Stolen car detection system and method
First Claim
Patent Images
1. The method of detecting vehicles displaying incorrect license plates, including the steps of:
- (a) using a camera to form an image of a license plate of a target vehicle which is within area of the camera;
(b) converting the image into digital data representing the number of the license plate;
(c) measuring a physical characteristic of the target vehicle;
(d) deriving from a data base of license plate numbers a physical characteristic based on the license plate number read from the target vehicle;
(e) comparing the measured physical characteristic with the physical characteristic derived from the data base and in the event of a mismatch generating a warning signal.
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Abstract
A method and system to detect and identify a target vehicle displaying a switched or invalid license plate includes a license plate reader to read the plate number carried by a target vehicle in its area. A pair of spaced laser beams measures the speed and length of the traveling vehicle. The read license plate numbers are compared with a data base of registered vehicles to obtain the length of the vehicle registered for that plate. If the registered length differs from the measured length, the plate may be illegally on the target vehicle.
237 Citations
29 Claims
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1. The method of detecting vehicles displaying incorrect license plates, including the steps of:
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(a) using a camera to form an image of a license plate of a target vehicle which is within area of the camera; (b) converting the image into digital data representing the number of the license plate; (c) measuring a physical characteristic of the target vehicle; (d) deriving from a data base of license plate numbers a physical characteristic based on the license plate number read from the target vehicle; (e) comparing the measured physical characteristic with the physical characteristic derived from the data base and in the event of a mismatch generating a warning signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. The method of detecting vehicles displaying incorrect license plates, including the steps of:
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(a) automatically reading the license plates of vehicles within a certain location; (b) generating digital data representing the vehicles'"'"' license plate numbers; (c) measuring the length of the same vehicles; (d) transmitting the digital data to a computer system having a data base of registered license plate numbers and deriving therefrom the vehicles'"'"' lengths according to their registrations; and (e) comparing the measured lengths to the derived lengths and, in the event of a mismatch, indicating that a mismatched plate may be incorrect.
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13. The method of detecting vehicles displaying incorrect license plates, including the steps of:
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(a) using a video camera to form a video image of a license plate of a target vehicle which is within area of the video camera; (b) converting the video image into digital data representing the number of the license plate; (c) using a video camera to form a video image of the target vehicle; (d) converting the vehicle video image into digital data representing an identification of the model of the target vehicle; (e) comparing the digital data representing the license plate number with a list of license plate numbers for the model of the target vehicle; and (f) providing an indication of a mismatch, indicating that the vehicle may be displaying illegal license plates, in the event the comparison does not find that the target vehicle'"'"'s license plate number on the list.
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14. The method of detecting vehicles displaying illegal license plates, including the steps of:
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(a) using a camera to form an image of a license plate of a target vehicle which is within area of the camera; (b) converting the image into digital data representing the number of the license plate; (c) measuring a physical characteristic of the target vehicle; (d) comparing the digital data representing the license plate number with a list of license plate numbers of vehicles having the same physical characteristic; (e) providing an indication of a mismatch, indicating that the vehicle may be displaying illegal license plates, in the event the comparison does not find the vehicle'"'"'s license plate number on the list.
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15. A system for detecting vehicles displaying incorrect license plates, including:
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(a) camera means to form an image of a license plate of a target vehicle which is within range of the camera; (b) license plate reading means to convert the image into digital data representing the number of the license plate; (c) measurement means to measure a physical characteristic of the target vehicle; (d) computer means to derive a physical characteristic from a data base of license plate numbers and the target vehicle'"'"'s license plate number digital data; (e) computer means to compare the physical characteristic derived from the license plate number and data base with the measured physical characteristic; (f) means to provide a warning that the target vehicle may be displaying incorrect license plates in the event of a mismatch. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A system for detecting vehicles displaying incorrect license plates, including:
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(a) video camera means to form a video image of a license plate of a target vehicle which is within area of the video camera; (b) license plate reading means to convert the video image into digital data representing the number of the license plate; (c) means to identify the model of the target vehicle; (d) computer means to compare the digital data representing the license plate number with a list of license plate numbers of the same model as the target vehicle; and (e) means to provide an indication of a mismatch indicating that the target vehicle may be displaying illegal license plates in the event the comparison does not find the target vehicle'"'"'license plate number on the list. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification