Caregiving arrangement system and caregiving arrangement method

Abstract

To solve the problem that: a system is required that can make collective arrangements for reservations for a caregiver on all routes constituting a travel route of a person requesting assistance.SOLUTION: There is provided an assistance arrangement system for making arrangements for reservations for a caregiver who assists a person requesting assistance. The assistance arrangement system includes: an arrangement management server that selects a route between a departure point and a final destination desired by the person requesting assistance; and a plurality of section servers that divide the route into a plurality of sections and have control over each section of the plurality of sections.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1A

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an assistance arrangement system and method for collectively arranging assistance for the travel routes of persons requiring assistance, such as wheelchair users. [Background technology]

[0002] Individuals who require assistance, such as wheelchair users and those using strollers (hereinafter referred to as "those who require assistance"), often need a caregiver to assist them with their movement when going out, due to structural issues such as steps in buildings or getting on and off public transportation vehicles. In recent years, social understanding of those who require assistance has spread, and structural improvements such as barrier-free design and assistance from transportation staff to those who require assistance have become commonplace. Compared to the past, the environment for people who require assistance to move around has improved considerably. However, assistance for people who require assistance remains limited to certain areas and is insufficient from the perspective of those who require assistance. This causes anxiety about going out for people who require assistance and leads to a decrease in their willingness to go out.

[0003] In this regard, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a boarding and alighting assistance system that allows wheelchair users, who are those who require assistance, to reserve assistance for movement within the station premises and boarding and alighting from trains. In this system, wheelchair users reserve boarding and alighting assistance from a user terminal, and the station staff, who are caregivers, receive the reservation information via a transmission means and display it on their terminal, enabling the station staff to assist the person who made the reservation with boarding and alighting.

[0004] Furthermore, Patent Document 2 similarly discloses a wheelchair assistance system for reserving assistance for wheelchair users who require assistance with boarding and alighting from trains. This system stores the available dates and times for assistance provided by station staff (assistants) that have been pre-entered from station staff terminals on a server. Wheelchair users who require assistance enter their desired date and time of use (desired boarding date and time) from a user terminal, and when the available dates and times of assistance match and are approved, the system displays them on the user terminal so that the wheelchair user can select them. [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 5887703 specification [Patent Document 2] Patent No. 6760750 specification [Overview of the Initiative] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0006] Patent Documents 1 and 2 describe reservation systems that allow caregivers to make it possible for caregivers to assist those seeking assistance in advance. However, these reservation systems are based on the caregiver's availability and adjust the time the person seeking assistance travels accordingly. They are not systems that assume the caregiver will adjust to the person seeking assistance's schedule, and therefore have the problem that the outings desired by the person seeking assistance may not be realized.

[0007] Furthermore, in Patent Documents 1 and 2, the departure and destination stations booked by the person seeking assistance belong to the same railway company, but the part of the journey the person seeking assistance wants assistance for is the entire route between the departure and final destination. Even if assistance can be booked for a portion of the route between the departure and final destination, the person seeking assistance must arrange for assistance for the remaining portion of the route themselves, which does not alleviate the person seeking assistance's anxiety about going out, the psychological and physical burden on the caregiver going out remains significant, and does not lead to an improvement in the person seeking assistance's willingness to go out.

[0008] To increase the motivation of those seeking assistance to go out, a reservation system is essential that allows for the pre-arrangement of caregiver assistance for the entire route between the person seeking assistance's starting point and their final destination. Furthermore, a reservation system is essential that respects the desired arrival date and time of the person seeking assistance, allowing caregivers to schedule appointments to accommodate the person's preferred date and time. Moreover, even if the number of people seeking assistance going out increases, a reservation system is essential that can manage caregiver allocation and fulfill the assistance requests of each individual. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] A care arrangement system for making reservations for caregivers to assist a person seeking assistance, the care arrangement system receiving the person seeking assistance's desired departure point and final destination, and at least one of the desired departure time from the departure point and the desired arrival time at the final destination, selecting a route between the departure point and the final destination, dividing the route into a plurality of segments, and calculating the travel time for passing through the intermediate points at both ends of each of the plurality of segments based on at least one of the desired departure time and the desired arrival time, the arrangement management server The arrangement management server comprises a plurality of section servers, each of which has jurisdiction over one of the plurality of sections. The arrangement management server requests each of the plurality of section servers to determine whether it is possible to place an assistant to assist the person seeking assistance during the transit time when the person passes through the transit points at both ends of the section that each of the plurality of section servers has jurisdiction over. Each of the plurality of section servers performs the assistance availability determination based on the request and transmits a signal corresponding to the result of the assistance availability determination to the arrangement management server.

[0010] A care arrangement method for making reservation arrangements for caregivers to assist a support requester by an arrangement management server and a care arrangement system including a plurality of section servers, the care arrangement method comprising the steps of: receiving, by the arrangement management server, the desired departure point, final destination, and at least one of a desired departure time at the departure point and a desired arrival time at the final destination of the support requester, selecting a route between the departure point and the final destination, dividing the route into a plurality of sections constituting the route, and calculating passing times for passing through waypoints at both ends of each of the plurality of sections through calculation based on at least one of the desired departure time and the desired arrival time; requesting, by the arrangement management server, each of the plurality of section servers that govern each of the plurality of sections to perform available assistance determination for determining whether a caregiver who assists the support requester can be arranged at said passing time when passing through said waypoints at both ends of the section governed by each of the plurality of section servers among the plurality of sections; and performing, by each of the plurality of section servers, said available assistance determination based on the request, and transmitting a signal corresponding to a result of the available assistance determination to the arrangement management server. The problem is solved by the care arrangement method comprising the above steps. Effects of the Invention

[0011] According to the present invention, it is possible to make centralized reservation arrangements for caregivers on all routes constituting the travel route of the support requester. In addition, caregivers can be arranged in advance in response to a prior assistance request from the support requester, which makes it possible to reduce the load of caregiver deployment. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0012] [Figure 1A] 1 shows the configuration of a care arrangement system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 1B] 2 shows the functions of the care arrangement system of the present invention. [Figure 2] 3 shows a flowchart of a care arrangement process of the care arrangement system of the present invention. [Figure 3] 4 shows an example of the concept of a care arrangement process of the care arrangement system of the present invention. [Figure 4] This diagram shows a flowchart of the assistance arrangement process as a post-reservation function of the assistance arrangement system of the present invention. [Figure 5] This shows the configuration of an assistance arrangement system, which is a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6A] This shows a first aspect of the assistance arrangement system according to a third embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6B] This shows a second aspect of the assistance arrangement system according to a third embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6C] This shows a third aspect of the assistance arrangement system according to a third embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6D] This shows a fourth aspect of the assistance arrangement system according to the third embodiment of the present invention. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0013] (Embodiment of the First Embodiment of the Present Invention) The first embodiment of the assistance arrangement system 1a of the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 1A and 1B through 3. Figure 1A shows the configuration of the assistance arrangement system 1a, and Figure 1B explains the function of the assistance arrangement system 1a. The upper part of Figure 1B shows the configuration of the assistance arrangement system 1a, and the lower part of Figure 1B shows the route R01 selected by the assistance arrangement system 1a. Figure 2 is a flowchart illustrating the assistance arrangement process of the assistance arrangement system 1a. Figure 3 is a diagram showing an overview of the assistance arrangement process of the assistance arrangement system 1a.

[0014] The assistance arrangement system 1a comprises an arrangement management server 2, a network 3, and section servers 4. The arrangement management server 2 comprises a processing unit 2a and a storage device 2b, and each section server 4 comprises a processing unit 4a and a storage device 4b. Each section server 4 is connected to the arrangement management server 2 via the network 3.

[0015] As described below, the arrangement management server 2 and the section server 4 are defined as follows. The arrangement management server 2 divides the route under its jurisdiction into sections and requests assistance availability determination from the section server 4, which is in charge of each section. Finally, if assistance is available in all sections, it is defined as an information processing device that determines that assistance is available in all sections and confirms the route as an assistance reservation route. On the other hand, the section server 4 is defined as an information processing device that, based on the assistance availability determination request from the arrangement management server 2, determines the assistance availability for the section under its jurisdiction and transmits the result of the assistance availability determination (a signal corresponding to the result) to the arrangement management server 2.

