JP7451321B2 - parking system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a parking lot system that performs parking management and parking guidance in a parking lot.

2. Description of the Related Art Regarding parking lot management, for example, a technology for identifying a vehicle by reading the vehicle number, that is, for recognizing the vehicle number (see Patent Document 1), is known.

Further, although not related to parking lot management, there is a known technology (see Patent Document 2) that utilizes acoustic communication between a vehicle and an electronic key of the vehicle.

However, it is not known that acoustic communication as in Patent Document 2 is used in parking lot management as in Patent Document 1, and that Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 are It cannot necessarily be said that it is easy to use certain technologies in combination.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2016-224773 Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-320708

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a parking lot system that can easily and quickly process the entry and exit process using a simple mechanism using acoustic communication.

To achieve the above purpose, the parking lot system has a parking lot-side acoustic communication unit installed at the entrance/exit of the parking lot and handles information regarding the parking lot through acoustic communication, and a parking lot-side acoustic communication unit that can be mounted on a vehicle and compatible with the parking lot-side acoustic communication unit. and a parking management section that performs parking management based on communication results between the parking lot-side acoustic communication section and the vehicle-side acoustic communication section.

In the above-mentioned parking lot system, by using acoustic communication for managing the parking lot, it is possible to easily and quickly perform processing for entering and exiting the parking lot between the parking lot side and the vehicle side.

A specific aspect of the present invention includes a vehicle detection section that detects the presence or absence of a vehicle at the entrance/exit of the parking lot, and the parking lot side acoustic communication section starts acoustic communication in response to detection by the vehicle detection section. In this case, acoustic communication can be started at an appropriate timing by using detection by the vehicle detection unit.

In another aspect of the present invention, the parking lot-side acoustic communication unit outputs a request signal requesting information regarding the vehicle to the vehicle-side acoustic communication unit, and the vehicle-side acoustic communication unit receives the information from the parking lot-side acoustic communication unit. Outputs information about its own vehicle in response to a request. In this case, the vehicle-side acoustic communication unit acquires information regarding the vehicle from the parking lot-side acoustic communication unit, thereby performing parking management for the vehicle.

In yet another aspect of the present invention, the parking management unit performs parking management based on ID information about the vehicle handled in acoustic communication and time information output from the parking lot. In this case, parking time can be managed by linking ID information about the vehicle with time information output from the parking lot.

In yet another aspect of the present invention, the vehicle-side acoustic communication unit is a portable communication terminal. In this case, the parking system can be easily constructed using a portable communication terminal.

In yet another aspect of the present invention, the parking lot-side acoustic communication unit and the vehicle-side acoustic communication unit perform acoustic communication using directional ultrasonic waves. In this case, communication can be performed in a precise range and direction.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a parking lot incorporating the parking lot system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 1 is a plan view conceptually showing a configuration example of a parking lot system. It is a block diagram for explaining each part of a parking lot system. (A) is a diagram of a data table showing an example of parking management by the parking lot system, and (B) is a diagram of a data table showing an example of pre-registered items. It is a sequence diagram explaining a series of processing about a parking lot system. It is a block diagram explaining one example of composition of a parking lot system provided with a vehicle recognition device. It is a block diagram for explaining each part of the parking lot system concerning a 2nd embodiment. It is a sequence diagram explaining a series of processing about a parking lot system. (A) is a plan view conceptually showing a configuration example of a parking system according to a third embodiment, and (B) and (C) are conceptual front views showing an interface part of the parking system. It is. It is a top view which shows conceptually another example of a structure about a parking lot system.

[First embodiment]
An example of the parking system according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. 1 and the like. As shown in the perspective view as an example in FIG. 1, the parking lot system 500 according to the present embodiment has a mobile communication terminal 10 mounted on the side of a vehicle VE trying to park or parked in the parking lot PA. , an entrance/exit management section 50 installed at the entrance/exit DW on the parking lot PA side, and a parking management section 100 connected to the entrance/exit management section 50.

The communication terminal 10 is configured by having an application installed on a smartphone, for example, and is a vehicle-side acoustic communication unit that enables information exchange with the entry/exit management unit 50 through acoustic communication.

As shown in the figure, the entrance/exit management section 50 is installed at the entrance/exit DW of the parking lot PA, and includes an acoustic communication section 20 that communicates with the communication terminal 10, and an acoustic communication section 20 that is installed at the entrance/exit DW of the parking lot PA and detects the presence or absence of a vehicle VE at the entrance/exit DW of the parking lot PA. The entrance/exit of the vehicle VE is managed by including a detection unit 30 and a gate unit 40 which is a gate device that raises and lowers a gate bar BA to indicate whether or not the vehicle VE is allowed to pass. In particular, in the present embodiment, the acoustic communication section 20 is equipped with a speaker SK and a microphone MC, and thus functions as a parking lot side acoustic communication section that performs acoustic communication. As for the speaker SK, for example, as shown in the figure, it performs voice guidance VG in the audible range, and in parallel with this, transmits (outputs) ultrasonic waves UL for communication with the vehicle VE. Furthermore, the microphone MC receives ultrasonic waves UL transmitted from the communication terminal 10. That is, the acoustic communication unit 20 and the communication terminal 10 perform acoustic communication using ultrasonic UL.

