JP2003051038A - Automatic charge collection method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic charge collection technique with which the charges of facility utilization can easily be settled and paid in the case of automobile utilization. SOLUTION: The charges of utilization are automatically settled when utilizing a facility such as an unmanned parking lot or drive-through type fast-food shop on an automobile by utilizing an ETC.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic toll collection method. More specifically, the toll collection is performed automatically at a facility used for automobiles, such as a parking lot or a drive-through fast food restaurant, and the toll collection is automatically performed. It is about the method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, when using a car, a user often needs to pay some fee. For example, collection of parking fees at toll roads and parking lots, payment of the prices of products purchased at a drive-through service of a fast food restaurant, or payment of gasoline fees at gas stations.

Usually, the payment of the above-mentioned fee or the like is made by a user directly inserting cash into an employee of a store or the like or a machine for paying the fee, or by using a credit card or a prepaid card.

However, collection of these charges has been a major factor in congestion because it takes time to exchange money and the like. For example, in unmanned parking lots that have become widespread in recent years, there are many parking charge settlement machines that do not accept high-value bills. For this reason, the user lacks cash on hand at the time of payment,
It is assumed that you will have to go to a bank to withdraw cash.

In the above-mentioned case, since the user exchanges the banknotes he / she has, he travels to a store near the parking lot, sometimes purchases unnecessary articles, and additionally charges the parking lot while exchanging money. There were some disadvantages such as being taken.

[0006] It is a troublesome task for the user to give and receive a charge with a person in charge while driving with a drive-through or the like. In addition, it may be difficult for a user who is unfamiliar with driving to stop near the payment window, and it is unavoidable to stop at a position away from the payment window, lean out from the window of the car and pay the fee,
There were also dangerous behaviors such as getting off the car once and paying the fare.

However, in recent years, ETC (Electronic Toll Collage), which can automatically collect tolls for expressways, etc.
ection System; automatic toll road toll collection system) has begun to operate. The ETC is a system in which if a communication device is attached to an automobile in advance, the charge can be collected by passing through a communication device provided at a toll gate on a toll road.

The ETC will be described in more detail. First, the in-vehicle communication device is referred to as an ETC card necessary for collecting a fee from the user, and is called an ETC card, which is a post-payment IC (such as a credit card). Integrated Circuit) card is prepared. A reading unit for inserting the ETC card and reading the user's personal information stored in the card, an antenna unit for communicating information about fee collection with a communication device at a tollgate, and an information processing unit for processing the information. It has an ETC unit body.

The communication device on the tollgate side receives the information from the vehicle-mounted device, the processing unit that determines whether or not the received user information is the registered user, and performs various processes, and the user. It is composed of a circuit breaker and a display for notifying that the toll collection is possible.

The user's usage history of toll roads received at the toll gate is totaled by each toll road operator for each user and processed as road toll information. The road charge information processed by the toll road company is handed over to the credit card company that issues the ETC card, the credit card company pays the road charge to the toll road operator on behalf of the user, and the credit card company later gives the road to the user. Fees will be charged.

By using the ETC, congestion of toll gates on toll roads, which has been regarded as a problem in the past, can be solved, and the cost of toll roads can be reduced and the environmental damage due to traffic congestion can be improved.

If the ETC is used not only to collect tolls on toll roads but also to collect tolls when using other automobiles, the convenience of the user is improved and the traffic environment is expected to be improved.

[0013]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above matters, and provides an automatic fee collection technique capable of easily performing settlement and payment of facility usage fees when using an automobile. Is an issue.

[0014]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention has the following means. That is, the ETC is used to automatically settle the usage fee when using a facility such as an unmanned parking lot or a drive-through fast food restaurant by car.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In addition, in the embodiment described below, the automatic fee collection method of the present invention is used.
It shows an example in which it is operated by using C and is applied to collection of usage charges for various facilities such as an unmanned parking lot for a vehicle equipped with an ETC in-vehicle device.