[0016] Network 3 is connected to the support request terminal 5, and the support request terminal 5 is connected to the arrangement management server 2 via Network 3. Support requesters can use the support request terminal 5 to access the arrangement management server 2 and use the assistance arrangement system 1a. The assistance arrangement system 1a selects route R01 based on the support request information entered in the support request terminal 5 through a process described later.

[0017] Figure 1B is an example diagram showing the assistance arrangement system 1a and the route R01 selected by the assistance arrangement system 1a. Route R01 is from the starting point T ST From the final destination T END This is route R01 to [destination]. The arrangement management server 2 divides route R01 into at least two sections using a process described later. In this example, route R01 is divided into sections D01, D02, D03, D04, D05, D06, D07, and D08. Section server 4 is composed of multiple section servers. In this example, section server 4 is composed of section servers 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, and 47. Each of section servers 41 to 47 is responsible for a section corresponding to each of sections D01 to D08. In Figure 1B, the dashed lines connecting each of section servers 41 to 47 to each of sections D01 to D08 do not represent actual connections, but rather symbolize the conceptual relationship of responsibility.

[0018] For example, in route R01, section D01 is defined between the departure point T ST and waypoint T01, and is a section including departure point T ST and waypoint T01; section D02 is defined between waypoint T01 and waypoint T02, and is a section including waypoint T01 and waypoint T02; section D03 is defined between waypoint T02 and waypoint T03, and is a section including waypoint T02 and waypoint T03; section D04 is defined between waypoint T03 and waypoint T04, and is a section including waypoint T03 and waypoint T04; section D05 is an internal section of waypoint T04; section D06 is defined between waypoint T04 and waypoint T05, and is a section including waypoint T04 and waypoint T05; section D07 is defined between waypoint T05 and waypoint T06, and is a section including waypoint T05 and waypoint T06; section D08 is defined between waypoint T06 and the final destination T END , and is a section including waypoint T06 and final destination T END .

[0019] Route R01 is a route selected by the arrangement management server 2 based on input of departure point T ST and final destination T END desired by any user of the assistance arrangement system 1a. When determining route R01, the arrangement management server 2 simultaneously determines waypoints T01 to T06 and sections D01 to D08. That is, the arrangement management server 2 receives the desired "departure point", "final destination", and "desired arrival time at destination" from the person seeking assistance through an assistance arrangement process described later, and selects route R01 between departure point T ST and final destination T END . Then, the arrangement management server 2 divides route R01 into constituent sections D01 to D08, performs backward calculation starting from the "desired arrival time at destination", and calculates the passing time at departure point T ST , waypoints T01 to T06, and final destination T END , which are located at both ends of each of sections D01 to D08.

[0020] Route R01 consists of multiple sections, each of which represents all routes taken by the person seeking assistance. These sections include transportation routes (such as aircraft, vehicles, and ships) used by the person seeking assistance, internal facility routes (such as routes involving the person seeking assistance moving independently without using public transportation), and free movement routes (which can be freely set by the assistance provider). For example, a typical transportation route section could be any airline route, any railway route, any bus route, any taxi route within a taxi company's service area, or any passenger ship route. A typical internal facility route section could be a route within a museum, art gallery, theater, cinema, or other public facility. An example of a free movement route section would be a route where an assistance provider assigns an assistant to the person seeking assistance on their desired route. In other words, these sections are locations where a section server 4 is deployed to manage each route section, and preparations are made in advance by the deployed section server 4 to allow for the deployment of caregivers so that they can assist the person seeking assistance during their movement. For example, in the case of air routes and railways, these locations are within the section of the route from the station or airport as needed, where staff members acting as caregivers are deployed to assist the person seeking assistance. In the case of bus routes and taxis, bus drivers and taxi drivers are deployed at the boarding and alighting points, and within the section, so that they can assist the person seeking assistance. In addition, in museums and art galleries, there are movement routes inside, and staff are deployed so that the person seeking assistance can be assisted along the movement route from the starting point to the ending point. Furthermore, in free movement route sections, at least one caregiver is deployed so that they can be arranged to assist the person seeking assistance along a free route from the desired starting point to the desired ending point within a designated area. All of these deployments can be realized by the section server 4. In Figure 1B, each of the sections D01 to D08 corresponds to one of these route sections. Each section includes the start and end points of these sections, as well as the waypoint T. ST , and the final destination TEND Intermediate transit points T01 to T06 are defined as being included in their respective sections D01 to D08. Transit points T01 to T06 are the starting and ending points of the sections, such as airports, train stations, bus terminals, taxi stands, reception areas of public facilities, and the two ends of the free travel route. Departure point T ST , and the final destination T END These locations include, for example, the home of the person seeking assistance or the hotel where they are staying.

[0021] Section servers 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, and 47, which belong to section server 4, also correspond to these and are servers located in the entities that operate the sections. That is, if the section is a transportation service, it is a server located in and managed by an entity that manages the section, such as an airline, railway company, bus company, taxi company, or passenger shipping company; if it is a public facility, it is a entity that manages the section, such as a movie theater, museum, or art gallery; and if it is a free travel route section, it is a server located in and managed by an entity that manages the section, such as a care manager's office or an assistant placement agency. Section servers 4 are located and can be connected to the arrangement management server 2 via network 3, and all route sections that are under the jurisdiction of section server 4 and where assistants who can assist those seeking assistance at the base points at both ends of the section can be arranged are defined as sections. That is, as shown in the example in Figure 1B, section servers 4 (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, and 47), which belong to section server 4, are connected to the arrangement management server 2 via network 3. Typically, airlines, railway companies, bus companies, and taxi companies each have many routes and many base points. In other words, the route R01 and its respective sections D01 to D8 shown in Figure 1B are sections D01 to D08 of the route that belongs to the selected route R01 within each respective route.

[0022] Next, with reference to Figure 2, the assistance arrangement process of the assistance arrangement system 1a will be explained in detail. First, the person seeking assistance uses the assistance requester terminal 5 to input their characteristic information. The arrangement management server 2 receives this characteristic information and stores it in the storage device 2b in advance (S101). Since there are many people seeking assistance, the information is stored in a way that manages each person's characteristic information as separate data. This process can be defined as a process that can be executed in advance, even before the time assistance is actually booked. The characteristic information is information that is useful for the caregiver to prepare for assistance for the person seeking assistance, and includes, for example, "type and degree of disability or need for assistance," "degree of walking ability," "whether or not to check the wheelchair as luggage when boarding a vehicle," and "type, size, and storage requirements of the wheelchair." The characteristic information only needs to be information that is useful in advance for preparing for assistance, and can include all other information.

[0023] Next, the person requesting assistance enters the assistance arrangement process, in which they arrange for an assistant to be present for their outing using the assistance arrangement system 1a. The person requesting assistance uses the assistance request terminal 5 to input assistance request information. The arrangement management server 2 receives this assistance request information and executes the assistance reservation processing process on the processing unit 2a (S102). Here, the assistance request information is stored in the storage device 2b as needed. The assistance request information is, for example, a route that includes the "departure point" where assistance is requested, the "final destination," and at least one of the "desired departure time" from the departure point and the "desired arrival time" at the final destination. If at least one of the "desired departure time" and "desired arrival time" is received, the "arrival time" and "departure time" can be calculated as follows: The "arrival time" can be calculated by the arrangement management server 2 using the assistance arrangement process, by accumulating the estimated time spent in each section of the route from the "desired departure time." The "departure time" can be calculated by the arrangement management server 2 using the assistance arrangement process, by accumulating the estimated time spent in each section of the route from the "desired arrival time." Furthermore, the information requested for assistance can include "preferred routes" such as the mode of transportation to be used, and "preferred transit points" to tourist destinations. For example, in the example in Figure 1B, the departure point T ST and final destination T ENDand final destination T END The person requesting assistance enters their desired arrival time, and the arrangement management server 2 receives this information. The pre-process (S101) in which the person requesting assistance enters their characteristic information and the arrangement management server 2 stores this characteristic information in storage device 2b may be included in and executed simultaneously with the process of entering and processing this assistance request information (S102).

