WO2014131400A1

WO2014131400A1 - Rental vehicle and method for carrying out a rental transaction for a rental vehicle

Info

Publication number: WO2014131400A1
Application number: PCT/DE2014/100065
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jürgen Brötz
Original assignee: Eberhard Göbel GmbH + Co
Priority date: 2013-02-28
Filing date: 2014-02-21
Publication date: 2014-09-04
Also published as: DE102013101990A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a rental vehicle, particularly a short-term rental vehicle. An item-storage unit (3) containing items (4) to be sold and/or hired is associated with said rental vehicle. The invention also relates to a method for carrying out the rental transaction taking removals out of said item-storage unit (3) into account.

Description

Rental car and method for carrying out a rental of a rental car

The invention relates to a rental car, in particular a

Short-term rental car, and a method for carrying out a

Rental process of a rental car. Especially in metropolitan areas, the mobility behavior changes to the extent that often on a separate vehicle, which is steadily becoming more expensive due to the high maintenance costs, is completely dispensed with and often for short distances on rental car is used.

Here, a distinction is made between conventional rental car and short-term rental car. Conventional rental cars are provided by a landlord usually at one or more central rental stations and can be borrowed there and also returned, the individual rental stations can be located in different cities. The rental and return process is supervised by the landlord or his staff. For short-haul car rentals, which are usually used by a larger customer base for short periods only, the rental and return process can usually take place locally by the landlord within the entire rental area. Of the Tenant must log in to the landlord once, with him an identifier is assigned, which allows the tenant to get access to the car and start the rental process. Often co-exist within a rental area several landlords of rental cars and / Kurzeitmietwagen, thereby resulting in a tightened

Competitive situation.

The object of the present invention is therefore to increase the attractiveness of a rental car and to increase the value associated with the rental car, without burdening the transfer and repossession of the rental car with increased manpower.

This object is achieved according to the invention in a rental car, especially a Kurzeitmietwagen, characterized in that the rental car is associated with a to be sold and / or goods to be rented containing goods storage unit. By the rental car associated goods storage unit, which may be installed for example in the trunk of the rental car or formed integrally with the glove box or other storage surfaces of the rental car, the tenant of the rental car goods can be offered to the car rental achieved during the sales

Increase rental process. At the same time, the provision of goods of course also serves to increase the attractiveness of the rental car, which is thus able to stand out from the competition. In the context of the invention, it is also additionally provided that the goods held in the goods storage unit also advertising and / or

Serve demonstration purposes or goods presentation are provided, for example, to promote the market launch of a new product. It has proved to be particularly favorable if an inventory system is provided for identifying an actual inventory of the goods storage unit and / or the goods removed from the goods storage unit. The inventory system ensures that one of the warehouse units

removed goods can be detected and attributed to the tenant of the rental car to facilitate the settlement of the goods removed. This is of great advantage, especially for short-term rental cars, as otherwise a check of the goods inventory and / or the

Warehouse unit removed goods would be difficult.

In this context, it has proven to be particularly advantageous if the inventory system contains RFID chips located on the goods and at least one antenna that detects the RFID chips located on the goods and / or the removal of goods stored in the goods storage unit. The combination of RFID chips located on the goods and an antenna detecting the RFID chips ensures in a simple and cost-effective manner that a removal of the goods located in the goods storage unit is detected. At the same time, the antenna also makes it possible to recognize the goods still contained in the goods storage unit, whereby the actual stock of the goods storage unit can always be detected. In particular, a return of a product to be lent out of the goods storage unit can also be detected by an inventory system formed in this way, thereby facilitating the detection of a goods rental process.

In addition, it has proven to be advantageous if the at least one antenna is integrated in the goods storage unit. As a result, in particular the retrofitting of an existing rental car with the inventory system is facilitated. In the context of the invention, however, it is also provided that the car itself is assigned a further antenna, thereby becomes detect a removal of a marked with an RFID chip goods from the vehicle. At the same time, a return transfer of a product labeled with an RFID chip into the vehicle interior can be detected in order to be able to record and settle a goods rental operation, for example.

It is furthermore preferred if a power supply for

Voltage supply of the inventory system and / or the warehouse unit is provided. By the power supply, which may for example be connected to the power supply of the rental car but also formed by an accumulator, in particular ensures that the rental car associated goods storage unit and / or the

Inventory system is supplied with electrical energy. To prevent theft, it has also proven to be beneficial if the inventory system is associated with one of the goods storage unit associated and connected to the power supply weighing unit.

