# US 2021/0343147 A1 · Lightweight docking station for micromobility transit vehicles systems and methods

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- Number: US 2021/0343147 A1
- Document ID: US20210343147A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 17/239,966
- Filed: 2021-04-26
- Published: 2021-11-04
- Earliest claimed: 2020-05-01
- Assignees: Lyft, Inc.
- Applicants: Lyft, Inc.
- Inventors: Brent Michael ARNOLD; Erik Keith ASKIN; Jonathan Scott BERNBACH; Mayank Manesh MAKWANA; Griffin Samuel Valentine THOMSON; Collin O'Neil WALDOCH
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20210343147A1

## CPC

- G08G 1/143: {inside the vehicles}
- G08G 1/144: {on portable or mobile units, e.g. personal digital assistant [PDA]}
- B62H 3/08: involving recesses or channelled rails for embracing the bottom part of a wheel
- B62H 5/003: {using chains or cables (chain or cable locks per se E05B67/003; with alarm E05B45/005)}
- G01C 21/3423: {Multimodal routing}
- G01C 21/3682: {output of POI information on a road map (G01C21/3614, G01C21/3685 take precedence)}
- G06Q 10/0283: {for travel seating}
- G06Q 50/40: Business processes related to the transportation industry (shipping G06Q10/083)
- G08G 1/146: {where the parking area is a limited parking space, e.g. parking garage, restricted space}
- H04W 4/40: for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P]
- B62H 2003/005: {Supports or holders associated with means for bike rental}
- H04W 4/024: Guidance services
- 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})
- B62H: CYCLE STANDS; SUPPORTS OR HOLDERS FOR PARKING OR STORING CYCLES; APPLIANCES PREVENTING OR INDICATING UNAUTHORIZED USE OR THEFT OF CYCLES; LOCKS INTEGRAL WITH CYCLES; DEVICES FOR LEARNING TO RIDE CYCLES
- G01C: MEASURING DISTANCES, LEVELS OR BEARINGS; SURVEYING; NAVIGATION; GYROSCOPIC INSTRUMENTS; PHOTOGRAMMETRY OR VIDEOGRAMMETRY (measuring liquid level G01F; radio navigation, determining distance or velocity by use of propagation effects, e.g. Doppler effects, propagation time, of radio waves, analogous arrangements using other waves G01S)
- 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
- H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72)

## Abstract

Techniques are disclosed for systems and methods associated with lightweight docking stations for one or more micromobility transit vehicles. The docking station may include one or more racks configured to dock micromobility transit vehicles, a lock hole in a rack plate of the one or more racks, and a base. The lock hole may be configured to align with a respective locking device of each of the one or more micromobility transit vehicles. The base may be configured to elevate the one or more micromobility transit vehicles to align the respective locking device with the lock hole. A method may include identifying at least one rack from the one or more racks is available for docking the one or more micromobility transit vehicles and communicating with a mobile computing device to display an indication of the at least one rack available for docking the one or more micromobility transit vehicles.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A multimodal transportation system, comprising:
a docking station for docking one or more micromobility transit vehicles, the docking station comprising a plurality of racks, each rack comprising:
a base frame comprising frame segments,
an anchor coupled to and extending vertically from at least one of the frame segments of the base frame, and
a lock plate coupled to the anchor and including a lock hole capable of receiving a locking device associated with a micromobility transit vehicle;
a sensor; and
a processor in communication with the sensor, wherein the processor is configured to:
identify, using the sensor, a docking availability of one or more racks of the plurality of racks; and
transmit the docking availability of the one or more racks.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The multimodal transportation system of claim 1, further comprising:
a beacon coupled to and extending vertically from at least one rack, the beacon comprising a panel coupled thereto, the panel having instructions related to use of the docking station; and
wherein the plurality of racks is connected together via the frame of each rack.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The multimodal transportation system of claim 1, wherein:
the locking device is integrated with the micromobility transit vehicle; and
the lock hole is configured to align with at least a portion of the locking device.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The multimodal transportation system of claim 1, further comprising a platform having a tire recess for receiving a tire of the micromobility transit vehicle.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The multimodal transportation system of claim 4, wherein receipt of the tire within the tire recess aligns the locking device with the lock hole.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The multimodal transportation system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to:
detect, using the sensor, at least one micromobility transit vehicle is removed from the one or more racks of the plurality of racks of the docking station; and
update the docking availability of the one or more racks based on the detected removal of the at least one micromobility transit vehicle.