[0024] Next, the arrangement management server 2 selects at least one provisional route based on the support request information and divides that route into sections according to the type of route (S103). If the support request information includes a "desired route" or "desired waypoint," it prioritizes that when determining the provisional route and waypoint. If multiple provisional routes are selected, a priority order is assigned to those routes. This priority order corresponds to the order in which the arrangement management server 2 considers them in the subsequent processes of the assistance arrangement process. In the example in Figure 1B, for example, the arrangement management server 2 selects route R01 based on the support request information and divides route R01 into sections D01 to D08. This simultaneously defines waypoints T01 to T06. At this time, calculating backward from the "desired arrival time at destination," the departure points T at both ends of each section D01 to D08 are determined. ST and transit points T01 to T06 and final destination T ENDThe transit time is calculated for each intermediate stop. Here, "transit time" is defined as the time determined by at least one of the arrival time at any intermediate stop and the departure time from that intermediate stop. For example, the transit time is defined as the time of arrival at any intermediate stop and the time of departure from that intermediate stop. Also, at the departure point and the final destination, the transit time is defined as the departure time and arrival time, respectively. Furthermore, "calculation of transit time" is defined as determining the transit time at each intermediate stop (for example, from T01 to T06) from the timetable of the service (air, rail, ship, etc.) in each section (for example, from D01 to D08) and the scheduled required time. In this example, the calculation (selection and proposal) of transit time can be performed by the booking management server 2. Alternatively, it may be configured so that the section server 4 performs this instead of the booking management server 2. In this case, the booking management server 2 can propose a range of transit times as a guideline to the section server 4, and the section server 4 can determine the transit time based on that.

[0025] For example, as information requesting assistance, specifically, the departure point T ST The recipient's home is the final destination T. END The designated hotel is where the person seeking support will enter their desired route, which includes air travel and a stopover at the art museum (T04). This will determine the departure point (T04), which is the person's home. ST From there, the final destination is the hotel T END Route R01 is defined, stopping at transit point T01, which is the airport nearest to the home, and transit point T04, which is an art museum. Then, route R01 is defined from the departure point T01, which is the home of the person seeking support. STSection D01 is the taxi route from your nearest airport (T01), Section D02 is the flight from your nearest airport (T01) to the transit airport (T02), Section D03 is the rail route from transit airport (T02) to transit airport / station (T03) to the nearest airport / station to the museum, Section D4 is the taxi route from transit station (T03) to the museum (T04), Section D5 is the viewing of the museum (T04), Section D06 is the taxi route from transit station (T05) to transit station (T05) to the nearest station to the museum, Section D07 is the rail route from transit station (T05) to transit station (T06) to the nearest station to the hotel, Section D06 to the final destination (T04) END The route to the hotel is divided into section D08.

[0026] Next, the arrangement management server 2 transmits the characteristic information stored in the storage device 2b to the section servers 4 (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47) that are in charge of each section D01 to D08, and requests the section servers 4 (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47) to determine if assistance is possible. Here, the transmission of characteristic information includes not only sending all the characteristic information stored in the storage device 2b at once, but also extracting and transmitting a portion of the characteristic information predetermined for each section server 4 from all the characteristic information stored in the storage device 2b. In other words, the information necessary for assistance differs from section to section and from service provider to service provider, and it is convenient to exclude unnecessary information and transmit only the necessary characteristic information. This ensures that only the characteristic information required for each section is transmitted in each section. In response to a request from the arrangement management server 2, the section servers 4 (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47) determine the feasibility of providing assistance by assigning caregivers to each assigned section and / or the intermediate stops at both ends thereof, and calculate the exact transit time to the intermediate stops (S104). For example, the taxi company's section server 41 determines, in section D01, that the departure point T is the home of the person requesting assistance. STThe system checks whether an assistance worker (taxi driver) can be dispatched between the passenger's home airport (T01) and the transit point (T01). If an assistance worker can be dispatched, it sends a flag signal corresponding to the status (hereinafter, "Status OK") indicating that an assistance worker can be dispatched, along with the time for handing over assistance duties to the assistance worker for the next section. On the other hand, if an assistance worker cannot be dispatched, it sends a flag signal corresponding to the status (hereinafter, "Status NG") indicating that an assistance worker cannot be dispatched.

[0027] Similarly, the airline's segment server 42 checks whether an assistant can be assigned to each of the transit airports, T01 (the airport closest to the passenger's home) and T02 (the transit airport). If an assistant can be assigned, it sends a "Status OK" flag signal to the booking management server 2, along with the time for handing over the assistance duties to the assistant for the next segment. If an assistant cannot be assigned, it sends a "Status NG" flag signal to the booking management server 2.

[0028] The railway company's section server 43 checks whether an assistance worker can be stationed at transit point T02, which is a transit airport / station, and transit point T03, which is the station closest to the art museum. If possible, it sends a "Status OK" flag signal and the time for handing over assistance duties to the assistance worker in the next section to the dispatch management server 2. If not possible, it sends a "Status NG" flag signal to the dispatch management server 2. In addition, the taxi company's section server 44 checks whether an assistance worker (taxi driver) can be stationed at transit point D03, the outbound leg from transit point T03, which is the station closest to the art museum, to transit point T04, which is the art museum, and at transit point D06, the return leg from transit point T04, which is the art museum, to transit point T05, which is the station closest to the art museum. If possible, it sends a "Status OK" flag signal and the time for handing over assistance duties to the assistance worker in the next section to the dispatch management server 2. If not possible, it sends a "Status NG" flag signal to the dispatch management server 2.

[0029] Furthermore, the museum's section server 45 checks whether an assistant can be assigned to section D05 of the museum's viewing area. If an assistant can be assigned, it sends a "Status OK" flag signal and the time for handing over assistance duties to the assistant for the next section to the dispatch management server 2. If an assistant cannot be assigned, it sends a "Status NG" flag signal indicating that an assistant cannot be assigned. The railway company's section server 46 checks whether an assistant can be assigned to transit point T05, the station closest to the museum, and transit point T06, the station closest to the accommodation. If an assistant can be assigned, it sends a "Status OK" flag signal and the time for handing over assistance duties to the assistant for the next section to the dispatch management server 2. If an assistant cannot be assigned, it sends a "Status NG" flag signal to the dispatch management server 2. The taxi company's section server 47 sends the time from transit point T06, the station closest to the accommodation, to the final destination T, the hotel where the passenger will stay. END In section D08 up to that point, the system checks whether an assistant (taxi driver) can be assigned. If an assistant can be assigned, it sends a "Status OK" flag signal indicating that an assistant can be assigned, along with the time for handing over the assistance duties to the assistant in the next section, to the dispatch management server 2. If an assistant cannot be assigned, it sends a "Status NG" flag signal indicating that an assistant cannot be assigned.

[0030] The arrangement management server 2 receives the assistance availability determination received from the section servers 4 (41 to 47). In the assistance availability determination for all sections D01 to D08 of the received route R01, if all status flag signals transmitted from all section servers 4 (41 to 47) are "Status OK", the selected route R01 is determined to be an assistance reservation confirmed route. Then, the assistance for each assigned section of route R01 as an assistance reservation confirmed route and its divisions from section D01 to section D08 is finally confirmed (S105). At the same time, the departure point T ST The scheduled departure time and final destination T ENDThe reservation confirmation information, including the arrival time and transit times at each intermediate stop, is sent to the support requester terminal 5. The support requester terminal 5 displays this reservation confirmation information. Furthermore, if necessary, a process can be added for the support requester to approve or reject this reservation confirmation information. At the same time, the reservation confirmation information is sent to each of the section servers 4 (41 to 47) for each section. Each section server 4 (41 to 47) stores the reservation confirmation information and characteristic information in its respective storage device 4b.

[0031] On the other hand, if even one status flag signal transmitted from all section servers 4 (41 to 47) is "Status NG", route R01 and the divided section are discarded, the next route is selected again, and the process returns to the above process (S104) to execute the assistance reservation process again (S105). The next route for which the assistance arrangement process is performed is one of the initially selected multiple routes, and the assistance arrangement process is executed sequentially for each route according to priority.

[0032] In the section server 4 (41 to 47), the determination of whether to issue the "Status OK" flag signal and the "Status NG" flag signal can be performed, for example, as follows: First, the storage device 4b of the section server 4 stores data on the number of available caregivers and the time frame. Then, the processing device 4a of the section server 4 determines whether the requested number of caregivers is within the number of available caregivers stored in the data of the processing device 4a, corresponding to the time frame of the request for assistance availability from the arrangement management server 2. If it is within the remaining number of available caregivers, it determines "Status OK," and if there are no available caregivers remaining, it determines "Status NG."

