ITPD960315A1 - SYSTEM FOR THE RECIRCULATION MANAGEMENT OF PARKING AREAS WITH PUBLIC PUBLIC-PRIVATE AND / OR INTERCHANGE PUBLIC ACCESS. - Google Patents

Description

TITLE:

System for the "recirculation" management of parking areas

DESCRIPTION

In paid car parks and garages there are a series of problems ranging from the issuance of entry documents and their initialization with the vehicle's entry data, to the verification of these documents during the payment phase in order to avoid fraud, to the processing of documents in the exit from the parking area, to the association, in particular for interchange parking lots, of other charges connected to the same access document, for example the purchase of shuttle bus tickets.

The invention described in the present project consists of a series of devices, operating autonomously or connected to a central computer, which allow simple management both for the user and for the manager, flexible and ecological as it will be possible to underline in detail in the sequel.

The basic parts of the invention consist in its fundamental parts of electronic management stations located at the entrance and exit gates, in the area of the rest areas and at the payment cash desk.

Each information collection and processing station consists of a transponder "token" management mechanism and an electronic computer, equipped with a suitable non-volatile memory, to which one or more can be connected, in relation to the functionality of the station itself, several magnetic antennas for detecting the presence of vehicles with inductance, one or more antennas for reading and / or writing the transponder devices, visual displays and optical and sound signals for the interaction between the user and the electronic system.

The invention in question can be used both for the management of occasional users, by means of transponder tokens issued by automatic devices, and of habitual subscribers, by means of transponder cards issued and enabled by the parking manager.

When an occasional user intends to access the parking area, he goes through one of the provision lanes until he reaches a specially equipped "Entrance Station" arranged in an ergonomic position for easy use.

In this way the vehicle comes to a stop on one. magnetic loop placed under the road surface, which detecting the variation in the inductance of the antenna itself caused by the metal mass of the means of transport, enables the access station which prepares itself to receive a subscriber code by activating a panel antenna at the it must be arranged laterally to the aisle.

In the event that the user is a subscriber, he must simply expose his card in the field of activity of this antenna which activates the transponder present in the card which responds by sending his code and the information previously recorded in it by radio frequency.

A suitable electronic radio frequency transceiver circuit and a subsequent decoder device interpret the received signal and send it to the local electronic processor which locally verifies its correctness.

If the outcome of the checks is positive, this processor activates the devices and / or the access closure signals and sends the data of the transit carried out to any central computer for management.

If, on the other hand, the user is occasional, he must press an ergonomic button located on the access station, the mechanics of the station then take a token, or equivalent casing, from an internal container, and transport it to an internal reading and writing position. of the transponder incorporated in the token itself.

The transceiver and decoding electronics read the code of the token extracted at that moment and write in its memory the time and anything else necessary in order to make the token a complete access certification document.

Once the writing has been completed, the token continues along a duct inside the station until it reaches a collection tray from which the user must take steps before continuing inside the car park.

The local computer of the station then sends the opening signal to the access closing device which by opening allows the user to continue.

If the central computer is present, the station processor sends it the data of the transaction carried out; it is therefore obvious that in this hypothesis the central system is able to know all the accesses made in the area and that by crossing this information with the data that, as will be seen below, come from the exit stations, it can calculate the number of vehicles present in the controlled area; this information can be used for a display at the entrance of the available spaces, for the benefit of the user, or possibly sent electronically to control systems of several parking areas, located on the territory, connected to each other, thus providing a high-quality tool social utility.

In the case of "Interchange Parking", the user can also access a ticketing device for Public Transport. This device is equipped with a slot in which the token withdrawn during the entry phase must be inserted; the token reaches a protected reading and writing position of the transponder contained therein by means of a conduit inside the ticket issuing station.

Using a special keyboard, the user informs the local control processor of the station about the number of tickets he intends to purchase; Once the operations have been completed, the system then issues the requested quantity of tickets, writes the entity of the service provided in the transponder memory and returns the token making it return to a tray accessible from the outside:

It is therefore evident that this device does not require the user any immediate disbursement, often difficult due to the need for money for payment, since 'the payment of the global service can' be regulated in an all-inclusive way when leaving the car park.

