JP7554405B2 - Gas Station System - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a gas station system, and in particular to a gas station system that simplifies the refueling operation.

In recent years, mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets have become increasingly popular due to their convenience and their use in a variety of tasks, including customer service, facility and inventory management, and inspections. In addition, there is a growing demand for the use of new technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) at gas stations that supply gasoline and other fuel oils.

The applicant therefore proposes in Patent Application No. 2017-62182 a system that utilizes IoT to reduce the labor and time required for maintenance.

The above invention is effective, but it is also conceivable that IoT could be used at gas stations for purposes other than maintenance.

The present invention aims to provide a gas station system that simplifies customer fuel settings and prevents fuel mixing.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the gas station system of the present invention has a storage means for storing information regarding refueling settings , including a customer ID, fuel type, refueling method, and payment method, for each customer, and a search means for searching the storage means for information regarding the refueling settings corresponding to the customer ID , and has a server constituting a cloud capable of communicating with a refueling device and a mobile terminal , and a transmission means for transmitting a signal to a predetermined area, and is equipped with a refueling device capable of communicating with the server and the mobile terminal, and when the mobile terminal receives the signal from the refueling device, the mobile terminal outputs the customer ID to the server, the server to which the customer ID has been input searches for information regarding the refueling settings corresponding to the customer ID and outputs the searched information regarding the refueling settings to the refueling device, and when the refueling device receives the information regarding the refueling settings, a refueling setting is made in the refueling device .

According to the gas station system of the present invention, if a customer sets the fuel filling setting data in advance on a mobile terminal, the fuel filling setting of the fuel filling device can be easily performed in a vehicle parked in a specified area (fuel filling area), and a mechanism for the customer to manually set the fuel filling setting in the fuel filling device can be omitted. This reduces capital investment on the part of the gas station, and also prevents incorrect fuel filling settings from being made when customers set the fuel filling setting every time they fill up, which also contributes to preventing fuel mixing.

In addition, even if communication between the fuel supply device and the mobile terminal is interrupted after the customer's mobile terminal receives a signal from the fuel supply device, communication between the two can be established via the server.

Furthermore, the servers that make up the cloud enable gas stations to reduce capital investment, and even if communication between the fuel dispenser and the mobile device is interrupted after the customer's mobile device receives a signal from the fuel dispenser, communication between the two can be established via the server.

When the server receives information about the refueling from the refueling device after refueling is completed, it can associate the received refueling information with the ID of the customer who refueled, and store the type of fuel, refueling method, and payment method as the refueling information. This can reliably prevent fuel mixing, and since payment can be made on a mobile terminal, it can reduce capital investment in equipment related to payment at the gas station.

As described above, the present invention can provide a gas station system that simplifies the refueling process for customers.

1 is a schematic diagram showing one embodiment of a gas station system according to the present invention; 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the gas station system shown in FIG. 1 .

Next, the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

Figure 1 shows one embodiment of a gas station system according to the present invention. This gas station system 1 is composed of a gas station 2 equipped with a BLE (Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy) beacon (radio wave transmission means, hereinafter simply referred to as a "beacon") 2a, and a server 3 constituting a cloud, and both are capable of communicating with each other and with a mobile terminal 4 carried by a customer in a vehicle V or in a gas station area. The gas station system 1 also includes a payment device (not shown) that allows the customer to make payment after refueling.

The directivity and communication distance of the beacon 2a of the refueling device 2 is limited to vehicles V parked in a refueling area near the refueling device 2, so that the refueling device 2 will not mistakenly communicate with a mobile terminal in another vehicle at the gas station.

As shown in Table 1, server 3 accumulates refueling setting data relating to the customer ID, fuel type, refueling method, and payment method assigned to each customer, as well as refueling data (such as the amount of fuel dispensed when a vehicle is refueled), and manages the sales data of the gas station based on the refueling data.

The mobile terminal 4 is a smartphone, tablet, etc. owned by the customer, and has a function of communicating with the fuel supply device 2 and the server 3, and a function of displaying fuel supply data, fuel supply slips, etc. If the mobile terminal 4 can display the fuel supply slip, this is preferable because it reduces capital investment in equipment for printing the fuel supply slips at the gas station.

Next, the operation of the gas station system 1 having the above configuration will be described with reference to Figures 1 and 2. The customer registers fuel setting data related to the customer ID, fuel type, fuel supply method, and payment method in advance in the server 3 via an app on the mobile terminal 4 or the like.