[0033] Here, with reference to Figure 3, an example of the assistance arrangement process when the flag signal sent to the arrangement management server 2 has a "Status NG" is described. There are two cases for the assistance arrangement process when there is a "Status NG". One is the first example in which the assistance availability determination is made on a different route from the route in which the assistance availability determination with a "Status NG" was made, and the other is the second example in which the assistance availability determination is made on the same route as the route in which the assistance availability determination with a "Status NG" was made, but for a different travel time. Figure 3 shows the concept that when the section server 4 (411 to 414) executes the assistance arrangement process (S101 to S105) described above, it discards the initially selected route R11 and confirms the reservation on the alternative route R12.

[0034] First, we will explain the first example of performing an assistance feasibility determination on a route different from the route for which the assistance feasibility determination was performed and which resulted in a "Status NG". Based on step S103 above, the arrangement management server 2 uses the departure location T entered by the person requesting assistance. ST and final destination T END From there, a provisional desired route R11 is selected, and the desired route R11 is divided into sections D11 and D13, defining intermediate stops T11 and T12. Then, characteristic information is sent to section servers 411 and 412, which are responsible for each section, and a determination is made as to whether assistance is possible. Section server 411 determines whether an assistant can be placed in sections D11 and D13, which are responsible for section server 411, and section server 412 determines whether an assistant can be placed in section D2, which is responsible for section server 412. The determination is made, for example, by the method of determining status OK and status NG as described above.

[0035] At this time, section server 411 determined that caregivers could be placed in sections D11 and D13 and sent a status OK to the dispatch management server 2, but section server 412 determined that there were no caregivers that could be placed in section D12 and sent a status NG to the dispatch management server 2. The dispatch management server 2, because there is a status NG in section D12 of route R11, discards the provisionally selected route R11 and selects route R12.

[0036] Then, route R12 is divided into section D14 and section D16, and intermediate points T13 and T14 are defined. Then, characteristic information is sent to section servers 411, 413 and 414, which are responsible for each section, and a determination is made as to whether assistance is possible. Section server 411 determines whether an assistant can be placed in section D14, which is responsible for section server 411; section server 413 determines whether an assistant can be placed in section D15, which is responsible for section server 413; and section server 414 determines whether an assistant can be placed in section D16, which is responsible for section server 414.

[0037] Then, assuming that all of the section servers 411, 413, and 414 have determined that they can place caregivers in the sections they are responsible for, they send a "Status OK" flag signal to the arrangement management server 2. The arrangement management server 2 determines that the arrangement of caregivers has been confirmed for all sections D14 to D16 of route R12, and confirms route R12 and the sections D14 to D16, which are its divisions, as routes with confirmed caregiver reservations.

[0038] Next, we will explain a second example in which assistance availability is determined for a different travel time on the same route as the one in which assistance availability was determined to be "Status NG". Based on step S103 above, the arrangement management server 2 receives the departure location T entered by the person requesting assistance. ST and final destination T ENDFrom there, a provisional desired route R11 is selected, and the desired route R11 is divided into section D11 and section D13, defining intermediate stops T11 and T12. Then, characteristic information is sent to section servers 411 and 412, which are responsible for each section, and a determination is made as to whether assistance is possible. As in the first example, section server 411 determines that assistance can be placed in sections D11 and D13 and sends status OK to the arrangement management server 2, but section server 412 determines that there are no assistance available in section D12 and sends status NG to the arrangement management server 2. The arrangement management server 2 determines that there is a status NG for section D12 of route R11, and maintains route R11, and the intermediate stops T11 and T12 at both ends of section D11 that constitute the same route R11. st T11 and T12 are the intermediate points at both ends of section D12, and T12 and T are the intermediate points at both ends of section D13. END In each section, different travel times are calculated. Then, characteristic information is sent to section servers 411, 413, and 414, which are responsible for each section, and a determination is made as to whether assistance is possible. Section server 411 determines whether an assistant can be placed in section D14, which is responsible for section server 411; section server 413 determines whether an assistant can be placed in section D15, which is responsible for section server 413; and section server 414 determines whether an assistant can be placed in section D16, which is responsible for section server 414.

[0039] Then, assuming that all section servers 411 and 412 have determined that they can place caregivers in the sections they are responsible for, they send a "Status OK" flag signal to the arrangement management server 2. The arrangement management server 2 determines that the arrangement of caregivers has been confirmed for all sections D11 to D13 of route R11, and confirms route R11 and its divided sections D11 to D13 as routes with confirmed caregiver reservations.

[0040] Here, even if the status is "OK" for all sections of a selected route, if there is a concentration of people requesting assistance in a certain section of that route, the arrangement management server 2 can discard that route and select an alternative route that has sections with fewer people requesting assistance, and then execute the assistance arrangement process on that alternative route. This avoids the concentration of people requesting assistance in certain routes and smooths out the workload of caregivers in each section.

[0041] The process of smoothing the caregiver's workload will be explained with reference to Figure 3 as follows: Specifically, the arrangement management server 2, based on step S103 above, processes the departure location T entered by a person requesting assistance. ST and final destination T END From this, route R11 and its alternative route R12 are provisionally selected. Route R11 is then divided into section D11 and section D13, defining intermediate stops T11 and T12, while the alternative route R12 is divided into section D14 and section D16, defining intermediate stops T13 and T14. Then, characteristic information is sent to section servers 411 and 412, which are responsible for each section, and a determination is made as to whether assistance is possible. As a result, section servers 411 and 412 send a status OK to the arrangement management server 2 if there are remaining caregivers in the time frame for which the support request was made. At this time, if the arrangement management server 2 determines that there are many support requests in the time frame in which the person seeking support is requesting support in section D11 to D13 of route R11, it discards the provisionally selected route R11 and sends characteristic information to section servers 411, 413, and 414, which are responsible for each section of the alternative route R12, to request a determination of whether assistance is possible. This makes it possible to smooth out support requests across multiple routes.

[0042] The above is a description of the assistance arrangement system 1a. Next, referring to Figure 4, we will explain the function of the assistance arrangement system 1a when the person seeking assistance actually moves according to the confirmed reservation information after the reservation is completed. Normally, the person seeking assistance moves along the confirmed route based on the confirmed reservation information obtained through the assistance arrangement process. The assistance arrangement system 1a has a function to identify and track the point in time when the person seeking assistance passes through each intermediate stop after the person seeking assistance has started moving with a confirmed schedule. In this tracking, obstacles to movement may occur, such as delays or disruptions to transportation in some sections of the route, or sudden changes in the plans of the person seeking assistance along the route. In other words, this function allows the assistance arrangement system to make an assistance reservation for the remaining route after the obstacle occurs when such obstacles to movement occur. This will be explained below.

[0043] First, while the supporter was traveling according to the reservation information, they were unable to proceed in a section of the route due to disruptions in transportation services. Therefore, First, the arrangement management server 2 determines the current location of the person requesting assistance as the initial location and identifies the remaining route (S201). The current location is identified by the function that tracks the person requesting assistance.

[0044] The arrangement management server 2 selects an alternative temporary route for the remaining route and divides the route into sections (S202). Then, the section servers corresponding to each section determine whether assistance is possible and send the determination result (a signal corresponding to the determination result) to the arrangement management server (S203). If all section servers determine that assistance is possible, the temporary route is decided as the reservation change route. On the other hand, if even one section server determines that assistance is not possible, the temporary route is discarded, an alternative route is selected, and step S203 is executed (S204). These steps S202 to S204 are the same procedure as steps S103 to S105 described above. Through this step, the remaining route is determined as a new route, and the person requesting assistance can change to the new route and continue their journey.

[0045] (Second Embodiment) The first embodiment of the assistance arrangement system 1a has been described above. However, the assistance arrangement system 1b of the second embodiment, as shown in Figure 5, can also be used. In the first embodiment of the assistance arrangement system 1a, the arrangement management server 2 and the section server 4 are connected by a network 3. However, in the second embodiment of the assistance arrangement system 1b, the arrangement management server 2 and the section server 4 are configured as a cloud 6 without the concept of arrangement management server 2 and section server 4, and the functions of arrangement management server 2 and section server 4 are realized by the cloud 6. In this configuration, the assistance requester terminal 5 connects to the cloud 6 and uses the assistance arrangement system 1b as the cloud 6. Except for the fact that the arrangement management server 2 and section server 4 are configured as the cloud 6, the functions and operations of the assistance arrangement system 1b are the same as those of the first embodiment of the assistance arrangement system 1a.