What described for the remission of tickets for urban transport can be extended to any other service that the parking manager intends to offer to its users even if not specifically illustrated in the context of this patent.

When the user intends to leave the parking area, in the event that he has a season ticket holder, he must travel along one of the lanes at the end of which he encounters a "Exit Control Station" which is enabled by the presence of the vehicle on a magnetic loop which detects its presence and informs the local computer.

A panel antenna is then activated to which the subscriber must expose his transponder card; the signal sent is received and decoded and then, in the case of successful checks, the local computer activates the locking system and sends the transaction data to any central computer. In the event that the user is occasional, or has withdrawn a token at the entrance, he must go to a payment station before leaving.

In the case of an automatic pay station, the user inserts the token in the appropriate slot, and it reaches an internal location for reading and writing the transponder; the antenna inside the cash desk then reads the contents of the transponder memory, thus detecting the time of entry and any other services used (eg public transport tickets).

The local processor is therefore able to calculate the global amount owed by the user; this amount is shown on the appropriate display and the user must insert, in the appropriate receivers, enough cash to cover the amount due.

Once the amount has been verified and accepted, the station can return any cash change, if required, record the time of payment in the transponder memory and return the token to the user.

From that moment on, the user has at his disposal a predetermined time within which to exit the car park, once this time has elapsed the exit station does not enable the opening and the user must return to the cash desk to integrate the payment.

If the car park is equipped with a manned pay station, the operations are substantially the same as with the automatic pay station, except for the presence of a person in charge who, using a computer and a transponder reading and writing desk, detects the token data, upon payment of the amount calculated automatically by the computer, coding of the token for enabling exit, and returning the token to the user.

The user can then walk along the appropriate lane until reaching the exit station where his vehicle is detected by a magnetic antenna which activates the station itself; he must then insert the token in the appropriate slot which leads him to a transponder reading location.

The local processor verifies that the expected interval has elapsed since the payment time; in the positive case the opening of the closing system is enabled and the token continues up to an internal recovery container (Recirculation), while otherwise the token is returned to the user who must return to the cash desk to integrate the payment.

All the tokens recovered at the exit stations can be put back into circulation by reinserting them in the dispensers which the entry stations are equipped with.

It is therefore evident that this type of management methodology allows a considerable flexibility of use and does not require the burden of managing coupons, generally paper, as occurs in the usual current systems.

The benefit deriving from this finding is twofold as the burden of purchasing and managing disposable paper supports is eliminated, and also completely eliminates the risk that these coupons, once used, are dispersed incorrectly in the environment.

Claims (1)

CLAIMS 1. Automatic issue system of "tokens" or other casing integrating a transponder device encoded with the time of access to a controlled area (parking, garage, etc.) and any other information necessary for the functional and economic management of the 'area itself, (entrance station) 2. Automatic debit system, by registering on the transponder device, contained in the token referred to in the previous claim 1, of the necessary information regarding ancillary services in some way connected to the management of the controlled area (parking, garage, etc.) 3. Automatic cash machine capable of calculating and collecting the amount due to the operator on the basis of the services provided and recorded on the transponder token by means of the systems referred to in claims 1 and 2. 4. Manned cash system capable of calculating and collecting, by virtue of the presence of staff, the amount due to the operator based on the services provided and recorded on the transponder token using the systems referred to in claims 1 and 2. 5. Automatic recovery system of the tokens issued by the devices referred to in claim 1 subsequently transited and processed by the devices referred to in claims 3 and / or 4. (exit station) 6. Recirculation management system, by means of transponders, of parking areas consisting of the integration of one or more of the devices referred to in the preceding claims I, 2, 3, 4 and 5 regardless of their operation in isolated modes or by connection to a central computer in the manner described in the scope of the present patent.