IE85836B1 - Licence plate assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT The invention relates to a licence plate assembly that incorporates an active Radio Frequency (RF) system, and relates especially, but not exclusively, to a system used to obtain information relating to licences of taxis and private hire vehicles.

Description

Licence Plate Assembly The invention relates to a licence plate assembly that incorporates an active Radio Frequency (RF) system, and relates especially, but not exclusively, to a system used to obtain information relating to licences of taxis and private hire vehicles.

Licence plates for taxis and private hire vehicles bear impoitant information, for example, relating to which licensing authority issued the licence, the date that the licence was issued/will expire, a description of the vehicle, how many people the vehicle may carry, etc. This information is printed on a licence plate, which must be carried by all licensed vehicles.

When a licence enforcement officer desires to check whether a vehicle bears a valid licence plate, the officer must approach the vehicle, bend down and read its licence plate, perhaps after cleaning mud from the licence plate. This is time consuming and inconvenient. Moreover, if the vehicle is travelling, reading the licence plate becomes difficult or impossible.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a licence plate assembly comprising: a licence plate mount having a recess and a lid adapted to fit over the recess to provide a sealed compartment; and an active RF system housed within the sealed compartment, wherein the active RF system comprises: a radio transmitter and receiver, a processor, and an RF reader, wherein the RF reader is adapted in use to read an RF tag of a licence plate mounted in the mount.

"Radio transmitter/receiver" means any radio apparatus capable of transmitting and receiving radio signals over a significant distance.

In general, an RF system is one that can read data in RF tags that are present in a radio frequency field projected from an RF reader of the RF system. The term "active" in "active RF system" means that the active RF system has, or is coupled to, a power source.

The RF reader projects a radio frequency field. If an RF tag is present in this field, electromagnetic or electrostatic coupling in the radio frequency portion of the spectrum occurs. The active RF system can communicate with the RF tag through a modulation/encodation scheme.

Information relating to a vehicle to which the mount is attached can be obtained whilst the vehicle is moving, and whilst the vehicle itself is out of sight of a licence enforcement officer.

Using radio frequency (RF) transmission avoids the need for any visual inspection of the licence plate.

Preferably, the sealed compartment is provided with a tamper-evident seal.

Preferably, the active RF system includes an RF writer that is adapted to write data to an RF tag of a mounted licence plate.

Preferably, the active RF system is adapted to write data to the RF tag or re—write data of the RF tag. In such embodiments, the data stored in the RF tag can be modified after creation of the RF tag.

Optionally, the active RF system includes a power supply that is also supported by the mount and that is replenished using energy obtained from movement of the mount and a vehicle to which the mount is attached.

In such embodiments, the power supply is continually replenished whenever the vehicle moves, and so battery replacement is unnecessary.

Typically, the licence plate assembly also includes a licence plate having an RF tag.

Preferably, the RF tag comprises a passive RF tag.

A passive RF tag is one which does not contain an internal power source.

Passive RF tags are externally powered and typically derive their power from a carrier signal radiated from a scanner device (e.g. the RF reader of the active RF system).

The use of a passive RF tag that is included in the licence plate, whilst the active RF system is supported by the vehicle, means that the RF tag can be made very inexpensively, using a minimum of components. This is advantageous for use with taxilprivate hire vehicles, as such licence plates are only intended for short-term use, and need to be as simple to create and cheap as possible, whilst the mount could remain on the vehicle for five years or more. Therefore, using this invention, an out—of-date licence plate can be discarded and replaced by a new licence plate with a new RF tag at minimal cost.

Preferably, the RF tag comprises a memory that is adapted to store data.

Typically, the licence plate includes printed data, at least some of which corresponds to some of the data stored in the memory.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a system for obtaining information about a vehicle, the system comprising: a licence plate assembly according to the first aspect of the invention; and an interrogator device adapted to communicate with the active RF system.

