EP0547197B1 - Car park management method and system - Google Patents

Abstract

A car park management method and system, wherein a system (2, 20, 21) for monitoring the use of each parking space individually is combined, through a computer system (10), with a payment system (5, 50), whereby the parking fee, which corresponds exactly to the actual parking time, is collected for each parking space individually. Said management system further comprises a light signalling system (3, 30, 31, 32, 33) for guiding a user to the next free space, as well as a video monitoring system (9, 90) for preventing fraud. Said management system, which is usable in pre-payment or post-payment car parks, simplifies parking management for the operator and enhances user convenience.

Description

The present invention relates to a method for managing a car park, more particularly a car park, as well as a system allowing the method to be implemented.

Managing a car park, whether it is a low-capacity car park or a car park with several levels or floors and of relatively large capacity, involves fairly complex operations. It is first of all necessary to control the occupancy of the spaces in order to be able to signal to a possible motorist wishing to park his vehicle that the parking is complete or on the contrary that there is still at least one free space. On the other hand it is generally necessary to be able to control the duration of parking of the vehicle, respectively to be able to calculate and collect the rental tax for this purpose.

Different parking management systems have been proposed before.

The one described in DE-A-33.42.217 shows a management system by which the occupation of each parking space is controlled by an individual detector, the driver in search of a free space is guided by a general signaling leading him in a parking area where there is at least one free space, without this latter being expressly indicated to it. The rental tax collection system is a conventional post-payment system which calculates the duration of parking by making the time difference between the time the vehicle enters the car park and the time when the driver wishes to leave. The same computer controls the spaces and performs the parking tax calculations, so it can be combined occupying a specific place.

International application WO 89/11711, which represents the closest prior art, describes a method for monitoring objects placed in suitable locations, said objects possibly being cars in a parking lot. Means can be provided in this case to guide the user to a free place. The presence of the object, respectively of the car to be monitored is controlled by an individual detector. A tariff management of the park can be planned.

The international application WO 88/08910 describes a system controlling only the entrances and exits of a car park, no means being provided for controlling each parking space or for guiding the user towards a free space.

Document FR-A-2,580,417 describes a car park made up of a series of individual garages; closing the door of each of said garages arms a surveillance system. In this case too, the rental tax is not allocated to a parking space, respectively to a specific garage, insofar as the system is post-paid.

Patent US-A-3,541,308 describes a system which also controls only the entrances and exits of vehicles in the car park, comprising no individual detector of occupancy of places, the entering vehicle being guided only towards an area where there is at least one free place. The payment of the rental tax cannot therefore be allocated to a specific place.

The major drawback of some of the systems described above is that the occupancy control of the Parking is carried out by having a first detector at the entrance to the parking lot, responsible for counting the cars entering, and a second detector at the exit, responsible for counting the cars leaving it. By comparison of the number of cars exited, relative to the number of those entered as well as the parking capacity, it is possible to give an indication of the occupancy rate of the parking lot and to authorize or block access depending on whether free places exist or that the parking lot is full. An improvement to this system consists in dividing the parking lot into several zones, each of them being independently controlled in the manner described above, the incoming vehicle being directed, by light lamps, towards an area where there are still free spaces. The downside of these systems is that they are fairly unreliable; counting errors can occur, for example when passing two vehicles very close to each other, or when passing a vehicle with a large ground clearance or even, in the car parks adjoining a supermarket , when passing the shopping carts. Because of this drawback, it is generally necessary for the operator to carry out, preferably during a period of low traffic, a count of the parked vehicles in order to update his automatic counting result. Another disadvantage of systems of this kind is that a place is always considered occupied between the moment when the driver has picked up his vehicle and the moment when he passes the exit detector. This mode of operation therefore does not allow optimum use of the available parking spaces.

Another necessary operation that is generally found in this type of car park is to collect a rental tax for the use of a parking space for a fixed period. For this, Numerous devices have been developed, whether these are pre-payment terminals placed on each of the parking spaces or centralized for a certain number of spaces or for the entire car park, or else post-payment systems where the user pays his rental tax before collecting his vehicle. Many variants still exist among the devices mentioned, in particular concerning the method of payment, with money, tokens, credit cards, subscription cards, etc. One of the drawbacks of the above devices is that it is difficult to carry out an automatic control of the payment of the correct sum corresponding to the parking time, without the presence of surveillance personnel attached to the parking lot.

On the other hand, in this type of parking, it is generally necessary to provide at least one exit barrier in order to prevent the departure of a user who has not paid his parking fee correctly. The presence of such a barrier can be a cause of creating a queue of waiting cars.