The automatic toll collection system shown in the present embodiment is constituted by the elements as shown in FIG. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram in which the automatic toll collection method of the present invention is applied as an automatic toll collection system using ETC.

First, each element of the automatic fee collection system is
It is connected to a general-purpose network (Internet: TCP / IP data transfer network, etc.). The network is provided with a settlement device 100 as an automatic fee collection device for realizing a communication unit, a storage unit, a settlement unit and the like. Next, ETC (Electronic Toll Coll
ection System) Vehicle 200 equipped with in-vehicle device 201
Is connected to the network from the ETC terminal 500 on the network side by wireless communication or the like. Further, a user facility 300 such as an unmanned parking lot used by a user of the vehicle 200 or a drive-through type fast food restaurant is connected to the network. Furthermore, the network is connected to a billing server 400 that bills the user based on the usage fee of the facility 300 used by the user of the vehicle 200, which is settled by the settlement device 100.

Next, the components of the settlement apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the settlement device 100 of the present embodiment. First, the settlement device 1
Reference numeral 00 has an arithmetic processing unit 3 including a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 1 and a main memory 2 for performing processing based on an application program.

The arithmetic processing unit 3 includes a bus (BUS) 8
A storage device 4 as a storage means is connected via the. In addition to this, a keyboard 7 is used as an input means on the bus 8.
Etc., and the display 6 and the printer 5 as output means.
Etc. are respectively connected via a bus 8.

The storage device 4 is composed of a large-capacity storage medium such as a hard disk device. Further, in the storage device 4, in addition to an operating system (OS) for normal operation of the settlement apparatus 100 and a normal application program, an automatic fee collection program for realizing the automatic fee collection method of the present invention. Etc. are installed.

These programs are not shown on the CD-
It is stored in a storage medium such as a ROM and provided to the settlement device 100, and is installed in the storage device 4 in an executable state through the CD-ROM drive device 9 shown in FIG.

Then, the CPU 1 loads the automatic toll collection program in the storage device 4 into the main memory 2 as needed, and sequentially executes it to realize the function of the automatic toll collection method of the present embodiment.

Next, the ETC vehicle-mounted device mounted on the vehicle 200 will be described. FIG. 3 shows an ETC in-vehicle device 2
It is a schematic block diagram of 01.

First, the ETC in-vehicle device 201 is equipped with an ETC
The main body unit 202 is provided for performing calculations and processing for realizing the above. It should be noted that the main body 202 is provided with an insertion portion for reading an IC (Integrated Circuit) card that stores user's personal information called an ETC card 203 issued by a credit card company in order to pay a toll road toll. There is.

Further, the ETC in-vehicle apparatus 201 is provided with a communication section 204 for transmitting the personal information of the user of the ETC card 203 read by the main body section 202 to the settlement apparatus 100 from the network.

Next, an execution procedure of the automatic fee collection system according to the present embodiment in a normal facility will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 3, and 4. 4. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the procedure when the present embodiment is executed in a normal facility.

First, when the vehicle 200 approaches the entrance of a facility used by the vehicle 200, the user information of the ETC card 203 and the like are transmitted from the communication section 204 of the ETC vehicle-mounted apparatus 201 mounted on the vehicle 200 to the settlement apparatus 100. (Step 1 in FIG. 4, omitted hereinafter as S1).

The vehicle information transmitted from the vehicle 200 is received by the settlement device 100 (S2). After that, the arithmetic processing unit 3 executes the automatic toll collection program stored in the storage device 4, collates the vehicle information with the user information of the ETC card 203 from the database in the storage device 4, and the system can be used. It is determined whether the user is a proper user (S3).

If it is determined that the system can be used as a result of the collation, the arithmetic processing section 3 records the facility usage history of the user (S4). Further, the arithmetic processing unit 3 executes the automatic fee collection program stored in the storage device 4 to settle the usage fee based on the facility usage charge data in the storage device 4. The facility usage history is totaled as settlement data and stored in the storage device 4 (S5).