The interrogator device typically comprises a computer and a radio transmitter/receiver.

Optionally, the interrogator device is adapted to read data from the active RF system and/or write data to the active RF system.

The active RF system may be adapted to continuously transmit data, or alternatively, it may be designed only to transmit data in response to a received signal from the interrogator device. Optionally, the active RF system is adapted to transmit the data after a particular time delay.

Typically, the time delay is a random time delay that is stored in the processor. Hence, different RF systems typically transmit data after different time delays.

In some embodiments, the active RF system is usually in a reduced-power “sleep” mode, waking up at intervals to check for a polling signal from the interrogator device.

Preferably, the processor includes a unique identification number.

According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of obtaining information about a vehicle, including the steps of: attaching a licence plate mount having a recess to a vehicle; locating an active RF system in the recess, and fitting a lid over the recess such that the RF system is housed in a sealed compartment; mounting a licence plate in the mount, the licence plate including an RF tag; and transmitting data from the licence plate to an interrogator device; wherein the RF tag is a passive RF tag and wherein data is read from the RF tag by the active RF system.

Typically, data is transmitted between the active RF system and the interrogator device via radio signals.

Optionally, the method includes the further step of using the active RF system to write data to the RF tag.

Optionally, the method includes the further step of sending a polling signal from the interrogator device to prompt the transmission of data. Typically, the active RF system operates in a reduced—power mode until detection of a polling signal.

Preferably, the data is transmitted to the interrogator device after a time delay stored in the active RF system. Preferably, the value of the time delay stored is set randomly.

Optionally, the polling signal is received by more than one vehicle, each vehicle having an active RF system adapted to transmit data to the interrogator device after a respective random time delay.

Preferably, the active RF system includes a unique identification number that is transmitted to the interrogator device in addition to the data from the licence plate. Typically, the data from the licence plate and the unique identification number of the active RF system are compared with information in a database relative to licensed vehicles and their valid licence plate data. Preferably, the database includes information relating to every licensed vehicle in the country.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, and with reference to the following drawings, in which:- Fig. 1 shows a plan view of a mount for a licence plate; Fig. 2 shows a perspective exploded view of the mount of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 shows a blank base for a licence plate before the printing of information specific to a particular vehicle; Fig. 4 shows an example of data for a particular vehicle; Fig. 5 shows the blank base of Fig. 3 with the data of Fig. 4 printed on it; Fig. 6 shows an RF tag; .

Fig. 7 shows the printed base of Fig. 5 with the RF tag of Fig.6 on an upper surface; Fig. 8 shows a blank licence plate before lamination; Fig. 9 shows a licence plate composed of the printed base of Fig. 5 and the RF tag of Fig. 6 laminated to the black licence plate of Fig. 8; Figs. 10A to 10D show schematic representations of four active RF systems and respective licence plates; and Fig. 1 1 shows a schematic representation of an interrogator device.

Referring now to Fig. 1, a mount 10 has four apertures 12 which receive bolts for attaching the mount 10 to a vehicle (not shown). The mount 10 also has four elongate apertures 14, a respective aperture 14 positioned close to each of the four comers of the mount 10. The apertures 14 are adapted to receive tags for mounting a licence plate, as will be described below.

The mount 10 also has a rim 20 with overhangs 21 at its upper and lower edges so that a licence plate can be supported behind the overhangs 22 against the main body of the mount 10.

Referring now to Fig. 2, a cuboid—shaped recess 16 is provided in a central portion of the mount 10. A lid 18 is provided which is adapted to fit over the recess 16; the lid 18 can be tamper-evident sealed over the recess 16.

Referring now to Fig. 3 to 9, the manufacture of a licence plate 50 will now be described. Fig. 3 shows a blank base 22, which has printed fields. The fields include a field 24, which gives the name of a council, a field 26, in which is printed “registration number”, a field 28, in which is printed “licence expiry date”, and a field 30, in which is printed “hackney carriage licensed to carry _ passengers”.

