Automated license plate recognition system for use in law enforcement vehicles

• US 20040104813A1
• Filed: 11/14/2003
• Published: 06/03/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nathan M Rau, William D. Rau
• Original Assignee: Nathan M Rau, William D. Rau
• Inventors: Rau, William D., Rau, Nathan M.
• Granted Patent: US 6,982,654 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/425.5
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0175 by photographing vehicles, e.g. when violating traffic rules

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a law enforcement vehicle 100 having a camera 210 mounted to a portion of the vehicle 100. Camera 210 is configured to identify a license plate 260 on a vehicle that is viewed, and provides an output signal 214 indicative of the identified license plate 160 to a processor 220 carried on the vehicle 100. Processor 220 is configured to receive the signal 214 from camera 210, and compares the received signal 214 with a list of stolen vehicle license plates contained in a database 232. The processor 220 also accesses a storage device 230 containing database 232 of stolen vehicle license plates. The processor 220 is further configured to provide an output signal 228 to an output device 240. Output device 240 is configured to provide an output that is detectable by the law enforcement officer, indicating to the law enforcement officer that there is a match. In another embodiment the system is configured to detect a license plate while the law enforcement vehicle is in motion.

Claims

1. A law enforcement vehicle comprising:

a camera mounted on the law enforcement vehicle, the camera configured to identify a license plate on a vehicle, and to provide an output signal indicative of the identified license plate;

a processor configured to receive a signal from the camera indicative of the identified license plate, and to compare the received signal with a list of stolen vehicle license plates;

a storage device coupled to the processor, the storage device configured to provide to the processor the list of stolen vehicle license plates; and

an output device configured to provide an output detectable by a law enforcement officer indicating that a detected license plate matches a license plate in the list of stolen vehicle license plates.

2. The law enforcement vehicle of claim 1 wherein the camera is configured to identify the license plate on the vehicle while the law enforcement vehicle is in motion.

3. The law enforcement vehicle of claim 1 wherein the storage device is further configured to store an image of the vehicle and the license plate of any license plate that matches a license plate in the list of stolen vehicle license plates.

4. The law enforcement vehicle of claim 1 wherein the output device provides detailed information related to the identified license plate.

5. The law enforcement vehicle of claim 1 wherein the output device provides an audible signal to the law enforcement officer.

6. The law enforcement vehicle of claim 4 wherein the output device further provides an audible signal to the law enforcement officer.

7. The law enforcement vehicle of claim 1 further comprising:

a radio transmitter configured to transmit to a central location a signal indicating that the law enforcement vehicle has detected a license plate in the list of stolen vehicle license plates.

8. The law enforcement vehicle of claim 1 wherein the storage device is further configured to receive an updated list of stolen vehicle license plates.

9. The law enforcement vehicle of claim 1:

wherein the camera is configured to provide a description of the vehicle identified to the processor;

wherein the storage device is further configured to provide to the processor information on the vehicle associated with the identified license plate;

wherein the processor is further configured to compare the information on the vehicle with the identified license plate with the image provided by the camera; and

wherein the output device is further configured to provide the output signal if the information provided does not match the image.

10. The law enforcement vehicle of claim 1 further comprising:

a plurality of cameras mounted to the law enforcement vehicle, each of the cameras configured to identify a license plate on a vehicle, each of the plurality of cameras providing a signal to the processor indicative of an identified license plate;

wherein the processor is configured to process the signal from each of the plurality of cameras, and to compare each signal with the list of stolen vehicle license plates.

11. A method of identifying from a law enforcement vehicle, a vehicle, comprising the steps of:

capturing an image of the vehicle with at least one camera;

identifying from the image a license plate area;

determining a character set representative of a license plate number;

comparing the determined character set with a database of license plate numbers; and

providing an output indicating that a match is found between the character set and the database.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

providing an output indicating that a match is not found in the database.

13. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

storing a copy of the image in a database of captured images.

14. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

updating the database of license plate numbers from a central database.

15. The method of claim of claim 11 wherein the database of license plates contains license plates associated with stolen vehicles, and wherein the providing step provides output indicating that the identified license plate is to a stolen vehicle.

16. The method of claim 11 wherein capturing the image captures the image while the law enforcement vehicle is in motion.

17. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

transmitting from the law enforcement vehicle to a central station information related to an identified vehicle that matches a license plate in the database of license plates.