JP5174506B2 - Gate opening and closing system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technical field such as a photographing device installed at a predetermined position in a parking lot.

  In a conventionally known parking lot management system, a camera installed in the parking lot is used to photograph a license plate of a vehicle present in the parking lot, and the photographed video data is transmitted to a management server through a transmission path. , By recognizing characters such as numbers described on the license plate from the video data shot by the management server, converting them to character data, and linking the converted character data with the parking space, The vehicle that stops in the parking space is managed.

As a related technique, Patent Document 1 discloses a parking lot management device that automatically manages the on-vehicle situation in a parking lot of a vehicle and can quickly cope with a leaving process when a parking ticket is lost.
JP-A-08-106560

  However, in the conventional technology, there is a problem in that the cost associated with the video data transmission path from the camera to the management server or the like is high, and further, characters such as numbers described on the license plate are recognized from the captured video data. Therefore, there is a problem that it takes a cost to incorporate software for converting into character data into the server.

  Also, in the case of a conventional parking lot management system, it is difficult to provide the vehicle user with information to supplement the vehicle user who forgets where the vehicle is parked in the parking lot. It was.

  Furthermore, an openable / closable gate provided at the entrance / exit of the parking lot, which can be opened / closed by a vehicle detection sensor or a ticket issuing machine until now when the vehicle is closed, which prevents the vehicle from entering or leaving the parking lot. As a result, the same vehicle repeated forwards and backwards, and there were problems of illegal use of multiple ticketing, and there was a problem that the body detection sensor received other electromagnetic waves and operated unnecessary. .

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points. An imaging apparatus and a parking lot management system capable of reducing the cost of a data transmission path from an imaging apparatus such as a camera to an apparatus such as a management server. It is an object to provide a data transmission method and the like. In addition, the present invention provides a photographing device capable of providing useful information to the vehicle user to supplement the vehicle user when the vehicle user forgets where the vehicle is parked in the parking lot, etc. It aims at providing a parking lot management system, a data transmission method, etc. It is another object of the present invention to provide a gate opening / closing system capable of performing gate opening / closing more efficiently using the photographing apparatus of the present invention.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention described in claim 1 is a photographing device installed at a predetermined position in a parking lot, and photographing means for photographing a license plate surface of a vehicle existing at a predetermined position in the parking lot. Character data conversion means for identifying characters from the photographed license plate surface image and converting them into character data, character data stored in advance, character data verification means for verifying the converted character data, A photographing device comprising: a transmission means for transmitting collation result data indicating the collation result of the character data to an external device; and an openable / closable gate provided at an entrance of a parking lot. A gate opening and closing system comprising: a gate that prevents entry into or leaving the parking lot; and a gate opening and closing control device that performs opening and closing control of the gate. The transmission unit of the imaging device transmits the verification result data to the gate opening / closing control device as the external device, and the gate opening / closing control device receives the verification result data and adds the verification result data to the received verification result data. Therefore, opening and closing control of the gate is performed, and a mirror that reflects the surface of the license plate of the vehicle when the gate is closed is attached to the gate, and the photographing unit of the photographing device is configured to display the mirror reflected in the mirror when the gate is closed. It is characterized in that the number plate surface of the vehicle is photographed .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the gate opening / closing system according to the first aspect , the transmission unit transmits the converted character data to the external device.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the gate opening / closing system according to the first or second aspect of the present invention, the gate opening / closing system further comprises compressed video data converting means for compressing the photographed license plate surface video and converting it into compressed video data. The transmitting means transmits the converted compressed video data to the external device.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the gate opening / closing system according to any one of the first to third aspects, the transmission unit can perform wireless packet communication with a radio base station installed outside. The data is packet-converted and transmitted to the external device through the radio base station.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the gate opening / closing system according to any one of the first to fourth aspects of the present invention, the gate opening / closing system includes a management server capable of communicating with the imaging device via a communication unit, and the transmission unit of the imaging device. Transmits the verification result data to the management server, and the management server receives the verification result data and accumulates the received verification result data .