The blank base 22 has four elongate apertures 32, which correspond in shape and location to the elongate apertures 14 on the mount 10.

Fig. 4 shows data corresponding to a particular vehicle for which the licence plate 50 is intended. The data includes a licence number N, a registration number R, a licence expiry date D, details of the appearance of the car A, and the number of passengers the vehicle is licensed to carry P. These fields of information N, R, D, A, P, are laid out so that they can be printed on to the blank base 22 to give the printed base 34 shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 6 shows an RF tag 40, which includes a chip 42 and an aerial 44.

The aerial 44 comprises three square, concentric, copper tracks 44a, ‘44b, 44c. All of the tracks 44a, 44b, 44c connect to the chip 42. The base of the tag 40 comprises a thin transparent carrier material.

Fig. 7 shows the printed base 34 of Fig. 5 with the RF tag 40 of Fig. 6 located on its upper surface. However, in alternative embodiments, the RF tag 40 could be located at other places on the printed base 34, even on the reverse side of the printed base 34. in some embodiments, the RF tag 40 could be obscured from view e.g. by affixing a hologram or other item on top of the RF tag 40.

Fig. 8 shows a blank licence plate 46. The licence plate 46 also has four elongate apertures 48, which correspond in size and location to the apertures 32 and 14 in the printed base 34 and the mount 10 respectively.

The printed base 34 and RF tag 40 of Fig. 7 is then laminated to the blank licence plate 46 of Fig. 8 to produce the finished, laminated licence plate shown in Fig. 9.

An active RF system 60 is inserted into the recess 16 and the lid 18 is placed over the recess 16 so that the active RF system is enclosed in a sealed and waterproof compartment within the mount 10.

The mount 10 is bolted to a vehicle (e.g. a bumper of a vehicle) via the apertures 12. A licence plate 50 is placed in the mount 10 using the overhangs 21 to retain the licence plate 50. Four straps are inserted through the apertures 14 in the mount 10 and the corresponding apertures in the licence plate 50. The straps are tightened to securely fix the licence plate 50 to the mount 10. In preferred embodiments, the straps are designed such that once fastened, the licence plate 50 cannot be removed without cutting the straps.

Schematic representations of the active RF systems 60 of four vehicles are shown in Figs 10A to 10D; also shown are licence plates 50. Each active RF system 60 includes a radio transmitter/receiver 62 with an antenna 63, a processor 64 and an RF tag reader 66 with a tag reader antenna 68. The RF system 60 also includes a power source (not shown).

The power source is typically a battery, which may or may not be rechargeable.

The RF reader antenna 68 is located in close proximity to the position of an RF tag 40 of a licence plate 50 when mounted in the mount 10.

The antenna 63 is a radio antenna and provides the means by which the RF system 60 and an interrogator device 70 can communicate, as will be explained in more detail below.

The processor 64 includes a unique identification number embedded in the processor software, which enables the active RF system to be registered to a particular vehicle. The unique identification number security locks the active RF system, and cannot be modified.

In some embodiments, the power source may be recharged by converting energy from the movement of the vehicle by a power-scavenging means.

For example, the power-scavenging means could include a moveable element that is contained within a housing. The moveable element could be caused to move relative to the housing with the movement of the vehicle, and kinetic energy from this movement could be converted into electrical energy that is used to power the RF system. in some embodiments, therefore, a battery for the active FIF system may not be necessary. In alternative embodiments, a power-scavenging device may top-up a rechargeable battery, which powers the active RF system.

The radio transmitter/receiver 62 is adapted to communicate with an interrogator device 70 shown in Fig 11.

