System and a Method for Facilitating Paying for a Parking Permit in a Selected One of One or More Pay-for-Parking Zones

• US 20080265016A1
• Filed: 11/24/2005
• Published: 10/30/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/24/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Lawrence William Paul Fitzgerald, Philip Martin Hayes
• Original Assignee: Lawrence William Paul Fitzgerald, Philip Martin Hayes
• Inventors: Fitzgerald, Lawrence William Paul, Hayes, Philip Martin
• Application Number:
  US11/720,077
• Publication Number:
  US 20080265016A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/378
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 15/02 taking into account a variable factor such as distance or time, e.g. for passenger transport, parking systems or car rental systems G07B15/06 takes precedence; taximeters G07B13/00; parking meters per se G07F17/24; car rental systems per se G07B15/00

Abstract

A system (1) for issuing parking permits in pay-for-parking zones, for example, permits for short-term street parking in local authority areas comprises a central control terminal (2) which controls operation of the system. Clients wishing to avail of the system (1) obtain a visual display device (3) for mounting in his or her motor vehicle for displaying the expiry time of the parking permit, and register with the system (1). The central control terminal (2) is controlled by a computer (7) and each client of the system is identified by his or her mobile telephone number, which is cross-referenced with an address code of the visual display device (3) in an ID memory (8) of the central control terminal (2). Each client of the system, in general, maintains a positive credit balance in his or her account in an account memory (14) of the central control terminal (2). On a telephone request being made from the mobile telephone of the client for a parking permit, the computer (7) computes the cost of the parking permit and debits the cost to the client'"'"'s account in the account memory (14), and relays particulars of the parking permit granted through a telecommunications data link (15) to a radio paging network operator (16) for radio transmission to the visual display device (3) of the client, which is then displayed on a visual display screen (23) of the visual display device (3).

Claims

1-66. -66. (canceled)

67. A system for facilitating paying for a parking permit in a selected one of one or more pay-for-parking zones, the system comprising:

a plurality of visual display devices of respective clients of the system, each visual display device being responsive to a remotely generated signal for displaying the grant of a parking permit,

a central control terminal remote from the visual display devices, the central control terminal comprising;

a first storing means for storing the identity of the respective clients of the system and the identity of the respective visual display devices, with the identity of each visual display device cross-referenced with the identity of the corresponding client,

a second storing means for storing the cost per predetermined parking time unit of parking in each one of the pay-for-parking zones,

a telecommunications receiving means for receiving communications from the diets of the system, whereby each communication containing a request for a permit is indicative of the identity of the client and a selected zone for which a parking permit is required,

a computing means for computing the cost of a parking permit in response to a received request for a parking permit from one of the clients,

a means for debiting an account of each client with the cost of a parking permit requested by the corresponding client, and

a communicating means for communicating a signal indicative of particulars of each granted parking permit to the visual display device of the corresponding client in response to a request therefor.

68. A system as claimed in claim 67 in which the communicating means comprises a telecommunication data link for transferring particulars of each granted parking permit to a radio paging network operator for relaying the particulars of the granted parking permit to the corresponding visual display device via a radio transmission.

69. A system as claimed in claim 67 in which each signal indicative of the particulars of the grant of a parking permit communicated by the communicating means is indicative of the zone for which the parking permit is granted, and preferably, each signal indicative of the particulars of the grant of a parking permit communicated by the communicating means is indicative of the time period for which the parking permit is granted, and advantageously, each signal indicative of the particulars of the grant of a parking permit communicated by the communicating means is indicative of the expiry time of the granted parking permit.

70. A system as claimed in claim 67 in which each visual display device comprises a display means for displaying the particulars of the granted parking permit, and preferably, the display means of each visual display device is adapted for displaying particulars of the zone for which the parking permit is granted, and advantageously, the display means of each visual display device is adapted for displaying particulars of the expiry time of the parking permit, and preferably, the display means of each visual display device is adapted for displaying the commencement time of the parking permit, and the duration for which the parking permit has been granted, and advantageously, each visual display device comprises a means for interpreting the particulars of a granted parking permit from the corresponding signal communicated by the communicating means for display on the display means thereof, and preferably, the display means of each visual display device comprises a visual display screen, and preferably, each visual display device comprises a radio receiver for receiving a radio transmission containing particulars of a granted parking permit, and advantageously, the radio receiver of each visual display device is adapted for receiving the particulars of a granted parking permit via a radio transmission on a radio paging network frequency, and preferably, the radio receiver of each visual display device is adapted for receiving the particulars of a granted parking permit in any one of the following protocols:

Post Office Code Standardisation Advisory Group (POCSAG),

Radio Data System (RDS),

FLEX, or

ReFLEX.

