MXPA99003297A - Universal adaptor for electronic parking meters - Google Patents

Abstract

A universal adaptor for use with electronic parking meters which provides these electronic parking meters with the ability to detect the presence of a parked vehicle and to adjust the position of the detector for accomplishing the vehicle detection, to gather statistics on the parking spaces and the meters, to alert the parking authority of meters that are expired in connection with vehicles still parked, and zeroing the remaining time off of any meter once the parked vehicle departs.

Description

UNIVERSAL ADAPTER FOR ELECTRONIC PARQUIMETERS FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates in general to the field of parking meters and more particularly to electronic parking meters.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Parking meters allow vehicles to be parked in the streets for an allowable time determined by the number and denominations of coins that are placed in the parking meter. A clock mechanism in the parking meter operates for the time allowed until it reaches zero, and an indication of elapsed parking time appears. The devices that receive the coins from the parking meters perform various tests to determine if an acceptable currency has been inserted, and the denomination of the coin. Circuits for tests to detect the presence of iron material (ie, fake coins) include Hall effect sensors and metal frequency change detectors. The denomination is determined by devices that measure the diameter of the coin such as diodes and infrared emitting diodes, or that measure the weight of the coin using filter gauges, and the like.

The coin receiving mechanisms which use infrared detectors, Hall effect circuits, magnetic fields and microprocessor light sensor beams include U.S. Patent Nos. 4,460,080 (Howard); 4,483,431 (Pratt); 4,249,648 (Meyer); 5,097,934 (Quinlan Jr.); 5,119,916 (Carmen et al.). In recent years, electronic parking meters and systems have been developed using microprocessors along with electronic visual displays, infrared transceivers to communicate with supervisors, and ultrasonic transceivers to determine the presence of vehicles in the parking meter. U.S. Patent Nos. 4,183,205 (Kaiser), 5,407,049 (Jacobs), 5,442,348 (Mushell), 5,454,461 (Jacobs), 5,570,771 (Jacobs) and 5,642,119 (Jacobs), 4,967,895 (Speas) and 4,823,928 (Speas) describe parking meters electronic devices that use microprocessors, electronic displays, infrared transmitters-receivers, solar energy and sonar range finders. In addition, British publication number 2077475 also describes a low energy electronic parking meter that operates using solar cells. Sophisticated devices that use microprocessors, electronic displays and ultrasonic / infrared transducers consume too much power to operate with non-rechargeable batteries only. In this way, the Speas patents describe the use of solar energy cells which charge capacitors or rechargeable batteries. Several problems exist with the use of solar energy sources that include the use of parking meters in shaded areas, or the use of parking meters during periods in which there is very little sunlight. This causes rechargeable batteries to discharge, and require frequent replacement. Or, in the case of the use of capacitors, the lack of energy causes the meter to become inoperative. Low energy coin classifiers are described in U.S. Patent Nos. 4,848,556 (Shah et al.); 5,060,777 (Van Horn et al.). Coin processing and related supervisory data systems are shown in U.S. Patent Nos. 5,259,491 (ard II); 5,321,241 (Craine); 5,366,404 (Jones). Another chip / coin processing device such as those described in U.S. Patent No. 3,211,267 (Bayha) provide chip validation using magnets; U.S. Patent No. 3,998,309 (Mandas et al.) discloses an apparatus for preventing coin threading and U.S. Patent No. 5,062,518 (Chitty et al.) discloses an apparatus that detects denomination of coins based on acoustic vibrations as soon as the coins strike an internal surface. Parking devices that use wireless data transmission are described in 4,356,903 (Lemelson et al.); 5,103,957 (Ng et al.); 5,153,586 (Fuller); 5,266,947 (Fuji ara et al.). In addition, electronic parking meters are not necessarily smart meters. That is, these meters use electronics but do not respond to changing conditions. For example, none of the above devices re-establish the parking meter in an expired state if the vehicle left before the allotted time has passed; instead, the parking meter provides "free" parking for the remaining time. In U.S. Patent No. 5,407,049 (Jacobs), U.S. Patent Nos. 5,454,461 (Jacobs), 5,570,771 (Jacobs) and 5,642,119 (Jacobs), all of which are assigned to the same assignee of the present invention and all the descriptions of which are incorporated by reference herein, a low-energy electronic parking meter is described that uses, among other things, a sonar transducer to detect the presence of vehicles, an infrared receiver transmitter to communicate with an authority's personnel. parking, and currency detection of the country, detection of currency congestion and detection of counterfeit currency. However, not all electronic parking meters that use some type of microprocessor, microcontroller or other digital processing have the ability to detect the presence of vehicles. Therefore, there remains a need for an easily attachable and insurable accessory unit of an electronic parking meter in order to provide the electronic parking meter with the ability to detect the presence of vehicles without the need to substantially modify the hardware of the electronic parking meter.

Objects of the invention. In accordance with the above, it is the general object of this invention to provide an apparatus that attacks the aforementioned needs. It is another object of this invention to provide an adapter that can be used with any electronic parking meter so that the electronic parking meter can be coupled with a parking meter box. It is still another object of this invention to provide an adapter that provides any electronic parking meter with the ability to detect the presence or absence of vehicles in the corresponding parking space. It is still another object of this invention to provide an adapter that can be properly steered to detect the presence or absence of vehicles in the corresponding parking space. It is another object of this invention to provide an adapter that can be suitably allocated to detect the presence or absence of vehicles in the corresponding parking space without the need to turn the same electronic parking meter. It is another object of this invention to provide an adapter that provides a parking meter "the ability to detect the presence or absence of vehicles in the corresponding parking space without the need to substantially modify the hardware of the electronic parking meter." It is another object of this invention to provide An adapter that provides any parking meter with the ability to collect statistics in the parking space It is another object of this invention to provide an adapter that provides any parking meter the ability to communicate, by radio, parking information from the electronic parking meter to a location It is another object of this invention to provide an adapter that provides any parking meter with the ability to alert parking authority personnel when the electronic parking meter has expired with vehicles parked in the corresponding parking space. object of this invention is to provide an adapter that provides any parking meter with the ability to zero the remaining time of the parking meter when the vehicle leaves.

Compendium of the invention. These and other objects of the present invention are achieved by providing an adapter for coupling an electronic parking meter with a box on a pole in a parking space along the stream, or in a space of a parking lot, by which the adapter it comprises a housing arranged between the box and the electronic parking meter. The housing itself comprises a closed wall defining an internal passage to allow coins to fall through it, from the electronic parking meter to the box. The adapter also includes a vehicle detector, inside the housing, to detect the presence of a vehicle in the corresponding parking space on the side of the stream or in the space of the parking lot and through which the vehicle detector is in electrical communication with the electronic parking meter. In addition, the adapter includes securing elements comprising a plurality of sleeves adapted to receive the respective bolts so that the electronic parking meter and the adapter are secured to the box only by personnel with parking authority.

