Reservation system

Abstract

The system provides a way to reserve both accommodation and parking spaces equipped with EV charging facilities all at once. [Solution] The accommodation management server 100 includes a first reception unit 131 that accepts the selection of accommodation from the user, a display control unit 140 that displays a list or map of reservable EV parking spaces for vehicle charging facilities on a display device based on the distance from the accommodation selected by the user, a second reception unit 132 that accepts the selection of an EV parking space desired by the user from among the reservable EV parking spaces displayed on the display device after accepting the selection of accommodation, and a confirmation unit 150 that confirms the reservation of the accommodation and EV parking space selected by the user.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a reservation system suitable for reserving charging facilities for electric vehicles and parking spaces together with accommodation facilities.

Background Art

[0002] Electric vehicles (EVs) have attracted attention as part of efforts to address environmental issues and are expected to be ultimate eco-cars. When a user reserves an accommodation facility, if the accommodation facility has a charger for electric vehicles (hereinafter also referred to as "EV charging facilities"), the user can charge the electric vehicle during their stay. However, at present, there are still relatively few accommodation facilities equipped with EV charging facilities.

[0003] In view of such a situation, a reservation system has been proposed that allows for reservation of a shared facility (parking lot) including a parking area where EV charging facilities are installed, together with an electric vehicle (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In the following description, the parking area (space) required for parking a vehicle is also referred to as a "parking space".

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] According to the disclosed system of Patent Document 1, a user can perform the reservation process for an electric vehicle and a parking space where EV charging facilities are installed together at once. However, for the reservation of an accommodation facility and the reservation of a parking space where EV charging facilities are installed, etc., it is necessary to use separate applications, etc. for the reservation process. Eventually, there is a problem that the user is forced to perform complicated operations.

[0006] This invention has been made in view of the circumstances described above, and one of its objectives is to provide a reservation system that allows for the simultaneous reservation of accommodation facilities and parking spaces equipped with EV charging facilities. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] A reservation system according to one aspect of the present disclosure is characterized by comprising: a first reception unit that receives a selection of accommodation facilities from a user; a display control unit that displays a list or map of reservable EV parking spaces for vehicle charging facilities on a display device based on the distance from the accommodation facilities selected by the user; a second reception unit that, after receiving the selection of accommodation facilities, receives a selection of an EV parking space desired by the user from among the reservable EV parking spaces displayed on the display device; and a confirmation unit that confirms the reservation of the accommodation facilities and the EV parking space selected by the user. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to a certain aspect of the present invention, it becomes possible to reserve accommodation facilities and parking spaces equipped with EV charging facilities, etc., all at once. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] This figure shows an example of the configuration of the reservation system according to this embodiment. [Figure 2] This diagram shows an example of the hardware configuration for a lodging facility management server, a parking space management server, a lodging facility terminal, a business terminal, and a user terminal. [Figure 3] This is a diagram showing the functional configuration of the accommodation management server. [Figure 4] This flowchart shows the flow of the reservation process performed by the accommodation management server. [Figure 5] This diagram illustrates the list of available parking spaces displayed on the user terminal's display panel. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings. In each drawing, components denoted by the same reference numerals have the same or similar configuration.

[0011] A. Embodiment <System Configuration> Figure 1 shows an example of the configuration of the reservation system 1000. The reservation system 1000 comprises a lodging facility management server 100 that manages lodging facility reservations, a parking space management server 200 that manages parking spaces where EV charging facilities are installed or available (hereinafter also referred to as "EV parking spaces"), lodging facility terminals 300 installed at each lodging facility, business operator terminals 400 installed at parking service businesses that maintain and operate parking lots including EV parking spaces, and user terminals 500 for users who use the system 1000.

[0012] The accommodation management server 100, the parking space management server 200, the accommodation terminal 300, the business operator terminal 400, and the user terminal 500 are able to communicate with each other via network N. The number of accommodation terminals 300, business operator terminals 400, and user terminals 500 is not particularly limited and may be one or more. Furthermore, the computers that make up the accommodation management server 100 and the parking space management server 200 do not necessarily have to be a single unit, but may consist of multiple computers and storage distributed on network N.

