KR200409649Y1 - System for finding the position of a parked car - Google Patents

Abstract

According to the present invention, the location search system of a parked vehicle, which enables to search the location of a vehicle parked in a parking lot, photographs a registration plate of a vehicle installed at a plurality of locations and passes therethrough, A plurality of vehicle registration number recognition device for recognizing and transmitting the vehicle registration number and the recording time information of the image, identification of the vehicle registration number and shooting time information and the vehicle registration number recognition device transmitted from the vehicle registration number recognition device A system manager for storing location information corresponding to the information as search data for the vehicle, and a vehicle registration number input from the user to the system manager, wherein the system manager is previously stored in response to the transmitted vehicle registration number. Receive the corresponding position information retrieved from the search data, and decode the position information. And a retrieval terminal outputting the parking position information of the vehicle. Such a vehicle location search system can be installed relatively inexpensively while allowing a user to quickly, easily and conveniently find his vehicle parked somewhere in a large parking lot.

Parking, location, search, tracking

Description

SYSTEM FOR FINDING THE POSITION OF A PARKED CAR}

1 is a schematic block diagram showing the overall configuration of a conventional parking management system and a vehicle location search system according to the present invention.

Figure 2 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of the management unit of the vehicle position search system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of a search terminal of the vehicle location search system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

<Brief description of the main parts of the drawing>

1: vehicle 2: parking terminal

3: parking ticket 5: parking management department

6: unattended payment machine 7: parking checker

8: checkout counter 10: vehicle location search system

12: system management unit 13, 13 ', 13 ": car number recognizer

17, 17 ', 17 ": Search terminal

The present invention is directed to a location search system of a parked vehicle that allows a user, such as a vehicle driver, to quickly and easily find the location of his vehicle that is parked somewhere in a large parking lot.

In recent years, more people use their own vehicles than public transportation, and facilities such as large discount stores, department stores, and stadiums, which are used by many people at once, have large parking lots or multiple floors. It is being made. Typically, the parking lot issues a paper parking ticket printed with the parking entrance time, and uses a parking management method that calculates the parking fee by calculating the departure time and entrance time leaving the parking lot. In order to facilitate the automatic settlement of parking fees or the receipt / delivery of parking fees, using image processing technology, remote fare settlement technology, and related communication systems developed in recent years, payment using a vehicle registration number recognition system or credit card using image shooting Methods such as methods have been devised.

However, in recent years, as parking facilities have become larger and more complex, there is a problem that a user who parks a vehicle in a parking lot should be able to easily find a location where his / her vehicle is parked after completing a job such as shopping or watching a game. It is emerging. In general, large parking lots separate parking zones and use unique symbols or colors to help users find the location of the parking lot. However, parking lots usually look the same here and there, and similar vehicles are arranged in a line, so unless the driver specifically remembers the area number (or symbol) where they parked their vehicle or writes down the parking ticket, etc. For example, you may wander the parking lot until you find your vehicle.

Therefore, there is a need for a technology that allows a user to quickly and easily find his / her vehicle parked somewhere in a large parking lot.

In the related art, a technique for discovering a vehicle in a mechanical parking facility has been disclosed (Korean Patent Laid-Open No. 1999-018845. 'Parking Image Management System and Method', Applicant: Samsung Heavy Industries Co., Ltd.). According to this technology, when a vehicle is entered into a mechanical parking facility of a parking building, a camera is installed at each receiving position (that is, a receiving stand of each vehicle) to take an image of the vehicle at the time of receiving the vehicle and take the image of the vehicle. Save with the time point, and together with the location of the receipt and the receipt number to be entered at the time of receipt, and then the user can find the receipt number by using the search time (that is, vehicle image recording time) as a search key, Even if a user forgets or accidentally inputs a wearing number other than the normally used wearing number, his vehicle can be easily shipped.

This prior art is not applicable to a parking lot installed on a large flat (where no stock number is used), but there is a limitation that it can be applied only when the vehicle stock number is forgotten in a mechanical parking facility of a parking building. Even if the location of the car rack is modified as the parking position of the vehicle and applied to the flat parking lot, in this case, since each camera must be installed at the location where each vehicle is parked, for example, up to tens or hundreds of vehicles are parked. There is a disadvantage that the installation cost is not enough to apply in a large parking lot. Furthermore, there is a limitation that only the wearing time, that is, the parking time is used as a search key, so that the search of the vehicle location is difficult.