Description of the drawings. Other objects and many others of the expected advantages of this invention will be readily appreciated as it is better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a side view of the vehicle of the present invention; Figure 2 is a side view of the vehicle of the present invention installed on a double head measuring platform; Figure 3 is a view of the present invention taken along lines 3-3 of Figure 2; Figure 4 is a view of the present invention taken along lines 4-4 of Figure 3; Figure 5 is a side view of the vehicle of a second embodiment of the present invention; Figure 6 is a side view of the vehicle of the second mode installed on a double-head gauge platform; Figure 7 is a view of a second embodiment taken along lines 7-7 of Figure 6; Figure 8 is a view of the second embodiment taken along lines 8-8 of Figure 7; Figure 9 is a side view of the vehicle of a third embodiment of the present invention; Figure 10 is a side view of the vehicle of a third embodiment installed on a double head gauge platform using a rotating adapter; Figure 11 is a view of a third embodiment taken along lines 11-11 of Figure 10; Figure 12 is a view of a third embodiment taken along lines 12-12 of Figure 11; Figure 13 is a side pattern view of two electronic parking meters coupled to the respective third embodiments of the present invention installed on a double head meter platform; Figure 14 is a side view of the vehicle of Figure 13; Figure 15 is a top view of the double head meter representing the rotation angle allowed by the swivel adapter; Figure 16 is a block diagram of the electronics of the present invention; Figure 17 is a diagram of the figures for Figures 18A-18E; Figures 18A-18E constitute an electrical schematic of the microprocessor; Figure 19 is a diagram of the figure of Figures 20A-20D; Figures 20A-20D constitute an electrical schematic diagram of the vehicle detector; Figure 21 is an electrical diagram of the radiofrequency transmitter-receiver; Figure 22 is an image representation showing the use of a mobile radio frequency transmitter to communicate with a bank of universal adapters; Figure 23 is an image representation of an officer in charge of parking using a manual radio frequency transmitter-receiver to interrogate the bank of universal adapters; and Figure 24 is an image representation of a radiofrequency communication system between the universal adapters and a central facility.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Referring now in greater detail to several figures of the drawings in which like reference characters refer to like parts, there is shown a universal adapter for electronic parking meters constructed in accordance with the present invention in the 20 of Figure 1. An electronic parking meter 22 coupled to the universal adapter 20 is shown. The adapter 20 connects the electronic parking meter 22 to a coin box 303, or to a double-headed coin box 404 (Figure 2), which are assembled in a post 26. It should be understood that the electronic parking meter 22 shown represents any parking meter that uses a microprocessor, microcontroller, or any other similar digital processing device. Typically, these electronic parking meters comprise an electronic display 28 for displaying parking time / amount information to the parking meter or patron. A coin slot 30 is shown in the housing of the electronic parking meter 22; A debit card slot 32 may also be available in the electronic parking meter 22 to allow payment of the parking time with a debit card instead of coins. An example of an electronic parking meter is described in the patent application of the United States of America with serial number 08 / 684,368. The universal adapter 20 comprises a housing 34 that forms a housing having three "facet" surfaces, 36A, 36B, 36C, which serve to support a transducer assembly 74 (sonar transducer, Polaroid electrostatic transducer model number 7000 or equivalent), described in United States of America patent application serial number 08 / 684,368, for detecting the presence of a vehicle, as shown more clearly in Figure 3. These surfaces 36A, 36B and 36C are angled to provide parking authority from one to three orientations to mount the transducer 74. As such, only one of the three facet surfaces is used at the same time with an electronic parking meter 22. For example, if the electronic parking meter 22 is to be used to detect front cars, the adapter 20 is used with the transducer 74 mounted on a opening 10 on the surface of facet 36B (Figure 1). If a double head meter platform 404 is used (ie, two electronic meters 22 are located on a single platform, Figure 14, to detect two cars parked one behind the other), then an electronic meter 22 uses an adapter 20 which has the transducer 74 mounted on the facet surface 36A to detect the front end of a vehicle (not shown) while the other electronic parking meter 22 uses an adapter 22 having a transducer 74 mounted on the facet surface 36C to detect the end rear of the front vehicle. It should be noted that with any adapter 20, the surfaces of the unused facets are closed by a cover 38A or 38C (Figure 3).; the cover for the surface of the facet 36B is not shown) and is removably secured to the housing 34 from inside the adapter 20. The advantage of the adapter 20 is that the surface. of facets 36A, 36B, and 36C provide the parking authority with a choice of orientations for positioning the transducer 74 to adequately detect parked vehicles without the need to orient the entire electronic parking meter 22 in the parking space. It should be noted that the opening 10 in the facet surface 36B is covered with a protective grid 12 and that the transducer 74 is mounted behind the protective grid 12. In addition, a phototransistor 246, which forms a part of the transducer assembly 74, is it mounts just behind grid 12 to monitor the level of brightness adjacent to meter 22, as will be discussed in detail below. As shown more clearly in Figure 3, the housing formed by the housing 34 comprises three side walls 42A, 42B and 42C and the faceted surfaces 36A, 36B and 36C. When the electronic parking meter 22 is coupled to the adapter 20 the three side walls 42A, 42B, and 42C form the lower edges of the electronic parking meter 22 to provide a secure closure. As such, the walls, 42A-42C conform to the shape of the lower part of the electronic parking meter 22. A faceted surface 44 forms an upper cover between the electronic parking meter 22 and the upper edges of the facet surface 36A, 36B and 36C. The interior 46 (Figure 4) is substantially empty allowing an unobstructed path for the coins processed by the electronic parking meter 22 to pass through »Through a slot in the coin housing 440 (on the lower surface of the electronic parking meter 22), through the adapter 20 and then into the case 303 or 404. The adapter 20 is secured to the case 303 or 404 via four pins 48A -48D (Figure 3). Each of the bolts 48A-48D is disposed in a sleeve of respective bolts 50A-50D in the adapter 20 as well as in the rope sleeves, only two of which 52A and 52B are shown, in the cover plate 408 of the box 404. Bolts 48A-48D secure the parking meter 22 and adapter 20 to the '404 box. As can also be seen in Figure 4, the bolt heads, only 2 (56A and 56B) of which are shown, are contained in the parking meter 22, thereby preventing the attempted violation from outside the meter 22. One bolt 58 to secure the upper plate 408 to the case 404 is shown in dotted lines in Figure 4. The opening 409 of the upper plate 408 is decreased, i.e., an upper circumferential edge 411 has a larger diameter than a lower circumferential edge 413 , to direct the passage of the processed coin to the box 404. It should be noted that although no cover plate is shown for the single box 303, the coupling of the adapter 20 with the single box 303 is readily apparent to a person experienced in the art. technique, for example, bolts 48A-48D would be received by sleeves with thread in the side walls of the single box 303. As shown in Figures 3-4, a printed circuit board (PC B) 60 is mounted on the inner surface of the side wall 42B in the housing 34. As will be discussed in detail below, the printed circuit board 60 contains the electronic circuits that connect the transducer assembly 74 to the electronics of the electronic parking meter itself 22 (not shown). In particular, the electronics of the printed circuit board 38 comprises a car detector 62, a processor 64 and a radio frequency transmitter-receiver 66. The transducer assembly 74 is electrically coupled to the printed circuit board 60 via a wired harness 70. The electronic parking meter 22 is electrically coupled to the printed circuit board 60 via a wired harness 72. The printed circuit board 60 is secured to the side wall 42B via four screws 76A-76D. A second embodiment 120 of the adapter is shown in Figures 5-8. The adapter 120 is an adjustable universal adapter. To this end, the adapter 120 can be rotated with respect to the vertical axis to allow the parking authority to have the ability to place the transducer 74 in a particular orientation for adequate detection of parked vehicles, rather than just one of the three orientations as discussed for the first modality 20.