[0046] (Third embodiment) Next, the assistance arrangement system of the third embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 6A to 6D. Figures 6A to 6D show the assistance arrangement system of the third embodiment. The hardware configuration of the assistance arrangement system of the third embodiment is the same as that of the assistance arrangement system 1a of the first embodiment or the assistance arrangement system 1b of the second embodiment. Here, for convenience, the explanation will be given in the case where the arrangement management server 2 and the section server 4 are connected by network 3, similar to the assistance arrangement system 1a of the first embodiment, but the arrangement management server 2 and the section server 4 may be connected by the cloud, similar to the assistance arrangement system 1b of the second embodiment.

[0047] In the assistance arrangement systems of the first and second embodiments, the selected route is divided into sections, and an assistance availability determination is requested from the section server 4 that has jurisdiction over each divided section (S103). Typically, when requesting an assistance availability determination, the assistance availability determination is requested equally from the section server 4 that has jurisdiction over each of the divided sections. However, in the third embodiment, when requesting an assistance availability determination, a section (priority section) that should be prioritized for assistance availability determination is selected from among the sections divided from the selected route, according to the type of route. First, it is determined that it is possible to place an assistance worker in that priority section. After it is confirmed that assistance is possible in that priority section, an assistance availability determination is requested from the section server 4 that has jurisdiction over each of the sections other than the priority section. The following describes in detail the differences between the assistance arrangement system of the third embodiment and the assistance arrangement systems of the first and second embodiments, and omits the explanation of the points that are the same as the assistance arrangement systems of the first and second embodiments.

[0048] (First aspect) The third embodiment will be described below by dividing it into four embodiments, from the first to the fourth, with reference to Figures 6A to 6D for each embodiment. The first to fourth embodiments are a convenient classification for explanatory purposes, representing different cases depending on the state of the path. They are not restrictive embodiments that would require selecting only one form when implementing the invention, but rather embodiments from the first to the fourth can be simultaneously incorporated into a single embodiment.

[0049] First, the first aspect of the third embodiment will be described. As an example, as shown in Figure 6A, the route is defined as the "originating intermediate point T21 (=Tst)" where support is desired, and the "final destination intermediate point T26 (=Tst) END )" and at least one of the "desired departure time X" of the departure point and the "desired arrival time K1" of the final destination. Since both the departure point and the final destination are types of intermediate stops, here we will treat both the departure point and the final destination as types of intermediate stops for explanation. Similar to the first embodiment, the arrangement management server 2 divides the route into multiple sections D21 to D25. Each section from D21 to D25 is under the jurisdiction of the section servers 4 (421 to 425, respectively). The intermediate stops at both ends of section D21 are T21 and T22, the intermediate stops at both ends of section D22 are T22 and T23, the intermediate stops at both ends of section D23 are T23 and T24, the intermediate stops at both ends of section D24 are T24 and T25, and the intermediate stops at both ends of section D25 are T25 and T26.

[0050] The third embodiment is an embodiment in which, in the first embodiment shown in Figures 1B and 3, when determining whether assistance is possible, the system determines whether it is possible to place an assistance worker by changing the passage time at each waypoint without changing the route, or by changing the route and setting new passage times for waypoints on an alternative route, and then determines that it is an assistance-reserved route when assistance reservations are confirmed for all sections. Therefore, Figure 6A corresponds to route R1 in Figure 1B and route R11 in Figure 3 and is applicable to the first embodiment. The execution of the assistance feasibility determination and the determination of assistance placement in each section will be explained below using specific times. Here, the time of departure from a waypoint is expressed as the passage time (departure), and the time of arrival at a waypoint is expressed as the passage time (arrival).

[0051] As shown in Figure 6A, the person requesting assistance has provided the following as their desired route: "Departure point (intermediate location T21)", "Final destination (intermediate location T26)", and at least one of the "Desired departure time X (9:45)" from the departure point and "Desired arrival time K1" at the final destination, which is "Desired departure time X (9:45)".

[0052] The arrangement management server 2 divides the desired route into multiple sections D21 to D25 that constitute the route. In the first embodiment, the arrangement management server 2 calculates the travel time through intermediate points T21 to T26 for each of the section servers 421 to 425 that have jurisdiction over the multiple sections D21 to D25, based on the "desired departure time X (9:45)", and in parallel requests for assistance availability determination to determine whether it is possible to assign an assistant to assist the person requesting assistance for that travel time in the section D21 to D25. However, in the third embodiment, after dividing the route into multiple sections D21 to D25, a dominant section is set as a priority section when determining the route for confirming assistance reservations within that section. The priority section is the section for which assistance availability determination should be performed first, before other sections.

[0053] Priority sections are determined by the priority given to determining which sections should be prioritized for assistance feasibility assessment. The priority given is a predetermined degree of priority for any given date and time. The priority given is a predetermined section for any given date and time, due to reasons such as a limited number of means of transportation per day (e.g., flights or trains), restrictions such as the need for reservations for boarding, reserving seats, etc., or a limited number of assistance providers. The priority given may be determined as a binary choice, such as "routes that should be determined with priority" or "routes that do not have priority in determination," or it may be defined by assigning levels (e.g., 5 levels) to the degree to which the possibility of assistance from caregivers should be determined for those routes. For example, for "Shinkansen" (bullet trains) and "airline flights," seats are reserved and assigned, so it is necessary to determine the transit time in order to prioritize the placement of caregivers. Therefore, the priority for determining the suitability of these routes should be set to the highest. On the other hand, for routes where seats are not reserved and there are many means of transportation on the route, such as conventional trains and buses, the priority for determining the suitability of these routes should be set to the lowest. In this way, the criteria for determining the suitability of these routes can be freely set so that the priority is higher for routes where the need to prioritize the placement of caregivers is dominant, and the priority is determined according to the dominance of each section within the route when considering the placement of caregivers. The arrangement management server 2 compares the determination priorities of each section within the divided sections, determines the priority of the assistance suitability determination for each section, and performs the assistance suitability determination for multiple sections in an order according to the determination priority. For example, as shown in Figure 6, let's explain by assuming that section D23 has the highest determination priority among multiple sections D21 to D25. For example, section D23 is a bullet train or air travel, while the other sections are rail lines, buses, or taxis leading to that point.

[0054] In the arrangement management server 2, in parallel with dividing the route into multiple sections D21 to D25, it calculates the transit times A1 to K1 at the transit points T21 to T26 at both ends of each section D21 to D25. That is, similar to the first embodiment, the transit times A1 to K1 at each transit point T21 to T26 are identified and determined from the timetable of the service (air, rail, ship, etc.) in each section D21 to D25 and the scheduled required time.

[0055] Furthermore, the meaning of performing the process in an order corresponding to the priority of the judgment means that the request for assistance availability determination is made first to the priority section with the highest judgment priority (priority request). In other words, the arrangement management server 2 sends a priority request to the section server 423, which is in charge of priority section D23, to determine whether it is possible to place an assistant to assist the person seeking assistance in priority section D23, which has the highest judgment priority. Specifically, the arrangement management server 2 calculates the departure time E1 (e.g., 13:05) and arrival time F1 (e.g., 15:38) of the transit points T23 at both ends of priority section D23, and requests the section server 423 to determine assistance availability for these transit times. In this example, the calculation of transit times (selection and proposal of transit times) is explained as being performed by the arrangement management server 2, but this may also be performed by the section server 4 instead of the arrangement management server 2. In this case, the calculation of transit time (selection and suggestion of transit time) can be configured so that the arrangement management server 2 suggests a range of transit time guidelines to the section server 4, and the section server 4 selects a transit time accordingly. At this stage, among the multiple sections D21 to D25, requests for assistance availability determination are not yet sent to the section servers 421, 422, 424, and 425 for sections other than section D23.

[0056] Then, the section server 423, which has jurisdiction over the priority section D23, determines whether or not it is possible to place an assistant in the priority section D23 as an assistance availability determination. If it is possible to place an assistant, the section server 423 sends a signal corresponding to the possibility of placing an assistant in the priority section D23 as a priority determination signal to the dispatch management server 2. When the dispatch management server 2 receives this signal, if it is possible to place an assistant in the priority section D23, it confirms that it is possible to place an assistant, and the transit time (departure) E1 (for example, 13:05) and transit time (arrival) F1 (for example, 15:38) at the transit points T23 and T24 at both ends of the priority section D23 are determined.