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the gate opening / closing system according to the fifth aspect, when the management server receives verification result data from the imaging device, the information indicates a parking area of the vehicle related to the verification. Is transmitted to a user's e-mail address .

  According to the present invention, the imaging device installed at a predetermined position in the parking lot photographs the license plate surface of the vehicle existing at the predetermined position in the parking lot, and identifies characters from the photographed license plate surface image. Since the data is converted into data, the character data stored in advance is collated with the converted character data, and the collation result data indicating the collation result is transmitted to the external device. A high-cost transmission line for transmitting large video data is not required, and therefore the cost related to the transmission line can be reduced.

  Further, according to the present invention, the imaging device transmits the verification result data to the gate opening / closing control device, and the gate opening / closing control device is configured to perform gate opening / closing control according to the verification result data. Therefore, it is possible to solve the problems such as the illegal use of a plurality of ticket issuance as in the prior art, and to more efficiently open and close the gate using the imaging device.

  Further, according to the present invention, when the management server receives the verification result data from the imaging device, the management server sends an email describing information indicating the parking area of the vehicle related to the verification to the email address of the user. Therefore, even when the user forgets where the vehicle is parked in the parking lot, it is possible to provide the user with useful information that compensates for this.

Hereinafter, the best embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, the following embodiment is embodiment at the time of applying this invention with respect to a parking lot system.
[1. Configuration and function of parking lot system]
First, with reference to FIG. 1 etc., the structure and function of the parking lot system concerning this embodiment are demonstrated.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration example of a parking lot system according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the parking lot system S includes an entrance / exit camera 1 (an example of a photographing device), a parking area camera 2 (an example of a photographing device), a management server 3, a gate opening / closing system 4, and the like. .

  In addition, although the parking lot system which concerns on this embodiment demonstrates taking the case where it applies to the parking lot of the vehicle provided, for example in the airport, for example, in addition to this, for example, the parking lot provided in the facility or the store Or, it can be applied to a parking lot provided in a building such as a condominium or an office.

  Here, the parking lot is provided with a plurality of parking areas. For example, about 10 to 20 vehicles can be parked in one parking area. In addition, in the example of FIG. 1, only one parking area camera 2 is shown, but in reality, for each parking area in the parking lot, the surface of the license plate of the vehicle existing in the parking area can be photographed. It is installed at a position (for example, the ceiling or corner of a parking area). That is, the parking area camera 2 is used to monitor vehicles existing in each parking area.

  On the other hand, the entrance / exit camera 1 is an openable / closable pole-shaped gate provided at the entrance / exit of the parking lot, and is installed near the gate G that prevents the vehicle from entering or leaving the parking lot when closed. Is done. For example, a mirror (for example, a business card size) that reflects the surface of the license plate of the vehicle when it is closed is attached to the gate G (for example, attached to the center of the gate G). Is installed at a position where the license plate surface of the vehicle reflected in the mirror can be photographed. That is, the entrance / exit camera 1 is used to monitor a vehicle entering or leaving a parking lot.

  The entrance / exit camera 1 and the parking area camera 2 are respectively a video photographing unit (including a lens) 11, a video converting unit 12, an OCR converting unit 13, a character collating unit 14, and an XML (Extensible Markup Language) server unit 15. Etc. are provided.

  The video photographing unit 11 (an example of the photographing means) photographs the inside of the parking area, and thereby can photograph the surface of the license plate of the vehicle existing in the parking area. Note that the video photographing unit 11 (an example of photographing means) may be configured to always shoot, or start photographing when the vehicle is detected by the vehicle body detection sensor (enters the photographing range). You may comprise.

  The video conversion (encoder) unit 12 (an example of compressed video data conversion means) compresses the captured license plate surface video and converts it into compressed video data, for example, creates a video file in the MPEG format, and converts the video file into XML The data is output to the server unit 15.