In the example shown in FIG. 1, in order to simplify the explanation, one entrance/exit management section 50 is provided at one entrance/exit DW in one parking lot PA. That is, in the illustration, the entry/exit management unit 50 communicates with the vehicle VE regarding parking both when the vehicle VE enters and exits from the entrance/exit DW of the parking lot PA.

In addition, here, the vehicle VE is equipped with a device capable of communicating with the communication terminal 10, that is, the entry/exit management section 50, through acoustic communication, and the information of the vehicle VE corresponding to the communication terminal 10 is linked. It is assumed that Furthermore, it is assumed that information regarding these items is registered in advance on the parking lot side, that is, on the parking management section 100 side, and that it is possible to specify the vehicle VE from the registered information.

Furthermore, the entrance/exit management section 50 can only accept vehicles VE equipped with a communication terminal 10 capable of acoustic communication with the acoustic communication section 20, which is the parking lot side acoustic communication section. In particular, in this embodiment, as described above, it is possible to handle information regarding the parking lot PA by acoustic communication between the entry/exit management unit 50 and the communication terminal 10. By using this, it is possible to easily and quickly perform processing for entering and exiting the parking lot PA between the parking lot PA side and the vehicle VE side. Further, in this case, a ticketless configuration that does not require the issuance of parking tickets can be provided.

The parking management unit 100 is a parking lot management device for controlling various types of management in the parking lot, and is capable of communicating with the entry/exit management unit 50. The parking management unit 100 is comprised of, for example, a management server, a PC, etc., and is comprised of a CPU for performing various calculation processes, and a memory for storing various data and programs. In particular, in this embodiment, the parking management section 100 performs parking management based on the communication results between the acoustic communication section 20, which is the parking lot side acoustic communication section, and the communication terminal 10, which is the vehicle side acoustic communication section. . In the illustrated example, the parking management section 100 is connected to the entrance/exit management section 50 by wire, but wireless communication may also be used. Furthermore, the parking management section 100 can be configured to collectively manage a plurality of entrance/exit management sections 50 (see FIG. 3). In addition, when it is set as such a structure, collective management when there are several entrance/exit management parts 50 in one parking lot PA, or collective management of several parking lots PA becomes possible.

Hereinafter, with reference to the plan view of FIG. 2, the block diagram of FIG. 3, etc., each part constituting the parking lot system 500 will be described in more detail. FIG. 2 is a plan view conceptually showing a configuration example of the parking lot system 500, and mainly shows the state of the entry/exit management unit 50 installed at the entrance/exit DW. Note that FIG. 2 shows an example of parking management when there is a vehicle VE attempting to enter the parking lot PA. On the other hand, FIG. 3 is a block diagram for explaining each part of the parking lot system 500 from a functional perspective. Note that FIG. 3 illustrates a case where one parking management section 100 manages a plurality of entry/exit management sections 50.

First, each part of the entry/exit management section 50 will be explained. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 and as described above, the entry/exit management section 50 includes the acoustic communication section 20, the vehicle detection section 30, and the gate section 40.

In addition, the input/output management section 50 includes, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, a main control section 51 composed of a CPU or the like, and a storage section 52 composed of various storage devices. Further, in the illustrated example, among the components of the main control section 51, the storage section 52, the acoustic communication section 20, the vehicle detection section 30, and the gate section 40, the parts related to operation control are configured as the control base section MP. For example, it is integrally formed with a housing (see FIG. 1).

Hereinafter, among the various sections of the entry/exit management section 50, the acoustic communication section 20 will be described in more detail.

The acoustic communication unit 20 includes a speaker SK that transmits ultrasonic waves UL for communication, a microphone MC that receives ultrasonic waves UL transmitted from the vehicle side, and an acoustic communication control unit that controls acoustic communication operations of the speaker SK and the microphone MC. 21.

Of the acoustic communication unit 20, first, the speakers SK are divided into a first speaker SKa installed toward the entering vehicle VE and a first speaker SKa installed toward the participating vehicle VE, as illustrated in FIG. It is composed of two speakers SKb. For example, as shown in the figure, the first speaker SKa transmits a transmission wave TW that is an ultrasonic UL to a communication terminal 10 mounted on a vehicle VE that is about to enter, and the communication terminal 10 responds to this by transmitting a transmission wave TW that is an ultrasonic wave UL. and transmits a response wave RW.