In the car parks of the prior art, the two functions defined above, control of the car park occupancy rate, respectively of the existence of free spaces and collection of rental taxes, have never been organically linked , by the same computer program, such a functional link improving the management of the car park, both for users and for the company that operates it.

A first object of the invention is therefore to propose a method and a system for managing a car park by which the management of the car park is simplified for the operator, in particular by reducing its operating costs due to the surveillance personnel, so that user comfort is clearly improved.

Another object of the invention is to provide a method and a system by which fraud attempts are detected and reported.

The means used to achieve these goals consist in linking organically, in a functional way, the operation of controlling the occupancy rate to that of collection of parking fees, to detect, for each place, whether it is free or occupied and to allocate the payment of the parking fee by the user to a specific place, by proposing a method for managing a parking lot in accordance with the characteristics of claims 1 to 2 as well as a system for managing a parking lot in accordance with to claims 3 to 13.

The management method, as well as the system allowing the implementation of this method are more particularly understandable from the appended drawing, comprising a single figure schematically representing the parking management system according to the invention.

In the figure there is a simplified schematic representation of a parking management system using the method according to the invention. The general system consists of a central node 1, to which the various particular systems are linked, the central node 1 comprising in particular a computer system consisting in particular for example of a computer or a microcomputer 10 equipped with the programs adequate, as well as a printer 11. For the understanding of the figure, each of said components, or particular systems, has been represented with its own information transmission link to the central node 1; it is obvious that in practice, even if the embodiment shown is possible, it will nevertheless be more advantageous to group a certain number of specific components or systems on common lines or buses in order to reduce wiring. Similarly, it is not compulsory that the connections are all made of metal wires, some of them can be made by optical fibers or by radio links or by infrared type radiation for example. The equipment necessary only for these links, for example amplifiers, relays, converters, transmitters, receivers, modems, etc., are not shown in the figure.

The transmission lines 2 group together the parking occupancy detectors, with the individual detectors 20 installed for each of the parking spaces as well as possibly one or more passage detectors 21. The construction and operation of the detectors 20 are known from the technical; it is generally a case comprising a detector component which may be any, for example a photoelectric cell, an infrared detector, a capacitive or inductive detector or the like, or preferably a detector of the ultrasonic radar type. For each parking space, the detector 20 is placed in a suitable location, under the road, on a wall or a column located behind or next to the space to be checked or under the ceiling of a covered space, in order to detect '' a reliable way the occupation or non-occupation of the parking space in question. The information of occupation or non-occupation is transmitted to the computer system 10 which therefore knows, in real time, what is the exact rate of occupation of the parking lot, what exactly are the spaces occupied, since when each space is occupied and what are the free places as well as the exact moment when each place became available. Passage detectors 21, also of known construction and operation, for example an inductive loop placed in the ground, can be arranged at the entrances to the parking lot or preferably at the entrances to each particular zone of said parking lot. They are useful in particular when the parking lot or the area in question is almost full and there are only a few spaces left; in this case, when a passage detector 21 has detected the passage of one or more vehicles, the computer system 10 will act on the signaling as will be seen below, to temporarily block access to this area of the parking lot, this during a programmed period, depending on the configuration and dimensions of the area in question. During this period, the computer system 10 recalculates the exact number of free spaces by interrogating the individual detectors 20 and again authorizes access, if possible, to this area to the parking lot. This process prevents clogging and promotes more efficient circulation.

According to one embodiment of the management system, the general signaling circuit 3 receives its information from the occupancy control system described above, via the computer system 10 and transmits it to various luminous display panels, among other lights red / green 30 authorizing passage or blocking the entrance or entrances to the parking lot as well as possibly specific areas of said parking lot, these lights 30 can possibly be supplemented by a movable barrier 31 fulfilling the same function. In order to facilitate the search for areas where there are still free places, luminous signaling panels comprising direction arrows 32 or floor indications 33 can be connected to this circuit, as well as possibly one or more digital indicators 34 indicating the number of places still free in the car park or in each zone, such indicators can be placed at the entrance to the car park or each zone or else in the car park control room, as well as any other sign allowing the user to navigate reliably to the next vacant place. The indications of these various traffic signs are managed in real time from the computer system 10.

