Patent Publication Number: US-2020294118-A1

Title: Tire rental management apparatus, and tire rental management method

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to a tire rental management apparatus, and a tire rental management method. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Among tires to be mounted on a vehicle, there are tires to which RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) tags for performing near field communication are attached (see, for example, PTL 1). 
     CITATION LIST 
     Patent Literature 
     PTL 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2017-132292 
     SUMMARY 
     Technical Problem 
     By the way, a service of renting tires to a user is being studied. In such a service, in terms of safety, tire performance equal to or higher than predetermined performance is required to be maintained within a period during which a user desires to rent tires. Here, tires mounted on a vehicle abrade away, for example, by friction with a road surface on which the vehicle is traveling. A degree of abrasion of the tires depends on how the tires are used, and affects tire performance such as maneuverability and braking performance. Therefore, in the service of renting tires as described above, a technique for determining tires (tires whose remaining life does not end) whose tire performance is maintained at equal to or higher than predetermined performance within a period during which the user desires to rent tires, as rental tires to be rented to the user among tires for rental, is desired. 
     An object of the present disclosure which has been made in view of the problem as described above is to provide a tire rental management apparatus and a tire rental management method which are capable of determining tires whose tire performance is maintained at equal to or higher than predetermined performance within a period during which a user desires to rent tires, as rental tires among tires for rental. 
     Solution to Problem 
     A tire rental management apparatus as one aspect of the present disclosure is a tire rental management apparatus which determines a rental tire which is a tire to be rented to a user who desires to rent a tire, the tire rental management apparatus including a memory configured to store rental history of each of a plurality of tires for rental, and a controller configured to estimate remaining life of a tire on a basis of the rental history of the tire stored in the memory and determine the rental tire in accordance with a period during which the user desires to rent a tire and the estimated remaining life. 
     A tire rental management method as one aspect of the present disclosure is a tire rental management method for determining a rental tire which is a tire to be rented to a user who desires to rent a tire, the tire rental management method including a step of storing rental history of each of a plurality of tires for rental, and a step of estimating remaining life of a tire on the basis of the stored rental history of the tire, and determining the rental tire in accordance with a period during which the user desires to rent a tire and the estimated remaining life. 
     Advantageous Effect 
     According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a tire rental management apparatus and a tire rental management method which are capable of determining tires whose tire performance is maintained at equal to or higher than predetermined performance within a period during which a user desires to rent tires, as rental tires among tires for rental. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In the accompanying drawings: 
         FIG. 1  is a view illustrating a configuration example of a tire rental management apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 2  is a view illustrating a configuration example of a memory illustrated in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a flowchart illustrating an example of operation when rental history is stored in the memory illustrated in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a flowchart illustrating an example of operation when traveling history is stored in the memory illustrated in  FIG. 1 ; and  FIG. 5  is a flowchart illustrating an example of operation when rental tires are determined by the tire rental management apparatus illustrated in  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     An embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that, in the drawings, the same reference numerals indicate the same or equivalent components. 
       FIG. 1  is a view illustrating a configuration example of a tire rental management apparatus  10  according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The tire rental management apparatus  10  according to the present embodiment is provided at a store, or the like, of a service provider who provides service of renting tires to a user who desires to rent tires, and determines candidate tires (hereinafter, referred to as rental tires) to be rented to the user among a plurality of tires  1  for rental. 
     The tire rental management apparatus  10  illustrated in  FIG. 1  includes an input interface  11 , an output interface  12 , an acquirer  13 , a memory  14 , and a controller  15 . 
     The input interface  11  accepts input of a condition regarding rental of tires to the user. Examples of the condition to be input to the input interface  11  can include a vehicle on which tires are to be mounted, a size of tires desired to be rented, a period during which tires are desired to be rented, a period during which tires are used (such as, for example, “only winter season”), frequency of use of tires (such as “driving every day” and “approximately several tens of kilometers a week”), a usage area of tires (such as whether or not the area is a snowfall area), a budget, or the like. The input interface  11  outputs the input condition to the controller  15 . 
     The output interface  12  outputs information, or the like, regarding the rental tires determined in accordance with the condition, or the like, input to the input interface  11 . The output interface  12  is configured with, for example, a display, or the like. 