Next, the microphone MC is a sound collection device that receives ultrasonic waves UL for communication (for example, the above-mentioned response waves RW) transmitted from the communication terminal 10. In other words, the microphone MC has the sensitivity and directivity to be able to receive the ultrasonic UL from the communication terminal 10 mounted on the vehicle VE when the vehicle VE is at the position where it should enter or exit. There is.

Finally, the acoustic communication control section 21 is composed of, for example, a circuit board, etc., and is connected to the main control section 51 in the control base section MP, as shown in FIG. Controls the operation of the speaker SK and microphone MC.

Hereinafter, the vehicle detection section 30 and the gate section 40 out of each section of the entrance/exit management section 50 will be explained in more detail.

First, an example of the configuration of the vehicle detection section 30 will be described. The vehicle detection unit 30 includes a loop coil LC and a loop coil detection unit 31, and detects the presence or absence of a vehicle VE at the entrance/exit DW of the parking lot PA.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the loop coil LC includes a first loop coil LCa that is buried outside the entrance DW of the parking lot PA and detects an entering vehicle VE; A second loop coil LCb is buried inside and detects an exiting vehicle VE. In the illustrated example, a situation is depicted in which the first loop coil LCa detects a vehicle VE attempting to park (enter) the parking lot PA.

The loop coil detection unit 31 is made up of, for example, a circuit board, etc., is connected to the loop coils LCa and LCb (see FIG. 2), and detects the presence or absence of the vehicle VE based on these. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the loop coil detection unit 31 is connected to the main control unit 51 in the control base unit MP, and outputs detection results related to vehicle detection to the main control unit 51.

In the example of FIG. 2, it is assumed that the loop coils LCa and LCb detect the presence or absence of the vehicle VE in the detection ranges DAa and DAb, respectively. For example, when the vehicle VE stops in the detection range DAa located on the outermost side of the entrance/exit DW, the first loop coil LCa reacts, and the loop coil detection unit 31 detects the result, so that the vehicle VE attempting to enter The existence of is confirmed. Furthermore, based on this detection result, the entry/exit management section 50 causes the acoustic communication section 20 to start communication. That is, when the vehicle VE stops in the detection range DAa as in the above example, the first speaker SKa provided corresponding to the detection range DAa starts transmitting the transmission wave TW by the ultrasonic wave UL toward the detection range DAa. be done.

Here, the first speaker SKa efficiently transmits the ultrasonic wave UL as the transmission wave TW to the detection range DAa, and also transmits the ultrasonic wave UL as the transmission wave TW to the range other than the detection range DAa as much as possible. Transmits sound waves UL with directivity. In particular, when there is a following vehicle attempting to park in the parking lot PA, it is conceivable to adjust the directivity of the transmitted wave TW in order to suppress communication with the following vehicle from being mixed. As described above, accurate acoustic communication is performed using directional ultrasonic UL between the acoustic communication unit 20, which is the parking lot side acoustic communication unit, and the communication terminal 10, which is the vehicle side acoustic communication unit. Communication can be performed within a certain range and direction.

Next, an example of the configuration of the gate section 40 will be described. The gate unit 40 is a gate device that includes a main body portion GE including a gate bar BA and the like, and a gate control unit 41.

The main body portion GE indicates whether or not the vehicle VE can proceed into the parking lot PA by raising and lowering a gate bar BA that indicates the boundary between the inside and outside of the parking lot PA at the entrance DW of the parking lot PA.

As shown in FIG. 3, the gate control section 41 is connected to the main control section 51 in the control base section MP, and according to instructions from the main control section 51, controls the operation of the main body part GE shown in FIG. Controls the raising and lowering operation of BA. The gate control unit 41 controls the gate bar BA by a drive unit (not shown) in accordance with a judgment made by the main control unit 51 regarding whether or not the vehicle VE is allowed to pass according to the communication result between the communication terminal 10 and the acoustic communication unit 20. Raise and lower.

Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 3, the vehicle VE side, that is, one configuration example of the communication terminal 10 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 3, the communication terminal 10 includes a microphone MCm, a speaker SKm, a display section DSm, a main control section 11, and a storage section 12, thereby enabling information exchange through acoustic communication. Functions as a side acoustic communication section. As described above, the communication terminal 10 is a portable terminal that can be installed in a car and is configured by having an application installed on a smartphone, for example. In this case, the microphone MCm, speaker SKm, etc. equipment is available.

The microphone MCm is capable of receiving ultrasonic waves UL transmitted as a transmission wave TW from the input/output management section 50 side, and the speaker SKm is capable of transmitting ultrasonic waves UL as a response wave RW to the transmission wave TW. This allows the communication terminal 10 to communicate with the entry/exit management section 50 using ultrasonic waves. Furthermore, the communication terminal 10 has a display section DSm composed of, for example, an organic EL panel or the like, and is capable of displaying the results of communication with the entry/exit management section 50. In addition, the communication results may be outputted as audio by the speaker SKm.

