position estimation information is calculated as the movement locus of the mobile terminal, and the position estimation information and the movement locus are transmitted as a lost child signal. A search support system that sends information to the member's terminal.   The search support system according to claim 1, comprising a member terminal.

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