Road use charging apparatus
First Claim
1. A road use charging apparatus for use in a vehicle comprising:
- a store for storing credit units;
a debiter for debiting credit units in said store at a selected rate;
an initiation control operable by a driver to initiate said debiter to debit at said selected rate;
a visual indicator having a display showing when said debiter is operative with said credit units being debited in said store, wherein said display is positioned in the vehicle so that said display is visible from a roadside as the vehicle passes, the display being readily observable from the roadside at town driving speeds;
an interface for interfacing with a removable credit enabling device, said credit enabling device providing a number of new credit units available for debiting; and
a controller arranged to enable said debiter only if all the credit units available from the credit enabling device have not been debited in said store.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Charging apparatus for use in a road vehicle enables an authority to charge for road usage. As the vehicle is used on controlled parts of road way, debiting means debits credit units at a predetermined rate. A store keeps a record of the credit units used. The debiting rate can be preselected. An alphanumeric display can be visible through the windscreen of the vehicle to enforcement officers as the vehicle passes. The display can show the debiting rate currently in use. A pre-payment credit card system may be employed to charge the apparatus with credits. An internal display for the driver allows the driver to select the debiting rate demanded by signs along the controlled roadway.
-
Citations
17 Claims
-
1. A road use charging apparatus for use in a vehicle comprising:
-
a store for storing credit units; a debiter for debiting credit units in said store at a selected rate; an initiation control operable by a driver to initiate said debiter to debit at said selected rate; a visual indicator having a display showing when said debiter is operative with said credit units being debited in said store, wherein said display is positioned in the vehicle so that said display is visible from a roadside as the vehicle passes, the display being readily observable from the roadside at town driving speeds; an interface for interfacing with a removable credit enabling device, said credit enabling device providing a number of new credit units available for debiting; and a controller arranged to enable said debiter only if all the credit units available from the credit enabling device have not been debited in said store. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
-
Specification