JP7477228B2 - Rental vehicle management system and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a technology for managing multiple vehicles that can be rented to users.

In recent years, services that allow users to lend and return rental items are becoming more common. These rental items include movable property and even real estate. Specifically, an example of a rental item as real estate is rental space such as a rental seat or parking lot, and an example of a rental item as movable property is a means of transportation such as rental bicycles or rental cars.

More specifically, examples of rental real estate include accommodation facilities where users can stay on a short-term basis (e.g., rooms in a hotel, private homes that are temporarily rented to others, rooms in apartment buildings, etc.) or rooms in accommodation facilities where users can stay on a long-term basis (e.g., individual homes, apartment buildings, etc.), coin lockers, parking lots (e.g., parking lots with one or more parking spaces), individual parking spaces (e.g., each of multiple parking spaces in a parking lot), etc.

Examples of movable property that can be rented include land, water or air vehicles (e.g., rental cars, rental bicycles, etc.), rental furniture, rental clothing, rental electrical appliances (including the audio guide devices described below), rental accessories that can be detachably attached to electrical appliances (e.g., batteries or chargers), rental recording media (e.g., CDs) on which audiovisual content is recorded that can be played by the user, etc.

Patent Document 1 discloses a rental space management support system that can reduce the workload of managers of rental spaces and promote labor saving in rental businesses (e.g., seat rental businesses, room rental businesses) that rent out rooms such as karaoke rooms and rental conference rooms, and locations such as tennis courts and ball fields to users. Patent Document 2 also discloses a similar technology.

Patent Document 3 discloses technology that facilitates reducing the cost of equipment that needs to be installed in each rental space in a business that rents out real estate such as rental rooms (e.g., rental working rooms), rental seats, and rental parking spaces (hourly parking, monthly parking, etc.) to users.

JP 2002-007913 A JP 2003-281310 A Patent No. 5957624

According to the technology disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, in order for a user to use a desired rental space, the user can reserve the desired rental space prior to using the space. The user can make the reservation wirelessly online using his/her mobile terminal at a location away from the desired rental space.

Specifically, according to the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1, a user reserves a rental space by sending information from his/her mobile information terminal (mobile terminal) to a system host (server). An electronic key (a key device that electronically unlocks and locks) is installed for each rental space.

When the reservation is made, the system host transmits a password (a type of encryption) to the user's mobile information terminal associated with the rental space selected by the user. The user enters the password into a room terminal individually installed in the selected rental space to unlock the corresponding electronic key.

When the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 is adopted, the party managing the rental space is burdened with the burden of installing special equipment called an electronic key for each rental space, and the user is burdened with the burden of obtaining a password and using that password to unlock the electronic key.

When the technology disclosed in Patent Document 2 is adopted, a user can reserve a private room by sending a reservation request from his/her mobile terminal to a theater system management unit (server) 11. Multiple private rooms that can be rented to multiple users are centrally managed by the theater system management unit.

When the reservation is made, the theater system management unit sends barcode information (a type of encryption) to the user's mobile device. The user presents the barcode information that their mobile device received from the theater system management unit at the reception desk of the reserved private room. The barcode information is imported at the reception desk, and by exchanging information with the theater system management unit, it is possible to confirm whether the reservation is genuine.

When the technology disclosed in Patent Document 2 is adopted, the party managing the rental space is burdened with having to verify the authenticity of the reservation by, for example, having an employee at the reception desk capture the barcode information and then having that employee exchange information with the theater system management department, and the user is burdened with obtaining the barcode information and using that barcode information to obtain permission to enter the private room.

In contrast, the technology disclosed in Patent Document 3 imposes the burden of installing a transmitter in each rental space on the party managing the rental space.

Here, a "transmitter" is a communication device that performs short-range communication with the user's mobile terminal, and is used in conjunction with the user's mobile terminal to accurately identify which rental space the user is actually currently staying in, i.e., to authenticate the user's location. This type of transmitter has become widespread in recent years, and is therefore becoming cheaper and easier to obtain.

Therefore, purchasing a transmitter and installing it individually for each rental space to adopt the technology disclosed in Patent Document 3 is at least a less economical burden than installing an electronic key individually for each rental space to adopt the technology described in Patent Document 1. Furthermore, if location authentication is performed using a transmitter individually installed for each rental space, the user is freed from the burden of obtaining a password and using that password to unlock the electronic key.

Therefore, by adopting the technology disclosed in Patent Document 3, the party managing the rental space can enjoy the advantage of being able to easily reduce the costs and labor required to operate and manage the rental space (e.g., by making it unmanned), and the user can enjoy the advantage of being freed from the hassle of having to obtain passwords and barcode information and use them on-site.

However, through previous research, the inventor has realized that when adopting the technology disclosed in Patent Document 3, there are new issues to be considered regarding communication between the transmitter and the mobile terminal.

That is, in an environment where multiple rental spaces are installed adjacent to one another within the same facility, such as in a library where multiple rental seats (examples of rental spaces) are installed close together, multiple transmitters will also be placed spatially close to one another.

In such an environment where multiple transmitters are densely arranged, even if a user is staying in a rental space that he or she has selected, there is a possibility that the user's mobile terminal may be closer to another transmitter (not authorized by the user) installed in an adjacent rental space than to a transmitter installed in the selected rental space (not authorized by the user).

In such a case, the user's mobile device will receive a signal from an unauthorized transmitter at a stronger strength than from an authorized transmitter, and when it estimates the rental space in which the user is currently staying based on the received signal, it will mistakenly estimate that the rental space next door is the user's current rental space.

In other words, if the technology disclosed in Patent Document 3 is adopted, there is a possibility that it will not be possible to correctly determine which rental space the user is actually currently staying in.

Based on the above findings, the present invention aims to provide a new technology for managing multiple vehicles that can be rented to users.

In order to solve the problem, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for managing a plurality of vehicles available for rental to users, comprising:
a contactless or contact type short-range wireless communication unit mounted in each of the plurality of vehicles;
a management server that remotely manages the plurality of vehicles;
The management server is
a reservation unit that, when a user who wishes to use any one of the vehicles operates a communication device of the user to select one of the plurality of vehicles as a reserved vehicle together with a scheduled start time and a scheduled end time, reflects the result in the reservation details;
a start permission unit that permits the user to start using the reserved vehicle when, at the time when the communication device successfully matches the reserved vehicle with a vehicle specified based on a signal received from the short-range wireless communication unit of any vehicle and the user inputs a start request to start using the reserved vehicle into the communication device;
a prompting unit that enables the communication device to prompt the user to retry receiving a signal from the short-range wireless communication unit by the communication device by visually or audibly stimulating the user when the matching is not successful, and/or enables the communication device to prompt the user to input the start request to the communication device by visually or audibly stimulating the user when the start request is not input to the communication device;
a reservation change section that, after a user starts using the reserved vehicle, in response to a user operating the communication device to delay a scheduled end time included in the reservation details before the scheduled end time arrives, reflects the result of the reservation change in the reservation details;
and a transmission unit that transmits the amount of the rental fee to the communication device via long-distance wireless communication after the user has finished using the reserved vehicle.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for managing a plurality of vehicles available for rental to users, comprising:
a contactless or contact type short-range wireless communication unit mounted in each of the plurality of vehicles;
a management server that remotely manages the plurality of vehicles;
The management server is
a reservation unit that, when a user who wishes to use any one of the vehicles operates a communication device of the user to select one of the plurality of vehicles as a reserved vehicle together with a scheduled start time and a scheduled end time, reflects the result in the reservation details;
a start permission unit that permits the user to start using the reserved vehicle in response to the communication device transitioning to a reception state in which the communication device receives a signal from the short-range wireless communication unit when the user starts using the reserved vehicle;
a reservation change unit that, after a user starts using the reserved vehicle, changes the reservation to a scheduled end time included in the reservation details by the user operating the communication device, and reflects the result of the reservation change in the reservation details;
A rental vehicle management system is provided which includes: a transmission unit which sets the charging rate for the use of the reserved vehicle to a normal rate if the reservation change is made before the scheduled end time before the reservation change, and sets the charging rate to a premium rate if the reservation change is made after the scheduled end time before the reservation change, calculates the amount of the rental fee based on the set charging rate, and transmits the calculated amount to the communication device via long-distance wireless communication.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program executed by a computer of a communication device of a user who wishes to use any one of a plurality of vehicles available for rental to the user, the program comprising:
a reservation function in which a user operates the communication device to select a vehicle from among the plurality of vehicles that the user wishes to use as a reserved vehicle together with a scheduled start time and a scheduled end time;
a short-distance receiving function for receiving a signal from a contactless or contact type short-distance wireless communication unit mounted on any of the vehicles, in order to enable the user to identify any of the vehicles approaching when the user starts using the reserved vehicle and to determine whether or not a match between the vehicle and the reserved vehicle is successful, by the communication device;
a start request input function that enables a user to input a start request to start using the reserved vehicle ;
a prompting function that, when the matching is not successful, prompts the user to retry receiving a signal from the short-range wireless communication unit by the communication device by visually or audibly stimulating the user, and/or, when the start request has not been input to the communication device, enables the communication device to prompt the user to input the start request to the communication device by visually or audibly stimulating the user;
a reservation change function for changing the reservation to delay the scheduled end time before the scheduled end time arrives by the user operating the communication device after the user starts using the reserved vehicle; and
A program is provided to cause a computer to function as a long-distance receiving function that receives the amount of the rental fee from a management server that remotely manages the multiple vehicles via long-distance wireless communication after the user has finished using the reserved vehicle.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for managing a plurality of vehicles available for rental to users, the system comprising:
a contactless or contact type short-range wireless communication unit mounted in each of the plurality of vehicles;
a management server that remotely manages the plurality of vehicles;
The management server is
a storage unit that, when receiving a signal transmitted from a communication device of a user who desires to use any one of the vehicles, reserves the one of the vehicles as a reserved vehicle based on the received signal and stores the reservation details in a memory;
a selection unit that, in response to a user operating the communication device to select a vehicle that the user wishes to use from among the plurality of vehicles together with a scheduled start time and a scheduled end time, causes the result of the selection to be reflected in the reservation details;
a start permission unit that permits the user to start using the reserved vehicle in response to the communication device transitioning to a reception state in which the communication device receives a signal from the short-range wireless communication unit when the user starts using the reserved vehicle;
and a reservation change unit which, after the user has started using the reserved vehicle, causes the user to operate the communication device to delay the scheduled end time included in the reservation content before the scheduled end time arrives, and which reflects the result of the reservation change in the reservation content.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for managing a plurality of vehicles available for rental to users, comprising:
a contactless or contact type short-range wireless communication unit mounted in each of the plurality of vehicles;
a management server that remotely manages the plurality of vehicles;
The management server is
a storage unit that, when receiving a signal transmitted from a communication device of a user who desires to use any one of the vehicles, reserves the one of the vehicles as a reserved vehicle based on the received signal and stores the reservation details in a memory;
a time selection unit that, in response to a user operating the communication device to select a vehicle that the user wishes to use from among the plurality of vehicles together with a scheduled start time and a scheduled end time, causes the result to be reflected in the reservation details;
a reservation change section that reflects the result of the reservation change in the reservation content in response to a user delaying a scheduled end time included in the reservation content before the scheduled end time arrives by operating the communication device;
A rental vehicle management system is provided which includes: a start permission unit that, when a user starts using the reserved vehicle, permits the user to start using the reserved vehicle in response to the communication device transitioning to a receiving state in which it receives a signal from the short-range wireless communication unit.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for managing a plurality of vehicles available for rental to users, the system comprising:
a contactless or contact type short-range wireless communication unit mounted in each of the plurality of vehicles;
a management server that remotely manages the plurality of vehicles;
The system allows a user to select a vehicle that the user wishes to use from among the plurality of vehicles on the mobile terminal by operating the mobile terminal;
the mobile terminal is capable of short-distance wireless communication with the short-distance wireless communication unit and long-distance wireless communication with the management server;
When the management server receives a signal transmitted from the mobile terminal in response to a user's operation to select one of the vehicles, the management server reserves one of the vehicles as a reserved vehicle based on the received signal and stores the reservation details in a memory;
the system enables a user to change a reservation on the mobile terminal so as to delay a scheduled end time included in the reservation content before the scheduled end time arrives by operating the mobile terminal,
The system provides a rental vehicle management system that, when a user starts using the reserved vehicle, allows the user to start using the reserved vehicle after the user holds or touches the mobile terminal over a short-range wireless communication unit installed in the reserved vehicle, causing the mobile terminal to transition to a receiving state in which it receives a signal from the short-range wireless communication unit, and, when the user ends his/her use of the reserved vehicle, allows the user to end his/her use of the reserved vehicle after the user holds or touches the mobile terminal over or touches the short-range wireless communication unit installed in the reserved vehicle, causing the mobile terminal to transition to a receiving state in which it receives a signal from the short-range wireless communication unit.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for managing a plurality of vehicles available for rental to users, the system comprising:
a contactless or contact type short-range wireless communication unit mounted in each of the plurality of vehicles;
a management server that remotely manages the plurality of vehicles;
The system enables a user to select a desired vehicle from among the plurality of vehicles on the mobile terminal by operating the mobile terminal;
the mobile terminal is capable of short-distance wireless communication with the short-distance wireless communication unit and long-distance wireless communication with the management server;
When the management server receives a signal transmitted from the mobile terminal in response to a user's operation to select one of the vehicles, the management server reserves one of the vehicles as a reserved vehicle based on the received signal and stores the reservation details in a memory;
When a user starts using the reserved vehicle, the system permits the user to start using the reserved vehicle after the user holds the mobile terminal over or touches it to a short-range wireless communication unit installed in the reserved vehicle, causing the mobile terminal to transition to a receiving state in which it receives a signal from the short-range wireless communication unit, and when the user ends using the reserved vehicle, the system permits the user to end using the reserved vehicle after the user holds the mobile terminal over or touches it to a short-range wireless communication unit installed in the reserved vehicle, causing the mobile terminal to transition to a receiving state in which it receives a signal from the short-range wireless communication unit,
the short-range wireless communication unit is capable of transmitting a signal representing a unique communication ID,
The rental vehicle management system determines the communication ID corresponding to the reserved vehicle as a legitimate communication ID based on the correspondence between the multiple vehicles and the multiple communication IDs, and determines whether or not the user is present in the reserved vehicle based on whether or not the mobile terminal receives a signal representing that legitimate communication ID from a short-range wireless communication unit installed in the reserved vehicle.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for managing a plurality of vehicles available for rental to users, comprising:
a contactless or contact type short-range wireless communication unit mounted in each of the plurality of vehicles;
a management server that remotely manages the plurality of vehicles;
The user operates the mobile device to select a vehicle that the user wishes to use from among the plurality of vehicles on the mobile device;
the mobile terminal is capable of short-distance wireless communication with the short-distance wireless communication unit and long-distance wireless communication with the management server;
When the management server receives a signal transmitted from the mobile terminal in response to a user's operation to select one of the vehicles, the management server reserves one of the vehicles as a reserved vehicle based on the received signal and stores the reservation details in a memory;
The system provides a rental vehicle management system that, when a user starts using the reserved vehicle, allows the user to start using the reserved vehicle after the user holds or touches the mobile terminal over a short-range wireless communication unit installed in the reserved vehicle, causing the mobile terminal to transition to a receiving state in which it receives a signal from the short-range wireless communication unit, and, when the user ends his/her use of the reserved vehicle, allows the user to end his/her use of the reserved vehicle after the user holds or touches the mobile terminal over or touches the short-range wireless communication unit installed in the reserved vehicle, causing the mobile terminal to transition to a receiving state in which it receives a signal from the short-range wireless communication unit.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for preventing interference between a plurality of communication devices installed in a plurality of spaces and an in-vehicle wireless communication device that is a wireless communication device installed in a vehicle of a user who wishes to use any one of the spaces, comprising:
an authorized communication device ID acquisition unit that acquires, before a user approaches or enters a selected space selected as one of the plurality of spaces, a communication device ID represented by a signal to be transmitted by an authorized communication device among the plurality of communication devices in accordance with a predetermined correspondence relationship between the space and a communication device ID of the in-vehicle wireless communication device;
and an invalidation unit that, when the in-vehicle wireless communication device includes one or more real communication device IDs represented by one or more signals received from one or more communication devices that do not match the legitimate communication device IDs when the user approaches or enters the selected space, recognizes the communication device that transmitted the signal representing the real communication device ID that does not match the legitimate communication device ID as an unauthorized communication device and invalidates a signal validly received from the unauthorized communication device.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for preventing interference between a plurality of communication devices installed in a plurality of spaces and a mobile terminal of a user who wishes to use any one of the spaces, the method comprising the steps of:
an authorized communication device ID acquisition step in which, before a user approaches or enters a selected space selected as one of the plurality of spaces, the mobile terminal acquires, as an authorized communication device ID, a communication device ID represented by a signal to be transmitted by an authorized communication device among the plurality of communication devices, in accordance with a predetermined correspondence relationship between the space and a communication device ID;
When the user approaches or enters the selected space, if the mobile terminal receives one or more real communication device IDs represented by one or more signals from one or more communication devices that include one that does not match the acquired legitimate communication device ID, the mobile terminal determines that interference may occur, recognizes the communication device that transmitted the signal representing the real communication device ID that does not match the legitimate communication device ID as an unauthorized communication device, and invalidates the signal validly received from the unauthorized communication device.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for preventing interference between a plurality of communication devices installed in a plurality of spaces and a mobile terminal of a user who wishes to use any one of the spaces, the method comprising the steps of:
an authorized communication device ID acquisition step in which, after a user selects one of the plurality of spaces as a selected space on the mobile terminal and before the user enters the selected space, the mobile terminal acquires, as an authorized communication device ID, a communication device ID represented by a signal to be transmitted by an authorized communication device among the plurality of communication devices, in accordance with a predetermined correspondence relationship between spaces and communication device IDs;
When the user has entered the selection space, if the mobile terminal receives one or more real communication device IDs represented by one or more signals from one or more communication devices that include one that does not match the acquired legitimate communication device ID, it determines that interference may occur to the mobile terminal, and recognizes the communication device that transmitted the signal representing the real communication device ID that does not match the legitimate communication device ID as an unauthorized communication device, and disables valid reception from the unauthorized communication device or invalidates a signal validly received from the unauthorized communication device.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for managing a plurality of spaces, the method comprising the steps of:
The method comprises:
In each space, a non-contact or contact transmitter that transmits a signal representing a unique ID;
The method is executed using a mobile terminal of a user who selects one of the spaces as a selected space,
The method comprises:
a use start permission step in which, when the user brings the mobile terminal close to the transmitter at the start of use of the selected space corresponding to the ID, the mobile terminal starts to receive the signal, and when the user eventually moves the mobile terminal away from the transmitter, the mobile terminal transitions to a state in which it does not receive the signal, and after the transition, when the user inputs a use start request to the mobile terminal, the mobile terminal and/or a management server capable of communicating with the mobile terminal permits the start of use;
a use termination permission process in which, after starting use of the selected space corresponding to the ID, the user brings the mobile terminal closer to the transmitter, whereby the mobile terminal resumes receiving the signal, and when the user eventually moves the mobile terminal away from the communication device, the mobile terminal transitions to a state in which it does not receive the signal, and after that transition, when the user inputs an end-of-use request to the mobile terminal, the mobile terminal and/or the management server permit the end of use.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of managing a plurality of real or personal property objects, the method comprising the steps of:
The method comprises:
A contactless or contact communication device for each object that emits a signal representing a unique ID;
The method is executed using a mobile terminal of a user who selects one of the objects as a selected object,
The method comprises:
a use start permission step in which, when the user brings the portable terminal close to the communication device at the start of use, the portable terminal starts to receive the signal, and when the user eventually moves the portable terminal away from the communication device, the portable terminal transitions to a state in which it does not receive the signal, and after the transition, when the user inputs a use start request to the portable terminal, the portable terminal and/or a management server capable of communicating with the portable terminal permits the start of use of the selection object corresponding to the ID;
After starting use, when the user brings the mobile terminal closer to the communication device, the mobile terminal resumes receiving the signal, and when the user eventually moves the mobile terminal away from the communication device, the mobile terminal transitions to a state where it does not receive the signal, and after that transition, when the user inputs an end-of-use request to the mobile terminal, the mobile terminal and/or the management server permit the end of use.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for managing a plurality of spaces, the method comprising the steps of:
The method comprises:
In each space, a contactless or contact type communication device that transmits a signal representing a unique ID;
A mobile terminal of a user that selects one of the spaces as a selected space;
The program is executed using a management server that can communicate with the mobile device,
The method comprises:
a reservation step of transmitting reservation information for reserving the selected space to the management server when the mobile terminal selects any one of the plurality of spaces as a selected space by a user;
a registration step in which the management server, upon receiving the reservation information, registers in a memory a relationship between the user and the selected space;
an acquisition step of the mobile terminal acquiring, as a regular ID, an ID corresponding to the selected space in accordance with a predetermined correspondence relationship between the plurality of spaces and a plurality of IDs;
a start-of-use state transition step in which, when a user holds the portable terminal over or touches it to any one of the communication devices at the start of use, the portable terminal receives a signal from the one of the communication devices, and if the received signal is a legitimate reception signal representing the legitimate ID, when the user eventually moves the portable terminal away from the one of the communication devices, the portable terminal transitions to a state in which the portable terminal does not receive the legitimate reception signal, and after the transition, when the user inputs a start-of-use request to the portable terminal, the portable terminal accepts the start-of-use request;
a start-of-use request transmission step in which the mobile terminal transmits the input start-of-use request to the management server in association with the user;
when the management server receives the start-of-use request in association with a user, searching for the selected space in the memory and allowing the start of use of the selected space.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of managing a plurality of real or personal property objects, the method comprising the steps of:
The method comprises:
a transmitter for transmitting a signal representing a unique transmitter code at each object;
The method is executed using a mobile terminal of a user who selects one of the objects as a selected object,
The method comprises:
a use start permission step in which, when the user brings the portable terminal close to the transmitter at the start of use, the portable terminal starts to receive the signal, and when the user eventually moves the portable terminal away from the transmitter, the portable terminal transitions to a state in which it does not receive the signal, and after the transition, when the user inputs a use start request to the portable terminal, the portable terminal and/or a management server capable of communicating with the portable terminal permits the start of use of the selection object corresponding to the transmitter code;
After use has begun, when the user brings the mobile terminal closer to the transmitter, the mobile terminal resumes receiving the signal, and when the user eventually moves the mobile terminal away from the transmitter, the mobile terminal transitions to a state in which it does not receive the signal, and after that transition, when the user inputs a request to end use to the mobile terminal, the mobile terminal and/or the management server permit the end of use.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for managing a plurality of rentable spaces, the method comprising the steps of:
The method comprises:
A transmitter that transmits a signal representing a unique transmitter code in each space;
A mobile terminal of a user that selects one of the spaces as a selected space;
The program is executed using a management server that can communicate with the mobile device,
The method comprises:
a reservation step of transmitting reservation information for reserving the selected space to the management server when the mobile terminal selects any one of the plurality of spaces as a selected space by a user;
a registration step in which the management server, upon receiving the reservation information, registers in a memory a relationship between the user and the selected space;
an acquisition step in which the mobile terminal acquires, after selecting any one of the spaces, a transmitter code corresponding to the selected space as a regular transmitter code in accordance with a predetermined correspondence between the plurality of spaces and a plurality of transmitter codes prior to reception with the transmitter;
a rental start state transition step in which, when a user holds the portable terminal over or touches it to any one of the transmitters at the start of rental, the portable terminal receives a signal from any one of the transmitters, and if the received signal is a regular reception signal representing the regular transmitter code, when the user eventually moves the portable terminal away from any one of the transmitters, the portable terminal transitions to a state in which the portable terminal does not receive the regular reception signal, and after the transition, when the user inputs a rental start request to the portable terminal, the portable terminal accepts the rental start request;
a rental start request transmission step in which the portable terminal transmits the input rental start request to the management server in association with the user;
and upon receipt by the management server of the rental start request in association with a user, retrieving the selected rental object in the memory and authorizing the start of rental of the selected rental object.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the method according to the certain aspect further comprises:
a rental end state transition step in which, after the start of the rental, when the user holds the portable terminal over or touches it to any one of the transmitters, the portable terminal receives a signal from the any one of the transmitters, and if the received signal is the normal reception signal, when the user eventually moves the portable terminal away from any one of the transmitters, the portable terminal transitions to a state in which the portable terminal does not receive the normal reception signal, and after the transition, when the user inputs a rental end request to the portable terminal, the portable terminal accepts the rental end request;
a rental end request transmission step in which the portable terminal transmits the input rental end request to the management server in association with the user;
and a rental end permission step of, when the management server receives the rental end request in association with a user, allowing the rental to be ended.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for centrally managing a plurality of rental objects, which are real property or movable property that can be rented to a user, comprising:
The method comprises:
a transmitter for transmitting a signal representing a unique transmitter code for each rental object;
The method is executed using a mobile terminal of a user who selects one of the rental objects and wishes to use the selected rental object,
The method comprises:
a wide-area reception step in which the mobile terminal receives one or more signals from one or more transmitters in a wide-area reception mode in which reception is performed in a first effective reception area;
a narrow-area reception step of receiving one or more signals from one or more transmitters in a narrow-area reception mode in which reception is performed in a second effective reception area narrower than the first effective reception area, instead of the wide-area reception mode, when at least one condition including a first condition that the mobile terminal simultaneously receives a plurality of signals from a plurality of transmitters in the wide-area reception mode is satisfied;
A rental object management method is provided, which includes a determination step in which the mobile terminal and/or a management server capable of communicating with the mobile terminal determines that a user is present at the selected rental object if an actual transmitter code represented by any of one or more signals received by the mobile terminal in the narrow band reception mode matches a genuine transmitter code corresponding to a genuine transmitter that should be installed at the selected rental object.