As shown more clearly in Figure 7, the adapter 120 comprises two concentric rings 122A and 122B which are releasably secured using internal adjusting screws 124 and 126. The inner ring 122B is stationary while the outer ring 122A is rotatable. The transducer assembly 74 is secured to the outer ring 122A so that when the outer ring 122A moves, the transducer 74 moves with it. A slot 128 in the inner ring 122B allows the transducer 74 to be rotated to a particular angular orientation, with respect to the vertical axis 123, between two stops 130 and 132 and then locked. For example, the slot 128 may allow approximately 150 ° arc movement of the transducer assembly 74. As shown in Figures 5-6, the adapter 120 forms a confinement having a decreased upper surface 134, the outer ring 122A and a lower decreased surface 136. As more clearly shown in Figure 8, the upper surface 134 is tapered down to be contiguous with the inner ring 122B while the lower surface 136 is decreased upward to be contiguous with the inner ring 122B . The outer ring 122A slides into a recess 138 formed by the upper diminished surface 134, the inner ring 122B and the lower decreased surface 136. The decreased surfaces 134 and 136 are secured (e.g., welded as indicated by the welds 140) to the inner bolt sleeves 150A-150D, which are similar in function and construction to the bolt sleeves 50A-50D of the first embodiment 20. These bolt sleeves 150A-150D receive the respective bolts 148A-148D which operate in a manner similar to the bolts 48A-48D discussed previously with the first embodiment 20. In this way , the adapter 120 comprises a rectangular shaped opening 142 in the lower part and in the upper part (not shown) of the adapter 120, thereby enabling the electronic parking meter 22 to be coupled to the box 404, as mentioned above with the first mode 20. Printed circuit board 60 engages with decreased surfaces 134 and 136. In particular, as shown in Figure 7, screws 76A and 76C are received in the receptacles. respective rope anvils 144 on the upper surface 134. The screws 76C and 76D are received in the respective rope receptacles 146 on the inner surface 136. As with the first embodiment 20, it should be noted that although no cover plate is shown for the single box 303, the coupling of the adapter 120 to the single box 303 is easily apparent to a person skilled in the art, for example, bolts 148A-148D could be received by sleeves with rope on the side walls of the single box 303 .

A third embodiment 220 of the adapter is shown in Figures 9-12. The adapter 220 comprises an outer wall 304 which conforms to the shape of the lower part of the electronic meter 22 and to the upper part of the meter housing 303. The interior 306 (Figure 12) of the adapter 220 is substantially empty allowing a trajectory without obstruction for the coins processed by the coin processor 252 to pass through the adapter 220 and down inside the case 303. As with the 20/120 adapters, the function of the adapter 220 is to accommodate the transducer assembly 74, relieving by this the need to contain the transducer assembly 74 in the electronic parking meter 22 itself. As can be seen in Figure 9, the hole 10 / grid 12 is shown located within the adapter 220. It should also be noted that a parking lot configuration of the electronic parking meter 300 is shown in Figure 9 since the transducer sonar 10 is shown on the same side as coin insertion slot 30 / card insertion slot 32. However, it is within the broader scope of the present invention that adapter 220 can also be installed for operation beside the the street so that the opening 10 of the sonar transducer is located on the opposite side (i.e., the street side) of the coin insertion slot 30 / card insertion slot 32.

Another configuration using the adapter 220 is shown in Figure 10 which represents the use of the electronic parking meter 22 with the adapter 220 together with a rotating adapter 402 on a double head meter platform 404. The double head meter platform 404 comprises a common box 406 and a common cover plate 408. The spinner 402 allows the parking authority personnel to rotate each of the electronic parking meters 22, coupled to the double head meter platform 404, with respect to the respective longitudinal axis 405 (Figures 14 and 15) in order to orient the opening 10 of the respective sonar to an optimum position for detecting vehicle. In particular, as shown in Figure 12, the rotating adapter 402 comprises a tapered portion 410 having a rectangular head 412 that conforms to and protrudes from the bottom of the adapter 220 via three bolts at each corner of the electronic meter 22, the adapter 220 and the rotator adapter head 412. Two bolts 414A and 414B are shown in Figure 12 disposed in the respective bolt sleeves 308A and 308B in the adapter 220 as well as in the rope sleeves 416A and 416B in the rectangular head 412 of the spinning adapter 402. The bolts secure the parking meter 22, the adapter 220 and the rectangular head 412 together. As can be seen in Figure 12, the bolt heads (eg, 420A and 420B) are contained within the meter 22, thereby preventing any attempted violation from outside the parking meter 22. A fourth bolt is not used when the adapter 220 it is used since the sonar transducer 74 s disposes at the fourth corner 308 of the adapter 220, as shown in Figure 11. The conical design of the spinning adapter 402 ensures that a coin that has already been processed by the meter 22 s directs down towards the common box 406 after it has passed through a coin receiving groove 440 (Figure 11-12) and the adapter 220. The turning adapter 402 has an internal wall 442 forming the passage for the coin; the neck with rope 422 has an external surface 444. The cover plate 408 is secured to the platform 404 by bolts at each corner of the cover plate 408; Figure 12 shows one of these bolts 424A, in dotted lines. The bolt of the cover plate 424A (as well as the other cover plate bolts) are embedded in the cover plate 408 a distance "d". The importance of this "d" stuffing is described below. A tamper-proof member 428 is then placed in the stuffing "d" on each end of the cover plate 408 to cover the bolts securing the cover plate 408 to the platform 404. The tamper-proof member 428 is the thickness "d" as can be seen in Figure 12. The assurance of the rape-proof members 426 is discussed below.

