PARKING SYSTEM AND METHOD OF CUSTOMER TRACKING IN A PARKING FACILITY

• US 20160196702A1
• Filed: 02/05/2016
• Published: 07/07/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/2013
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Clyde Bartlett Wilson
• Original Assignee: Clyde Bartlett Wilson
• Inventors: WILSON, Clyde Bartlett
• Application Number:
  US15/016,565
• Publication Number:
  US 20160196702A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 2240/00 Transportation facility access, e.g. fares, tolls or parking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0284 Time or distance, e.g. usage of parking meters or taximeters
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/52 Surveillance or monitoring of activities, e.g. for recognising suspicious objects recognising microscopic objects G06V20/69
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/54 of traffic, e.g. cars on the road, trains or boats
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/625 License plates
• 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: G07C 9/32 in combination with an identity check
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/37 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voice recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/38 with central registration
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/24 for parking meters

Abstract

A parking system and method of tracking parking vehicles at a parking facility includes providing a first control panel and a camera adjacent an entrance of the parking facility, entering a customer number into the first control panel, recognizing characters on a license plate by the camera at the entrance, allowing the vehicle to enter the parking facility, entering the customer number upon an exit from the parking facility, and allowing exit from the parking facility if the customer number matches the customer number entered at the entrance. The exit is allowed from the parking facility if the customer number and the characters of the license plate at the entrance match the characters of the license plate and the customer number at the exit.

Claims

1. A method of tracking vehicles at a parking facility, the method comprising:

providing a first control panel and a camera adjacent an entrance of the parking facility;

entering a customer number into the first control panel;

recognizing characters on a license plate by the camera at said entrance;

allowing the vehicle to enter the parking facility;

entering the customer number upon exit from the parking facility; and

allowing exit from the parking facility of the customer number matches the customer number entered at the entrance.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

correlating said characters of said license plate with the customer number.

3. The method of claim 2, the step of allowing the vehicle the exit comprising:

allowing exit from the parking facility if the customer number and the characters of said license plate at the entrance match the characters of the license plate and the customer number at the exit.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing a second control panel associated with the exit of said parking facility, the step of entering the customer number upon the exit being at said second control panel.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

entering payment information in said second control panel, the step of allowing exit comprising allowing exit upon an entry of payment information into said second control panel.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting a presence of said vehicle at the entrance of said parking facility.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting said customer number and the characters of said license plate to a remote location.

8. The method of claim 1, said entrance having a gate thereat, the step of allowing entrance comprising:

lifting said gate when said camera recognizes said characters of said license plate and when said customer number is entered.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

calculating a payment amount based upon an amount of time passing between the step of allowing the entrance and when said vehicle approaches the exit.

10. The method of claim 9, the step of calculating the payment comprising:

calculating the payment based upon an amount of time passing between the step of allowing the entrance and when said customer number is entered upon exit.

11. The method of claim 1, said customer number being an alphanumeric code of at least five digits.

12. A parking system comprising:

an entrance gate;

a first control panel positioned adjacent said entrance gate, said first control panel having a first keypad adapted to allow entry of a customer number;

a first camera directed toward an area adjacent said entrance gate, said first camera directed so as to recognize characters of the license plate of a vehicle positioned adjacent said entrance gate;

an exit gate;

a second control panel associated with said exit gate, said second control panel having a second keypad adapted to allow entry of the customer number thereon; and

a processor connected to said first control panel and said second control panel, said processor for allowing said exit gate to open if said customer number of said first control panel matches said customer number of said second control panel.

13. The parking system of claim 12, said processor connected to said first control panel and said first camera so as to correlate the customer number with the characters of the license plate.

14. The parking system of claim 13, said processor connected to said second control panel and to said second camera so as to recognize that the customer number and the characters of the license plate at the entrance gate match the customer number and the characters of the license plate at said exit gate.

15. The parking system of claim 12, said entrance gate and said exit gate being a common gate.

16. The parking system of claim 12, said processor being cloud-based, said processor calculating an amount of time passing between an opening of said entrance gate and the entry of the customer number at said exit gate.

17. The parking system of claim 16, said second control panel having a payment entry thereon, said second control panel having a display thereon, said processor calculating an amount of payment based upon the amount of time such that the amount of payment is displayed on said display.

18. The parking system of claim 12, further comprising:

a proximity sensor positioned adjacent said entrance gate.

19. The parking system of claim 12, said processor recording and storing the characters of the license plate.

20. A method of tracking vehicles in a parking facility, the method comprising:

providing a first control panel and a camera adjacent an entrance of the parking facility;

entering a customer number into the first control panel;

recognizing characters on a license plate by the camera at the entrance;

allowing the vehicle to enter the parking facility;

entering the customer number upon exit from the parking facility;

recognizing the characters of the license plate of the vehicle at the exit; and

allowing exit from the parking facility of the customer number and the characters of the license plate of the vehicle at the entry match the customer number and the characters of the license plate at the exit.