In one example, the at least one condition further includes a second condition that an actual transmitter code represented by any one of a plurality of signals simultaneously received from a plurality of transmitters in the wide-area reception mode matches the normal transmitter code. In this example, the wide-area reception process is repeatedly performed until the at least one condition including the first condition and the second condition is satisfied.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for centrally managing a plurality of rental objects, which are real or personal property available for rental to users, comprising the steps of:
The method comprises:
a transmitter for transmitting a signal representing a unique transmitter code for each rental object;
The method is executed using a mobile terminal of a user who selects one of the rental objects and wishes to use the selected rental object,
The method comprises:
an acquisition step in which the mobile terminal and/or a management server capable of communicating with the mobile terminal acquires a transmitter code corresponding to the selected rental object as a regular transmitter code in accordance with a predetermined correspondence relationship between the plurality of rental objects and a plurality of transmitter codes;
a receiving step in which, after the normal transmitter code is obtained, the mobile terminal repeatedly performs a reception attempt to receive signals from one or more transmitters until a normal reception signal representing the normal transmitter code is present among the one or more received signals;
A rental object management method is provided, which includes a determination step in which, when the regular reception signal is present among the one or more received signals, the mobile terminal and/or the management server determine that the user is present among the selected rental objects without performing a process of identifying a rental object corresponding to the regular transmitter code represented by the regular reception signal.

The present invention provides the following aspects. Each aspect is divided into clauses, each clause is numbered, and the numbers of other clauses are cited as necessary. This is to facilitate understanding of some of the technical features that the present invention may employ and their combinations, and should not be construed as limiting the technical features and combinations that the present invention may employ to the following aspects. In other words, it should be construed that there is no prohibition on appropriately extracting and employing technical features that are not described in the following aspects but are described in this specification as technical features of the present invention.

Furthermore, describing each paragraph in a form that refers to the number of other paragraphs does not necessarily mean that it is prohibited to separate and make independent the technical features described in each paragraph from the technical features described in other paragraphs, and it should be interpreted that it is possible to make independent the technical features described in each paragraph as appropriate depending on their nature.

(1) A method for centrally managing a plurality of rental objects, which are real property or movable property that can be rented to a user, comprising:
The method comprises:
a transmitter for transmitting a signal representing a unique transmitter code for each rental object;
The method is executed using a mobile terminal of a user who selects one of the rental objects and wishes to use the selected rental object, the mobile terminal being capable of receiving signals from one or more transmitters via a short-range communication method;
The method comprises:
an input support step of supporting a user to select any one of the rental objects as a selected rental object by the mobile terminal prior to reception from one or more transmitters;
a determination step in which the mobile terminal and/or a management server capable of communicating with the mobile terminal determines a transmitter code corresponding to the selected rental object as a regular transmitter code according to a correspondence relationship between the plurality of rental objects and a plurality of transmitter codes;
A rental object management method comprising: a determination step in which the mobile terminal and/or the management server determines whether or not a user is present in the selected rental object depending on whether or not the mobile terminal has received a signal representing the genuine transmitter code.

Here, "multiple rental items" typically refer to multiple real estate (e.g., multiple rental seats in a seat rental facility, multiple parking spaces in a parking lot) or personal property (e.g., multiple rental bicycles in the same bicycle rental facility) that are located so close to one another that they cannot be spatially distinguished (resolved) from one another with any practical accuracy using the GPS function of the user's mobile device, but in theory they may also refer to multiple real estate (e.g., multiple seat rental facilities, multiple parking lots) or personal property (e.g., multiple rental bicycles in the same bicycle rental facility) that are located far enough apart from one another that they can be spatially distinguished (resolved) from one another with any practical accuracy using the GPS function of the user's mobile device.

(2) the mobile terminal repeatedly performs reception attempts to receive signals from one or more transmitters;
The determination step includes:
a step of recognizing that the user has started using the selected rental object, based on the timing of a first transition occurring in which the mobile terminal transitions from a state in which the mobile terminal does not receive a signal representing the regular transmitter code to a state in which the mobile terminal receives the signal, or based on the timing of a predetermined first event occurring as a result of the first transition;
The rental object management method described in (1) includes at least one of the following steps: a step in which the mobile terminal and/or the management server recognize that the user has ended use of the selected rental object based on the timing at which a second transition occurs, in which the mobile terminal transitions from a state in which it receives a signal representing the genuine transmitter code to a state in which it does not receive the signal, or the timing at which a specified second event occurs as a result of the second transition.

(3) the mobile terminal repeatedly performs reception attempts to receive signals from one or more transmitters;
The determination step includes:
a step of recognizing a start of use by a user in response to a combination of an appearance of a pair of a first transition in which the mobile terminal transitions from a state in which the mobile terminal does not receive a signal representing the authorized transmitter code to a state in which the mobile terminal receives the signal, and a second transition in which the mobile terminal transitions from a state in which the mobile terminal receives a signal representing the authorized transmitter code to a state in which the mobile terminal does not receive the signal, and an expression of an intention to request start of use by the user, by the mobile terminal and/or the management server;
The rental object management method described in (2) includes a step in which the mobile terminal and/or the management server responds to a combination of the appearance of both or one of a pair of a first transition and a second transition and the user's expression of intent to request termination of use, and recognizes termination of use by the user.

(4) The input support step includes:
facilitating a user to reserve the selected rental object at a location remote from the selected rental object;
A rental object management method described in any of claims (1) to (3), which includes at least one of the following steps: assisting a user in inputting the selected rental object at the same location as or in the vicinity of the selected rental object, immediately prior to the user's use of the selected rental object.

(5) A rental object management method described in any one of (1) to (4), in which each transmitter works in conjunction with the signal processing characteristics of the portable terminal so that, as long as a user is present at the corresponding rental object, a signal transmitted from each transmitter is received by the portable terminal without the user having to hold the portable terminal in his/her hand and hold it over or touch the transmitter.

(6) A rental object management method described in any one of (1) to (4), in which each transmitter works in conjunction with the signal processing characteristics of the portable terminal so that when a user present at the corresponding rental object holds the portable terminal in his/her hand and holds the portable terminal over or touches the transmitter, a signal transmitted from each transmitter is received by the portable terminal.