After that, the settlement device 100 transmits the settlement data collected when the user leaves the facility to the vehicle 200 and the billing server 400 (S6).

The settlement data transmitted to the vehicle 200 allows the user to confirm the usage status and usage fee of the facility.

The settlement data sent to the billing server 400 is stored in the billing server 400 (S7).
Then, the billing server 400 bills the user at a later date on the basis of various settlement data collected for each month.

Next, an explanation will be given of the case where the automatic toll collection system according to the present embodiment is applied to a pay parking lot such as a supermarket, a department store, a shopping mall, etc.
This is performed using FIGS. 3 and 5. Note that FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the procedure when the present embodiment is executed in a pay parking lot.

First, when approaching the entrance of the facility used by the vehicle 200, the user information of the ETC card 203 and the like are transmitted from the communication section 204 of the ETC vehicle-mounted apparatus 201 mounted on the vehicle 200 to the settlement apparatus 100. (Step 1 in FIG. 5, omitted below as S1).

The vehicle information transmitted from the vehicle 200 is received by the settlement device 100 (S2). The arithmetic processing unit 3
At this point, the automatic toll collection program stored in the storage device 4 is executed, and the vehicle information and the user information of the ETC card 203 are collated from the database in the storage device 4 to determine whether the user can use the system. Judge (S
3).

If it is determined that the system can be used as a result of the collation, the arithmetic processing unit 3 stores the storage date and time of the vehicle 200 in the storage device 4 (S4). In addition, the usage history such as shopping of the user in the facility is recorded (S5).

Further, the arithmetic processing unit 3 executes the automatic fee collection program stored in the storage device 4, and pays the usage fee based on the facility usage charge data in the storage device 4. The facility use history is aggregated as settlement data and stored in the storage device 4 (S6).

After that, the settlement device 100 records the leaving date and time of the vehicle 200 when the user leaves the facility.
After that, the arithmetic processing unit 3 calculates the parking time from the storage date and time and the storage date and time from the automatic fee collection program, and then calculates the parking fee. Further, the parking fee is settled based on the discount rate of the parking fee calculated from the use history of the predetermined facility (S7).

Then, the settlement data of the facility use and the parking fee totaled by the settlement device 100 are transmitted to both the vehicle 200 and the billing server 400 (S8).

The user can confirm the usage status and usage charge of the facility by the settlement data transmitted to the vehicle 200.

The settlement data transmitted to the billing server 400 is stored in the billing server 400 (S9).
Then, the billing server 400 bills the user at a later date on the basis of various settlement data collected for each month.

The automatic toll collection system according to the present embodiment can be used not only for a pay parking lot with a store, but also for paying for an unmanned pay parking lot. When utilized in an unmanned parking lot, data relating to the unmanned parking lot is stored in the storage device 4 of the settlement device 100 in FIG. Then, the settlement device 100 executes the automatic fee collection program according to the procedure of the flowchart of FIG. 5, omits the step (S7) relating to the discount according to the usage history of the facility, and determines the parking fee based on the entering time and the leaving time. Make a payment.

Next, a description will be given of a case where the present invention is applied to a drive-in theater for watching a movie projected on a screen provided in an outdoor parking lot while the automatic toll collection system of the present embodiment is on board, and FIG. This is performed using FIGS. 2, 3, and 6. 6. FIG. 6 is a flowchart explaining the procedure when the present embodiment is executed in the drive-in theater.

First, when approaching the entrance of the drive-in theater used by the vehicle 200, the user information of the ETC card 203 is transmitted from the communication unit 204 of the ETC vehicle-mounted apparatus 201 mounted on the vehicle 200 to the settlement apparatus 100. (Step 1 in FIG. 6, hereinafter omitted as S1).

The vehicle information transmitted from the vehicle 200 is received by the settlement device 100 (S2). The arithmetic processing unit 3
At this point, the automatic toll collection program stored in the storage device 4 is executed, and the vehicle information and the user information of the ETC card 203 are collated from the database in the storage device 4 to determine whether the user can use the system. Judge (S
3).