The main control section 11 is composed of a CPU, etc., and is connected to the microphone MCm, the speaker SKm, the display section DSm, and the storage section 12, and performs various calculation processes, outputs various command signals to each section, and performs the above-mentioned operations. Controls various operations.

The storage unit 12 stores various programs, data, etc. necessary for communicating with the above-mentioned application, that is, the entry/exit management unit 50. For example, information regarding whether or not the vehicle VE is allowed to pass, such as pre-registration information such as ID information of the communication terminal 10, is stored. The main control unit 11 reads these data and programs stored in the storage unit 12 as necessary, and performs various information processing for outputting them to the input/output management unit 50.

It is assumed that the communication terminal 10, which is a smartphone or the like, has a necessary application activated in advance to enable the above-mentioned communication when the vehicle VE enters or leaves the vehicle. Regarding this, various aspects can be considered; for example, the application may be activated all the time, not only when entering or exiting the parking lot PA, or the application may be activated manually by the user, that is, the owner of the communication terminal 10. You can do it like this. Furthermore, when the vehicle VE enters or leaves the vehicle, the entrance/exit management unit 50 may prompt the user to start an application using, for example, a voice guidance VG (see FIG. 1) or other methods.

Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 3, a configuration example of the parking management section 100 that performs parking management among the facilities on the parking lot side will be described.

As described above, the parking management section 100 is composed of a management server, a PC, etc., and in the example shown in FIG. 3, it is composed of a control device CT and a parking management database DB. The control device CT is composed of, for example, a CPU, and performs various calculation processes. The parking management database DB is a memory or the like that stores various data and programs. As shown in the figure, the parking management unit 100 is connected to the control base unit MP of each entry/exit management unit 50 in order to centrally manage the plurality of entry/exit management units 50. That is, data regarding the vehicle VE detected by each entry/exit management section 50 is stored in the parking management database DB. In addition, the parking management database DB stores a series of related information such as information on the communication terminal 10 registered in advance and information on the vehicle VE linked thereto, that is, information on the vehicle VE corresponding to the communication terminal 10. has been done. The control device CT of the parking management section 100 performs various information processing such as collation of this information, thereby making it possible to centrally manage parking in the control device CT.

Hereinafter, a specific example of parking management will be described with reference to various data tables, an example of which is shown in FIG.

First, parking management in the parking lot system 500 is performed using a data table, an example of which is shown in FIG. 4(A). In the example shown in FIG. 4A, a gate number determined for each entry/exit management unit 50, that is, information that identifies one entry/exit management unit 50 from a plurality of entry/exit management units 50, and a communication terminal that identifies the vehicle VE or its owner. 10 ID information (registered terminal ID), entry time, exit time, and information about whether payment processing is performed for parking fee payment, as information about the vehicle, that is, information about the parking lot when managing the parking lot. ,We are dealing. Among these, the identification of the vehicle VE indicated by the ID information (registered terminal ID) of the communication terminal 10 is performed using the information acquired by the entry/exit management unit 50 and the advance information stored in the parking management database DB of the parking management unit 100. This is done by comparing the information with the information registered in .

In order to perform the above verification, a data table, an example of which is shown in FIG. The information is stored as information. In the example shown in FIG. 4B, information about the communication terminal 10 registered in advance includes information about the communication terminal 10 itself, that is, information about the smartphone that constitutes the communication terminal 10 (pre-registered terminal ID), and management Information that identifies the target compatible vehicle VE (compatible vehicle information), information regarding the registrant corresponding to the owner of the communication terminal 10 (or compatible vehicle VE) (registrant information), and the date and time of registration. Various information such as information on Further, as needed, a communication method for communicating between the parking lot side and the communication terminal 10 may be defined, for example. Here, as described above, it is assumed that acoustic communication is performed using ultrasonic UL, but the sound range (frequency band), communication range, directivity, etc. to be applied at that time may be determined as appropriate. Note that the information regarding the registrant (registrant information) may also take various forms, and may include, for example, information necessary for performing payment processing (advance payment) for parking fees, etc. In addition, in the data table shown in FIG. 4(B), hatching indicates the communication terminal 10 and the corresponding vehicle VE that were identified as a result of the verification and written in the data table of FIG. 4(A), that is, linked. It is shown in

As described above, the parking management unit 100 performs parking management based on the ID information about the vehicle VE handled in acoustic communication and the time information output from the parking lot PA side. Therefore, the parking system 500 of the present embodiment can manage parking time by linking the ID information on the vehicle VE side with the time information output from the parking lot PA side, that is, the parking management unit 100.

