JPH11272998A - Parked vehicle detecting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform secure parking vehicle detection which is free from obstacles. SOLUTION: In the parking vehicle detection device which functions as a fogstick, a couple of electrodes 12a and 12b are provided to its overall width. In the dogstick, a signal processing circuit 14 is provided on the opposite side to the electrodes 12. The signal processing circuit 14 detects the capacity of a capacitor formed between the electrodes 12a and 12b. Since this capacity varies as a vehicle approaches, the variation of the capacity is detected to detect whether there is a vehicle parked, on not.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a parking lot,
The present invention relates to a parked vehicle detection device that detects parking of a vehicle, particularly to a device that incorporates a vehicle detection sensor in a wheelchair.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a large-scale parking lot,
There is a demand to detect whether or not there is a parked vehicle in each parking space, and there are various proposals.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 9-198599 discloses that an ultrasonic vehicle detection sensor is provided near a wheel stop in each parking space. By such a method, it is possible to individually detect whether or not there is a parked vehicle in each parking space, and by receiving this detection result, it is possible to grasp the parking situation of the entire parking lot and manage the parking lot. .

[0004]

However, the vicinity of the wheel stopper is in a situation where it is very easy to get dirty, and the sensor arranged here is easily affected by the stain. Then, if dirt adheres to the surface of the sensor, there is a problem that the detection accuracy is reduced. In addition, since the sensors are arranged independently, there is a problem that the sensors are likely to hinder walking.

[0005] If a sensor is arranged above the vehicle,
Although it is less susceptible to the effects of dirt, if there is no ceiling, it is necessary to individually mount a pole or the like, and there is a problem that the device becomes large.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a parked vehicle detection device which can perform accurate detection and does not hinder walking or the like.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a parked vehicle detection device for detecting parking of a vehicle in a parking lot,
It is characterized in that a capacitive vehicle detection sensor is buried inside a wheel stop arranged at one end of the parking space. Since a capacitive sensor is used, there is little performance degradation due to dirt or the like. In addition, since the vehicle detection sensor is built in the normally existing wheel chock, the number of members does not increase in appearance and does not hinder walking or the like.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the surface of the wheel-stopped parking vehicle that contacts the tire is directed obliquely upward.
Thus, it is easy to arrange the electrodes of the sensor obliquely upward and the vehicle can be reliably detected.

Further, the present invention provides the vehicle detection sensor,
It has an electrode arranged on the tire contact surface side and a signal processing circuit arranged on the opposite surface side. Since the signal processing circuit is on the side opposite to the electrodes, the electrodes can be arranged over the entire surface on the tire contact side. Therefore,
Even if the parking position of the vehicle shifts in the width direction, reliable detection can be performed.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as embodiments) will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a parked vehicle detection device (vehicle detection sensor) according to the present invention. The parked vehicle detection device 10 functioning as a wheel stop includes a flat base 10a and a ridge 10b having a trapezoidal cross section formed on an upper portion of the base 10a. In particular, the ridge 10b
Is tapered to form a slope, so that the tire of the vehicle can easily contact the slope. Parked vehicle detection device 10 functioning as a wheel stopper
Is made of, for example, concrete, ceramic, plastic, or the like, and has sufficient strength to withstand a vehicle.

The electrode 1 is provided inside the ridge 10b.
2 and a signal processing circuit 14. Electrode 12
Is made of a metal such as aluminum or copper, and is disposed in the vicinity of the slope of the ridge 10b on the side in contact with the vehicle tire. In this example, two electrodes 12 are arranged in parallel.
a, 12b, and both electrodes 12a, 12b
It is arranged inside substantially the entire slope of the ridge 10b. In addition, the signal processing circuit 14 is arranged near a surface on the opposite side to the electrode of the ridge 10b. in this way,
Since the signal processing circuit 14 is disposed on the opposite side, the electrode 12 can be disposed over almost the entire surface.

The ridge 10b is preferably hollow so that the internal signal processing circuit 14 can be taken out by removing the lid or the like. However, resin or the like may be embedded. In this case, when the circuit breaks down, the entire parked vehicle detection device 10 functioning as a wheel stop is replaced. Further, the parked vehicle detection device 10 includes the base 1
0a has a hole in the peripheral portion without the ridge 10b,
A bolt or the like can be passed through this hole and fixed.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an installed state of the parked vehicle detection device 10. As shown in FIG. In this example, the parking lot is 01 to 06.
And two rows of parking spaces 11 to 16 (six in each row), and a parking vehicle detection device 10 is provided in each of these parking spaces. Then, in each parking space, the tire of the vehicle comes into contact with (or approaches) the parked vehicle detection device 10 and is parked. Therefore, due to the proximity of the vehicle, the above-described change in capacity occurs, and the presence or absence of the vehicle can be detected.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an electric circuit of the parked vehicle detection device 10. As shown in FIG. The two electrodes 12a and 12b are arranged in parallel to form a capacitor. An oscillation circuit 20 is connected to the electrodes 12a and 12b. The oscillation circuit 20 includes a crystal oscillator, a coil, and the like, and resonates at a predetermined frequency in combination with the two electrodes 12a and 12b. A resonance circuit is formed.

