Device for displaying the time of parking of a vehicle

• US 6,697,714 B1
• Filed: 12/06/2001
• Issued: 02/24/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/08/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Cartime APS, FINA Research SA (Totalenergies Se)
• Original Assignee: Cartime APS
• Inventors: Høj, Maryan
• Primary Examiner(s): Camby, Richard M.
• Application Number:
  US10/009,025
• Time in Patent Office: 810 Days
• Field of Search: 701/1, 701/36, 701/213, 701/200, 340/932.2, 340/938
• US Class Current: 701/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 13/10 Registration, licensing, or like devices
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 1/30 Parking meters registering or indicating waiting time of vehicles by means driven by the vehicle G07C5/02; coin-freed parking meters G07F17/24

Abstract

The present invention relates to a device for displaying the time of parking of a vehicle by placing the device on the front screen of the vehicle, said device comprising display means which receives a timer signal from a time signal generation means via control means, said control means being connected to the ignition system of the vehicle in such a way that an update of the time display is frozen once the ignition of the vehicle is turned off, said control means being adapted to receiving the time signal from an external signal generation means. By a device according to the present invention, the displayed time in the vehicle containing the device when parked is reliable as far as the time of parking is concerned since the time signal is received from an external source and can therefore not be manipulated before being displayed.

Claims

1. A device for displaying the time of parking of a vehicle by placing the device on the screen of the vehicle, said device comprising

display means which receives a timer signal from a time signal generation means via control means, the display means comprising an outwardly and an inwardly facing display,

said control means being connected to the ignition system of the vehicle in such a way that an update of the time display is frozen once the ignition of the vehicle is turned off,

wherein the control means being adapted to receiving the time signal from an external signal generation means.

2. A device according to claim 1, wherein the time signal is received from at least one satellite.

3. A device according to claim 2, wherein the at least one satellite, from which the time signal is received, is also usable in a global positioning system (GPS) for providing positioning data of the vehicle.

4. A device according to claim 1, wherein the time signal is received via a radio transmitter.

5. A device according to claim 1, wherein the control means comprises an antenna for receiving an external time signal which feeds the received signal to a receiver provided with one or more crystals, and a microprocessor which receives a digitized time signal from the receiver and updates the display means of the ignition state in accordance with collected data.

6. A device according to claim 5, wherein the microprocessor includes a memory for storing the time for updating the display means at a pre-determined time interval as long as the ignition of the vehicle is on and subsequently updates the display after the ignition has been turned off and then turned back on again.

7. A device according to claim 5, wherein a manually operated switch is interfaced with the microprocessor in order to allow setting of the time of parking manually.

8. A device according to claim 1, wherein the display means comprises an LCD display with a translucent or transparent background.

9. A device according to claim 1, wherein at least one display, preferably the outwardly facing display, is a clock dial.

10. A device according to claim 1, wherein the inwardly facing display is an LCD display with four digits separated in pairs of two.

11. A device according to claim 1, wherein a data signal representing the position of the vehicle is received, and wherein the data transmitting means are provided for collecting arrival and departure time data when entering and leaving a geographically defined zone which transmits said data to a central recording unit.

12. A device according to claim 11, wherein the data transmitted by the data transmitting means additionally or alternatively comprises information, such as an SMS message, to a dedicated mobile communication device about the vehicle in order for the user of said communication device to monitor the duration of the parking time of the vehicle.