Fully optimized automatic parking facility management system

• US 5,091,727 A
• Filed: 10/14/1990
• Issued: 02/25/1992
• Est. Priority Date: 10/14/1990
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Shahjahan Mahmood
• Original Assignee: Shahjahan Mahmood
• Inventors: Mahmood, Shahjahan
• Primary Examiner(s): Crosland, Donnie L.
• Application Number:
  US07/592,649
• Time in Patent Office: 499 Days
• Field of Search: 340/932.2, 340/928, 364/424.01, 364/569, 364/550, 364/467, 235/384, 377/9
• US Class Current: 340/932.2
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 15/04 comprising devices to free a barrier, turnstile, or the like turnstiles with registering means G07C9/10; coin-freed aspects G07F17/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/14 indicating individual free spaces in parking areas

Abstract

An automated parking facility management system which determines when a vehicle is at a facility entrance, stores the locations of vacated facility parking spots, determines the location of a desirable vacated parking spot in relation to either the facility entrance or the facility exit, prints a parking record for the customer including the computed location, removes the computed location from the memory after it has been printed to prevent assigning the same spot to two vehicles, and then adds the computed location back into the memory when the vehicle is leaving the facility to make the location available to another vehicle.

Claims

1. An automated parking facility management system, comprising:

means for determining when a vehicle is at a facility entrance;

a computer memory for storing the locations of vacated facility parking spots;

means for determining the location of a desirable vacated parking spot in relation to at least one of the facility entrance and a facility exit;

means for printing a parking record including the determined location;

means for removing the determined location from the memory to prevent assigning the same spot to two vehicles; and

means for adding the determined location back in to the memory when the vehicle is leaving the facility to make the location available to another vehicle.

2. The system of claim 1 in which said means for determining resolves the location of the vacated spot closest to the entrance.

3. The system of claim 1 in which said means for determining resolves the location of the vacated spot closest to a facility exit.

4. The system of claim 1 in which said means for printing further prints the time of day on the record.

5. The system of claim 1 in which said means for printing prints both man and machine-readable versions of the determined location.

6. The system of claim 5 in which said means for adding includes a reading device for automatically reading the machine-readable version of the determined location.

7. The system of claim 4 in which said means for printing prints the time of day in at least machine readable form.

8. The system of claim 7 in which said means for printing prints the time of day in both man and machine-readable versions.

9. The system of claim 7 further including means for resolving the time of day that the vehicle leaves the facility.

10. The system of claim 9 further including means, responsive to said means for resolving, for calculating the vehicle elapsed time in the parking facility.

11. The system of claim 10 further including means, responsive to said means for calculating, for determining the parking facility charge for the vehicle leaving the facility.

12. The system of claim 1 further including means, responsive to said computer memory, for displaying the locations of at least some of said vacated parking spots.

13. An automated parking facility management system comprising:

means for determining when a vehicle is at a facility entrance;

a computer memory for storing the locations of vacated facility parking spots;

means for determining the location of at least one of the vacated parking spot closest to the entrance and a vacated parking spot closest to a facility exit;

means for printing a parking record including the time of day and the determined location in at least a machine-readable version;

means for removing the determined location from the computer memory to prevent assigning the same spot to two vehicles;

means for reading the printed time of day and determined location from the record when the vehicle is leaving the facility;

means for calculating the vehicle elapsed time in the facility and computing the vehicle time charge; and

means for adding the determined location back in to the memory to make the location available to another vehicle.