Automated parking director systems and related methods
First Claim
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1. An intelligent parking system for a parking lot comprising a plurality of individual parking spaces, comprising:
- at least one object detector configured to identify when an object occupies a respective parking space and/or when the respective parking space is unoccupied;
at least one processor in communication with the at least one object detector, the at least one processor being configured to automatically identify the location of individual parking spaces that are available and/or the parking spaces that are unavailable to a parking lot patron or potential user based on data obtained from the at least one object detector, andwherein the processor is in communication with an external display that further graphically displays a map illustrating a cluster of available spaces in graphic format of parking spaces in the parking lot and visually contrast the available spaces from the spaces that are unavailable, wherein the processor is configured to generate a textual summary of locations of isolated available spaces, and wherein the processor is configured to communicate with a plurality of individual wireless devices with displays to provide parking patrons and potential patrons the map of the cluster of available and unavailable spaces and the textual summary of locations of isolated spaces that is updated in substantially real time.
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Abstract
Systems and methods of directing parking in a parking lot include: (a) detecting the presence and/or absence of a vehicle in respective parking spaces in a parking lot having a plurality of parking spaces to monitor the availability of parking spaces; (b) identifying the space location of parking spaces that are available for use based on the detecting and monitoring steps; and (c) automatically providing the location of the identified available spaces to prospective users in substantially real-time.
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Citations
39 Claims
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1. An intelligent parking system for a parking lot comprising a plurality of individual parking spaces, comprising:
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at least one object detector configured to identify when an object occupies a respective parking space and/or when the respective parking space is unoccupied; at least one processor in communication with the at least one object detector, the at least one processor being configured to automatically identify the location of individual parking spaces that are available and/or the parking spaces that are unavailable to a parking lot patron or potential user based on data obtained from the at least one object detector, and wherein the processor is in communication with an external display that further graphically displays a map illustrating a cluster of available spaces in graphic format of parking spaces in the parking lot and visually contrast the available spaces from the spaces that are unavailable, wherein the processor is configured to generate a textual summary of locations of isolated available spaces, and wherein the processor is configured to communicate with a plurality of individual wireless devices with displays to provide parking patrons and potential patrons the map of the cluster of available and unavailable spaces and the textual summary of locations of isolated spaces that is updated in substantially real time. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of directing parking in a parking lot, comprising:
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detecting the presence and/or absence of a vehicle in a respective parking space in a parking lot having a plurality of parking spaces to thereby monitor for the availability of parking spaces; identifying the space location of parking spaces that are available for use based on the detecting and monitoring steps; automatically providing the location of the identified available spaces to at least one output device in substantially real-time; and correlating a specific user with a specific parking space based on data obtained automatically from a pass mounted to a vehicle in the specific parking space while or after the specific user parks the vehicle in the parking space. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. An intelligent parking system for a parking lot comprising a plurality of individual parking spaces, comprising:
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at least one object detector configured to identify when an object occupies a respective parking space and/or when the respective parking space is unoccupied; at least one processor in communication with the at least one object detector, the at least one processor being configured to automatically identify the location of individual parking spaces that are available and/or the parking spaces that are unavailable to a parking lot user or potential user based on data obtained from the at least one object detector; and at least one reader in communication with the processor, the reader configured to automatically electronically interrogate a parking pass mounted on a vehicle in or entering a parking space to provide user-specific data to correlate a particular user to a particular parking location. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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Specification