     The acquirer  13  performs wired communication or wireless communication with a vehicle on which the rental tires are mounted, to acquire traveling history of the vehicle in a rental period of the rental tires. The acquirer  13  acquires, for example, a traveling distance, traveling speed, addition-subtraction speed, statuses where an accelerator pedal and a brake pedal is depressed, a traveling route, weather during traveling, a status of a traveling road surface, or the like, in the rental period as the traveling history. Such traveling history can be acquired from various kinds of sensors mounted on the vehicle, an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) which controls operation of the vehicle, or the like. The acquirer  13  acquires traveling history from the vehicle, for example, upon return of the rental tires mounted on the vehicle, or the like. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the memory  14  stores rental history of the tires  1  in association with identification information for identifying the respective tires  1  for rental managed by the service provider (hereinafter, referred to as tire ID information). The memory  14  stores information such as, for example, a rental period of the tires  1 , a rental area of the tires  1  (area where a vehicle to which the tires  1  are rented mainly travels), and a vehicle on which the rental tires are mounted (vehicle to which tires are rented) as the rental history of the tires  1 . Information stored as the rental history is mainly information acquired from the condition regarding rental of tires to the user input to the input interface  11 . 
     Further, as illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the memory  14  stores traveling history of the vehicle on which the tires  1  are mounted in the rental period of the tires  1  in association with the tire ID information of the respective tires  1  for rental. The memory  14  stores information such as, for example, a traveling distance in the rental period of the tires  1 , traveling speed, addition-subtraction speed, and statuses where pedals are depressed as the traveling history of the tires  1 . The information stored as the traveling history is mainly information acquired from the traveling history acquired by the acquirer  13 . 
     Further, as illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the memory  14  stores types of the tires  1  in association with the tire ID information of the respective tires  1  for rental. Examples of the types of the tires  1  can include information such as a size of the tires  1  and whether or not the tires are for winter use. Further, the memory  14  stores information indicating a rental status of the tires  1  (whether or not the tires  1  are being rented) in association with the tire ID information of each of the tires  1  for rental. Note that the memory  14  stores the rental history and the traveling history for each time of rental for the tires  1  which are rented a plurality of times (in an example illustrated in  FIG. 2 , a tire having tire ID information of “0002”). With these kinds of information stored in the memory  14 , it is possible to grasp a rental status, an inventory status, or the like, of the tires  1  for rental. 
     Note that, as illustrated in  FIG. 1 , it is assumed that a transmitter  2  is attached to the tire  1  for rental. The transmitter  2  is, for example, incorporated into the tire  1  (embedded in the tire  1  or pasted on an inner surface of the tire  1 ). Further, the transmitter  2  may be pasted on a surface of the tire  1  if a position where the transmitter  2  is attached is a position where the transmitter  2  is difficult to be removed from the tire  1 , and a position where the transmitter  2  is not affected by contact between the tire  1  and a road surface. The transmitter  2  transmits a predetermined signal, for example, tire ID information of the tire  1  to which the transmitter  2  is attached. Specific examples of the transmitter  2  can include an RFID tag. The RFID tag performs near field (approximately several centimeters to several meters) communication with a reader apparatus using an electromagnetic field, a radio wave, or the like, to exchange information. As described above, in recent years, it is studied to attach an RFID tag to a tire. 
     The tire ID information transmitted by the transmitter  2  attached to the tire  1  can be read by a reader apparatus  3 . The reader apparatus  3  inputs the read tire ID information to the controller  15 . 
     The controller  15  controls overall operation of the tire rental management apparatus  10 . For example, if a condition regarding rental of the tires is input to the input interface  11 , and the tires  1  are rented in accordance with the condition, the controller  15  causes the rental history in accordance with the condition input to the input interface  11  to be stored in the memory  14  in association with the tire ID information of the rented tires  1 . The tire ID information of the tires  1  is read by the reader apparatus  3  upon rental of the tires  1 , and input to the controller  15 . 
     Further, if the acquirer  13  acquires the traveling history from the vehicle on which the tires  1  are mounted upon return of the rented tires  1 , or the like, the controller  15  causes the traveling history to be stored in the memory  14  in association with the tire ID information of the tires  1 . The tire ID information of the tires  1  is, for example, read by the reader apparatus  3  when the tires  1  are returned, and input to the controller  15 . 