With the rope neck 422 of the spinning adapter 402 passed through the opening in the cover plate 408, a spinning adapter ring 426 (shown in Figure 12) can be turned upward on the free end of the rope neck 422; An access to the free end of the rope neck 422 is available through the case door 406 (not shown) that opens during installation. Before any further discussion of the rotator adapter 302 and the double head meter platform 404 is made, it should be noted that any further reference made to the electronic parking meter 22 is exemplary only and that any other modality of parking meter electronic could be substituted in it. The parking meter staff then rotates each meter 22 to their respective optimum positions to detect a vehicle in their respective parking spaces along stream 425; Figure 15 is a top view of the double head parking meter platform 404 with the meters 22 showing how the meters 22 can be rotated with respect to their respective axes 405. As soon as the optimum position is found, the parking meter personnel secure that position by rotating the rotating adapter ring towards the neck with rope 422 of the spinning adapter 402. A wrench can be used (not shown) to fit with one of a plurality of holes 429 as the ring 426 is rotated. The ring 426 is pressed against the lower part of the cover plate 408, thereby closing the parking meter 22 in the optimum position. In addition, a collar 430 having an external surface 431 on the rotating adapter 402, just above the threaded neck 422, traps the tamper-proof member 428 within the "d" socket, thereby preventing any person from attempting to violate the bolts (eg, 424A) which secures the cover plate 408 to the platform 404. The tamper-proof member 428 is completely contained within the "d" notch, can not be moved linearly in any direction nor can it be pulled upwards without first removing the spinning adapter 402. As soon as the rings 426 of the meter's rotating adapter are tightened, the parking meter staff secures the box door (not shown) and the double head meter platform 404 is ready for your operation Figures 13-15 depict the double head measuring platform 404 with the electronic parking meters 22 coupled thereto using the universal adapters 220 together with the respective spinner adapters 402. It should be noted that in Figures 13-14 the transducer assembly 74 it is placed on the opposite side of the electronic parking meter 22 having the coin slot 30 / debit card slot 32. This configuration would be used for parking on the side of the street where the coin slot 3 O / card slot 32 (FIG. 13) of the meters 22 would be opposite the stool and the transducer assembly 74 (Figure 14) of the adapter 220 would face the parked car being detected. In addition, each parking meter 22 / adapter 220 e assembly would not be facing in the same direction as shown in Figure 14; instead, each measured 22 / adapter 220 would be rotated with respect to its vertical axis 405 to an optimal position so that one meter 22 / adapted 220 in assembly would detect a parked car and the other meter 22 / adapter 220 would detect the carriage parked in front of the other parked car. Because the universal adapters 20, 120 220 can be used with any electronic parking meter 22, the adapters provide any electronic parking meter 22 coupled therewith, the ability to detect the presence of a vehicle, gather statistics about the parking space and alert to the parking authority personnel on the meters that have expired with vehicles parked therein and to order the electronic parking meters 22 to zero out the remaining time of the meter 22 when the vehicle leaves. An RS-232 link is provided between the microprocessor 64 of the adapter 20 (120 or 220) and the internal microprocessor of the electronic parking meter 22. It is on this connection that the microprocessor 64 communicates with the electronic parking meter 22 with all the data with respect to the detected vehicle, as well as other data from the parking meter 22; furthermore, this same link allows the electronic parking meter 22 to have the ability to communicate meter data / status (eg, processed coins, debit card data, obstructions, etc.) to the microprocessor of universal adapter 64. To perform these tasks, what follows is a description of the electronic circuits residing on the printed circuit board 60 of the universal adapters 20, 120 and 220. Figures 16-21 are the electrical schematic diagrams of the electronics located on the board of printed circuit 60. As stated above, the printed circuit board 60 is electrically coupled through a wired harness 70 to the transducer assembly 74 and electrically coupled to the electronic parking meter 22 through a wired harness 72. As shown in FIG. Figure 16, the electronics comprise an autodetector 62, a microprocessor, 64 (e.g., a Microchip PIC16C74-S4-IL) and a transmitter-re radio frequency receiver 66. The wired harness 70 comprises four conductors for coupling the auto detector 62 to the transducer assembly 74. The wired harness 72 comprises four conductors for coupling the auto detector 62 the microprocessor 64 and the radiofrequency transmitter-receiver 66 with the electronic parking meter 22. As can be seen, power (+ VBATT) and ground (GND) for the electronics are provided from the printed circuit board 60 from the electronic parking meter 22, as well as the RS-232 link is supported. As such, some measures must be taken in the electronic parking meter 22 to allow the harness wire harness 72 to be coupled with the appropriate electronics of the electronic parking meter 22. The operation of the electronics (Figures 20A-20D) of the auto detector 62 is discussed below. It should be understood that it is within the broader scope of this invention to include the broader definition of the term (auto) to mean (vehicle); in this way, trucks, motorcycles, or any wheeled device that can be parked in the associated parking space will be detected by the car detector 62. The car detector 62 is initialized by a command signal (AUTO INIT, Figure 20A) of the microprocessor 64 when the microprocessor 64 determines that it is time to see if there is a vehicle. If the auto detector 62 receives a return echo indicating that a vehicle is present at the parking location, a signal (AUTO ECHO, Figure 20D) is again sent to the microprocessor 64. In particular, when the microprocessor 64 is ready to verify that there is a vehicle, the processor 64 sets AUTO INIT high (terminal 42 of the microprocessor 64, Figure 18C). When AUTO INIT goes high, terminal 1 of U1A is high and capacitor Cl starts charging through resistor R6. While AUTO INIT is high but before Cl loads, both terminals 1 and 2 of U1A are high therefore terminal 3 of U1A is low and inverted through Q2, allowing U1B and allowing the 50 kilohertz oscillator attached to Ul terminal 4 is applied to the base Ql. This applies a 50 kilohertz signal to the transducer 74 through a CT transformer, capacitor C12 and out through the transducer connector J2.- IT has a turn proportion of 50 in order to apply a 150 volt signal to the transducer 74. The capacitor C12 is used to block any direct current voltage from the transducer 74 and forms a 50-kilohertz series resonant circuit with TI and the transducer 74. When Cl loads, Q6 is turned on, disabling the U1A and U1B gates. , which shuts down Ql and therefore turns off the signal from transducer 74. The transmission burst lasts approximately 500 microseconds. The AUTO INIT signal is also used to turn on a Q5 transistor (Figure 20A). When Q5 is turned on, the energy in the car detector 62, VAD, is applied to the car detecting receiver (Figure 20B). The AUTO INIT signal is also applied to the resistor R4 and the capacitor C4. This RC combination, together with the double inverter Q3 and Q4, is used to disable the receiver (Figure 20B) during the transmission signal and for a short time after this. The AUTO INIT signal is also applied to the output circuit of the car detector in order to enable the tilting output U1C and U1D (Figure 20D). Finally, AUTO INIT also enables terminal 7 of U4 after a delay determined by R19 and C8. After the signal from the transducer 74 is transmitted, the transducer 74 waits for the return echo. When an echo is received by the transducer 74, the signal passes through the capacitor C12 and the secondary of the transformer TI and is applied to the receiver. The receiver amplifies the signal in U4A, U3A and U3B. U4B is used to convert the signal to a digital level and to fix the swingarm U1C and U1D. As soon as the digital signal sets the swingarm U1C and U1D, the AUTO ECHO signal goes up. The AUTO ECHO signal is sent to the microprocessor 64 in the terminal 41. The microprocessor 64 calculates the time between the AUTO INIT and AUTO ECHO to determine the distance to each target. If echo is not received in 50 milliseconds, the microprocessor 64 brings the AUTO INIT to a low level, thereby resetting the car detector 62 and turning off its power. In order to conserve energy to allow the use of a power source (eg, batteries, not shown) only, the transducer 74 only turns on every 10 to 15 seconds for some microseconds. The transducer 74 generates a half millisecond pulse and then waits for approximately 50 milliseconds for a return echo.

