AU2006220363A1

AU2006220363A1 - Parking stations

Info

Publication number: AU2006220363A1
Application number: AU2006220363A
Authority: AU
Inventors: John Stewart
Original assignee: PARK ADS AUSTRALIA Pty Ltd
Current assignee: PARK ADS AUSTRALIA Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2000-10-31
Filing date: 2006-09-18
Publication date: 2006-10-19
Also published as: AU785272B2; AU6963300A; AU2002211996A1; WO2002036885A1

Description

S-1- Title Parking Stations Field of the Invention The present invention relates to vehicle parking stations. It also has application Nto heavy vehicle and bus depots. The present invention also relates to demarcation apparatus for such vehicle parking stations.

NDiscussion of Background Art Car parks in shopping centres, community and social centres such as sporting clubs, hotels and RSL clubs, and car parking stations often comprise rows of opposed parking bays. Each parking bay is usually marked by white lines defining the respective allocated parking spaces.

During parking most drivers are unable to see the furthest boundary from the entry lane, hereinafter termed the end boundary, and thus the driver usually approximates the position of the end boundary. This may lead to the vehicles extending into the opposing parking space and/or during parking, either forwards or rearward, the vehicle being parked may bump or nudge the car in the opposing bay which may sustain damage. A parked car may also be damaged by another car as a result of failure of its handbrake.

In addition to the above significant damage is caused in such car parks by drivers departing their space through the unoccupied opposing space. This results in vehicles departing at a higher than normal speed and of course an oncoming driver may be heading for the vacated space through which the vehicle is departing.

Thus much damage is caused to parked cars while their owners patronise the shops at the associated shopping centre or club, hotels and the like. The possibility of damage to the car while parked in the car park can deter some would-be patrons or customers.

-2- Also car parks which have unsupervised entry and access provide little security 0 against theft of parked cars.

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A further difficulty associated with most car parks is that they provide a large open space without obstructions. In this environment speeding cars pose a Idanger to pedestrians. Unmanned runaway cars also pose a danger to pedestrians.

ISummary of the Invention This invention aims to alleviate at least one of the abovementioned disadvantages and/or to provide vehicle car parks and demarcation devices therefore which will be efficient in use.

In one aspect this invention broadly resides in a vehicle car park having spaced parallel entry lanes and opposing vehicle parking bays having entrances thereto from the adjacent entry lane and a demarcation device located on or adjacent the end boundary of the opposed parking bays and wherein each demarcation apparatus supports a highly visible display of such size and disposition that a seated car driver can read written information provided thereon, the demarcation device further including a security module said security module including an identification unit for accepting a user identification card and an alarm unit whereby validation of the identification card places the alarm unit in an active alarm mode and a further subsequent validation of the card deactivates the alarm unit.

In another aspect the invention there is provided a demarcation apparatus including: a member for mounting on a support surface defining a parking bay for a vehicle; a security module including an identification unit for accepting a user identification card and an alarm unit whereby validation of the identification card switches the alarm unit to an active alarm mode and a further subsequent -3validation of the card deactivates the alarm unit; a display coupled to said security module for displaying a series of 0 images in response to the insertion of said identification card wherein said display is mounted on said member at a height which will enable a driver of the vehicle entering the parking bay to see the display while being comfortably Iseated; and whereby unauthorised removal of said vehicle from said parking bay when said alarm unit is in the active alarm mode causes said alarm unit to produce an Ialarm condition.

The identification card may be in the form of a smart card, SIM card, chip card or the like. Suitably the identification unit includes a means for writing information to the identification card. The information may be in the form of reward points which are redeemable for discounts or promotional items at retail stores within a shopping centre. The information to be written to the card may be uploaded and stored to the security unit's internal memory via an I/O port.

The identification unit may also include a logger for recording the time and date upon the first entry of the card and logging the time and date upon a further subsequent insertion of the card, this data may then be stored to memory for later download.