  An OCR (Optical Character Reader) converter 13 (an example of a character data converter) identifies characters from the photographed license plate surface image and converts them into character data, and outputs the character data to the XML server unit 15. It is supposed to be. That is, the OCR conversion unit 13 has an OCR function that optically reads characters from an image, identifies the characters by matching with a previously stored pattern, and converts the characters into character data.

  The character collating unit 14 (an example of character data collating means) stores character data stored in a memory in advance (for example, a vehicle license plate input at the time of a parking lot reservation by a parking lot reservation person (user of this system)). (Data of information such as a number) and the converted character data are collated, and collation result data indicating the collation result (that is, whether it matches (OK) or does not match (NG)) is stored in the XML server. It outputs to the part 15.

  The XML server unit 15 (an example of a transmission unit) includes a CPU, a memory, a GPS receiver that detects a position (longitude and latitude information) where the entrance / exit camera 1 or the parking area camera 2 is installed, and an external device. An input / output interface for performing communication is provided, and when the CPU executes a predetermined program, the entire XML server unit 15 is controlled in an integrated manner. Also, a shooting start command and a stop command are issued.

  The XML server unit 15 of the entrance / exit camera 1 and the parking area camera 2 has an input / output interface for the management server 3. Between the input / output interface for the management server 3 and the management server 3, for example, a mobile communication network (an example of communication means) is interposed, and the input / output interface (including communication ports and antennas) is close to the management server 3. Wireless packet communication is possible with existing wireless base stations. As a result, the XML server unit 15 can transmit and receive data to and from the management server 3 (XML server unit 37). The XML server unit 15 has a function of converting data to be transmitted to the management server 3 into an XML data format. Examples of data (information) transmitted from the XML server unit 15 to the XML server unit 37 include, for example, the character data, the video file, the verification result data, the position data indicating the position detected by the GPS receiver, and the gate opening date / time. Data, gate closing date and time data, and the like.

  As the source address of the packet, for example, an address (for example, IP address) uniquely assigned to the XML server unit 15 is set, and for example, the management server 3 stored in the memory in advance as the destination address. Address (for example, IP address) is set. For example, high-speed packet communication such as HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) is adopted for such packet communication.

  Further, the XML server unit 15 of the entrance / exit camera 1 also has an input / output interface for the gate opening / closing control device 41 in the gate opening / closing system 4. The input / output interface for the gate opening / closing control device 41 and the gate opening / closing control device 41 are connected by, for example, a signal cable. As a result, the XML server unit 15 can transmit and receive data to and from the gate opening / closing control device 41.

  Next, the management server 3 comprises a server computer, and includes a reservation acceptance AP (application) unit 31, a mail distribution AP unit 32, a video recording unit 33, a facility utilization rate management AP unit 34, a sales management AP unit 35, and a fee settlement AP. A unit 36, an XML server unit 37, an XML database unit 38, and the like.

  For example, in response to access from a mobile phone held by a reservation person (user) of a parking lot, the reservation reception AP unit 31 transmits data on the reservation reception screen of the parking lot to the mobile phone via the Internet. The name and email address of the reservation person entered by the reservation person in (in addition to the reservation person's e-mail address, multiple e-mail addresses such as the reservation person's family and work colleagues can be registered), the reservation person's vehicle Information such as the number of the license plate, etc., and information such as the parking lot usage period (admission reservation date and time, exit reservation date and time) are acquired (reservation reception). The information acquired in this way is registered in the XML database unit 38 by the XML server unit 37. Of the registered information, information such as the license plate number of the vehicle is transmitted from the XML server unit 37 to the XML server unit 15 of the entrance camera 1 and the parking area camera 2 via the mobile communication network. It will be.

  The mail delivery AP unit 32 transmits a reservation acceptance confirmation mail, a reservation advance confirmation mail, an entrance confirmation mail, an exit confirmation mail, and the like to the mail address (mail server) registered at the time of reservation. Thereby, the reservation person etc. can receive the said mail from own mobile phone.