As described above, the transducer assembly 74 represents both the sonar transducer 74 and the phototransistor 246 that are electrically coupled to the auto detector 62 through the wired harness 70. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the phototransistor 246 is mounted just behind the grid 12 in the opening of the sonar transducer 10. The phototransistor 246 supplies a brightness level to the auto detector 62 which is then transmitted by the auto detector 62 to the microprocessor 64, as indicated by the LIGHT DET signal in Figure 18C. In particular, if the microprocessor 64 detects a previously determined decrease (for example, 25%) from the level of sunlight / daylight for a previously determined time (for example within two interrogations of the transducer), the microprocessor 64 concludes that the transducer aperture of the sonar 10 is being covered, either unintentionally or intentionally. Being able to detect that the opening of the transducer 10 is being covered allows the electronic parking meter 22, to continue counting the allowed parking time as if the opening of the transducer 10 was not covered; otherwise, the meter 22 would consider an opening of the transducer 10 blocked as meaning that a parked vehicle has left the parking space, thereby erroneously causing the meter 22 to zero out the payment for the parking time.

As shown in Figures 18A-18E, microprocessor 64 can be implemented using a Micro Chip microcontroller PIC16C74 (Figure 18D), which has 4K internal read memory program words and 192 bytes internal direct access memory . In addition, the microcontroller has three parallel eight-bit input / output ports, any one of which could have interrupt inputs. The temperature sensor U10 (Figure 18A) together with the diodes of D6 and D7 and the resistor R40 are used by the microprocessor 64 to determine the temperature in the adapter 20 (120 or 220) in order to adjust any parameter that is sensitive to changes in temperature. The U11A and the resistors R36 and R37 are used by the microprocessor 64, as a reference, to determine the energy level and report when the energy level drops below a predetermined level. There are two crystals, Y2 and Y3, attached to the microprocessor 64. The 4.00 megahertz Y2 crystal (Figure 18C) is used as the base oscillator when the microprocessor is awake 64, and crystal Y3 of 32,768 kilohertz (Figure 18B) is used when the microprocessor 64 is asleep. To reduce the number of signal lines coupled with the microprocessor 64, a multiplexer 68 (eg, CD40528CM multiplex chip U9, FIG. 18B) is coupled to the microprocessor 6. The radio frequency transmitter-receiver 66 is shown in Figure 21. The radio frequency transmitter-receiver 66 is used to alert the parking authority when a vehicle is parked on a meter 22 and the time has expired. It is also capable of transmitting statistical and maintenance data about the meter 22 to the parking authority. The parking authority can program the universal adapter 20 (120 or 220) through the radiofrequency transmitter-receiver 66. The radiofrequency transmitter-receiver 66 never initiates a transmission. The microprocessor 64 waits for a signal from an external transmitter. Therefore, in order to save energy, the energy is normally automatically removed from the radio frequency transmitter-receiver 66. The energy of the first byte in the signals received by the radiofrequency transmitter-receiver 66 is used to turn on the power of the radiofrequency transmitter-receiver 66. The data received by the radiofrequency receiver is sent to the microprocessor 64, through the radio connector. radiofrequency P2 (Figure 21), then through the multiplexer 68 terminal 2 (Figure 18B), as RF_DI. The data transmission from the microprocessor 64 is sent out of the multiplexer 68 terminal 15 as RF_DO. The RF signal DO is sent to terminal 4 of P2 (Figure 21) Terminal 2 (RF_CRDET). and terminal 7 of P2 is not used. There will be two types of radio frequency transmitter receiver systems used with universal adapters 20, 120 and 220 that operate in a frequency band of at least 900 megahertz. This is against distinction to U.S. Patent No. 4,356,903 (Lemelson et al.) Which describes a wireless system using short wave radio. The first system requires a mobile radiofrequency transmitter-receiver 500 which is located in a small vehicle 502 (Figure 22) or is part of a portable unit 504 (Figure 23). In any case, the radio frequency transceiver 500 automatically transmits an activation signal 506 (eg, a burst of energy from either the transmitted carrier signal of at least 900 megahertz or the data contained in the burst of energy) to the radio frequency transceivers 66 in a bank 508 of electronic parking meters 22 using the universal adapters 20 (120 or 220), for example one block of a street, to transmit their respective data / parking meter status (for example, the time has expired with a vehicle parked in the corresponding parking space), if there is one, to the mobile radiofrequency receiver transmitter 500 or 504. Each radiofrequency transmitter-receiver 66 in the adapter 20 (120 or 220) responds by transmitting its corresponding data / parking meter status 22 subject to random delay preventing transmission collisions due to other adapters 20 (120 or 22) 0) that transmit. If a collision still occurs, one of the radiofrequency transceivers 66 of the adapters 20 (120 220) would retract and try again after another random delay. The mobile radio frequency transceiver 500 or 504 also comprises a computer (not shown) so that as soon as the data / status of the parking meter 22 corresponding to the adapters 20 (120 or 220) is decided by the radiofrequency transmitter-receiver mobile 500 or 504, that data is stored in the computer. In particular, the computer in the radio frequency transceiver 500 may comprise a conventional computer with hard disk / monitor to store the parking data / status of an entire region of a city; on the other hand, the computer in the portable radio frequency transceiver 504 may comprise sufficient memory to store the data / status of the meter of several meters in the scope of the parking authority agent. In any case, the data stored in the respective computers would be taken to the parking authority barracks after they would be loaded into the central database. As soon as the current data / status is received and is recognized by the radiofrequency transmitter-receiver - ".ovil 500 or 504, the radiofrequency transmitter-receiver 66 on the adapter 20 (120 or 220) remains silent until it is received. another activation signal 506 by the adapter 20 (120 or 220) and new information / status of the parking meter 22. Further, as soon as the mobile radiofrequency transmitter-receiver 500 or 504 has collected the data / status of the parking meter 22, the action The parking authority is carried out appropriately, for example, if a parking violation has been filed, an agent of the parking authority is contacted to issue a fine in accordance with the above, or if a congestion has occurred. , a maintenance team is called in. From here on, this will be called transmitted communication since a mobile radiofrequency transmitter-receiver 500 or 504 requires that all tra Radio frequency transmitters-receivers 66 transmit their respective data. Another variation of this first system is that the mobile radiofrequency transmitter-receiver 500 or 504 can communicate with an individual electronic parking meter 22 using the universal adapter 20 (120 or 220), thereby creating an individual communication. In particular, the activation signal 506 may contain a specific adapter serial number, i.e., as soon as all the radiofrequency transmitter-receivers 66 in the adapters 20 (120 or 220) in the bank 508 are activated, only the transmitter radio frequency receiver 66 whose serial number that is immersed in the activation signal 506 remains in communication with the mobile radiofrequency transmitter-receiver 500 or 504; all other radiofrequency transmitters-receivers 66 remain silent. Also in this variation, each of the radiofrequency transmitter-receivers 66 comprises a data receiver (not shown) for receiving data from the radiofrequency transmitter-receiver 500 or 504, instead of only transmitting data to the mobile radio-frequency transceiver. 