EP2215605B1

EP2215605B1 - Automatic payment system for parking vehicles and related electronic device

Info

Publication number: EP2215605B1
Application number: EP08763867A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Francesco Marzaro; Alfiero Guiotto
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2007-10-23
Filing date: 2008-05-16
Publication date: 2012-08-22
Anticipated expiration: 2028-05-16
Also published as: EP2215605A1; ITVE20070078A1; WO2009054014A1

Abstract

System for the managing of paying car parks for vehicles comprising an operations center (16) and an electronic device (20) to be installed in any vehicles (14), wherein the electronic device (20) includes a localization apparatus (22) of the position of the vehicle (14) and a transceiver (26) able to transmit the data and the position of the vehicle directly to the operation center (16) which verifies if the vehicle is authorized to park or, alternatively it calculates the parking time and the parking cost to be debited.

Description

The present invention relates to a system for the managing of paying car parks for vehicles and the related electronic device to be installed in vehicles.
For paying a car park, it is known to use the so-called parking meters made of stands wherein, when coins have been inserted, a ticket showing the time of the end of the vehicle's parking is stamped.
Alternatively, there exist cards having a prefixed cost and therefore a prefixed parking time wherein, usually, it is necessary to highlight, by removing a covering film, the arrival time so defining also the time of the end of the parking.
However, these systems have some drawbacks since it is necessary to reach a parking meter or a seller so as to receive or to buy a ticket or a parking card but with the risk that the parking meter is broken or that there is no seller around.
Furthermore, in case of buying a parking card from a seller there is a minimum cost to be spent. Often, as a precaution, the ticket or parking card bought has a parking time longer than the necessary one. Obviously, in case it is necessary to start in advance, the real expense will be greater than the expense due.
In order to solve these problems a prepaid electronic card has been created wherein, when one arrives in a car park, it is necessary to activate it, so that as the time passes, the cost of the parking is directly deducted from the credit of the card.
However, there is the risk to forget to deactivate the prepaid electronic card at the end of the parking, with the unpleasant consequence to have the credit of the card reduced to zero.
Other solutions have been developed which make use of apparatuses which are able to detect the position of the vehicle by means of a satellite receiver, such as GPS (Global Positioning System), and then transmit its position, together with the identifying data of the vehicle, to one of the detection stands of the car pak.
The information received by the detection stands are conveyed to an operation center which starts to measure the parking time of the vehicle.
When the vehicle starts, a signal is sent to a detection stand which, in its turn, send it to the operation center which stop to measure the parking time and calculates the amount to charge to the vehicle, and then to the car's owner.
Document EP-A-0 952 557 discloses a parking payment system using GPS location system with communication mean for sending location and billing information to central station. Charging begins when a vehicle arrives and is activated until the vehicle resumes traveling.
Further, documents US-A-2004/0181495 , WO-A-2007/045250 and US-B-6 246 337 disclose other parking payment systems also using the same principle of position localisation to trigger the charging.
Although this solution partially solves the above-cited problems, it has however further drawbacks.
In fact, each car park is provided with its own detection stands and each car park is even provided with a high number of stands, so as to delimit the car park area and to detect the position of any vehicles within the area.
The construction of said automatic system for the payment of a car park is necessarily complicated since it requires fixed installations or detection stands for each car park with a consequent high cost. It is also necessary to plan regular maintenance for these installations, as well as repair interventions in case of failures or accidental malfunctionings.
Another serious drawback is due to the fact that the stands delimit the paying car park area and, as soon as a vehicle enters this area, the detection system automatically starts to measure the time and determine the cost of the parking. Moreover, in case a driver decides to pay by traditional systems, for example in order not to leave a sign of its passage to mantain its privacy, this is not allowed.