As a result, a return of the empty packaging in the area of the inventory system is recognized in particular for eatable / drinkable goods. This prevents misuse and at the same time ensures that, despite the fact that the packaging has been removed, the current actual inventory is always recorded. Alternatively or additionally, RFID chips can also be used, which are destroyed when the packaging is opened. It has also proven to be advantageous if a cooling unit is provided for cooling the goods located in the goods storage unit. This can be especially perishable goods in the

Warehouse unit be stored longer. Furthermore, for example, the provision of chilled drinks in the summer increases the incentive to buy, so that the sales generated by the rental car can be increased. Moreover, it is also advantageous if the inventory system for the transmission of the actual inventory of the warehouse unit and / or the goods taken from the warehouse unit goods is connected to the landlord with a communication means serving the remote data transmission, and if for the billing of the goods storage unit removed goods that of Billing the vehicle rental process serving

Billing system is provided. This makes it possible for the landlord, always a current overview of the actual inventory of

Warehouse unit to obtain to fill the warehouse unit, if necessary, with fresh goods can. By billing the goods taken from the goods warehouse unit via the accounting system of the rental car is ensured in a simple manner that the consumed by the tenant of the rental car goods can be attributed to this. In the context of the invention, however, it is also provided that the billing of the goods taken from the warehouse unit goods is carried out by a the warehouse unit associated billing system. Here, the billing can be done for example by cash, ECVKreditkarte or mobile devices, for example, with NFC technology.

Furthermore, it has proven to be favorable if the inventory system a Bluetooth transmitter and the communication means are assigned a Bluetooth receiver for transmitting the actual inventory of

Goods storage unit and / or the goods removed from the goods storage unit goods from the inventory system to the communication means. This can be a simple way of communication between the

Inventory system and the means of communication are produced. In the context of the invention, however, other transmission paths are conceivable, in particular a cable-based connection between the inventory system and the communication means for transmitting the data concerning the warehouse unit.

In addition, it has proven to be advantageous if the communication means for remote data transmission to the landlord by a mobile phone connection and / or a wireless connection and / or a satellite connection is suitable. This ensures that the data relating to the warehouse unit and forwarded by the inventory system to the means of communication data are provided to the landlord.

In addition, it has proven to be favorable if one of

Warehouse unit removed and not returned to the coverage of the identification system goods at the end of the

Rental process is classified as merchandise and is attributed to the tenant. As a result, it is achieved, among other things, that the tenant is given the opportunity to purchase a product that is actually intended for renting, if it finds favor with the goods.

Furthermore, it has been shown to be advantageous if the goods contained in the goods storage unit originate from a group comprising umbrellas, drinks, snacks, sunglasses, tobacco products, caps,

Chargers, cosmetics, toiletries, medicines, electrical goods, technical equipment, toiletries and condoms. By the

Equipping the goods storage unit with the aforementioned goods in particular the goods in the warehouse unit are present, the tenant of the rental car often during a break, but also while driving need. By coupling the accessibility of the goods storage unit with the accessibility of the rental car, the goods contained in the goods storage unit may also contain age-limited goods, in particular tobacco products. The invention further comprises a method for carrying out a rental operation of a rental car, in particular a short-term rental car, to which a goods storage unit containing goods to be sold and / or to be rented is assigned, comprising the steps:

- Identify and / or authenticate a tenant

- Providing access to the rental car and the

Warehouse unit

- Recording the time and / or distance traveled with the rental car

- Detecting goods taken from the warehouse unit

- End of the rental process by returning the rental car

Remote transmission of the goods removed from the goods storage unit and of the data characterizing the rental process to the customer

landlord

- Billing of goods taken from the warehouse unit goods

- billing of the rental process. By simultaneously providing access to the rental car and the goods storage unit and age-restricted goods - such as tobacco - may be stored within the warehouse unit. By detecting the goods taken from the goods storage unit and the transmission of this information to the landlord ensures that an attribution of these goods is made to the tenant.

In the context of the invention, it has also proven to be advantageous if the detection of the goods removed from the warehouse goods done by means of an inventory system, and if the remote transfer from the

Goods warehouse unit taken goods to the landlord by a with the means of communication associated with the inventory system. This ensures that the landlord is always informed about the current inventory and can optionally refill goods in order to offer the tenant always a full range of goods.

It has proved to be particularly advantageous if the billing of the goods taken from the goods storage unit takes place via a billing system serving the billing of the vehicle rental operation. This eliminates a separate billing of the goods warehouse unit removed goods, which has a positive effect on the administrative burden of

inventive rental process affects.

In this context, it has also been shown to be cheap if for verification during the rental process the warehouse

taken before the start of the lease and the actual inventory is recorded and transmitted to the landlord. Thus, by a simple difference formation, the goods taken from the warehouse by the tenant can be detected. For an effective ERP system, it has also proven to be advantageous if the method, individually or in combination, further comprises the following steps:

- Compare the actual inventory of the warehouse unit with a target inventory

- Lock the rental car after completion of the rental process for subsequent tenants after falling below the target inventory

- Report the undershooting of the target stock to the

Landlord through a means of communication - Refilling the goods of the warehouse unit to at least the target inventory

- Release the rental car for further rental process. On the whole, the additional steps ensure that the goods in the warehouse do not fall below a critical value. If the inventory falls below this critical value, the rental car will be blocked for subsequent tenants and only released again when the inventory is refilled by the landlord or by an authorized agent.