500 or 504; the received data can be used by the microprocessor 64 to program the electronic parking meter 22. Both the transmission and the individual communication using the mobile radio frequency transmitter-receiver 500 or 504 can be implemented in the following exemplary manner. When the activation signal 506 is received by the radiofrequency transmitter-receiver 66, the RF_CRDET signal (carrier detector) alerts the microprocessor 64 which in turn turns on the radiofrequency transmitter-receiver 66 with the signal RF_PO EN. The serial number in the activation signal 506 is then transmitted to the microprocessor 64 on the RF_DI signal. And the microprocessor 64 determines that the serial number in the activation signal 506 corresponds to its serial number, the microprocessor 64 begins to transfer its data to its radiofrequency transmitter-receiver 66. If the microprocessor 64 does not recognize the serial number in the activation signal 506, the microprocessor 64 deactivates its respective radiofrequency transmitter-receiver 66. Therefore, an individual communication is established. Alternatively, the serial number in the activation signal 506 may be a specially assigned number that every microprocessor 64 recognizes and, as such, the radiofrequency transmitters -receptors 66 in all the adapters 20 (120 or 220) begin to transmit your data / status of parking meter. Therefore, a transmission communication is established. A second radio frequency transmitter-receiver system (Figure 24) would not require a mobile radiofrequency transmitter-receiver 500 or 504, but would require the people to use a network with radio frequency repeaters 510 in specific corners. Each repeater 510 would interrogate a previously determined set of adapters 20 (120 or 220), for example, a bank 508 of electronic parking meters 22 using the universal adapters 20 (120 or 220), and transmit their corresponding parking meter data 22 to barracks or central facilities 512. This would allow the parking authority to have immediate information about each meter 22 and allow them to make more efficient use of their parking officers and maintenance personnel. As an example of the communication system to be used with the radiofrequency transmitter-receiver 66, a CellNet communication network can be used with the radiofrequency transmitter-receiver 66; CellNet operates in the frequency range of 952/928 megahertz. As such, either with the first system (Figures 22-23 or with the second system Figure 24) described above, the wired transmission of the data / status of the parking meter allows the transmission either to a central point 512 or to a mobile unit (500 or 504) for the purpose of communicating parking activity and reporting income on a daily, weekly, monthly basis for individual parking meters 22, such as, but not limited to: -Count of parked cars -Portable parking time -Time average parking - empty space count - accumulated empty time - average empty time - paid car account - accumulated pay time - average pay time - re-established car count - cumulative reset time - average reset time - period count Grace - Accumulated grace time - Average grace time - Expired time count - Cumulative expired time - Average expired time - Good false currency - Extended time issues (the number of coins deposited in a failed attempt to buy more time than the preset maximum) - Expired meter - Low battery - Congestion - Coin total - Maximum coin capacity - Decomposed sensor. Of all these data, once received and correlated, the parking authority can then generate reports to all departments. With these reports, each department is better able to control costs and schedule personnel. For example, printed reports of the data provided by the universal adapters 20 (120 or 220) can be generated, including: Income per day and day of the week (income = cash, tokens, debit cards, separately) Cash on the meter (coins and chips) Activity by day and day of the week Account and time of occupied space (active and inactive separately) Account and empty space time (active and inactive separately) Account and time purchased (active and inactive by separate) Account and time reset after vehicle departure Account and time reset repurchased Account and time not reset reused Account and time in grace periods (arrival and expiration separately) Account and time expired Time expired longer per day, time stamped (at the beginning or end of the expiration) Low battery warning banner Currency account / unrecognized chips inserted Account of valid / invalid coins / tokens in an attempt to feed the meter Account of valid / invalid coins / tokens inserted per hour (the last 24 only) Account of coins / tokens inserted in an attempt to feed the meter per hour (last 24) only) All revenue data will be in three-byte fields. All account data will be in two-byte fields. The time data will be in two-byte, one-byte, one-byte seconds. It should be noted that adapters 20, 120 and 220 can be used in conjunction with typical portable infd transmitters-receivers to program electronic parking meters 22. In particular, the parking authority may choose to program individual electronic parking meters 22 with conventional portable infd transceivers (not shown) at the same time as extracting data / status from the parking meter 22 via the radiofrequency transceiver 66 in the universal adapter 20 (120 or 220), as discussed above. The disadvantage of using the conventional infd transmitter-receiver is that it requires the parking authority agent to approach the electronic parking meter 22 individually to properly interrogate the microprocessor of the meter 22. Alternatively, the parking authority may choose to program the parking meters electronics 22 via radio frequency transmission to bank 508 of electronic parking meters 22 (for example, a plurality of electronic parking meters 22 located on a street). In this situation, the radiofrequency signal is received by the universal adapter 20 (120 or 220) of each electronic parking meter 22 in the bank which then uses the RS-232 link to program the microprocessor in the electronic parking meter 22. In this situation , the conventional infd transceiver would only be used for maintenance of a particular electronic parking meter 22. Without further elaboration, the foregoing will so fully illustrate our invention that others can, applying current or future knowledge, easily take it for use under various conditions of service.

