FR2791161A1 - Vehicle parking lot payment managing has time recorder using parking authorization devices for calculating price of parking from information concerning received from server - Google Patents

Abstract

A parking server (2) transmits the information concerning a parking vehicle to a time recorder (10) prompted by a user with via a mobile telephone (20). The time recorder has parking authorization devices (12-14) for calculating the price of the parking to from the information concerning the identification of the place of parking and information concerning the time of parking for invoicing the user.

Description

VEHICLE PARKING MANAGEMENT METHOD

  The present invention relates to a method of managing paid parking for vehicles, using at least one parking meter connected to a parking server. The invention finds a particularly advantageous application in the field of

parking at parking meters.

  We know, in particular from international application WO 96/11453, a paid parking management system built around a mobile telephone network, in which a user calls, by means of his mobile telephone, a parking server to indicate to him the chosen parking area, and provide a vehicle identifier such as the registration number, and possibly a personal identification code. The parking server registers

  the call data as well as the parking start time.

  When the user leaves the parking place, he calls the parking server again to inform him of his departure. Taking into account the duration of parking and the pricing in force in the parking area, the server can calculate the price to be paid by the user and establish an invoice either directly or through

  from the mobile operator.

  In this known system, the control is carried out by surveillance agents equipped with portable devices allowing them to consult the parking server by telephone link in order to know whether the parked vehicles, identified in particular by their registration number, have have been regularly registered with the server. Although it offers a number of advantages, the paid parking management system which has just been described in relation to

  the state of the art nevertheless has some drawbacks.

  For the user of the system, it is mandatory to give, and therefore to pay, two telephone calls to the server, which can

  be very expensive compared to the average parking price.

  For the parking operator, it is necessary to provide the surveillance officers with special equipment, the operating cost of which is significant since it requires a telephone call from the parking server. In addition, this surveillance work is very long because it is necessary for each vehicle to type its identifier, registration number or identification number written on a label.

  visibly placed on the vehicle.

  On the other hand, this known paid parking management system is not compatible with existing payment systems, such as parking meters delivering a parking ticket to be placed behind the windshield of the vehicle or providing a list of parking space numbers or registration numbers of parked vehicles entered by parking meters by users. This results in either a loss of information or the need to use more complex software if one wants to prepare financial statements or statistics.

for the whole system.

  Finally, we can see that, if the user forgets to report his departure to the server, the parking time continues to be debited, this

  which will inevitably result in invoice disputes.

  Also, the technical problem to be solved by the object of the present invention is to provide a paid parking management system for vehicles, using at least one parking meter connected to a parking server, a method which would make it possible to apply the means of mobile telephony in the paid parking area

  without, however, having the drawbacks mentioned above.

  The solution to the technical problem posed consists, according to the present invention, in that: - a user, provided with a mobile telephone subscribed to a mobile telephone network, transmits to said parking server, at least: information concerning the identification of the parking place of his vehicle, 10. information concerning the parking time, - the parking server transmits to the parking meter, at least, said information concerning the parking time, the parking meter supplies control means d parking authorization, at least, the information concerning the parking time, - the parking price to be paid is calculated from information concerning the identification of the parking place and information concerning the parking time for invoicing to the user. Thus, it is understood that, in the method according to the invention, the parking meter holds the parking time information necessary for the control, and that, as a result, said parking authorization control means can be simpler and less

  expensive than a phone link to the parking server.

  According to a first embodiment of the invention, said parking authorization control means consist of a parking ticket printed by the parking meter to be placed inside the vehicle and carrying the information concerning the parking time. Here we find a classic use of a

  parking meter in its function of issuing a parking ticket.

  According to a second embodiment of the invention, said parking authorization control means consist of a list provided by the parking meter or by a portable control device, capable of receiving information from the parking meter. In the latter case, the portable control unit receives the information from the parking meter either by infrared link or by short-distance radio link. These connections being free, they do not

  generate no additional communication costs.

  In a particular mode of implementation of the method which is the subject of the invention, it is intended that the information relating to the parking time consists of a parking time defined by the user. This mode of implementation has the advantage that it only requires a telephone call from the user to the parking server, hence a reduction in cost compared to the system.

  described in international application WO 96/11453.