[0057] Following the determination of the placement of caregivers in priority section D23, the process moves on to determining the feasibility of assistance in sections other than priority section D23 and determining the placement of caregivers there. If the priority of the determination of priority section D23 is significantly higher than the priority of the determination of sections other than priority section D23, and the variation in the determination priorities of sections other than priority section D23 is small, typically, after determining the departure time E1 (e.g., 13:05) and arrival time F1 (e.g., 15:38) at the waypoints T23 and T24 at both ends of priority section D23, the feasibility of assistance is determined from the section closest to priority section D23 among the divided sections D21 to D25. That is, the sections closest to priority section D23 are sections D22 and D24, which are adjacent to priority section D23. The arrangement management server 2 requests the section servers 422 and 424, which are responsible for the adjacent sections D22 and D24, to perform an assistance availability determination to determine whether it is possible to place an assistant to assist the person seeking assistance in sections D22 and D24, which are closest to the priority section D23. At this stage, among the multiple sections D21 to D25, the section servers 421 and 425 for sections D21 and D25 other than sections D22 to D24 do not send requests for assistance availability determination. Each of the section servers 422 and 424, which are responsible for sections D22 and D24, calculates the transit time in their respective sections that will allow them to connect to transit times E1 (13:05) and F1 (15:38) at transit points T23 and T24, and determines whether it is possible to place an assistant as part of the assistance availability determination. In other words, in section D22, the scheduling server 2 calculates the departure time (c1) at T22 (e.g., 10:35) and arrival time (d1) at T23 (e.g., 11:07) so that the transit points T22 and T23 at both ends of section D22 can arrive in time for the transit time (e.g., 13:05) at T23. Similarly, in section D24, the scheduling server 2 calculates the departure time (g1) at T24 (e.g., 16:00) and arrival time (d1) at T25 (e.g., 16:24) so ​​that the transit points T24 and T25 at both ends of section D24 can depart in time for the transit time (f1) at T24 (e.g., 15:38).As described above, these calculations may be performed not by the arrangement management server 2, but by the section server 422 which has jurisdiction over section 22 and the section server 424 which has jurisdiction over section 24, calculating the transit time (departure) C1, transit time (arrival) D1, transit time (departure) G1, and transit time (arrival) H1. The arrangement management server 2 then sends a request to the section servers 422 and 424 for assistance availability determination. If it is possible to place an assistant at these transit times, the section servers 422 and 424 send a signal to the arrangement management server 2 indicating that it is possible to place an assistant in their respective sections. When the arrangement management server 2 receives this signal, it confirms that it is possible to place an assistant in the section from D22 to D24, and the transit times C1 to H1 at the transit points T22 to T25 at both ends of each section from D22 to D24 are determined. Similarly, the departure time A1 (e.g., 10:00) and arrival time B1 (e.g., 10:18) at the transit point T21 at both ends of section D21, and the departure time J1 (e.g., 16:45) and arrival time K1 (e.g., 17:23) at the transit point T25 at both ends of section D25 are calculated. The arrangement management server 2 sends a request for assistance availability determination to section server 421, which has jurisdiction over section 21, and section server 425, which has jurisdiction over section 25. Section servers 421 and 425 send a signal to the arrangement management server 2 indicating that assistance is available in their respective sections if assistance is available at these times. When the arrangement management server 2 receives the signal, it finally determines that it is possible to place an assistant in all sections from section D21 to D25, and determines the passage times A1 to K1 at all waypoints T21 to T26 in these sections as the confirmed assistance reservation route. Thus, the third embodiment differs from the first and second embodiments in that it first determines the passage times at the waypoints T23 and T24 at both ends of priority section D23, which has the highest priority for determining whether assistance is possible.

[0058] (Second aspect) Next, a second aspect of the third embodiment will be described. In the first aspect, a representative example was described in which, following the determination of the placement of the caregiver in priority section D23, the determination of whether assistance is possible is made starting from the side closest to priority section D23. In the second aspect, the determination of whether assistance is possible is not made starting from the side closest to priority section D23. For example, this may be the case when the determination priority of sections other than priority section 23 is about the same as or lower than the determination priority of priority section 23, but there are sections with relatively high determination priority among the sections other than priority section 23. In this case, following the determination of the placement of the caregiver in priority section D23, the determination of whether assistance is possible is made not in sections close to priority section D23, but in sections that are far from priority section D23 but have relatively high determination priority. This will be explained with reference to Figure 6B. Figure 6B shows the same route as in the first aspect.

[0059] Here, we assume that section D23 has the highest judgment priority, and section 21 has a judgment priority that is lower than D23's but relatively higher than the other sections. In this case, section D23 is the priority section and section 21 is the secondary priority section. In this case, instead of determining whether caregivers can be placed and the passage times for each waypoint starting from the side closest to priority section D23, we first determine whether caregivers can be placed and the passage times for each waypoint in the secondary priority section D21, even if it is a section far from priority section D23. After that determination, we then determine whether caregivers can be placed and the passage times for each waypoint in section D22, which has not yet been determined, by interpolating the passage times for each waypoint. At the same time, we determine whether caregivers can be placed and the passage times for each waypoint in all other sections. The following will explain this using specific passage times for each waypoint.

[0060] Here, the determination of "whether it is possible to place an assistant in each section" and "the time to pass through the waypoints" means, without further explanation, the following procedure as described above. Specifically, the arrangement management server 2 or the section server 4 in charge calculates the time to pass through the waypoints at both ends of the section subject to the assistance availability determination, the arrangement management server 2 requests the section server 4 to determine whether it is possible to place an assistant at that time, and the section server 4 determines whether it is possible to place an assistant as part of the assistance availability determination. When the section server 4 transmits a signal indicating that it is possible to place an assistant and the arrangement management server 2 receives that signal, the arrangement management server 2 makes the final determination of whether it is possible to place an assistant in that section and the time to pass through each waypoint.

[0061] First, for priority section D23, the arrangement management server 2 calculates the departure time E1 (e.g., 13:05) and arrival time F1 (e.g., 15:38) at transit points T23 and T24 at both ends of priority section D23, and confirms that it is possible to place an assistant at the time of passage in section 23 and that the time of passage at each transit point is determined. Subsequently, or in parallel thereafter, for semi-priority section D21, the server calculates the departure time A2 (e.g., 9:30) at transit point T21 at both ends of semi-priority section D21 and the arrival time B2 (e.g., 9:48) at transit point T22, and confirms that it is possible to place an assistant at the time of passage in section 21 and that the time of passage at each transit point is determined. Then, in section D22 between the semi-priority section D21 and the priority section D23, calculations are performed to interpolate the passage time so that it can connect to the passage times E1 (13:05) and F1 (15:38) at intermediate stops T23 and T24. The passage time (departure) C2 (e.g., 10:15) at intermediate stop T22 and the passage time (arrival) D2 (e.g., 10:47) at intermediate stop T23 are calculated to determine whether it is possible to place an assistant and to confirm the passage time at each intermediate stop. Similarly, for the intermediate stops T24 and T25 at both ends of the other section D24, the transit time (arrival) G2 at intermediate stop T24 (e.g., 16:21) and transit time (arrival) H2 at intermediate stop T25 (e.g., 16:45) are calculated from the transit time (arrival) F1 at T24 of the priority section D23 that has not yet been determined, confirming that an assistant can be assigned and determining the transit times at the intermediate stops. Similarly, for the intermediate stops T25 at both ends of section D25, the transit time (arrival) J2 (e.g., 17:00) and transit time (arrival) K2 (e.g., 17:40) at transit stop T26 are calculated to confirm that an assistant can be assigned and determining the transit times at each intermediate stop. Finally, it is confirmed that an assistant can be assigned in all sections from D21 to D25, and the transit times at all intermediate stops T21 to T26 in these sections are confirmed as the assistant reservation confirmed route. This allows for the placement of caregivers in all sections of high-priority assessment areas and enables efficient determination of passage times without rework.