  2A is a screen example of a reservation reception screen and a reservation reception confirmation mail displayed on the mobile phone, FIG. 2B is a screen example of a reservation advance confirmation mail displayed on the mobile phone, FIG. FIG. 2C is a diagram showing an example of an entrance confirmation email screen displayed on the mobile phone, and FIG. 2D is a diagram showing an example of an exit confirmation email screen displayed on the mobile phone.

  The reservation acceptance confirmation mail shown in FIG. 2 (A) is transmitted from the mail distribution AP section 32 to the email address of the reservation person at the time of reservation acceptance by the reservation acceptance AP section 31. Such reservation acceptance confirmation mail As shown in the figure, the name of the reservation person, the name of the place in the parking lot (in this example, the first terminal A2), the period of use of the parking lot (here, March 1 to March 15), and The URL for changing the reservation is described.

  2B is transmitted from the mail distribution AP unit 32 to the e-mail address of the reservation person, for example, the day before the use start date of the parking lot.

  In addition, the admission confirmation mail shown in FIG. 2 (C) is, for example, a case where a reservation person's vehicle enters a parking lot, and information such as the number of the vehicle's license plate is collated by the parking area camera 2 and collation indicating OK. When the result data is received by the XML server unit 37, the mail delivery AP unit 32 transmits the data to the e-mail address of the reservation person and the e-mail addresses of the reservation person's family and colleagues at the work place. Further, as shown in the drawing, the admission confirmation mail describes information (here, parking location: right side of the first terminal A2) indicating the parking area where the vehicle related to the verification is parked. Thereby, even if the reservation person (the user of the vehicle) forgets the place parked on the plane before leaving the airport from the airfield, the place can be easily confirmed by the mail. . In addition, the reservation person's family and work colleagues can easily confirm that the reservation person has entered the parking lot by using the mobile phone.

  Further, the exit confirmation mail shown in FIG. 2 (D) indicates that, for example, when the reservation person's vehicle leaves the parking lot, information such as the number of the vehicle's license plate is collated by the entrance / exit camera 1 and indicates OK. When the collation result data is received by the XML server unit 37, it is transmitted from the mail distribution AP unit 32 to the e-mail address of the reservation person and the e-mail addresses of the reservation person's family and colleagues at the work place. . Thereby, the family of the reservation person, the colleague of the workplace, etc. can easily confirm with the mobile phone that the reservation person has left the parking lot (returning home safely).

  The video recording unit 33 is configured to record a video file transmitted from the XML server unit 15 and received by the XML server unit 37.

  The XML server unit 37 is configured to perform overall control of the entire XML server unit 15 by the CPU executing a predetermined program, and can transmit and receive data to and from the XML server unit 15. It has become. The XML server unit 37 registers the data transmitted from the XML server unit 15 and the reservation reception information transmitted from the mobile phone in the XML database unit 38 in the XML format. As a result, the management server 3 accumulates the received data.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of information (data) registered in the XML database unit 38. The information registered in the XML database unit 38 shown in FIG. 3 is managed for each reservation person, for example.

  Next, the gate opening / closing system 4 includes a gate opening / closing control device 41, an electric light display panel 42, a spot illuminator 43, a vehicle body detection sensor 44, and the like.

The gate opening / closing control device 42 can transmit / receive data to / from the XML server unit 15 of the entrance / exit camera 1, and verification result data transmitted from the XML server unit 15 via the signal cable. The gate G is controlled to open and close according to the received collation result data. For example, if the vehicle is detected by the vehicle body detection sensor 44 and then the collation result data transmitted from the XML server unit 15 indicates OK, an open command is sent to the gate drive mechanism (comprising a motor and gears). When the vehicle is no longer detected by the vehicle body detection sensor 44, a closing command is given to the gate driving mechanism to close the gate G.
[2. Operation of parking system]
First, with reference to FIG.4, FIG.5 etc., operation | movement of the parking lot system S concerning this embodiment is demonstrated.