Also in case of a simple stop or a short parking by remaining inside the vehiucle, where the payment is not required, unfortunately the system is activated the same thus requiring the payment due for the period of time the car is within the car park area.
One aim of the present invention is then to construct an automatic detection system of the position of a vehicle within the car park area for calculating the amount due and also the related electronic device to be installed inside the vehicle without the above-mentioned drawbacks, in short to remove the fixed installations. Another aim of the invention is an automatic detection system of the position of a vehicle which is able to determine if a vehicle is previously authorized to park, namely if a season subscription ticket has been paid for that vehicle and the vehicle aa satisfied this payment.
These aims are reached by an electronic device according to claim 1.
Preferably, said transceiver is able to communicate with said operation center when said vehicle is parked in any place of a plurality of car parks.
Preferably, said device comprises electronic means to attend to the payment of the car park.
Preferably, said payment electronic means comprises a card reader for payment cards, such as debit or credit cards, prepaid cards, rechargeable or fidelity cards.
Preferably, said device comprises a registration and memory unit containing the data identifying the vehicle, its owner or the person responsible for the payment which are transmitted to the operation center when the vehicle arrives in the car park.
Preferably, said registration and memory unit Is able to ensure the correct functioning of the electronic device also temporarily without the localization signal or without the signal between the transceiver and the operation center.
The invention also relates to a system for managing the paying car parks, comprising an operation center and an electronic device to be installed in any vehicle, said electronic device including a localization apparatus and a transceiver able to transmit the data and the position of the vehicle detected by said localization apparatus, characterized in that said operation center is able to directly communicate with the transceiver of any vehicle of at least one car park, so that when a vehicle arrives, the operation center is able to receive the signal of the beginning of the parking, the identifying data and the position of the vehicle and, subsequently, at the start of the vehicle it receives the signal of the end of the parking.
In this way the detection stands are eliminated and thus the detection or managing system of the car park is greatly simplified, both in construction, and maintenance.
In particular, the transceiver is able to communicate with said operation center when said vehicle is parked in any place of a plurality of car parks.
Consequently, the detection stands are eliminated not only for only one car park, but also for a plurality of car parks and, furthemore, the operation center is only one for all these car parks.
The system is then greatly simplified with the consequent savings. In so doing, the system is also less subject to failures or malfunctionings.
Preferably, the device comprises manual or automatic activation means for signalling to the operation center its own data and its position or, in case said activation means are not activated, to allow the payment by traditional systems or the stop of the vehicle without paying.
In other words, if one wants to park the car using traditional means for paying the parking without using the automatic payment system, it is sufficient not to activate the system thanks to the activation and disactivation means with which the electronic device is provided.
In particular, the devise is provided with electronic means to attend to the payment of the parking by means of payment cards, such as debit or credit cards, prepaid cards, rechargeable or fidelity cards, without necessarily registering the movement on statement of accounts.
Similarly, it is possible not to activate the system if one wants to do a short stop and then to just start afterwards, or to change one's mind and to no longer park the vehicle after coming within the parking area.
These and other advantages of the present invention will be more evident from the following detailed description of an embodiment given only for illustrative and not limitative purposes with reference to the following drawings wherein:

figure 1 is a schematic view of an automatic payment system for the parking of vehicles;
figure 2 is a schematic view of the electronic device to be installed inside any vehicle which is part of the payment system of figure 1.

Figure 1 schematically represents an automatic payment system 10 for parking vehicles wherein it is illustrated a parking area 12 with a vehicle 14 parked within it. The payment system 10 comprises an electronic device 20 installed inside the vehicle 14 and an operation center 16 which directly communicates with the electronic device 20.
More precisely, the electronic device 20 essentially comprises (see fig. 2) a localization apparatus of the position of vehicles, such as a satellite localizer 22 of GPS type (Global Positioning System), a memory and registration unit 24 and a transceiver 26 provided with an aerial 28.
Moreover, there is an electric battery 29 for the feeding of the electronic device 20 which is charged by the battery of the vehicle 14. Aternatively, the device 20 can be fed directly by the battery of the vehicle.
The localization apparatus 22, thanks to the GPS satellite network of which only one satellite 18 is represented in figures 1 and 2, is able to detect the right position of the vehicle 14 at any time.
The data identifying the vehicle and its owner or the person responsible for the payment are registered in the memory and registration unit 24.
The electronic device 20 is provided with an activation key 30 which, if it is pressed, allows the transceiver 26 to send to the operation center 16 the signal of the start of parking together with its identifying data and its position. The type of signal of the communication between the transceiver 26 and the operation center 16 is GPRS or, alternatively, UMTS or a GSM type, or other kinds of signals.
Alternatively, the electronic device 20 is provided with automatic activation means so that, as soon as the engine of the vehicle 14 is switched off, the transceiver 26 of the device 20 sends to the operation center 16 the signal of the beginning of the parking together with the identifying data.
The switching off of the engine of the vehicle 14 may occur simply by removing the engine key or by other systems.
The device 20 is provided with a multilingual display 32 which indicates if the device is activated or not. A visual device, such as a led 34 is coupled with the multilingual display 32 which is activated when the device 20 is operated.
The functioning of the system 10 occurs in the following manner.
When a driver parks his car, he activates the device 20 by means of the activation key 30. The localization apparatus 22, thanks to the GPS system, detects the position of the vehicle 14 and this information, together with the data identifying the vehicle, the owner or the person responsible for the payment stored inside the memory and registration unit 24, are sent to the operation center 16 by means of the transceiver 26.
The operation center 16, after identifying the vehicle and its position and verifying the data, starts to measure the parking time and assigns it the hourly rate of the parking area where the car is parked. Then, it communicates to the device 20 the start time of the regular parking which is showed on the multilingual display 32; this visualization is necessary both for the driver and the parking supervisor for a possible control.
When the driver decides to start, he presses the activation key 30 for the second time in order to deactivate the device 20 and, then, the transceiver 26 sends to the operation center 16 the signal of the parking end. The operation center 16 sends a signal for confirming the parking end, and this information is shown on the multilingual display 32, and the operation center calculates the amount to charge to the car's owner or the person responsible for the payment.
Alternatively, the electronic device 20 is provided with automatic disactivation means which operates as soon as the engine of the vehicle 14 is switched on, in which case the transceiver 26 of the device 20 sends the signal of the parking end to the operation center 16.
The switching on of the engine of the vehicle 14 may occur for example by inserting the engine key, or by other systems.
Therefore, the electronic device 20 may function in the following different manners:

manual mode, wherein both the activation and the disactivation occur manually by pressing the activation key 30;
semiautomatic mode, wherein the activation occurs manually by means of the activation key 30, whereas the disactivation occurs automatically as soon as the engine of the vehicle 14 is switched on;
automatic mode, wherein the activation and the disactivation occur automatically respectively by switching off the engine of the vehicle 14 when parking, and switching on the engine when starting.

In case, the driver forgets to press the activation key 30 for the second time in order to indicate the end of the parking when the manual mode has been selected, or the automatic disactivation means are missing or they are broken, there are automatic disactivation means which automatically disactivate the device 20 when the vehicle goes beyond a predetermined distance, for example 50-100m, from the place where it was previously parked.
Since the system 10 extends over all the parking area 12, no investment is required to make fixed tecnological equipments for detecting the parked cars. Therefore, the system is very inexpensive and also very reliable since there are no structures or contrivances which could fail.
Morevover, the system 10 could cover more parking areas, and even all existing parking areas.
There are many advantages since it is possible to move from one city to the another without worrying about the payment mode for each car park.
The payment may occur by automatically debiting the charge to the bank account of the car's owner or the person responsible for the payment, or by means of electronic payment cards.
For this purpose, the electronic device 20 is provided with a card reader 40 for payment cards such as debit or credit cards, prepaid cards, rechargeable or fidelity cards.
Furthermore, the system also offers the possibility to buy season subscription tickets for example monthly or annual ones.
In any case, as soon as the operation center receives the signal of the parking start together with the other data, it identifies the vehicle and verifies if that vehicle is authorized to park, namely if a certain season subscription ticket has been paid.
Thanks to the activation key 30, it is also possible to attend to the payment with traditional systems since it is sufficient to keep the device 20 disactived. In such a way, it is also possible to make a short stop without any debit or, even if we are within the car park, to change our minds and go away without the undesired activation of the system 10.
Moreover, the device 20 is coupled with an electronic parking disk 50 on which there is a display 52 for the arrival daylight saving time or standard time and, then, the start time of the parking and a knob 54 for setting this time.
Thanks to the registration and memory unit 24, the electronic device 20 is able to correctly function also temporarily without the localization signal or without the signal between the transceiver 26 and the operation center 16.
Morevover, the system comprises a transmitting unit which is delocalized in car parks without localization coverage such as underground car parks and is able to receive the signal from the device 20 and to sent it to the operation center 16. Finally, the user or client, i.e. the owner of the vehicle or the person responsible for the payment, has the possibility to consult its own data at the operation center, for example for a check or a verification.
It is evident that any modifications conceptually or functionally equivalent fall inside the scope of the present invention.
For example it is possible to use different types of signal between the transceiver 26 and the operation center 16.
It is also possible to coupled the device 20 with any other electronic device of the vehicle 14, such as a satellite navigator.