The parking place signaling circuit 4 also receives its information either directly from the occupancy control system, respectively from the detectors 20, or via the computer system 10 and transmits it to each place indicator 40, a place indicator 40 being placed above or in the immediate vicinity of each parking space and indicating the state of occupation of the space in question. The place indicator 40 consists of a housing comprising a free place signaling 41, for example by one or more LED lamps or diodes for example of green color, an occupied place signaling 42, for example by one or more lamps or LED diodes, for example red. The place indicator 40 can also include a signal that the authorized parking time 43 has been exceeded, for example by one or more lamps or LEDs of a color other than green or red or by flashing of the red lamps or diodes 42. The usefulness and the implementation of this last function will be explained below. For each of the parking spaces, the detector 20 and the indicator 40 can be integrated in a common housing which may also include a panel 44, possibly luminous, indicating the number of the parking space.

By assigning a detector 20 and an indicator 40 to each parking space, the use of the parking space is clearly optimized insofar as the computer system 10 being informed, via the detector 20, that a place has just become available, it can control the switching of the indicator 40 as well as possibly that of the traffic signs 30, 32, 33 and 34, this long before the vehicle which has just left its place has left the parking lot.

A car park as described so far is already part of the latest generation of car parks, since the comfort of the user is great since the indications that spaces are free or occupied are very reliable, since each space is controlled individually and that on the other hand he is guided surely to the next free place. For the operator, this system allows optimum occupancy of the car park.

Since each parking space is individually controlled by its detector 20, it is possible to know exactly when a car parked in a given space and when it came out, respectively the duration of its stop. By transmitting this information to a parking fee payment system, via the computer system 10 and the link 5, a functional organic link is obtained between the occupation control function and that of the parking fee payment.

The parking fee is paid at a payment terminal 50, preferably a prepayment terminal, which includes at least the following functions: a data entry keyboard 51, an information display 52 and a parking fee receiving device 53. Other functions (not shown) can also be included at terminal 50, for example a device for returning money, a card reader device for payment of the tax by credit card, magnetic card or subscription card, a token payment device, a receipt distributor, a ticket distributor indicating the number of the space occupied, a telephone communication device with a parking attendant, etc ... The payment terminals 50 can be decentralized, that is to say that each zone of the car park can be equipped with one or more terminals, or else centralized, one or more terminals being located only near the entry / exit of pedestrians in the car park.

The method and the management system according to the invention are particularly suitable for a pre-payment system but can also be adapted for a post-payment system for the parking fee.

In a prepaid car park, the user who has been guided to a free place, as described above, can park his car there, the detector 20 registering that the place is now occupied and signaling this state to the computer system. 10. Simultaneously the place indicator 40 has changed its indication as indicated above. The user then goes to the next payment terminal 50 and indicates his seat number using the keyboard 51. The computer system 10 can at this time check the plausibility of the information entered, that is, the number indicated corresponds indeed to a place which has just been occupied and not to a place which is still free or else to a place occupied for a certain time and for which the parking fee has already been paid; in these latter cases, corresponding information will be indicated by the display device 52. In addition, the computer system 10 knowing the time of the start of parking, ie the time when the detector 20 has detected the presence of a vehicle on the place in question, the display 52 will indicate to the customer the authorized parking time limit according to the amount paid into the collection device 53, this indication being either calculated by an appropriate device installed in the terminal 50 and then transmitted to the computer system 10, or calculated and recorded simultaneously by the system IT 10.

If the parking time limit authorized above is exceeded, the computer system 10, after having possibly granted a grace period, will signal this fact, first by activating the color signal 43 or by flashing the red signal 42 of the place indicator 40 corresponding to the place on which the authorized parking time has been exceeded, and will indicate a corresponding alarm on its screen, preferably at the request of the supervisor. The parking supervisor can then intervene in the space in question and read the number on the vehicle's license plates in order to denounce the offending motorist. Alternatively, and in the event that the car park is not served by a supervisor, the alarm in question can be transmitted, via line 6 and modem 60, for example to a nearby police station, from where an officer will be able to intervene. According to yet another variant, the parking lot can be equipped with a video surveillance system 9, comprising a number of video or photo cameras 90, preferably a camera capable of filming or photographing several parking spaces, being mounted on a support mobile and can be oriented to either place, automatically and / or on command of the supervisor. In the event of an overtaking signal, the camera 90 assigned to the place in question is directed towards the offending vehicle in order to film or photograph the license plate. When the driver later returns to pick up his vehicle, the total parking time may be recorded, the driver at fault may be penalized accordingly, the computer system 10 providing a report indicating the time of arrival, the amount paid, the authorized time limit, the actual departure time as well than a witness photo showing the vehicle's number plate.

Various auxiliary functions can be added to payment terminals 50 and to the computer system 10. For example, since the user must indicate his seat number, a distributor can issue a ticket bearing said number in order to subsequently facilitate the search for the parked vehicle .

