# US 12,002,366 B2 · Taxi system > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,002,366 B2 - Document ID: US12002366B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/652,038 - Filed: 2022-02-22 - Published: 2022-08-25 - Granted: 2024-06-04 - Earliest claimed: 2021-02-24 - Assignees: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha - Applicants: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha - Inventors: Makoto Kakuchi; Osamu Izumida; Shunji Inoue; Takumi Hamajima; Mitsushi Kintaka; Toshihiro Andou; Masamitsu Takahira - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12002366B2 ## CPC - G08G 1/202: {Dispatching vehicles on the basis of a location, e.g. taxi dispatching} - B60Q 1/50: for indicating other intentions or conditions, e.g. request for waiting or overtaking - B60W 30/165: Automatically following the path of a preceding lead vehicle, e.g. "electronic tow-bar" - B60W 60/00253: {Taxi operations} - G05D 1/0295: {by at least one leading vehicle of the fleet} - G05D 1/695: for maintaining a fixed relative position of the vehicles, e.g. for convoy travelling or formation flight - G06Q 10/02: Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events - G06Q 10/0283: {for travel seating} - G06Q 50/40: Business processes related to the transportation industry (shipping G06Q10/083) - G08G 1/205: {Indicating the location of the monitored vehicles as destination, e.g. accidents, stolen, rental} - G08G 1/22: {Platooning, i.e. convoy of communicating vehicles} - G08G: TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS (guiding railway traffic, ensuring the safety of railway traffic B61L; arrangement of road signs or traffic signals E01F9/00; radar or analogous systems, sonar systems, lidar systems specially adapted for traffic control G01S13/91, G01S15/88, G01S17/88; {radar or analogous systems, sonar systems, lidar systems specially adapted for anti-collision purposes G01S13/93, G01S15/93, G01S17/93}) - B60Q: ARRANGEMENT OF SIGNALLING OR LIGHTING DEVICES, THE MOUNTING OR SUPPORTING THEREOF OR CIRCUITS THEREFOR, FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL - B60W: CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT - G05D: SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES - G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR ## Abstract A taxi system includes a taxi vehicle that runs autonomously with a user on board and transports the user, and at least one auxiliary vehicle capable of registering the taxi vehicle as a linkage target and running by following the taxi vehicle as the linkage target with luggage loaded in the at least one auxiliary vehicle. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A taxi system, comprising: a taxi vehicle that runs autonomously with a user on board and transports the user; and at least one auxiliary vehicle capable of registering the taxi vehicle as a linkage target and running by following the taxi vehicle to be linked with luggage loaded in the at least one auxiliary vehicle, wherein after the use of the auxiliary vehicle ends, if a first destination which is a new destination of the taxi vehicle and a second destination which is a new destination of the auxiliary vehicle differ from each other, the taxi vehicle keeps the link with the auiliary vehicle and runs to the second destination to guide the auxiliary vehicle to the second desintation, and then runs to the firsst destination; and a management device that manages dispatching of the taxi vehicle and receives a usage request of the taxi vehicle from the user, wherein when the received usage request includes information on size of the luggage, the management device determines a number of the auxiliary vehicles to be dispatched to the user in accordance with the information on the size of the luggage, and dispatches the taxi vehicle and the auxiliary vehicle to the user with the determined number of the auxiliary vehicles linked with the taxi vehicle. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The taxi system according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary vehicle includes an auxiliary sensor group including at least one of a sensor that detects a driving environment of the auxiliary vehicle and a sensor that detects a loading state of the luggage, and the auxiliary vehicle transmits a detection result of the auxiliary sensor group to the taxi vehicle to be linked. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The taxi system according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary vehicle includes a follow-up sensor that directly or indirectly detects a relative positional relation with the taxi vehicle to be linked, and the auxiliary vehicle controls acceleration, deceleration, and steering of the auxiliary vehicle in a manner that a detection result of the follow-up sensor maintains a specified relative positional relation. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The taxi system according to claim 1, wherein when the taxi vehicle is linked with the at least one auxiliary vehicle, the taxi vehicle controls driving of the taxi vehicle by taking an entire length of a vehicle fleet consisting of the taxi vehicle and the at least one auxiliary vehicle as an entire length of the taxi vehicle. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The taxi system according to claim 1, wherein the taxi vehicle and the at least one auxiliary vehicle output, when linked with each other, information indicating the linkage in a visually recognizable form when viewed from outside. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The taxi system according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary vehicle includes a luggage container to hold the luggage, and the taxi system includes the auxiliary vehicles of a plurality of types having different characteristics of the luggage container. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The taxi system according to claim 1, further comprising: at least one waiting place where the at least one auxiliary vehicle linked with no taxi vehicle is waiting, wherein the user is allowed to select the auxiliary vehicle to be used by the user from the at least one auxiliary vehicle waiting at the waiting place. ### Claim 8 (depends on 5) The taxi system according to claim 5, wherein: each of the taxi vehicle and the at least one auxiliary vehicle has a projection device that projects an image on a road surface, the projection device of the taxi vehicle projects a first image and the projection device of each of the at least one auxiliary vehicle projects a second image while the linkage between the taxi vehicle and the at least one auxiliary vehicle is valid, and the first image and the at least one second image constitute a continuous image. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The taxi system according to claim 1, wherein when the taxi vehicle is linked with at least two auxiliary vehicle, line-up orders of the at least two auxiliary vehicles are determined so that a more important or less strong auxiliary vehicle is located closer to the taxi vehicle.