(7) The rental object management method according to any one of (1) to (6), further comprising a step in which, if the actual transmitter code represented by the signal received by the mobile terminal from each transmitter does not match the regular transmitter code, the mobile terminal prompts the user to retry receiving the transmitter by the mobile terminal.

(8) The rental object management method according to any one of clauses (1) to (7) further includes a step of permitting the user to start using the selected rental object when the mobile terminal and/or the management server determines that the user has arrived at the selected rental object at a first time and the user inputs a start-of-use request to the mobile terminal within a first time limit from that time.

(9) The rental object management method according to any one of clauses (1) to (8) further includes a step of permitting the user to end use of the selected space when the mobile terminal and/or the management server determines that the user has left the selected rental object at a second time and the user inputs an end use request to the mobile terminal within a second time limit from that time.

(10) A program executed by the computer of a mobile terminal to implement the mobile terminal described in any one of items (1) to (9).

(11) A program executed by the computer of the management server to implement the management server described in any one of (1) to (9).

The program in this and other paragraphs may be interpreted, for example, to mean a combination of instructions executed by a computer to perform its functions, or may be interpreted to include not only the combination of instructions, but also the files and data processed in accordance with each instruction, but is not limited thereto.

In addition, this program can be, but is not limited to, a program that achieves the intended purpose by being executed by a computer on its own, or a program that achieves the intended purpose by being executed by a computer together with other programs. In the latter case, the program in this section can be, but is not limited to, a program that is mainly comprised of data.

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

This recording medium can take various forms, including, but not limited to, magnetic recording media such as flexible disks, optical recording media such as CDs and CD-ROMs, magneto-optical recording media such as MOs, and non-removable storage such as ROMs.

(13) A rental object management method described in any of (1) to (9) having the characteristic that the user's mobile terminal is located within a distance allowing short-range communication with the transmitter of the rental object throughout substantially the entire period of each use of the rental object by the user from the start time of use to the end time of use.

(14) The rental object management method described in (13), in which the multiple rental objects include multiple rental seats installed in a seat rental facility (including a library, a school, a training room, and a lecture room), or multiple rooms in an apartment building.

(15) A rental object management method described in any of (1) to (9) above, which has the characteristic that the user's mobile terminal is located within a distance allowing short-distance communication with the transmitter of the rental object at least during the start and end stages of each usage period from the start time of use by the user to the end time of use of the rental object by the user.

(16) The rental object management method described in (15), in which the multiple rental objects include multiple vehicle spaces in a parking lot (including a bicycle parking lot), multiple rental locker rooms, multiple rental warehouses, or multiple safe deposit boxes.

(17) The method is implemented to manage a plurality of rental objects installed in a plurality of geographically different facilities (e.g., a plurality of rental objects that are so close to each other that they cannot be spatially resolved by a GPS function of a mobile terminal),
The input assistance process is a rental item management method described in any one of clauses (1) to (9), in which the mobile terminal measures the current location of the mobile terminal and displays on the screen, together with map data, a small number of candidate facilities among the plurality of facilities that are located near the measured current location, in a state in which the user can select one of the facilities, thereby assisting the user in selecting one of the facilities.

(18) The method is implemented to manage a plurality of rental objects installed in a plurality of facilities that are geographically different from each other,
The rental item management method described in any one of items (1) to (9), wherein the input assistance process comprises the mobile terminal displaying at least a portion of the plurality of facilities in list form on the screen, with the user being able to select any one of the facilities, thereby assisting the user in selecting any one of the facilities.

(19) The input assistance step includes a step of assisting a user in inputting, into the portable terminal, information for identifying the selected rental object and information for specifying a planned time period for using the selected rental object in order to reserve the selected rental object at a location away from the selected rental object,
The method further comprises:
the management server creates a reservation status table based on the information for chronologically displaying the time periods during which the reservations are made for each rental object, updates the reservation status table each time a new reservation is made and each time the use of any rental object is completed to reflect these facts, and transmits the latest reservation status table to the mobile terminal;
The input assistance process further comprises the step of causing the mobile terminal to display the transmitted reservation status table on a screen, and assisting the user in inputting the information into the mobile terminal to reserve the selected rental item while referring to the reservation status table.A rental item management method as described in any of items (1) to (9).

(20) The plurality of transmitters and the portable terminal are operated so that the portable terminal continuously receives a signal from a transmitter installed in the selected rental object while the user is present in the selected rental object;
The rental object management method described in any of claims (1) to (9) further includes a step of repeatedly determining whether or not the user is actually staying at the selected rental object based on whether or not the mobile terminal receives a signal from a transmitter installed at the selected rental object.

(21) A system for centrally managing a plurality of rental objects, which are real estate or movable property that can be rented to a user, comprising:
a transmitter for transmitting a signal representing a unique transmitter code for each rental object;
A mobile terminal of a user who selects one of the rental objects and wishes to use the selected rental object, the mobile terminal being capable of receiving signals from one or more transmitters via a short-distance communication method;
the mobile terminal includes an input support unit that supports a user in selecting any one of the rental objects as a selected rental object prior to receiving from one or more transmitters;
The mobile terminal and/or a management server capable of communicating with the mobile terminal,
a determination unit that determines a transmitter code corresponding to the selected rental object as a regular transmitter code according to a correspondence relationship between the plurality of rental objects and a plurality of transmitter codes;
A rental object management system including: a determination unit that determines whether or not a user is present in the selected rental object depending on whether or not the mobile terminal has received a signal representing the authorized transmitter code.

(22) A rental object management system as described in (21) that has the characteristic that the user's mobile terminal is located within a distance allowing short-range communication with the transmitter of the rental object throughout substantially the entire period of each usage of the rental object by the user from the time the user starts using the rental object until the time the user finishes using the rental object.

(23) The rental object management system described in paragraph (22) includes an audio guide device (e.g., a device that receives a signal wirelessly from the outside and converts it into audio data in real time, or that responds to an external trigger signal by reading audio data from an internal memory and providing an audio description of the object being viewed) that is rented to a visitor or tourist at an art gallery, museum, or tourist spot and that is carried by the visitor or tourist during the tour.

(24) A rental object management system as described in (21) that has the characteristic that the user's mobile terminal is located within a distance allowing short-distance communication with the transmitter of the rental object at least during the start and end stages of each usage period from the start time of use by the user to the end time of use of the rental object by the user.

(25) A method for managing rental items described in paragraph (24), in which each rental item includes a rental car or a rental bicycle.

(26) A method for centrally managing a plurality of rental objects, which are real estate or movable property that can be rented to a user, comprising:
The method comprises:
a transmitter for transmitting a signal representing a unique transmitter code for each rental object;
The method is executed using a mobile terminal of a user who selects one of the rental objects and wishes to use the selected rental object, the mobile terminal being capable of receiving signals from one or more transmitters via a short-range communication method;
The method comprises:
the mobile terminal repeatedly performs reception attempts to receive signals from one or more transmitters;
and a step of supporting a user in selecting, by the mobile terminal, one of the plurality of rental objects as a selected rental object on the mobile terminal,
The method further comprises:
a step of the mobile terminal and/or a management server capable of communicating with the mobile terminal recognizing that a user has started using the selected rental object based on the timing of a first transition occurring in which the mobile terminal transitions from a non-regular reception state in which the mobile terminal does not receive a signal from any transmitter or the signal received from one or more transmitters does not represent a regular transmitter code specific to a transmitter that should be installed in the selected rental object to a regular reception state in which the mobile terminal receives a signal from one or more transmitters or the signal received from one or more transmitters represents the regular transmitter code, or based on the timing of a predetermined first event occurring as a result of the first transition;
A rental object management method including at least one of the following steps: a step in which the mobile terminal and/or the management server recognize that the user has ended use of the selected rental object based on the timing at which a second transition occurs from the normal reception state to the non-normal reception state or the timing at which a specified second event occurs as a result of the second transition.

(27) A method for centrally managing a plurality of rental objects, which are real estate or movable property that can be rented to a user, comprising:
The method comprises:
a transmitter for transmitting a signal representing a unique transmitter code for each rental object;
The method is executed using a mobile terminal of a user who selects one of the rental objects and wishes to use the selected rental object, the mobile terminal being capable of receiving signals from one or more transmitters via a short-range communication method;
The method comprises:
the mobile terminal repeatedly performs reception attempts to receive signals from one or more transmitters;
a step of supporting a user in selecting, by the mobile terminal, one of the plurality of rental objects as a selected rental object on the mobile terminal;
A rental item management method comprising a step of: the mobile terminal and/or a management server capable of communicating with the mobile terminal monitoring the temporal changes in the user's approach to and movement away from the selected rental item based on the temporal changes in a received signal that indicates, in a time series, whether or not the mobile terminal has received information from one or more transmitters.

(28) The rental object management method described in (26) or (27), wherein each of the rental objects includes a parking lot.

(29) A rental object management method according to paragraph (26) or (27), in which each of the rental objects includes a vehicle space installed in a parking lot.

(30) A method for controlling a reception range of a transmitter received by a user's mobile terminal, comprising:
a plurality of transmitters, each of which is attached to movable or immovable property and which continuously transmits a unique identifying signal;
The method is carried out using a system including: a user's mobile terminal capable of receiving one or more transmitters in a short-range communication manner;
The method comprises:
a wide-area reception step in which the mobile terminal receives signals from one or more transmitters in a wide-area reception mode in which reception is performed in a first effective reception area, and determines whether the mobile terminal is present within the first effective reception area for each transmitter, thereby determining whether the mobile terminal has detected each transmitter in the wide-area reception mode;
a simultaneous reception determination step of determining whether the mobile terminal has detected a plurality of transmitters simultaneously in the wide-area reception mode;
a narrow-area reception process for receiving signals from one or more transmitters in a narrow-area reception mode in which reception is performed in a second effective reception area that is smaller than the first effective reception area, when at least one condition is satisfied including a condition that the mobile terminal has determined that it has detected multiple transmitters simultaneously in the wide-area reception mode, and determining whether the mobile terminal is present within the second effective reception area for each transmitter, thereby determining whether the mobile terminal has detected each transmitter in the narrow-area reception mode.

(31) The method according to (30), wherein the real estate includes a plurality of rental spaces (e.g., a plurality of rental seats, a plurality of parking lots, a plurality of parking spaces within a single parking lot, a plurality of stations, each of which stores a plurality of rental bicycles ready for rental to users), each of which is equipped with the transmitter.

(32) The method according to claim 30, wherein the movable property includes a plurality of rental bicycles or rental cars, each of which is equipped with the transmitter.

(33) The wide-area receiving step includes:
attempting, by the mobile terminal, to receive signals from each of one or more transmitters in the wide area reception mode;
a step in which the mobile terminal and/or a server capable of communicating with the mobile terminal measures, when the mobile terminal receives signals from one or more transmitters in the wide area reception mode, a distance between each transmitter and the mobile terminal based on the received signals as a first distance;
and wherein the mobile terminal and/or the server determines that each transmitter has been detected by the mobile terminal if a first distance measured for each transmitter is shorter than the first effective reception radius, and determines that each transmitter has not been detected by the mobile terminal if the first distance is longer than the first effective reception radius,
The narrow band receiving step includes:
the mobile terminal attempting to receive signals from each of one or more transmitters in the short range reception mode;
When the mobile terminal and/or the server receives a signal from one or more transmitters in the narrow band reception mode, the mobile terminal measures a distance between each transmitter and the mobile terminal as a second distance based on the received signal;
and wherein the mobile terminal and/or the server determines that each transmitter has been detected by the mobile terminal if a second distance measured for each transmitter is shorter than the second effective reception radius, and determines that each transmitter has not been detected by the mobile terminal if the second distance is longer than the second effective reception radius.

The technology described in the above paragraphs (30) to (33) relates to an improvement of the reception mode of a user's mobile terminal when the mobile terminal detects a transmitter. According to this technology, the reception mode, i.e., the effective reception radius (a value set in the mobile terminal) is variable and can be switched between a wide-area reception mode and a narrow-area reception mode. According to this technology, when there is a low possibility of interference (misdetection of a transmitter by the mobile terminal) occurring between multiple transmitters, the wide-area reception mode is selected, and when there is a high possibility of interference occurring, the narrow-area reception mode is automatically switched to. Thus, according to this technology, even when multiple transmitters are close to each other, it becomes easy for the mobile terminal to normally detect only the appropriate transmitter.

The technology described in (30) to (33) above (technology for automatically switching the reception mode from wide-area reception mode to narrow-area reception mode when the mobile terminal detects multiple transmitters simultaneously in wide-area reception mode) can be combined with the technology described in (1) to (29) above (filtering technology for filtering signals received from transmitters other than the authorized transmitter in a software manner when the mobile terminal detects multiple transmitters simultaneously, provided that the identity of the only transmitter that the mobile terminal should receive is known prior to reception from multiple transmitters), an example of which will be described in detail later with reference to FIG. 25.

According to one aspect of the present invention, one of the spaces is selected by the user before the user's mobile device receives the transmitter.

Furthermore, according to one aspect of the present invention, based on the identity of the selected space selected by the user (e.g., the reserved rental object), multiple transmitters installed in multiple spaces are classified into legitimate transmitters (target transmitters) that should be installed in one selected space and other illegitimate transmitters (non-target transmitters).

As a result, according to one aspect of the present invention, even if the user's mobile device receives a signal from an unauthorized transmitter in the selected space, that signal is not referenced, and only signals from authorized transmitters are referenced, thereby estimating the user's current location, i.e., whether the user is truly located at the same location as the selected space or in its vicinity.

The idea behind this assumption is that if the user's location is known, then the mobile device only needs to pay attention to the signals that are expected to be emitted by a transmitter that is expected to be installed in that known location.

Therefore, according to one aspect of the present invention, even in an environment in which the effective reception area at least partially overlaps between a genuine transmitter and another transmitter for reasons such as the necessity to place a genuine transmitter spatially close to other transmitters, or the necessity to expand the effective reception area of the genuine transmitter (e.g., see Figures 5 and 20) to improve the convenience of a user receiving a genuine transmitter using his or her mobile terminal (e.g., to prevent the user from having to go out of his or her way to approach the genuine transmitter from a normal position), only the signal from the genuine transmitter is enabled in the mobile terminal by a software filtering function (noise removal function) rather than a hardware filtering function (noise removal function). As a result, according to one aspect of the present invention, it becomes easy to accurately estimate the user's current location without being affected by other transmitters.

The effect of being able to easily expand the effective receiving area of each transmitter is realized, for example, when the present invention is applied to a technology for selecting a vehicle space in a parking lot or a similar technology, as an effect that makes it easy for a user to receive signals from a regular transmitter and communicate with a management server for entry and exit processing while remaining in the vehicle parked in the selected vehicle space in the parking lot during the entry sequence and/or exit sequence, i.e., without getting out of the vehicle and approaching the transmitter.

Figure 1 is an oblique view showing an example of communication between multiple transmitters installed at multiple rental seats, a mobile terminal of a user when staying at any of the rental seats and when staying at home as an exemplary location away from any of the rental seats, and a management server in a management center located remotely in an unmanned seat rental system according to an exemplary first embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a conceptual diagram showing short-distance one-way communication between each transmitter installed in each rental seat shown in Figure 1 and a user's mobile terminal, and long-distance two-way communication between the mobile terminal and the management server shown in Figure 1.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram conceptually showing the transmitter shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart conceptually showing an example of a program executed by the computer of the transmitter shown in FIG.

Figure 5 is an enlarged plan view showing some of the rental seats shown in Figure 2 along with the transmitters installed at each rental seat, and conceptually showing the effective receiving area assigned to each transmitter.

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram conceptually showing the mobile terminal shown in FIG.

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

FIG. 8 is a diagram conceptually showing, in a table format, the seat rental data file stored in the seat rental data memory in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram conceptually showing the management server shown in FIG.

Figure 10(a) shows a list showing multiple modules of a seat rental service program executed by the mobile terminal computer shown in Figure 6, and Figure 10(b) shows a list showing multiple modules of a seat rental service program executed by the management server computer shown in Figure 9.