According to another embodiment, an anti-theft control device can be provided; when entering their seat number, the user then enters a complementary code number, for example his license plate number, or his date of birth or preferably any other number of his choice. Before the user picks up his vehicle, he will have to go back to a terminal 50 to enter there, via the keyboard 51, his seat number as well as the code number he had chosen. In the event that the detector 20 signals the departure of the vehicle without the aforementioned receipt operation having been carried out, an alarm is triggered by the computer system 10, the vehicle is blocked either by lowering a barrier 31, by raising a harrow (not shown) placed in the ground or by any other means capable of preventing the vehicle from leaving. Simultaneously the camera 90 assigned to the place in question can take a photo of the driver.

Since the actual parking time is known, the payment terminals 50 can be equipped with a device restoring the parking fee surplus, by restitution of money or by recharging a credit or subscription card.

According to yet another form of execution of the system, it is also possible for the user who finds that the place indicator 40 signals an overrun of the authorized duration, to pay the additional duration, with or without surcharge, directly at a payment terminal 50.

In a post-payment car park, the user is guided and parks his vehicle in a free space as indicated above. When leaving his vehicle, he has only one operation to do, that is to note the number of the place he occupies.

When the user returns to pick up his vehicle, he must first pass through a payment terminal 50, where he enters the number of the place he occupies by the keyboard 51. The computer system 10 checks the likelihood of this number , or that it is indeed that of a place occupied for a certain time and not that of a vacant place or a place whose tax has just been paid. As before, a corresponding indication is displayed on the display 52. The computer system 10 which recorded the time at which the place in question was occupied, calculates and indicates on the display 52 the amount of the parking fee to pay. Once the correct tax has been paid, the user has a fixed period, for example 15 minutes, during which he can collect his vehicle. If this time is exceeded, an infraction is recorded as indicated below.

In the event that the user neglects to pay his parking fee or does not pay it completely or then exceeds the period during which he can go and pick up his vehicle, the detector 20 signaling that the vehicle leaves the parking place while the system computer 10 indicates that the tax is not correctly paid, the camera 90 will be ordered in order to take a photo of the license plate of the faulty vehicle. As previously, the computer system 10 will be able to draw up a complete report of the offense committed, either non-payment or insufficient payment of the parking fee or exceeding the duration of authorization to leave the vehicle.

It can be tedious for the user to have to remember the number of his parking space, mainly in the case of a post-payment car park where this number must be entered at the end of the parking period, which period may last. many hours. Various means can be proposed to facilitate the user, either a ticket comprising the number in question and available at each place, or a card or a ticket with a preferably magnetic recording to be withdrawn on the place or on the payment terminal 50 and comprising the recording of the number in question, said ticket or said card being introduced into the payment terminal 50 instead of entering said number by the keyboard when the user returns. According to another variant, it is possible for the user to combine the parking number with another code number as indicated above and to successively enter these two numbers on the keypad 51 of the terminal 50 when he leaves the parking lot, n '' then having only to re-enter the number he knows well when he returns, the associated parking space number being automatically determined by the computer system 10. As described above, this last function can also serve as an anti-theft device and only allow the vehicle to exit when the personal code number has been correctly entered.

Various other equipment or systems may still be managed by the computer system 10. In particular, a line represented at 7 can transmit information coming from fire detectors 70, CO detectors 71 or any other types of detectors. In the case of very large car parks or for those located in regions with a high aggression rate, anti-aggression detectors 72 can be actuated remotely using an appropriate command 73 or by pressing a button placed near. In these cases, a video control camera 90 can be operated to monitor the area where a detector has been operated.

Similarly, the computer system 10 can manage, via line 8, the auxiliary parking systems, such as the lighting 80, the ventilation 81, the elevators 82, etc.

The computer system 10 can therefore manage all of the systems equipping the parking lot, this in real time, since it knows at all times and can display on a screen what are the free and occupied places, what are the places for which the parking tax has been correctly paid and those for which the user is in breach, in addition, the various auxiliary systems necessary for the proper functioning of the car park can be managed by the same computer system. It can likewise, continuously or periodically carry out checks on the proper functioning of the various equipment and specific systems. Periodically, for example every day, the computer system 10 can draw up a report on the operation of the car park, via its printer 11, and output a report indicating for example the rate of use of the car park as a function of time, the various offenses noted, the amount of parking fees collected, the various breakdowns occurred on one or other of the particular systems, etc. It is not necessary for a supervisor to remain permanently in the parking lot control room, the link 6 via the modem 60 possibly making it possible to fully control the parking from an outside site.

Various supplements have been described above which can easily be integrated into the parking management system; it is understood that other systems or equipment necessary for the proper management of the car park or facilitating its use by users, can be incorporated into the general system described.