Thus, there is a need for a new parked vehicle location search system that allows users to find their vehicles parked somewhere in a large parking lot quickly, easily and conveniently while being relatively inexpensive.

The present invention has been devised to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and in particular, the user will not forget the search key, for example, using information such as a vehicle registration number, a mobile phone number, a credit card number, a regular parking ticket number, etc. This enables the user to search easily, conveniently, and quickly, and furthermore, when installing a camera for capturing a vehicle image, one camera may be installed in a specific area where a plurality of vehicles will be parked instead of a location where each vehicle is parked. The installation is based on the inventor's recognition that the system installation cost can be reduced.

Accordingly, the present invention captures the registration number of the vehicle passing through the camera position by using the camera installed in a plurality of specific locations of the parking lot, and recognizes it from this image and stores it together with the shooting time information and camera position information, and the vehicle By using the registration number of as a search key, you can search for camera location information, so you can quickly and easily find your vehicle somewhere in a large parking lot, but you need only a relatively small number of cameras. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a location search system for parked vehicles, which can be installed relatively inexpensively.

Furthermore, the present invention captures the registration number of the vehicle using a camera installed in a plurality of specific locations of the parking lot, recognizes the image from the image, stores it with the shooting time information and the camera position information, and together with the registration number of the vehicle Stores additional user unique codes associated with different parking rates, allowing the user to quickly and easily view his or her vehicle parked somewhere in a large parking lot by using the user unique code as a search key to retrieve camera location information. It is possible to provide a location search system for parked vehicles that can be installed at a relatively low cost because the information on the existing parking fee management system can be used by allowing the card number related to the parking fee to be used, while making it easy and convenient to discover. Has a purpose.

In order to achieve the above object, the location search system of a parked vehicle according to the present invention is a system for searching the location of the vehicle parked in the parking lot, the system of the vehicle installed in a plurality of locations of the parking lot passing through A plurality of vehicle registration number recognizing apparatuses for photographing a registration plate and recognizing and transmitting the registration number of the vehicle and the photographing time information of the image from the photographed image, and the vehicle registration number transmitted from the vehicle registration number recognizing apparatus And a system manager for storing the currently received vehicle registration number, shooting time information, and location information as search data for the vehicle in response to the location information corresponding to the shooting time information and the identification information of the vehicle registration number recognition device. And a plurality of search terminals connected to the system manager to register a vehicle input from a user. Sends a call to the system manager, receives the corresponding location information retrieved from the previously stored search data in response to the transmitted vehicle registration number, and outputs the location information as the parking location information of the vehicle. It includes a search terminal.

According to a preferred embodiment, the system management unit further comprises means for receiving a user unique code associated with a user who is willing to pay a parking fee for a vehicle entering the parking lot and different from a registration number of the vehicle. And storing the user unique code as the search data along with the vehicle registration number and the shooting time information transmitted from the vehicle registration number recognition device and the location information corresponding to the identification information of the vehicle registration number recognition device. Transmits the user unique code inputted from the user to the system manager, receives the corresponding location information retrieved from the previously stored search data in response to the transmitted user unique code, and corresponds to the location information. Output as parking position information of the vehicle.

According to a preferred embodiment, the user identification code, the user's credit card or traffic card number information, the unique code associated with the user's mobile phone, RFID card unique code with a fare settlement function, a unique code associated with the parking ticket for fare payment Include.

According to a preferred embodiment, the vehicle registration number or the user unique code may be manually input through a keyboard installed in the search terminal.

According to a preferred embodiment, the vehicle registration number or the user unique code may be automatically input through a contact or contactless card reader, parking ticket scanner, or a wireless communication input unit installed in the search terminal.

According to a preferred embodiment, the position information of the retrieved vehicle output from the search terminal may be output by being printed by a printer, visually displayed, or audibly output.