Figure 11(a) is a diagram showing an example of a reservation status table used in a reservation sequence to explain the reservation sequence of the unmanned seat rental method executed in the unmanned seat rental system, and Figure 11(b) is a diagram showing an example of a user-specific reservation content file used in the reservation sequence.

FIG. 12 is a plurality of time charts for illustratively explaining the overall sequence (the entire main sequence) of the unmanned seat rental method.

FIG. 13 shows a reservation sequence flow achieved by the execution of the reservation module shown in FIG. 10(a) by the mobile terminal and the execution of the reservation module shown in FIG. 10(b) by the management server.

14(a), (b) and (c) are reservation sequence diagrams for illustrating the reservation sequence flow shown in FIG. 13 in a time-series manner.

FIG. 15 is a start-of-use sequence flow achieved by execution of the start-of-use processing module shown in FIG. 10(a) by the mobile terminal and execution of the start-of-use processing module shown in FIG. 10(b) by the management server.

FIG. 16 is a stay determination sequence flow achieved by the execution of the stay determination module shown in FIG. 10(a) by the mobile terminal and the execution of the stay determination module shown in FIG. 10(b) by the management server.

FIG. 17 is a usage termination sequence flow achieved by the execution of the usage termination processing module shown in FIG. 10(a) by the mobile terminal and the execution of the usage termination processing module shown in FIG. 10(b) by the management server.

FIG. 18 shows a reservation change sequence flow achieved by execution of the reservation change module shown in FIG. 10(a) by the mobile terminal and execution of the reservation change module shown in FIG. 10(b) by the management server.

Figure 19 is an oblique view showing an example of communication between multiple transmitters installed in multiple parking spaces in each parking lot, a mobile terminal of a user when staying in one of the parking spaces and a mobile terminal of a user when staying in a location away from any of the parking spaces, and a management server in a remote management center in a parking lot management system according to an exemplary second embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 20 is an enlarged plan view showing a portion of several vehicle compartments installed in one of the parking lots shown in Figure 19, and conceptually showing the transmitters installed in each vehicle compartment along with the effective receiving areas assigned to those transmitters.

FIG. 21 is a plurality of time charts for illustratively explaining the overall sequence of the parking lot management system shown in FIG.

FIG. 22 is a time chart for illustrating an example of a reservation sequence executed in the parking lot management system.

FIG. 23 is a time chart for illustrating an example of the entrance sequence executed in the parking lot management system.

FIG. 24 is a time chart for illustrating an example of the leaving sequence executed in the parking lot management system.

Figure 25 is a flowchart showing a program for detecting when a user in the unmanned seat rental system has mistakenly sat in an unreserved rental seat and instructing the user to sit in the correct rental seat.

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

<First embodiment>

Figure 1 shows an unmanned seat rental system 10 (an example of a "rental system management system" and an example of a "rental item management system", hereinafter simply referred to as the "system") according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. This system 10 is, in outline, an example of a rental item management system that uses an individual transmitter to authenticate the location of a rental item, provided that the rental item is reserved by a user.

This system 10 is a system for centrally managing multiple seat rental facilities 20 (only a representative seat rental facility A among the seat rental facilities 20 is shown in FIG. 1). Each seat rental facility 20 has multiple rental seats 22, and each rental seat 22 is a rental space that is an individual space temporarily rented to one user.

The multiple rental seats 22 in one seat rental facility 20 are generally arranged close together. The rental seats 22 are an example of multiple rental objects that are so close to each other that they cannot be spatially distinguished (resolved) from one another using, for example, the GPS function (described below) of the mobile terminal 90.

In contrast, the multiple seat rental facilities 20 are an example of multiple facilities that are sufficiently distant from one another that they can be spatially distinguished (resolved) from one another using the GPS function (described below) of the mobile terminal 90.

Here, to explain the classification of the rental seats 22, each rental seat 22 belongs to a first type of rental space, which has the characteristic that the user's mobile terminal 90 is located within a distance allowing short-range communication with the transmitter 30 of the rental space throughout substantially the entire period of each usage by the user from the start time of use of the rental space to the end time of use. Other rental spaces that belong to the same first type include multiple rooms within the accommodation facility.

There is also a second type of rental space, which has the characteristic that the user's mobile terminal 90 is located within a short-distance communication range between the transmitter 30 and the rental space's transmitter 30 at least during the start and end stages of each usage period from the user's start time to the end time of use of the rental space. Examples of rental spaces that belong to this second type include multiple car spaces in a parking lot (including a bicycle parking lot), multiple rental locker rooms, multiple rental warehouses, and multiple safe deposit boxes.

This system 10 is configured to execute an unmanned seat rental method according to this embodiment and a user terminal interference prevention method according to this embodiment. The unmanned seat rental method is an example of a rental space management method that centrally manages multiple rental spaces that can be rented to users, and the rental space management method is an example of a rental object management method that centrally manages multiple rental objects that are real estate that can be rented to users. Another example of the rental object management method is a rental object management method that centrally manages multiple rental objects that are movable property that can be rented to users (e.g., rental cars and rental bicycles).

Each seat rental facility 20 is unmanned. Furthermore, in order to reduce and simplify equipment, each seat rental facility 20 is not equipped with any device (e.g., electronic key) that opens and closes as needed to prevent unauthorized entry and exit from each rental seat 22, any device for reading codes (e.g., passwords or barcode information) presented by users, any payment machine for users to pay rental fees, or any ticket issuing machine for issuing tickets to users.

The term "code" is used throughout the specification to mean "a string of numbers and/or symbols" and specifically refers to a numerical representation (e.g., a binary representation) that digitizes and expresses the state of an analog signal, and is a numerical representation unique to each analog signal. When used for identification purposes, the term "code" is referred to as, for example, an ID, or identifier.

There are two types of management methods for seat rental facilities 20: an independent management method in which each seat rental facility 20 is managed independently (individually or self-contained) using only the equipment installed in that facility 20, and a centralized management method in which multiple seat rental facilities 20 are managed centrally by communicating with a remote management server 50 (see FIG. 1). The system 10 according to this embodiment employs the aforementioned centralized management method as its seat rental facility management method.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, the system 10 includes a transmitter 30 installed at each rental seat 22 in each seat rental facility 20, a management server 50 installed in a management center 40 that centrally manages multiple seat rental facilities 20 and multiple rental seats 22, and a user's mobile terminal 90.

＜Transmitter＞

In this embodiment, multiple rental seats 22 are installed in the same seat rental facility 20, and one transmitter 30 is used for each rental seat 22.

Each transmitter 30 is configured to transmit an identification signal that represents its own unique transmitter ID (an example of the aforementioned "transmitter code"). Since one transmitter ID is also unique to one rental seat 22, it is associated one-to-one with one rental seat ID (an example of a "seat rental code"), as described below.

As shown in FIG. 2, in this system 10, a user uses his/her mobile terminal 90 to receive the above-mentioned identification signal from a transmitter 30 installed in the rental seat 22 where the user is currently staying, either in contact with the transmitter 30 or in a non-contact state (when the mobile terminal 90 is held over the transmitter 30 or when the mobile terminal 90 is slightly away from the transmitter 30, as illustrated in multiple places in FIG. 5), using a short-range one-way wireless communication method, and also performs long-range two-way wireless communication with the management server 50 of the management center 40.

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

Here, we will explain the hardware configuration (see FIG. 3) and software configuration (see FIG. 4) of one transmitter 30 that represents the multiple transmitters 30 in FIG. 1.

First, conceptually, the transmitter 30 is a contactless or contact communication device that is installed at least one for each corresponding rental seat 22 and transmits an identification signal that can identify the seat rental facility ID unique to the corresponding rental seat 22. It is sufficient for the transmitter 30 to have at least a transmission function, but it may also be configured to have a receiving function as well, if necessary.

Next, to explain how it works, the transmitter 30 actively transmits a unique identification signal without the need for an external trigger signal, and continuously so long as there is no shortage of power.

The transmitter 30 is generally known as a beacon device, a radio beacon, or the like, that transmits a beacon signal as an identification signal. In one example, the transmitter 30 generates an identification signal representing the corresponding seat rental facility ID by modulating an original signal, and transmits the generated identification signal as an IR signal, a Bluetooth (registered trademark) signal, an NFC (near field communication) signal, or the like.

Next, the hardware configuration will be explained with reference to the functional block diagram in FIG. 3. The transmitter 30 is mainly composed of a computer 104 having a processor 100 and a memory 102 that stores multiple applications executed by the processor 100.

The transmitter 30 further has a replaceable disposable battery 106 as a power source. Instead of the battery 106, it is possible to use a rechargeable battery, a commercial power source as an external power source, or a generator that generates electricity using an external magnetic field (e.g., a transponder).

The transmitter 30 further includes a transmitter unit 108 that generates and transmits an identification signal. The transmitter unit 108 is powered by a battery 106 and controlled by a controller 110. The controller 110 is controlled by the computer 100.

Next, referring to FIG. 4, the software configuration of the transmitter 30 will be explained. The processor 100 of the transmitter 30 repeatedly executes a program conceptually represented in the flowchart of FIG. 4.

When this program is executed each time, first, in step S1, the transmitter ID is read from memory 102. The transmitter ID has a one-to-one correspondence with the rental seat ID assigned to the rental seat 22 in which the transmitter 30 is installed.

Next, in step S2, a signal for modulating the original signal (e.g., carrier signal) is output to the controller 110 so that the read transmitter ID is reflected. The controller 110 controls the transmitter 108, and as a result, the transmitter 108 generates the identification signal to be transmitted this time. Then, in step S3, the generated identification signal is transmitted from the transmitter 108. Then, the process returns to step S1.

Here, we will explain one function of the user's mobile terminal 90 in relation to this transmitter 30. When the mobile terminal 90 receives an identification signal from the transmitter 30, and starts a certain program pre-installed in the computer 134 (see Figure 6) of the mobile terminal 90, the received identification signal is demodulated in real time, thereby deciphering the transmitter ID in real time.

Furthermore, while receiving an identification signal from the transmitter 30, the mobile terminal 90 also measures the distance between the position of the transmitter 30 when the identification signal was transmitted and the position of the mobile terminal 90 when the identification signal was received, based on the received identification signal.

In other words, based on the identification signal received from the transmitter 30, the mobile terminal 90 acquires both the transmitter ID corresponding to that transmitter 30 and the distance from the transmitter 30 at that time.

When a user of the mobile terminal 90 approaches the transmitter 30 while holding the mobile terminal 90, or when the user brings the mobile terminal 90 into complete or near contact with the transmitting section 108 of the transmitter 30, the mobile terminal 90 can receive an identification signal from the transmitter 30 in a contactless or contact manner.

In contrast, when a user of the mobile terminal 90 enters a specific receiving area while holding the mobile terminal 90, the mobile terminal 90 can receive an identification signal from the transmitter 30 in a non-contact manner.

As conceptually shown in a plan view in FIG. 5, each transmitter 30 is assigned two types of reception areas: a receivable area (not shown) and an effective reception area. Both areas are generally defined as a circle originating from each transmitter 30, with the receivable area having a maximum reception radius, whereas the effective reception area has an effective reception radius.

However, specifically, the reception area refers to the area in which the identification signal from each transmitter 30 can reach when the power supply to that transmitter 30 is normal, that is, the area in which the mobile terminal 90 can receive the identification signal as long as it is within that area.

In contrast, the effective reception area has an effective reception radius that is 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, for example, depending on the settings of the signal processing characteristics of the mobile terminal 90.

The effective reception radius is, for example, within the range of 50 cm to 3 m, or within the range of 1 m to 2 m, as will be apparent from the standard dimensions and geometry of the rental seat 22, which will be described in detail later with reference to FIG. 5. The maximum reception radius is, for example, within the range of 50 m to 70 m.

In other words, the maximum reception radius refers to the reception limit determined by the hardware, whereas the effective reception radius refers to the reception limit determined by the software.

As described above, the mobile terminal 90 measures the distance to the transmitter 30 when it transmits the identification signal it receives. The measured distance may or may not exceed the effective reception radius. When the measured distance does not exceed the effective reception radius, the mobile terminal 90 is present within the effective reception area (see FIG. 5), whereas when the measured distance exceeds the effective reception radius, the mobile terminal 90 is present within a receivable area but not within the effective reception area.

After receiving an identification signal from a transmitter 30, the mobile terminal 90 determines whether the distance measurement value is equal to or less than the set value of the effective reception radius, and if it determines that it is equal to or less than the set value, the mobile terminal 90 determines that it has "validly received the identification signal from the transmitter 30 (hereinafter also simply referred to as "received the identification signal"). Here, "validly received" means that the mobile terminal 90 has detected, identified, or identified any of the transmitters 30.

In contrast, if the mobile terminal 90 determines that the distance measurement value is greater than the set value, the mobile terminal 90 determines that the mobile terminal 90 is currently located outside the effective reception area and therefore that the mobile terminal 90 is "not effectively receiving the identification signal from the transmitter 30 (hereinafter also simply referred to as "not receiving the identification signal").

In other words, in this embodiment, when the mobile terminal 90 is located outside the effective reception area, even though the mobile terminal 90 is actually receiving an identification signal, the software will treat the mobile terminal 90 as if it is not receiving the identification signal.

Figure 5 shows a front view of a rental seat 22 (rented seat P) that is rented to one user (user X). The rental seat 22 has a desk 24 with a top panel 23 and a chair 26 on which the user can sit. In one example, a transmitter 30 is installed on the top panel 23.

In another example, the transmitter 30 is installed near the distal edge 28 of the tabletop 23, which is far from the user's seated position, out of the proximal edge 27 and distal edge 28 that face each other in the front-to-rear direction.

In yet another example, the transmitter 30 is installed on the distal edge 28 of the tabletop 23, at a position offset to the left (or to the right) of the center position in the width direction. As a result, even if a user places an item such as a document on the tabletop 23, it is possible to prevent the item from blocking the transmitter 30 and interrupting the signal.

Figure 5 shows a plan view of an example of an effective receiving area assigned to the transmitter 30. In this example, the transmission characteristics of the transmitter 30 and the signal processing characteristics of the mobile terminal 90 are set so that when the user X is seated in the chair 26 and the mobile terminal 90 is carried by the user X or placed at any position on the top plate 27 of the desk 23, the mobile terminal 90 is located within an effective receiving area with a large effective receiving radius centered on the transmitter 30.

In this example, the advantage is that user X is not forced to hold his/her mobile terminal 90 over his/her own transmitter 30 or to place it near his/her own transmitter 30. On the other hand, the mobile terminal 90 is present not only within the effective reception area of his/her own transmitter 30 but also within the effective reception area of the neighboring transmitter 30.

However, according to this embodiment, based on the reservation information of the rental seat 22 (identification information of the rental seat 22 selected by the user prior to the initial reception of the mobile terminal 90 from any of the transmitters 30), the multiple transmitters 30 are classified into genuine transmitters 30 (target transmitters) that should be installed at the reserved rental seat 22 and other non-genuine transmitters 30 (non-target transmitters). Even if the user's mobile terminal 90 receives a signal from a non-genuine transmitter 30 at the selected rental seat 22, the signal is disabled and not referenced, and only the signal from the genuine transmitter 30 is enabled and referenced, thereby estimating the user's current location, i.e., whether the user is truly located at the same location as the selected rental seat 22 or in its vicinity.

Figure 5 also shows an effective reception area with a small effective reception radius. By adopting this effective reception area, there is no overlap between the effective reception area of the regular transmitter 30 and the effective reception area of an adjacent transmitter 30. However, in this embodiment, the user is forced to take the trouble of bringing the mobile terminal 90 close to the transmitter 30 and holding it over or touching it each time in order for the mobile terminal 90 to detect the transmitter 30.

＜Mobile devices＞

Next, the hardware configuration of the user's mobile terminal 90 will be explained with reference to the functional block diagram in FIG. 6. The mobile terminal 90 is mainly composed of a computer 134 having a processor 130 and a memory 132 that stores multiple applications executed by the processor 130.