Hereinafter, an example of a series of processes in the parking lot system 500 will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of FIG. 5. In addition, here, a series of processes upon entry of the vehicle VE will be illustrated.

First, when the presence of an entering vehicle VE is detected in the vehicle detection unit 30 of the entry/exit management unit 50, the main control unit 51 of the entry/exit management unit 50 sends a signal (vehicle detection signal ) is output to the parking management unit 100 together with a signal (gate ID signal) representing a gate number that specifies the entry/exit management unit 50.

On the other hand, the main control unit 51 activates the acoustic communication unit 20, which is the parking lot side acoustic communication unit, to start transmitting the sound wave signal. That is, acoustic communication with the communication terminal 10 is started by transmitting ultrasonic waves UL from the speaker SK. Specifically, first, a transmission wave TW is transmitted from the acoustic communication unit 20 as a signal (ID request signal) requesting an ID in order to identify the communication terminal 10 and the vehicle VE. The communication terminal 10 that has received this transmits (outputs) a response signal containing information on its own registered terminal ID (vehicle ID information) that has been registered in advance as a response wave RW. In other words, the acoustic communication section 20 outputs a request signal requesting information regarding the vehicle VE to the communication terminal 10, and the communication terminal 10 responds to the request from the acoustic communication section 20 by transmitting its own information. Outputs information regarding the vehicle VE.

Next, the main control unit 51 of the entry/exit management unit 50 reads vehicle ID information to identify the vehicle VE from the response signal from the communication terminal 10 received by the acoustic communication unit 20 and outputs it to the parking management unit 100.

As an admission reception process, the control device CT of the parking management section 100 compares the vehicle ID information from the entrance/exit management section 50 with the pre-registered information stored in the parking management database DB, and determines which vehicle ID information corresponds to the vehicle ID information. Identify the vehicles that will be used. Further, the control device CT adds an entry time to data regarding the vehicle identified from the verification result and records the data in a predetermined area of the parking management database DB. Further, the control device CT sends a command signal for opening the gate (gate opening command), that is, a signal to permit entry (permission signal), to the entry/exit management unit 50 along with the time information recorded as the entry time. Output.

Upon receiving the signal from the parking management section 100, the entrance/exit management section 50 activates the gate section 40, that is, causes the gate section 40 to raise the gate bar BA to open the gate. At the same time, the entry/exit management unit 50 sends a signal (permission signal) indicating that entry is permitted to the communication terminal 10, that is, the vehicle VE, based on the entry time using the acoustic communication in the acoustic communication unit 20. Disseminate with information.

The communication terminal 10 receives the various signals described above from the acoustic communication section 20, stores this information in the storage section 12, and transmits a response signal regarding reception confirmation to the acoustic communication section 20. Thereafter, when the vehicle detection unit 30 of the entry/exit management unit 50 confirms that the vehicle VE has passed, the entry/exit management unit 50 lowers the gate bar BA of the gate unit 40, that is, closes the gate, and indicates that entry is complete. A signal is output to the parking management section 100.

When the parking management unit 100 receives a signal indicating that the gate has been closed, that is, a signal indicating that the entry of the vehicle VE has been completed (entrance completion signal), the parking management unit 100 receives the signal obtained through the above series of processes in order to handle the vehicle VE as a management target. Stores various information. For example, the control device CT stores the items shown in the data table illustrated in FIG. 4(A) in a predetermined area of the parking management database DB.

Note that the series of processes when the vehicle VE enters is also the same as above, but in the case of participation, in place of the entry reception process in the control device CT, for example, payment is performed as the entry reception process. Once the completion of the process is confirmed, the gate opening/closing process and the completion of entry are confirmed. Further, when the appearance of the target vehicle is confirmed as a result of a series of processes, the parking management unit 100 records the appearance time in a predetermined part of the data table illustrated in FIG. 4A, and removes the vehicle VE from the management target. exclude.

As described above, the parking lot system 500 according to the present embodiment includes the acoustic communication unit 20 as a parking lot-side acoustic communication unit that is installed at the entrance/exit DW of the parking lot PA and handles information regarding the parking lot PA through acoustic communication; A communication terminal 10 as a vehicle-side acoustic communication unit that can be installed in a vehicle and performs acoustic communication in correspondence with an acoustic communication unit 20, and parking management based on communication results between the acoustic communication unit 20 and the communication terminal 10. and a parking management section 100 that performs the following operations. Thereby, regarding the management of the parking lot PA, by using acoustic communication, processing at the time of entering and exiting the parking lot PA can be easily and quickly performed between the parking lot PA side and the vehicle VE side.