[0062] (Third aspect) Next, with reference to Figure 6C, the third aspect of the third embodiment will be described. Figure 6C shows the same route as the first aspect. The first and second aspects are processes that occur when the arrangement management server 2 receives a signal from the section server 4 indicating that an assistant can be placed at each waypoint, in order from the priority section D23, starting with the section with the highest judgment priority, in determining whether an assistant can be placed at each waypoint and the passage time. On the other hand, the third aspect is a process that determines whether an assistant can be placed and the passage time when the result of the assistance availability determination indicates that an assistant cannot be placed. In this aspect, when the arrangement management server 2 receives a signal from the section server 4 indicating that an assistant cannot be placed, the arrangement management server 2 calculates different passage times at the same waypoint and requests an assistance availability determination to determine whether an assistant can be placed for this passage time.

[0063] In this embodiment as well, section D23 has a high priority for determination, and this section is considered a priority section. As explained in the first embodiment, the dispatch management server calculates the transit time (departure) A1 (10:00) to the transit time (arrival) K1 (17:23), and assumes that no assistance availability determination has yet been requested for any section to determine whether an assistance worker can be assigned. Here, similar to the first embodiment, dispatch management server 2 requests section server 423 to perform an assistance availability determination for the transit time (departure) E1 (e.g., 13:05) at transit point T23, which is the transit point at both ends of priority section D23, and the transit time (arrival) F1 (e.g., 15:38) at transit point T24. Section server 423, upon receiving the request for an assistance availability determination, sends a signal to dispatch management server 2 indicating that it is not possible to assign an assistance worker for that transit time based on the result of the determination.

[0064] When sending a signal to the arrangement management server 2 indicating that it is impossible to assign an assistant, or before that, if it is impossible to assign an assistant for the passage time, the section server 423 calculates alternative passage times (other passage times), such as the departure time (E3) at transit point T23 (e.g., 12:35) and the arrival time (F3) at T24 (e.g., 15:08), and confirms that it is possible to assign an assistant for these passage times. Alternatively, if it is still impossible to assign an assistant for these passage times, it calculates alternative passage times (other passage times) until it becomes possible to assign an assistant. When section server 423 sends a signal to the dispatch management server 2 indicating that it is not possible to place an assistant, along with or after that signal, it also sends to the dispatch management server 2 alternative transit times (other transit times), namely the transit time (departure) E3 (for example, 12:35) at transit point T23 and the transit time (arrival) F3 (for example, 15:08) at T24, along with a signal indicating that it is possible to place an assistant at these transit times. Dispatch management server 2 confirms that it is possible to place an assistant in priority section D23 and determines the transit time.

[0065] Alternatively, this process may also take the form of the arrangement management server 2 requesting the section server 423 to calculate an alternative transit time (another transit time) and determine whether assistance is possible when the section server 423 receives a signal from the arrangement management server 2 indicating that it is impossible to place an assistant. Furthermore, the arrangement management server 2 may calculate an alternative transit time (another transit time) and send a request to the section server 423 for a determination of whether assistance is possible during that alternative transit time. The section server 423 may then make a determination of assistance availability in response to this request and send a signal to the arrangement management server 2 indicating that assistance is possible during the alternative transit time. Through these steps, the arrangement management server 2 determines that assistance is possible and the transit time is available in the priority section D23.

[0066] Following the confirmation of the possibility of placing an assistant in priority section D23 and the determination of the passing times at intermediate stops, similar to the first embodiment, for example, in sections D22 and D24 close to priority section D23, the possibility of placing an assistant and the determination of the passing times at intermediate stops are made so as to be appropriately connected with the passing time (departure) E3 at intermediate stop T23 and the passing time (arrival) F3 at intermediate stop T24. Specifically, the passing time (departure) C3 (e.g., 9:58) at T22 corresponding to section D22 and the passing time (arrival) D3 (e.g., 10:30) at T23, and the passing time (departure) G3 (e.g., 15:40) at T24 corresponding to section D24 and the passing time (arrival) H3 (e.g., 16:04) at T25, and the possibility of placing an assistant at these passing times are confirmed. Furthermore, similarly, in sections D21 and D25, the departure time (A3, e.g., 9:25) at T21 corresponding to section D21 and the arrival time (B3, e.g., 9:45) at T22 are determined, as are the departure time (J3, e.g., 16:25) at T25 corresponding to section D25 and the arrival time (K3, e.g., 17:03) at T26, and the fact that an assistant can be positioned during these transit times. This confirms that an assistant can be positioned in all sections D21 to D25 and the transit times at intermediate points are determined, and each transit time at all intermediate points T21 to T26 in these sections is confirmed as an assistant reservation confirmed route. In this third embodiment, we explained the example of determining "the possibility of placing an assistant" and "the time to pass" from the side of the section closest to the priority section D23. However, in the third embodiment as well, as in the second embodiment, it is also possible to determine the possibility of placing an assistant and the time to pass in each section based on the judgment priority in sections far from the priority section D23.

[0067] (Fourth aspect) Next, the fourth aspect of the third embodiment will be described with reference to Figure 6D. Figure 6D shows an example in which a part of the route in the first embodiment is an alternative route. The third embodiment was an embodiment in which, because it is impossible to place an assistant in any section, an alternative travel time is calculated in the same section, and the possibility of placing an assistant and the travel time are determined for that alternative travel time. In the fourth embodiment described here, when it is impossible to place an assistant in any section, the arrangement management server 2 selects an alternative route for that section, divides that route into one or more sections, and applies the first to third embodiments to the divided sections to determine "whether it is possible to place an assistant" and "the travel time". Furthermore, the method of selecting and dividing other routes as in the first embodiment can be applied to the point of selecting an alternative route and dividing it into one or more sections.

[0068] The fourth embodiment will now be explained based on the example described in the first embodiment. For example, in the first embodiment, it is determined that "the placement of an assistant is possible" and "the passage time" is determined for priority section D23, and a request for assistance availability determination is made to the respective section servers 421, 422, 424, and 425 that have jurisdiction over the other sections D21, D22, D24, and D25. At that time, it is determined that "the placement of an assistant is possible" and "the passage time" is determined for the intermediate points T21 to T25 corresponding to sections D21 to D24 in section servers 421, 422, and 424. However, at this time, it is determined that a signal corresponding to "the placement of an assistant is not possible" is sent from each section server 425 that has jurisdiction over section D25 to the arrangement management server 2. Upon receiving this signal, the arrangement management server 2 discards the original sections D24 and 25 and designates section D26, connecting intermediate point T24 and intermediate point T26, as an alternative section. It then requests the section server 426, which is responsible for section D26, to calculate the alternative transit time (departure) G4 (16:30) for intermediate point T24 that can be connected to transit time (arrival) F1 (for example, 15:38) at transit point T24, and the alternative transit time (arrival) K4 (18:55) for transit point T24, and to determine if assistance is available at this transit time. If assistance is available, the section server 426 sends a signal to the arrangement management server 2 indicating that assistance is available. The arrangement management server 2 then confirms that assistance is available and the transit time is available for the alternative section D26, and with this, the availability and transit time of assistance for all sections are confirmed, and this is confirmed as the assistance reservation confirmed route.

[0069] In the first to third embodiments described above, the assistance arrangement system 1a and 1b was explained as an example in which one arrangement management server 2 is deployed. However, it is possible to configure the system so that multiple arrangement management servers 2 cooperate in processing. Multiple arrangement management servers 2 can be freely assigned to each type of transportation, region, or route. Furthermore, one of the multiple arrangement management servers 2 may be designated as the principal arrangement management server 2, and configured to have the principal arrangement management server 2 oversee the other arrangement management servers 2. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0070] 1a,1b Assistance arrangement system 2. Arrangement Management Server 3 Network 4-section server 5. Support recipient's device 6 Cloud 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47 Section Servers 411, 412, 413, 414 Section Servers 421, 422, 423, 424, 425, 426 section servers

Claims

1. A care arrangement system for making reservations for caregivers to assist persons who require assistance, wherein the care arrangement system is: A booking management server receives the desired departure point and final destination of the person requesting assistance, at least one of the desired departure time from the departure point and the desired arrival time at the final destination, selects a route between the departure point and the final destination, divides the route into a plurality of sections defined with intermediate points at both ends, and calculates the transit time for each of the plurality of sections to pass through the intermediate points at both ends of each section, based on at least one of the desired departure time and the desired arrival time. The system comprises a plurality of section servers, each of which is responsible for managing one of the plurality of sections, The arrangement management server makes a request to each of the multiple section servers to determine whether it is possible to assign an assistant to assist the person seeking assistance during the transit time when the person passes through the transit points at both ends of the section that each of the multiple section servers has jurisdiction over. An assistance arrangement system in which each of the plurality of section servers performs an assistance availability determination based on the request and transmits a signal corresponding to the result of the assistance availability determination to the arrangement management server.