  Finally, it will be noted that the method according to the invention is presented as a new means of payment on a parking meter, and that, for this reason, it is compatible from the accounting and

  statistics with the existing parking meters.

  The following description with reference to the appended drawings, given

  by way of nonlimiting example, will make it clear what is

  the invention and how it can be realized.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram of a first embodiment of the

process according to the invention.

  Figure 2 is a diagram of a second embodiment

  of the process according to the invention.

  Figure 3 is a diagram of a third embodiment

  of the process according to the invention.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram of an alternative embodiment of the embodiment

implementation of Figure 3.

  The diagram in FIG. 1 illustrates a method of paying parking for vehicles, using at least one parking meter 10. This

  parking meter 10 is part of a parking system managed by a server 2 and to which it is connected through a network 3 of mobile telephony5.

  According to the paid parking method shown in FIG. 1, a user, provided with a mobile telephone 20 subscribed to the network 3, appears before the parking meter 10 and composes a message M1 on his telephone 20, said message comprising information relating to the identification of the vehicle parking place, here the number "7" of the parking meter 10, and information concerning the parking time, here the duration of 120 minutes for example. Then, the user presses a key 11 on the parking meter corresponding to the "Payment by telephone" function. The parking meter 10 then waits for reception and the user sends the message M1 towards the parking server 2. After receiving the message MI1, the server 2 transmits to the parking meter 10, identified by the server 2 from the number ("7") contained in the message M1, a message M2 comprising the information received concerning the parking time , namely the duration of 120 minutes, and the time (10:22) of the start of parking. The parking meter 10 can then print a ticket

  11, acting as a means of controlling parking authorization.

  The ticket 11 indicating the duration and the start time of parking is placed inside the vehicle in a visible manner to allow a

  visual inspection by surveillance officers.

  The parking price is calculated from the information concerning the parking place, which determines the pricing to be applied, and the duration of parking. The user is debited with this amount directly from their telephone bill or by

  the parking operator managing the server 2.

  In the embodiment of the method according to the invention shown in FIG. 2, the user, on arriving at the parking place, calls the server 2 with his mobile telephone 20 and transmits to him a message M1 which, in case a), contains, as in the example of FIG. 1, on the one hand, information concerning the parking place, which may be the number ("7") of the nearest parking meter 10, or a zone number, supplemented if necessary with the name of the city, and, on the other hand, information concerning the parking time, here the duration of 120 minutes. The server 2 receives the message M1 and, by means of an internal database making it possible to link the subscriber number of the user to the mobile telephone network, SIM card number for a GSM network for example, establishes information identification of the parked vehicle, namely the registration number ("47LPX75") or a number on a label affixed to the vehicle. This identification information of the parked vehicle is transmitted by the server 2 to at least one parking meter 10 in a message M2 which also contains information concerning the parking time, that is to say the duration of 120 minutes for example. , and the start time (10:22) of

parking.

  The control is carried out as follows. At the request of a surveillance agent, the parking meter 10 provides a parking authorization control list 13 on which are indicated the identification information of the parked vehicle, registration or identification number, and the information about parking time, duration and start time of parking. In order to update the information present in the parking meter, an update can be carried out periodically by the server 2 or when the monitoring agent requests the parking meter 10 to provide it with the listing 13. Billing to the user is carried out as in the

  implementation shown in Figure 1.

  FIG. 2 shows in b), another exemplary embodiment according to which the user sends a first telephone message M 1 providing the server 2 with information concerning the identification of the place of

  parking and the parking start time (10:22).

  The server 2 then transmits in a first message M2 to at least one parking meter 10 the parking start time as well as the vehicle identification information, here the registration number 0, obtained from the identification of the telephone. mobile 20. During an inspection, the listing 13 provided by the parking meter 10 to a surveillance officer will indicate that the vehicle registered

  "47LPX75" has been allowed to park since 10:22.

  When the user decides to leave his parking lot, he sends a second telephone message Ml1 providing the server 2 with information concerning the identification of the parking place and the time (11:52) of the end of parking. The server 2 then transmits in a second message M2 to at least one parking meter 10 the end of parking time as well as the vehicle identification information. During an inspection, the listing 13 will have removed the registration number "47LPX75" from the end of parking time, indicating that the corresponding vehicle is no longer in service.

  authorized parking situation.