### Claim 7

A docking station for docking a micromobility transit vehicle, the docking station comprising:
a rack comprising:
a base frame comprising frame segments,
an anchor coupled to and extending vertically from at least one of the frame segments of the base frame; and
a lock plate coupled to the anchor, the lock plate including a lock hole capable of receiving a locking device associated with the micromobility transit vehicle;
a sensor; and
a processor in communication with the sensor, wherein the processor is configured to:
detect the micromobility transit vehicle is docked to the lock plate using the sensor, and
transmit a status of the micromobility transit vehicle based on the detecting the micromobility transit vehicle is docked to the lock plate.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The docking station of claim 7, wherein:
the rack comprises a platform; and
positioning of a tire of the micromobility transit vehicle on the platform vertically and laterally aligns the locking device with the lock hole.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The docking station of claim 8, wherein:
the locking device is integrated with the micromobility transit vehicle; and
the lock hole is configured to align with a fixed portion of the locking device.

### Claim 10 (depends on 8)

The docking station of claim 8, wherein:
the locking device comprises a pin latch;
a vertical position of the lock hole within the lock plate is set to align with the pin latch when the tire of the micromobility transit vehicle is positioned on the platform to vertically align the pin latch with the lock hole; and
a lateral position of the lock hole within the lock plate is set to align with the pin latch when the tire of the micromobility transit vehicle is positioned on the platform to laterally align the pin latch with the lock hole.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The docking station of claim 10, wherein the platform overlays at least a portion of the base frame, and wherein the platform comprises a tire recess for receiving a tire of the micromobility transit vehicle to vertically and laterally align the locking device with the lock hole.

### Claim 12 (depends on 7)

The docking station of claim 7, further comprising:
a beacon coupled to and extending vertically from at least one of the frame segments of the base frame, the beacon having a shape similar to the anchor; and
a panel coupled to the beacon, the panel having instructions related to use of the docking station.

### Claim 13 (depends on 7)

The docking station of claim 7, wherein the processor is configured to:
identify, using the sensor, the rack of the docking station is available for docking; and
transmit a status of the rack.

### Claim 14

A station system comprising:
a rack comprising:
a base frame,
an anchor coupled to and extending vertically from the base frame, and
a lock plate coupled to the anchor and including a lock hole capable of receiving a locking device associated with a micromobility transit vehicle;
a sensor; and
a processor in communication with the sensor, wherein the processor is configured to:
identify, using the sensor, a docking availability of the rack, and
transmit the docking availability.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The station system of claim 14, further comprising a second rack connected to the rack end-to-end, the rack and second rack having a modular design to tailor the station system.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The station system of claim 15, wherein the processor is configured to:
detect, using the sensor, the micromobility transit vehicle is docked to the rack; and
transmit a status of the micromobility transit vehicle based on the detecting the micromobility transit vehicle is docked to the rack.

### Claim 17 (depends on 14)

The station system of claim 14, wherein:
the base frame comprises frame segments; and
the lock plate is coupled to and extends orthogonally from at least one of the frame segments of the base frame.

### Claim 18 (depends on 14)

The station system of claim 14, wherein:
the locking device is a cable locking device integrated with the micromobility transit vehicle; and
the lock hole is configured to align with the cable locking device.

### Claim 19 (depends on 14)

The station system of claim 14, further comprising a platform having a tire recess for receiving a tire of the micromobility transit vehicle.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The station system of claim 19, wherein receipt of the tire within the tire recess aligns the locking device with the lock hole.