When the vehicle approaches the electrode 12, the capacitance of the capacitor formed by the two electrodes 12a and 12b changes, and the resonance frequency changes. Therefore, it can be determined whether or not a vehicle exists based on whether or not the oscillation frequency matches the resonance point. Here, the oscillation circuit 20 includes a variable capacitor and the like,
It is preferable to change the oscillation frequency within a predetermined range by changing the capacity of the variable capacitor. Thus, the presence of the vehicle can be detected based on whether the resonance frequency is within a predetermined range. This principle is disclosed in
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 96678/96 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-152488.

The oscillation circuit 20 is connected with a detection amplification circuit 22. The detection and amplification circuit 22 includes an oscillation circuit 20
And outputs a detection signal. In this example, when there is no vehicle, the resonance point matches the oscillation frequency,
Due to the presence of the vehicle, the resonance point does not match the oscillation frequency. Accordingly, a detection output of H level is obtained as an output of the detection amplification circuit 22 when a vehicle is not present, and an L level is output when there is a vehicle.

A detection circuit 24 is connected to the detection amplification circuit 22, and determines the output level of the detection amplification circuit 22. Accordingly, a signal indicating the presence or absence of the vehicle in the parking space is obtained from the detection output of the detection circuit 24. Here, the detection circuit 24 changes the detection output according to the result of the determination at a predetermined determination time.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the detection result. This example shows a detection result when a vehicle stops in a parking space where an empty vehicle (vehicle is absent) is present. Since the vehicle is initially empty, the level of the detection signal is H level, which is higher than the determination level. Then, when the vehicle approaches the parked vehicle detection device 10, the detection signal level decreases. And
When the detection signal level crosses the determination level and the state continues for a predetermined determination time (for example, 5 seconds), the determination result at that time is output as a detection output. In the case of this example, the output changes from an empty vehicle to a seat.

FIG. 5 shows a case where the vehicle once enters the parking space and approaches the parked vehicle detection device 10, but enters within a predetermined time. As described above, the detection signal level once falls below the determination level, but rises before the determination time has elapsed, so that the detection output does not change from an empty vehicle. In addition, when the judgment level is crossed again within the judgment time (in this case, when the judgment level falls below the judgment level), the judgment time up to now is cleared, and the judgment time is counted from that time.

FIG. 6 shows a case where the vehicle has entered and is empty. Thus, the detection output exceeds the judgment level,
That state is continued. Therefore, the determination result changes from being occupied to being empty after the determination time has elapsed. Further, FIG.
This shows a state in which the vehicle has once left the parked vehicle detection device 10 but has returned to its original state within the determination time. As described above, the detection output temporarily exceeds the determination level, but returns to the determination level or less within the determination time. Therefore, the detection result does not change while being present.

FIG. 8 shows a system for supplying outputs of the plurality of parked vehicle detection devices 10 installed in a plurality of parking spaces to the management device 30. Thus, each of the parked vehicle detection devices 10 is connected to the management device 30. The management device 30 includes an interface circuit 32, an arithmetic processing device 34, and a storage device 36. Each of the parked vehicle detection devices 10 (in this example, twelve 01 to 06 and 11 to 16) is connected to the interface circuit 32. An arithmetic processing device 34 and a storage device 36 are connected to the interface circuit 32. Therefore, the detection signal from each of the parked vehicle detection devices 10 is supplied to the arithmetic processing device 34 via the interface circuit 32, and the arithmetic processing device 34 recognizes the presence or absence of the parked vehicle in each parking space. Is stored in the storage device 36.

The management device 30 includes a parking position display device 40
Is connected, and the parking position display device 40 displays the presence of each parking space and whether the vehicle is empty. In this example, on the display of the parking space, the occupancy is indicated by ●, and the empty car is indicated by ○. The number of empty vehicles can also be displayed. In this example, "6 empty vehicles" is displayed.

The parking position display device 40 is installed at a position that is easy for a driver of a vehicle to enter to see. Also,
The management device 30 is provided with a similar display device for showing to an administrator. It is also preferable to output a parking space number by voice, turn on a lamp of the parking space, and automatically control a guide voice and a guide display.

Here, the processing in the arithmetic processing unit 34 will be described with reference to FIG. First, based on a detection signal from each parked vehicle detection device 10, parking data on the parking status of each parking space is read (S11).
Next, the number of empty vehicles is measured from the parking data (S12).
Then, the obtained presence / vacancy data is stored in the storage device 36 (S13). Next, the presence / vacancy data is supplied to the parking position display device 40. Therefore, on the parking position display device 40, the presence / vacancy is displayed.