If it is determined that the system can be used as a result of the collation, the arithmetic processing section 3 searches for a parking position for parking the vehicle 200 (S4). Also, the usage history of the user's movie, eating and drinking, etc. in the movie theater is recorded (S
5).

Subsequently, the arithmetic processing unit 3 notifies the ETC vehicle-mounted apparatus 201 of the stopped position of the searched vehicle 200 from the network and guides it. The user moves the vehicle 200 to the notified stop position (S6).

Further, the arithmetic processing unit 3 executes the automatic fee collection program stored in the storage device 4, and pays the usage fee based on the facility usage charge data in the storage device 4. The facility use history is aggregated as settlement data and stored in the storage device 4 (S7).

Then, the settlement data of the facility use collected by the settlement device 100 is used as the vehicle 200 and the charging server 400.
(S8).

The user can confirm the usage status and usage charge of the facility by the settlement data transmitted to the vehicle 200.

The settlement data transmitted to the billing server 400 is stored in the billing server 400 (S9).
Then, the billing server 400 bills the user at a later date on the basis of various settlement data collected for each month.

Next, the execution procedure in the drive-through type fast food restaurant of the automatic fee collection system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 3, and 7. 6. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the procedure when the present embodiment is executed in a drive-through type fast food restaurant.

When using the automatic toll collection system of this embodiment at a drive-through type fast food restaurant,
In the schematic configuration diagram of the settlement device 100 of FIG. 2, a commodity ordering function of a fast food restaurant is added to the automatic fee collection program in the storage device 4. Further, the storage device 4 stores data regarding product orders in the database.

First, when approaching the entrance of a drive-through type fast food restaurant used by the vehicle 200, the vehicle 20
The user information of the ETC card 203 from the communication unit 204 of the ETC vehicle-mounted device 201 mounted on the 0
0 (step 1 in FIG. 7, hereinafter omitted as S1).

The vehicle information transmitted from the vehicle 200 is received by the settlement device 100 (S2). The arithmetic processing unit 3
At this point, the automatic toll collection program stored in the storage device 4 is executed, and the vehicle information and the user information of the ETC card 203 are collated from the database in the storage device 4 to determine whether the user can use the system. Judge (S
3).

If it is determined that the system can be used as a result of the collation, the ETC vehicle-mounted apparatus 201 receives the fast food order from the user and transmits it to the settlement apparatus 100 (S4).

The settlement device 100 that has received the fast food order from the ETC vehicle-mounted device 201 (S5),
The arithmetic processing unit 3 executes the automatic fee collection program stored in the storage device 4 to settle the price of the ordered product based on the order charge data in the storage device 4 (S6). After that, the orders are aggregated as settlement data and stored in the storage device 4.

After that, the settlement device 100 transmits the settlement data to the vehicle 200 and the billing server 400 when the user leaves the facility (S7).

The settlement data transmitted to the vehicle 200 allows the user to confirm the order of fast food and the price of the product.

The settlement data sent to the billing server 400 is stored in the billing server 400 (S8).
Then, the billing server 400 bills the user at a later date on the basis of various settlement data collected for each month.

The automatic toll collection system of this embodiment is mainly applied to unmanned parking lots, pay parking lots such as department stores and shopping malls, and drive-through fast food restaurants, but the actual range of use is Not only
It can be widely used for other automatic toll collection.

Further, each function of the ETC vehicle-mounted apparatus 201 used in the present embodiment is miniaturized so that it can be carried, and payment for using the facility is made by the ETC vehicle-mounted apparatus 201.
It is also possible to use a configuration such as. By using the ETC in-vehicle device 201 as a small portable terminal as described above, the user can more easily make payment at a supermarket, a department store, a shopping mall, or the like.

