Location-Based Vehicle Parking System

• US 20150179070A1
• Filed: 12/20/2013
• Published: 06/25/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/2013
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Frogparking Limited
• Original Assignee: Frogparking Limited
• Inventors: Sandbrook, Donald H.
• Application Number:
  US14/136,415
• Publication Number:
  US 20150179070A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/146 where the parking area is a limited parking space, e.g. parking garage, restricted space
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/149 coupled to means for restricting the access to the parking space, e.g. authorization, access barriers, indicative lights

Abstract

A location-based vehicle parking system for efficiently managing vehicle parking permissions for a parking space. The location-based vehicle parking system generally includes determining the presence of a vehicle within a parking space by a parking sensor, communicating sensor data to a management server, communicating vehicle data to the management server by a permit device within the vehicle, and determining if the vehicle is authorized to park within the parking space. A communication is sent to an inspector to manually verify permissions for a vehicle in a parking space if not authorized.

Claims

1. A method for managing a parking space for a vehicle, comprising:

determining if a vehicle is parked in a parking space, wherein said vehicle includes a permit device;

communicating vehicle data to a management server by said permit device; and

verifying if said vehicle is authorized to park within said parking space.

2. The method of claim 1, including the step of notifying an inspector if said step of verifying is unable to determine if said vehicle is authorized or determines that said vehicle is not authorized.

3. The method of claim 2, including the step of manually verifying by said inspector if said vehicle is authorized to park within said parking space.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said step of manually verifying is comprised of said inspector using a scanner to communicate with said permit device.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said scanner is comprised of a handheld device that communicates wirelessly with said permit device.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein said step of manually verifying is comprised of said inspector visually inspecting said permit device, wherein said permit device is in a visible location of said vehicle.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein said permit device is attached to a window of said vehicle.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said parking device is removable from said vehicle.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of determining if a vehicle is parked in a parking space is comprised of determining a motion state of said permit device.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein said motion state is determined by an accelerometer.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein when said motion state is inactive for at least a minimum period of time, said motion state is determined to be inactive.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein when said motion state is determined to be active, said permit device is switched to sleep mode.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein when said motion state is determined to be inactive, said permit device is switched from sleep mode to active mode to communicate with said management server.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein said permit device identifies a location for said vehicle and communicates said location to said management server when in active mode.

15. The method of claim 1, including the step of identifying a location for said vehicle and communicating said location to said management server by said permit device when in active mode.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein said step of determining if a vehicle is parked in a parking space is comprised of detecting a presence of said vehicle by a parking sensor associated with said parking space, wherein said parking sensor communicates detection of said presence of said vehicle to said management server.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein said permit device is comprised of a housing and a permit card removably positioned within said housing, wherein said permit card includes a microprocessor, a GPS receiver in communication with said microprocessor, a transceiver in communication with said microprocessor, and a solar panel in electrical communication with an energy storage device, wherein said energy storage device is electrically connected to said microprocessor.

18. A method for managing a parking space for a vehicle, comprising:

detecting if a vehicle is parked in a parking space by a parking sensor associated with said parking space, wherein said vehicle includes a permit device;

communicating sensor data to a management server by said parking sensor after detecting said vehicle in said parking space, wherein said sensor data includes a sensor time stamp and a sensor identifier;

communicating vehicle data to said management server by said permit device, wherein said vehicle data includes a permit time stamp and a permit identifier; and

verifying if said vehicle is authorized to park within said parking space.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein said step of verifying is comprised of comparing said sensor time stamp to said permit time stamp.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein said step of verifying is comprised of identifying said parking space using said sensor identifier and comparing a location of said parking space to a location of said permit device.