The alarm unit may be coupled to at least one proximity sensor for sensing the entry of a vehicle into the parking space the sensors may place the alarm unit in a wake-up alarm mode whereby the alarm unit awaits a signal from the identification unit upon validation of the identification card. The alarm unit may include means for producing visual and/or audible alarms which may be activated in the event of the unauthorised removal of the vehicle.

In the event that the parking bay is contained in a secure parking lot the alarm unit may be coupled to the lots gates and the like. Upon detecting the unauthorized removal of the vehicle from the parking bay the alarm unit could activate the closure of the appropriate gates to prevent removal of the vehicle from the parking lot.

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-4- 0 The alarm unit may be coupled to a surveillance camera disposed on the demarcation device. The camera may be in the form of a wide angle lipstick 00 camera. The information captured by the camera may be store locally within the security module's memory for subsequent download via the security module's I/O port. The security module may also include a transmitter for transmitting the information captured by the camera back to a central location. The transmitter may also be used to send an alarm signal back to a central location Iin the event of unauthorized removal of the vehicle.

Preferably the display is mounted on a panel portion having an upper edge disposed at about 1200mm above the floor and a lower edge at about 800mm above the floor whereby the centre of the panel portion is disposed at about eye level for drivers seated in a car. Typically the panel portion could range in width of between 600mm and 800mm. Suitably the panel portion is not so wide as to form a visual barrier terminating drivers views at the end boundary of a row of car parks and not so high as to form visual boundaries to pedestrians.

Alternatively the display may be suspended from a roof support.

Suitably the security module includes a display driver programmed to rotate/scroll a series of advertisements and/or notices stored within the security modules memory on the display. Preferably the scrolling of the advertisements and/or notices is initiated in response to the proximity sensors detecting the presence of a vehicle or pedestrian, in the absence of such an indication the display may simply display the status of the parking bay, date and time etc.

The display may be in the form of an LCD or other suitable monitor.

Alternatively the display may be in the form of an electromechanical device wherein the images are scrolled by a series of servo motors or the like.

The demarcation apparatus may be arranged in communication with an adjacent demarcation apparatus so as to provide a visual indication at the entrance to the respective entry lane servicing particular set of parking bays as to the availability of car parks within the set of bays serviced by the respective

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entry lane.

Brief Details of the Drawings In order that this invention may be more readily understood and put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, Nwhich illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention, and wherein: FIG. 1 is a representation of a car park according to this invention; FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic plan view of the car park of Fig. 1; NFIG. 3 is a diagrammatic representation of demarcation apparatus illustrated in Fig. 1; FIG. 4 illustrates a further embodiment of demarcation apparatus; FIG. 5 illustrates a typical application of the demarcation apparatus of Fig. 4; FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of one arrangement of the security module according to one embodiment of the present invention; and FIG. 7 illustrates the demarcation apparatus showing the security module of Fig 6 in situ.

Description of the Preferred Embodiments As illustrated in Fig. 1, a car park according to this invention includes a plurality of rows of opposing parking bays 10 each extending away from a respective entry lane 11, there being spaced parallel rows of entry lanes 11 arranged at the opposite sides of the opposed parking bays and each leading from an access road or lane 12.

A respective demarcation apparatus 14 is disposed centrally along the end boundary of each opposed pair of parking bays 11 so as to provide a prominent eye height visual indication of the end boundary. With reference to Fig. 1 there is shown a demarcation apparatus 14 having a post 15 provided with a mounting plate 16 whereby it may be bolted securely to the car park surface.

The upper end 18 of the post 15 supports display apparatus 20 in a position that is clearly visible to a driver while sitting behind the driver's wheel of a car. The -6display apparatus 20 has a base 21 wall, opposed transparent side walls 22 extending upwardly from the base wall 21 and opposed end walls 24 one of which is removable to allow access to be gained to the inside of the display 00 apparatus 20. Respective pairs of upper and lower tracks provide support for slid in/out display panels 25 which, in use, lie adjacent the transparent side walls 22.

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The upper end wall of the display apparatus 20 is recessed to provide a plant Icontainer in which plants may be grown in order to beautify the car parking area.