71. A system as claimed in claim 67 in which the telecommunications receiving means of the central control terminal comprises a means for capturing the telephone number of the telephone from which each received communication is made for determining the identity of the client making the call, and preferably, the central control terminal comprises a first validating means for validating the identity of the corresponding client of each received communication, and preferably, the first validating means compares the determined identity of the client of each received communication with the stored identities of the clients in the first storing means for determining if the determined identity is a valid identity of one of the clients.

72. A system as claimed in claim 67 in which the central control terminal comprises a third storing means for storing balances of accounts of at least some of the clients of the system cross-referenced with the respective client identities.

73. A system as claimed in claim 72 in which the central control terminal comprises a second validating means for validating the granting of a requested parking permit, and preferably, the second validating means compares the computed cost of the requested parking permit with the balance in the account of the corresponding client in the third storing means, and the second validating means is responsive to the computed cost of the requested parking permit not exceeding the available balance in the account of the client for validating the grant of the requested parking permit, and advantageously, the communicating means is operated under the control of the central control terminal for communicating the particulars of the granted parking permit in response to the second validating means validating the grant thereof.

74. A system as claimed in claim 72 in which the means for debiting the account of each client with the cost of a requested parking permit is responsive to the particulars of the parking permit having been communicated by the communicating means to the corresponding visual display device for debiting the corresponding account in the third storing means, and preferably, the central control terminal comprises a means for permitting a client to transfer credit to the client'"'"'s account in the third storing means, and advantageously, the means for permitting a client to transfer a credit to the client'"'"'s account comprises a means for receiving a code number of a purchased voucher supplied by an operator of the system, and a means is provided for reading the received code number, determining the value of the voucher from the code number, and crediting the value of the voucher to the client'"'"'s account, and advantageously, the code number of the voucher is entered via the client'"'"'s mobile telephone, and preferably, the means for permitting a client to transfer a credit to the client'"'"'s account comprises a means for receiving a credit transfer transferred from an automatic teller machine ((New) ATM) terminal, and advantageously, the means for permitting a client to transfer a credit to the client'"'"'s account comprises a means for receiving a credit transfer from a credit, debit or charge card account.

75. A system as claimed in claim 67 in which the telecommunications receiving means of the central control terminal is adapted for receiving data in a telephone call from a client indicative of a selected duration for which a parking permit is requested, and preferably, the telecommunications receiving means of the central control terminal is adapted for interpreting the duration for which a parking permit is requested from at least one digit entered by the client via the telephone of the client when the telephone communication to the receiving means is established, and advantageously, the telecommunications receiving means of the central control terminal comprises a means for receiving telephone communications made to at least two different telephone numbers, the respective telephone numbers identifying respective corresponding pay-for-parking zones, and preferably, the telephone numbers to which the telecommunications receiving means of the central control terminal is adapted for receiving telephone communications are fixed-charge-per-call telephone numbers, and advantageously, the telephone numbers to which the telecommunications receiving means of the central control terminal is adapted for receiving telephone communications comprises at least one premium rate telephone number, and the means for debiting an account of a client with the cost of a requested parking permit causes the telephone account of the client to be debited with the cost of the parking permit, and preferably, the system comprises a means for opening a new account for a new client.

76. A system as claimed in claim 67 in which each visual display device is adapted for locating on or in a motor vehicle, and preferably, each visual display device is adapted for mounting within a motor vehicle so that the visual display device is visible through a window or windscreen of the motor vehicle.

77. A system as claimed in claim 67 in which the identities of the clients and the identities of the visual display devices are stored in electronic format, and preferably, the balances of the accounts of the clients stored in the third storing means are stored in electronic format.

78. A system as claimed in claim 67 in which the telecommunications receiving means for receiving communications from the clients of the system is adapted for receiving communications requesting parking permits in the form of a telephone call, and preferably, the telecommunications receiving means for receiving communications from the clients of the system is adapted for receiving communications requesting parking permits in the form of a telecommunications text message, and advantageously, the telecommunications receiving means for receiving communications from the client of the system is adapted for receiving communications requesting parking permits in the form of an SMS.