  4 and 5 are sequence diagrams showing the operation of the parking lot system S when the vehicle enters the parking lot. In this operation example, the reservation reception AP unit 31 has already received a reservation for the parking lot from the reservation person's mobile phone, and the information such as the number of the license plate of the reservation person's vehicle is registered in the XML database unit 38. In addition, it is assumed that the information is transmitted from the XML server unit 37 to the XML server unit 15 of the entrance / exit camera 1 and the parking area camera 2 via the mobile communication network and stored in the memory.

  In FIG. 4, for example, when the reservation person's vehicle enters the parking lot, when the vehicle stops before the closed gate G at the entrance / exit of the parking lot, the vehicle body detection sensor 44 detects the vehicle and outputs a vehicle detection signal. It outputs to the gate opening / closing control apparatus 41, the electric light display board 42, and the spot illuminator 43 (step S1). As a result, the spot illuminator 43 illuminates the license plate portion of the vehicle, and a predetermined character is displayed on the electric display panel 42. Moreover, the gate opening / closing control apparatus 41 transmits a vehicle detection signal to the XML server unit 15 of the entrance / exit camera 1 via the signal cable (step S2).

  The XML server unit 15 that has received the vehicle detection signal gives a shooting start command to the video shooting unit 11 (step S3), whereby the video shooting unit 11 is reflected in a mirror attached to the gate G. The number plate surface of the vehicle is photographed, and the photographed video (for example, NTSC signal video) is output to the video converter 12 and the OCR converter 13 (step S4).

  Here, the license plate surface of the vehicle may be directly photographed by the image photographing unit 11, but in this case, since the entrance / exit camera 1 must be mounted above the vehicle, the photographed image is distorted, Expensive software technology for correcting this becomes necessary and costly. However, when the surface of the license plate of the vehicle reflected in the mirror attached to the gate G is photographed as in this embodiment, the installation position of the entrance / exit camera 1 can be lowered to the height of the gate G. Therefore, there is an advantage that image distortion and the like can be reduced and expensive software technology is not necessary.

  The video conversion unit 12 compresses the license plate surface video from the video shooting unit 11 and converts it into compressed video data, creates a video file in, for example, the MPEG format, and outputs the video file to the XML server unit 15 ( Step S5).

  Further, the OCR conversion unit 13 identifies characters from the license plate surface image from the video photographing unit 11 and converts them into character data, and outputs the character data to the character collation unit 14 (step S6).

  Next, the character collation unit 14 collates the character data from the OCR conversion unit 13 with the character data stored in the memory (for example, information data such as the number of the vehicle license plate registered by the reservation reception). Then, the collation result data indicating the collation result (that is, whether it matches (OK) or does not match (NG)) and the character data are output to the XML server unit 15 (step S7).

  Next, when receiving the video file, collation result data, and character data, the XML server unit 15 temporarily stores them in the memory, and transmits the collation result data (collation result signal) to the gate opening / closing control device 41 via the signal cable. (Step S8).

  When the verification result data indicates OK, the gate opening / closing control device 41 that has received the verification result data gives an opening command to the gate drive mechanism to perform the gate G opening control (step S9), and the gate G is completely When the opening is confirmed, a gate opening confirmation signal is transmitted to the XML server unit 15 (step S10). The XML server unit 15 that has received the gate open confirmation signal temporarily stores the gate open date and time in the memory (step S11).

  Further, when the gate opening / closing control device 41 confirms that the vehicle is no longer detected by the vehicle body detection sensor 44, the gate opening / closing control device 41 gives a closing command to the gate driving mechanism to perform the closing control of the gate G (step S12). When it is confirmed that the terminal is closed, a gate closing confirmation signal is transmitted to the XML server unit 15 (step S13).

  The XML server unit 15 that has received the gate closing confirmation signal converts the received gate closing date and time, gate opening date and time data, collation result data, and character data temporarily stored in the memory into an XML data format, and converts the data into an XML data format. Data (the file name of the video file is also described) is created, and the XML data and video file are transmitted to the XML server unit 37 of the management server 3 via the mobile communication network (step S14). The XML data may include position data indicating the position detected by the GPS receiver.