In the present embodiment the height of the demarcation apparatus 14 is 1200mm with the height of the post 15 being 845mm and the depth of the plant holder being 355mm. The width of the plant holder is 710mm and it has sufficient thickness to extend from opposite sides of the post In use a driver enters the parking bay demarcated by white painted lines. As the car approaches the end of the bay the bonnet/boot obscures the end boundary however driver may use the demarcation assembly as a guide to indicate the end boundary, enabling the driver to park the car close to the end of the bay without protruding into the opposing bay.

For car parks in retail shopping centres, for example, it is preferred that the removable sign panels contain advertising for selected retailers. In this respect the applicant considers that as the panels will provide the first point of advertising drivers and passengers of incoming vehicles see when parked, the advertising space may be sold to finance or subsidise the car park.

Accordingly in yet another aspect this invention resides in a method of promoting retail outlets in shopping complexes by providing car parks according to the present invention and hiring, selling, renting, leasing or the like the advertising space provided by the display apparatus.

-7- The demarcation apparatus 30 illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 has lower inclined 0 portion 31 which supports a buffer plate 32 at bumper height and a wrap around upper portion 33 which supports the display 35. The relationship of the demarcation apparatus 30 to a vehicle 40 is illustrated in Fig IFig 6 depicts one possible arrangement of the security module 60 according to one embodiment of the present invention. In this particular example the security module 60 includes an identification unit 61 coupled to an alarm unit I66. The identification unit 61 in this instance includes a card read/write unit 62 for accepting an identification card 63. The read/write unit 62 serves two main functions card validation and card update. Upon receipt of the card the read/write unit 62 scans the card for a validation code and identification number.

The read/write unit 62 then integrates logger 64 for the card identification number. If no such information is contained in the logger then the read/write unit 62 compares the validation code against a listing of current validation codes stored within the security modules memory 66. If the code is valid then the card number is logged along with the date and time at which the card was used to access the parking bay in logger 64. In the event that an invalid code is detected the user is notified via display 74. If the card is a validly issued system card having an older validation code the user may be directed to a designated processing point where the card can be updated with a recognized validation code. Once the card has been validated the identification unit then signals the alarm unit placing it in an active alarm mode.

Once the validation process has been completed the read/write unit initiates the card update process. Here information relating to various in store promotions, reward points etc are written to the card from memory 66. During the update phase the user is presented via display 74 with a series of adverts, advising them of the various store promotions and options regarding the redemption of reward points etc the displayed images are synchronised with the information being written to the card). The images to be shown on display 74 are stored in memory 66 and uploaded to the display driver 73, the driver 73 then arranges the images into the correct display order before outputting them

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-8to the display 74. The display driver is also responsible for ensuring that the 0 images are correctly rotated or scrolled on the display. Once the information has be written to the card it is then ejected from the identification module 61 and the user is then free to go about their business leaving the alarm unit in the active mode.

As shown alarm unit 65 includes a security camera 69 for monitoring the parking bay 10 and proximity sensors 70 for detecting the entry of a vehicle Iinto the parking bay. Upon the proximity sensors 70 detecting the entry of the vehicle 40 the alarm unit is placed into a wake-up mode enabling the camera to commence recording the events within parking bay 10. The information captured by the camera may then be stored locally within the security unit's memory 66 for subsequent download via the security unit's I/O port 72. Upon detection of the vehicle via proximity sensors 70, display 74 may display a message requesting the insertion of card 63 for validation.

As mentioned above once the card has been validated the alarm unit 65 is placed into an active state. Unauthorised removal of the vehicle 40 from bay is detected via the proximity sensors 70, both audio 67 and visual 68 alarms may be activated by the alarm module 65 thereby notifying security personnel of the unauthorised removal of the vehicle 40. Alternatively an alert message together with the information captured by the security camera may be transmitted to a central location via transmitter 71 thereby raising the alarm. In the event that the parking bay is contained within a secure parking lot the alarm unit may be coupled to the lots gates and the like via the transmitter 71. Upon detecting the unauthorized removal of the vehicle the alarm unit 65 could activate closure of the appropriate gates via transmitter 71 to prevent removal of the vehicle from the parking lot.

