Suite of parking regulation control systems
First Claim
1. A suite of parking regulation control systems for capturing visual and numerical information about a parked vehicle, the system comprising:
- a laser-based distance measuring device mounted on the outside of the patrol or street sweeping vehicle, or within a handheld unit;
a waterproof miniature closed-circuit television camera mounted on the outside of the patrol or street sweeping vehicle, or within a handheld unit;
a housing to contain both measuring device and camera;
a positioning arm to which the housing is mounted that can be aimed from within the patrol or street sweeping vehicle;
a video monitor mounted inside the patrol or street sweeping vehicle to display captured images and indicate what the camera is aimed at;
a memory device in the patrol or street sweeping vehicle to capture, combine, and store individual still frames of the video data, along with date and time;
a means for manually triggering the capture of a still frame of video data.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A digital camera and laser-based distance-measuring device are mounted on a patrol vehicle, street sweeping vehicle, or in a handheld harness. The patrol is performed along a route of parked vehicles to determine if any of them are in violation of parking regulations. Information about the offending vehicle is visually captured, recorded, and transferred via wireless communication to another site for further processing. For distance-based parking violations, visual data capture may include an image of a vehicle bumper in combination with a fire hydrant, driveway or other point of reference along with a super-imposed numerical readout of the measuring device to indicate that the offending vehicle is parked outside the limits of acceptability. For time-based parking violations, the image may be a combination of a parking sticker or registration from the windshield, a license plate from the front or rear of the vehicle, an image of the parking meter next to the vehicle, and can be overlaid with text indicating the date, time. The flexibility of the system allows for multiple images to be combined in a manner that best captures the information required by the municipality to clearly indicate the culpability of the offending vehicle. Violations addressed are parking time limit expiration, illegal parking due to location restrictions, vehicle registration expiration, and violation of vehicle parking distance relative to various points of reference.
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Citations
40 Claims
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1. A suite of parking regulation control systems for capturing visual and numerical information about a parked vehicle, the system comprising:
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a laser-based distance measuring device mounted on the outside of the patrol or street sweeping vehicle, or within a handheld unit;
a waterproof miniature closed-circuit television camera mounted on the outside of the patrol or street sweeping vehicle, or within a handheld unit;
a housing to contain both measuring device and camera;
a positioning arm to which the housing is mounted that can be aimed from within the patrol or street sweeping vehicle;
a video monitor mounted inside the patrol or street sweeping vehicle to display captured images and indicate what the camera is aimed at;
a memory device in the patrol or street sweeping vehicle to capture, combine, and store individual still frames of the video data, along with date and time;
a means for manually triggering the capture of a still frame of video data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40)
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37. A method for enforcing parking regulations comprising:
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capturing an image of a parked vehicle;
capturing second of the vehicle, parking meter, hydrant, or other reference points;
combining all images along with text;
storing the combined data in the patrol or street sweeping vehicle;
transferring the stored data to another site;
generating a traffic citation;
billing the customer based on the type of violation incurred.
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Specification