The mobile terminal 90 further includes a display unit (e.g., a liquid crystal display) 136 that displays information, for example, on a screen (having a window of finite area that can be variable or fixed) indicated by the reference symbol "135" in FIG. 14, a receiving unit 138 that receives signals from the transmitter 30 and the management server 50, and a transmitting unit 140 that generates a signal and transmits 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 has, for example, an operation unit that can be operated by the user to input desired information (e.g., commands, data, etc.) to the mobile terminal 90. The operation unit can be, but is not limited to, a touch screen that displays icons (e.g., virtual buttons) that can be operated by the user, a physical operation unit (e.g., a keyboard, keypad, buttons, etc.) that can be operated by the user, a microphone that detects voice, etc.

The mobile terminal 90 further includes a GPS (Satellite Positioning System) receiver 152. As is well known, the GPS receiver 152 receives multiple GPS signals from multiple GPS satellites, and measures the position (latitude, longitude, and altitude) of the GPS receiver 152 on the earth by triangulation based on those GPS signals. In other words, the mobile terminal 90 has a positioning function that uses satellites.

As shown in FIG. 7, the memory 132 has multiple data memories including a map data memory 161, a seat rental facility data memory 163, a seat rental data memory 165, and a reservation status table memory 167.

Map data memory 161 temporarily stores map data that the user's mobile terminal 90 downloads from management server 50 or another map database (not shown) according to the user's current location. Based on that map data, a map (an example of a "partial map") is displayed on screen 135 (see FIG. 14) of display unit 136. The map displayed on screen 135 changes from moment to moment as the user moves.

As conceptually shown in FIG. 7, the seat rental facility data memory 163 can store correspondences between multiple seat rental facility IDs and multiple seat rental facility position data downloaded from the management server 50. The multiple seat rental facility IDs correspond to multiple seat rental facilities 20 that are centrally managed by the system 10. In addition, the multiple seat rental facility position data each represent the longitude and latitude (latitude X, longitude Y) of the ground position of the corresponding seat rental facility 20.

The seat rental facility data memory 163 temporarily stores, at each moment, a plurality of seat rental facility position data corresponding to a plurality of seat rental facilities 20 geographically located on the map displayed on the screen 135, together with a plurality of corresponding seat rental facility IDs.

On the mobile terminal 90, a map based on the map data is displayed on the screen 135, and furthermore, on the map, the positions of a small number of candidate seat rental facilities 20 located near the current location of the mobile terminal 90 out of the downloaded seat rental facilities 20 are overlaid and displayed at each moment based on the multiple seat rental facility position data stored in the seat rental facility data memory 163 at that time (see FIG. 14).

Here, "a small number of candidate seat rental facilities 20" refers to a plurality of seat rental facilities 20 that are displayed on the screen 135 among the plurality of downloaded seat rental facilities 20 for geographical reasons that they are close to the current location of the mobile terminal 90, and seat rental facilities 20 that are off the screen 135 for geographical reasons that they are far from the current location of the mobile terminal 90 are excluded.

As conceptually shown in FIG. 8, the correspondence between multiple seat rental facility IDs, multiple rental seat IDs, and multiple authorized transmitter IDs can be downloaded from the management server 50 and stored in the seat rental data memory 165 of FIG. 6. When one of the multiple rental seats 22 is selected by a user, a single rental seat ID corresponding to the selected seat is determined, and thus a single authorized transmitter ID corresponding to the selected seat is determined.

The reservation status table described below is downloaded from the management server 50 as appropriate and stored in the reservation status table memory 167.

As shown in FIG. 10(a), the memory 132 of the mobile terminal 90 stores a seat rental service program for the mobile terminal 90, and the seat rental service program has the following modules:

1) Reservation Module This is a module that assists a user in reserving any of the rental seats 22 before arriving at the seat rental facility 20, as will be described in detail later with reference to Fig. 13. Here, "making a reservation" is equivalent to the user inputting location information regarding the location of the desired seat rental facility 20 and the location of the desired rental seat 22, as well as time information such as the scheduled start time and scheduled end time.

2) Reservation Change Module This is a module that assists a user in changing a reservation to delay the scheduled end time included in the reservation details at the location of the reserved rental seat 22 after starting to use the reserved rental seat 22 but before finishing using it (while staying at the reserved rental seat 22), as will be described in detail later with reference to Figure 18.

3) Pre-use warning module This is a module (not shown) that, if there is another user who has reserved the same rental seat 22 after the scheduled end time included in the reservation details of each user, sends a message to the current user's mobile terminal 90 individually to warn the user that "because another user is planning to use the same rental seat after the current user has finished using it and before the scheduled start time included in the reservation details, the reservation cannot be changed to delay the scheduled end time, and therefore the user is asked to leave the rental seat 22 by the scheduled end time" during the period after the reservation is made and before the scheduled start time included in the reservation details.

4) Start-of-Use Processing Module This is a module that assists a user in starting to use a rental seat 22 in accordance with his/her reservation, as will be described in detail later with reference to FIG. 15, and also assists a user in changing a reservation to effectively advance the scheduled start time included in the reservation details prior to starting to use the reserved rental seat 22.

5) Stay Determination Module As will be described in more detail later with reference to FIG. 16, this is a module that repeatedly determines from moment to moment whether a user is actually staying in the rental seat 22 or not (non-existent) while the rental seat 22 is in use.

6) End of Use Processing Module This is a module that assists a user in ending the use of a rental seat 22 in accordance with his/her reservation and in electronically paying the rental fee, as will be described in detail later with reference to FIG.

<Administration Server>

Next, the hardware configuration of the management server 50 will be explained with reference to the functional block diagram in FIG. 9. The management server 50 is mainly composed of a computer 164 having a processor 160 and a memory 162 that stores multiple applications executed by the processor 160.

This management server 50 further has a display unit (e.g., a liquid crystal display) 166 that displays information, a receiving unit 168 that receives signals from the mobile terminal 90, a transmitting unit 170 that generates signals and transmits them to the mobile terminal 90, and a clock 172 that measures the current time. This management server 50 does not receive information directly from the transmitter 30, but in effect receives information via the mobile terminal 90.

As shown in FIG. 10(b), the memory 162 of the management server 50 stores a seat rental service program for the management server 50, and the seat rental service program has the following modules:

1) Reservation Module This is a module that has the same functions as the reservation module of the mobile terminal 90, as will be described in detail later with reference to FIG.

2) Reservation Change Module This is a module that has the same functions as the reservation change module of the portable terminal 90, as will be described in detail later with reference to FIG.

3) Pre-use Warning Module This is a module that has the same functions as the pre-use warning module of the portable terminal 90, although not shown.

4) Start-of-Use Processing Module This is a module that has the same functions as the start-of-use processing module of the portable terminal 90, as will be described in detail later with reference to FIG.

5) Stay Determination Module This is a module that has the same functions as the stay determination module of the mobile terminal 90, as will be described in detail later with reference to FIG.

6) End-of-Use Processing Module This is a module that has the same functions as the end-of-use processing module of the portable terminal 90, as will be described in detail later with reference to FIG.

<Reservation sequence overview>

Figure 11 (a) shows an example of a reservation status table for managing the reservation status of multiple rental seats 22 by multiple users by executing the reservation module by the mobile terminal 90 and the management server 50.

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 a reservation has been made and the planned time period (including date and time) for each seat rental facility 20 and for each rental seat 22. The user visually checks this reservation status table on the screen 135 of their mobile terminal 90, and by referring to it, searches for a seat rental facility 20 with vacant seats, searches for one of the multiple rental seats 22 in that seat rental facility 20 that has available time, and specifies the desired date and time period.

In FIG. 11(a), on the time axis (from 00:00 to 23:59) for each rental seat 22 in the reservation status table, at the time when the reservation status table was last updated, a horizontal bar hatched with diagonal lines indicates a time period for which a reservation already exists, i.e., a time period with a prior reservation, while a time period without such a bar indicates a time period for which no reservation has yet existed, i.e., a time period without a prior reservation.

The user inputs into his/her mobile terminal 90 the identification information of the selected seat rental facility 20, the identification information of the selected seat rental 22, the start date and time of use, and the end date and time of use, as shown in FIG. 14(c), thereby reserving the corresponding seat rental 22.

Figure 11 (b) shows an example of a user-specific reservation content file for managing the reservation contents of multiple users by executing the reservation module by the mobile terminal 90 and the management server 50.

This user-specific reservation content file is created and updated in the management server 50. This user-specific reservation content file indicates, for each user, personal authentication information (user ID, password, etc.), location information for identifying the location of the selected seat rental facility 20 (ID unique to the selected facility 20), location information for identifying the location of the selected seat rental 22 (ID unique to the selected seat rental 22), time information for defining the planned time period of use for the selected seat rental 22 (planned start time, planned end time, planned duration of use, etc.), and the type of penalty that will be imposed on the user for violating the rules that the user is required to follow in order to receive the current seat rental service.

<Overview of the entire sequence>

Figure 12 shows an example of a case where a user reserves seat 22 (seat P) with a scheduled start time of 15:00 and a scheduled end time of 18:00, and illustrates an overview of the main sequence using multiple time charts.

In the same figure (as in Figure 21), the time chart labeled "reception" represents, for ease of explanation, whether or not the mobile terminal 90 is receiving the legitimate transmitter ID at each moment with a pulse signal that is at a low level when the mobile terminal 90 is not receiving the legitimate transmitter ID and is at a high level when it is receiving it.

1) Start using it

Assuming that a user sits down at a rental seat 22 at 15:30 on a certain day, the user's mobile terminal 90 will inevitably enter the effective reception area of the authorized transmitter 30. At this time, the mobile terminal 90 will start receiving from the transmitter 30, either by the user still carrying the mobile terminal 90 with them or by holding the mobile terminal 90 over the transmitter 30. It is assumed that the start-of-use module is activated before the user arrives at the seat rental facility 20.

As a result, assuming that an event occurs at 15:30 in which the mobile terminal 90 transitions from a state in which it does not receive a legitimate transmitter ID (including both an illegitimate ID reception state in which the mobile terminal 90 receives a signal from one of the transmitters 30, but the signal represents an actual transmitter ID different from the legitimate transmitter ID, and a completely non-reception state in which the mobile terminal 90 does not receive a signal from any of the transmitters 30) to a state in which it does receive a legitimate transmitter ID (this is an example of the aforementioned "first transition"; in FIG. 12, this is the rising edge of one received pulse signal corresponding to the period of use of the rental seat 22 by the user), the mobile terminal 90 (or the management server 50) determines that the user has actually sat down at the rental seat 22, i.e., has started using the rental seat 22.

This is because, in this embodiment, the event in which the mobile terminal 90 transitions from a state in which it does not receive a legitimate transmitter ID to a state in which it does receive one (i.e., the initial determination that the actual transmitter ID matches the legitimate transmitter ID) is an exclusive event that does not occur unless the user is seated in a legitimate rental seat 22.

Next, the user inputs a start-of-use request (an example of the aforementioned "first event") into the mobile terminal 90 within a first time limit, for example, five minutes from the time the event occurs.

In response to this request to start using the seat, the management server 50 allows the user to start using the rental seat 22. This time is the actual start time of use, but in principle, the user will be charged from the scheduled start time of 15:00. Specifically, the total usage time (rental time, loaned time) that is referenced for calculating the final rental fee for the user will start to be counted from the scheduled start time.

2) In use

After starting to use the rental seat 22, the user usually does not leave the rental seat 22 for an extended period of time (although they may leave temporarily), and therefore while the rental seat 22 is in use, the mobile terminal 90 continues to receive a signal from the transmitter 30 (in FIG. 12, the high-level continuing portion of the single received pulse signal), and as a result, the mobile terminal 90 (or the management server 50) continues to determine that the user is staying in the rental seat 22.

3) Termination of use

Assuming that the user leaves the rental seat 22 at 17:30 on the same day, the user's mobile terminal 90 leaves the effective reception area of the authorized transmitter 30. At this time, the user's mobile terminal 90 ends reception from the authorized transmitter 30 while still carrying the mobile terminal 90 with the user.

As a result, assuming that an event occurs in which the mobile terminal 90 transitions from a state in which it receives the regular transmitter ID to a state in which it does not receive it (this is an example of the "second transition" mentioned above, which in FIG. 12 is the falling edge of the one received pulse signal), the mobile terminal 90 (or the management server 50) determines that the user has actually left the rental seat 22, i.e., has finished using the rental seat 22.

This is because, in this embodiment, the event in which the mobile terminal 90 transitions from a state in which it receives a valid transmitter ID to a state in which it does not receive one is an exclusive event that does not occur unless the user leaves the valid rental seat 22.

Next, the user inputs a request to end use (an example of the aforementioned "second event") into the mobile terminal 90 within a second time limit, for example, 5 minutes from the time the event occurred.

In response to the end-of-use request, the management server 50 allows the user to end use of the rental seat 22. This time is the actual end time of use, but in principle, the user will continue to be charged until the scheduled end time of 18:00. Specifically, at the scheduled end time, the count of the total usage time (rental time, loaned time) that is referenced for calculating the final rental fee for the user ends.

Once the rental fee has been calculated, the user electronically pays the rental fee via the mobile terminal 90.

＜Reservation sequence＞

Figure 13 shows an example of a chronological sequence flow of communication between a mobile terminal 90 and a management server 50 located in a remote location in order for a user to connect the mobile terminal 90 to a management server 90 at a location away from the seat rental facility 20 that the user wishes to reserve (e.g., at home as shown in Figure 1) and reserve a seat 22 within the seat rental facility 20.

When the user starts the seat rental service program (which has already been downloaded from the management server 50 and installed in 132 of the mobile terminal 90) on the mobile terminal 90, multiple buttons (display items selectable by the user) called "Reservation," "Start use," "Request to start use," "Request to end use," and "Change reservation" are displayed on the screen of the mobile terminal 90.

This time, when the "Reserve" button is selected by the user, the reservation module of the seat rental service program for the mobile terminal 90 is executed by the processor 130 of the mobile terminal 90, and the reservation module of the seat rental service program for the management server 50 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 operates to measure the user's current location (longitude and latitude) based on a GPS signal received from the outside by the GPS receiver 152.

Next, in step S102, the measured current position of the user is set as a reference position (position of the display reference point (longitude and latitude)) referenced by the processor 130 in order to display the map on the screen 135 of the display unit 136. Furthermore, a portion of the overall map that has a size that can be displayed at one time within the window on the screen 135 and in which the reference position exists is determined to be the display range of the map (i.e., the area of the overall map that is displayed at each moment within the window).

As shown in FIG. 14(a), when the user moves over time on the ground, the reference position 202 (shown by a black triangle in the figure) also moves over time to follow the user's movement. As a result, the display range of the map also moves over time across the entire map as the user moves, and the image of the map displayed in the window also changes over time.

Next, in step S103, a login request (an example of a "service start signal") for logging in to the management server 50 is sent to the management server 50 along with a user ID and password for identifying the current user.

In contrast, when the reservation module for the management server 50 is executed by the processor 160 of the management server 50, in step S201, the management server 50 receives the login request together with the user ID and password, and then in step S202, searches the memory 162 (or another memory) of the management server 50 for facility data relating to the multiple seat rental facilities 20 (for multiple components of the facility data, see FIG. 7), seat rental data relating to the multiple rental seats 22 belonging to the seat rental facilities 20 (for multiple components of the seat rental data, see FIG. 8), and the reservation status table (see FIG. 11(a)).

Then, in step S203, the retrieved facility data, seat rental data, and reservation status table are sent to the mobile terminal 90.

In response, the mobile terminal 90 receives the facility data, seat rental data, and reservation status table in step S104. The received facility data is stored in the seat rental facility data memory 163 shown in FIG. 7, and as a result, the table shown in FIG. 7 is constructed. The received seat rental data is stored in the seat rental data memory 165 shown in FIG. 8, and as a result, the table shown in FIG. 8 is constructed. The received reservation status table (see FIG. 11(a)) is stored in the reservation status table memory 167.

Next, in step S105, based on the stored facility data, among the multiple seat rental facilities 20, those located near the current location are overlaid on the map displayed on the screen 135 as a small number of candidate facilities 20.