2. The assistance arrangement system according to claim 1, An assistance arrangement system that determines the route as an assistance reservation confirmed route when the signal of the assistance availability determination result transmitted from all of the multiple section servers corresponds to the fact that the assistance provider can be assigned.

3. The assistance arrangement system according to claim 1, If the signal indicating the result of the assistance feasibility determination transmitted from some of the multiple section servers corresponds to the fact that it is impossible to place the assistance worker, the route is discarded and another route is selected, the other route is divided into multiple sections, and a request for assistance feasibility determination is made to each of the multiple section servers that manage each of those sections. Each of the aforementioned section servers performs the assistance availability determination based on the request and transmits a signal corresponding to the result of the assistance availability determination to the arrangement management server. The arrangement management server is an assistance arrangement system that determines the other route as the confirmed assistance reservation route when it receives signals from all of the multiple route servers indicating that the assistance can be assigned.

4. The assistance arrangement system according to claim 1, When the signal indicating the result of the assistance availability determination transmitted from all of the aforementioned multiple section servers corresponds to the fact that the assistance provider can be assigned, and when there is a concentration of requests for assistance provider reservations from other people in the route or a portion of the aforementioned multiple sections within the route, The aforementioned route is discarded and another route is selected, the other route is divided into multiple sections, and a request for assistance availability determination is made to each of the multiple section servers that manage each of those sections. Each of the aforementioned section servers performs the assistance availability determination based on the request and transmits a signal corresponding to the result of the assistance availability determination to the arrangement management server. The arrangement management server is an assistance arrangement system that determines the other route as the confirmed assistance reservation route when it receives signals from all of the multiple route servers indicating that the assistance can be assigned.

5. The assistance arrangement system according to claim 1, If the signal of the assistance availability determination result transmitted from some of the multiple section servers corresponds to the fact that it is impossible to place the assistance provider, then a request for assistance availability determination is made for a different passage time at the intermediate point on the same route as the route, but different from the passage time at the intermediate point. Each of the aforementioned section servers performs the assistance availability determination based on the request and transmits a signal corresponding to the result of the assistance availability determination to the arrangement management server. The arrangement management server determines the route for the other travel time as the confirmed assistance reservation route when it receives signals from all of the multiple section servers indicating that the assistance can be assigned.

6. An assistance arrangement system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, The arrangement management server, in determining whether assistance is possible, determines the priority of the determination of which section should be prioritized for determining whether assistance is possible for each of the divided sections. The assistance arrangement system is executed for the multiple sections in an order corresponding to the priority of the assistance determination.

7. The assistance arrangement system according to claim 6, The assistance arrangement system determines the route for which assistance is available by performing the assistance availability determination first, in the order according to the priority of determination, in the priority section with the highest priority of determination, when it is possible to place an assistance worker in the priority section with the highest priority of determination and the passage time at the waypoints at both ends of the priority section is determined, performing the assistance availability determination first from the section closer to the priority section, or performing the assistance availability determination first from the section with a higher priority of determination than the section closer to the priority section, and determining it as the route for which assistance is reserved.

8. The assistance arrangement system according to claim 5, The calculation of the other passage times is performed by the section server for the section where it is impossible to place the caregiver, and transmitted to the arrangement management server, as part of the caregiver arrangement system.

9. An assistance arrangement system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, The arrangement management server includes a storage device that stores in advance characteristic information useful as preparation for assistance so that the caregiver can assist the person seeking assistance. The arrangement management server is an assistance arrangement system that transmits at least a portion of the characteristic information to each of the plurality of section servers.

10. An assistance arrangement system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, The aforementioned multiple sections include an assistance arrangement system that includes at least one of the following: air routes, rail routes, bus routes, taxi service sections, and passenger ship routes.

11. The assistance arrangement system according to claim 1, The aforementioned multiple sections include a caregiving arrangement system that allows for the placement of caregivers to assist those seeking assistance.

12. An assistance arrangement system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, The aforementioned arrangement management server and the multiple section servers are configured as a cloud-based assistance arrangement system.

13. A care arrangement system comprising a scheduling management server and multiple section servers, for arranging the reservation of caregivers to assist a person seeking assistance, wherein the care arrangement method is: The arrangement management server receives the desired departure point and final destination of the person requesting assistance, as well as at least one of the desired departure time and desired arrival time at the final destination; selects a route between the departure point and the final destination; divides the route into a plurality of sections defined with intermediate points at both ends; calculates the transit time for each of the plurality of sections to pass through the intermediate points at both ends of each section, based on at least one of the desired departure time and desired arrival time; and defines a plurality of section servers that manage each of the plurality of sections. The arrangement management server makes a request to each of the multiple section servers to determine whether it is possible to assign an assistant to assist the person seeking assistance during the transit time when the person passes through the transit points at both ends of the section under the jurisdiction of each of the multiple section servers. An assistance arrangement method comprising the steps of: each of the plurality of section servers performs an assistance availability determination based on the request, and transmits a signal corresponding to the result of the assistance availability determination to the arrangement management server.

14. A method for arranging assistance according to claim 13, An assistance arrangement method comprising the step of determining the route as an assistance reservation confirmed route when the signal of the assistance availability determination result transmitted from all of the multiple section servers corresponds to the fact that the assistance provider can be assigned.

15. A method for arranging assistance according to claim 13, If the signal of the assistance feasibility determination transmitted from some of the multiple section servers corresponds to the fact that it is impossible to place the assistance worker, the process of discarding the route and selecting another route, dividing the other route into multiple sections, and making a request for the assistance feasibility determination to each of the multiple section servers that manage each of those sections, Each of the aforementioned section servers performs the assistance feasibility determination based on the request and transmits a signal corresponding to the result of the assistance feasibility determination to the arrangement management server. A method for arranging assistance, comprising the step of determining the other route as the assistance reservation confirmation route when the arrangement management server receives signals from all of the multiple route servers indicating that the assistance can be arranged.

16. A method for arranging assistance according to claim 13, When the signal of the assistance availability determination transmitted from all of the aforementioned multiple section servers corresponds to the fact that the assistance provider can be assigned, and when there is a concentration of requests for assistance provider reservations from other people in the route or a portion of the aforementioned multiple sections within the route, the route is discarded and another route is selected, the other route is divided into multiple sections, and a request for assistance availability determination is made to each of the multiple section servers that manage each of the multiple sections. Each of the aforementioned section servers performs the assistance feasibility determination based on the request and transmits a signal corresponding to the result of the assistance feasibility determination to the arrangement management server. A method for arranging assistance, comprising the step of determining the other route as the assistance reservation confirmation route when the arrangement management server receives signals from all of the multiple route servers indicating that the assistance can be arranged.

17. A method for arranging assistance according to claim 13, If the signal of the assistance availability determination result transmitted from some of the multiple section servers corresponds to the fact that it is impossible to place the assistance worker, the process of requesting the assistance availability determination for a different passage time at the intermediate point on the same route as the route, Each of the aforementioned section servers performs the assistance feasibility determination based on the request and transmits a signal corresponding to the result of the assistance feasibility determination to the arrangement management server. A method for arranging assistance, comprising the step of determining the route for the other transit time as the assistance reservation confirmed route when the arrangement management server receives a signal from all of the multiple section servers indicating that the assistance can be arranged.

18. A method for arranging assistance according to any one of claims 13 to 17, The arrangement management server includes a step in determining the priority of the section in which the assistance feasibility determination should be performed preferentially for each of the divided sections, in the assistance feasibility determination. The assistance arrangement method is performed for the multiple sections in an order corresponding to the priority of the assistance determination.

19. A method for arranging assistance according to any one of claims 13 to 17, The process includes pre-storing characteristic information that is useful as preparation for providing assistance to the person seeking assistance, An assistance arrangement method comprising the step of transmitting at least a portion of the characteristic information to each of the plurality of section servers using the arrangement management server.

20. A method for arranging assistance according to any one of claims 13 to 17, The assistance arrangement method includes at least one of the following segments: an air route, a rail route, a bus route, a taxi service segment, or a passenger ship route.

21. A method for arranging assistance according to claim 13, The aforementioned multiple sections include a route section where it is possible to place caregivers to assist those seeking assistance, and this is a method for arranging assistance.

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