First, in step S1 of the fuel supply device 2, the beacon ID of the beacon 2a is output. Next, in step S21 of the mobile terminal 4, when the beacon ID is input from the fuel supply device 2 (step S21; Yes), the beacon ID and the customer ID are output to the server 3 (step S22).

In step S31 of the server 3, when the beacon ID and customer ID are input from the mobile terminal 4 (step S31; Yes), the refueling setting data for the corresponding customer is output to the refueling device 2 (step S32).

When refueling setting data is input from the server 3 in step S2 of the refueling device 2 (step S2; Yes), refueling settings are made in the refueling device 2.

In step S3, when the customer removes the fuel nozzle from the nozzle hanger and the nozzle SW (switch) of the fuel supply device 2 is turned ON (step S3; Yes), in step S4 it is determined whether the fuel supply nozzle corresponding to the type of fuel entered in step S2 has been removed. If the correct fuel supply nozzle has been removed (step S4; Yes), a reset signal is sent to the display of the fuel supply device 2, the information about the previous refueling is reset to zero, and the fuel supply pump is turned ON (step S5).

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S4 that the customer has removed the wrong fuel nozzle (step S4; No), the customer is notified via a display or the like to check the fuel nozzle (step S6).

In step S5, when the fuel pump is turned ON, the flow meter is also turned ON, and when the flow pulse transmitter is turned ON (step S7; Yes), a pulse signal is sent from the flow pulse transmitter to the display, and the amount of fuel dispensed is displayed (counted display) on the display (step S8). If the flow pulse transmitter does not turn ON (step S7; No), the system waits until the flow pulse transmitter turns ON unless the fuel pump is OFF (step S9; No), i.e., unless fuel dispense is stopped.

When refueling based on the refueling settings entered in step S2 is completed, the refueling pump is turned OFF (step S9; Yes), and the customer returns the refueling nozzle to the nozzle hook, which turns OFF the nozzle SW (step S10). Then, the refueling data is output to the server 3 (step S11). This ends the operation of the refueling device 2.

In step S33 of the server 3, when refueling data is input from the refueling device 2 (step S33; Yes), settlement data is generated from the refueling data, and the refueling and settlement data is output to the mobile terminal 4 (step S34).

When the fuel supply and payment data is input from the server 3 to the mobile terminal 4 (step S23; Yes), both data are displayed on the display unit so that the customer can confirm both data (step S24). Thereafter, when the customer presses the payment button on the mobile terminal 4 or the display time T for both data to be confirmed reaches a predetermined time t1 (step S25; Yes), the fuel supply and payment data is output to the server 3, indicating that the customer's confirmation has been completed (step S26).

When the server 3 receives refueling and payment data from the mobile terminal 4 (step S35; Yes), it outputs a payment processing completion signal to the mobile terminal 4 (step S36). This ends the operation of the server 3. When the mobile terminal 4 receives a payment processing completion signal from the server 3 (step S27; Yes), it displays a refueling slip (step S28). This ends the operation of the mobile terminal 4, and the refueling operation is completed.

As described above, according to the gas station system 1 of this embodiment, if a customer has determined the refueling setting data in advance, the refueling setting of the refueling device 2 can be performed simply by communicating with the mobile terminal 4 owned by the customer in the vehicle V parked in the refueling area of the refueling device 2 or in the refueling area. Also, since the mechanism for the customer to manually set the refueling setting can be omitted in the refueling device 2, capital investment on the part of the gas station can be reduced. Furthermore, by having the customer set the refueling setting every time they refuel, the number of times incorrect refueling settings are made is reduced, which also helps prevent fuel mixing.

In the above embodiment, a BLE beacon is used as a radio wave transmitting means, but the transmitting means (such as wifi) capable of communicating with a mobile terminal is not particularly limited.

1 Gas station system 2 Gas station device 2a Beacon 3 Server 4 Portable terminal V Vehicle

Claims (1)

a server that includes a storage means for storing information about fuel supply settings , including a customer ID, a fuel type, a fuel supply method, and a payment method, for each customer , and a search means for searching the storage means for information about the fuel supply settings corresponding to the customer ID , and that constitutes a cloud that can communicate with the fuel supply device and the mobile terminal ;
a fuel supply device having a transmitting means for transmitting a signal to a predetermined area and capable of communicating with the server and the mobile terminal;
A gas station system characterized in that when a mobile terminal receives the signal from the refueling device, the mobile terminal outputs a customer ID to the server, the server to which the customer ID is input searches for information regarding the refueling settings corresponding to the customer ID and outputs the searched information regarding the refueling settings to the refueling device, and when the refueling device receives the information regarding the refueling settings, refueling settings are made in the refueling device .

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