In particular, the system has been described as applying to one or other of the pre-payment or post-payment systems. It is obvious that it is possible to apply it to a car park comprising several zones each having a different parking status, for example a zone reserved for subscribers where entry is only authorized on introduction of a particular code , then an area where parking is only authorized for a short period and which could be a prepayment area, and another area where long-term parking is authorized and which could be a post-payment area , these different areas being managed by the same computer system 10.

Thus, by the method and the system for managing a parking lot according to the invention, the goals which had been set previously have been achieved, namely improving the management of the parking lot for the operator, in particular by reducing operating costs. due to surveillance personnel, improve user comfort and minimize the possibility of fraud.

Claims (13)

1. A method of management of a parking facility comprising at least one parking zone, each parking zone having a plurality of parking spaces, each parking space being managed individually and independently by a system (2, 20) monitoring occupation, having in particular a device for monitoring the occupation of each space (20), and by a system for payment (5, 50) of a parking fee, the said parking fee being allocated at the parking space chosen by the user, the said parking facility being further equipped with a signalling system (3, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 4, 40) allowing an automobile driver to be guided toward a parking zone having at least one available space, the system (2, 20) monitoring occupation, the payment system (5, 50) as well as the signalling system (3, 4) being linked to an information processing system (10),
      characterized in that
      the entrance to each parking being equipped with a passage detector (21), when a vehicle enters a parking zone not having more than a determined limited number of available spaces, the passage detector (21) of the said zone signals it to the information processing system (10) which then acts upon the signalling system (3) to block access to the said parking zone, then after a given period recalculates the number of occupied spaces in the said zone by querying each individual monitoring device (20), the information processing system (10) unblocking access to the said zone if it determines that there still exists at least one available space in the said zone.
2. Method of managing a parking facility according to claim 1, characterized in that the actual duration of parking is checked by the individual occupation monitoring device (20) of the parking space.
3. System of management of a parking facility for applying the method according to claim 1, the said parking facility having at least one parking zone, each parking zone comprising a plurality of parking spaces, the said system comprising in particular an occupation monitoring system, individual and independent of each parking space (2, 20), a system of payment (5, 50) of a parking fee, a signalling system (3, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 4, 40), the said systems of occupation monitoring (2, 20), of payment (5, 50) and of signalling (3, 4) being linked to an information processing system (10),
      characterized in that it further comprises
      a detector of passage (21) allocated to each parking zone, the said detector being linked to the said information processing system.
4. System of management of a parking facility according to claim 3, characterized in that the said system of payment of the parking fee comprises at least one payment post (50), which is equipped in particular with a keyboard (51) allowing introduction of the number of the parking space.
5. System of management of a parking facility according to claim 4, characterized in that the said payment post is equipped in particular with a keyboard allowing introduction of the number of the parking space associated with a code number known by the user.
6. System of management of a parking facility according to one of the claims 4 or 5, characterized in that the said payment post further comprises a device for recording and a device for reading the number of the parking space, being able to be associated with a code number known by the user, recorded on a card or a ticket.
7. System of management of a parking facility according to one of the claims 4 to 6, characterized in that the said payment post is equipped with a device (52) able to display at least one piece of information coming from an information processing system, signalling an error in introduction of the space number.
8. System of management of a parking facility according to one of the claims 5 to 7, characterized in that the information processing system (10) is able to trigger an alarm and/or actuate blocking of the vehicle through suitable blocking means (31) when the detector (20) signals the departure of the vehicle and that the correct code number has not been introduced, respectively read, on the payment post (50).
9. System of management of a parking facility according to claim 3, characterized in that the signalling system is composed of a system of general signalling (3, 30, 31, 32, 33,) and a system of signalling (4, 40) which is individual and independent of each parking space, which are able to guide a user toward at least one available space.
10. System of management of a parking facility according to claim 9, characterized in that the system of individual signalling of each parking space comprises a box (40) having a first luminous signal (41) able to indicate that the space is available as well as a second luminous signal (42) able to indicate that the space is occupied.
11. System of management of a parking facility according to claim 10, characterized in that the said box further comprises a third luminous signal (42, 43) able to indicate that the authorized parking duration has been exceeded.
12. System of management of a parking facility according to one of the claims 3 to 11, characterized in that it further comprises a system of video monitoring composed of a plurality of cameras (90) able to take a photograph of the licence plate of vehicles having exceeded the authorized duration of parking or where the parking fee has not been correctly paid.
13. System of management of a parking facility according to claim 4, characterized in that the information processing system includes a screen capable of displaying the state of payment of each parking space.

Images