In this step 105, not all of the seat rental facilities 20 represented by the received facility data (all of the seat rental facilities 20 stored in the memory 162 of the management server 50) are displayed on the screen 135. Only a smaller number of seat rental facilities 20 than the above-mentioned seat rental facilities 20, determined by the user's current location and the size of the screen 135, are displayed on the screen 135. In other words, the seat rental facilities 20 received from the management server 50 are further narrowed down to a smaller number of candidate facilities 20 based on the user's current location and the size of the screen 135.

In one example, as shown in FIG. 14(a), the user's current location is overlaid on the map displayed on the screen 135 using a black triangle 202, and multiple candidate facilities 20 are overlaid using multiple facility icons 204. In this example, the three facility icons 204 are configured as figures consisting of the letters "A," "B," and "C" surrounded by a rectangular frame.

Next, in step S106, the user touches the display position of one of the candidate facilities 20 on the screen 135 with his/her finger to select one of the seat rental facilities 20 as the currently selected facility 20.

Specifically, when a user touches with a finger the display position of one of the candidate facilities 20 on the screen 135, the touch position is detected by the touch screen of the display unit 136, and the touch position is converted into map coordinate information (location information), which is, for example, the longitude and latitude on the map (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). Based on the map coordinate information, one of the candidate facilities 20 is identified.

Then, in step S107, the reservation status table is displayed on the screen 135, as shown in FIG. 14(b). Next, in step S108, the user inputs the identification information (e.g., name) of the seat rental facility 20 to be reserved, the identification information (e.g., number) of the seat rental 20 to be reserved, the start date and time of use, and the end date and time of use, as shown in FIG. 14(c).

Then, in step S109, the mobile terminal 90 transmits the entered reservation details to the management server 50.

In response, in step S204, the management server 50 receives the reservation details. Next, in step S205, the management server 50 registers the received reservation details in one of the multiple user-specific reservation details files (see FIG. 11(b)) that is associated with the current user, and further updates the reservation status table stored in memory 162 so that the received reservation details are reflected.

Then, in step S206, the management server 50 sends a message to the mobile terminal 90 indicating that the reservation has been completed.

In response, the mobile terminal 90 displays the received message on the screen 135 or outputs it as audio. This display notifies the user that his or her reservation has been made.

<Start-up sequence>

Figure 15 shows an example of communication that takes place between a transmitter 30 located at a reserved seat 22 (hereinafter also simply referred to as "rented seat 22") in a reserved seat rental facility 20, a user's mobile terminal 90, and a management server 50 in a chronological sequence flow in order to obtain permission to start using the reserved seat 22 immediately after the user arrives at and sits down at the reserved seat 22.

The transmitter 30 spontaneously and continuously transmits an identification signal unique to itself. When the user sits down at the reserved seat 22, the mobile terminal 90 is within the effective reception area of the transmitter 30 (see FIG. 5), and the mobile terminal 90 effectively receives the identification signal from the transmitter 30.

This time, when the user selects the "Start using" button on the screen of the mobile terminal 90, the start-of-use processing module for the mobile terminal 90 is executed by the mobile terminal 90. As a result of this execution, first, in step 151, the mobile terminal 90 sends a login request to log in to the management server 50 to the management server 50 together with a user ID and password to identify the current user.

In response to this, when the start-of-use 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 password in step S251, and then in step S252, one of the multiple user-specific reservation content files associated with the current user is searched in memory 162. Furthermore, in the searched user-specific reservation content file, information regarding the reserved seat rental facility 20 (selected facility) among the multiple seat rental facilities 20 and information regarding the reserved seat rental seat 22 (selected seat) among the multiple seats 22 in that seat rental facility 20 are searched for as current user reservation-related information.

Then, in step S253, the searched user reservation-related information is sent to the mobile terminal 90.

In response, in step S152, the mobile terminal 90 receives the current user reservation related information. Next, in step S153, the current user reservation related information is searched for a transmitter code that has been pre-assigned to a genuine transmitter 30 that should be installed in the reserved rental seat 22 as the genuine transmitter code. The genuine transmitter code for the user is obtained.

Next, in step S154, the mobile terminal 90 performs a reception attempt to receive a signal from any of the transmitters 30.

On the other hand, as described above, if the mobile terminal 90 is currently located outside the reception area, the mobile terminal 90 cannot receive any identification signal from the transmitter 30. In contrast, if the mobile terminal 90 is currently located within the reception area, the mobile terminal 90 can receive the identification signal from the transmitter 30.

In addition, even if the mobile terminal 90 receives an identification signal from any of the transmitters 30, the mobile terminal 90 may currently be located outside the effective reception area for that transmitter 30, or it may be located within the effective reception area.

Therefore, following step S154, in step S154a, the mobile terminal 90 determines whether the mobile terminal 90 has validly received an identification signal from any of the transmitters 30.

Specifically, the mobile terminal 90 first determines whether it is within the coverage area by determining whether the mobile terminal 90 has received any identification signal. If it is determined that it is within the coverage area, the mobile terminal 90 then determines whether it has validly received an identification signal from any of the transmitters 30.

Specifically, the mobile terminal 90 measures the distance between the current transmitter 30 and the mobile terminal 90 based on the received identification signal. Furthermore, the mobile terminal 90 determines whether the measured distance value is smaller than the set value, i.e., whether the mobile terminal 90 is currently located within the effective reception area.

If the distance measurement value is smaller than the set value, the determination in step S154a becomes YES, and the process then proceeds to step S155. If not, the determination in step S154a becomes NO, and the process then returns to step S154, where the mobile terminal 90 repeats the reception attempt.

In step S155, the mobile terminal 90 demodulates the received identification signal, and then in step S156, the mobile terminal 90 decodes the transmitter ID represented by the demodulated identification signal as the actual transmitter ID.

When the demodulated identification signal is a code represented by a multi-digit binary number, for example, the code is converted into a transmitter ID using a conversion table prepared in advance (e.g., one downloaded in advance from the management server 50). However, in terms of usage, the difference between "code" and "ID" is not important since the purpose is identification.

Next, in step S157, the mobile terminal 90 determines whether the real transmitter ID thus decoded matches the one genuine transmitter ID obtained by executing step S153. In other words, ID matching is performed.

Here, "actual transmitter ID" refers to the transmitter ID corresponding to the transmitter (selected actual transmitter) 30 that is actually installed in one of the multiple rental seats 22 that is actually selected and seated by the user, while "regular transmitter ID" refers to the transmitter ID corresponding to the transmitter (selected virtual transmitter) 30 that should be installed in one of the multiple rental seats 22 that is virtually selected by the user by operating the mobile terminal 90.

Then, in step S158, the mobile terminal 90 determines whether the real transmitter ID and the authorized transmitter ID match each other, i.e., whether the ID matching is successful. In other words, it determines whether the first transition, in which the mobile terminal 90 transitions from a state in which it does not receive a signal representing the authorized transmitter ID to a state in which it does receive the signal, has occurred for the first time since the start-of-use processing module was activated by the user.

If the ID matching is not successful, the determination in step S158 becomes NO, and then in step S159, the mobile terminal 90 prompts the user to retry detecting the transmitter 30 again using the mobile terminal 90, for example by displaying an appropriate message on the screen 135 or outputting it by voice. Then, the process returns to step S154.

In contrast, if the ID matching is successful, the determination in step S158 becomes YES, and then in step S160, the mobile terminal 90 determines that the user has started using the current rental seat 22 at the current time.

In one example, after the user activates the start-of-use processing module, the user arrives at the seat rental facility 20, but before the user arrives at the reserved seat 22, the determination in step S154a is NO. When the user eventually arrives at the reserved seat 22 and sits down, the determination in step S154a transitions from NO to YES.

At this time, if the mobile terminal 90 receives a signal representing a legitimate transmitter ID, the ID matching is successful, and the determination in step S158 is YES. Then, in step S160, it is determined that the first transition has occurred for the first time at the current time.

Here, the timing when the determination in step S158 becomes YES coincides with the timing when the mobile terminal 90 transitions from a state in which it does not receive the legitimate transmitter ID to a state in which it does receive it (corresponding to the time position of the "rising edge" in the example of FIG. 12).

Then, in step S161, it is determined whether a request to start using the seat has been input from the user to the mobile terminal 90 (for example, the button for requesting to start using the seat, as described above, has been selected by the user). If a request to start using the seat has been input, the determination in step S161 becomes YES, and in step S162 it is determined whether the time is earlier than the scheduled start time specified by the user. It is determined whether the user actually arrived at the seat 22 for rental and started using the seat earlier than the scheduled start time.

If it is assumed that the user's actual usage start time is not earlier than the scheduled start time this time, the determination in step S162 is NO, and then in step S163, the normal billing condition (billing starts from the scheduled start time) is selected as the current billing condition. In contrast, if it is assumed that the user's actual usage start time is earlier than the scheduled start time this time, the determination in step S162 is YES, and then in step S164, the special billing condition (billing starts from the actual start time) is selected as the current billing condition.

In either case, in step S165, the determination result that the user is actually using the reserved rental seat 22 and the current billing conditions are associated with the user and transmitted to the management server 50.

The above describes a case where a start-of-use request is normally issued by the user immediately after the mobile terminal 90 has validly received a legitimate transmitter 30. However, if a request is not issued, the determination in step S161 becomes NO, and then in step S166 it is determined whether the time that has elapsed since the execution time of step S160 is currently within a first time limit (e.g., 5 minutes). If it is within the first time limit, the determination in step S166 becomes YES, and in step S167 the user is prompted to input a start-of-use request, for example by an appropriate message being displayed on the screen 135 or output by voice. Then, the process returns to step S161.

In contrast, if the time that has elapsed since the execution time of step S160 has now exceeded the first time limit, the determination in step S166 is NO, and then in step S168, it is determined that the user has committed the first violation.

Next, in step S165, a notification that the user has committed a first violation is transmitted to the management server 50. After the execution of step S165 is completed, the process automatically proceeds to the stay determination sequence described above without waiting for an instruction from the user.

In response, in step S254, the management server 50 receives the information sent by the mobile terminal 90 by executing step S165.

Then, in step S255, the violation received from the mobile terminal 90 is associated with the user and recorded in the memory 162. Next, in step S256, the current time is measured using the clock 172. Then, in step S257, the current time is recognized as the actual start time of use. Next, in step S258, the user is given permission to start using the rental seat 22 this time.

Then, in step S259, the charging start time is determined for the user. In principle, charging starts from the scheduled start time, and the rental fee is calculated based on the amount of time that has elapsed since the scheduled start time (time of use, time rented).

However, as an exception to this, if the actual usage start time is earlier than the scheduled usage start time but the usage start request is issued successfully within the first time limit, the time when the usage start request was issued is determined to be the billing start time.

If the actual start time of use is earlier than the scheduled start time of use and the request to start use is not issued normally within the first time limit, the current reservation will be forcibly cancelled and penalties such as a violation fee will be imposed on the user.

Then, in step S260, the content of the warning regarding the billing and usage conditions is determined for each user to reflect the individually determined billing start time and a notice to be given to all users in common, which states that the transmitter 30 should be constantly received by the mobile terminal 90 while the rental seat 22 is in use.

Next, in step S261, a warning regarding the charges and usage conditions is sent to the mobile terminal 90 and notified to the user. After that, the system automatically transitions to the stay determination sequence described above.

<Stay determination sequence>

Figure 16 shows an example of communication between a transmitter 30 located at a reserved seat 22, the user's mobile terminal 90, and the management server 50 in a chronological sequence flow to repeatedly determine from moment to moment whether the user is actually in the seat 22 (seated) or not (non-existent) after the user starts using the seat 22 that he or she has reserved.

The transmitter 30 spontaneously and continuously transmits an identification signal unique to itself. As long as the user is seated in the reserved rental seat 22, the user does not have to take the trouble of holding the mobile terminal 90 over the transmitter 30, and the mobile terminal 90 will be within the effective reception area of the transmitter 30 (see Figure 5), and the mobile terminal 90 will effectively receive the identification signal from the transmitter 30.

Next, in step S181, similar to step S154, it is determined whether the mobile terminal 90 has validly received an identification signal from any of the transmitters 30.

If it is determined that the mobile terminal 90 has validly received an identification signal from any of the transmitters 30, then in step S182, the received identification signal is demodulated, and then in step S183, the transmitter ID represented by the demodulated identification signal is decoded as the actual transmitter ID.

Next, in step S184, it is determined whether the real transmitter ID thus decoded matches the one genuine transmitter ID obtained by executing step S153. In other words, ID matching is performed.

In contrast, if the actual transmitter ID and the authorized transmitter ID match each other, i.e., if the ID matching is successful, the determination in step S185 becomes YES, and then in step S186, it is determined that the user is actually currently staying (present) in the authorized rental seat 22.

In contrast, if the actual transmitter ID and the regular transmitter ID do not match, i.e., if the ID matching is not successful, the determination in step S185 is NO, and then in step S187 it is determined that the user is actually not currently present (not staying) in the regular rental seat 22. If this non-presence determination is made immediately after the determination in step S186 that the user is staying, it is detected that the user has just left the rental seat 22.

In either case, in step S188, the result of the determination that the user is actually present at the reserved rental seat 22 or that the user is not present is associated with the user and transmitted to the management server 50. Then, the process returns to step S181.

The group of steps S181-S188 is executed repeatedly while the seat rental service program is running.

In response, in step S271, the management server 50 receives from the mobile terminal 90 the result of the determination that the user is actually staying at the reserved rental seat 22 or the result of the determination that the user is not present. The management server 50 associates the received determination result with the user and stores it in the memory 162 as stay determination result information.

＜End of use sequence＞

Figure 17 shows a sequence flow diagram of an example of communication between a user's mobile terminal 90 and the management server 50 in order for the user to request permission to end use of a reserved rental seat 22.

When the mobile terminal 90 determines that the user may have left the rental seat 22, the mobile terminal 90 automatically (or manually) starts the end-of-use processing module for the mobile terminal 90. Upon starting up, in step 301, the mobile terminal 90 first determines whether the result of the determination as to whether the user is actually currently staying in the reserved rental seat 22 has changed from "staying" to "not present."

The timing at which the determination in step S301 becomes YES corresponds to the timing at which the mobile terminal 90 transitions from a state in which it receives the regular transmitter ID (i.e., a state in which the user is staying in the rental seat 22) to a state in which it does not receive the regular transmitter ID (i.e., a state in which the user is not present in the rental seat 22) (corresponding to the time position of the "falling edge" in the example of FIG. 12). Therefore, strictly speaking, the determination in step S301 is a determination of whether or not the user has just left the rental seat 22.

Assuming that the judgment in step S301 is YES this time, in step S302 it is judged that the user has just left the rental seat 22, i.e., the user has finished using the rental seat 22.

Next, in step S302, it is determined whether or not a request to end use has been issued by the user (for example, the button for requesting end use, as described above, has been selected by the user). If a request has been issued, the determination in step S302 becomes YES, and then in step S303, a notice that a request to end use has been issued by the user is transmitted to the management server 50.

In contrast, if the user does not issue a request to end use, it is determined that the user is staying in the rental seat 22, the determination in step S302 is NO, and then in step S304 it is determined whether the time that has elapsed since the YES determination timing in step S301 is currently within a second time limit (e.g., 5 minutes). If it is within the second time limit, the determination in step S304 is YES, and in step S305 the user is prompted to input a request to end use, for example by an appropriate message being displayed on the screen 135 or output by voice. Then, the process returns to step S302.

In contrast, if the time elapsed since the YES determination timing in step S301 has now exceeded the second time limit, the determination in step S304 becomes NO, and then in step S306, it is determined that the user has committed a second violation.

Next, in step S307, a message is sent to the management server 50 indicating that the user has committed a second violation.

In response to this, when the end-of-use processing module for the management server 50 is executed by the management server 50, the management server 50 receives, in step S401, the information transmitted by the mobile terminal 90 by executing step S303 and the information transmitted by the mobile terminal 90 by executing step S307.

Then, in step S402, the current time is measured using the clock 172. Next, in step S403, the current time is recognized as the actual end time of use. Then, in step S404, the user allows the end of use of the rental seat 22 for this time.