  The XML server unit 37 that has received the XML data registers the received XML data in the XML database unit 38 (step S15).

  Thereafter, when the vehicle travels in the parking lot, reaches the target parking area and is detected by the vehicle body detection sensor, the vehicle detection signal is transmitted to the parking area camera 2, and the parking area camera As shown in FIG. 5, the second video imaging unit 11 directly images the license plate surface of the vehicle and outputs the captured video to the OCR conversion unit 13 (step S <b> 16).

  Further, the OCR conversion unit 13 identifies characters from the license plate surface image from the video photographing unit 11 and converts them into character data, and outputs the character data to the character collation unit 14 (step S17).

  Next, the character collation unit 14 collates the character data from the OCR conversion unit 13 with the character data stored in the memory (for example, information data such as the number of the vehicle license plate registered by the reservation reception). Then, the collation result data indicating the collation result (that is, whether it matches (OK) or does not match (NG)) and the character data are output to the XML server unit 15 (step S18).

  Next, when the received collation result data indicates OK, the XML server unit 15 creates the XML data by converting the received character data into the XML data format, and sends the collation result data indicating the XML data and OK to the mobile unit. The data is transmitted to the XML server unit 37 of the management server 3 via the communication network (step S19). The XML data may include position data indicating the position detected by the GPS receiver. Further, a video file shot by the video shooting unit 11 and created by the video conversion unit 12 may be transmitted to the XML server unit 37 together with the XML data.

  The XML server unit 37 that has received the XML data or the like registers the received XML data in the XML database unit 38 (step S20).

  Next, the XML server unit 37 identifies the parking area where the vehicle related to the verification is parked (for example, the address (or position data) of the XML server unit 15 (for example, the address (or position data) of the XML server unit 15)). And identification based on the correspondence table with the parking area)) (step S21), and further obtaining an e-mail address from the XML database unit 38 using the character data included in the received XML data as a key. Information indicating the parking area is passed to the mail delivery AP unit 32 (step S22).

  Then, the mail delivery AP unit 32 transmits an entrance confirmation mail in which information indicating the parking area (parking location) is described to the mail address acquired from the XML server unit 37 (step S23).

  Note that the above operation example can also be applied when, for example, the reservation person's vehicle leaves the parking lot. When the vehicle leaves the parking lot, as described above, an exit confirmation email is transmitted to the email address registered by the reservation person.

  As described above, according to the above-described embodiment, the cameras 1 and 2 installed at predetermined positions in the parking lot photograph the number plate surface of the vehicle existing at the predetermined position in the parking lot, and the photographed license plate Characters are identified from the surface image and converted to character data, the character data stored in advance is collated with the converted character data, and collation result data indicating the collation result is sent to the management server 3 and the gate opening / closing system 4. Since the transmission is configured, a high-cost transmission line for transmitting large-capacity video data, which has been necessary in the past, is not required, and thus the cost related to the transmission line can be reduced.

  Further, by providing the cameras 1 and 2 with character recognition and conversion functions, it is possible to reduce the cost of incorporating software for converting into character data into the management server 3.

  Further, since the management server 3 only has to receive and store the character data converted on the cameras 1 and 2 side and the video data compressed on the camera side, the data storage amount can be greatly reduced.

  Further, since the management server 3 stores the data transmitted from the cameras 1, 2 and the like in the XML data format, the data can be handled centrally and business function tie-up becomes possible.

  Furthermore, according to the embodiment, the entrance / exit camera 1 transmits the verification result data to the gate opening / closing control device 41, and the gate opening / closing control device 41 controls the opening / closing of the gate G according to the verification result data. Since it was comprised so that the problem of the unauthorized use of the several ticket issuing etc. like the past might be solved, the gate opening and closing can be performed more efficiently using the entrance / exit camera 1.