The interrogator device 70 comprises a computer 72 and a radio transmitter/receiver 74 with an antenna 76. The computer 72 could either contain a database for verifying the data collected from the active RF systems 60, or it could have an online internet-type connection 78 to a remote database for such verification. The database typically inciudes information relating to all licensed vehicles in one or more licensing authority domains (preferably, all licensed vehicles in the country); in particular, the unique identification number embedded in the processor of the vehicle's active RF system, and information relating to the data stored in the RF tag 40 of that vehicle’s valid licence plate.

The interrogator device 70 can be battery powered and can be either in a fixed location or carried within a vehicle. If the interrogator device 70 is carried in a vehicle, the antenna 76 is typically externally mounted on the vehicle, to improve the operating range.

In use, a licence enforcement officer can obtain information about a particular vehicle using the interrogator device 70, whilst sitting in a vehicle or an office. The interrogator device 70 continuously interrogates all active RF systems 60 within a specified area, for example a 100—metre radius.

The interrogator device 70 polls by transmission of a single character ASC|l “R”.

To conserve power, the active RF systems 60 are programmed to spend most of the time in a reduced-power “sleep” mode, but they wake up at regular intervals to check for polling “R” signals from interrogator devices 70. if an “R” signal is received, the active RF system stays awake and responds by sending a reply to the interrogator device with: (1) data held in the RF tag 40, read by the RF tag reader 66 and transmitted via the radio transmitter/receiver 62, and (2) the embedded unique identification number held in the processor 64.

There are three possible responses to the polling: (a) if there are no “awake” active RF systems 60 within range, then no replies will be transmitted; (b) if there is a single “awake” active RF system 60 within range, this system will transmit a reply after a time delay set randomly within the processor 62; or (c) if more than one “awake” active RF system 60 is within range, all awake systems 60 will transmit a reply after a time delay set randomly within each respective processor 64.

In case (c), if each time delay is different enough to ensure that none of the transmitted replies overlap, then the active RF system 60 will correctly receive, in turn, the reply from each active RF system 60. Alternatively, if replies from two or more RF systems 60 overlap, only the non-overlapping replies will be correctly received. However, as the internal “clocks” of the active RF systems 60 are not synchronised, the degree of overlapping wiil change over time and repeated polling will eventually recognise all of the active RF systems 60 correctly.

If no licence plate 50 is located in the mount 10, when the active RF system 60 is interrogated, the active RF system 60 will communicate this to the interrogator device 70.

If a licence plate 50 is detected, but the plate is not genuine, or is out of date, this could also be reported back to the interrogator device 70.

Therefore, even if the licence plate 50 has been tampered with so that it contains false printed data, making the licence plate 50 appear genuine to an observer, if the RF data is compared with the printed data on the plate, the discrepancy will be revealed.

In addition to verifying that the licence plate 50 is valid (e.g. not expired), an advantage of some embodiments of the invention is the ability to check whether there is a correct match between the vehicle (as evidenced by the identification number embedded in the processor 62 of the active RF system 60 located in the mount 10) and the licence plate data of the RF tag 40. Hence, if a licence plate 50 is fitted on the wrong mount 10 (the wrong vehicle), this would show up as a mismatch, indicating possibly a stolen licence plate or illegal swapping of licence plates 50 between vehicles.

Due to the use of RF signals, the operator can gain information relating to vehicles in a relatively large area, even if the vehicles themselves are out of sight.

Typically, at least some of the data transmitted is in the form of a unique licence plate identification number, which is programmed at the licence office when the licence plate 50 is issued, and which typically serves to identify every hire vehicle licensed in the UK.

Typically, a part of the licence plate identification number may related to the country of origin (England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales), a further part of the number could relate to the region (for example Strathclyde), a further part of the number could relate to a particular council within the region (for example, Renfrewshire). A further part of the number could identify whether the vehicle is a private hire vehicle or a taxi. A further part of the number could be a sequential number given to that vehicle.

Preferably, the operator has a choice of displaying on the computer 72, the entire unique licence plate identification number, or its corresponding description; for example the licence plate identification number 1179- 02-00123 could correspond to a description “Scottish Strathclyde City of Glasgow Private Hire Plate Number 123”. The transmission of this data to the interrogator device 70 typically takes around three seconds.