According to a preferred embodiment, the system manager, in response to the vehicle registration number and shooting time information transmitted from the vehicle registration number recognition device and the location information corresponding to the identification information of the vehicle registration number recognition device, the currently received vehicle In addition to the registration number, shooting time information and location information, as well as previously received information, all are stored as a plurality of search data for the vehicle, the search terminal, And transmits an input vehicle registration number to the system management unit, and the system management unit includes retrieval data including a plurality of different photographing time information associated with the vehicle registration number among previously stored search data in response to the transmitted vehicle registration number. Among them, the corresponding positional information from which the search data corresponding to the most recently photographed image is extracted is received, and the positional information is output as the parking positional information of the vehicle.

Further, the search terminal transmits a vehicle registration number input from the user to the system manager, and the system manager responds to the transmitted vehicle registration number, and stores a plurality of vehicle registration numbers associated with the vehicle registration number among previously stored search data. Receive a plurality of location information corresponding to all of the search data including the different photographing time information is received, and outputs the plurality of location information as the travel path information of the vehicle.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. Like elements are designated by like numerals in the figures.

1 is a schematic block diagram showing an overall configuration of a conventional parking management system and a vehicle location search system according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a configuration of a management unit of a vehicle location search system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a configuration of a search terminal of a vehicle location search system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention relates to a technology that allows a user to easily know where his vehicle is parked in a parking lot in which a plurality of vehicles are parked. The system according to the present invention uses a number that uniquely identifies the user, such as a vehicle registration number (ie, a vehicle number on a license plate) or a credit card number, even if the user forgets the parking ticket. The advantage is that the parking position can be easily found.

The parking lot in which the system of the present invention is expected to be applied is a parking lot in which a large number of vehicles can be parked in parallel in a large area currently operated, and each area is divided into small areas, for example, A-11 and B-22. This is the case when an area number such as C-33 is displayed. Such a parking lot is typically a parking management unit for operating a parking terminal 2 for issuing a parking ticket 3 or the like at the entrance position of the vehicle 1 and a settlement unit 8 at the exit position, as shown in FIG. 1. There is (5). In addition to the parking management unit 5 may be further connected to the unmanned payment (6) or the parking checker (7).

Specifically, the system of the present invention is a vehicle location search system 10 which enables to search the location of a vehicle parked in a parking lot, and a plurality of vehicle registration number recognition devices 13, 13 ', ..., 13 ". ), The system manager 12, and a plurality of search terminals 17, 17 ', ..., 17 ".

Vehicle registration number recognition devices (13, 13 ', ..., 13 ") of the system (10) of the present invention are installed at a plurality of locations in the parking lot to photograph the registration plate of the vehicle passing through, and this photographed image The apparatus may recognize and transmit the registration number of the vehicle and the photographing time information of the image from the apparatus, and the apparatus may include a conventional license plate recognition (LPR) system. It is configured to capture the moment and recognize the registration number of the vehicle in the license plate and transmit it remotely.

According to the present invention, such an LPR is installed in a path in which a vehicle moves, not in a parking position of each vehicle, and the position of the vehicle to be searched will be the position of the LPR near the actual parking position of the vehicle. Therefore, according to the present invention, the user actually searches for the position of the camera (ie, LPR) closest to the position where his vehicle is parked. However, even if only the LPR location near this is known, the user can easily find the location where his vehicle is parked based on this. Accordingly, while a system administrator can build a search system at a low cost, a user who is a vehicle driver can easily provide a location where his vehicle is parked.

The system manager 12 of the system 10 of the present invention is a vehicle registration number and shooting time information transmitted from the vehicle registration number recognition devices 13, 13 ', and 13 ", and identification information of the vehicle registration number recognition device. Responsive to the position information corresponding to, store the currently received vehicle registration number, photographing time information, and position information as search data for the vehicle, and compare it with previously stored search data for the same vehicle registration number. According to the comparison, if there is existing stored search data, the existing search data is deleted and only the latest data is stored.

That is, the vehicle may move from a parking lot entrance to a long distance to reach an actual parking position, and may pass through a plurality of LPRs installed in a path in which the vehicle moves. In this case, each LPR will transmit to the system manager 12 the data recognizing the vehicle number for the same vehicle. The system manager 12 always stores only the latest data based on the time at which the vehicle number is recognized. Accordingly, the search data will always include the location of the LPR passed just before the vehicle parked at the actual parking position.