In the context of the invention, it is also contemplated that a

Lock the rental car for subsequent tenants only if it falls below a predetermined, dependent on the difference of the actual inventory to the target inventory distance between the actual location of the

Car rental and the refilling goods containing storage takes place. As a result, a lock of a rental car, which is located at a great distance to the goods to be refilled containing storage location, done later, which unnecessarily long downtime of the rental car can be prevented, or refilling at close proximity to the storage carried out as a precaution.

In the following the invention will be explained in more detail in an embodiment shown in the drawing; 1 shows a rental car according to the invention with a

Warehouse unit, and

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the goods storage unit. Figure 1 shows a rental car 1, in particular a short-term rental car, with a boot 2 of the rental car 1 associated

Warehouse unit 3, which includes goods 4 to be sold and / or rented. The goods storage unit 3 is associated with an inventory system 5, which allows the detection of the actual inventory of the goods storage unit 3 and the goods 4 removed from the goods storage unit. The

Inventory system 5 is for the transmission of the actual inventory of

Warehouse unit 3 and taken from the goods storage unit 3 goods 4 connected to the landlord with a communication means 6. The communication means 6 serves the remote data transmission to the landlord and is implemented in the illustrated embodiment, for example only by a mobile connection 7.

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the goods storage unit 3, which in the exemplary embodiment shown can be cooled by a refrigeration unit 15, and the goods 4 located in the goods storage unit 3, which for example contain beverage cans 8 and an umbrella 9. From the

In particular, it can be seen that the goods 4 located in the goods storage unit 3 can be subdivided into merchandise items 10 - for example beverage cans 8 - and rental goods 1 1 - for example umbrellas 9. The inventory system 5 is in the embodiment shown in the figure by located on the goods RFID chips 12 and the recognition of the RFID chips 12 serving

Antenna 13 is formed. The antenna 13 is integrated into the goods storage unit 3, whereby it is possible to detect the goods 4 located in the goods storage unit 3 and also to detect the removal of a product 4 from the goods storage unit 3. Furthermore, the inventory system 5 is able to detect the return of a product 4 taken from the goods storage unit 3 goods in the warehouse unit 3. This is particularly necessary for a rental of rental goods 1 1. Will one of the Warehouse unit 3 borrowed 1 1 not in the

Warehouse unit 3 returned, so this is automatically as

Sales goods 10 are classified and charged to the renter. To transfer the data relating to the warehouse unit 3 data to the landlord, the inventory system 5 is connected to the communication means 6. As a result, the landlord is always informed about the goods 4 taken from the goods storage unit 3 and the actual inventory of the warehouse unit 3. In order to complicate a theft of goods 4 from the goods storage unit, the goods storage unit is additionally associated with a weighing device 14, which detects when after consumption in the

Warehouse unit 3 goods 4 only the packaging with the RFID chip 12 located thereon is returned to the detection range of the antenna 13. For supplying energy to the goods storage unit 3, a power supply not shown in the drawing is provided, which is fed by the vehicle power supply.

In the following, the course of a rental process of the rental car 1, described. In a first step, the tenant of the rental car 1 is identified. By identifying, which may also be accompanied by an authentication of the tenant - for example by entering a combination of numbers - the tenant is granted access to the rental car 1 and the goods storage unit 3 located therein. By coupling the access to the goods storage unit 3 with the access to the rental car 1, the goods storage unit 3 also age-restricted goods 4 - such as tobacco products - include. During the duration of the

Rental process takes place a collection of the billing of the

Renting the rental car 1 required data, such as the time traveled and / or covered with the rental car 1 route that characterize the rental process. By capturing the from the

Warehouse 3 removed goods 4 and the actual inventory by the inventory system 5, the consumption of the tenant during the

Rental process detected. The inventory system 5 also serves to detect the return of goods, which is necessary in particular for rental goods 1 1. For billing, after completion of the rental process, which takes place by returning the rental car 1, transmitted by a remote means of the communication means 6 from the goods storage unit 3 removed by the tenant goods 4 and the actual inventory sent to the landlord. This takes place simultaneously with the remote transmission of the data characterizing the rental process. After finishing the

Rental process is done comparing the actual inventory with a target inventory. Falling below the Sollwarenbestands leads to a locking of the rental car 1 for subsequent tenants until after refilling the actual inventory on at least the target inventory a release of the rental car 1 is performed. To unnecessarily long

To prevent downtime of the locked rental car 1, the locking of the rental car 1 is only below a predetermined dependent on the difference of the actual inventory to the target inventory spatial distance of the refilled rental car 1 from the goods to be refilled 4 containing storage location.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1 rental car

2 trunk

3 warehouse unit

4 goods

5 inventory system

6 means of communication

7 mobile connection

8 beverage can

9 umbrella

10 sales goods

1 1 rental goods

12 RFID chips

13 antenna

14 weighing device

15 refrigeration unit

Claims

claims:

1 . Rental car, especially short-term rental car, characterized in that the rental car to be sold and / or rented

Goods (4) containing warehouse unit (3) is assigned.