In the embodiment described above, by using acoustic communication using ultrasonic waves, it is possible to provide more directivity than when using radio wave communication using UHF, so that vehicles other than the target vehicle for communication can be This makes it easier to avoid confusion. Note that although in the above description it is assumed that ultrasonic waves are used, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is also possible to use sound waves in the audible range. For example, information for parking management may be included in the voice guidance VG to the extent that it does not interfere with the normal voice guidance VG.

In addition, although the above example uses a smartphone as an example of the communication terminal 10 that can be installed in a vehicle, devices other than smartphones may be used as long as they have equipment to enable acoustic communication such as a microphone or a speaker. may be adopted as the communication terminal 10. In addition, in this embodiment, as described above, the communication terminal 10 can be configured simply and reliably by making acoustic communication possible using existing equipment such as a microphone and a speaker in a smartphone. For example, warehouse entry/exit management using NFC (Near Field Communication) could be considered, but in this case, it would not be possible to use a smartphone that does not have an NFC function. On the other hand, since microphones and speakers are standard equipment in smartphones, any smartphone can be used as the communication terminal 10 by using them for acoustic communication.

In addition, by performing processing at the time of entering and exiting the warehouse using acoustic communication, it is possible to enter and exit the warehouse without any operations. For example, when entering and exiting a garage using the NFC function of a smartphone or using a QR code (registered trademark), the user needs to perform operations such as holding the smartphone over a device at the parking lot. In the case of acoustic communication, it is possible to avoid such trouble by, for example, setting the smartphone to start up automatically or to start up all the time.

[Second embodiment]
The parking lot system according to the second embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG. 6 and the like. The parking system 600 of the present embodiment is a modification of the parking system 500 of the first embodiment, and parts with the same reference numerals that are not particularly described are the same as in the first embodiment. .

In the parking lot system 600 of the present embodiment, the communication terminal 10 transmits communication results between the acoustic communication section 20, which is the parking lot side acoustic communication section, and the communication terminal 10, which is the vehicle side acoustic communication section, to the parking management section 100. This differs from the case of the first embodiment in which the entry/exit management section 50 including the acoustic communication section 20 outputs the information to the parking management section 100 in that the entry/exit management section 50 including the acoustic communication section 20 outputs the information to the parking management section 100.

Hereinafter, each part constituting the parking lot system 500 will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. 6. Note that FIG. 6 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 3.

As shown in FIG. 6, in this embodiment, information is exchanged between a communication unit COm provided in the communication terminal 10 and a communication unit COp provided in the parking management unit 100. Note that various communication methods may be used, and for example, a network line such as the Internet may be used.

Hereinafter, an example of a series of processes in the parking lot system 600 will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of FIG. 7. In addition, here, a series of processes upon entry of the vehicle VE will be illustrated.

First, when the presence of the entering vehicle VE is detected in the vehicle detection unit 30 of the entry/exit management unit 50, the main control unit 51 of the entry/exit management unit 50 activates the acoustic communication unit 20, which is the parking lot side acoustic communication unit. It is activated to start acoustic communication with the communication terminal 10. At this time, the entry/exit management section 50 (main control section 51) transmits a signal representing its own gate number (gate ID signal) to the communication terminal 10, and also sends information for identifying the communication terminal 10 and the self A signal (ID transmission request signal) is transmitted to request the parking management unit 100 to transmit the information on the gate number of the parking management unit 100 .

When the communication terminal 10 receives the signal from the entrance/exit management section 50, it sends information identifying itself (self ID signal) to the parking management section 100, and information on the gate number of the entrance/exit management section 50 (gate ID signal). Send with.

The control device CT of the parking management section 100 receives the self ID signal, that is, the vehicle ID information and the gate ID signal from the communication terminal 10, and reads information about these signals as an admission reception process. Furthermore, the control device CT compares the vehicle ID information with pre-registration information stored in the parking management database DB to identify the vehicle corresponding to the vehicle ID information. Further, the control device CT adds the gate ID signal and entry time from the communication terminal 10 to the data regarding the vehicle specified from the verification result, and records the data in a predetermined area of the parking management database DB. Furthermore, the control device CT transmits to the communication terminal 10 a command signal for opening the gate (gate opening command), that is, a signal to permit entry (permission signal), along with the time information recorded as the entry time. do.

The communication terminal 10 receives various signals from the parking management section 100, stores this information in the storage section 12, and transmits a permission signal, that is, a command signal for opening the gate, to the entry/exit management section 50. do. Note that after confirming receipt of various signals from the parking management section 100, the communication terminal 10 transmits a response signal to the parking management section 100.

Upon receiving the permission signal from the communication terminal 10, the entry/exit management section 50 activates the gate section 40, that is, causes the gate section 40 to raise the gate bar BA. Thereafter, when the vehicle detection unit 30 confirms that the vehicle VE has passed, the entry/exit management unit 50 lowers the gate bar BA of the gate unit 40, that is, closes the gate, and sends a signal to the communication terminal 10 that entry is complete. The information is output to the parking management section 100 via the parking management section 100.