  The price to be paid by the user is calculated from the pricing in force, deducted from the information concerning the parking place, and from the parking time obtained by the difference between the

  parking end and start times.

  It will be noted that, in this mode of implementation, the user pays for the real duration of the parking, while in the case of FIG. 1 and the case a) of FIG. 2, the parking is prepaid for a fixed duration. given. However, the user must make two calls

  instead of just one in the previous cases.

  The exemplary embodiments a) and b) of FIG. 3 differ from the corresponding examples of FIG. 2 in that the user himself dials the identification information of the parked vehicle on his mobile telephone 20, here the number which one

  is then transmitted from the server 2 to the parking meter 10.

  The two previous options are possible, namely prepayment of a fixed parking time or time parking

real.

  In the examples of implementation a) and b) of FIG. 4, the messages M1 sent by the user to the server 2 indicate a characteristic number 14 ("103") of the parking place of the vehicle which is used for the times identification information of the parked vehicle and information concerning the identification of the parking place, intended for pricing. The number 14 ("103") is transmitted to the parking meter 10 as well as the information concerning the parking time: duration ("120") or start (10:22) or end (1 1:52) hours of parking. By consulting the list 13 provided by the parking meter 10, a surveillance officer will be able to note that a vehicle parked on said location "103" is authorized to there

park or not.

  Again, prepayment or real time options are possible, as well as parking payment for several vehicles at the same time since the vehicles are identified by the location number

parking.

  The paid parking method, object of the invention, has been described with reference to Figures 2, 3 and 4 by implementing a listing 13 as means of controlling parking authorization. It is obvious that other means could be used, such as a portable device able to receive information from the parking meter 10 by infrared or short-distance radio link, as has already been indicated.

upper.

Claims (12)

  1. A method of managing paid parking for vehicles, using at least one parking meter (10) connected to a parking server (2), characterized in that: - a user, provided with a mobile telephone (20) subscribed to a mobile telephone network (3) transmits to said parking server (2) at least: information concerning the identification of the parking place of his vehicle, information concerning the parking time, - the parking server (2) transmits to the parking meter (10), at least, said information concerning the parking time, - the parking meter (10) provides to means (12, 13, 14) of parking authorization control, at least, the information concerning the parking time, - the parking price to be paid is calculated from information concerning the identification of the parking place and information concerning the parking time for billing to the user. 2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the information concerning the parking time is constituted   by a parking duration defined by the user.   3. Method according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized   in that said parking authorization control means consist of a parking ticket (11) printed by the parking meter (10) to be placed inside the vehicle and carrying the   parking time information.   4. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the parking server (2) also transmits to the parking meter (10) identification information of the parked vehicle, and in that the parking meter (10) also provides said parking authorization control means, said identification information of the parked vehicle.   5. Method according to claim 4, characterized in that said identification information of the parked vehicle is provided by the parking server (2) from the identification of the mobile phone (20).   6. Method according to claim 5, characterized in that the identification information of the parked vehicle is the vehicle registration number or an identification number affixed to the vehicle.   7. Method according to claim 4, characterized in that said identification information of the parked vehicle is transmitted by the user to the parking server (2) by means of his mobile phone (20).   8. Method according to claim 7, characterized in that the identification information of the parked vehicle is the vehicle registration number or a characteristic number   (14) of the vehicle parking space.   9. Method according to any one of claims 4 to 8,   characterized in that the information concerning the parking time consists of the desired parking time by the user.   10. Method according to any one of claims 4 to 8,   characterized in that the information concerning the parking time is constituted by the parking start time and the parking end time respectively transmitted to the parking server (2) upon arrival and departure of the vehicle from the place of parking.   11. Method according to claims 9 or 10, characterized in that   that said parking authorization control means consist of a list (13) provided by the parking meter (10) or by a portable control device capable of receiving information in from the parking meter (10).   12. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 11,   characterized in that the information relating to the identification of the place where the vehicle is parked is constituted by a characteristic number of the parking meter (10) or by a characteristic number   (14) of the tariff zone of the parking place.