[0013] One or more parts of network N may be wired or wireless networks. Network N may include, but is not limited to, an ad hoc network, intranet, extranet, virtual private network (VPN), local area network (LAN), wireless LAN (WLAN), wide area network (WAN), wireless WAN (WWAN), metropolitan area network (MAN), part of the internet, part of a public switched telephone network (PSTN), mobile phone network, ISDNs (Integrated Service Digital Networks), wireless LANs, LTE (Long Term Evolution), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), Bluetooth®, satellite communications, or two or more combinations thereof.

[0014] The accommodation management server 100 and the parking space management server 200 are, for example, server computers, and various information about accommodations and EV parking spaces is stored in on-premise or cloud-based databases (described later).

[0015] The accommodation management server 100 centrally manages reservations for accommodations desired by each user in response to requests from each user terminal 500.

[0016] The parking space management server 200 centrally manages various information regarding each EV parking space (e.g., reservation status and location information of each EV parking space) based on the information provided by each accommodation facility terminal 300 and business operator terminal 400. In this embodiment, an electric vehicle is assumed as an example of a vehicle parked in an EV parking space, but it is not intended to be limited thereto, and it is applicable to various vehicles with wheels driven by electricity, such as electric motorcycles and electric bicycles.

[0017] The accommodation facility terminal 300, business operator terminal 400, and user terminal 500 are terminals operated by staff of accommodation facilities, employees of business operators, users, etc., and are composed of personal computers, handheld computer devices, smartphones, mobile phones, wearable terminals, and the like.

[0018] <Hardware Configuration> FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the accommodation facility management server 100, parking space management server 200, accommodation facility terminal 300, business operator terminal 400, and user terminal 500.

[0019] The accommodation facility management server 100, parking space management server 200, accommodation facility terminal 300, business operator terminal 400, and user terminal 500 each have a control device 1 such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a storage device 2 such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory), a communication IF (Interface) 3 for performing wired or wireless communication, an input device 4 for receiving input operations, and an output device 5 for outputting information. The input device 4 is, for example, a keyboard, mouse, touch panel, microphone, etc. The output device 5 is, for example, a display panel (display device) such as a liquid crystal display and / or a speaker, etc.

[0020] Hereinafter, the functional configuration and functional overview of the accommodation facility management server 100 will be described while referring to the drawings.

[0021] <Functional Configuration and Functional Overview> Figure 3 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the accommodation management server 100.

[0022] The accommodation management server 100 includes a storage unit 110, an acquisition unit 120, a reception unit 130, a display control unit 140, and a confirmation unit 150. The storage unit 110, acquisition unit 120, reception unit 130, display control unit 140, and confirmation unit 150 are realized by the CPU 1 of the accommodation management server 100 executing various programs stored in the storage device 2. The programs can be stored on a storage medium such as a USB memory or CD-ROM.

[0023] The memory unit 110 is implemented by the storage device 2 and stores an application program (hereinafter referred to as the reservation app) AP for making reservations for accommodations and parking spaces equipped with EV charging facilities all at once, as well as various data related to accommodation reservations. The memory unit 110 also has an accommodation database DB that registers various information about each accommodation. The accommodation database DB stores basic information about each accommodation (e.g., name, address, telephone number, available facilities, accommodation plans, etc.), as well as facility reservation information that shows the reservation status of each accommodation.

[0024] The acquisition unit 120 acquires various information related to EV parking spaces (for example, information on the availability of the EV parking space) from the parking space management server 200.

[0025] The reception unit 130 comprises a first reception unit 131 and a second reception unit 132. The first reception unit 131 receives selections from the user terminal 500 regarding the accommodation facility where the user will stay. Examples of selections regarding accommodation facilities include, but are not limited to, the name of the accommodation facility or the selection of an accommodation plan.

[0026] The second reception section 132 accepts the user's selection regarding the EV parking space. Examples of selections regarding the EV parking space include, but are not limited to, the EV parking space number, the planned date and time of use, and the name of the parking lot containing the EV parking space.

[0027] The display control unit 140 displays various information on the display panel of the user terminal 500, such as information about accommodations and information about EV parking spaces. For example, the display control unit 140 may display information about accommodations and accommodation plans selected by the user on the display panel, or it may display a list of EV parking spaces that the user can select, or a map, on the display panel.