Optionally, the data transmitted could include whether or not a licence plate is present, and some or all of the data fields N, R, D, A, P, printed on the plate. Additionally, data relating to the licence expiry date could be transmitted to the computer 72.

Typically, the time of transmission of information in the interrogator device is also recorded. in some embodiments, the active RF system includes an RF writer and associated antenna, and data can be written to the RF tag 40 by transmitting the data from the antenna 76 of the interrogator device 70 to the antenna 62 of the active RF system 60, and writing this data to the RF tag 40 via the RF writer.

The data received by the interrogator device 70 is transmitted to the computer 72, where it can be compared with data from its database/ a database accessed on-line using internet—type communication line 78.

Thus, from the unique vehicle identification number embedded in the processor 64, the licence enforcement officer knows exactly which vehicle has been detected. From the unique licence plate identification number, the licence enforcement officer knows which licence plate that vehicle is carrying. The correct match between the vehicle and the licence plate can be checked; also whether the licence plate is current or expired, or even missing completely.

This invention has many advantages. For example, because of the use of RF signals, the licence plate 50 does not have to be visible to the licence enforcement officers. The licence plate 50 can be read even if the printed data on the licence is obscured by dirt. Licence enforcement officers can work from the comfort of their own cars. Information relating to all licensed hire vehicles/taxis within a specified area can be reported to the interrogator device in response to a single request.

If the altered expiry date on an othen/vise genuine plate is tampered with, the information read by the interrogator device would not match the visible expiry date on the plate, thus indicating fraud. in relatively short-range embodiments, licence plates according to the invention can be read from a distance of up to twenty metres, day or night, and in any weather conditions. In longer range embodiments, licence plates 50 anywhere in the UK/other country can be read by satellite.

A further advantage is that licence plates 50 of moving vehicles can be read, which would be very difficult if relying on a visual inspection.

The invention is also particularly suitable for use with licence plates 50 that have a relatively short lifespan. For example, most licensing authorities issue plates with a twelve-month expiry date or an even shorter cycle.

The RF tag 40 itself is passive, i.e. it is not powered and it can be made very small, thin, light and inexpensively. In its simplest embodiment the RF tag 40 need only consist of a chip 42 and an aerial 44. Hence, the RF tag 40 is particularly suitable for disposal with the licence plate 50 at the end of the lifespan of the licence plate 50. The active RF system is located on the mount 10, which is not disposed of every 12 months; instead, the mount 10 is typically attached to the vehicle for five years or more.

The RF tag 40 can be laminated to the licence plate 50 in the lamination process that is used in the manufacture of the plate to laminate the printed base to the blank licence plate. Therefore, the creation of the RF tagged licence plate 50 requires little modification from existing manufacturing procedures.

The power requirement for the active RF system is very small and can be provided by batteries suitable for pocket calculators. In particular, embodiments which use a reduced-power mode require very little power.

The RF tag 40 is disguisable, e.g. as a hologram security label.

The invention can also be used to improve communications between different licensing authorities, as information relating to the particular licensing authority can be incorporated into the data transmitted.

Therefore, a licence enforcement officer can also read the licence plates 50 of vehicles licensed by other licensing authorities. This can help to check whether other licensing authorities’ vehicles are working within a territory for which they are not licensed. For example, if a private hire car is seen twice outside its licensed area within a short period, the licensing enforcement officer may suspect foul play.

- ).~“A \.‘ vi‘- Modifications and improvements may be incorporated without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, the invention does not relate exclusively to licences for taxis and private hire vehicles; it can be applied to any vehicle. The RF tag 40 could be embedded in a recess within the licence plate 50, instead of being laminated to the licence plate.