Claims (57)

1. An adapter for coupling an electronic parking meter to a box on a pole in a parking space next to the corresponding stream, or in a space of a parking lot, the adapter comprising: a) A housing arranged between the box and the electronic parking meter , the housing comprising a closed wall defining an internal passage to allow the coins to fall therethrough from the electronic parking meter to the box; b) A vehicle detector, inside the housing, to detect the presence of a vehicle in the corresponding parking space next to the stream or in the space of a parking lot, the vehicle detector being in electrical communication with the electronic parking meter; and c) Securing elements comprising a plurality of sleeves adapted to receive respective bolts so that only personnel with parking authority secure the electronic parking meter and the adapter to the box.

The adapter of claim 1 wherein the vehicle detector comprises a sonar transducer disposed in the closed wall to emit sonar signals and to receive sonar signals.

3. The adapter of claim 2 wherein the vehicle detector further comprises electronics coupled with the sonar transducer for controlling the sonar signal emissions and for processing received sonar signals. The adapter of claim 3 wherein the electronics further comprise a microprocessor coupled to the sonar transducer to determine a distance between the electronic parking meter and a destination in the vicinity of the parking space of the received sonar signals. The adapter of claim 4 wherein the distance between the meter and the destination is determined by the microprocessor to be in a range too close, in a valid vehicle range or in a range too far, the destination being considered a vehicle as long as the determined distance falls within the valid vehicle range. The adapter of claim 5 wherein the valid vehicle range is adjustable by the parking authority personnel. The adapter of claim 6 wherein the microprocessor comprises an element for re-popping the received sonar signals whenever the determined distance changes from one of the ranges to another. 8. The adapter of claim 7 wherein the redeploying element includes a respective de-bounce account for each of these ranges, each of the de-boating accounts is adjustable by the parking authority personnel. The adapter of claim 8 wherein the vehicle detector further comprises a phototransistor disposed closely adjacent to the sonar transducer, the phototransistor sensing a level of brightness adjacent to the meter. The adapter of claim 9 wherein the phototransistor is coupled to the microprocessor, the microprocessor using the brightness level to determine if the sonar transducer is being blocked as long as the determined distance is within the range too close. The adapter of claim 10 wherein the microprocessor energizes and deenergizes the vehicle detector. The adapter of claim 11 wherein the electronics further comprises an internal radiofrequency transmitter-receiver coupled to the microprocessor, the internal radiofrequency transmitter-receiver transmits data from the parking meter to an external radio frequency transmitter-receiver and the microprocessor provides the transmitter - internal radiofrequency receiver parking meter data for transmission. The adapter of claim 12 wherein the internal radiofrequency transmitter-receiver is energized only when the energy is received from the radio frequency transmitter-receiver external. The adapter of claim 13 wherein the external radio frequency transmitter-receiver provides data to the internal radiofrequency transmitter-receiver to be used by the microprocessor to program the electronic parking meter. The adapter of claim 14 wherein the external radiofrequency transmitter-receiver comprises a plurality of radiofrequency repeaters that are in radio frequency communication with a central facility. The adapter of claim 14 wherein the external radio frequency transmitter-receiver is mobile, and wherein the internal radiofrequency transmitter-receiver transmits meter data to the external mobile radio-frequency transmitter-receiver when requested by the external mobile radio-frequency transmitter-receiver and the microprocessor provides the internal radiofrequency transmitter-receiver with the parking meter data . The adapter of claim 16 wherein the internal radio frequency transmitter-receiver is energized only when the energy is received from the external mobile radio frequency transmitter-receiver. The adapter of claim 17 wherein the external mobile radio frequency transmitter-receiver provides data to the internal radiofrequency transmitter-receiver for the use of said microprocessor to program the electronic parking meter. The adapter of claim 15 wherein the internal radio frequency transmitter-receiver operates in a frequency band of at least 900 megahertz to transmit the data of the parking meter. The adapter of claim 16 wherein the internal radiofrequency transmitter-receiver operates in a frequency band of at least 900 megahertz to transmit the data of the parking meter. The adapter of claim 2 wherein the housing comprises a plurality of faceted surfaces and wherein the sonar transducer is mounted on one of said faceted surfaces. 22. The adapter of claim 2 wherein the housing comprises three facet surfaces. The adapter of claim 21 wherein the vehicle detector further comprises electronics coupled with the sonar transducer for controlling the emission of sonar signals and for processing the received sonar signals. The adapter of claim 23 wherein the electronics further comprise a microprocessor coupled with the sonar transducer to determine a distance between the electronic parking meter and a destination in the vicinity of the parking space from the received sonar signals. The adapter of claim 24 wherein the distance between the meter and the destination is determined by the microprocessor to be in a range too close, in a valid vehicle range or in a range too far, the destination being considered a vehicle provided that the determined distance falls within the valid vehicle range. 26. The adapter of claim 25 wherein the valid vehicle range is adjustable by the parking authority personnel. 27. The adapter of claim 26 wherein the microprocessor comprises elements for re-popping the received sonar signals whenever the determined distance changes from one of those ranges to another. 28. The adapter of claim 27 wherein the redeploying element includes a respective de-bounce account for each of the ranges, each of the de-popping accounts being adjustable by the parking authority personnel. The adapter of claim 28 wherein the vehicle detector further comprises a phototransistor disposed closely adjacent to the sonar transducer, the phototransistor sensing a level of brightness adjacent to the meter. 30. The adapter of claim 29 wherein the phototransistor is coupled to the microprocessor, using the microprocessor the brightness level to determine if the sonar transducer is being blocked whenever the determined distance is within the too close range. 31. The adapter of claim 30 wherein the microprocessor energizes and deenergizes the vehicle detector. The adapter of claim 31 wherein the electronics further comprise an internal radio frequency transmitter-receiver coupled with the microprocessor, the internal radiofrequency transmitter-receiver transmits meter data to an external radio frequency transmitter-receiver and the microprocessor provides this internal radiofrequency transmitter-receiver with data from the parking meter for its transmission. The adapter of claim 32 wherein the internal radiofrequency transmitter-receiver is energized only when the power is received from the transmitter-receiver. external radiofrequency. The adapter of claim 33 wherein the external radio frequency transmitter-receiver provides data to the internal radiofrequency transmitter-receiver for use by the microprocessor to program the electronic parking meter. 35. The adapter of claim 34 wherein the external radiofrequency transmitter-receiver comprises a plurality of radiofrequency repeaters that are in radio frequency communication with a central facility. The adapter of claim 34 wherein the external radio frequency transmitter-receiver is mobile and wherein the internal radiofrequency transmitter-receiver transmits the parking meter data to the external mobile radio frequency transmitter-receiver when required by the radio transmitter-receiver. Extreme mobile radio frequency and the microprocessor provides the internal radiofrequency transmitter-receiver with parking meter data. 37. The adapter of claim 36 wherein the internal radiofrequency transceiver is energized only when the energy is received from the external mobile radio-frequency transceiver. 38. The adapter of claim 37 wherein the external mobile radio frequency transmitter provides data to the internal radiofrequency transmitter-receiver for use by the microprocessor to program the electronic parking meter. 39. The adapter of claim 35 wherein the internal radiofrequency transmitter-receiver operates in a frequency band of at least 900 megahertz to transmit the data of the parking meter. 40. The adapter of claim 36 wherein the internal radiofrequency transmitter-receiver operates in a frequency band of at least 900 megahertz to transmit meter data. 41. The adapter of claim .1 wherein the housing comprises concentric outer and inner surfaces by which the outer surface is in sliding relationship with the inner surface, the vehicle detector is mounted on the external surface and disposed in a slot in the inner surface to allow the vehicle detector to be positioned in a desired angular orientation with respect to the vertical axis of the adapter. 42. The adapter of claim 41 wherein the vehicle detector comprises a sonar transducer disposed in the closed wall for emitting sonar signals and for receiving sonar signals, and wherein the housing comprises a second securing element for blocking the sonar signal. Sonar transducer in the desired angular orientation. 43. The adapter of claim 42 wherein the vehicle detector further comprises electronics coupled with the sonar transducer for controlling the emission of sonar signals and for processing the received sonar signals. 44. The adapter of claim 43 wherein the electronics further comprises a microprocessor coupled with the sonar transducer to determine a distance between the electronic parking meter and a destination in the vicinity of the parking space from the received sonar signals. 45. The adapter of claim 44 wherein the distance between the meter and the destination is determined by the microprocessor as being in a range too close, in a valid vehicle range or in a range too far, the destination being considered a vehicle as long as the determined distance falls within the valid vehicle range. 46. The adapter of claim 45 wherein the valid vehicle range is adjustable by the parking authority personnel. 47. The adapter of claim 46 wherein the microprocessor comprises an element for re-popping the received sonar signals whenever the determined distance changes from one of the ranges to another. 48. The adapter of claim 47 wherein the redeploying element includes a respective de-bounce account for each of the ranges, each of the de-boating accounts being adjustable by the parking authority personnel. 49. The adapter of claim 48 wherein the vehicle detector further comprises a phototransistor disposed closely adjacent to the sonar transducer, the phototransistor sensing a level of brightness adjacent to the meter. 50. The adapter of claim 49 wherein the phototransistor is coupled to the microprocessor, using the microprocessor the brightness level to determine if the sonar transducer is being blocked as long as the determined distance is within the too close range. 51. The adapter of claim 50 wherein the microprocessor energizes and de-energizes the vehicle detector. 52. The adapter of claim 51 wherein the electronics further comprises an internal radiofrequency transmitter-receiver coupled with the microprocessor, the internal radio frequency transmitter-receiver transmits meter information to an external radio frequency transmitter-receiver and the microprocessor provides the Internal radiofrequency transmitter-receiver data of the parking meter for its transmission.