79. A method for facilitating paying for a parking permit in a selected one of one or more pay-for-parking zones comprising:

providing a plurality of clients with respective visual display devices for displaying the grant of a parking permit in response to a received signal,

storing the identity of the respective clients of the system in a first storing means of a central control terminal remote of the visual display devices, and storing the identity of the respective visual display devices in the first storing means, and cross-referencing the identity of each visual display device with the identity of the corresponding client in the first storing means,

storing the cost per predetermined parking time unit for parking in each one of the pay-for-parking zones in a second storing means of the central control terminal,

receiving communications from the clients through a telecommunications receiving means of the central control terminal, whereby each communication containing a request for a parking permit is indicative of the identity of the client, and a selected zone for which a parking permit is required,

computing the cost of a requested parking permit in response to a received request therefor by a computing means of the central control terminal,

debiting an account of the client with the cost of the parking permit, and

communicating a signal indicative of the particulars of the grant of each granted parking permit by a communicating means of the central control terminal to the visual display device of the corresponding client for activating the visual display device to display the parking permit.

80. A method as claimed in claim 79 in which the particulars of each granted parking permit are communicated via a telecommunications data link to a radio paging network operator for relaying via a radio transmission to the corresponding visual display device.

81. A method as claimed in claim 79 in which each signal indicative of the particulars of the grant of a parking permit communicated by the communicating means is indicative of the zone for which the parking permit is granted, and preferably, each signal indicative of the particulars of the grant of a parking permit communicated by the communicating means is indicative of the time period for which the parking permit is granted, and advantageously, each signal indicative of the particulars of the grant of a parking permit communicated by the communicating means is indicative of the expiry time of the granted parking permit.

82. A method as claimed in claim 79 in which particulars of the zone for which a parking permit is granted is displayed on the corresponding visual display device, and preferably, particulars of the expiry time of a parking permit are displayed on the corresponding visual display device, and advantageously, particulars of the commencement time of a parking permit, and the duration for which the parking permit has been granted are displayed on a corresponding visual display device, and preferably, the particulars of the grant of a parking permit are interpreted by the corresponding visual display device from the signal communicated by the communicating means for display by the visual display device, and advantageously, the particulars of each granted parking permit are received by the corresponding visual display device via radio transmission on a radio paging network frequency, and preferably, the particulars of each granted parking permit are received by the corresponding visual display device in any one of the following protocols:

Post Office Code Standardisation (New) Advisory Group (POCS(New) AG),

Radio Data System (RDS),

FLEX, or

ReFLEX.

83. A method as claimed in claim 79 in which the telephone number of the telephone from which each received call is made is captured for determining the identity of the client making the call, and preferably, the identity of the client of each received call is validated by a first validating means, and advantageously, the determined identity of the client of each received call is compared with the stored identities of the clients in the first storing means by the first validating means for determining if the determined identity is a valid identity of one of the clients, and preferably, balances of accounts of at least some of the clients of the system are stored in a third storing means of the central control terminal, and the account balances are cross-referenced with the respective client identities, and advantageously, the granting of a requested parking permit is validated by a second validating means, and preferably, the computed cost of a requested parking permit is compared with the balance in the account of the corresponding client in the third storing means by the second validating means and the grant of the requested parking permit validated if the computed cost of the parking permit does not exceed the available balance in the account of the client, and preferably, the balance of the account of the client is debited with the cost of the granted parking permit when the parking permit is communicated by the communicating means to the visual display device of the corresponding client.

84. A method as claimed in claim 79 in which the duration for which a parking permit is requestable is selectable, and preferably, a communication requesting a parking permit is made to a selected one of at least two telephone numbers, the respective telephone numbers identify respective pay-for-parking zones.

85. A method as claimed in claim 79 in which each visual display device is located on or in a motor vehicle of the client, and preferably, each visual display device is mounted within a motor vehicle of the client so that the visual display device is visible through a window or windscreen of the motor vehicle.

86. A method as claimed in claim 79 in which a communication requesting a parking permit may be made to a premium rate telephone number, and preferably, a communication requesting a parking permit may be made via a telephone call, and advantageously, a communication requesting a parking permit may be made via telecommunications text message, and preferably, a communication requesting a parking permit may be made via an SMS message.