     As described above, the transmitter  2  and the reader apparatus  3  perform near field communication in which a communication distance is several centimeters to several meters. Therefore, it is possible to acquire the tire ID information of the tires  1  by only bringing the reader apparatus  3  close to the transmitters  2  attached to the tires  1 . Therefore, it becomes easy to acquire the tire ID information of the tires  1 , so that it becomes easy to manage the tires  1  upon rental, return, or the like. 
     Further, the controller  15  determines rental tires which are tires to be rented to the user among the tires  1  for rental. Specifically, the controller  15  estimates remaining life of each tire  1  on the basis of at least the rental history stored in the memory  14 . Note that the remaining life is a period until an estimated timing at which tire performance equal to or higher than predetermined performance can no longer be obtained. The controller  15 , for example, has data regarding an amount of abrasion of tires and change in tire performance due to abrasion in a case where the tires are used under various conditions, in advance, and estimates the remaining life of the tires  1  for rental on the basis of this data. 
     Then, the controller  15  determines the rental tires in accordance with the period during which the user desires to rent tires, input to the input interface  11 , and the estimated remaining life of the tires  1  for rental. Specifically, the controller  15  determines the tires  1  whose remaining life is longer than the period during which the user desires to rent tires as the rental tires. By this means, it is possible to determine the tires  1  whose remaining life does not end, that is, whose tire performance is maintained at equal to or higher than predetermined performance within the period during which the user desires to rent tires, as the rental tires. 
     Note that, while, in  FIG. 1 , description has been provided using an example where the tire rental management apparatus  10  includes the controller  15  and the memory  14 , the present disclosure is not limited to this. For example, the memory  14  may be connected to a network to which the tire rental management apparatus  10  can be connected, and the controller  15  may access the memory  14  via the network as necessary. 
     Operation of the tire rental management apparatus  10  according to the present embodiment will be described next. 
     First, operation when the rental history and the traveling history are stored in the memory  14  will be described.  FIG. 3  is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation when the rental history is stored in the memory  14 . 
     The controller  15  acquires the condition regarding rental of tires input to the input interface  11  (step S 11 ). Further, the controller  15  acquires tire ID information of the tires  1  determined as the rental tires in accordance with the condition (step S 12 ). The controller  15  acquires tire ID information of the tires  1  determined as the rental tires, for example, from the reader apparatus  3 . 
     The controller  15  causes the rental history in accordance with the acquired condition regarding rental of tires to be stored in the memory  14  in association with the acquired tire ID information (step S 13 ). 
     Operation when the traveling history is stored in the memory  14  will be described next.  FIG. 4  is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation when the traveling history is stored in the memory  14 . 
     For example, if the acquirer  13  acquires the traveling history from the vehicle on which the tires  1  are mounted when the tires  1  rented to the user are returned, the controller  15  acquires the traveling history acquired by the acquirer  13  (step S 21 ). 
     Further, the controller  15  acquires tire ID information of the returned tires  1  (step S 22 ). The controller  15  acquires the tire ID information of the returned tires  1 , for example, from the reader apparatus  3 . 
     The controller  15  causes the acquired traveling history to be stored in the memory  14  in association with the acquired tire ID information (step S 23 ). 
     Operation when the rental tires are determined will be described next.  FIG. 5  is a flowchart illustrating an example of operation of the tire rental management apparatus  10  when the rental tires are determined. 
     The controller  15  acquires the condition regarding rental of tires input to the input interface  11  (step S 31 ). 
     Then, the controller  15  estimates remaining life of the tires  1  for rental (step S 32 ). Note that the controller  15  may exclude tires  1  which are being rented, and tires  1  which do not match a tire size, or the like, designated by the user, from tires for which the remaining life is to be estimated among the tires  1  for rental managed by the service provider. 
     Then, the controller  15  determines whether or not there are tires  1  whose estimated remaining life is longer than the period during which the user desires to rent tires (step S 33 ). 