[0028] The confirmation unit 150 confirms the user's reservation details (specifically, the selected accommodation and EV parking space reservation) and completes the reservation. Once the confirmation unit 150 confirms the user's reservation details, it stores the confirmed information in the storage unit 110 and notifies and sets the parking space management server 200.

[0029] For example, the confirmation unit 150 stores information about the accommodation selected by the user as facility reservation information in the accommodation database DB of the storage unit 110. Furthermore, the confirmation unit 150 notifies and sets information about the EV parking space selected by the user as parking space reservation information to the parking space management server 200. The parking space reservation information notified from the accommodation management server 100 is stored in a predetermined database (not shown) of the parking space management server 200.

[0030] Examples of facility reservation information include the name of the accommodation selected by the user, the dates of stay, the number of guests, and the accommodation plan. Examples of parking space reservation information include the identification information of the EV parking space selected by the user, the date and time of use of the EV parking space (including time slots), and the name of the parking lot containing the EV parking space. These are merely examples of facility and parking space reservation information, and the system may include other types of information.

[0031] The operation of the accommodation management server 100 will be explained below with reference to the diagram.

[0032] <Operation> Figure 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of the reservation process performed by the accommodation management server 100. The user accesses the accommodation management server 100 using the user terminal 500 and searches for accommodations that match their desired conditions (e.g., accommodation area, number of guests, budget, etc.). The accommodation management server 100 refers to the accommodation database DB and displays the basic information (e.g., name, address, telephone number, available facilities, accommodation plan, etc.) of one or more accommodations that match the user's preferences on the display panel of the user terminal 500 (step S1). The user selects their desired accommodation, accommodation plan, etc., using the user terminal 500. The user terminal 500 sends the information, including the accommodation and accommodation plan selected by the user, to the accommodation management server 100 as accommodation selection information.

[0033] The first reception unit 131 of the accommodation management server 100 receives accommodation selection information (i.e., information about the accommodation selected by the user) from the user terminal 500 (step S2) and notifies the acquisition unit 120. Upon receiving the notification from the first reception unit 131, the acquisition unit 120 requests the parking space management server 200 to extract and list the EV parking spaces that the user can reserve when staying at the accommodation (step S3). The listing request includes accommodation selection information, etc.

[0034] When the parking space management server 200 receives a list request from the accommodation management server 100, it extracts and lists nearby EV parking spaces that can be used by the user when they stay at the accommodation, based on the accommodation selection information, and sends this parking space list information to the accommodation management server 100. The parking space management server 200 is equipped with an EV parking space management database (not shown) for centrally managing each EV parking space available in the system 1000. The EV parking space management database stores various information about each EV parking space (for example, reservation status, location information, usage fee, available date and time (including time) for each EV parking space). The parking space management server 200 searches the EV parking space management database using the accommodation selection information included in the list request as a search key, extracts and lists nearby EV parking spaces that can be used (reserved) by the user when they stay at the accommodation, and generates parking space list information. The number of EV parking spaces to extract can be arbitrarily set and changed, and may be one or more. However, if there are no nearby EV parking spaces available, parking space list information indicating that there are zero EV parking spaces may be generated.

[0035] When the accommodation management server 100 receives a list of available parking spaces from the parking space management server 200 at the time of stay (for example, on the day of stay) (step S4), the display control unit 140 displays the received list of available parking spaces on the display panel of the user terminal 500 (step S5).

[0036] Figure 5 is an example of the list of reservable parking spaces displayed on the display panel of the user terminal 500. As shown in Figure 5, for each nearby EV parking space that a user can reserve when staying at the accommodation, a parking space list information IFp is displayed on the display panel of the user terminal 500, which includes the distance from the accommodation, the date and time of availability (including the time), the usage fee, the identification number of the EV parking space, the location information of the parking lot containing the EV parking space, and the name of the parking lot. Alternatively, the display control unit 140 may display the parking space list information IFp on a map instead of (or in addition to) displaying it as a list on the display panel of the user terminal 500. For example, the display control unit 140 may pin each parking space list information IFp at the corresponding location on the map based on the location information of the parking lot containing the EV parking space.

