Highway toll collecting system
First Claim
1. A highway toll system for a highway to assess a toll according to different types of vehicles, said system comprising:
- first vehicle detecting means for automatically detecting a vehicle which has reached an entry point of the toll highway prior to entering and for determining vehicle type information for said vehicle by classifying said vehicle as one of a plurality of different types of vehicles;
passage coupon issuance means for issuing a passage coupon in response to the detection of entry of said vehicle and said vehicle type information determined by said first vehicle detecting means, said passage coupon containing toll information which includes a vehicle type code with said vehicle type information, an entry code indentifying the entry point which has been reached by the vehicle, time and date data, representing the time and date respectively, when the vehicle has reached the entry point, said passage coupon issuing means being located on a path for said vehicle from said entry point to said toll highway;
second vehicle detecting means, located on said path between said toll highway and said entry, for detecting the passage of the vehicle past said passage coupon issuance means and for enabling said passage coupon issuance means to issue another passage coupon for a subsequent vehicle;
toll calculating means, disposed at an exit point of the toll highway reached by said vehicle, for receiving the passage coupon issued by said passage coupon issuance means, for reading said toll information from the passage coupon, for calculating a toll for said vehicle based on the vehicle type code and entry code in said toll information read from the passage coupon, and for displaying said toll;
storing means for storing said toll information read by said toll calculating means and said toll calculated by said toll calculating means together with an exit code identifying the exit point; and
information processing means for processing highway data based on the toll information and tolls stored in said storing means.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
When a vehicle has reached an entry gate, toll information, such as the type of the vehicle, time and date, etc. are detected and printed on a passage coupon, which is automatically issued at a certain position corresponding to the type of vehicle to be taken by a driver. A highway toll is collected at an exit gate by reading the information on the passage coupon and calculating toll for the vehicle. The information printed on the passage coupon and the information relative to toll calculation are transmitted together with the information concerning the current state of running on the highway to a central control office. A passage coupon issuance unit disposed at the entry gate contains more passage coupons for regular sized vehicles than for other type of vehicles and issues them through passage coupon issuance ports. When a vehicle has entered the highway without a passage coupon being picked up by a driver on the vehicle, the passage coupon which was not picked up is retracted into the passage coupon issuance port.
8 Citations
11 Claims
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1. A highway toll system for a highway to assess a toll according to different types of vehicles, said system comprising:
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first vehicle detecting means for automatically detecting a vehicle which has reached an entry point of the toll highway prior to entering and for determining vehicle type information for said vehicle by classifying said vehicle as one of a plurality of different types of vehicles; passage coupon issuance means for issuing a passage coupon in response to the detection of entry of said vehicle and said vehicle type information determined by said first vehicle detecting means, said passage coupon containing toll information which includes a vehicle type code with said vehicle type information, an entry code indentifying the entry point which has been reached by the vehicle, time and date data, representing the time and date respectively, when the vehicle has reached the entry point, said passage coupon issuing means being located on a path for said vehicle from said entry point to said toll highway; second vehicle detecting means, located on said path between said toll highway and said entry, for detecting the passage of the vehicle past said passage coupon issuance means and for enabling said passage coupon issuance means to issue another passage coupon for a subsequent vehicle; toll calculating means, disposed at an exit point of the toll highway reached by said vehicle, for receiving the passage coupon issued by said passage coupon issuance means, for reading said toll information from the passage coupon, for calculating a toll for said vehicle based on the vehicle type code and entry code in said toll information read from the passage coupon, and for displaying said toll; storing means for storing said toll information read by said toll calculating means and said toll calculated by said toll calculating means together with an exit code identifying the exit point; and information processing means for processing highway data based on the toll information and tolls stored in said storing means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A passage coupon issuing machine for automatically issuing passage coupons for use of a toll road in response to vehicle detecting means'"'"' detection of vehicles at an entrance to the toll road, the vehicle detecting means being located proximate the entrance to the toll road and providing entry information, including data regarding the time and date at which vehicles arrived at the entrance, and descriptor information about vehicles at the entrance, each of said passage coupons containing identifier information formed from the entry information and the descriptor information, the coupon issuing machine comprising:
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a plurality of passage coupon issuance ports from which the passage coupons are issued; a first passage coupon issuance mechanism including a first hopper holding a first group of unused passage coupons containing no identifier information, first writing means for writing identifer information onto ones of said first group of passage coupons, and first conveyance means for conveying said ones of said first group of passage coupon containing identifier information into a first set of said plurality of passage coupon issuance ports; a second passage coupon issuance mechanism including a second hopper holding a second group of unused passage coupons containing no identifier information, second writing means for writing identifier inf mation onto ones of said second group of passage coupons, and second conveyance means for conveying said ones of said passage coupons containing identifier information into a second set of passage coupon issuance ports, said second set of passage coupon issuance ports not being included in said first set of said passage coupon issuance ports; and control means for selectively driving and controlling one of said first or second passage coupon issuance mechanisms based on said identifier information. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
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9. A passage coupon issuing machine for automatically issuing passage coupons for use of a toll road in response to vehicle detecting means'"'"' detection of entry of vehicles at an entrance to the toll road, the vehicle detecting means being located proximate the entrance to the toll road and providing entry information, including data regarding the time and date at which vehicles arrived at the entrance, and descriptor information, including size information indicating whether each vehicle is regular-sized, medium-sized, or large-sized such that large-sized vehicles are larger than said medium-sized vehicles and mediumsized vehicles are larger than said regular-sized vehicles, each of said passage coupons containing identifier information formed from the entry and descriptor information, said passage coupon issuing machine comprising:
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a first passage coupon issuance port from which passage coupons are issued, said first passage coupon issuance port being disposed at a first position corresponding to the height of regular-sized vehicles; a second passage coupon issuance port from which passage coupons are issued, said second passage coupon issuance port being disposed at a second position, higher than said first position, corresponding to the height of medium-sized vehicles; a third passage coupon issuance port from which passage coupons are issued, said third passage coupon issuance port being disposed at a third position, higher than said second position, corresponding to the height of large-sized vehicles; a first passage coupon issuance mechanism including a first hopper holding a first group of unused passage coupons containing no identifier information, first writing means for writing identifier information onto ones said said first group of unused passage coupons, and first conveyance means for conveying said ones of said first group of passage coupons containing identifier information into a first set of said first passage coupon issuance ports; a second passage coupon issuance mechanism including a second hopper holding a second group of unused passage coupons containing no identifier information, second writing means for writing identifier information onto ones of said second group of unused passage coupons, and second conveyance means for selectively conveying said ones of said second group of passage coupons containing identifier information into either said second or said third passage coupon issuance ports; and control means for driving said first passage coupon issuance mechanism when the size information identifies one of said vehicles as regular-sized, for driving said second passage coupon issuance mechanism and for causing said second conveyance means to convey passage coupons to said second passage coupon issuance port when the size information identifies one of said vehicles as medium-sized, and for driving said second passage coupon issuance mechanism and for causing the second conveyance means to convey passage coupons into said third passage coupon issuance port when the size information identifies one of said vehicles as large-sized. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
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Specification