In order to deactivate the alarm system the user simple re-inserts the card 63 into the identification unit 61. The read/write unit 62 then firstly scans the card number and checks the information stored in logger 64. If the card ID matches that stored in the logger the identification unit then switches the alarm unit to a -9stand-by mode thereby deactivating the alarm. The logger then records the Stime at which the card was used to exit the parking bay and uploads the stored in and out times for a given card 63 to memory 66 for later download (by either 00 the transmitter 71 or I/O port 72) before clearing its internal registers ready for the next card insertion. By firstly scanning the information in the logger 64 Iensures that a valid system card having a different identification number cannot be used to fool the system into disabling the alarm unit thereby ensuring system integrity.

FIG. 7 shows the security module 60 installed on the demarcation device 30. In the depicted example on detection of the vehicle 40 within bay 10 by proximity sensors 70 (not shown) the display 74 prompts the user for insertion of the identification card 63 into the identification unit 60 via card slot 75. As discussed above once the card is inserted the display will then present a series of promotional images to the user while the card is verified and updated.

Camera 69 is positioned on the demarcation device such that it captures an image of the entire parking bay and a portion of the surrounding bays. By capturing a portion of the surrounding bay the camera may hope to capture an image of any would be thief or vandal seeking to disable the camera.

It is to be understood that the above embodiments have been provided only by way of exemplification of this invention, and that further modifications and improvements thereto, as would be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art, are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of the present invention described herein.

Claims

1. A demarcation apparatus including: 00 OO _a member for mounting on a support surface within a parking bay for a vehicle; a security module mounted on said member the security module including an identification unit for accepting a user identification card and an O N alarm unit whereby validation of the identification card places the alarm unit to N an active alarm mode and a further subsequent validation of the card O 10 deactivates the alarm unit; a display coupled to said security module for displaying a series of images in response to the insertion of said identification card wherein said display is mounted on said member at a height which will enable a driver of the vehicle entering the parking bay to see the display while being comfortably seated; and whereby unauthorised removal of said vehicle from said parking bay when said alarm unit is in the active alarm mode causes said alarm unit to produce an alarm condition.

2. The demarcation apparatus of claim 1 wherein said security module further includes a memory having stored thereon information relating to the display of said series of images.

3. The demarcation apparatus of claim 2 wherein the memory further includes information relating to the identification card recorded by said identification unit.

4. The demarcation apparatus of claim 3 wherein the card information recorded by said identification unit includes one or more of the following the date and time at which the card is inserted into the identification unit, a card identification or issue number or user name of the card holder.

The demarcation apparatus of claim 4 wherein the card information is 0 -11 recorded by a data logger housed within said identification unit.

6. The demarcation apparatus of any one of claims 2 to 5 wherein the 0o identification unit further includes a means for writting additional information stored within said memory to the identification card.

7. The demarcation apparatus of claim 6 wherein the additional information to be written to the card is in the form of redeemable reward points. O

8. The demarcation apparatus of any one of claims 2 to 7 wherein the display is an LCD display.

9. The demarcation apparatus any one of claims 2 to 7 wherein said security module further includes an input/output port for accessing the information contained within said memory.

The demarcation apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 9 wherein said alarm unit is coupled to at least one proximity sensor for sensing the entry and removal of the vehicle into and from the parking bay.

11. The demarcation apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 10 wherein said alarm unit is coupled to a surveillance camera.

12. The demarcation apparatus of claim 11 wherein the surveillance camera is a wide angle video camera.

13. The demarcation apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 12 wherein said alarm unit further includes means for producing an audible and/or visual indication of the alarm condition.

14. The demarcation apparatus of claim 13 wherein the security module further includes a transmitter for transmitting the occurrence of an alarm condition to a central location. S-12- C

15. A demarcation apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to figures 6 and 7. OO