According to another embodiment, the system management unit 12 of the system 10 of the present invention, the vehicle registration number and shooting time information transmitted from the vehicle registration number recognition device (13, 13 ', 13 ") and the vehicle registration In response to the location information corresponding to the identification information of the number recognizing apparatus, all of the received vehicle registration number, photographing time information, and location information as well as previously received information may be stored as search data for the vehicle. In this case as well, as in the above example, since the search data associated with the same vehicle registration number includes different photographing time information, the search data corresponding to the most recently photographed photograph among these search data is the position information of the vehicle. It can be used as.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the advantage of being able to track the moving path of the vehicle can be provided. In other words, the vehicle can travel from a parking lot entrance to a long distance to get to the actual parking position, which can pass through a plurality of LPRs installed in the path in which the vehicle travels. In this case, each LPR will send the system management unit 12 the data recognizing the vehicle number for the same vehicle. The system manager 12 stores all of the first data, the next data, the next data, ..., the latest data based on the time when the vehicle number was recognized. Accordingly, when searching for the location of the vehicle, the location of all the LPRs that have passed while moving from the location where the vehicle first enters the photographed parking lot can be searched. Thus, the user can track a moving path such as which path the vehicle has traveled.

For example, when a user wants to know which travel path his vehicle has passed through the search terminal, the user may request a search terminal to enter a vehicle registration number and show the travel path. The search terminal transmits the vehicle registration number input from the user to the system manager. In response to the transmitted vehicle registration number, the system manager transmits the corresponding plurality of location information obtained by extracting all the retrieval data including a plurality of different shooting time information related to the vehicle registration number from the previously stored search data to the search terminal. do. The search terminal receives data including these different photographing time information, and displays the plurality of position information sequentially, for example, each position corresponding to the photographing time as text or graphically displays the parking lot map in the background, The user may be informed of the moving route of the vehicle.

The search terminals 17, 17 ', ..., 17 "of the system 10 of the present invention are connected to the system manager 12 and may be installed at a place convenient for the user. 17, 17 ', ..., 17 ") transmits the vehicle registration number input from the user to the system manager 12, and the system manager 12 is previously stored in response to the transmitted vehicle registration number. Corresponding position information retrieved from the search data is received, and the position information is output as parking position information of the vehicle.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the system manager 12 of the present system 10 is associated with a user who is willing to pay a parking fee for a vehicle entering the parking lot and is different from a registered number of the vehicle. Means 127 may be further included for receiving the unique code. In this case, the system manager 12 transmits the user unique code to the vehicle registration number and the photographing time information transmitted from the vehicle registration number recognition devices 13, 13 ', and 13 "and the vehicle registration number recognition device. The search terminal 17, 17 ', ..., 17 "is stored together with the positional information corresponding to the identification information. The search terminal 17, 17', ..., 17" stores the user unique code input from the user. And receiving the corresponding position information retrieved from the previously stored search data in response to the transmitted user unique code, and outputting the position information as the parking position information of the vehicle. Can be.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the user unique code, the user's credit card or traffic card number information, the unique code associated with the user's mobile phone, the RFID card unique code with the charge settlement function, the unique ticket associated with the parking ticket for billing May contain code.

According to the present invention, the vehicle registration number or the user unique code used as a search key may be manually input through a keyboard installed in the search terminals 17, 17 ', ..., 17 ".

Additionally and / or alternatively, the vehicle registration number or the user identification code used as a search key may be a contact or contactless card reader, parking ticket installed in the search terminal 17, 17 ', ..., 17 ". It may be automatically input through a scanner or a wireless communication input unit.

Additionally and / or alternatively, the position information of the retrieved vehicle output from the search terminals 17, 17 ', ..., 17 "may be printed or output by the printer 178, visually displayed, Or may be output acoustically.