In addition, the ETC card 203 inserted in the ETC in-vehicle apparatus 201 used in the present embodiment is taken out, and only the ETC card 203 is carried, and the payment at the time of using the facility is performed like an ordinary credit card. E
You may take the structure performed by TC card 203.

[0064]

As described above, according to the automatic toll collection method of the present invention, it is possible to provide an automatic toll collection method capable of easily paying the facility usage fee and paying it when the vehicle is used. It can exert an excellent effect.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram to which an automatic fee collection system according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a settlement device according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of an ETC vehicle-mounted device according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure when the automatic fee collection system according to the present embodiment is executed in a normal facility.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a procedure when the automatic toll collection system according to the present embodiment is executed in a pay parking lot.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a procedure when the automatic fee collection system according to the present embodiment is executed in a drive-in theater.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a procedure when the automatic toll collection system according to the present embodiment is executed at a drive-through type fast food restaurant.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 CPU 2 main memory 3 arithmetic processing unit 4 storage devices 5 printers 6 display 7 keyboard 8 buses 9 CD-ROM drive device 100 settlement device 200 vehicles 201 ETC in-vehicle device 202 main body 203 ETC card 204 Communication unit 300 facilities 400 billing server 500 Network side ETC terminal

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Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. An automatic toll collection method in which a computer automatically collects tolls for a user vehicle using a facility, the method comprising: receiving vehicle information transmitted from the user vehicle; An automatic fee collection method comprising: a step of storing a usage history in the facility; and a step of paying a usage fee from the usage history. 2. The automatic toll collection method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of judging from the received vehicle information whether or not the used vehicle can receive the toll collection. Method. 3. The automatic toll collection method, when the facility is provided with a pay parking lot, storing the entry / exit date / time of the user vehicle into / from the parking lot, and from the entry / exit date / time to / from the parking lot. The method according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: a step of paying a parking lot usage fee; and a step of reflecting a discount rate calculated from a usage history of the facility in the parking fee. Automatic charge collection method. 4. The automatic toll collection method according to claim 4, wherein when the facility is a drive-through type fast food restaurant, in the step of receiving vehicle information transmitted from the user vehicle, the vehicle information transmitted includes a product information. The automatic fee collection method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein an order is included, and an item can be ordered at the same time when the vehicle information is transmitted. 5. An automatic toll collection program for automatically collecting tolls for a user vehicle using a facility, the method comprising: receiving vehicle information transmitted from the user vehicle; and inside the facility of the user vehicle. An automatic fee collection program, characterized by causing a computer to execute a step of storing a usage history in the computer and a step of performing a fee settlement of a usage fee from the usage history. 6. The automatic toll collection program according to claim 5, wherein the automatic toll collection program has a step of judging from the received vehicle information whether or not the used vehicle can collect the toll. program. 7. The automatic toll collection program, when the facility is provided with a pay parking lot, storing the entry / exit date / time of the user vehicle into / from the parking lot; 7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, further comprising: a step of paying a parking lot usage fee; and a step of reflecting a discount rate calculated from a usage history of the facility on a usage fee of the parking lot. Automatic toll collection program. 8. The automatic toll collection program, when the facility is a drive-through type fast food restaurant, in the step of receiving vehicle information transmitted from the user vehicle, the vehicle information transmitted includes a product information. The automatic fee collection program according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the automatic fee collection program includes an order, and an item can be ordered simultaneously with the transmission of the vehicle information. 9. An automatic fee collection system for automatically collecting a fee for a vehicle using a facility, comprising: an in-vehicle device for transmitting vehicle information from the in-vehicle; and vehicle information transmitted from the in-vehicle device. And an automatic fee collection device having a communication means for receiving a usage history, a storage means for storing a usage history of the use vehicle in the facility, and a settlement means for performing a payment of a usage fee from the usage history. And an automatic toll collection system. 10. The automatic toll collection device according to claim 9, further comprising a judging means for judging from the vehicle information received from the in-vehicle device whether or not the used vehicle can receive the automatic toll. Automatic fee collection system described.