2. Rental car according to claim 1, characterized in that a

Inventory system (5) for identifying an actual inventory of the goods storage unit (3) and / or of the goods storage unit (3) removed goods (4) is provided.

3. Rental car according to claim 2, characterized in that the

Inventory system (5) on the goods (4) located RFID chips (12) and at least one recognizing the on the goods (4) located RFID chips (12) and / or the removal of stored in the goods storage unit (3) goods (4) serving antenna (13).

4. Rental car according to claim 3, characterized in that the

at least one antenna (13) is integrated in the goods storage unit (3).

5. Rental car according to one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that a power supply to the power supply of the

Inventory system (5) and / or the goods storage unit (3) is provided.

6. Rental car according to claim 5, characterized in that the

Inventory system (5) for theft prevention with one of

Warehouse unit (3) associated and connected to the power supply weighing unit (14) is connected.

7. Rental car according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that a cooling unit (15) for cooling the in the goods storage unit (3) located goods (4) is provided.

8. Rental car according to one of claims 2 to 7, characterized in that the inventory system (5) for transferring the actual stock of goods storage unit (3) and / or from the goods storage unit (3) removed goods (4) to the landlord with one of the

Remote communication means (6) is connected, and that for billing of the goods storage unit (3)

removed goods (4) provided for the settlement of the vehicle rental process accounting system is provided.

9. Rental car according to claim 8, characterized in that the

Inventory system (5) a Bluetooth transmitter and the communication means (6) are associated with a Bluetooth receiver for transmitting the actual inventory of the warehouse unit (3) and / or from the

Warehouse unit (3) removed goods (4) from the inventory system (5) to the communication means (6).

10. Rental car according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that the communication means (6) for remote data transmission to the landlord by a mobile radio connection (7) and / or a W-Lan connection and / or a satellite connection is suitable.

1 1. Rental car according to one of claims 2 to 10, characterized in that one of the goods storage unit (3) removed and not in the

Detection area of the identification system returned goods (4) at the end of the rental process is classified as merchandise (10) and is attributed to the tenant.

12. Rental car according to one of claims 1 to 1 1, characterized in that in the goods storage unit (3) goods (4) come from a group, the umbrellas, drinks, snacks, sunglasses, tobacco, caps, chargers, cosmetics, Personal care products, medicines, electrical items, technical equipment, toiletries and condoms.

13. A method for carrying out a rental operation of a rental car (1), in particular a short-term rental car, which is assigned to a goods to be sold and / or rented goods (4) Warehouse unit (3), comprising the steps:

- Identify and / or authenticate a tenant

- Providing access to the rental car (1) and the

Warehouse unit (3)

- Recording the time and / or with the rental car (1) covered distance

- Detecting goods taken from the goods storage unit (3) (4)

- End of the rental process by returning the rental car (1)

- Remote transfer from the goods storage unit (3) removed

Goods (4) as well as the rental process characterizing data to the landlord

- billing of the goods storage unit (3) removed goods (4)

- billing of the rental process.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that the

Detecting the goods (4) removed from the warehouse (3) by means of an inventory system (5), and in that the remote transfer of the goods (4) removed from the warehouse unit (3) to the lessor by a communication means connected to the inventory system (5) (6) takes place.

15. The method according to claim 13 or 14, characterized in that the billing of the goods storage unit (3) removed goods (4) via a billing the vehicle rental process serving

Billing system takes place.

16. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 15, characterized in that for the verification of the goods during the rental process (3) removed goods (4) recorded before the beginning and after the completion of the rental process, the actual inventory and transmitted to the landlord.

17. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 16, characterized in that further comprises the following steps are provided:

- Compare the actual inventory of the warehouse unit (3) with a target inventory

- Lock the rental car (1) after completion of the rental process for subsequent tenants after falling below the target inventory

- Report the undershooting of the target stock to the

Landlord through a means of communication (6)

- Refilling the goods (4) of the warehouse unit (3) to at least the target inventory

- Release the rental car (1) for further rental.

18. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that a lock of the rental car (1) for subsequent tenants only when falling below a predetermined dependent on the difference of the actual inventory to the target inventory distance between the actual location of the rental car (1) and the goods to be replenished (4) containing storage takes place.