FIGS. 10 and 11 show an example of the configuration of a system combined with the image vehicle detecting device. in this way,
A CCD camera 50 is provided at an upper portion on one end side of the parking lot. When attempting to obtain an image of a parked vehicle as wide as possible with the CCD camera 50, a blind spot is generated immediately below the CCD camera 50.

Therefore, in this example, the parked vehicle detection device 10 is provided only in the parking space immediately below the CCD camera 50, and thereby detects vehicles in the parking space where the CCD camera 50 becomes a blind spot. In this example,
The parked vehicle detection device 10 is provided in the parking spaces 01 to 06, and the presence or absence of vehicles is detected in the parking spaces 11 to 16, 21 to 26, and 31 to 36 based on images from the CCD camera 50.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the overall configuration including the management device 30. The management device 30 includes an image processing circuit 52 in addition to the interface circuit 32, the arithmetic processing device 34, and the storage device 36. I have. Then, the image signal from the CCD camera 50 is supplied to the image processing circuit 52. The image processing circuit 52 recognizes the presence or absence of a vehicle from the image signal. In this image recognition, the outline of the vehicle is detected by detecting the edge of the luminance, and the detection result is supplied to the arithmetic processing unit 34. The arithmetic processing unit 34 detects the presence or absence of a vehicle according to the supplied detection result. Note that a lattice pattern or the like may be drawn in advance in the parking space, and the vehicle may be detected using recognition of this pattern.

In this way, the arithmetic processing unit 34
The recognition result from the image of the CD camera 50 and the detection result from the parked vehicle detection device 10 are combined to recognize the presence or absence of a parked vehicle in all parking spaces. Therefore, the data of the recognition result is supplied to the parking position display device 40, where the parking status is displayed. In this example, it is displayed that there are 14 empty vehicles.

Here, it is preferable that the storage device 36 store an attendance table as shown in FIG. That is, for each parking space, the vacant seats are stored as 1, 0 data. In particular, in the seating table, 0 to 3 indicating the columns of the parking space are defined as column numbers, and 1 to 1 corresponding to the number of each column.
6 is a table corresponding to the parking space with the low number, and the parking space is allocated to this table. Therefore,
The presence can be indicated by setting "1" to the corresponding place in this table.

Next, the operation of the arithmetic processing unit 34 will be described with reference to FIG. First, based on a signal from the parked vehicle detection device 10, individual parking data 01 to 06 are output.
Is read (S21). The presence tables 01 to 06 are updated with the read data (S22). Then, based on the data of the presence table, the presence /
The empty vehicle data is recorded (S23).

Furthermore, the parking space 11 by image processing
-16, 21-26, and 31-36 are discriminated (S24). The presence table is updated based on the determined data (S25). Next, parking spaces 11 to 16, 2
The data of the occupied / vacant vehicles for 1 to 26 and 31 to 36 are recorded (S26).

In this way, since different data of the occupied / vacant vehicles for all the parking spaces are available, the total number of vacant vehicles is measured (S27). Then, the data of the occupied / vacant vehicles and the data of the total number of vacant vehicles are output to the display device (S28). As a result, the above-described display is performed on the parking position display device 40.

[0034]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The built-in capacitive vehicle sensor in the wheel stopper enables reliable detection of vehicles without being affected by dirt, etc.
And do not disturb pedestrians.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a parked vehicle detection device.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an arrangement of a parked vehicle detection device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a circuit configuration of a parked vehicle detection device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a detection result by the parked vehicle detection device.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing another example of a detection result by the parked vehicle detection device.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing still another example of a detection result by the parked vehicle detection device.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing still another example of the detection result by the parked vehicle detection device.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an overall configuration including a management device.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a processing operation.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a processing range when combined with image vehicle detection.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an arrangement of image vehicle detection and individual vehicle detection.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an overall configuration when combined with image vehicle detection.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an attendance table.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a processing operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 10 parked vehicle detection device, 12 electrodes, 14 signal processing circuit, 20 oscillation circuit, 22 detection amplification circuit, 24 detection circuit, 30 management device, 32 interface circuit, 34 arithmetic processing device, 36 storage device, 40 parking position display device, 50 CCD camera, 52 image processing circuit.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Masuo Kitazawa 2-1-1 Asahicho, Kariya City, Aichi Prefecture Inside Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A parking vehicle detection device for detecting parking of a vehicle in a parking lot, wherein a capacitive vehicle detection sensor is buried inside a wheel stop arranged at one end of the parking space. Parked vehicle detection device. 2. The parking vehicle detection device according to claim 1, wherein a surface of the wheel-stopped parking vehicle that contacts the tire is directed obliquely upward. 3. The device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle detection sensor has an electrode disposed on a tire contact surface side and a signal processing circuit disposed on an opposite surface side. Parking vehicle detection device.