53. The adapter of claim 52 wherein the internal radiofrequency transmitter-receiver is energized only when the energy is received from the external radio frequency transmitter-receiver. 54. The adapter of claim 53 wherein the external radio frequency transmitter-receiver provides data to the internal radiofrequency transmitter-receiver for use by the microprocessor to program the electronic parking meter. 55. The adapter of claim 54 wherein the external radiofrequency transmitter-receiver comprises a plurality of radiofrequency repeaters that are in radio frequency communication with a central facility. 56. The adapter of claim 54 wherein the external radio frequency transmitter-receiver is mobile, and wherein the internal radiofrequency transmitter-receiver transmits meter data to the external mobile radio-frequency transmitter-receiver when requested by the transceiver. of external mobile radio frequency and the microprocessor provides the internal radiofrequency transmitter-receiver with parking meter data. 57. The adapter of claim 56 wherein the internal radiofrequency transmitter-receiver is energized only when the energy is received from the external mobile radio-frequency transceiver.

5. The adapter of claim 57 wherein the external mobile radio frequency transmitter provides data to the internal radiofrequency transmitter-receiver for use by the microprocessor to program the electronic parking meter. 59. The adapter of claim 55 wherein the internal radiofrequency transmitter-receiver operates in a frequency band of at least 900 megahertz to transmit meter data. 60. The adapter of claim 56 wherein the internal radiofrequency transmitter-receiver operates in a frequency band of at least 900 megahertz to transmit meter data. 61. The adapter of claim 2 further comprising a rotation device to allow an adjustable rotation of the electronic parking meter, with respect to a vertical axis, the rotation device comprising: a) A box cover plate having a periphery top that contains a plurality of receiver channels embedded to receive bolts that secure the box cover plate to the box; b) A rotating adapter comprising a flat upper surface to support the housing, a conical shaped middle section and a cylindrical lower portion having an outer wall that includes an annular collar and a string portion just below the annular collar, projecting the lower cylindrical portion through a hole in the cover plate adjacent to the plurality of holes, the upper surface having flat, the middle section in conical shape and the lower cylindrical part respective open interiors to further define the passage for a coin deposited pass from the electronic parking meter to the box; c) A rape-proof member disposed at the top of the receiver channels embedded to hide the receiver bolts; d) A rotating adapter ring for connecting the portion with rope and for releasably securing the electronic parking meter in a desired orientation with respect to the vertical axis and for securing the tamper-proof member between the annular collar and the recessed receiving channels.