Claims

An electronic device (20) for paying car parks to be installed in any vehicle (14) comprising a localization apparatus (22) of the position of said vehicle (14), a transceiver (26) able to receive and transmit data which are received by an operation center (16), so that when said vehicle (14) arrives in a car park (12) the transceiver (26) sends its own data and its position detected by means of said localization apparatus (22) and, subsequently, directly communicates the start of the vehicle (14), said transceiver (26) directly communicates with said operation center (16), said transceiver (26) is able to communicate with said operation center (16) when said vehicle (14) is parked in any place of said car park (12) and said operation center (16) is able to communicate with all the vehicles of said car park (12),
, characterized in that it comprises activation means (30) to activate said device (20) so that the transceiver (26) sends to the operation center (16) the signal of the parking start together with its own data and its position,
manual and also
automatic so that they they intervene when the engine of said vehicle (14) is switched off, and it also
comprises disactivation means (30) which allow for the disactivation of said device (20), so that the
transceiver (26) sends to the operation center (16) the signal of the parking end,
said disactivation means (30) are manual and also
automatic so that they intevene when the engine of said vehicle (14) is switched on, and the device (20) may function in the following different manners:
- manual mode, wherein both the activation and the disactivation occur manually;

- semiautomatic mode, wherein the activation occurs manually, whereas the disactivation occurs automatically as soon as the engine of the vehicle (14) is switched on; manually, whereas the disactivation occurs automatically as

- automatic mode, wherein the activation and the disactivation occur automatically respectively by switching off the engine of the vehicle (14) when parking, and switching on the engine when starting;

- disabled mode, wherein the activation and disactivation means are not activated.
Device according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises safety automatic disactivation means (30) which automatically disactivate said device (20) when the vehicle moves away from the place where it was previously parked of a least a predetermined distance in case the device (20) should not be manually disactived by said manual activation means (30).
Device according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a multilingual display (32) able to visualize the activation of the device (20) as soon as it is activated by said activation means (30).
Device according to claim 3, characterized in that said multilingual display (32) comprises a visual (34) or sound device which signals the functioning of the device (20) when it is activated.
Device according to any of the previous claims, characterized in that it is coupled with any other electronic device contained in the vehicle (14).
Device according to any of the previous claims, characterized in that the communication signal between said transceiver (26) and said operation center (16) is of a GPRS, UMTS or GSM type, or any other type of signal.
Device according to any of the previous claims, characterized in that it comprises an electronic parking disk (50) which includes a display (52) of the daylight saving time or standard time of the beginning of the parking to be used in case the vehicle (14) is parked in a park disk area.
Device according to claim 7, characterized in that said electronic parking disk (50) comprises at least a key or a knob (54) to set the arrival of daylight saving time or standard time to be used in case the vehicle (14) is parked in a park disk area.
A system (10) for managing paying car parks, comprising an operation center (16) and an electronic device (20) according to claim 1.
, characterized in that said operation center (16) is able to directly communicates with the transceiver (26) of any vehicle (14) of at least one car park (12), so that when a vehicle arrives, the operation center (16) is able to receive the signal of the beginning of the parking, the identifying data and the position of the vehicle (14) and, subsequently, at the start of the vehicle it receives the signal of the end of the parking.
System according to claim 9, characterized in that said operation center (16) is able to directly communicate with the transceiver (26) of any vehicle (14) parked in a plurality of car parks.
System according to claims 9 or 10, characterized in that said operation center (16) verifies if the vehicle (14) is authorized to park, namely if a certain season subscription ticket has been paid.
System according to claims 9, characterized in that after said operation center (16) has received the signal of the parking end, it processes and debit the cost for the parking of the vehicle (14).
System according to claims 12, characterized in that said operation center (16) is able to establish if the payment has occured by automatic debit of the bank account of the car's owner or the person responsible for the payment, or by means of electronic payment cards, such as debit or credit cards, prepaid cards, rechargeable or fidelity cards.
System according to claims 9, characterized in that it comprises a transmitting unit delocalized in the car parks where there is no localization coverage, such as the underground car parks, able to receive the signal from said electronic device (20) and to trasmit to said operation center (16).