[0037] When the user checks the parking space list information IFp, they operate the user terminal 500 to select a desired EV parking space (for example, a second-choice EV parking space) from the list of available EV parking spaces displayed. When the user selects a desired EV parking space, the user terminal 500 sends this as parking space selection information to the accommodation management server 100. On the other hand, if the user does not have a desired EV parking space, they give an input instruction (re-selection instruction) to start over from selecting an accommodation. When the user inputs a re-selection instruction, the user terminal 500 sends this to the accommodation management server 100.

[0038] The second reception unit 132 of the accommodation management server 100 determines whether the user has selected a desired EV parking space based on whether or not parking space selection information has been transmitted from the user terminal 500 (step S6). When the second reception unit 132 receives parking space selection information from the parking space management server 200 (step S6; YES), the confirmation unit 150 confirms the accommodation facility and EV parking space selected by the user (step S7). When the confirmation unit 150 confirms the user's reservation details, it stores the confirmed information in the storage unit 110 as facility reservation information and parking space reservation information (step S8), notifies and sets the parking space reservation information to the parking space management server 200 (step S9), and terminates the reservation process. When the parking space management server 200 receives notification of parking space reservation information from the accommodation management server 100, it stores it in a predetermined database (not shown).

[0039] On the other hand, if the second reception unit 132 receives a re-selection instruction from the parking space management server 200 (step S7; NO), it returns to step S1 and displays a message on the display panel of the user terminal 500 prompting the user to re-select their desired accommodation, accommodation plan, etc. The subsequent processing (i.e., the processing from step S2 onwards) has already been explained and will be omitted here.

[0040] As explained above, according to this embodiment, reservations for accommodation and EV parking spaces can be made together at the same time, making it easier and more convenient for users to reserve accommodation and EV parking spaces.

[0041] B. Variations The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and can be implemented in various other forms without departing from the spirit of the invention. For this reason, the above embodiments are merely illustrative in all respects and should not be interpreted restrictively. For example, the order of the above processing steps can be arbitrarily changed or executed in parallel, as long as there is no inconsistency in the processing content.

[0042] Furthermore, the accommodation management server 100 may pre-set priorities for the parking space list information IFp displayed on the display panel of the user terminal 500. For example, the list may be displayed in order from highest priority to lowest priority, according to the priority order shown below. First priority: EV parking spaces owned by the accommodation facility. Second priority: EV parking spaces owned by partner establishments such as nearby accommodations and parking lots (coin-operated parking lots, etc.) Third priority: EV parking spaces owned by public facilities (such as city halls and airports)

[0043] Furthermore, when a user searches for accommodations, the accommodation management server 100 may recommend EV parking spaces near each accommodation, along with basic information about each accommodation that matches the user's preferences.

[0044] Furthermore, when a user searches for accommodations, the accommodation management server 100 may recommend EV parking spaces near each accommodation, along with basic information about each accommodation that matches the user's preferences.

[0045] Furthermore, the accommodation management server 100 may also be linked with existing EV charging services provided by other businesses, enabling reservations for EV parking spaces maintained and operated by those other businesses.

[0046] Alternatively, instead of (or in addition to) the parking space management server 200, a management server (not shown) for businesses providing EV charging services may be provided. The business management server may centrally manage various information related to EV parking spaces (for example, the reservation status and location information of each EV parking space) under the management of the business.

[0047] Furthermore, in this specification, "part" does not merely mean a physical configuration, but also includes cases where the processing performed by that "part" is implemented by software. Also, the processing performed by one "part" or device may be implemented by two or more physical configurations or devices, or the processing performed by two or more "parts" or devices may be implemented by one physical means or device. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0048] 1000...Reservation system, 100...Accommodation facility management server, 110...Storage unit, 120...Acquisition unit, 130...Reception unit, 131...First reception unit, 132...Second reception unit, 140...Display control unit, 150...Confirmation unit, AP...Reservation application, DB...Accommodation facility database, IFp...Parking space list information

Claims

[Claim 1] The first reception desk accepts accommodation selections from users, A display control unit that displays a list or map of reservable EV parking spaces for vehicle charging facilities on a display device, based on the distance from the accommodation facility selected by the user, After receiving the selection of the aforementioned accommodation, a second reception unit accepts the user's selection of a desired EV parking space from among the reservable EV parking spaces displayed on the display device, A confirmation unit that confirms the reservation of the accommodation facility and the EV parking space selected by the user, A reservation system equipped with the following features.

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