Then, in step S405, the time from the charging start time to the charging end time, which is determined individually for each user as described above, is calculated as the total rental time for the user. Here, the "charging end time" normally coincides with the scheduled end time, but if the second violation has been notified from the mobile terminal 90, the charging end time is determined to coincide with the actual use end time, and the rental amount for the extended rental time from the scheduled use end time to the actual use end time is calculated using a fee rate higher than the normal rate.

Next, in step S406, the rental amount is calculated based on the calculated total rental time and the fee rate (increase rate) in accordance with a fee table (not shown) and the type of violation that has occurred. The fee rate may be changed to a surcharge rate as a result of execution of a reservation change module (described below).

Then, in step S407, the reservation status table is updated so that the reservation for the rental seat 22 is deleted from the reservation status table. Then, in step S408, information such as the calculated rental amount is sent to the mobile terminal 90.

In response, in step S308, the mobile terminal 90 receives information such as the rental amount from the management server 50, and then in step S309, displays the rental amount on the screen. After that, in step S310, the user makes an electronic payment.

Next, in step S311, the mobile terminal 90 sends a logout request to the management server 50, requesting to log out from the management server 50.

In response, in step S409, the management server 50 receives the logout request. Then, in step S410, an acknowledgement signal ACK is sent to the mobile terminal 90, indicating that the logout request has been received successfully.

In response, in step S312, the mobile terminal 90 receives the acknowledgment response signal ACK from the management server 50.

However, a scenario may also be envisaged in which the user leaves the rental seat 22 for some reason during the period in which the rental seat 22 is in use, and then returns to the same rental seat 22. In this scenario as well, the mobile terminal 90 transitions from a state in which it receives the regular transmitter ID to a state in which it does not receive the ID (a second transition occurs), so the determination in step S301 in FIG. 17 is YES.

If it is necessary for the mobile terminal 900 to distinguish this scenario from a scenario in which the user has left the rental seat 22, this embodiment can be improved, for example, as follows.

In other words, when the mobile terminal 90 detects the second transition after the user starts using the rental seat 22, it does not immediately proceed to step S302 and request the user to input a request to end use, but prior to that, in step S301a (not shown), it displays a confirmation message on the screen of the mobile terminal 90 or outputs it by voice to the user to confirm whether he or she plans to return to the rental seat 22 or leave the seat after that.

After that, in step S301b (not shown), when the user responds to the confirmation message by inputting to the mobile terminal 90 that he or she plans to "return," in step S301c (not shown), the mobile terminal 90 repeatedly determines whether or not the mobile terminal 90 has received the authorized transmitter ID in preparation for the first transition that occurs thereafter, that is, the transition from a state in which the mobile terminal 90 does not receive the authorized transmitter ID to a state in which it does receive it.

If it is determined in step S301c that the mobile terminal 90 has received the authorized transmitter ID, this means that a new first transition has occurred, and the process then returns to step S301. As a result, the transition to step S302 is temporarily suspended.

In response to the confirmation message in step S301b, if the user inputs into the mobile terminal 90 that he or she plans to leave, the process moves to step S302.

<Reservation change sequence>

Figure 18 shows a chronological sequence flow of an example of communication between a user's mobile terminal 90 and the management server 50 in order for the user to change the details of a reservation while using a rental seat 22.

This time, when the user selects the "Change Reservation" button on the screen of the mobile terminal 90, a reservation change module for the mobile terminal 90 is executed by the mobile terminal 90. By this execution, first, in step 401, the mobile terminal 90 receives the stay determination result information from the management server 50, and further, based on the stay determination result information, it is determined whether or not the user is actually currently staying in the reserved rental seat 22.

If it is determined that the user is currently staying at the facility, the determination in step S401 becomes YES, and then in step S402, it is determined whether or not the user has input an extension request to the mobile terminal 90. If it is determined that the user has input the extension request this time (for example, the user has selected the button for the extension request described above), then in step S403, the mobile terminal 90 receives the latest reservation status table from the management server 50, and further updates the reservation status table stored in the memory 132 of the mobile terminal 90 so that the reservation status table is reflected.

Then, in step S404, the mobile terminal 90 displays the updated reservation status table on the screen. After that, in step S405, the user inputs to the mobile terminal 90 to delay the scheduled end time so as not to overlap with another reservation. Furthermore, the mobile terminal 90 transmits the reservation change contents to the management server 50, and the management server 50 updates the reservation status table to reflect the reservation change contents.

Then, in step S406, the mobile terminal 90 determines whether the current reservation change was made before the scheduled end time of use, i.e., whether it was made within the time range of the original reservation content. If it is assumed that the current reservation change was made before the scheduled end time of use, the charging rate is set to the normal rate in step S407. In contrast, if it is assumed that the current reservation change was made after the scheduled end time of use, the charging rate is set to the premium rate in step S408.

In either case, the mobile terminal 90 then transmits the billing rate set as described above to the management server 50 in step S409.

As is clear from the above explanation, in this embodiment, the start of use by the user is recognized in response to a combination of the appearance of a first transition, which is one of a pair of a first transition and a second transition (the rising edge and the falling edge of one received pulse signal in FIG. 12), and the user's expression of intent to request to start use.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the end of use by the user is recognized in response to a combination of the appearance of a second transition, which is one of a pair of a first transition and a second transition, and the user's expression of intent to request the end of use.

Here, "a pair of a first transition and a second transition" refers to a combination of two events that occur at the start and end of an action that the user performs on the transmitter 30.

However, in this embodiment, a scenario is also envisaged in which user X inadvertently sits at another rented seat Q when he or she should be sitting at rented seat P. In this scenario, there is a possibility that user X's mobile terminal 90 may nevertheless receive the legitimate transmitter ID of the transmitter 30 installed at rented seat P. In this case, the mobile terminal 90 and management server 50 will recognize that user X is sitting at rented seat P, contrary to the fact.

If it is necessary to avoid such misrecognition, this embodiment can be improved as follows:

First, to give an overview, this improved example corresponds to a combination of the first technology employed in this embodiment, i.e., a filtering technology that, when the mobile terminal 90 detects multiple transmitters 30 simultaneously, filters out signals received from transmitters 30 other than the authorized transmitter 30 on the condition that the transmitter ID of the only transmitter 90 that the mobile terminal 90 should receive is known prior to reception from the multiple transmitters 30 (the corresponding rental seat 22 is reserved), and the second technology, i.e., a technology that automatically switches the reception mode from wide-area reception mode to narrow-area reception mode when the mobile terminal 90 detects multiple transmitters 30 simultaneously in wide-area reception mode.

Next, to explain in more detail, in this example, the mobile terminal 90 is designed to be switchable between a normal effective reception area (shown in FIG. 5 as a large circle with a dashed line; an example of the aforementioned "first effective reception area") and a reduced effective reception area (shown in FIG. 5 as a small circle with a dashed line; an example of the aforementioned "second effective reception area") having an effective reception radius smaller than the effective reception radius of the normal effective reception area.

In other words, in this example, the effective reception radius is a variable value, and when it is a large value, the wide-area reception mode or the defocused reception mode is realized, whereas when it is a small value, the narrow-area reception mode or the focused reception mode is realized.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 25, in step S700, the mobile terminal 90 attempts to effectively receive signals from one or more transmitters 30 based on the normal effective reception area setting value (effective reception radius in wide area reception mode).

Next, in step S701, the mobile terminal 90 determines whether or not it has effectively received an actual transmitter ID-P (the legitimate transmitter ID of the transmitter 30 of the rental seat P) that matches the legitimate transmitter ID in wide area reception mode (whether or not the mobile terminal 90 is present within the normal valid reception area centered on the transmitter ID-P). If it determines that it has not been received, the process returns to step S700.

When the mobile terminal 90 determines that it has received the real transmitter ID-P in wide area reception mode, in step S702, the mobile terminal 90 determines whether it has also validly received another real transmitter ID-Q (the regular transmitter ID of the transmitter 30 of the rental seat Q) in wide area reception mode (whether the mobile terminal 90 is also present within the valid reception area of the other transmitter ID-Q). If it determines that it has not validly received the other real transmitter ID-Q, it proceeds to step S710, which will be described later.

If it is determined that another real transmitter ID-Q is also being effectively received in the wide area reception mode, in step S703, the mobile terminal 90 measures the distance DQ to the transmitter 30 transmitting that real transmitter ID-Q and the distance DP to the transmitter 30 transmitting the real transmitter ID-P.

Furthermore, in step S704, the mobile terminal 90 determines whether or not the distance DQ is shorter than the distance DP. If it is determined that the distance DQ is shorter, it determines that there is a possibility that the user X is seated in the wrong rented seat Q. If it is determined that the distance DQ is not shorter than the distance DP, the process proceeds to step S710.

If it is determined that the distance DQ is shorter than the distance DP, then in step S705, the mobile terminal 90 switches the effective reception area from the normal effective reception area to the reduced effective reception area (effective reception radius of the narrow band reception mode). Furthermore, in step S706, the mobile terminal 90 displays on the screen or outputs by voice a message requesting the user X to then touch or hold the mobile terminal 90 over the transmitter 30 of the rental seat Q where the user X is seated.

Then, in step S707, the mobile terminal 90 attempts to effectively receive one or more transmitters 30, this time in narrowband reception mode.

Next, in step S708, the mobile terminal 90 determines whether or not it has validly received an actual transmitter ID-P (the regular transmitter ID of the transmitter 30 of the rental seat P) that matches the regular transmitter ID in the narrow area reception mode (whether or not the mobile terminal 90 is present within the reduced effective reception area centered on the transmitter ID-P).

In this case, in the above scenario, the mobile terminal 90 will receive the actual transmitter ID-Q of the transmitter 30 in the rental seat Q, which does not match the original legitimate transmitter ID-P, so the determination in step S708 will be NO.

In this case, in step S709, the mobile terminal 90 displays a message on the screen or outputs a voice message to the user X to confirm whether the rented seat 22 currently occupied by the user X is correct. As a result, the user moves from the rented seat Q to the rented seat P.

Then, the process returns to step S707, and the mobile terminal 90 receives the transmitter 30 of the rental seat P in narrow-area reception mode. Then, the determination in step S708 is YES this time. Then, in step S710, the mobile terminal 90 determines that the user is seated in the correct rental seat P.

The step group consisting of steps S700-710 shown in FIG. 25 can replace the step group consisting of steps S154-S157 in FIG. 15 and/or the step group consisting of steps S181-S184 in FIG. 16.

The technology shown in FIG. 25 can be applied to the second embodiment described below, and to support this, FIG. 20 shows a large-diameter normal effective receiving area (wide-area receiving mode) and a small-diameter reduced effective receiving area (narrow-area receiving mode) as the effective receiving area of each transmitter 30.

As is clear from the above explanation, according to this embodiment, the mobile terminal 90 and/or the management server 50 monitors the time changes (the user's dynamic posture, changes in movement, changes in posture, etc., rather than a static posture) of the user sitting/leaving (approaching/leaving, arriving/leaving) the selected rental seat 22 based on the time changes in the received signal that indicates whether the mobile terminal 90 has received a signal from one or more transmitters 30 over time (see, for example, Figures 12 and 21).

Therefore, according to this embodiment, it becomes easy to accurately detect the timing when a user actually sits at the rented seat 22 and the timing when the user actually leaves the rented seat 22.

This embodiment can be implemented with various modifications. For example, it can be improved so that the management server 50 executes the same data processing as at least a part of the data processing by the mobile terminal 90, or conversely, it can be improved so that the mobile terminal 90 executes the same data processing as at least a part of the data processing by the management server 50. This also applies to the second embodiment described below.

As is clear from the above explanation, according to this embodiment, one of the rental items is selected by the user before the user's mobile terminal receives the transmitter.

Furthermore, according to this embodiment, based on the identity of the rental object, i.e., which rental object the selected rental object (e.g., the reserved rental object) is, multiple transmitters installed on multiple rental objects are classified into a regular transmitter (target transmitter) that should be installed on one selected rental object and other irregular transmitters (non-target transmitters).

As a result, according to this embodiment, even if the user's mobile device receives a signal from an unauthorized transmitter in the selected rental item, that signal is not referenced, and only signals from authorized transmitters are referenced, thereby estimating the user's current location, i.e., whether the user is truly located at or near the same location as the selected rental item.

The idea behind this assumption is that if the user's location is known, then the mobile device only needs to pay attention to the signals that are expected to be emitted by a transmitter that is expected to be installed in that known location.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, even in an environment where the effective receiving area at least partially overlaps between a genuine transmitter and other transmitters for reasons such as the need to place a genuine transmitter spatially close to other transmitters, or the need to expand the effective receiving area of the genuine transmitter (see, for example, Figures 5 and 20) to improve the convenience of a user receiving a genuine transmitter using his or her mobile terminal (for example, to prevent the user from having to go out of his or her way to approach the genuine transmitter from his or her usual position), only the signal from the genuine transmitter is enabled in the mobile terminal by a software filtering function (noise removal function) rather than a hardware filtering function (noise removal function). As a result, according to this embodiment, it becomes easy to accurately estimate the user's current location without being affected by other transmitters.

The effect of being able to easily expand the effective receiving area of each transmitter is realized, for example, when the present invention is applied to a technology for selecting a vehicle space in a parking lot or a similar technology, as an effect that makes it easy for a user to receive signals from a regular transmitter and communicate with a management server for entry and exit processing while remaining in the vehicle parked in the selected vehicle space in the parking lot during the entry sequence and/or exit sequence, i.e., without getting out of the vehicle and approaching the transmitter.

<Second embodiment>

Next, an unmanned parking management system 300 (hereinafter simply referred to as "system 300") according to an exemplary second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 19-24. However, parts common to the unmanned seat rental system according to the first embodiment will be referred to using the same reference numerals and names, omitting duplicated explanations, and only the differences will be described in detail.

This system 300 is a system for centrally managing multiple parking lots 20 (only three representative parking lots A, B, and C are shown in FIG. 19 ). Each parking lot 20 has multiple vehicle compartments 22, and each vehicle compartment 22 is a rental space, which is an individual space temporarily rented to one vehicle (car, bicycle, motorcycle, etc.) of one user.

In comparison with the first embodiment, the multiple parking lots 20 correspond to the multiple seat rental facilities 20 in the first embodiment, and the multiple vehicle compartments 22 correspond to the multiple rental seats 22 in one seat rental facility 20.

In this embodiment, the multiple vehicle compartments 22 in one parking lot 20 are generally arranged close together. The vehicle compartments 22 are an example of multiple rental objects that are so close to each other that they cannot be spatially distinguished (resolved) from one another using, for example, the GPS function (described above) of the mobile terminal 90.

In contrast, the multiple parking lots 20 are an example of multiple facilities that are sufficiently distant from one another that they can be spatially distinguished (resolved) from one another using the GPS function (described below) of the mobile terminal 90.

This system 300 is, broadly speaking, an example of a rental item management system that uses individual transmitters to authenticate the location of a rental item, subject to a user reserving the rental item.

This system 300 is configured to execute a parking lot management method according to this embodiment. The parking lot management method is an example of a rental space management method that centrally manages multiple parking lots that can be rented to users, and the rental space management method is an example of a rental object management method that centrally manages multiple rental objects that are real estate that can be rented to users. Another example of the rental object management method is a rental object management method that centrally manages multiple rental objects that are movable property that can be rented to users (e.g., rental cars and rental bicycles).

Each parking lot 20 is unmanned. Furthermore, in order to reduce and simplify the equipment, each parking lot 20 is not equipped with devices to prevent unauthorized entry and exit to each vehicle space 22 (for example, gate devices that selectively prevent vehicles from passing, or lift-up or flap-type vehicle exit prevention devices that protrude from the surface of each parking lot 20 and selectively prevent vehicle wheels from going over), devices to read codes presented by users (for example, passwords or barcode information), payment machines for users to pay rental fees, or ticket issuing machines to issue tickets to users.

As shown in FIG. 19, in each parking lot 20, one transmitter 30 is installed for each vehicle compartment 22.