The vehicle location retrieval system according to the present invention as described above may be configured as a vehicle location and tracing system (VLTS) in actual operation. According to such a system, a plurality of LPR cameras are installed in a vehicle traffic path (lamp, location for each area, etc.) in a parking lot, and transmits the number and image of the vehicle to the vehicle number management server (that is, the system manager) of the parking control center in real time. . Transmitted data (vehicle number and image) can be databased in the vehicle number management server to search the data to help the user find the location based on the last retrieved LPR camera location.

As another example, the vehicle location may be searched using a paper parking ticket, a credit card and a traffic card number. That is, the LPR system 15 and the parking management system, that is, the parking management unit 5 are configured to interlock with the parking lot entrance / exit. According to this example, the parking management system may include credit / transportation / recycling plastic / RF commuter pass card and paper parking ticket entry / exit function. In connection with such a parking management system, the vehicle location search in the parking lot can be carried out using a card number (including, but not limited to, credit / transportation / recycling plastic / RFID card and paper parking ticket identification number), not a vehicle number. Helps to track the location and route of vehicles entering the vehicle.

In this case, as a method of inputting the card number, there may be a method that the parking manager searches after visual confirmation. More conveniently, a method of automatically searching using a card reader may be adopted. For example, in the case of a credit card can be configured to automatically retrieve by reading the card number through the MS (Magnetic Strip) card reader. In the case of a traffic card, the card number may be read and automatically searched through a radio frequency (RF) card reader. In the case of a recycled plastic card, the MS card reader can be configured to read the card number automatically. In the case of an RFID card such as a parking commuter pass, it can be configured to read and search through an RF commuter pass reader. Paper parking tickets can also be configured to be read and retrieved through an MS card reader.

As another example to which the present invention is applicable, there is a case where the present system 10 is applied to the parking checker 7. The parking checker 7 is usually installed in each area, not at the entrance of the parking lot. In the related art, after parking a vehicle, the user approaches the parking checker 7 closest to his vehicle and checks the parking ticket. 7) was inserted to print the parked area number. However, if the parking ticket is forgotten, there was a disadvantage that such a parking checker 7 is not useful. According to the present invention, all of the parking checkers 7 can be connected online and used as a search terminal 17 of the system 10 of the present invention. Thus, the user can access any parking checker 7 that is located in a different area than the one where he parked the car, and can search the vehicle location using the vehicle number or a unique code for other search. Convenience can be provided.

In addition, as another example to which the present invention is applicable, there is a case where the present system 10 is applied to the pre-unattended calculator 6. Pre-unmanned payment machine (6) is installed in the parking lot or in the center of the lobby, the place where a lot of customers come and go, the parking fee is settled before leaving the car, the parking ticket is read out and identified after the departure, the vehicle user It is a device for the convenience of. According to the present invention, such a pre-unattended calculator 6 and the search terminal 17 can be integrated. In this case, in addition to the function of reading the parking ticket and the fare settlement function, the pre-unattended checker 6 can automatically read the parking ticket to help the customer search for the vehicle location easily.

Furthermore, according to the system according to the present invention, a function for allowing a user to track a route traveled after his vehicle enters a parking lot may be provided.

Further, according to the system according to the present invention, since the location of the LPR corresponding to each vehicle location corresponds to the location of each zone of the parking lot, the parking lot manager can grasp the number of vehicles corresponding to the location of each LPR. . Therefore, it is possible to contrast the number of vehicles that are currently parked with the space available for parking in the area where each LPR is installed, and as a result, it is easy to know how much space is available for parking.

In the above described the present invention in the light of the specific example shown in the drawings, it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the illustrated example. Therefore, it should be pointed out that the technical scope of the present invention should be interpreted not by the examples described, but by the appended claims.

As described above, the location search system of the parked vehicle according to the present invention, by using the camera installed in a plurality of specific locations of the parking lot to take a picture of the registration number of the vehicle passing through the camera location to recognize and shoot from this image It saves time information and camera location information, and allows you to search for camera location information using the vehicle registration number as a search key, allowing users to quickly and easily find their vehicle parked somewhere in a large parking lot. This allows for relatively inexpensive installations because it requires only a small number of cameras.