  Furthermore, according to the said embodiment, when the management server 3 receives the collation result data from the parking area camera 2, the parking area of the vehicle related to the collation (the shooting area of the parking area camera 2). The admission confirmation e-mail with the information indicating is sent to the e-mail address of the vehicle user, so if the vehicle user forgets where the vehicle was parked Even if it exists, the useful information which supplements this can be provided to the user of a vehicle.

  In the above-described embodiment, an email such as an admission confirmation email is sent from the management server 3 to the email address of the vehicle user or the like. However, the XML server unit 15 in the cameras 1 and 2 is the management server. 3 so that the e-mail address is acquired in advance, and the XML server unit 15 transmits the e-mail (the e-mail shown in FIGS. 2A to 2D) to the e-mail address of the user or the like through the mobile communication network. You may comprise so that it may do.

It is a figure showing an example of outline composition of a parking lot system concerning this embodiment. (A) is a screen example of a reservation reception screen and a reservation reception confirmation email displayed on the mobile phone, (B) is a screen example of a reservation prior confirmation email displayed on the mobile phone, and (C) is a mobile phone. (D) is a figure which respectively shows the example of a screen of the entrance confirmation mail displayed on the telephone, and (D) is a screen example of the exit confirmation mail displayed on the mobile phone. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of information (data) registered in an XML database unit 38. FIG. It is a sequence diagram which shows operation | movement of the parking lot system S when a vehicle enters a parking lot. It is a sequence diagram which shows operation | movement of the parking lot system S when a vehicle enters a parking lot.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Entrance camera 2 Parking area camera 3 Management server 4 Gate opening / closing system 11 Image | video imaging | photography part 12 Image | video conversion part 13 OCR conversion part 14 Character collation part 15 XML server part 31 Reservation reception AP part 32 Mail delivery AP part 33 Video recording part 34 Facility utilization rate management AP unit 35 Sales management AP unit 36 Charge settlement AP unit 37 XML server unit 38 XML database unit 41 Gate opening / closing control device 42 Lightning display board 43 Spot illuminator 44 Car body detection sensor G Gate S Parking lot system

Claims (6)

An imaging device installed at a predetermined position in a parking lot,
Photographing means for photographing the surface of the license plate of the vehicle existing at a predetermined position in the parking lot;
Character data conversion means for identifying characters from the photographed license plate surface image and converting them into character data;
Character data collating means for collating character data stored in advance with the converted character data;
Transmitting means for transmitting collation result data indicating the collation result of the character data to an external device;
An imaging device comprising:
A gate that can be opened and closed provided at the entrance of the parking lot and prevents the vehicle from entering or leaving the parking lot when closed;
A gate opening and closing control device for controlling the opening and closing of the gate;
A gate opening and closing system comprising:
The transmission unit of the imaging device transmits the verification result data to the gate opening / closing control device as the external device,
The gate opening / closing control device receives the verification result data, performs the gate opening / closing control according to the received verification result data,
The gate is attached with a mirror that reflects the vehicle's license plate surface when closed,
The photographing means of the photographing device photographs the surface of the license plate of the vehicle reflected in the mirror when the gate is closed . The gate opening and closing system according to claim 1,
The gate opening / closing system characterized in that the transmission means transmits the converted character data to the external device. In the gate opening and closing system according to claim 1 or 2,
Compressed video data converting means for compressing the photographed license plate surface video and converting it into compressed video data;
Further comprising
The gate opening / closing system , wherein the transmission means transmits the converted compressed video data to the external device. In the gate opening and closing system according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The transmission means is capable of wireless packet communication with a radio base station installed outside, and packet-converts the data and transmits the packet to the external device through the radio base station. Gate opening and closing system . The gate opening and closing system according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A management server capable of communicating with the imaging device via a communication means;
The transmission unit of the imaging device transmits the verification result data to the management server,
The management server receives the collation result data and accumulates the received collation result data . The gate opening and closing system according to claim 5,
The management server, when receiving verification result data from the imaging device, transmits an email describing information indicating a parking area of a vehicle related to the verification to a user's email address. Gate opening and closing system .

Images