When the parking management unit 100 receives a signal to the effect that the gate has been closed, that is, a signal to the effect that the entry of the vehicle VE has been completed (entrance completion signal), the parking management unit 100 performs a process as shown in FIG. 4A, for example, in order to handle the vehicle VE as a management target. Store in the example data table.

The series of processes when the vehicle VE enters is also the same as in the first embodiment, and in the case of participation, an entry reception process is performed in place of the entry reception process in the control device CT among the above series of processes. It will be done.

Also in the parking lot system 600 according to the present embodiment, with regard to parking lot management, acoustic communication is used to easily and quickly perform processing for entering and leaving the parking lot between the parking lot side and the vehicle side. be able to. In particular, in this embodiment, information exchange between the entry/exit management section 50 and the parking management section 100 can be performed via the communication terminal 10.

[Third embodiment]
Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 8, a parking lot system according to a third embodiment will be described. The parking system 700 of the present embodiment is a modification of the parking system 500 of the first embodiment, and parts with the same reference numerals that are not particularly explained are the same as those of the first embodiment. It is.

The parking lot system 700 of this embodiment is different from the other embodiments in that it accepts entry/exit by other methods such as issuing parking tickets in addition to entry/exit based on acoustic communication by the communication terminal 10. It is different from Looking at it from a different perspective, in this embodiment, processing using acoustic communication can be used as one of various methods of entering and exiting the warehouse.

FIG. 8(A) is a plan view conceptually showing a configuration example of a parking lot system 700 according to the present embodiment, and corresponds to FIG. 2. FIG. Moreover, FIG. 8(B) and FIG. 8(C) are conceptual front views showing an interface portion of the parking lot system 700.

As shown in FIG. 8(A), the parking lot system 700 according to the present embodiment includes an entrance-side control base unit MPa that performs processing at the time of entry, and a control base unit MPa for processing at the time of exit, regarding the control base unit MP of the entry/exit management unit 50. The exit side control base unit MPb is connected directly or indirectly to the parking management unit 100.

Further, a first speaker SKa and a first microphone MCa as a microphone MC for collecting ultrasonic waves UL when the vehicle VE enters are provided along with the casing housing the entrance-side control board MPa. . Furthermore, as an example shown in FIG. 8(B), a push button part BTa and a parking ticket issuing part CAa for entering by issuing a parking ticket, instead of entry based on acoustic communication by the communication terminal 10, or an admission part For processing, a two-dimensional barcode reader unit QQa is provided to use QR code (registered trademark) reading, and furthermore, a reader/writer unit NFa is provided for reception using NFC as an admission process. . In other words, the user (driver of the vehicle VE) can select one entrance method from among a plurality of entrance methods. In this case, upon entering, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 8(A), an announcement may be made using the voice guidance VG in accordance with the case where acoustic communication is used or the case where a parking ticket is issued.

Similarly, as shown in FIGS. 8(A) and 8(C), the first speaker SKa, the second microphone MCb, and the pusher A button section BTb, a parking ticket insertion section CAb, a two-dimensional barcode reader section QQb, a reader/writer section NFb, etc. are provided. Furthermore, a payment reception section CS is provided to enable payment processing by cash or credit card at the time of participation.

Also in the parking lot system 700 according to the present embodiment, with regard to parking lot management, acoustic communication is used to easily and quickly perform processing for entering and leaving the parking lot between the parking lot side and the vehicle side. be able to. Particularly, in this embodiment, it is possible to receive entry and exit from the warehouse by means other than acoustic communication.

It is also conceivable that only some of the above-mentioned entrance methods other than those using acoustic communication may be adopted. For example, a configuration may be adopted in which two options are used: using acoustic communication and issuing a parking ticket using the push button part BTa. Alternatively, among the above, issuing of a parking ticket using the push button part BTa may not be used, and a ticketless configuration may be adopted.

〔others〕
This invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but can be implemented in various forms without departing from the spirit thereof.

For example, as in a parking lot system 800 conceptually shown in FIG. 9, the positions at the time of entry and the time of exit may be different, that is, the locations of the entrance and exit may be different. In the illustrated example, a first speaker SKa and a first microphone MCa are attached to an entrance-side control board MPa provided on the entrance side to configure a first acoustic communication section 20a that functions as the acoustic communication section 20 at the time of entrance. ing. The first acoustic communication unit 20a allows entry reception by acoustic communication when the vehicle VE enters in the direction of arrow DDa. Similarly, a second speaker SKb and a second microphone MCb are attached to the exit-side control base part MPb provided on the exit side, thereby configuring a second acoustic communication section 20b that functions as the acoustic communication section 20 at the time of exit. . The second acoustic communication unit 20b allows entry reception by acoustic communication when the vehicle VE exits in the direction of arrow DDb. Additionally, a gate portion 40 is provided on each of the inlet side and the outlet side.