     In a case where there are tires  1  whose estimated remaining life is longer than the period during which the user desires to rent tires (step S 33 : Yes), the controller  15  determines the tires  1  as the rental tires, and causes the output interface  12  to output tire ID information, cost for rental, or the like, of the tires  1  (step S 34 ). 
     In a case where there is no tire  1  whose estimated remaining life is longer than the period during which the user desires to rent tires (step S 33 : No), the controller  15  causes the output interface  12  to output information indicating that there is no tire which can be rented (step S 35 ). 
     The controller  15  may estimate the remaining life of the tires  1  also using the traveling history as well as the rental history of the tires  1 . The rental history of the tires  1  can be acquired on the service provider side from the condition regarding rental of tires input upon rental. However, during the rental period of the tires  1 , it is difficult for the service provider side to grasp how the tires  1  are actually used. As described above, a degree of abrasion of the tires depends on how the tires are used. Therefore, there is a case where the remaining life cannot be estimated with high accuracy only from the rental history of the tires  1  obtained from the condition regarding the rental of the tires. By acquiring the traveling history in the rental period of the tires  1  from the vehicle on which the rented tires  1  are mounted, it is possible to estimate how the tires  1  are used during the rental period. Therefore, by estimating the remaining life of the tires  1  using the rental history and the traveling history of the tires  1 , it is possible to estimate the remaining life with higher accuracy. 
     Further, the controller  15  may determine the rental tires while also taking into account an inventory status of the tires  1  for rental. That is, the controller  15  may determine the rental tires so that inventory cost becomes the lowest in accordance with the period during which the user desires to rent tires, the estimated remaining life, and the inventory status of the tires for rental. For example, in a case where there are a plurality of tires  1  of different types whose remaining life is longer than the period during which the user desires to rent tires, the controller  15  determines the tires  1  of a type whose inventory level is high, as the rental tires. By determining the rental tires while also taking into account the inventory status of the tires  1  for rental in this manner, it is possible to realize reduction in inventory cost by adjusting balance of inventory levels among tires of different types. 
     Further, the controller  15  may determine a plurality of tires  1  of different types whose remaining life is longer than the period during which the user desires to rent tires, as the rental tires. In this case, the controller  15  may set lower charge for rental of the tires  1  of a type whose inventory level is higher. By this means, because it is possible to increase options for the user, and lead the user to rent tires whose charge is lower, it is possible to realize reduction in inventory cost by adjusting balance of inventory levels among the tires of different types. 
     Further, in a case where there are a plurality of tires  1  whose estimated remaining life is longer than the period during which the user desires to rent tires, the controller  15  may determine the plurality of tires  1  as the rental tires. In this case, the controller  15  may set higher charge for rental of the tires  1  whose remaining life is longer. Typically, tire performance less degrades for tires whose degree of abrasion is less, that is, whose remaining life is longer. Therefore, by setting higher charge for the tires  1  whose remaining life is longer, it is possible to increase options for the user in accordance with safety. 
     In this manner, the tire rental management apparatus  10  according to the present embodiment includes the memory  14  configured to store rental history of each of a plurality of tires  1  for rental, and the controller  15  configured to estimate remaining life of the tires  1  on the basis of the rental history of the tires  1  stored in the memory  14 , and determine the rental tires in accordance with the period during which the user desires to rent tires, and the estimated remaining life of the tires  1 . 
     Further, the tire rental management method according to the present embodiment includes a step of storing rental history of each of a plurality of tires  1  for rental, and a step of estimating remaining life of the tires  1  on the basis of the stored rental history of the tires  1  and determining the rental tires in accordance with the period during which the user desires to rent tires and the estimated remaining history. 
     By estimating the remaining life of the tires  1  on the basis of the rental history of the tires  1 , it is possible to determine the tires whose tire performance is maintained at equal to or higher than predetermined performance within a period during which the user desires to rent tires, as the rental tires. 
     The tire rental management apparatus and the tire rental management method according to the present disclosure are not limited to specific configurations described in the above-described embodiment, and various modifications and changes can be made without deviating from the scope of the claims. 
     REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 
       1  tire 
       2  transmitter 
       3  reader apparatus 
       10  tire rental management apparatus 
       11  input interface 
       12  output interface 
       13  acquirer 
       14  memory 
       15  controller