Specifically, to explain the installation position, each transmitter 30 is disposed within the area of the corresponding vehicle compartment 22 in a plan view, and in a side view, although not shown, is disposed at the same height as, higher than, or lower than the surface of the corresponding vehicle compartment 22 (e.g., the ground, pavement, etc.).

Next, to explain the installation method, each transmitter 30 can be attached, for example, inside or outside a wheel stopper installed in the corresponding vehicle compartment 22, attached to a vertically extending structure such as a pole or pillar installed in the corresponding vehicle compartment 22 at a position above the surface, or buried under the surface of the corresponding vehicle compartment 22.

In this embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 20, the user first selects one of a plurality of parking lots 20, then selects one of a plurality of vehicle compartments 22 in the selected parking lot 20, and drives his/her vehicle 400 (or 402) into the selected vehicle compartment 22. In this example, a vehicle 400 is parked facing forward in one vehicle compartment 22, while another vehicle 402 is parked facing backward in an adjacent vehicle compartment 22.

When the user is in his/her own vehicle 400 or 402, the user's mobile terminal 90 may receive a transmitter 30 (legitimate transmitter) installed in the selected compartment 22. In addition, the user may also receive a transmitter 30 (illegitimate transmitter) installed in the adjacent compartment 22.

20, the effective receiving area of each transmitter 30 is set to cover the mobile terminal 90 of the user in the vehicle parked in the corresponding vehicle compartment 22. As a result, the user can receive the transmitter 30 without getting out of his/her vehicle and approaching the transmitter 30, which is convenient for the user, especially when the weather is bad.

However, this inevitably means that the same effective reception area may unnecessarily cover the mobile terminal 90 of a user in a vehicle parked in an adjacent compartment 22. Therefore, in this embodiment as well, it is determined whether the user is staying in the selected compartment 22 by determining whether the mobile terminal 90 has received a legitimate transmitter ID (more precisely, an identification signal representing the legitimate transmitter ID).

In the first embodiment, during one period in which a user uses a rental seat 22, as shown in FIG. 12, the mobile terminal 90 receives one incoming pulse signal, and the timing of the rising edge of that signal is recognized as the start time of use, while the timing of the falling edge of that signal is recognized as the end time of use. This is because the user remains in substantially the same rental room 22 from the time he or she sits down at the rental seat 22 until he or she leaves, and during that time, the mobile terminal 90 is in a communication environment in which it continues to receive the regular transmitter ID.

In contrast, in this embodiment, the user stays in the selected compartment 22 when entering and leaving the parking lot, but the user is usually not in the selected compartment 22 for substantially the entire period during which the vehicle is parked in the selected compartment 22. Therefore, signal processing different from that in the first embodiment is required.

In this embodiment, as conceptually shown in the time chart of FIG. 21, during the entry stage, a first transition (rising edge of the entry pulse signal, which is a single received pulse signal upon entry) occurs in which the mobile terminal 90 transitions from a state in which it does not receive the authorized transmitter ID (more precisely, an identification signal representing the authorized transmitter ID) to a state in which it does receive it, and shortly thereafter, a second transition (falling edge of the entry pulse signal) occurs in which the mobile terminal 90 transitions from a state in which it receives the authorized transmitter ID to a state in which it does not receive it.

Then, the user is requested to indicate their intention to enter the inventory on the mobile terminal 90 in order to confirm the entry (an example of the aforementioned "first event"). When the user actually enters the inventory request, the timing of the first transition (or the timing of the second transition) is recognized as the entry time.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, as conceptually shown in the time chart of FIG. 21, in the leaving stage, a first transition (a rising edge of the leaving pulse signal, which is one received pulse signal at the time of leaving) occurs, and shortly thereafter, a second transition (a falling edge of the leaving pulse signal) occurs.

The user is then requested to indicate their intention to make a shipping request (an example of the aforementioned "second event") on the mobile terminal 90 in order to confirm the shipping. When the user actually makes a shipping request, the timing of the second transition (or the timing of the first transition) is recognized as the shipping time.

Figure 22 conceptually illustrates in a flowchart an example of a reservation sequence executed by a mobile terminal 90 and a management server 50 in order for a user to reserve a parking space 22 in one of the parking lots 20, as part of a parking lot management program for managing multiple parking lots 20.

First, when the parking lot management program is started by the user's mobile terminal 90, in step S500, the user selects the reservation mode. Next, in step S601, the management server 50 reads out from the memory 162 parking lot data (corresponding to the seat rental facility data shown in FIG. 7) indicating the positions on the map of each of the multiple parking lots 20, vehicle compartment data (corresponding to the seat rental data shown in FIG. 8) indicating the correspondence between the IDs of the multiple parking lots 20, the IDs of the multiple vehicle compartments 22, and the multiple authorized transmitter IDs, and a reservation status table (corresponding to the reservation status table shown in FIG. 11(a)), and transmits them to the mobile terminal 90.

Then, in step S501, the mobile terminal 90 receives the data and table from the management server 50 and stores them in the memory 132. Then, in step S502, the mobile terminal 90 narrows down the multiple parking lots 20 to a small number of candidate parking lots 20 located near the user's current location based on the parking lot data and the GPS positioning results of the mobile terminal 90, and displays the small number of candidate parking lots 20 on the screen.

Furthermore, in this step S502, the user operates the mobile terminal 90 to select one of the multiple candidate parking lots 20 displayed on the screen as the currently selected parking lot 20. In response, the mobile terminal 90 displays the reservation status table on the screen, thereby enabling the user to know the time periods during which each of the multiple parking spaces 22 in the selected parking lot 20 is vacant.

Then, in step S503, the user selects one of the compartments 22 using the mobile terminal 90, and then, in step S504, the user inputs the planned usage time period of the selected compartment 22 into the mobile terminal 90.

Then, in step S505, the mobile terminal 90 transmits the reservation details specified by the user (parking lot 20, parking space 22, and time period of use) to the management server 50 together with personal authentication information for identifying the user.

In response, in step S602, the management server 50 receives the reservation details in association with the user and updates the user-specific reservation details file to reflect the reservation details.

Figure 23 conceptually illustrates in a flowchart an example of a parking lot management program entry sequence executed by the mobile terminal 90 and management server 50 to allow a user to enter a selected parking space 22.

First, when the parking lot management program is started by the user's mobile terminal 90, in step S520, the user selects the parking mode. Next, in step S521, the mobile terminal 90 acquires the regular transmitter ID corresponding to the currently selected vehicle compartment 22 based on the vehicle compartment data.

Then, in step S522, the mobile terminal 90 determines whether or not the mobile terminal 90 has validly received an identification signal from any of the transmitters 30 (whether or not the first transition has occurred), and if the identification signal has been received validly, in step S523, it determines whether or not the actual transmitter ID represented by the received identification signal matches the genuine transmitter ID.

If the actual transmitter ID and the authorized transmitter ID match, it is determined that the user is actually currently staying in the selected compartment 22. Then, in step S524, the mobile terminal 90 waits for the mobile terminal 90 to finish receiving the authorized transmitter ID, that is, for the falling edge (the second transition) of the entry pulse signal to appear. When this occurs, in step S525, it waits for the user to input an entry request to the mobile terminal 90. When the entry is made, in step S526, the mobile terminal 90 associates the entry request with the user and transmits it to the management server 50.

In response, in step S621, the management server 50 receives the entry request and, as a result, permits the user to enter the selected vehicle compartment 22. Next, in step S622, the current time is stored in the memory 162 as the entry time.

Figure 24 conceptually illustrates in a flowchart an example of an exit sequence executed by the mobile terminal 90 and management server 50 in order for a user to exit a selected parking space 22 from the parking lot management program.

First, when the parking lot management program is started by the user's mobile terminal 90, in step S540, the user selects the exit mode. Next, in step S541, the mobile terminal 90 acquires the regular transmitter ID corresponding to the currently selected vehicle compartment 22 based on the vehicle compartment data.

Then, in step S542, the mobile terminal 90 determines whether or not the mobile terminal 90 has validly received an identification signal from any of the transmitters 30 (whether or not the first transition has occurred), and if the identification signal has been received validly, in step S543, it determines whether or not the actual transmitter ID represented by the received identification signal matches the genuine transmitter ID.

If the actual transmitter ID and the authorized transmitter ID match, it is determined that the user is actually currently staying in the selected compartment 22. Then, in step S544, the mobile terminal 90 waits for the mobile terminal 90 to finish receiving the authorized transmitter ID, that is, for the falling edge (the second transition) of the exit pulse signal to appear. When this occurs, in step S545, it waits for an exit request to be input from the user to the mobile terminal 90. When the request is input, in step S546, the mobile terminal 90 associates the exit request with the user and transmits it to the management server 50.

In response, in step S641, the management server 50 receives the exit request, and as a result, permits the user to exit from the selected parking space 22. Next, in step S642, the current time is set as the exit time. After that, in step S643, the parking time is calculated as the elapsed time from the entry time to the exit time. Next, in step S644, the parking fee is calculated based on the calculated parking time. The calculated parking fee is transmitted to the mobile terminal 90.

In response, in step S547, the mobile terminal 90 displays the received parking fee amount on the screen, and then the user makes an electronic payment for the parking fee.

As is clear from the above explanation, in this embodiment, the action of a user entering the warehouse is recognized in response to the combination of the appearance of both the paired first and second transitions (the rising edge and falling edge of one entry pulse signal in FIG. 21) and the user's expression of intent to request entry, and the action of a user leaving the warehouse is recognized in response to the combination of the appearance of both the paired first and second transitions (the rising edge and falling edge of one exit pulse signal in FIG. 21) and the user's expression of intent to request exit.

In contrast to this, the present invention may be implemented in such a manner that the user's action of entering the warehouse is recognized in response to the combination of the appearance of one of the pair of first and second transitions (the rising edge and falling edge of one entry pulse signal in FIG. 21) and the user's expression of intent to request entry, and the user's action of leaving the warehouse is recognized in response to the combination of the appearance of one of the pair of first and second transitions (the rising edge and falling edge of one exit pulse signal in FIG. 21) and the user's expression of intent to request exit.

In this embodiment, when the user leaves the garage, the process waits until the mobile terminal 90 no longer receives the regular transmitter ID, and then it is determined that the leaving process is complete. On the other hand, the user may be contractually forced to perform both the entry and exit operations from within the vehicle parked in the selected vehicle compartment 22, or the mobile terminal 90 may be designed to disable reception of the transmitter 30 on the software unless the user receives it on the mobile terminal 90 from within the vehicle.

In this way, the user, the mobile terminal 90, and the vehicle will share the same spatial position, so that the mobile terminal 90 detecting that the user has entered the selected vehicle compartment 22 is equivalent to the mobile terminal 90 detecting that the vehicle has entered the selected vehicle compartment 22, and similarly, the mobile terminal 90 detecting that the user has exited the selected vehicle compartment 22 is equivalent to the mobile terminal 90 detecting that the vehicle has left the selected vehicle compartment 22.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiments are specific examples of the application of the present invention to a rental service in which real estate such as seat rental facilities and parking lots are rented, but instead, the present invention can be applied to, for example, a rental service in which other real estate, such as a rental warehouse or rental room, is rented, or to a rental service in which movable property, such as a vehicle (such as an automobile, bicycle, motorcycle, etc.), is rented. Furthermore, the present invention can also be applied to applications other than rental services.

Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, these are merely examples, and the present invention can be embodied in other forms that incorporate various modifications and improvements based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art, including the aspects described in the "Summary of the Invention" section above.

Claims (11)

A system for managing a plurality of vehicles available for rental to users, comprising:
a contactless or contact type short-range wireless communication unit mounted in each of the plurality of vehicles;
a management server that remotely manages the plurality of vehicles;
The management server is
a reservation unit that, when a user who wishes to use any one of the vehicles operates a communication device of the user to select one of the plurality of vehicles as a reserved vehicle together with a scheduled start time and a scheduled end time, reflects the result in the reservation details;
a start permission unit that permits the user to start using the reserved vehicle when, at the time when the communication device successfully matches the reserved vehicle with a vehicle specified based on a signal received from the short-range wireless communication unit of any vehicle and the user inputs a start request to start using the reserved vehicle into the communication device;
a prompting unit that enables the communication device to prompt the user to retry receiving a signal from the short-range wireless communication unit by the communication device by visually or audibly stimulating the user when the matching is not successful, and/or enables the communication device to prompt the user to input the start request to the communication device by visually or audibly stimulating the user when the start request is not input to the communication device;
a reservation change section that, after a user starts using the reserved vehicle, in response to a user operating the communication device to delay a scheduled end time included in the reservation details before the scheduled end time arrives, reflects the result of the reservation change in the reservation details;
A rental vehicle management system comprising : a transmission unit that transmits the rental fee to the communication device via long-distance wireless communication after the user has finished using the reserved vehicle. The management server further
A rental vehicle management system as described in claim 1, which includes a termination permission unit that permits a user to terminate use of the reserved vehicle when the user terminates use of the reserved vehicle in response to the communication device transitioning to a receiving state in which it receives a signal from the short-range wireless communication unit. A system for managing a plurality of vehicles available for rental to users, comprising:
a contactless or contact type short-range wireless communication unit mounted in each of the plurality of vehicles;
a management server that remotely manages the plurality of vehicles;
The management server is
a reservation unit that, when a user who wishes to use any one of the vehicles operates a communication device of the user to select one of the plurality of vehicles as a reserved vehicle together with a scheduled start time and a scheduled end time, reflects the result in the reservation details;
a start permission unit that permits the user to start using the reserved vehicle in response to the communication device transitioning to a reception state in which the communication device receives a signal from the short-range wireless communication unit when the user starts using the reserved vehicle;
a reservation change unit that, after a user starts using the reserved vehicle, changes the reservation to a scheduled end time included in the reservation details by the user operating the communication device, and reflects the result of the reservation change in the reservation details;
a transmission unit which sets the charging rate for the use of the reserved vehicle to a normal rate if the reservation change is made before the scheduled end time before the reservation change, and sets it to a premium rate if the reservation change is made after the scheduled end time before the reservation change, calculates the amount of the rental fee based on the set charging rate, and transmits the calculated amount to the communication device via long-distance wireless communication. The rental vehicle management system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the communication device includes a mobile phone, a smartphone, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, or a PDA. The rental vehicle management system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the plurality of vehicles includes a plurality of rental cars, rental motorcycles, or rental bicycles. A program for causing a computer to function as the reservation unit, the start permission unit, the prompting unit, the reservation change unit and the transmission unit according to claim 1. A program for causing a computer to function as the reservation unit, the start permission unit, the reservation change unit, and the transmission unit according to claim 3. A program executed by a computer of a communication device of a user who wishes to use any one of a plurality of vehicles available for rental to the user,
a reservation function in which a user operates the communication device to select a vehicle from among the plurality of vehicles that the user wishes to use as a reserved vehicle together with a scheduled start time and a scheduled end time;
a short-distance receiving function for receiving a signal from a contactless or contact type short-distance wireless communication unit mounted on any of the vehicles, in order to enable the user to identify any of the vehicles approaching when the user starts using the reserved vehicle and to determine whether or not a match between the vehicle and the reserved vehicle is successful, by the communication device;
a start request input function that enables a user to input a start request to start using the reserved vehicle ;
a prompting function that, when the matching is not successful, prompts the user to retry receiving a signal from the short-range wireless communication unit by the communication device by visually or audibly stimulating the user, and/or, when the start request has not been input to the communication device, enables the communication device to prompt the user to input the start request to the communication device by visually or audibly stimulating the user;
A program for causing a computer to function as a reservation change function that, after the user has started using the reserved vehicle, changes the reservation to delay the scheduled end time before the scheduled end time arrives, by the user operating the communication device, and a long-distance receiving function that, after the user has finished using the reserved vehicle, receives the amount of the rental fee from a management server that remotely manages the multiple vehicles via long-distance wireless communication with the management server. A recording medium on which the program according to claim 6 is recorded so as to be readable by a computer. A recording medium on which the program according to claim 7 is recorded so as to be readable by a computer. A recording medium on which the program according to claim 8 is recorded so as to be readable by a computer.

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