The particular types of printed/ RF data are exemplary only; other kinds of data could also be used. The printed and RF data do not necessary contain any of the same information. The particular details of how the mount attaches to the vehicle or how the licence plate is mounted in the mount are not fundamental to the invention. in altemative embodiments, no data is printed on the licence plate 50, and the only means of reading the plate is using RF communication.

Typically, the radio transmitter/receivers 62, 74 operate on the 433MHz frequency band; however, other frequencies could also be used, and the invention is not limited to this particular frequency.

Optionally, multiple interrogator devices may be used at the same time in a particular area.

Claims (24)

Claims

1. A licence plate assembly comprising: a licence plate mount having a recess and a lid adapted to fit over the recess to provide a sealed compartment; and an active RF system housed within the sealed compartment, wherein the active RF system comprises: a radio transmitter and receiver, a processor, and an RF reader, wherein the RF reader is adapted in use to read an RF tag of a licence plate mounted in the mount.

2. A licence plate assembly as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the active RF system is adapted to write data to an RF tag of a licence plate mounted in the mount.

3. A licence plate assembly as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the active RF system includes a power supply that is replenished using energy obtained from movement of the mount and a vehicle to which the mount is attached.

4. A licence plate assembly as claimed in any preceding claim, also including a licence plate having an RF tag.

5. A licence plate assembly as claimed in claim 4, wherein the RF tag comprises a passive RF tag.

6. A licence plate assembly as claimed in claim 4 or claim 5, wherein the RF tag comprises a data memory. 19

7. A licence plate assembly as claimed in claim 6, wherein the licence plate includes printed data, at least some of which corresponds to some of the data stored in the data memory of the RF tag.

8. A system for obtaining information about a vehicle, the system comprising: a licence plate assembly as claimed in any of claims 1 to 7; and an interrogator device adapted to communicate with the active RF system.

9. A system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the interrogator device comprises a computer and a radio transmitter and receiver.

10. A system as claimed in claim 8 or claim 9, wherein the interrogator device is adapted to read data from the active RF system.

11. A system as claimed in any of claims 8 to 10, wherein the interrogator device is adapted to write data to the active RF system.

12. A system as claimed in any of claims 8 to 11, wherein the active RF system is adapted to transmit data in response to a received signal from the interrogator device.

13. A system as claimed in any of claims 8 to 12, wherein the active RF system has a reduced-power mode, in which it periodically checks for signals from the interrogator device.

14. A method of obtaining information about a vehicle, including the steps of: attaching a licence plate mount having a recess to a vehicle; 20 locating an active RF system in the recess, and fitting a lid over the recess such that the RF system is housed in a sealed compartment; mounting a licence plate in the mount, the licence plate including an RF tag; and transmitting data from the licence plate to an interrogator device; wherein the RF tag is a passive RF tag and wherein data is read from the RF tag by the active RF system.

15. A method as claimed in claim 14, including the further step of using the active RF system to write data to the RF tag.

16. A method as claimed in claim 14 or claim 15, including the further step of sending a polling signal from the interrogator device to prompt transmission of data from the licence plate to the interrogator device.

17. A method as claimed in claim 16, wherein the active RF system operates in a reduced—power mode until detection of a polling signal.

18. A method as claimed in claim 16 or 17, wherein, on receipt of the polling signal, the data is transmitted to the interrogator device after a time delay.

19. A method as claimed in any of claims 16 to 18, wherein the polling signal is received by more than one vehicle, each vehicle having an active RF system adapted to transmit data to the interrogator device after a respective random time delay. 21

20. A method as claimed in any of claims 14 to 19, including the steps of assigning a unique identification number to the active RF system and transmitting this number to the interrogator device.

21. A method as claimed in claim 20, including the step of comparing the data from the licence plate and the unique identification number of the active RF system to information in a database relating to licensed vehicles and their valid licence plate data.

22. A licence plate assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

23. A system substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

24. A method of obtaining information about a vehicle substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.