Furthermore, the location search system of the parked vehicle according to the present invention, by using the camera installed in a specific number of locations of the parking lot to photograph the registration number of the vehicle to recognize it from this image, along with the shooting time information and camera position information And store the user's unique code associated with a parking fee different from the vehicle's registration number, so that the camera location information can be retrieved by using the user's unique code as a search key. It allows users to find their own vehicle quickly, easily and conveniently, but also allows them to use the card number related to the parking fee so that they can use the information of the existing parking fee management system so that they can be installed relatively inexpensively. To provide.

Claims (8)

As a system to search the location of the vehicle parked in the parking lot, A plurality of vehicle registration number recognition apparatus for photographing the registration plate of the vehicle passing through installed in a plurality of locations of the parking lot, and recognizes and transmits the registration number of the vehicle and the recording time information of the image from the photographed image ( 13, 13 ', ..., 13 "), The vehicle registration number currently received in response to the vehicle registration number and shooting time information transmitted from the vehicle registration number recognition devices 13, 13 ′, and 13 ″ and location information corresponding to the identification information of the vehicle registration number recognition device. And a system manager 12 for storing photographing time information and location information as search data for the vehicle, As a plurality of search terminals 17, 17 ', ..., 17 "connected to the system manager 12, a vehicle registration number input from a user is transmitted to the system manager 12, and the system manager 12 ) Receives corresponding position information retrieved from the previously stored search data in response to the transmitted vehicle registration number, and outputs the position information as the parking position information of the vehicle. , 17 ") And a position retrieval system for the parked vehicle. The method of claim 1, And means (127) for receiving a user unique code associated with a user who is willing to pay the parking fee of the vehicle entering the parking lot and is different from the registration number of the vehicle. The system manager 12 stores the user unique code in the vehicle registration number and the photographing time information transmitted from the vehicle registration number recognition devices 13, 13 ', and 13 ", and the identification information of the vehicle registration number recognition device. Stored as the search data along with corresponding location information, The search terminals 17, 17 ', ..., 17 "transmit the user unique code input from the user to the system manager 12, and the system manager 12 transmits the user unique code to the transmitted user unique code. In response to receiving the corresponding location information retrieved from the previously stored search data, and outputting this location information as the parking location information of the vehicle. Characterized in that the parked vehicle location search system. According to claim 2, wherein the user identification code, the user's credit card or traffic card number information, the unique code associated with the user's mobile phone, RFID card unique code with a fare settlement function, a unique code associated with the parking ticket for billing And a position retrieval system for the parked vehicle. The method according to claim 1 or 3, wherein the vehicle registration number or the user unique code can be manually input through a keyboard installed in the search terminals 17, 17 ', ..., 17 ". Positioning system of a parked vehicle. 4. A contact or contactless card reader, parking ticket scanner, according to claim 1 or 3, wherein the vehicle registration number or the user identification code is provided in the search terminals 17, 17 ', ..., 17 ". A position retrieval system for a parked vehicle, which can be automatically input through a wireless communication input unit. The position information of the searched vehicle output from the search terminals 17, 17 ', ..., 17 "is printed and output by the printer 178, visually displayed or auditory. And outputted as an enemy. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the system manager 12 is configured to display the vehicle registration number and shooting time information transmitted from the vehicle registration number recognition devices 13, 13 ′, and 13 ″ and identification information of the vehicle registration number recognition device. In response to the corresponding location information, all are stored as a plurality of pieces of search data for the vehicle, including the currently received vehicle registration number, shooting time information and location information as well as previously received information, The search terminals 17, 17 ', ..., 17 "transmit the vehicle registration number input from the user to the system manager 12, and the system manager 12 transmits the vehicle registration number to the transmitted vehicle registration number. In response, the corresponding location information is obtained by extracting search data corresponding to the most recently photographed image among search data including a plurality of different photographing time information associated with the vehicle registration number among the previously stored search data. And output the information as the parking position information of the vehicle. 8. The search terminal (17, 17 ', ..., 17 ") transmits a vehicle registration number input from a user to the system manager (12), and the system manager (12) receives this. In response to the transmitted vehicle registration number, the plurality of location information is received by receiving corresponding plurality of location information from which all of the search data including a plurality of different photographing time information associated with the corresponding vehicle registration number are extracted from the previously stored search data. Is output as the movement route information of the vehicle, characterized in that the parked vehicle location search system.

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