Furthermore, in the above description, the acoustic communication is started upon detection by the vehicle detection unit 30, and thereby, for example, when a pedestrian carrying the communication terminal 10 passes near the entry/exit management unit 50, an error occurs. Recognition can be avoided. However, in cases where there is no risk of such erroneous recognition, for example, the entry/exit management section 50 is constantly transmitting without using the detection by the vehicle detection section 30 as a trigger for starting acoustic communication. It may also be a mode.

Furthermore, various transmission modes for acoustic communication can be considered, and for example, the directivity, that is, the direction of transmission, the frequency band used, the transmission intensity, etc. may be variously changed. For example, the optimal frequency band, transmission strength, etc. may be selected according to the pre-registered characteristics of the communication terminal 10 (for example, the type of smartphone). Alternatively, it is also possible to change the directivity in consideration of the size of the vehicle VE, etc.

In addition, various aspects can be considered for an application that enables a smartphone to be used as a communication terminal 10. For example, if a parking lot PA is attached to a commercial complex, an application can be used in the complex commercial facility. It may be attached to the application being used and linked to various information registered when using the application, so that, for example, discounts on parking fees can be applied.

Furthermore, for example, the internal configuration of the control base unit MP is not limited to the above example, and various aspects can be considered, such as configuring the main control unit 51, the acoustic communication control unit 21, etc. with an integrated circuit board. It will be done.

Furthermore, various aspects can be considered for the parking management section 100, and for example, the parking management section 100 may be configured by a cloud-type server. Furthermore, the main control section 51 or a part thereof constituting the entry/exit management section 50 may be configured to be shared with the parking management section 100.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Communication terminal, 11... Main control part, 12... Storage part, 20... Acoustic communication part, 21... Acoustic communication control part, 30... Vehicle detection part, 31... Loop coil detection part, 40... Gate part, 41... Gate Control unit, 50... entry/exit management unit, 51... main control unit, 52... storage unit, 100... parking management unit, 500, 600, 700, 800... parking lot system, BA... gate bar, BTa, BTb... push button unit, CAa...Ticket issuing unit, CAb...Ticket insertion unit, COm...Communication unit, COp...Communication unit, CS...Payment reception unit, CT...Control device, DAa...Detection range, DAa, DAb...Detection range, DB...Parking management database , DDa, DDb...arrow, DSm...display section, DW...entrance/exit, GE...body part, LC...loop coil, LCa...first loop coil, LCb...second loop coil, MC...microphone, MCa...first microphone, MCb...Second microphone, MCm...Microphone, MP...Control base unit, MPa...Entrance side control base unit, MPb...Exit side control base unit, NFa, NFb...Reader/writer unit, PA...Parking lot, QQa, QQb...2 Dimensional barcode reader section, RW...Response wave, SK...Speaker, SKa...1st speaker, SKb...2nd speaker, SKm...Speaker, TW...Transmission wave, UL...Ultrasonic wave, VE...Vehicle, VG...Voice guidance

Claims (6)

A parking lot-side acoustic communication unit that is installed at the entrance and exit of the parking lot and handles information about the parking lot through acoustic communication;
a vehicle-side acoustic communication unit that can be installed in a vehicle and performs acoustic communication in correspondence with the parking lot-side acoustic communication unit;
a vehicle detection unit that detects the presence or absence of a vehicle within a predetermined range at the entrance/exit of a parking lot;
Equipped with
In the parking lot system , the parking lot side acoustic communication unit transmits a signal using a speaker having directivity corresponding to the predetermined range . The vehicle detection unit includes, as the predetermined range, a detection range for a side attempting to enter and a detection range for a side attempting to exit;
The parking lot system according to claim 1, wherein the parking lot side acoustic communication unit starts acoustic communication according to a detection range detected by the vehicle detection unit. The parking lot side acoustic communication unit outputs a request signal requesting information regarding the vehicle to the vehicle side acoustic communication unit,
The parking lot system according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle-side acoustic communication unit outputs information regarding its own vehicle in response to a request from the parking lot-side acoustic communication unit. comprising a parking management unit that performs parking management based on communication results between the parking lot side acoustic communication unit and the vehicle side acoustic communication unit,
The parking management unit performs parking management based on ID information about the vehicle handled in acoustic communication and time information output from the parking lot side, according to any one of claims 1 to 3. parking system. The parking lot system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the vehicle-side acoustic communication unit is a portable communication terminal. The parking lot system according to claim 1, wherein the parking lot-side acoustic communication unit and the vehicle-side acoustic communication unit perform acoustic communication using directional ultrasonic waves.

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